Dealing with my Ole Miss Grief

Before I can begin mental preparations for tomorrow's game, I need to get a few things off my chest:

1. I really wanted Ole Miss to lose last night. I wanted them to lose so badly that I felt the sort of rage towards Vandy's defense that I felt during the A&M game last year.

2. At the end of the fourth quarter, I had to acknowledge to myself that the game was very entertaining. In fact, I had to acknowledge that Ole Miss plays a very exciting version of offense.

3. This morning, I had a realization: Ole Miss is doing a lot of things I wish State was doing.

a. On offense, they do a lot of different things, and, when something is working, they keep doing it over and over until the other team stops it. Too often, State does only a limited number of things, and, when something works, it is never called again.

b. On the recruiting trail, Ole Miss has realized that the NCAA no longer has the balls to prosecute infractions and stands down when a school lawyers up. Ole Miss has exploited this to its advantage. Not only is Ole Miss getting good recruits, those recruits (at least according to last night's reports) are treating football like it's their job. I think we would all agree that, ceteris paribus, getting paid for something improves performance.

Now that I have had these realizations, I think I can have a healthier relationship with Ole Miss football. I can appreciate what they are doing and look at them, not as a hateful rival, but as a competitor and a source of potentially good ideas.

Now, let's beat OSU.