You wanna run through a brick wall?

Copied and pasted from the Red Cup Rebellion Bame Hate Week thread. Credit goes to the author, SingaporeSlanger.

quote:

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I will not hate Alabama. To hate Alabama would imply that I fear Alabama. I do not fear Alabama.

For the first time in a very long time I do not fear their physical prowess, their strategic genius, their will to dominate, their confidence that no matter what happens, the scoreboard will be in their favor at the end of 60. I do not fear their hunger for there is none. I do not fear their passion for it is lacking. I do not fear that they are a team of destiny for whom the stars have aligned and the universe is applauding. They are not.

A team with the passion and will to achieve the unimaginable doesn’t sleep walk through a quarter of their season, paying attention only to the games that appear threatening. A team of destiny takes nothing for granted, is hungry, is passionate, is a creator of beautifully chaotic situations and a destroyer of expectations. A team of destiny doesn’t just go through the motions, being content not because of who they are and what they have done, but because of the logo they hide behind.

To be content sitting on your laurels and letting the world come to you, rather than reaching your hand out and grasping it with all your might, to be indolent, these are the traits of a falling star, not a rising one. These are the traits of an empire’s twilight, not its dawn.

Make no mistake however, on that day in the center of the college gridiron universe; there will be a team of destiny. The team of destiny will be the one that is playing for each other, not for further accolades. The team of destiny will be the one that is fighting tooth and nail for one more inch, one more yard, the team fighting every day to get better, not the team who already feels as though winning is a given, only a matter of how large.

The team of destiny will be the one coming in with nothing to lose, seeking only to win the day so that they then might win another and another. The team of destiny on that day will be the team that is looking to create something larger than themselves, not the team that is just trying to maintain themselves and their standing.

Rome found out the hard way that it is far easier to conquer an empire than it is to maintain it. Rome conquered until Rome became satisfied then Rome sat back and basked in its own glory. Even as the barbarians were at the gates and the empire was crumbling around them, the Romans never believed it could fall.

Come Saturday, the barbarians (who ironically represent the last true bastion of everything that is genteel Southern culture) are coming through the gates, gates which they will lock behind them before looking for (and finding) the fight of their lives. I believe there will be sacking and that they will be either the force behind the awakening for a waning empire, or the first harbinger of its demise (for this year anyway).

I do not hate Alabama, for I do not fear Alabama, but Alabama should fear us. All they can take from us is a win, all that we can take from them is everything they hold dear for this season.

We Are Ole Miss. We are a force of nature unto ourselves. We do not fear you. We are coming and you are not ready.

Hotty Toddy and sic semper tyrannous.

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I mean...damn.