This is what's important about Southern Miss-Athletics. When I visit friends and folks in other areas ,they don't ask me,"How's John Donne? What's going on in the Liberal Arts?"No, they want to Know ow our football team is doing. The sooner all the academic types realize this,the better off we'll all be.

First and Ten wrote: "This is what's important about Southern Miss-Athletics. When I visit friends and folks in other areas, they don't ask me,"How's John Donne? What's going on in the Liberal Arts?" No, they want to Know how our football team is doing. The sooner all the academic types realize this,the better off we'll all be."

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When I visit other areas of the country and they learn I am with the University of Southern Mississippi, they ask me about the late great Johnny Vaught, they ask me to give Colonel Reb their regards, and they ask me if tailgaiting at The Grove is as exciting during football Saturdays as they have heard it is.

When I visit other parts of the country (including some parts of the south), I always hear questions.  They vary according to who is doing the asking: non-academics "how is football team doing--bet you miss Eli Manning."  Yes, they almost always think we are Ole Miss and the change to Southern Miss didn't help a bit.  If they are in education (or often in related professional fields), they ask about last year's fiasco, about appointing administrators without searches, about faculty governance issues, and about SACS probation.  These questions come from administrators as well as faculty.  In this field, you can't hide. 

Bean Counting Fiscal Conservative wrote:

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ohare wrote: Today's Student Printz reports that the Athletics Dept. spent about $70,000 staying in Memphis ... The team stayed at the Memphis Hilton at a cost of $40,000, and spent $20,000 on transportation. You've gotta be $hittin' me.  If these figures are anywhere close to accurate Gianinni should foot the bill himself,  and then be handed his walking papers.  $20K on transportation to Memphis?  Did they travel in blankin' limos with wet bars and cocktail waitresses?   I'm a football fan and  Eagle Club member but will not "donate" one red cent to subsidize this kind of irresponsible behavior.  Maybe Shelby and Roy Klumb will graciously offer to cover the shortfall.  Sheesh (I can't use the word that comes to mind,  not even in olde English).

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The olde English word is "merde."

Actually, I checked, and you are right!

Hide and seek wrote:

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When I visit other parts of the country (including some parts of the south), I always hear questions.  They vary according to who is doing the asking: non-academics "how is football team doing--bet you miss Eli Manning."  Yes, they almost always think we are Ole Miss and the change to Southern Miss didn't help a bit.  If they are in education (or often in related professional fields), they ask about last year's fiasco, about appointing administrators without searches, about faculty governance issues, and about SACS probation.  These questions come from administrators as well as faculty.  In this field, you can't hide. 

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I'm glad you brought up Ole Miss ... or maybe we really should call it the "Ole Myth"... This past weekend, I attended my first football game at the University of Mississippi (and if the team doesn't get any better, it is likely to have been my last , but I digress). I found that seveeral "myths" have been foisted on USM athletic supporters about our facilities relative to those in Oxford.

Myth 1: USM's stadium is grossly inferior to Ole Miss's stadium. USM needs major stadium improvements.

Yes, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium has skyboxes. But M.M. Roberts (believe it or not) has much better restrooms & concession facilities. The only chairback seats I saw in the UM stadium were up near the skyboxes & I presume they were for the use of those who rent said skyboxes. They did have bolt-on chairbacks scattered around the place but no large sections of chairbacks that we see at M.M. Roberts. In fact, if one removed the bleacher-type stands at the east end zone, I don't think Vaught-Hemingway is much larger than M.M. Roberts, since it doesn't have an upper deck. In short, the proposed additions to the USM stadium would make it much nicer than what Ole Miss has.

The USM baseball facility also compares very well with the Ole Miss field. Basketball is another question... I haven't been inside the arena at Ole Miss, but it didn't look much better than Green Coliseum from the outside.

Myth 2: All campus parking needs to be reserved for dues-paying booster club members.

I arrived early & parked about 200 feet from the back of the Student Union. And when I left campus at 9 PM, I had not been towed or ticketed. Try that trick on game day at USM. The choicest parking (near The Grove) was zoned 15 minutes FOR EVERYBODY as loading areas. Yes, there were booster-only parking areas, but I also saw a campus cop wave a faculty member through so she could get to her office. No biggie. Try THAT trick on game day at USM.

Had I arrived late, I could've parked at a special parking lot & taken the free shuttle to The Grove for tailgating.

Myth 3: Ole Miss fans, students, etc. are snobs.

Forget that old hang. I encountered nothing but very friendly folks. Nobody asked to see my booster club membership. (I always get the impression at USM that they don't want to see you in the tailgating areas if you aren't a card-carrying Eagle Club member.)

Myth 4: USM has a corner on tacking athletic marketing.

Finally, anyone who thinks that Nitchampburg was creative marketing needs to see them wheel in the portable toilets at The Grove. They are clearly marked "Hotty Toddy Potties."

Myth 5: Ole Miss has a football team.

The students I saw running around on the field (I hesitate to call them "athletes") probably wouldn't win a game if they played in the Panhellenic flag-football league.

The students I saw running around on the field (I hesitate to call them "athletes") probably wouldn't win a game if they played in the Panhellenic flag-football league.

If they played at MSU, they would at least look like someone is trying to teach them how to play football.  Trying to make a defensive line coach into a head coach at a Div-I school is about as risky as trying to make a glorified department head into a university president.  The difference is that football is so much more important than academics that bad football coaches get fired.