That my friends is an actual billboard erected by "The School Beneath Us" in our lovely town a mere half-mile from the most beautiful campus in the country. It's shocking that they would have the gall to do this, right? Actually, the more and more that I've thought about it, this heinous act really isn't as shocking as much as it is just plain sad and pathetic. So instead of grabbing a can of gasoline and setting fire to this billboard, I have decided to expound upon the two reasons why I feel that it so sad and pathetic: (feel free to list your own personal grievances in the comment section)
- Mississippi State University (an accredited institution of higher education) PAID to put this billboard up - My first thought upon seeing this sign was that it was probably put up by some maniacal state fan who happened to have made a little extra money this year selling chewing tobacco and NASCAR license plates in the junction, but if you look closely, that is an actual Mississippi State logo. AN ACTUAL LOGO! This means that at some point the marketing team at State sat around a board room in Starkville and decided that it was a good idea to spend money on a billboard for the sole purpose of pissing a large group of people off. While it did piss me off, the fact of the matter is that it was an absolutely pathetic move, and I can promise you that THE University of Mississippi will never waste its money on such a petty display.
- The Billboard Was Probably Dan Mullen's Idea: I've honestly never really hated Mississippi State that much. I just haven't. In my life, I've reserved most of my hatred for teams that have given me a reason to hate them like LSU and Alabama, and I've chosen to simply ignore the Rebel's irrelevant little brother, MSU. In fact, I have chosen to never even set foot on the campus of Mississippi State (but I've heard horror stories). In the past few years, however, Dan Mullen has somehow managed to ignite a fiery hatred deep within my soul for MSU that seems to grow daily. Yes, it angers me that he has beaten us 3 years in a row, but lets be honest, Houston Nutt isn't exactly a coaching genius so thats not what pisses me off. What angers me about Mullen is that for three years he has acted like a complete douche bag and he has convinced a large group of people, who I probably have more similarities with than differences, to act like douche bags. He insists on not referring to Ole Miss by its name, he has littered Mississippi highways with signs proclaiming that he and his beloved Bulldawgs "own the state", and he has somehow brainwashed MSU's fan base to believe that they are "champions"even though they have only won three SEC West games during his tenure (all three wins are against Ole Miss). Dan Mullen is a delusional, pathetic man who prefers to generate buzz for his team through redneck propaganda rather than actually winning.
Well said, friend. Well said.
ReplyDeleteHaha hail state! You getting mad is exactly what we want!! Piss on ole piss gthtsun!! Hail state hail state Gail state!! 3 in a row going for more!!
ReplyDeleteGO TO HELL TSUN!!! HAIL STATE!!
ReplyDeleteAside from Mississippi State’s idiotic and thoughtless timing to place such a billboard – when 90% of the university is home for Christmas break and hasn't even seen it (that’s right; some of us don’t need the additional schooling and don’t have to go back to school the same time as high school) – this gesture falls under the same category as class and money; those who have it need not talk about it. If this is the approach MSU has to take in order to feel as though they can read higher than a 5th grade level, though their actions prove to be just as juvenile, I dare not stand in the way. Grow up, stop trying to cause unnecessary drama, and realize that while you may live in a community where class and beauty aren’t respected and upheld, some of us are trying to live up to our reputation at #1 Most Beautiful. 93 miles down the road; the farm’s thattaway. -Sid
ReplyDeleteGet over it and get over yourselves. You are all acting like a bunch of babies and I love that this is upsetting you so much. "You people" have had such an elitist attitude for so long you actually believe your own nonsensical propoganda. It is about time you were drug down and reminded of your actual place in this world. In fact - if MSU had the kind of past that the university of mississippi had I would probably try to make myself something I'm not also. Your racist past will haunt you forever. Your nickname comes from what the slaves called the mistress of the plantation and it wasn't that long ago that PEOPLE WERE KILLED by individuals trying to stop a black man from enrolling in school. Yep...I was wrong, you are SOOO much better than us
ReplyDelete“If MSU had the kind of past that the University of Mississippi (I grammatically corrected your quote, please excuse me) had I would probably try to make myself something I'm not also. Your racist past will haunt you forever” –Are you really that big of an uneducated, hypocritical bigot? The “Racists” past of Mississippi is not exclusive to The University of Mississippi. Do yourself a favor and brush up on your history. Your ignorance does not merit a full history lesson;I have better things to do with my time and B.A. than waste it on you, but go to an archive of the filmed University of Mississippi v. Mississippi State University game played post admission of James Meredith and look really hard at your sideline. Guess what your “non-racist” school allowed? A giant banner saying, “At least we still don’t have Niggers”. Yes, great job calling out “Ole Miss” aka THE UNIVERSITY of Mississippi out on our racist past. Again go pick up a history book and educate yourself on the role the state of Mississippi played in Racism of this entire Nation, because clearly your State education skipped over that.
DeleteAnd at the end of the day, a school’s reputation relies far more heavily on its academic standings than on Football statistics, or it should because you aren’t going to get a job based off of how man SEC wins you have or that you've won so many made up trophies that no one aside from Ole Miss or State fans care about. The Billboard is an unnecessary action that has no other impact than hurting Mississippi. All it is doing is bring more negative attention to two lack luster football programs. And to guise such a petty, inflammatory, juvenile act as a recruiting tactic is absurd. But what would I know about any of this, I’m just a big bigot, racist because I am a University of Mississippi graduate.
All you pathetic Black Bears who commented on how this is so juvenile, why then do y'all copy everything we do? Highest form of flattery. Hail State! 3 in a row going on 4.
ReplyDeleteThose billboards are all over the state. You should be proud Oxford is a large enough town to be cOnsidered worthy of such a billboard.
ReplyDeleteHahaha looks like OUR marketing department got exactly what they wanted. A rise out of the rival school. I mean since we do own the state basically, we can put up a billboard wherever we want. Dont be jealous OUR marketing department is better than yours, just like our team. And until y'all can beat us, this is OUR STATE because we have no other competitors in the state of MS.
ReplyDeleteTo claim MS State is full of rednecks is ridiculous. We all live in Mississippi, were all considered rednecks, buddy. As said before this is OUR STATE! HAIL STATE! HAIL STATE!
ReplyDelete" little brother " my ass,when you have been to the sec champinship in football, the final 4 in basketball and the college world series - then you can callus little brother- since that wont happen any time soon- kiss off!!!! at least our basketball court dont get wet when it rails!!!
ReplyDeleteTo Brad and all the other Ole Miss Fans who have never visited Starkville. I would like to thank you and I hope you keep it that way.
ReplyDeleteI've visited Oxford many times and even enjoyed it, but I have been treated terrible at football games, baseball games and basketball games.
You try and look down your noses at us and even other schools. What you don't realize is...........we don't care. We see you for what you are.
YOU ARE:
-a university that is made up of a large percentage of out of state students.
-a university that claims to be the 'Harvard of the South' (news flash - take a look at entrance scores on ACT for both schools, take a look at average salaries)
-a university that is perceived as racists and tied into past traditions that hurt your image (note: i don't feel this way regarding the racist part)
-a university with a false sense of self regarding all things including but not limited to football, baseball, basketball, academics, etc.
-a university that boasts about your med school and law school (hint: dig into the numbers of each and see where the largest % of students come from)
WE ARE:
-a university of engineers, farmers, accountants, business people, artists, etc. and we are DAMN proud of all grads
-a university that accepts all walks of life and we even encourage diversity (be it black, white, rednecks, foreigners, liberals, or conservatives)
-a university that has achieved many things nationally (research, engineering competition championships [yes multiple], international business recognition, growth, etc.)
-MISSISSIPPIANS and welcome outsiders
-THE PEOPLE'S UNIVERSITY
If you choose to visit Starkville and actually keep an open mind (i'm sure you can't), you'd realize that it is actually a great place to send a kid to college (athlete or not), but if you choose to continue being ignorant and bash a town and community based on word of mouth, then so be it. WE DON'T CARE.
First of all Mississippi State was created as Mississippi A&M, so I hope your school would lead in “farmers” and other agricultural related fields. So congratulations to you that in landscaping you rank Number 2 as of 2009! Yes you do have a very good engineering program, but again that is what State is known for so I’m proud that you are number 5 as of 2007 in research and development and the overall 34th top engineering school in the nation. Super! Pat yourself on the back! And as an aside, Ole Miss has excellent Civil and Geological Engineering programs. And awesome that as of 2002 you were a bargain school for students on a budget, that is really neat to know. Oh yeah and I almost forgot that you make really awesome cheese.
DeleteAnd as far as having an open mind to come to Starkville, I have been there. I have attended Bulldog Bash and had an awesome time. Two of my best friends have B.S degrees from State. And hey y’all’s Old Venice kicks Oxford’s ass. But again to completely negate the appeal of Oxford and the national attention it garners is trivial of you. So, I hope me recognizing all of the cool things about State will make you more open to what I am about to point out.
You are forgetting a few things in your The University of Mississippi v. State— It is also very easy to lead when there are no competitors.
You are comparing apples to oranges, as The University of Mississippi does not have all of the same programs as State. It would be like me saying we own your Law School and Med Schools. And when you are assessing our Law School and Medical School you are just being spiteful in dismissing them.
The University of Mississippi is in the top 100 of law schools and if you did some research you would better understand WHY it fell in ranking. Law school is also very expensive and when you compare instate tuition cost to out of state tuition, yep looks like many students will opt for in state.
As for the Medical School, it is leading in the Nation in specific medical programs. Many Med Schools only admit in state students, and I believe the Med is one of those. Also, to claim that you are the dominate business school and accountant school is just silly when Ole Miss ranks in the top 25 out of the nation.
Also, you bash us for being a largely out-of- state populated university, but then pride State on their acceptance of diversity….hello, diversity includes regional diversity. So that wasn’t really a great argument was it?
Which leads me to you claiming our Harvard of the South reputation is not garnered. It is not only a boasting of our leading Law School, which helped shape some of the laws of this Great Nation, but of our deep rooted history and beauty which is a thing of PRIDE within the South, much like Harvard is a beacon of pride in the North. You should be Proud of YOUR public law school.
And the real point to all of this and why the billboard is so detrimental is that instead of building up our State, that does have such a checkered and racist past, a redneck idiot reputation , a “why in the hell would I got to MS” reputation, these types of antics drag it right back down in the mud. People are distracted by the silly State fans slamming Ole Miss instead of seeing all of the WONDERFUL accolades Mississippi Schools have and how prospective students should WANT to attend Mississippi’s public institutions.
I am mature and honest enough to admit that I certainly care what individuals think about my alma mater, even my “rivals”. So, Hail State all you want, but don't forget you also hail from Mississippi.
To bash us for our academics when you are only bashing yourself—The State of Mississippi and what it has to offer to advance our own young adults and to draw in out of state students who will also help build up our OUR State’s reputation, because after all we both are PUBLIC institutions. And if you cannot see that, then you really are as petty, malicious and as ill thought out as that billboard.
The medical school lets in people from all over the world, not just in-state students.
DeleteWell there you are, one more example of Diversity.
DeleteJim I did comprehend your post. There is absolutely no reason to be condescending. Maybe you should go and re-read what you initially wrote and really think long and hard about saying you do not care what we,The University of Mississippi, thinks. Again, clearly you do otherwise you would not be on this blog, you would not feel it necessary to attack Ole Miss, and insult me and other Ole Miss fans. The formulation of your argument was to juxtapose the two schools i.e implying one is the "better"of the hence my response. If you don't realize that you need to go back to an 8th grade English class and relearn comparison/contrast and persuasive essay writing. All of your responses to every poster, not just myself, have been arrogant, rude, defamatory, condescending and unwarranted, as examples by "not trying to sound rude or obnoxious, but when in Rome...". Thank you Jim for reminding me of the old adage "never argue with a fool" thus I am done.
DeleteSo Layla,
DeleteYou'd say that none of the OM posters (again including the author of the blog) were putting down MSU?
And again, I was not trying to put down OM. I was putting down the attitude that so many OM people have. The attitude of we are better than you. Again, you are not.
How much clearer can I make this? Ole Miss is a fine institution with many fine people, but it is very comparable to Mississippi State University.
Bodiene - The grammatical and spelling errors in your post make my head hurt. You aren't making a very good case for the supremacy of your school.
ReplyDeleteTo Hardy Farris............Not Brad
ReplyDeleteSince Mississippi State is so high and mighty about these past "3 years" in football, Ole Miss ranks in the top 50 winningest football programs in the nation where Mississippi State doesn't even break the top 100. Dan Mullen has given y'all two mediocre seasons at best. Yeah we've had a bad past two years and it might take a few years to get our program back the way it used to be, but it doesn't change the fact that historically Ole Miss outshines Mississippi State.
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ReplyDeleteTo Jim Hunter Walsh: although Hardy may not has been to Starkville, I am from Mississippi and have been to Starkville (a few times too many if I do say so myself). It's not a city I would brag about. It does nothing to separate itself from the other small Mississippi towns, and that includes your institution. Oxford has been noted as one of the most beautiful towns in the nation, whereas Starkville is nothing more than just another town to pass through. Mississippi State can "own" the state of Mississippi if they really want to because we all know where Mississippi ranks compared to the rest of the nation.
ReplyDeleteRead my post.
DeleteTo Jim Hunter Walsh: although Hardy may not has been to Starkville, I am from Mississippi and have been to Starkville (a few times too many if I do say so myself).
"may not has been"???? Nice!!!
I digress though so to your point...........Let me reiterate. WE DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK OF OUR TOWN. WE LOVE IT.
because we all know where Mississippi ranks compared to the rest of the nation.
Again, read my post.
WE ARE PROUD TO BE MISSISSIPPIANS AND THE REASON WE LOOK DOWN ON YOU IS B/C YOU AREN'T.
What 'reason' do you have to hate Alabama so much? As an Alabama supporter and fan, I never gave much thought to 'hating' Ole Miss. I always pulled for Ole Miss(unless playing Alabama), but now I will rethink my feelings. It's 'fans' like you that causes such things as the placement of that billboard. Give me a break! Get over it cry baby! Sincerely, A FORMER non-hater of Ole Miss
ReplyDeleteWe are taking about a billboard right, not a game or significant competition. Seriously, a billboard people. I forgot how petty things can become so monumental, when there is nonthing of real significance that takes place in your little rinky dink towns. BTW: Go State!!!!
ReplyDeleteWait, doesn't TSUN always try to say we can't spell or use proper words? Mr. "HottyToddy" said "although Hardy may not HAS been to Starkville." If I'm right 100% sure I am that's suppose to be HAVE. Ole piss always tries to look down their noses and talk about how they're so smart and better than everybody. Well, you may want to take another look! Haha TSUN's finest in action lol!
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah. #HAILSTATE #3inarow
ReplyDeleteGO TO HELL TSUN GTHTSUN!!
Keep your friends close...and enemies closer.
ReplyDelete