It was announced last week that the Egg Bowl, the rivalry football game between Mississippi State University and Ole Miss, would be played on Black Friday this year. For the past several years, it had been played on Thanksgiving Day, usually opposite an NFL game. Moving it to Black Friday, it pretty much means the game won’t have much competition and more people across the country will experience the craziness of the Egg Bowl.
I’ve been a Bulldog fan for most of my life. Growing up just 15 minutes away from Starkville, it just came naturally.
As a young fan in the 80’s, my fandom was usually full of disappointment. The Rebels won more Egg Bowls during this time than I’d like, and I had to deal with friends and family that pulled for them. It was at this time, I started down that path of “hate”. And you know what I’m talking about. If you’ve been to an Egg Bowl, there is hate. Just like any other rivalry. People from all over Mississippi get along for the most part, but on the day of the Egg Bowl, look out!
After each of these losses, my friend Joey and I would meet at the radiator in our homeroom class at school and talk about the game the following Monday morning. It usually went something like this: “Oh, we kicked that butt, like we always do,” said Joey. “You barely won! If it wasn’t for you people being pagan worshippers and summoning your idol to blow our field goal backwards through the goal posts, we would have won. You bunch of cheaters,” I’d reply.
The comments, and the language used, only went downhill as we grew older.
Things changed in the 90’s and it came in the form of head coach Jackie Wayne Sherrill, the Kang! The rivalry evened up on the football field with his arrival and boy did he strike a nerve with them. Who would have thought calling them “Mississippi” would drive so many into a rage. But that’s just it. This rivalry will drive you mad if you’re a true fan and result in some crazy behavior. We’re all guilty. And we all love it.
It was at this time that I started attending all the home football games while enrolled at State. I’ve had my taste of plenty of wins, and I’ve had that bitter taste of defeat. Except with the defeats, I’ve usually left the stadium well before it’s over. Yes, I can’t deal with it. Sad, isn’t it? To get so seething angry at a football game that you must leave. But that’s my toxic trait. Just leave.
And it’s due to this behavior that I’ve missed some of the all-time best highlights of State football. I missed the “Pick and Kick” play during the ending of the 1999 Egg Bowl and the punt return in the 2007 Egg Bowl, both leading to Bulldog victories while I stared at a TV regretting my leaving.
So, honestly, I’m glad they’re moving the game from Thanksgiving to Black Friday. Nobody should spend their day of thanks preparing to hate. They should be spending time with family and reminding those that need to be reminded of the tail whoopin’ that’s coming to them the next day.
