OleMissProblems has the potential to be an exponentially better Twitter account to follow, but recently its account holder tweeted something that might hint at more introspection than reflection on the weather – parking and alcohol. During the Egg Bowl, the account holder tweeted that he or she tweets for “Ole Miss,” not The University of Mississippi, and, yeah, I have to say I agree that there’s absolutely a difference between the two.
The University of Mississippi is an academic institution where people from all over the world can come to receive an education at a gorgeous place with talented and accomplished professors. Ole Miss can represent a whole slew of things at a time, from a place where you can come to enjoy alcohol and dicking around, to a place where you can come to pretend the Confeder- … God, I’m tired just thinking about that, anyway …
If this Ole Miss fantasy extends to any facet of the school, it undoubtedly stretches far, far, far over the football field — the only facet I can say with confidence that I love. For one, no other conference in the country is even comparable to the Southeastern Conference, because there’s hardly any other place on the planet that is as passionate about football than the American South. No sport has the ability to bring us together — or severely divide us — as much as football does. It’s a beautiful, wonderful thing and fun as hell. Win or lose. Especially here in Oxford.
Until we lose.
Admittedly, I am not the football fanatic that most people are. It’s a fun sport and great to watch, but if we lose, I’ll shrug it off, turn on Netflix, order a pizza and still turn up later. My emotional state isn’t affected so much that I’d spend precious minutes of my day harassing an athlete for his mistakes via social media, God forbid threatening to kill the dude via my precious Twitter. A dropped ball or missed catch on that turf doesn’t translate into a treacherous insult tantamount to calling your mother a bitch. I know it might pain you to hear it, but there are worse things you can do in this life than mess up during a football game.
I know. Scary as hell to consider. Only the zombie apocalypse can compare on an equally catastrophic level. Probably.
Despite what their performance on the field might do to your mood over the weekend, it is super prudent to remain mindful of the fact that these are real people with real feelings, whether or not you like to acknowledge the fact that they might exist on this Earth for a purpose that exceeds playing football. The fact of the matter is that Bo Wallace’s performance as quarterback, or any other player’s performance at his position, literally only matters when they’re on the field. When they’re off it, they are students at The University of Mississippi, hating finals week and parking services and the Office of Financial Aid just like the rest of us. It’s totally normal to be upset or disappointed when your team doesn’t perform as well as you’d like, but remember that these players — like you — are part of an academic institution first.
Sierra Mannie is a junior classics major from Ridgeland.
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