In light of Ole Miss Dean of Students Sparky Reardon’s retirement, The Daily Mississippian searched the archives and is reprinting one of Sparky’s sports columns from when he was assistant sports editor of The DM in 1970. This column was first published on Feb. 25, 1970, and it is a response to University of Tennessee student sports writer Bob MacDonald’s column about his experience at the Nov. 15, 1969, Tennessee-Ole Miss football game in Jackson. The game is popularly referred to as “The Jackson Massacre,” in which the Rebels beat the No. 3 ranked Volunteers 38-0. Prior to the game, Vols fans questioned quarterback Archie Manning’s skills and brought signs to the game that read, “Archie Who?”
Sparky’s column is a very sarcastic take on MacDonald’s column, and it even includes some smack talk about Mississippi State, or “the udder school.”
Oh, you nasty nasty Rebels!
The very idea of your being the worst fans that Mr. Bob MacDonald of the UT Daily Beacon has ever seen. Mr. MacDonald, we owe you an apology.
We are especially sorry that you put yourself out by taking the assignment to come to the Delta State. Let it be known that if we had known such a distinguished sportswriter as you were visiting our campus, that we would have done all in our power to have made your visit a little bit more pleasant.
Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to you Mr. Mac for having to go to Starkville. We here at the Mississippian have no great love for the udder school either, but we do find that it is better to keep our criticism of other University’s localities just a little bit milder. There were probably many exciting parties going on at Starkville, but they were probably only for sharp people who knew where to find them.
It is rather ironic that you should find a football game at the Rebeldome on Monday night, but it is obvious to us here at the Mississippian that after the November 15th fiasco at Jackson that the people at UT obviously know little about football.
And then those horrible Rebel fans, the very idea of them pelting poor ole Ray Mears with debris. Maybe there’s a job open for a basketball coach in Florida. Some people get smart quick. Besides the Rebel fans like the Gators much more than they care for the Big Orange, so Ray, take a hint.
Mr. Mac, we are sorry to read such a nasty column about the Rebels, but we were glad to see that ya’ll finally found out who Archie is and what his army does.
Yes, Bob, I too have heard and read what horrible people attend the University of Mississippi, but oh my, that bundle of obscenities that the Rebels used. Why you would have thought that the Rebel game should have been rated X. Why the very idea of the use of such words as “go”, “to”, and “hell”.
And then to top everything off that big bad Mr. Jarvis hopped off the Ole Miss bench and verbally slayed Mr. Mears. It was really a horrible sight. I’m glad that there were very few children in the the crowd.
Yes, Mr. MacDonald we are really sorry that all of this happened at a great American pastime. And surely the students, excuse me, the “distraught students, kept yelling 38-0. . .” We were reminding you of our gridiron victory, but I don’t think that you had forgotten, or why else would you have written that column.
Mr. MacDonald, some day you will probably learn, as Mr. Kiner once did that silence is so very, very golden.
