Ole Miss presented with $25,000 tab for party celebrating victory over LSU

Fans rush the field after Ole Miss' 27-24 win over LSU

    I published the photo above on Oct. 21. I was surprised that the security officials allowed the fans to storm the field, although perhaps there was little they could do to stop it.
    Now Ole Miss is paying the price, with a $25,000 fine being levied against the school by the SEC. The large fine is because Ole Miss is a repeat offender.
    Other schools were fined as well. Mississippi State received a repeat-offender $25,000 fine for excessive ringing of cowbells. Auburn was fined $5,000 as a result of the fans storming the field after the Alabama victory. Missouri also will have to pony up $5,000 following its celebration of its win over Texas A & M.
    I guess the Ole Miss needs to work harder at keeping the fans off the field!

Eagle story tells of Wild Bill Schneller thumbing nose, starting fight at 1938 Arkansas game

    Jack Lamar Mayfield tells the story of the massive fight at the 1938 Arkansas-Ole Miss game played at Crump Stadium in Memphis in the Friday, Oct. 21, Oxford Eagle.
    The story, entitled 'Wild Bill' Schneller thumbs nose at Arkansas defender is, unfortunately, behind a paywall. You can pay $5 and read the Oxford Eagle over the Internet for a month.
    I had not heard of this fight until a couple of months ago, when I read about it on a football chat board. I sent my good friend, Holly Springs attorney Bill Schneller an email asking if he was any relation. His response was simply "You must live under a rock, that was my dad." I didn't know for sure. I didn't think his dad had gone to Ole Miss until a few years later. The photo, however, does give it away for anyone who knows the younger Bill.
    At any rate, according to the Oxford Eagle column, Arkansas was losing pretty badly when Schneller intercepted a pass on the 50-yard line. He ran it back for a touchdown and when he saw no Arkansas players were near him he slowed to turn and thumb his nose at the Arkansas crowd, not once but twice, once while he was running and once as he crossed the goal line. There was no such thing as excessive taunting back in those days.
    The game ended shortly thereafter and Arkansas players sought justice. A huge fight erupted amongst the players which was eventually brought under control, but as for the fans they went at it for quite a while.
    Schneller played both offense and defense. Primarily a blocking back, he apparently carried the ball as well. An Associated Press story recapping the year said he scored five touchdowns in 19 plays in which he ran or received passes. Presumably his interception was one of these.
    It's a fun story and I'm glad I had a chance to read it. You can do a Google search on "Wild Bill Schneller" to learn more.

University speakers compare Forward Rebels to violent segregationists; Dan Jones basks in it

    I just returned from a ceremony honoring James Silver, who was a professor from the 1940s until 1965. He was a supporter of integration and was essentially chased from the Ole Miss campus. I wrote about the plans a couple of days ago.
    I didn't think my opinion of Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones could get any lower, but it has. Journalism professor Curtis Wilke described attacks on Silver by the Klan-like Rebel Undereground newspaper and Citizens Council. He praised Silver for standing up to these attacks. He then introduced Chancellor Dan Jones, and compared the Forward Rebels movement lobbying for a new athletic director to the Rebel Underground, Citizens Council, and segregation supporters, and praised Jones for standing firm.
    Jones had every opportunity to call for civility and point out that the Forward Rebels movement had nothing to do with any of these groups, but he didn't. Instead, he essentially ratified Wilke's comments by saying nothing, and going into a long spiel about about how the Ole Miss administration today stands firm against efforts to interfere with academic freedom. It was an obvious allusion to efforts by alumni to get Jones to fire athletic director Pete Boone. Earth to Dan Jones: The athletic director is not an academic post!
    William Winter, who has written a letter against Forward Rebels, then gave a fine talk as he always does. But when he described those who attempted to prevent Hodding Carter from speaking on campus he referred to them as "Forward Rebel types."
    The purpose of Forward Rebels is to push for improvements in the athletic department, including the firing of Pete Boone. I'm sure some supporters would like to have the Col. Rebel mascot back; most Ole Miss fans would. But as a practical matter that ship has sailed. That's not what the group is about.
    For university speakers to take advantage of a public forum to paint members of Forward Rebels as Klansmen, Citizens Council members and segregationists is a sign of just how desperate these people are becoming. Dan Jones knows he is losing and is adopting a scorched earth policy is a last-ditch effort to win.
     The Forward Rebels corporate structure is in a bit of disarray right now but the alumni-at-large don't care. There are almost 6,000 Facebook supporters and growing who support getting rid of Pete Boone and making other changes. If Dan Jones keeps up his despicable behavior he may need to go, too.
     It's time for Curtis Wilke, Dan Jones and William Winter to offer formal apologies for these outrageous comments. A failure to do so would be an act of incivility.

National press interpreting Jones letter as claim of physical threats

    In Chancellor Dan Jones' recent "civility" letter to alumni he claims to have been "threatened." As usual with proclamations appearing over Jones' name, we would do well to analyze this statement.

The Ole Miss family may not be aware, however, that as a part of this orchestrated campaign, I have received threats, promising that if I do not remove Pete Boone, "It is going to get real ugly," and threatening to expand the attacks to other athletics employees.

    Note carefully the chancellor's words. He says that he has received threats, the threat being that if he doesn't do the right thing and remove Pete Boone, "It is going to get real ugly." These people also are "threatening" to expand the attacks to other athletics employees.
     I don't believe a reasonable person engaged in a heated political debate would consider the phrase "It is going to get real ugly," to be a threat of physical violence. Yet Jones' letter, if not read carefully, leaves the impression that he or Boone have been physically threatened.
    That's certainly how the some of the national media have taken it. Take, for example, this blurb from the CBSsports.com website:

Something to chew on ... and spit out: Houston Nutt is merely on the hot seat at Mississippi. Mississippi chancellor Dan Jones released this letter Thursday saying he has been threatened and it could "get real ugly" if he doesn't fire AD Pete Boone.

    See how this media outlet didn't manage to parse Jones' letter exactly right? The "threat" Jones alleges is that if he doesn't fire Boone it could "get real ugly." CBS interpreted it to mean that he had been told things could "get real ugly" AND he had been threatened. A perfectly understandable error given the way Jones' letter was written.
    USAToday reports the following:

Some Mississippi fans are not happy with Pete Boone and they are showing it by making threats against the school's athletic director and other officials.

     An ESPN blog reported on the "threats" but then managed to report that the threat was that if Boone wasn't fired things would "get real ugly."
    There are, sadly, a number of other media outlets that have interpreted Jones' letter as suggesting that "threats" have been made. When used without the explanation that the "threat" is that things will get "real ugly" the assumption is that those threats are threats of physical harm.
    I had not written one word about any of the athletic department mess prior to receiving the chancellor's "civility" letter yesterday. When I read it I was outraged.
    When people argue over policy, it is not uncommon for someone to warn that things might "get real ugly." For Jones to come out bleating that he has been threatened has resulted in harm to the entire Ole Miss community. It was an act of incivility.
    A friend of mine posted the following on his Facebook wall yesterday. I realize Ole Miss is controlled by a few big donors these days, but little people matter, too:

I've languished over this decision. I've been in the UMAA Foundation since I graduated law school, and did the 110% club for several years when the economy allowed me to do it. I love Ole Miss, but I can no longer support our leaders. Boone's radio interview and Jones' letter have convinced me beyond any doubt that the status quo will continue, and they only want my money with no accountability. I can no longer do it in good faith.

     From my observation of Jones, he is obsessed with "being the winner" in any confrontation. Jones could have sent out a letter stating, "I'm sorry I wasn't listening well enough. Let's see if we can get everybody at the table and work this out." (Bogus, but it might have defused things). Instead, he insulted and denigrated those who disagreed with him and made a bunch of bogus claims.
    Jones has managed to convince a large portion of the national media that we're all down here threatening physical violence against each other. To the best of my knowledge it's not true, and by doing this our chancellor has done great harm to Ole Miss.

Do bad teams produce great punters?

CLICK TO ENLARGE

    Tyler Campbell is turning out to be one of the best punters in the country. He is, in fact, one of the few bright spots on the Rebel football team. Of course, he's had lots of practice.
    His ability as a punter isn't measured just in the average number of yards kicked. He frequently uses a rugby-style kick that allows the Rebels to down the ball within the opponents 10-yard line. A longer punt would bring them out to the 20.
    Looking back, one of the last great punters Ole Miss has had was Jim Miller, back in the horrible Steve Sloan era (I think he played one year under Ken Cooper). Jim had lots of practice, too! He went on to play NFL ball for several years before retiring (I've heard due to homesickness). He is coaching and teaching in his hometown of Ripley, Miss.
    Perhaps if time permits I could take a look at some of the better punters to enter the NFL and compare their ability to the quality of the teams they come from. Something tells me bad or mediocre teams tend to produce great punters. Necessity is, after all, the mother of invention.
    While looking up information on Miller, I found a great newspaper article on Hoppy Langley, who was a kicker (not punter) for the Rebels, I think from 1976 to 1980. The article appeared in the Aiken, S.C. Standard in 2009.     The article struck me as one of the better sports feature stories I've read, particularly since it came from a newspaper with a mere 16,000 circulation.

UPDATED 9-28-13 to repair link. UPDATED 9-10-18 to include clip.

Old Movie provides solution to Ole Miss coaching woes

    Ole Miss had in Ed Orgeron a head coach who was one of the nation's best recruiters but who was a terrible game coach.
    In Houston Nutt we have a coach who is a pretty good game coach (although sometimes I wonder) but who apparently has no sense at all when it comes recruitment of players. Now that Orgeron's players have worked their way through the system there is a complete hodgepodge of talent on the team.
    So what do we do? The solution can be found in that 1972 film classic, "The Thing with Two Heads," starring Rosie Greer and Ray Milland. In that movie, a racist white multi-millionaire who is dying plots to have his head grafted onto the body of a death-row inmate. When he wakes up from the surgery he finds that his head has been grafted onto the only inmate they could find -- one who just happened to be black. You can bet the racist white millionaire wasn't happy about this one little bit.
    For the graft to work they had to share the body for several weeks. Needless to say, this is where the fun starts, as the racist white millionaire interacts with the angry wrongly convicted black man. One could say that this movie deserves the credit for the end of racial conflict in this country and the election of a black president!
    I remember seeing this delightful work of cinematography at the old Holly Theater in Holly Springs. At one time the cost of the Saturday matinee was 35 cents, but I think by 1972 it had risen to a half-dollar. Cokes and popcorn were served in small sizes at intermission so a kid could go to the picture show, get a drink and a popcorn, for a dollar. These days admission, drink, and popcorn costs about $20!
    My recollection is that the Picture Show burned not too long after showing this masterpiece. Destroyed in the fire was the only copy of "The Holly Springs Story," in which I had three lines. My recollection is that the film was made by Hal Roach, of Little Rascals fame, who traveled the country in the late 1960s or early 1970s giving "acting" lessons to children. My parents paid $19.95 for me to be in the film and like most kids I had two lines; however, when one child couldn't say, "A million dollars, gee whiz that's a lot of dough!" with any modicum of excitement, I said the line out loud and ended up getting a third line in the movie. My parents were not charged any extra, either. It was a dreadful production, but I sure wish I had a copy!
    But enough of the past; back to Ed Orgeron and Houston Nutt. Can anybody doubt that the two men together might be able to eventually bring the Rebels to victory? And if not, wouldn't it be fun to watch them together on the field when the Rebels are losing? Certainly the fans need some kind of relief, and if you doubt what fun this could be, see the movie trailer from The Thing with Two Heads, which I've posted below.

Hello! Texas A & M is not in the Southeast!

    I'm not the world's biggest sports fan, so I suppose those who are more knowledgeable about these things can declare that I don't know what I'm talking about. But can anybody make a good, honest case for bringing Texas A&M into the Southeastern Conference?
    I'm aware that it's a fine school with a very competitive football program. On paper its additional makes the SEC a more competitive conference.
    But there are some obvious problems, the most glaring being that Texas isn't in the Southeast. A quibble, I know, but if the SEC is going to add Texas A&M, why stop there? Why not go for UCLA? Or Ohio State? Michigan, anyone?
    Thirteen isn't just an unlucky number, it's also a bit unwieldy for a football conference. At some point a conference has enough teams. The idea is that the conferences are supposed to compete against one another. That's hard to do when all the teams are in a single conference.
    Supposedly there are plans to expand the SEC to 16 schools. Candidates include West Virginia, Missouri, North Carolina State, Virgina Tech, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Clemson. West Virginia and Missouri generally aren't thought of as being in the Southeast, and as such shouldn't be in the SEC. The rest of the teams would be fine were it not for the need to limit the number of teams at some point.
    This is a done deal as far as the SEC is concerned. They've voted and Texas has accepted. The only stumbling block now is that Baylor is threatening to sue to keep A&M in the Big 12. I wish Baylor the best of luck.
    Texas is a fine state, but it needs to keep Texas A&M right where it is, and we need to keep the SEC just like it is.