Lots of happy Rebels leaving Dallas this morning

I'm sitting in DFW and I have seen numerous Rebel fans heading home with a big ole grin on their faces. This is a great feeling and a long time coming.

This is the first time I've personally experienced a big Rebel win at a bowl game. I didn't have the chance to attend the Cotton Bowl in 2003. The last bowl game I attended was when I was in the band at Ole Miss. We played Air Force in the Liberty bowl in the early 90's. We won, but it was really cold. Despite the weather being much better this time, I don't think that will be my memory of this game.

Yesterday morning didn't start out very well for us. We left for the game four hours prior to kick off thinking we had plenty of time. After all, we were only six miles from the Cotton Bowl. Also, I had purchased a parking pass from Ole Miss. We didn't make kickoff. The traffic was horrible and we tried to park in three different Red parking lots but were told they were full. So we took a chance and paid a store owner $10 to park in his lot. Luckily the end of the game was much better than the start for us. And to top it all off, the rental car was still there when we returned from the game.

Tech fans were generally nice. They were not the worse fans I've ever encountered despite their reputation on the message boards. Of course I would hate for fans from other schools to obtain an impression of Ole Miss fans from some of our posters on the boards. Most were friendly and I had a good time chatting with them. A few of them made jesters and called us "losers" before the game but they were tame after.

The Cotton Bowl stadium was in great shape. I wouldn't mind going to another game there in the future. I could see how it might not be a pleasant place to visit if the weather was horrible . I don't blame the Cotton Bowl for moving to the new stadium.

I knew there would be quite a few Rebels there but I was shocked at just how many actually made the trip. Rebel fans flew in from all over. I met folks from Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Ohio and Colorado. During the game it was hard to tell how many Ole Miss fans were in the stadium because our colors are similar. Red, Red, Black, Navy However, after the Tech fans started to leave it was apparent just how many Rebels made the trip. I'm not good with numbers so I won't guess but the media cannot say we don't travel well.

This experience was a good one for me. Even if we hadn't won I would still have had a good time. I recommend all Rebel fans make a bowl trip in the future.

Hotty Toddy