A new day begins

Fellow Rebel fans a new season is upon us.  It is like Christmas morning.  What gifts will this season hold?  Will we get a shiny new red wagon or a bag of switches. Only time will tell.  We've already received two fabulous gifts. What's next?

Get ready to open the Jacksonville St. present.

Hotty Toddy!

Wow, a long time no see

Sorry to all my followers but I have been busy looking for a new job.  I still have my current job but I need a change.

It looks like we are going to Virginia. Should be fun.

My CBS Blog poll for Week 3

Below is my picks for this week's CBS blog poll.  Thoughts? How would you rank the top 25?

Rank	Team
1	Florida
2	Texas
3	Alabama
4	Mississippi
5	Penn State
6	California
7	LSU
8	Southern Cal
9	Ohio State
10	Boise State
11	Virginia Tech
12	Oklahoma
13	Miami (Florida)
14	Cincinnati
15	Oklahoma State
16	Georgia
17	North Carolina
18	Georgia Tech
19	Houston
20	Auburn
21	UCLA
22	Utah
23	Texas Tech
24	Florida State
25	Brigham Young

Two blowouts, swine flu, season begins

The Rebels started out sluggish again tonight but rolled to a comfortable 53-7 win.  After an odd start to 2009, the Rebels real season begins on Thursday against South Carolina.  This will be a true test of where we are. 
South Carolina used several turnovers in 2008 to barely defeat the Rebels.  The SI jinx.  Many would argue this should be a revenge game for Ole Miss.  I think Nutt should sell it that way.

I am a bit uneasy about the game Thursday night.  First I have no feel for this team.  After the first two games, both huge blowouts,  I can't say if I think we look better than the end of last year.  The Rebels seemed lackluster in both wins.  Was it the flu?  The week off in the early season?  Who knows.  Second, it's an SEC game.  Anything can happen when two SEC teams meet.  Third, South Carolina will be pumped to play a top 5 team.  Finally, South Carolina always packs their stadium and it can get loud. 

Rebels move up in both major polls

Ole Miss moved to number 6 in the AP poll and number 8 in the coaches poll after the 45-14 victory over Memphis. The Rebels continue to be in uncharted territory for my lifetime. This is the highest the Rebels have been ranked in my 36 years.

Memphis game observations

The game started out well for the Rebels.  The team seemed fired up and we scored 10 points early.  Then it seemed the spirit of the team evaporated until the 4th quarter.  Normally, Ole Miss fans would be happy with a 31 point win.  However, this time there are some folks who felt we should have done better.  Here are my thoughts on the game:

(1) This is the game for Memphis.  One could argue that this is more important to Memphis than any bowl game they play in.  A win over Ole Miss in any season is huge but with the Rebels being in the top 10 a win for Memphis would have been the biggest win in school history.  Bottom line, they were up for the game.  For us, it's a game we should win.  So it's hard for the team to be hyped for the game.

(2)  First game of the season.  It seems most teams play sloppy the first game of the season. 

(3) We finished.  The most important thing for me this weekend is how we finished.  We pored it on in the 4th.  This will be important for the rest of the season.

(4) Our  D only game up one drive the entire game. 

(5)  Jevan was very mobile in the pocket and eluded several possible sacks.

Gameday:Memphis

It's finally here.  The highly anticipated 2009 Rebel season is upon us.   Let's start this season off with a bang.  My prediction for today: Ole Miss 42 Memphis 14

SEC Sat.

There will not be a Rebel game tomorrow but there will be a multitude of SEC games that span the length of the day.

I'll start by watching some UK v. Miami of Ohio, which is being played here in Cincinnati but it isn't exciting enough for me to drag myself to the game. (especially with all the other games going on). I'll flip over occasionally to the UT game. Won't be much of a game but I want to see how they look. Then it's on to the Georgia game. I'll flip to the MSU game during commercials. Finally to cap it off I'll catch the Alabama, VTU game. Oh and I guess I'll catch some of the LSU game.

Less than two weeks, are you ready?

Wow, time flies. In less than two weeks the most highly anticipated Ole Miss season of my life begins. This is new territory for us Reb fans born after 1970. It's nice getting all this attention. It seems each day College Football Live has something to say about us. There is plenty of news articles written on the up and coming Rebs.

Regardless of what happens this season, I'm digging this.

The year of the Rebel?

Will the next 12 months be the year of the Rebel? Baseball is one game away from the CWS and all the preseason magazines have the football team ranked in the top 10 with a possible BCS bowl game. Basketball looks strong. So will this finally be the year that Ole Miss dominates the SEC in all major sports? Time will tell but for now, let's book our ticket to the CWS.

A note from the past

Recently I started scanning in old pictures and mementos to upload in a safe and secure place on the internet. You know, in case anything happens to the real ones.

I came across a letter from 1984 from an Ole Miss administrative person. I was 11 in 1984. As an assignment for a class I had to write a letter. I don't remember why. I decided to write to Ole Miss. I don't have the letter I wrote but I remember saying something to the effect that "I was so upset when we lost the game that I wanted to cry but instead I hit my sister." This letter was the response from Ole Miss.

I should look this guy up to see what he is doing now.

SEC West, the Big XII of 2009?

I was looking through my new SI when I found SI's top 10 for 2009. I was excited that Ole Miss is #6 and ranked the highest in my lifetime. But then I realized that the SEC owns almost 50% of the SI's Top 10. There are four SEC teams in the top 10. (Florida, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU) What's even more amazing is that the SEC West has three of the four SEC teams in the Top 10. Is there another division or even conference that can match up with the SEC West?

We all know the hype around the Big XII South this year. The hype stopped when the Big XII South went 1-3 in post season. Everyone assumed the Big XII South was the best division in college football. Of course they were wrong. Let's up this time the pundits have it right!

What's next?

Here are a few things to get you through the football slow time:

(1) Basketball- Yes we lost three outstanding players to injury but we did beat Arkansas.

(2) Baseball- Baseball is just around the corner. This should be an exciting year with an upgraded stadium.

(3) Recruiting- How high will Ole Miss move up in rankings to finish off the season.

(4) Super Bowl- No Manning but watch just for fun.

(5) 2009 schedule- A 12th game with a possible big BCS opponent in the works. Should be interesting who we play

It feels good to be a Rebel

It's been a long time coming. We, Rebel fans, deserve to feel good. It's nice to walk into work this week wearing Ole Miss attire and be respected by all of these Ohio State fans. I am sure Rebels all over the country are feeling the same pride as I am.

I think these feelings will only get better over the next few years. I believe we will be a preseason Top 10 team next year. I also believe that we have an outstanding shot at winning the SEC west and making our first trip to the SEC championship game in Atlanta. Wow, wouldn't that take a big monkey off our backs!

Hotty Toddy Rebel nation, we deserve this!

Who will we play in 09?

So who else will we play in 2009? According to NationalChamps.net future schedules, the following universities still need out of conferences foes for next year. Who do you want to play?

Washington State
Virginia
Tulsa
Tulane
TCU
Rutgers
Penn State
Oklahoma
Ohio
North Texas
North Carolina State
UNC
Michigan
Louisville
Louisiana-Lafayette
Kansas State
Houston
Florida State
Florida Atlantic
Duke
Colorado State
Central Michigan
California
BYU
Boston College
Ball State
Ark. State
Akron

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

2009 Cotton Bowl videos

Here are a few short videos I took at the 2009 Cotton Bowl:



Ole Miss cheerleaders



Halftime



Pride of the South at halftime



Rebelettes at halftime



More Pride of the South at halftime



Houston Nutt after the game.



Ole Miss band celebrating the victory.



Celebration after 47-34 victory



More celebration



And more




Pride of the South continues the celebration.

How it went down in Photos

Pictures from the Cotton Bowl

Hotty Toddy! What a great game. Enjoy

Start of the game. We missed kickoff even though we left the hotel (6 miles away) 4:00 hours prior to kickoff. We had a red parking sticker but they kept telling us that the lots were full. So we paid a guy to let us park in his lot. Luckily it wasnt a scam.

Ole Miss endzone

Texas Tech endzone

A few Tech fans with a sign sitting in front of us.

Ole Miss and Tech band members

Pride of the South, halftime

Texas Tech Band

Halftime

Texas Tech side towards end of game.

End of Game Celebration

I have scoreboard pictures after each of the scores as well as several videos that will be up later.

A couple of videos from Parade and Pep-rally