Open Thread and Meditation on Ole Miss Football
So life is interferring with the internet– I spent five hours today at a school hearing, and come out to deal with all the other stuff accumulating while I’m tied up, and learn…
…a bartender at the City Grocery says that the betting line in Vegas opened with Ole Miss the favorite by a few points, and that it shifted almost immediately by more points for Ole Miss, meaning those oddsmakers must know something. I point out that what I thought that would mean is that the money is going to Ole Miss, shifting the odds so the bookmakers have a balanced book. But I’m still slightly surprised that unranked Ole MIss is a few-point favorite over 9th ranked LSU.
So I check things out when I get home and see the folks on Tiger Droppings (hello, Kingfish) talking about the Vegas line opening favoring LSU by 7 and then (when the bets start coming in) dropping to 4.
Meanwhile, BetOnLine has Ole Miss with a slight edge.
I’m still nervous about Saturday.
The fundamental fact of being an Ole Miss fan is scarily like being a southerner– your heart will get broken by this lost cause, whether the lost cause is Pickett’s Charge, or being part of culture that enslaved your kin. Either way, your ancestors didn’t win.
I’m not really wanting to dwell on this at this point. Suffice it to say I haven’t let go of the foreboding I had watching the South Carolina game, ingrained in me since that moment at age 14 I saw Archie Manning’s arm get broken.
The Tennessee game was an unalloyed pleasure. While I get a repeat this weekend after a tough week of work? Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I’m going out of town tomorrow. I’ll try to post but can’t be sure. Call this an open thread in case I can’t.
Bruiser Charles Scott out for the season, Jefferson dealing with an ankle injury, no depth at quarterback for the Tigers, McCluster coming on strong; home field advantage for Ole Miss; and the historic all-bets-are-off-so-you-can-throw-out-the-record-book rivalry betwen these two clubs = a great college football game that either team can win. It doesn’t get much better than that in SEC world.
LSU’s tight end is out. Jefferson probably plays but Scott is out.
HOWEVER that has forced Crowton, who everyone is ready to see go, to use Keiland as a feature back and surprise, he actually produces when he starts getting carries. Murphy is out for year so they are down to Williams and Ridely at rb plus Russell Sheperd. Defense much improved under Chavis but major problems stopping the run. LSU also has an O Line problem. I expect a close game. always is.
01 Ole Miss won. 02 LSU by a point. 03, LSU by 3. 04: LSU barely won despite a record setting performance by Alley Broussard. 05: Slaughter, team quit on Orgeron who deserved it. 06: LSU in OT 07: LSU barely beat Ole miss 08: Ole Miss blowout win.
So if I’m an LSU fan, I’m the one that’s nervous.
Speaking of unpredictables … so I went to the bank in February to put the touch on ‘em for a $1,000,000 loan. Ford stock was trading for around a buck. I wanted to load up on Ford, knowing full well it would go at least to $2 sooner or later … I’d pay the bank off and keep the other mill for myself.
But the bank loan officer told me I was fulla crap. I hear that from a lotta people.
This morning, Ford punched thru $9.
If only they hadda trusted me. If only … if only … if only ….
1986 Oxford and Ole Miss home movie scenes, part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wOHHYBLKxs
:21 – Former Syd & Harry’s employees Tommy Wiliams and Robin Reed.
:27 – Trowbridge and Harrington performing.
:31 – Webb Wilder performing in front of the Union.
:43 – I think that’s Ronzo and Chesley Pearman.
1:01 – Doug Roberts and Lynn Faulk (now Doug and Lynn Roberts).
1:27 – That’s not Daniel Morrow dancing in the yellow shirt.
3:03 – I can’t remember that big blonde guy’s name, but I do remember he liked Bobby Womack.
5:28 – Lee Thigpen performing.
5:37 – That’s not Ronzo, but I do remember that guy.
7:27 – Looks like some good tie-dying going on in front of the Union, but where’s Bobby Farrell?
7:42 – Beanland playing on the old Grove stage, complete with the Buddha those girls in Tuscaloosa stole!
Alas, the joys of being an Ole miss fan.
Those folks at TigerDropping are out of their mind. It would be a nearly a historical moment to have a line move from 4 or 7 on one team to 4.5 on the other. can you imagine the liability vegas would be exposing themselves to by allowing players to get on both sides of the game where a 3 point win by either team cashes in for the bettor and the bettor’s only liability is the lost vig if a team wins by more than 3? Books would never do that. they’d rather keep a bad line that allow big players to kill them on that.
Everything i have seen shows that this line started w/ ole miss by 3 and has moved up to 4 and in some books 4.5. early line moves, especially off of a key number like 3, mean that some big money players and/or well known strong handicappers like ole miss a lot in this game.
So, yes, NMC, this is now the books trying to get money on LSU to get an even amt of money on both sides.
I agree with Jaxrelief. Someone at TD (which I do not read) had to have misread the line. Andthevalleyshook.com said the line made Ole Miss a 3 pt favorite. And talk about nervous, us LSU fans can only hope Jefferson really is healthy, because Lee couldn’t move the ball against La Tech, completely going in the tank in the second half. His stats in that half were something like 3/12 for 30 yards. What is he going to do against an SEC defense?
North Shore: Depends. If the Rebs bring their Auburn and South Carolina defenses to Saturday’s game, the Tigahs won’t confront any defense. But if we bring the UT defense … Tigahs gonna need a lotta bandaids. Just sayin’…
This being an open-thread, I am happy to announce to the blog that my son-in-law has made it home from Afghanistan safe and sound. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for his safe return. Also, I am scheduled to become a grandfather on Nov. 23. Why am I more nervous about becoming a grandparent than I was about becoming a parent? I guess when I was younger, I was too stupid to know any better.
WTBAL: Congratulations on your son-in-law’s return and the imminent arrival of a grandchild. Don’t worry about being a grandfather … it will come naturally to you. And pretty soon you’ll discover that the sweetest 3 words in the English language are ” Bye bye, Granddaddy.”
Thanks, Ben. I am looking forward to every word that little girl has to say. But, hugs more than anything else.
Actually Ole Miss’s defense in the SC game was not bad. It was the offense that sucked.
wtbal: congratulations and blessings to you and yours this thanksgiving. i read an article about a website for grandparents that you may want to visit (www.grandparents.com).
HOW TO SING THE BLUES … by Stretch Melon Clinton
1. Most Blues begin, “Woke up this morning.”
2. “I got a good woman” is a bad way to begin the Blues, ‘less you stick something nasty in the next line, like “I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town.”
3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes … sort of: “Got a good woman – with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher – and she weigh 500 pound.”
4. The Blues are not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch; ain’t no way out.
5. Blues cars: Chevys and Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don’t travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft an’ state-sponsored motor pools ain’t even in the running. Walkin’ plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin’ to die.
6. Teenagers can’t sing the Blues. They ain’t fixin’ to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, “adulthood” means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in St. Paul or Tucson is just depression. Chicago, St.Louis, and Kansas City still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don’t get rain.
8. A man with male pattern baldness ain’t the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cuz you skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg cuz an alligator be chomping on it is.
9. You can’t have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.
10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass
Bad places:
a. Ashrams
b. gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses
11. No one will believe it’s the Blues if you wear a suit, ‘less you happen to be an old ethnic person, and you slept in it.
12. Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if:
a. you’re older than dirt
b. you’re blind
c. you shot a man in Memphis
d. you can’t be satisfied
No, if:
a. you have all your teeth
b. you were once blind but now can see
c. the man in Memphis lived.
d. you have a retirement plan or trust fund.
13. Blues is not a matter of color. It’s a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Gary Coleman could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.
14. If you ask for water and Baby give you gasoline, it’s the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. black coffee
The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. mixed drinks
b. kosher wine
c. Snapple
d. sparkling water
15. If it occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it’s a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse, and dying lonely on a broken down cot. You can’t have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.
16. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling
17. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie
18. Persons with names like Sierra, Sequoia, Auburn, and Rainbow can’t sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
19. Make your own Blues name (starter kit):
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime,
Kiwi, etc.)
c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore,
etc.)
For example, Blind Lime Jefferson, or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc.
(Well, maybe not “Kiwi.”)
20. I don’t care how tragic your life: you own a computer, you cannot sing the blues. You best destroy it. Fire, a spilled bottle of Mad Dog, or get out a shotgun. Maybe your big woman just done sat on it. I don’t care.
http://tinyurl.com/yhzvw27
Okay Okay I get it. But can I listen to the blues?
NL
It’s All Good… Here is my shot at computer user blues…..
Woke up this mornin….. Lord my laptop just wouldn’t act right….
Had enough of this ole Windows crap…. Just make me wanna fight….
Jumped in my old pickup truck… laid that laptop down…….down on the ground……
Stomped on the gas real hard …. Lord lets see that damn Windows work NOW!!!!
See Computer geeks really can have the blues……
IAG, that’s some funny s*#&… I don’t care who you are
time to bake the bread pudding
Purple shirts, yellow britches . . .
Miles tries to outdo Orgeron’s 4th and 1 call. Wow, just wow.
HELL YEAH! DAMN RIGHT!!!!!!!
It took more than 3 decades, but the clock finally came back to bite LSU in the arse.
Les Miles had a major brain cramp. Moving vans are warming up now for runs to his house.
And thank you, Houston Nutt. We love ya’, man.
LSU Fans have to forgive MR. Miles. He was confused. In Baton Rouge he could have run 2 or 3 plays in that final second.
Wow. Madison Central’s coaches could’ve handled that last minute better than LSU’s did.
Good grief, I thought Bama fans were obnoxious until this weekend. The SEC has the best football but the worst fans. I guess it’s because most fans are just that,fans, not alumni of any school. It not safe to bring your wife and kids out around this mess.
SEC football is often not for the “sensitive” types. If you want a safe environment game for the wife and kids, I suggest an Ole Miss v Vandy game at its usual 11:30(ish) kickoff time, either in Oxford or Nashville. But, an Ole Miss v LSU game starting in mid-afternoon or night, whether in Oxford or Baton Rouge, is most often going to be a raucus affair —not for the sensitive and faint-hearted. It ain’t right or wrong, its just the way it is.
Alabama fans are lively, but it’s because they always beat us. LSU fans don’t have that excuse, yet their demeanor was demonstrably worse.
The scene uptown after the Alabama game was a nightmare– everywhere drunken fights about to break out. I’m sure the difference is the loss, but I was startled how many staggering Alabama fans were standing around on the street looking to pick a fight with someone. Last Saturday night was more a big party, and I didn’t have the sense that LSU fans were looking for trouble.
But laying that aside, what a game!
I’ve seen terrible fans at most of the ballgames I’ve attended here in Oxford. And yes, that includes Ole Miss fans who have been obnoxious.
The worst fans were those in the Robes and Hoods.
“Alabama… …they always beat us.”
I disagree.
Sure feels that way, Chico, particularly since they dodged out on playing us from the late 40s through the mid 60s, thereby missing the golden era of Ole Miss football. We’ve only beat them 9 times. They’ve forfeited for recruiting violations a third as many games as we’ve won.
25 years ago today in Jackson, Ole Miss beat the team from Starkvile 24-3 in the 1984 Egg Bowl.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_Bowl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PxPra48gv8
25 years ago yesterday in Boston, Doug Flutie flung a ball:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-qkpsygNYo