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mudsucker wrote:You of all people live in the damn past!

Greenhead22 wrote::lol:

Buzzards rejoice! USM, UM should meet in Vet
Roun McNeal

July 26, 2005

USM may not have as many fans as our glorious university, but after writing a critique of their fan support encapsulated in my critique of our crappy schedule in 2005, I found that the ones they do have get mad.

Perhaps my criticisms of Southern Miss were ill-placed. They seem to have caused many of my loyal readers (from multiple in-state schools, no less) to totally miss the point of my last installation.

Allow me to repeat: We should play tougher opponents.

To be absolutely clear – I would rather Ole Miss play Southern Mississippi than Northwestern State.

I suppose I was unclear when I said, “Why don’t we man up and show those buzzards that we can shove a big pile of “The Rock” up their golden butts anytime, anywhere.” USM graduates, understandably, misunderstood that as my unfettered defense of UM’s refusal to play Southern Miss.

Most of my reader response from people affiliated with Southern Mississippi wondered why Ole Miss and Southern Miss do not play.

The most popular answer to their rants was that the Rebels consist largely of “poultry waste” (not the word they used) and are deathly afraid of losing to Southern Mississippi on a consistent basis.

Still, I can be happier about losing to Southern Mississippi than to Wyoming.

To be fair, USM fans are not the only ones that think the Golden Eagles could own Ole Miss in football this year.

Athlon Sports Annual has USM pegged as the 32nd best team in the country. You have to flip all the way back to 61 to find Ole Miss. USM has a quality football program – that Ole Miss would mop the floor with.

However there are real financial implications to such a match up. M.M. Roberts Stadium has a maximum capacity of more than 30,000 fans – about half the number Vaught-Hemingway seats and close to half of Mississippi State’s capacity. Thirty thousand lost fans is no small chunk of change.

Out-of-state opponents make for fun road trips for alums and bring in tourism dollars when other teams visit Mississippi.

The only thing Ole Miss-Southern Miss or USM-MSU games do is fulfill the interest of the public.

Good enough for me. These are public institutions, created to serve the citizens of the state of Mississippi, and if Mississippi wants these games, I do too.

So, I sat down and used my imagination to devise a six-year plan to get these schools playing one another.

First consideration: if USM is going to play Mississippi State and Ole Miss, they are going to want home games. Fair enough, but they cannot be in Hattiesburg.

Thirty thousand missing fans is just too much.

However, if USM played their home games in Jackson at Veterans Memorial Stadium – with USM getting the “home team” money – both teams would profit. Certainly Jackson would love to get something in that stadium other than the MHSAA State Championship football games.

Here is how the deal works: USM plays either MSU or Ole Miss every year for six years. So, USM would play Ole Miss twice in Oxford and once in Jackson and would play Mississippi State twice in Starkville and once in Jackson.

The deal probably would not be able to happen until 2007, so it would look like this: USM at Ole Miss (2007), USM at State (2008), Ole Miss at USM (2009), USM at State (2010), USM at Ole Miss (2011), State at USM (2012).

For USM, this is cheaper and more profitable than traveling to Raleigh or Berkeley.

A bus ride to Starkville is pennies compared to more than 100 plane tickets to sunny California.

By suggesting two-and-one deals for USM, I am not being snotty. I am just being realistic.

Ole Miss loses too much money by playing in Hattiesburg (hence, what I call the “Jackson Compromise”).

As a columnist, the idea is that I get to set the agenda.

However, in this case, my readers influenced me to write on this subject. In a way, then, the public set my agenda for me. Which is a testament to the hard-nosed will of football fans in Mississippi for these teams to meet on the gridiron.

I say give them their wish.

Thanks but No Thanks.

Why would Southern Miss give up so much to play Ole Miss or Miss State? You are suggesting that Southern Miss play 2 for 1 with the likes of Ole Miss & Miss State who has little to no national prestige; Heck State can’t even win 4 games. Not to mention that you think Southern Miss should agree to move their home game to Jackson, that’s laughable! The only team Southern Miss has recently had a 2 for 1 deal with was Nebraska. Ole Miss and Miss State are not even in the same category as Nebraska. When we played OK State, Texas A&M, Cal, and Illinois it was a home and home series.

As for playing the game in Jackson, Southern Miss is trying to grow it is local support and recently sold out all their new Suites to local supporters, I really don’t see them liking the idea of moving any home games anytime soon. Also consider that Southern Miss refused to move the Nebraska game to Jackson, that game had a much larger financial impact for Southern Miss than any game with either of the northern schools would have. As for the problem you perceive with not making enough money playing in a stadium that only holds 33,000, I just don’t get it. I have heard this and many other excuses for over 20 years and this particularly one just doesn’t make sense. Most contracts are written so that the visiting team gets paid a flat fee for playing the game on the road, and in return they do the same for the opposing team on the return trip. Where does Ole Miss lose money because of seating capacity at an opponent’s stadium?

By the way how much did Ole Miss make when they went to Arkansas State and did Ole Miss make any TV revenue from that game? One final point to consider; all the previously named games I mentioned above were on National TV($$); do you really think a MS State or Old Miss game would generate any TV revenue? Southern Miss, since joining CUSA, has been on TV as much and most year more then both of the northern schools, in fact last year Southern Miss appeared on TV more then both of them combined. The majority of those games where broadcasted on national TV ESPN not regional games on Jefferson Pilot.

I remember the games against State and Ole Miss in Jackson and they were a lot of fun. And strictly from a fans perspective I would love to see us play again, but from the financial side of this, your proposal makes no sense. Good Luck in your future and maybe we’ll see you in a bowl game one year.
You got to be kidding me!
Memphis