Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty, Cougars Beat the Rebs

This weekend Devin, Joan (D's mom) and I voyaged to Mississippi for the BYU v. Ole Miss game. In a word, it was rad. Why? Well, for starters we won. We got a weekend without the kids (they stayed with Devin's sister, Sara). And the Ole Miss fans are out-of-this-world friendly. Let's take it from the top.

All day Friday we drove through Tennessee and stayed the night in Memphis. We had amazing Memphis BBQ and checked out Beale St. the following morning on the way to the game. Unfortunately I get the feeling that Beale St. is not nearly as entertaining at 10 am in the morning as it is in the wee hours of the night. See below. At least we had the place to ourselves...




We (Devin) wanted to get to Oxford early to take in the tailgating scene and see how it stacked up to Clemson's. Ole Miss fans are fond of saying "We may lose a game but we never lose a party". I can see why. And boy do they mean it. There were thousands upon thousands of fans packed into an area in the middle of campus that they call the Grove. The Grove has gained legendary status as one of the premier tailgating spots in college football and for good reason. They set up tailgate spreads like you wouldn't believe complete with satellite dishes and big screen TVs, floral centerpieces and chandeliers dangling from the tops of the tents. But the real draw is the people themselves. The Ole Miss fans truly couldn't have been nicer. They have got to be the classiest, most hospitable fan base in the country. We easily had 7-8 different people come up to us at different parts of the day to say some variation of the following: "Y'all enjoying yourselves? Is everybody treating you nice? Welcome to Ole Miss, we're glad to have you." And that was before the game. After the game (an especially tough 1-point defeat in a game Ole Miss led throughout) the fans remained as gracious and friendly as before. Several patted us on the back and told us good luck. There was no heckling, instead we were congratulated on the win and thanked for making the effort to visit their campus. Over and over. And of particular note, not once did anyone make fun of Mormonism which is something most BYU fans have learned to deal with at basically every road game, especially those close to home (cough...cough... MWC schools...RIP) which is kind of ironic if you think about it. Venturing into the heart of southern Baptist country, we were truly prepared for the worst. In the end, none of that was necessary. I said it already, but I'll say it again, Ole Miss fans are pure class.





Speaking of class, the Ole Miss fans' attire matches their persona. All of the girls were dressed up in their "Sunday best" with cocktail dresses, jewelry and stilettos. The guys were dressed up also but let me give a little lesson to all you Westerners about the quintessential Southern Guy. I am somewhat of an expert having lived in both South Carolina and Virginia. The typical southerner blends in until you know the tell tell signs but as soon as you know them, you'll spot them from a mile away. Here they are: long, wind-blown hair parted to one side with absolutely no product in it; 80's style sunglasses with Croakies around their necks (those foamy things that prevent your sunglasses from falling); polo or button-up shirt with sleeves rolled up; khaki shorts just a bit above the knee; no socks; brown loafers or Sperry's (deck/boat shoes). Occasionally you'll see a bow tie or seersucker jacket to mix it up. Basically Devin looks like he's from another planet (aka Yankee) living in the South. But I guess I do too standing next to all those hot Southern Belles!



Here's Devin with the super famous reporter from BYUtv's TrueBlue, Robbie Bullough. I think he has a man-crush. (Editor's note: Robbie is okay but there can only be one true man-crush. In case you are wondering who that might be, just look at the shirt I am wearing. Yup, I've forever locked my man-crush heart for the one and only Jimmer.)



I'm not sure how many of you watched the game but it was so intense. Devin gets his passion for sports from his mom so those two were in heaven. Meanwhile, I was having a nervous breakdown until the last quarter. Trailing by 13 entering the 4th quarter, BYU had a furious rally and ended up winning by one point on a defensive fumble recovery for TD. Needless to say, the impressively-large BYU crowd went nuts. What a way for BYU to take its first step into independence. Go Cougars!



Editor's note: After a game like that one, it's times like these when I wish BYU had its own version of the Hotty Toddy cheer. What's the Hotty Toddy cheer you ask? Well every now and then, a loud voice breaks the hum of the crowd present in The Grove with the yell, "Are you READY?" On cue, hundreds of fans reply, "HELLLLL YES! DAAAAMN RIGHT!" Then, in unison, they begin to chant the Hotty Toddy cheer:

'Hotty Toddy, Gosh almighty
Who the hell are we, Hey!
Flim Flam, Bim Bam
OLE MISS BY DAMN!'

Surely some BYU student (the same ones who came up with all of those clever signs during the Jimmer era) can come up with something similar, right?!? Where is J. Golden Kimball when you need him???

Since this was primarily a trip to pay homage to SEC country and college football, we stopped in Starkville, Mississippi and Tuscaloosa, Alabama on the way home. I made Devin take a pic in front of the stadium (Bryant-Denny) because he went to an Alabama game with a classmate of his while we were at Clemson but forgot to take the camera. Nowadays if it's not on the blog, it didn't happen. So now he can officially say that he went to an Alabama game.



So there you go! Quite a sweet trip. I've been told that Devin got a standing ovation from a group of his buddies at their fantasy football draft for going to the game. I guess the standing O was for being able to talk his wife into taking the trip? Blogger hubbies, feel free to sound off to the Dev-man. These posts don't come around too often ...