See, it's funny because it's a chimp doing people stuff. Right guys?!
You knew this was going to happen. No intro is needed aside from the obligatory tip of the hat to Juco, One Man, Ivory, and all of the others who helped put this together. And you know that we would love for you to find your own example of message board idiocy to share in the comments thread below.
Most of what you'll see in here comes from the few Clarion-Ledger comments threads out there which supplement the articles and blog posts surrounding the mascot debate. A few others are from the Spirit and Rivals boards but, really, it doesn't matter where they're from; the URLs don't vary the sentiments one bit. Alright, on with the show!
User mwk7 says:
Front office needs to go starting with dan "i only care about myself" jones and pete "too stingy" boone... these people and others (marketing department) are hindering ole miss' full potential and are even setting us back with all of this awful PR.. I wish i was a big time booster so i could put my foot down, but i am far from that.. how the hell did dan jones get elected in the first place??
Nothing says "I only care about myself" like spending seven years in Asia on a medical mission, presiding over the American Heart Association, and willingly taking on the incredibly difficult tasks demanded of the Ole Miss Chancellorship. That Dan Jones, what a selfish jackass.
And I'll tell you how he got elected in the first place: he didn't. Chancellors aren't elected, they're appointed by the Board of Trustees. It has been this way since, oh, I dunno, a long-ass time ago.
User Oxfordrebel22 says:
What about other teams with offensive nicknames?? No one seems to be making a big deal about them. The reason is b/c their administration are not making it into a national ordeal. Colonel Rebel was not a big deal until our administration made him into one.
Here is a short list of controversial mascots or team names which I have come up with literally off of the top of my head:
- Illinois' Chief Illiniwek was removed from their sporting events only a few years ago under pressure from the NCAA.
- The Stanford athletic teams once went by the name "Indians". They changed it to the "Cardinal" to avoid NCAA and alumni scrutiny.
- The Fighting Sioux of North Dakota have been under seemingly continuous NCAA pressure to remove their moniker.
- The Syracuse Orange were once known as the Syracuse Orangemen. To be more inclusive, they dropped "men".
- Beauregard was ousted as the mascot of the UNLV Rebels for - wait for it, wait for it - invoking strong images of the confederacy. (Look at him. He's basically a wolf wearing a Rebel uniform.)
None of us are saying we necessarily agree with these changes, but to talk about this as if it's uniquely an Ole Miss problem and chiefly the result of our own doing shows that you, sir, haven't been paying attention.
Oxfordrebel22 also says:
I'll tell you this much: Colonel Reb didn't offend 1/2 the people that having a convicted felon like Snoop Dogg do the Hotty Toddy offended. Is that progress??
Bullshit. You didn't even have a damn clue who Snoop Dogg was when he appeared to do the Hotty Toddy. And this is literally the first I've seen or heard of anyone taking objection to Snoop-a-loop appearing on the jumbotron wearing a Rebel jersey. And for me, a guy whose finger is obsessively on the pulse of Ole Miss athletics, to say that I think says a lot.
User attorneyswife says:
I disagree that "a great many people perceive that Colonel Reb is offensive". A more accurate statement might be that many African Americans perceive that Colonel Reb is offensive.
Oh, my bad. Next time I won't mistake African Americans for people.
Seriously though, this type of insensitivity is rampant throughout these comments threads. It seems that many people don't feel that blacks have the right to be offended or that, if they are offended, they are rarely justifiably so. Basically, a lot of people don't give a shit if something offends black people. They just don't. This is a huge problem and one which I feel is embarrassingly indicative of what I have begun calling "the Ole Miss country club mentality." Many alumni and, yes, even students have this idea that Ole Miss is really only best for people like them and everyone else can just get the fuck out if they don't like it. While I feel a real privilege to be a part of the Ole Miss family, I won't kid myself into thinking that it is or should be something overly exclusive.
User Dawg63 says:
Who's next to go? Colonel Sanders? I seriously doubt that will ever happen and I'm sure most of you know why!! Nuff said. LOL
Mississippi State, despite forever marketing itself as the more progressive antithesis to Ole Miss, is just as chock full of racist fuckfaces. So don't worry Rebels. Well, go ahead and worry, but not as much I guess.
User floreb says:
Keep the Colonol......Racisem is gone, gone, gone. As look into the faces of our our Rebels, I see no color. Help us out, Duece, Pat, and Dex.
Obvious spelling and punctuation errors aside, I find it interesting that floreb claims to see no color when he looks into the faces of our Rebels immediately before mentioning Deuce McAllister, Pat (Patterson?) (Trahan?) (Willis?), and Dexter McCluster. Your idea of tolerance and diversity is pretty much in tune to that of Michael Scott's.
User waywayout says:
Just wait until downtown Oxford gets it's fair share of NAIL SALONS, CHECK CASHING PLACES, DRIVE-BY SHOOTINGS, automobiles fancied up with all kinds of designs, kids wearing their pants below the butt, do-rags, baseball caps turned sideways. This is coming, and won't be fast enough for all the PC liberals out there.
Wow... For anyone who doesn't see any sort of racial connotation behind the Colonel Reb debate, here's exhibit A.
And finally, user atwood510 says:
Has anyone ever wondered why Oxford has never had a Ryan's, Golden Corral, or even a Western Sizzlin?
Nope, because those restaurants suck.