Nov 28, 2013; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs players hold up the egg bowl trophy after winning the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State Bulldogs defeat the Mississippi Rebels with a score of 17-10 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
The rivalry between Mississippi State and Ole Miss is one of the best in the country. The fact that it isn’t as well known throughout the rest of the country doesn’t take away from the intensity of the Egg Bowl played every Thanksgiving weekend. It is a special rivalry, but there is one flaw in the game that I wish would change, and I hope it happens this year.
The visiting teams’ fans don’t go to the game.
Notice I didn’t say Ole Miss or Mississippi State fans. This is a problem on both sides of the rivalry. I don’t know how long this has been the case, as I haven’t paid too much attention to the amount of opposing fans in the stands until the advent of Twitter. The beat reporters for both teams will typically post something on their accounts the thousands of tickets the visiting school will send back to the host. I also find it laughable every year when the home school’s fans give the visiting team a hard time because they couldn’t sell their allotment of tickets. They do this despite the fact that they did the same thing the previous year.
While I may not know when this started, I do know why this has happened. As great as the rivalry is, there are some ugly aspects to it like there are in most rivalries. One of them is that fans of each school have a serious disdain for the city the opposing school is located. Ole Miss fans despise Starkville because they view it as being only slightly higher than a Third World Country. Jokes of running water, indoor plumbing, and availability of electricity are the norm amongst Rebel fans when discussing Starkville. Mississippi State fans ridicule Oxford for being a Fifth Avenue wannabe. Jokes of snobbery, snootiness, and fine china are all the rage for Bulldog fans when discussing Oxford.
Despite their disgust with the other city, I’d think the fans could stomach it for half a day to watch their team in the most anticipated game of the year more often than not for both schools. That simply isn’t the case. It’s a byproduct of one of the most fascinating phenomenon in sports culture that I simply don’t understand. Many people hate their rival more than they love their own team.
Not only do people do this, they often will gladly admit to it and wear it as a badge of honor. I just can’t fathom that. I don’t like Ole Miss, but I love my Bulldogs far more than I hate the Rebels. That isn’t always the case for some people though. The idea of going to Oxford for some Bulldogs’ fans and to Starkville for some Rebels’ fans is like asking them to spend a day in hell. There is no worse fate. Even if it means that a fan of the opposing team is going to probably be in their place, they simply won’t do it.
The most recent trend in the result of the Egg Bowl is that unless the visiting team is vastly superior to the home team, the home team almost always wins the game. Since 1999, the only times the visiting team has won the game was in 2003, when the Rebels won in Starkville, and 2010, when the Bulldogs won in Oxford. Both times, the home team had little going for it those years. While it can’t be said for certain, it wouldn’t be crazy to suggest that the visiting team might stand a better chance of winning the game if there were a few less fans of the home team and more fans of the visiting team in the stands.
We have yet to play a game in the 2014 season, but there is evidence based on the performance and returning production for both teams that the Egg Bowl might be played with considerably more on the line than there has been in years past. If that is the case, Mississippi State will need all the help they can get. Walking into a sold out Vaught Hemingway Stadium that is filled almost 100% with people wearing Red and Blue will make it that much more difficult to get out of town with a W. If Mississippi State has 8 or 9 wins entering the Egg Bowl in 2014, I hope Mississippi State fans can put aside their opinions of Oxford and make their way to Oxford the last Saturday in November.