Feeling Bad for Treadwell and Happy Ole Miss Lost

Nov 1, 2014; Oxford, MS, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn meets with Ole Miss Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze at the conclusion of the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Auburn defeated Ole Miss 35-31. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Note: This post contains tweets that use extremely foul language. I try not to use this type of language in life or when I write, but these tweets are from people in the Twitterverse. If such language offends you, you might not want to read this post.

One of the things about a rivalry is that you take joy in two things. The fact that your team won will bring you the most joy in the sports world. A close second will always be when your most hated rival loses. On November 1, Mississippi State won a hard fought game against the Razorbacks. The Ole Miss Rebels lost a heart breaking game against the Auburn Tigers. This is a formula for Mississippi State euphoria.

The wrench in this scenario is that Ole Miss lost in extremely cruel fashion. Laquon Treadwell suffered a grotesque injury as he was headed to the end zone to score the potential game winning touchdown. An Auburn defender grabbed Treadwell’s jersey from behind and brought the receiver down right as he entered the end zone. Many thought it was a horse collar tackle upon initial viewing, but it was clearly shown on replays that it was a legal tackle. The way Treadwell came down caused him to break his leg. It was an awful injury. I hope that Treadwell is able to make a full recovery. He should be able to get past this injury, have a great junior season, and get ready to be a first round pick in the draft.

To add insult to that injury, the officials originally ruled that Treadwell scored. The Rebels were going to be up 3 with 1:30 to play and keep their playoff hopes alive. Upon further review, the instant replay showed that the ball never crossed the goal line. The ball came loose and an Auburn player recovered it in the end zone. The play was reversed and virtually ensured that Auburn would win the game. Here is the whole sequence just in case you didn’t catch it.

So then things got weird. Bulldog fans hated that Treadwell was hurt. I didn’t see a single Mississippi State fan tweet or post on Facebook they were glad he was injured. Sure, there may have been some that are stupid idiots, but every single fan base has those. They certainly weren’t the majority. I will admit that it was probably the absolute worst way to lose a game. If Ole Miss is going to fumble the ball away to lose a game, I’d much prefer it happen like it did in the Egg Bowl last year. Despite the circumstances, most Mississippi State fans were still happy to see the Rebels lose. That’s the point of a rivalry. Getting a sampling from Twitter, it isn’t allowed to be happy that your rival lost even if it was under such circumstances.

I have often told you guys that I am pretty indifferent when it comes to the Rebels. I married one, and it gave me a different perspective on the rivalry. I don’t like the Rebels, but I don’t really concern myself with what they do until they play Mississippi State. This football season has been much the same. I wasn’t too worried about the Rebels because nothing would have mattered until we played them. But most Mississippi State fans loathe the Rebels and love to see them lose. So it was possible for State fans to hate what happened to Treadwell but happy that Ole Miss lost. Ole Miss fans didn’t agree. This was from @NotJoeLeeDunn, one of the elite Bulldog smack talkers.

The tweet never said he was happy that Treadwell suffered such an awful injury. Nothing was said about taking delight in the agony that Treadwell must have been feeling when that happened to his leg. He was happy they lost and the Ole Miss playoff dreams are now gone. The responses he got were rough.

I would completely understand those responses if @NotJoeLeeDunn had said something that celebrated the injury to Treadwell. He didn’t. It’s also weird that Ole Miss fans don’t think we should take any joy in their loss because of such an awful injury. When facing similar circumstances, Ole Miss rejoiced. Alabama had a player suffer a similar injury in their game in Oxford, but it didn’t keep Ole Miss fans from storming the field when they beat the Tide. Injuries happen. Gruesome injuries happen. As awful as they are, these things will occur in such a violent game like football. Some of the reaction could be related to the fact that Ole Miss fans were pretty emotionally charged last night. It had to be tough to get hit with a ton of things that had major impacts to your season all at once. This summed it up.

Despite all that, I don’t see why Mississippi State fans that want to be happy that Ole Miss lost are out of line. IF they were celebrating Treadwell’s injury, they should have someone come along and beat the snot out of them. If they are just saying that Ole Miss lost, and are happy about it, then that is just part of the rivalry.

If you are a State fan and feel bad for the Rebels, and can’t take any joy in the Rebels losing the way they did, I completely understand that. If you are a State fan that is receiving grief for celebrating the loss by Ole Miss, don’t feel bad. As long as you aren’t celebrating Treadwell’s injury, then feel free to be happy your rival lost.