With the Mississippi State football team’s loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide this past Saturday, the Bulldogs’ losing streak against the Tide ran to 16 years.
It’s been a long time since the Mississippi State football team beat Alabama. If you didn’t know, the last time the Bulldogs beat Alabama was back in 2007, the first year of the Nick Saban era for the Tide.
What I’ve been wondering…
I think we all know 16 years is a long time to go without beating a team. But unless you put it in proper context, you don’t realize just how long it has been since the Mississippi State football team beat Alabama. So that got me wondering what all has happened since that wonderful day in 2007.
Here are all the things that have happened since the Mississippi State football team managed to get a win over Alabama.
- You could have bought 15 different iPhones
Everyone loves going to Davis Wade Stadium to watch the Bulldogs play. One thing we don’t love about the experience is the fact most of us have a hard time getting a signal on our smartphones because there are so many people using the same tower. In 2007, that probably wasn’t a concern. When the Mississippi State football team beat Alabama in 2007, the very first iPhone was introduced. This past September, Apple released iPhone 15. And to be honest, you could have bought more than 15 iPhones because Apple for a while made S models. That’s a whole lotta iPhones.
- We elected a president four times
Presidential elections are significant for obvious reasons, but one of those reasons is because they only happen once every four years. George W. Bush was the president when the Bulldogs last beat Alabama. Since the Mississippi State football win over Alabama in 2007, we’ve done the whole presidential election thing four times.
- There is not a single school aged child who has any memories of a Mississippi State football victory over Alabama
This one occurred to me because of my own son. My son was born in 2007 and is currently a junior in high school. The last time the Mississippi State football team emerged victorious over Alabama, he was 8 months old. That means current seniors in high school were at most two years old. I don’t think I’m stepping out on too shaky of a limb when I say there is not a single school aged child who remembers the last Mississippi State football win over Alabama.
- We sent three rovers to Mars
Traveling to Mars used to be something that was only possible in science fiction films and movies. And while we haven’t sent any people to the red planet, we have sent three of the six total rovers to Mars since 2007, two of which are still there.
- The United Kingdom crowned a new king
You might be saying the United Kingdom only did this once in the time since Mississippi State football beat Alabama, but considering the United Kingdom hadn’t crowned a new king in 70 YEARS, I think that is pretty significant. The Bulldogs couldn’t end their streak against the Tide before Elizabeth II ended her reign as queen.
- Three billion people joined Facebook
Everyone loves to complain about how much they hate Facebook. They often complain about their hatred of Facebook on Facebook. Regardless of how you feel about the social media site, three billion people have joined the site since the Mississippi State football team was last able to beat Alabama. Heck, in all likelihood, you’re probably reading this post because you saw it on Facebook.
- Mississippi State football has had five different head coaches
From 1991 until 2017, the Mississippi State football team only had three different men lead the team. In an era of coaching instability, the Bulldogs bucked the trend. Since the 2007 season, and after the departure of Dan Mullen, that stability ended. Since 2007, five different people have coached the Bulldogs. Those five are Sylvester Croom (the last coach to beat the Tide), Dan Mullen, Joe Moorhead, Mike Leach, and now Zach Arnett. Obviously one of those coaching changes was tragic in the unexpected death of Mike Leach, but the fact remains that we went from three head coaches in 26 years to five different coaches in 20 years.
It’s been a rough time for Mississippi State football trying to find a way to win against Alabama. This past Saturday was especially frustrating because this version of the Tide felt as beatable as ever. With the expansion of the SEC next season and the elimination of divisions in the SEC, Alabama is coming off the schedule. It could be a while before the Bulldogs have the opportunity to end the streak.
What I’ve been watching…
Ryan Nelson and I got back behind the podcast mics this past Friday to talk about a couple of different shows on The Main Attraction Podcast. Up first, we continued to break down the most recent episodes of Ahsoka. It’s been a great addition to the Star Wars lore, but they do have a lot to cover in the finale. You can listen to us talk about the sixth and seventh episodes here.
We also watched Harlan Coben’s Shelter on Prime Video. It’s a show that started out strong but really tailed off in the second half of the season. Go listen to us discuss it here.
What I’ve been whistling to…
I wasn’t really a fan of country music until I met my wife. It was all she listened to, and she eventually got me on board, at least until Bro Country took over. I got off the bandwagon at that point.
But one person who I have not gotten off the bandwagon for is Chris Stapleton. He took the world by storm with his collaboration with Justin Timberlake a number of years ago on some awards show. Stapleton is simply one of the best.
Instead of just sending you a video of his, I thought I would change things up. I’ve included a video of a gentleman who is hearing Chris Stapleton for the very first time.
The look on his face when Stapleton just starts crooning the members of the band is priceless. And he’s not wrong. Chris Stapleton is that freaking good.
That wraps up this week’s Wednesday Wrap. Next week’s should be a little more positive as the Mississippi State football team takes on Central Michigan this Saturday. If it’s not more positive, well, it could be a long year.