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Making Memories

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Last weekend outside of Oxford, traffic came to a standstill as thousands of motorists were driving into town to see the Ole Miss – Mississippi State football game.  Cindy, daughter Travis and I, were part of the brigade. During the past 20 years, I have attended only three Ole Miss football games, and up until this past weekend, I had never attended an Ole Miss – Mississippi State match.  So, we were all pretty excited about going to the game.
We finally inched our way into Oxford and parked near the stadium. We then headed to the Grove where much has changed since my last walk-through there.  We ran into several friends from the Delta, and I also stumbled upon a group of KA fraternity brothers I had not seen since graduating from Ole Miss in 1984.
It was good seeing those guys, and it seemed as though it was just yesterday we were all together.  We spent time going through the last 28 years and catching up on each other’s lives.  Some were a little grayer, some a little heavier, but still the same group of guys with whom I had spent some of the best years of my life.   Cindy, Travis, and I then made our way to the stadium, slowly walking with the thousands who were also headed in the same direction.
The gatekeepers stamped our tickets at the northwest corner of the first level, an area of the stadium I know very well.  When I was Travis’ age (10), at halftime the Ole Miss football team would enter their dressing room at this location.  My father always made certain I was standing there so I could  watch the team leave the field and enter their dressing room.
You could hear the team coming a long time before you could actually see them, as the sound echoed throughout the massive concrete structure. The closer the team got to the dressing room, the louder the sound became, and by the time they passed us, I could hardly stand it because I was so excited!
Especially when Archie Manning was playing.  Daddy would always shout out to Archie as he jogged by and Archie would give us a quick smile and wave. That was 41 years ago.  Now, many years later,  I was standing in the exact spot with my ten year old daughter, introducing her to that same tradition.
While we enjoyed the game, the experience of taking my daughter to the Grove for the first time and experiencing all of the sights and sounds of Ole Miss that day was even better.  These years are passing by too quickly.  We all need to make as many memories with our children as we can, and I’m thankful for that cold, sunny day in Oxford last weekend where some old memories were relived and some new memories were made.

Ole Miss Men’s Basketball

Mon, Nov 4Long Island University Logovs Long Island University W, 90-60
Fri, Nov 8Grambling Logovs GramblingW, 66-64
Tue, Nov 12South Alabama Logovs South AlabamaW, 64-54
Sat, Nov 16Colorado State Logovs Colorado StateW, 84-69
Thu, Nov 21Oral Roberts Logovs Oral RobertsL, 100-68
Thu, Nov 28BYU Logovs BYUW, 96-85 OT
Fri, Nov 29Purdue Logovs 13 PurdueL, 80-78
Tue, Dec 3Louisville Logo@ LouisvilleW, 86-63
Sat, Dec 7Lindenwood Logovs LindenwoodW, 86-53
Sat, Dec 14Georgia Logovs Southern MissW, 77-46
Tue, Dec 17Southern Logovs SouthernW, 74-61
Sat, Dec 21Queens University Logovs Queens UniversityW, 80-62
Sat, Dec 28Memphis Logo@ MemphisL, 87-70
Sat, Jan 4Georgia Logovs GeorgiaW, 63-51
Wed, Jan 8Arkansas Logo@ 23 ArkansasW, 73-66
Sat, Jan 11LSU Logovs LSUW, 77-65
Tue, Jan 14Alabama Logo@ 5 AlabamaW, 74-64
Sat, Jan 18Mississippi State Logo@ 17 Mississippi StateL, 81-84
Wed, Jan 22Texas A&M State Logovs 13 Texas A&ML, 62-63
Sat, Jan 25Missouri Logo@ Missouri5:00 PM
SECN
Wed, Jan 29Texas Logovs Texas8:00 PM
ESPN2
Sat, Feb 1Auburn Logovs 2 Auburn3:00 PM
TBA
Tue, Feb 4Kentucky Logovs 10 Kentucky6:00 PM
ESPN
Sat, Feb 8LSU Logo@ LSU7:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 12South Carolina Logo@ South Carolina6:00 PM
SECN
Sat, Feb 15Mississippi State Logovs 17 Mississippi State5:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Feb 22Auburn Logo@ Vanderbilt2:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 26Auburn Logo@ 2 Auburn6:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 1Oklahoma Logovs 12 Oklahoma1:00 PM
TBA
Wed, Mar 5Tennessee Logovs 1 Tennessee8:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 8Florida Logo@ 6 Florida5:00 PM
SECN

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