By Sam Dethrow
HottyToddy.com contributor
The sun is beginning to rise on a crisp fall Saturday. Elvis Presley’s “An American Trilogy” is barely audible as a silver pickup truck makes its way to the drop-off area. Grass glistening with the morning dew, a sea of red and blue tents and trash cans seem to cover everything in sight. Several first-year Ole Miss students are seen riding in the back of a truck and sitting on coolers. This is no ordinary day; today is game day.
Game Day brings a special feeling in the air. Dates are marked on calendars months in advance. The institution of higher learning transforms overnight into a mecca for fans. Down South, a fall Saturday is sometimes just as important as church on Sunday. Fans often dress in their Sunday best and spend considerable time preparing for tailgating and other game day activities.
People who love their team the most are notorious for having peculiar ways of going about business on game day. These are the superstitious fans who believe their actions or anything around them directly affects the outcome of the game.
Ole Miss boasts a fan base that famously adheres to tradition. With every anxiously-anticipated athletic season comes a new fan superstition that the fan truly believes is the reason for his team’s not being more successful the year before.
Grayson Weir, a senior at Ole Miss, has worn the same pair of underwear to every game since the 2014 Alabama game. The Rebels upset Alabama and earned a third place ranking in the country. Weir believes that should he not wear that same underwear a loss by Ole Miss would be his fault, a belief that started with the Rebel loss in the 2014 Peach Bowl.
Looking back, Weir said, “That (Ole Miss-Alabama game) was one of my favorite days being a Rebel.” Who could blame him? College GameDay aired from the campus; Katy Perry brought fire to the show and stands and Ole Miss upset Alabama.
However, Weir admits to not wearing the same pair of underwear at the Peach Bowl, where Ole Miss was devastated by TCU 42-3. This was when he vowed to never attend another game unless he was wearing the same pair. In spite of the fact Ole Miss has not yet won another national championship, he remains optimistic.
Elizabeth Perkins, a 1993 Ole Miss graduate, insists her family’s Grove tent be in the exact same spot every year. She remembers an “incident” in 2016 that did not allow her tent to be placed in its normal place; Ole Miss lost to Alabama, thus missing the highly-coveted “three-peat” defeat of the SEC team.
Perkins recalls being nervous about the Rebels as the day progressed. Her nerves proved to be a good forecast. In spite of quarterback Chad Kelly’s throwing for more than 425 yards, the Rebels lost 48-43. Then head coach Hugh Freeze attributed the loss to a lackluster third quarter performance.
However, Perkins felt the loss was her fault. She dramatically explained, “The third quarter would have been better…if our tent had been in our spot. This tent will remain in our spot for every game day from now on.”
Some feel these fans are crazy; some say these superstitions help make game day is the experience it is. And there are many stories beyond underwear and Grove spots.
Harris Jones has been going to Ole Miss games since he was a child. “The superstitious fans help to promote a serious atmosphere in a humorous way,” he said. In other words, the “normal” fan base depends on these superstitions believers to represent the overall fan base and dictate the expectations of the fans as a whole.
While not every Rebel fan has a superstition, some have been swayed into believing the magic. Weir and Perkins both hope that with a little Matt Luke magic, mixed with a few superstitions, the Rebels will make it to the College Football Playoff in 2019.
The 2018 season will kick off Sept. 1 in Houston vs. Texas Tech. What will your game day preparation look like?
