USM Vs Arkansas State New Orleans Bowl : 12-21-2005 07:00 PM - 10:00 PM

[noway]

Tuesday December 20th 7 pm Kick Off Espn

http://southernmiss.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121005aaa.html

[lamarrebel]

Feel grateful that this is a bowl game and not being played in Jonesboro, home of ASU. In 2001, Ole Miss played the Indians in Jonesboro for the first time ever. This was shortly before we moved down here, and my new bride, the guy that was the best man in my wedding and I went up there for the game.

Much to my friend's immediate chagrin, we discovered that Craighead County is dry. But what was real kickers is what we witnessed at the game. As we entered the stadium, which has roughly the Rock's seating capacity, we discovered that the visitor's section in the upper deck is general admission..so we sat at the 50 yard line. A few minutes later, Archie Manning and his wife sat down two rows behind us.

As the pregame began, ASU put on a 9/11 tribute (the attacks had just happened the previous month) produced by an ASU graduate who had landed a gig with a Washington DC station. It was tastefully done. However, right in the middle of it some guy gets on the loudspeaker and does a sound check -- it was absolutely disgraceful.

Then, ASU's athletic department decided it was fit to "educate" us on the history of ASU football. The short documentary proceeded to tell us about the glory days under Coach Larry Lacewell, including the 1977 season when they went undefeated and "destroyed the Memphis State Tigers in the Liberty Bowl!". Prior to the 2003 and 2004 seasons, Ole Miss whipped the Tigers just about every year and to an Ole Miss fan such bragging was laughable. I exclaimed perhaps a trifle too loud "WHOA!! YOU BEAT MEMPHIS!!" Archie Manning even let out a chuckle on that one.

Then once the game begins, ASU's PA guy evidently came to stadium drunk. His words were slurred and he was badly misidentifying players. So he gets sacked at the beginning of the second quarter and the guy who replaced him wasn't much better.

In the end Ole Miss won 35-17. This had to be the most laughable road trip I have ever been a part of.