On The Meaning Of Ole Miss's New Mascot

Around SB Nation's college blogs today:

• Red Cup Rebellion gets all serious and stuff about Ole Miss's new mascot:

  People are upset because they're afraid that the South they knew, the South they want, or even the South that they know now will become something scary and alien to them. The polarizing controversy stemming from Ole Miss is just another front in this "War of intra-Southern Aggression." Flag controversies, religious tension in public schools, and the general notion of an eroding set of "Southern values" are just a few of the many manifestations of this. It happens in a lot of places but we have had the unfortunate honor of having the front lines of this war against change drawn right through the Grove.

  Furthermore, people worry that when something they love, regardless of why they love it, is labeled as "racist" that they are, by proxy, racists. I constantly and with the unforgiving viciousness of a rabid, hungry dog defend Ole Miss and the state of Mississippi in general from such attacks for the very same reason. But those aren't things I can readily let go of; nor could I ever in my life disassociate myself from them. And, really, nor are they the villains people either mistakenly believe they are or nefariously want to make them out to be. Colonel Reb is no villain, but his presence was undeniably controversial and, like many controversial things, he was easy for me and the university to let go of and move on from.

  . . . .
   

  So we don't have Colonel Reb anymore. So what. We've still got the Square. We've still got a haven for literary artists and thinkers. We've still got John Currence slinging around James Beard Award winning dishes at City Grocery. We've still got one of the country's finest public honors colleges. We've still got the most famous tailgating scene in all of the college football world. We've still got Manning Way and its 18mph speed limit. We've still got RL Burnside's music. We've still got the nation's best looking student body. We've still got Ole Miss.

  Go read the whole thing.
• In advance of tomorrow's game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Michigan Wolverines, Maize n Brew and Black Heart Gold Pants don't so much as exchange Q&As as they trade insults. MnB also has an actual preview of the game that somehow works in hurling hymnals at a bride, and BHGP lists the top ten reasons Iowa will lose to Michigan. Whenever BHGP is involved, the conversation trades heavy on high sodium content, but it's tasty, so you'll eat it.
  
• Burnt Orange Nation and Corn Nation also talk to each other in anticipation of the Texas Longhorns-Nebraska Cornhuskers game. Corn Nation wins for a headline that includes "Death and Texas."
• Arkansas Expats lists five reasons to hate Auburn, including that Gene Chizik's lack of sideburns makes him look "pathologically uptight." I'm growing mine out now as we speak.