lengthy, but a pretty good read.... written by a poster named "selma...."

Re: NCAA to formally charge Ole Miss with rules violations

My guess is that Ole Miss' blithering attempt to save Freeze stems from their well-earned inferiority complex combined with the fact he's a home boy competing against a Yankee (Mullen) who has done a helluva job putting together something decent on the field by StarkVegas standards.

When football was lily white, Ole Miss was a big deal. They haven't been a big deal now in half a century so the number of folks who can even remember this is shrinking with each passing year. And just as with the Barn, it is one of the Articles of Faith of the Religion of the Grove: the only reason Bama beats us is because they cheat and we are virginal clean.

From a 1993 SI:


Just the year before, Ole Miss coach Billy Brewer had accused him of being a snob and a liar, among other things. Sherrill cheats, Brewer said, in the fashion of "all those [Bear] Bryant boys like Charley Pell and Danny Ford."

Less than a year after this story ran (and less than two years after making the charge):


Billy Brewer Fired


Mississippi football coach Billy Brewer was fired a day after athletic director Warner Alford resigned and 31/2 weeks after the school announced an NCAA inquiry alleging 15 violations.

This case was so open and shut that only five months after news of the inquiry broke - "Ole Miss Found Guilty of 15 Infractions"



NCAA sanctions levied yesterday against the University of Mississippi football program might cripple it for years.

The NCAA infractions committee found Mississippi guilty of 15 violations. They ranged from a lack of institutional control to offers of cash, plane tickets and cars to prospects by staff members and boosters.

Because Mississippi was penalized for similar acts in 1986, the NCAA showed no leniency, said David Swank, University of Oklahoma law professor and chairman of the committee on infractions.

"This is one of the most serious cases we've had since I've been a member of the committee," said Swank, in his fourth year as infractions committee chairman.

The committee placed Mississippi on probation for four years, banned it from postseason play for two years, banned it from playing in televised games for one year, and slashed the number of new players Mississippi can put on scholarship the next two years from 25 to 13 per year.

The scholarship reduction was the most severe levied against a Division I-A school since Southern Methodist University was barred from offering any scholarships or fielding a team in 1987 and '88.

The committee also found former football coach Billy Brewer guilty of unethical conduct, a charge not contained in the original letter of inquiry. The committee imposed a penalty that all but bars Brewer from another NCAA coaching job for four years.

Brewer's attorney said he would continue with plans for a lawsuit against Ole Miss seeking compensation for the final three years of Brewer's contract.

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Wanna know what people hate worse than a cheater?

A cheater who accuses others and pretends he isn't one.

THIS is what you're dealing with folks. Brewer himself was an Ole Miss player, he played 1957-60 for Vaught.

They're terrified of what's coming if they lose Freeze. You can't exactly get an Urban Meyer type to come to Oxford and Mullen appears to be going nowhere and ain't no slouch at the local thing.

For those who don't get the mentality, this is it. It's about state superiority and continuing to pretend everyone else cheats but you don't.
The first rule of Tidefans interactions - Selma does not use Google; Google uses Selma