I grew up in the 70's and 80's- during a time when Integration was new to the state of Mississippi. Mississippi State- being the state school of Mississippi- embraced Integration much more than our elitest counterparts. My father had gone to State- but didnt graduate. He had actually been somewhat of an OM fan, having played semi-pro baseball with Jake Gibbs and others. He preferred State over OM- but it wasnt that big of a deal to him. He was actually more of a fan of Bear Bryant and Alabama- then even moreso when he got into coaching and studied with Bryant's staff on the Wishbone. He went on to study with Bellard and by most accounts was one of the top coaches of the Wishbone offense in Mississippi.

Being a State fan just always felt right to me. But what put me over the edge was the absolute racist OM fans that used the N-word constantly when referring to State players. They were the absolutely most obnoxious fans I had ever been around. It was absolutely miserable being around these people as a kid. My Grandfather got tickets to all the games in Memorial Stadium each year- so I got to attend both State and OM games every year starting when I was 4 years old. By the time I was 6 or 7 years old- it was obvious which team I was a fan of.

No way I could be a fan of such racist, obnoxious people playing that awful song over and over at every game