College rivalries get heated. It’s a fact we’re all familiar with at Mississippi State. Rivalries are great, especially when the fan bases of the two schools are passionate, but there are times when a line gets crossed. That line was crossed last week in Alabama.
On Feb. 16, Auburn University reported the famed oak trees at Toomer’s Corner had been poisoned and it’s very unlikely they will survive. According to the report and test results provided by MSU, the trees were poisoned with Spike 80DF, a federally regulated herbicide often used to kill trees.
About three weeks earlier, on Jan. 27, a man identifying himself as “Al from Dadeville” called into the Paul Finebaum show. He gloated about how he poisoned the trees at Toomer’s Corner and claimed that he was the perpetrator. He even claimed he used Spike 80DF. Al showed no remorse for what he’d done and signed off by saying “Roll damn Tide.”
The trees at Toomer’s Corner are over 130 years old, and the tradition of rolling them with toilet paper in celebration dates back to the 1950s. It’s a tradition that has connected generations of Auburn fans for decades, and now all indications are that the trees’ days are numbered, thanks to one angry Alabama fan.
Why would Al from Dadeville do such a thing, you ask? Well, there’s the obvious issue of the incredible fanaticism of someone who named his own two children Bear and Crimson (I wish I was kidding). But, as Al said when he called into the Paul Finebaum Show, it was because some Auburn fans taped a Cam Newton jersey on a Bear Bryant statue before the latest edition of the Iron Bowl. Yes, they taped it. It was a prank that would take all of five seconds to undo. The statue wasn’t blown up or damaged in some other irreversible fashion, and I rather doubt Bear Bryant woke up from his 28-year death sleep to voice much complaint about it.
Remember the “From Dixon with Love” picture we put up on the jumbotron after we spanked Ole Miss in the 2009 Egg Bowl? It was a harmless joke, and everyone understood it as such. The kind of retaliation we’re talking about here is as if, after seeing the image, some irate Ole Miss fan slipped some poison into Bully’s food. Or, to flip things around, it would be like if some MSU fans stuck a Colonel Reb (may he rest in peace) hat on one of the bulldog statues in the Junction and a State fan retaliated by setting the Grove on fire.
Pranks and barbs are a part of what makes college rivalries so great, but there is a line that should not be crossed. Deliberately destroying the beloved traditions of other schools, rivalry or not, is about as low as it gets. Poke fun at the traditions of other schools as much as you like, but there’s a huge difference between a jab and destroying something nearly impossible to replace.
We may not like each other. We may even hate each other. I’m fine with that; it’s what makes college football so great and so passionate. However, we should always remember to keep a degree of respect for each other and our traditions, because it’s those traditions that make college football special.
Because really, at the end of the day, no matter how much the fans go back and forth at each other, it’s the teams that do the talking.
Alex Holloway is a sophomore majoring in communication. He can be contacted at [email protected].