With four games gone by in the 2004 season of Mississippi State football, I thought the students and fans of the Bulldogs could use a pick-me-up after the trip to Death Valley.
So here it is fans. I’ve discovered a wonderful thing that makes this season all worthwhile. It doesn’t matter. Nope, not at all. The loss to Maine doesn’t matter.
The 51-0 loss at LSU doesn’t matter. Not even our Swiss cheese offensive line matters. The reason is simple. None of these things matter because the only thing that matters is Maroon.
We’ve had this pounded into our heads since Sylvester Croom was hired in December. Athletic Director Larry Templeton and the athletic department spent around $50,000 and Russell Athletic spent the other 50 grand to pay for 50,000 shirts proclaiming the only thing that matters is Maroon. It is a message of hope.
For a moment, while sitting in Scott Field watching the Bullies lose to the Black Bears of Maine, I felt despair. I mean, I was watching a boring game between a Division I bottom-feeder and a Division I-AA team from a state I didn’t even know had a college.
I was missing not only the Auburn-LSU thriller but also the Florida-Tennessee classic. For a second, my spirits started to sink. Then I looked down at my T-shirt.
“Maroon is all that matters,” it said.
“That’s right,” I thought, experiencing a Jimmy Stewart moment at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life. Suddenly I had hope.
I had a new purpose in life. Who cares that I missed the two best games of the year on television. Who cares that we lost to a Division I-AA program for the first time in school history. Maroon is all that matters.
So we’re going to play Vanderbilt in Nashville this weekend, and there’s a good possibility that we’ll lose. But don’t despair Bulldog fans. Enjoy Nashville. It’s a beautiful city. And of course, remember that if we lose, who cares? Maroon is all that matters.
Jeff Edwards can be reached at [email protected].