The 100-Year Uphill Climb

By jsmith532 on November 23, 2014 • ( Leave a comment )

Several weeks ago, at the start of football season, I mentioned my alma mater, Mississippi State University, and how I love my team, good, bad, and mostly terrible, because — let’s face it — MSU has never been number one of anything in football, has never been considered for a championship.

Until this year.

You gotta hand it to a team that’s the poorest in the SEC from the poorest state in the nation that earned its place as #1 in the country right now. MSU has had a 100-year uphill climb to get to that point, and I’m proud of my team.

MSU is not number one anymore, according to the football ranking gods/polls this week. But you know what? I don’t care.

Win or lose, MSU will always be #1 with me.

There was a great article in The Washington Post about last Saturday’s game (Yes, The Washington Post!). To quote, “So this is your day, America, to cheer for the littlest and the least. This may be the last day in life you get to say “Mississippi State is No. 1” and not be institutionalized.”

Hell. I’d still say it, whether the team is ranked nationally as #1 or #101 and dare the guys in the little white jackets to take me away.

We just might get to the championship game, Alabama or no Alabama. You never know. We never expected MSU to have this outstanding season this year, either.

Go Bulldogs!

PS: What does this have to do with Emmett Wilson’s research? Emmett was a guy who also had a lot of team spirit. He played on the West Florida Seminary baseball team, and supposedly was on the West Florida Seminary football team. He was proud of his alma mater too — now Florida State — which is unbeaten at present.