LSU football coach Lane Kiffin might have had insults and obscenities hurled at his SUV on the way to the Oxford airport when he last left the city. He may have been on cruise control in the quiet Mississippi wind last November.
I don’t really care.
And it may be insensitive, but I’m not overly concerned about Princewill Umanmielen’s paperwork, Frank Wilson staying or going, how many mounted officers patrol The Grove Saturday, or whether or not Pete Golding got a haircut for his introductory press conference.
And I’m certainly over temporary retraining orders and federal court dates.
Six-figure lawsuits, uprooted families, crowd control and a significant promotion are absolutely important. I just don’t believe any of it will be a concern on Saturday night, so I’ll join them in focusing on football.
LSU and Ole Miss played grudge matches long before any of this foolishness, and they’ll play them for 100 more years unless AI takes us all.
At its core, that’s what this SEC football is about.
Ole Miss hated LSU when Billy Cannon haunted Halloween night and when Eli tripped.
Don’t ask them how many seconds were on the clock in 1972, either. LSU hated the Rebels right back when Archie twice clipped the Tigers by three and the Rebels stopped the Baton Rouge party in 1997 a week after LSU toppled No. 1 Florida.
Ask both sides. The other can geaux (or go) to hell.
Did Kiffin act out on his way out of Oxford. Yes.
Is Ole Miss’s public chase of revenue sharing funds petty. You bet.
Did Trinidad Chambliss deserve another year? Probably not.
Did Kiffin need to talk to Vanity Fair? Nah.
I won’t be thinking about any of that crap on third-and-seven.
The field in Oxford will be littered with stars on Saturday evening. Chambliss, Lacy, Echoles and Alexander. Weeks, Umanmielen, Pickett and Green.
The Grove will be packed tighter than a spring break ice chest, and the purple and gold that traveled will stand proud.
It’ll be a beautiful rivalry burning at its hottest, and the drama it produced in ’59, ’72, ’03 and ’09 should follow. On the field.
It’s as old and storied an annual contest as the Southeastern Conference boasts, and Saturday will be an all-timer.
Top 10 teams, gorgeous uniforms, proud fan bases and a pinch of hatred. Well, make it a dash. We’re heavy-handed with spice in the South.
No matter how cranky Commissioner Greg Sankey gets, there will always be LSU-Ole Miss. Rarely, if ever, will the stakes be this high considering the emotion of the situation and the rankings of the teams.
But the soul of the rivalry trumps injury reports, lawsuits, tampering allegations and security hypotheticals.
Two states will settle into their chairs Saturday night for the show. Some will be in the Vaught-Hemingway bleachers, some in Tupelo bars, some on sofas in Napoleanville and some on back patios in Lake Charles.
The tension will drip from the television sets, and the passion will ooze from every invested party.
Bragging rights. Championship aspirations. An admittedly goofy trophy. Serious pride. They’re all on the line.
Still, it’s not time to spot the ball.
First, Tiger fans have to don their purple and gold, start the jambalaya and pour something dark over ice. Their counterparts in a state over will find their powder and red, grab their shakers and fill a solo cup.
They’ve done it for a century, and they’ll do it plenty more. This one carries a little more weight, and that’s the best kind of game day in the SEC.
Welcome the nerves that settle in on Saturday morning. You wouldn’t have it any other way. Come 11 p.m., one fan base will be searching for answers and the other will be toasting the future, immediate and distant.
Texas A&M and Florida are next up for the Tigers and Rebels.
That can wait.
