Happy Friday, everybody!

It’s no secret that I’m full of school spirit. This spirit not only includes the teams I currently follow, but teams I’ve actually been a part of as well.

I’m no Uncle Rico, but I still get fired up thinking about high school football. Our beloved Walker Vikings start their season at home tonight. It pains me to think that I’ll be home tomorrow, and there’s a game tonight, because I’d totally attend at least part of the game if I were in town.

There’s something about the way the stadium lights reflect off the clouds… your driving to the game and you can see the location of the football field from 5 miles away. The smell peanuts roasting and burgers on the grill. The sound of an almost-perfect band mimicking collegiate fight songs. Ugly mascots and over-the-top parents.

I love high school football.

Go Vikes.

Down 20-0 at the half, Mississippi College stormed back to win the 7th edition of The Backyard Brawl versus cross-town rival and #15 ranked Milsaps College. New jerseys (very old-school L.A. Rams-esque) and the classic ‘MC’ interlocking logo on the helmet were in full effect. I watched the game online while listening to the Mariners and watching the State-LSU game on TV. Yeah, I like sports.

5,293 fans were on-hand (hey, don’t laugh, it’s Division III) to watch the come-from-behind win. The Clarion-Ledger has some descent photos of the game.

…yeah.

Question:

Weekend plans?

The Maroon Bet comes one step closer to fulfillment as Mississippi State hosts LSU (seriously, could the athletic department picked a better way to nationally embarrass their program?) tonight on ESPN.

LSU won 11 games in 2006.
MSU has won 11 games total in the last 4 years.
My God, my God… why hast thou forsaken State?

The Clinton Administration points us to an entertaining thread on a MSU fanboard: Pictorial predictions of the LSU game

Looks like Maroon is no longer the only color that matters. Now, Mississippi State students are being asked to wear white, not maroon like Coach Croom asked. Is this the beginning of the end for Croom?

Seriously, folks. We know we’ve been giving you Bulldogs (or ‘Dawgs) a hard time this week… but the road is about to get a bit bumpier. LSU comes to town tonight and the whole nation is watching.

We’re gonna catch out of work a little early so that we can have time to grab some grub and slide up in front of our living room TV for 3 hours of touchdown goodness. I think at this point, State’s main goal isn’t necessarily to win, but rather to not lose that bad.

We really are hoping that we get our due in this bet. We deal State a lot of heck around these parts… it’s only fitting that we got what’s coming to us. So… yeah… we’re getting ourselves excited about this football season for you.

…and you know what gets me fired up about Mississippi State football? OLD! MAIN!

Question:

What was your favorite childhood cartoon?

No, seriously.

I befriended Caitlin Upton on Facebook the other day [profile link] in an effort to apologize… and add another friend I’ve never met for mu own self-serving purposes.

I wrote her, apologzing on behalf of all the naughty bloggers in the world who thought she was as stupid as she appeared on TV. Well… she wrote back.

During our company softball game last night my phone went off with a notification of ‘message recieved’. Here’s our brief, but authentic interaction:

Landon Howell
I think people (like myself) are realizing that it wasn't cool making fun of you. Good call on going on the Today Show... I think it showed everyone that you could handle the situation professionally...

Caitlin Upton
thanks so much
i apprecaite it alot
<3

We don’t quite know what to make of the ‘<3′, but we’ll take it. We’ll also forgive the misspelling of ‘appreciate’. She’s had a rough week and I’m sure that spell checking her Facebook messages is the least of her worries.

In case you think I be fibbing, there’s a screen shot below…

I got a heads-up from a fellow Souther Miss fan via a Southern Miss message board that Monday on ESPN radio, the college football gurus were discussing the Big East and the Louisville/Kentucky game came up. They stated that Kentucky has a real chance to upset Louisville. However, what the said at the end was not about Kentucky but those other two division I schools in Mississippi. They said:

“Kentucky and Vanderbilt have paid off the 30 year mortgage that they have had on the basement of the SEC and have assigned it to Ole Miss and Mississippi State.”

Ouch.

I know that in Mississippi, USM is still considered second-tier-wannabe with a short football history, but the tunnel-vision fans of State and Ole Miss with memories of yesteryear need to pull their heads from the cow patties and frat houses and realize that Southern Miss is making its’ mark in college football whether ‘dawgs and rebs’ want to admit it or not.

Yes, I’m talking trash to get you fired up for football.

It’s no secret thatthe Big East has had it’s eye on (aside from Notre Dame) Southern Miss for the last 3 years. Geographical location and the obvious “mid-major” tag aren’t helping matters. If the SEC was starting from scratch today… I’m not saying Southern Miss would be the option over State or Ole Miss, but I am saying that it’d be closer than it should be.

Do I ever expect USM to take the place of Ole Miss or State in the SEC? Absolutely not. (But it actually happened to me during a season of NCAA Football on XBox a couple of years back… poor Vanderbilt.) The SEC is more than pigskin… though football is the bread-n-butter of the Southeastern Conference. However, I am saying that when you are one of only 10 college programs with 13 consecutive winning seasons with 3 conference champions and 6 bowl wins… people take notice.

Now… go talk about your traditions; they won’t win you games, but it’s cute to watch you little kittens play with your cowbells.

All of them are interesting… only Ohio is worthy of the Top 5.

So much has been made of Miss Teen South Carolina USA… but what if you had to answer her question?

Question:

Recent polls have shown 1/5 of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?

…and by “we”, I mean me. After watching the clip from The Today Show, Miss Teen South Carolina USA doesn’t seem so stupid afterall. Yes, the original video of her is hilarious and embarrassing… but she’s 18-years-old… she’s on national television… and, to be quite honest, her question wasn’t all that easy to answer.

No, the answer cannot simply be “Our educational system.” This was a difficult question, but it was a difficult question to answer on the spot.

“But Landon, I know what I would have said if I had been asked the question!” Of course you do… and you’ve also had 4 days to think about it. Miss Teen South Carolina didn’t have 4 seconds.

For what it’s worth, we think she’s a sweet girl and we give her major props for having the guts to go on television and make fun of herself.

Question:

What’d you do this weekend?

Our favorite YouTube pal, Dax Flame, has decided to stick around after all. You might remember his little rant a few days back about quitting. But no… Dax is back.

If you hate this fella, you have to appreciate the hilarity that the videos contain. If you love this guy, then you’ll be happy to know that we’ll continue to post each and every video that crosses our laptop.