The Grove and beyond

San Francisco and all points north of SLO breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Dodgers flamed out in St. Louis. The Yard fielded calls and emails from delirious Dodger haters who were pleased that our pool got pissed in this time. The Yard night crews were flooded with texts after each pitch as Ulysses Kershaw was battling and losing magnificently to the Cardinals. Giant fans were thrilled that they could still claim the last title between these bitter rivals. Finishing ten games below .500 sixteen games out of any playoff game was not going to be any speed bump in their myopic joy. The Dodgers had succumbed and the Bay Area could cling to their chipped mantle and diminished swagger. The Yard did not watch a single pitch during the Friday night debacle. We had much more important work on our agenda. The Dodger October demise had been anticipated. The Dodgers had spent much of their embedded mojo rising vaunting from last to first. It all looked good on the brochure but the Dodger playoff fever was just that and then it broke. Yard staff tried their best to insulate their mercurial leader from his forecasted demons. It is never easy and the demons are not always clearly defined until they become those demons. The lost decade of UCLA football had already telegraphed some of the warning signs but not all or their degree. The Yard follows the Animal House Universal Truths as often as medically possible. When the feces are circling, a Road Trip is best for Otter and the Yard. A road trip to Oxford, MS to see the Ole Miss Rebels face the LSU Tigers never included the Dodger debate when it was planned. It was a great diversion when the Dodgers became relevant for a time and UCLA was getting humbled at Stanford. We did not waste a moment watching a pitch or a pass in either game. The Yard road trip was legally blind before the first pitch of the debacle in the STL. Unfortunately, Giant fans feverishly watching the Dodger game kept us posted for no apparent reason. Surprisingly, vetting all of the post-game bile, we never heard from a single fan with a team in the play-offs. Filtering the bile is why we have interns. On this Saturday, we were too busy tailgating at the historic Grove at Ole Miss to be troubled by a silly baseball playoff game or some UCLA game in Palo Alto. We were attending the Hotty Toddy Party on the campus of Ole Miss. We knew our intentions were diversionary but attending a tailgate at Ole Miss should be on the bucket list for every adult American male. It is tailgating like no other college in the Union. The Grove is a ten acre parcel of land surrounded by ancient trees in the center of this 165 year old campus. The genteel southern Rebel nation rolls out large to their party. The loyal Rebel fan base parties with color and style and is 40,000 strong on six Saturdays every fall. The fans dress with respect to their history and party to their ritual mayhem. The mass consumption of alcohol is tolerated by the ever present Ole Miss police as long as no one sees a can of beer or bottle of spirits. Coolers and red cups are all the subterfuge that is necessary to baffle the law and let the party reign on. The police are pleasantly baffled as long as the revelers maintain. Dan at the tailgate set up the tailgate as he should. Ole Miss Brian welcomed us to his seven tent nation of friends and family. Bacon wrapped stuffed pork roast only starts the feasting rotation with comfy theater style seating while deciding which game to watch on the two big screens. The most difficult aspect to the festivities was the self-loathing after the third pass of grazing at the buffet. We got past it on the fourth. After the day at the Grove, Ole Miss could have lost to LSU 47-0 and our day would have been nationally ranked by our internal BCS Poll. Ole Miss Brian and company would not share that same sentiment about such an outcome. Ole Miss Fans are more about the day than the game with the understanding that the day is about the game. They are all in on the game and want the Rebels to win but that is not going to ruin the day if they do not. Their slogan is “We may lose some games but we never lost a party”. It is not just a slogan, it is. Rebel Fan is gracious, engaging, optimistic and pragmatic. LSU was the favorite. The beasts from the Bayou were omnipresent in garish colors and false hope. Ole Miss jumped on the favored with favorable results. They hung on to send LSU home in defeat. We have the tee shirt. Best Video from the Grove: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3qYPGeoA7w