Re: Who"s a Southern Miss fan this week?
Boy, this one is a bit of a quandry for me. On the one hand, I've always wanted the Barn to lose every game. I've never wanted them undefeated. Ever. Not even when we play 'em. I've cheered for Auburn's opponent on a weekly basis for as long as I've known what a football was, which is the vast majority of my 49 (young) years. So, losing to USM would be great in that regard.
But on the other hand, living here amongst the USM faithful, let me just tell you that they have become a fairly insufferable lot. Invincible ignorance. Bitterness. Whining. Did you know that no SEC team has ever beaten an non-SEC opponent without flagrant & obvious cheating by our refs? I've suggested that I'd be most willing to have non-SEC refs cover our games against USM--it's as if I had said "ya know that the world is actually flat, right, and that there be monsters near the edge..." The USM worldview just doesn't allow for different opinions about such things.
And, in case you are wondering, the average golden eagle hates (intentional word choice) anything having to do with Bama with every fiber of their being. They loathe Ole Miss, but we're right there in that class of their hatred. And they despise anything having to do with the SEC in general.
You'll look long & hard to find USM fans who would ever pull for us in anything. That's cool with me. But they're largely incapable of objective reason regarding themselves. Or us. (example: I really dislike USCal, but I can recognize that they have been very, very good for some years now, and are very good again this year.) In the local lore, the only reason USM has not already competed in a BCS bowl for the NC is the conspiracy by the SEC & others to keep USM down. Note: that conspiracy is to keep USM specifically & uniquely down. I'm telling you...it's not the USM fanhood of 20 years ago these days...
Year by year, I find it increasingly hard to cheer for USM, solely because of their fans. On balance tomorrow, I s'pose I don't mind USM winning, but I shudder to ponder the nonstop (meaning years' worth) of noise that will come forth from the locals.
My prediction is that Auburn will have difficulty covering USM's wideouts, including particularly DeAndre. He's a stud. My other prediction is that USM's running game will get stuffed, and that Auburn's 3 RBs will wear USM's front 7 down in the 2nd half. My further prediction is that this could be a very good & fun game to watch.
A slightly dissenting view...
exiled
