After four and a half years, I have seen it all

Four-and-half years went by too fast. So fast that I have to recount the ups-and-downs I’ve experienced while at Ole Miss. I’ve seen some amazing things while at Ole Miss, some of them good and some of them bad.

I was there when Houston Nutt lofted two Cotton Bowl trophies into the air in Dallas.

I was there when Jacksonville State pulled off the impossible in 2010. I was there when Les Miles bungled the final seconds of an Ole Miss victory over LSU in 2009. And I was there when Ed Orgeron inexplicably pulled Brent Schaeffer in favor of Seth Adams in 2007.

I was there when Brian Smith stole an errant Glen Davis pass that led to a game winning buzzer beater by Clarence Sanders that beat LSU in 2007.

I was there when Dave Bliss flipped home a buzzer-beater to send Georgia over Ole Miss and eventually to a Southeastern Championship in 2009. I was there when the Ku Klux Klan came to campus. I was there, just yards away, when students staged an anti-Klan rally. I was there to see the fan base become so divided over a mascot that it defied logic; And I was there when a presidential debate came to campus.

If Ole Miss ever wants to move forward, the University, its alumni, fans and students must unite as one. There can no longer be divisions over mascots and symbols alike.

Athletically, Ole Miss needs all the support that the fan base can provide. It’s okay to have high hopes and expectations for respective teams, but be realistic in those endeavors.

Ole Miss’ football program has never been to Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Not once. And yet we have many in the fan base who want to run coaches off just a year removed from back-to-back nine win seasons. Ole Miss simply cannot become the coaching graveyard that it would be if coaches were fired over knee-jerk reactions.

The Rebel basketball program has made more strides over the past four years than almost any team on campus. The players and coaches need the fans in the stands. They have to sell their program to prospective recruits who will be looked upon to take Ole Miss to the NCAA Tournament.

Mike Bianco’s baseball team has been a contender every season that I’ve been here. The baseball facilities in Oxford are second to none and the fan support is first-rate. Now it’s time to take the team to Omaha.

How could I forget the success of Billy Chadwick’s men’s tennis program? Chadwick has arguably built the most likely national title contender on campus.

Go to a women’s athletic event.

One of the best experiences of my college tenure was being given the opportunity to travel with the women’s soccer team by coach Matt Mott. There’s a passion to win there that so many are clueless of because they don’t take the time to watch. With so much young talent currently on the roster and a promising recruiting classes on the horizon, there’s no doubt in my mind that the soccer program is on the upswing.

Renee Ladner would love any support that the fan base can give.

Her Lady Rebels recently beat Illinois and Gonzaga in a tournament in Hawaii. Did I mention that Ladner’s club has just two seniors on the roster?

The coaching staff has built the women’s basketball program into one that will be successful for years to come.

Joe Getzin has the volleyball team back in the NCAA Tournament.

Bar none, volleyball has the best in-game atmosphere of any sport on campus. Because of that, Ole Miss is viewed as one of the toughest places to play in college volleyball.

The experiences and events that I have been a part of could not have been possible without the people I have encountered at Ole Miss. I would have never been able to write for The Daily Mississippian, host a sportstalk show on Rebel Radio or host The SportsWhip on Ole Miss TV.

I thank all of you for being a part of it.

Ole Miss has been good to me and it has been good to a lot of you as well.

Now be good back to it.