The Grove & The Boulevard

[gostangs]

and someone should make a video

[that's great raplh]

now we're talkin

[LawSchoolPony]

Back from Oxford and Ole Miss. I honestly didn't expect to start a thread of argument concerning Ole Miss and SMU being identical schools, just to bring up the Grove as the model for the Boulevard, and the fact that the 2 schools should play each other.

BUT, if we're going to be on the subject, as a graduate of Ole Miss, and an SMU law student, I feel I can at least venture some sort of perspective on the debate comparing the 2 schools.

HixsontoLeVias, you're delusional if you fail to see the similarities between the two schools, end of story. Speaking in complete honesty on the matter, both are schools full of people who are, or like to think they are, the "elite" of the South. Thats the reason why as an Ambassador giving campus tours at Ole Miss, I constantly had to tell out-of-staters (including TONS of kids from Highland Park and seemingly every elite private school in Dallas) that Ole Miss wasn't private. The campus is immaculate, the programs have money coming out of their ears (both of my departments have their own endowments of $40 and $60M each, and these were small departments - I graduated with 35 and 80 students in each), the campus is jam-packed full of BMW's and Land Rovers, and the athletic program has more money than a team like the Rebels should have. The chancellor's fundraising efforts 5 years ago netted Ole Miss over $540M, the same time SMU's campaign raised its $500M.

Texans, particularly Dallas kids, make up a HUGE contingent of students at UM, and the DFW UM alum club is one of the largest in the nation. Ole Miss is the only public university in MS to have a Phi Beta Kappa honors chapter, it is home to one of the nation's TOP 3 HONORS COLLEGES, a 2nd tier law school (same tier as SMU, and its the 4th oldest public law school in the nation), a top-tier pharmacy school, and has produced 24 Rhodes Scholars, 4 Truman Scholars (its a Truman Scholar institution), 4 Fulbright Scholars, and a Marshall Scholar, AND OLE MISS has the 24th largest endowment amount per student in THE NATION. With an enrollment of only about 13,000 in Oxford, the size is even very comparable w/ SMU

Sure, Ole Miss has a reputation as a party school, but my friends and I worked our butts off in the classroom, and almost all of my classes were challenging. Sure, there are the sorority girls there just for that scene, and the frat boys looking for a party,but that happens at every southern school, especially SMU as well. Ole Miss may not be UVA, but SMU IS SURE AS HECK NOT VANDERBILT! Until you visit Ole Miss and see the incredible growth and energy there, you have no idea. It is truly a "diamond in the rough."

The colors are the same, the university "symbols" look the same, the size is similar, the student body is similar, the campuses look very similar, the football teams are often sub-par (ha, just kidding)...the links are strange.

Sure, the Hogs beat the Rebs Saturday, but the GROVE was incredible - at least 25 times bigger and better than the Boulevard. The tents in the Grove and the accompanying students dressed in their designer finest would put any HP mom / SMU sorority girl to shame. BUT, SMU is a family tradition, and we'll be at the Boulevard on the 26th to tailgate for the Ponies...we'll be the tent w/ SMU and OLE MISS flags...

[gostangs]

No armslength third party rating system would put Ol Miss and SMU undergraduates programs in the same category - SMU is easily ahead of Ol miss academically.

I like Ol Miss though and we should play them more regularly, and thank goodness they are around so the kids from Dallas who want to leave town to go to college and can no longer get into UT have a place to go instead of being stuck with Baylor or TCU.

[LawSchoolPony]

Its OLE MISS w/ an "e" - not "Ol."

I chose Ole Miss over UT, SMU, A&M, Tulane, Loyola, and Miami...its more than a place to go when you can't get into UT. Tell that to my 2 friends from Ole Miss who chose it over Harvard.

[HixsontoLeVias]

..so, we are basing our little comparison on the type of blazer buttons worn, or the quality of the girls Talbots card??? What cars are in the parking lot?? The colors??? Symbols?? My side hurts from laughing...and yes, you are biased. From a guy who lives in Memphis, goes to one Ole [deleted] game a year, knows countless Ole [deleted] "grads" around town, works with many, sees sorority recs, talks to kids already down there, Ole [deleted] is a fine school, might be the best school in Mississippi..but, SMU has more snap, SMU has higher rated programs, the OVERALL quality of the SMU student / grad is higher, no doubt..of course, SMUers are somewhat "wannabes", I will give you that, but, in my humble opinion, Ole Pissers are the best dressed ones at the Jeffro Bodine ball, if that makes them feel beter, so be it, another way to put it, being an Ole [deleted] grad/student / fan is like being the one eyed king of a blind country.

[LawSchoolPony]

I have two points to make in what will hopefully round out this thread, since it has gone completely off topic.

1. In noting the similarities b/tw Ole Miss and SMU, I never said Ole Miss was better academically than SMU, I simply had to stand up for Ole Miss academics once HixsontoLeVias got his feathers ruffled b/c of an obvious personal issue he has with Ole Miss. SMU is ranked above Ole Miss academically, duh. But, considering Ole Miss is a public school in Mississippi, a state with obvious secondary education problems, the school has an amazing array of successful, challenging, and well-ranked and well-funded academic programs on a campus that would make many private schools jealous.

As for the similarities b/tw the two institutions and the academic level at UM, HixsontoLeVias chose to focus on the minor points I made about the campus appearances, etc., and failed to come up with any replies about the other academic accolades I mentioned concerning Ole Miss. Maybe its b/c he is poorly informed and doesn't even know what it means to be a Rhodes Scholar or a Truman Scholar.

2. Hixs, your posts highlight your obvious lack of class. You are obviously bitter towards Ole Miss for some unknown reason. Perhaps it is because you live in Memphis, the "rear end" of Tennessee and you come face to face with Ole Miss alumni, or maybe you even work for an Ole Miss grad. Most likely, its b/c you lost a job to an Ole Miss grad, not b/c your SMU education wasn't good enough or even better, but because of your evident attitude problem. I mean, come on, referring to UM as "Ole [deleted]" - yeah, thats mature. Nice.

This post was originally about football and The Grove and The Boulevard before Hixs went off on his bitter crusade against Ole Miss. I think The Boulevard has come a long way since it was started by President Turner (oh yeah, speaking of Turner, yet SOMETHING ELSE the 2 schools have in common), and it can go a long way once the Mustangs have more success on the field. I look forward to the day when The Boulevard is just as packed and sophisticated as the Grove! Maybe then, we'll have to be out on The Boulevard at midnight on Friday nights just so we can find a place to pitch our tent like they do in Oxford at The Grove! Imagine the tailgating if these two professional tailgating teams could get together and play one another!

I can't wait for The Boulevard in two weeks. Maybe by then, Hixs will have grown up.

[gostangs]

Yea, but "all you need is a face" is still a great line.....

I think Hix is funny. But who cares - bring on the rebs, if we can't win we should at least drink.

[Mexmustang]

Let's bring this post to an end...I have great friends from both schools, friends that graduated from Ole Miss after flunking out of Vanderbilt and friends that graduated from SMU after flunking out of Tulane...but, could you imagine our own excitement at the Blvd. had we begun that tradition and had Ford Stadium in the early 80's?