Posted on 09/30/2005 2:14:56 PM PDT by somniferum
Starkville, Miss. — There’s really no way to describe this place. How do you describe nothing? Think of it like this: Alongside this far-flung outpost, Auburn, Ala., seems as big and bustling as New York, N.Y.
In a way, it’s nice that Mississippi State plays football. Without the mid-sized stadium rising above this low-slung burg, you’d miss Starkville altogether and go motoring off into Arkansas. With gas the price it is, who can afford such an overshot?
Other means of transport are problematic. You can’t fly into Starkville itself. You have to land at the ambitiously named Golden Triangle Regional Airport, which sits 20 miles east on Highway 82 and is no beehive of activity itself. The Georgia cheerleaders arrived on a 50-seat plane Friday night, and one among their number was heard to ask, “Where are the other terminals?”
And someone said: “There are no other terminals.”
Georgia doesn’t play here often — Saturday marked only its fifth visit ever — and for that everyone can be most grateful. It’s a long haul to a flyspeck town to face a program so devoid of glamour that its signature is the cowbell. If you’re a Georgia fan and you made the trek, you deserve a big wet kiss from the beauteous UGA VI. (Who, owing to “travel difficulties,” didn’t make it himself. Smart dog.)
Even State fans didn’t seem to hold much hope for this game against the nation’s No. 7 team. The stadium, which seats only 55,082, was conspicuously unpacked. (Attendance was announced as 49,903.) To be fair, remnants of Rita had spawned tornado watches in the area, but the first 2 1/2 quarters were played in nothing more than a brisk breeze. Then it rained. Then it stopped. Then it rained again.
The whole night had a weird feel to it. The isolated setting made this seem less an ESPN showcase than a high school game played under Friday night lights in the middle of absolutely nowhere. And the game itself was nothing special, either.
Georgia did as Georgia usually does against an overmatched opponent: It played well enough to get ahead but not so well it could put State away. It passed more often than it ran — will there ever again be a game where these Bulldogs just try to pound somebody? — and D.J. Shockley was good enough to throw for 312 yards but not so good he could produce more than two touchdowns. Two missed field goals and three Red Zone fizzles kept the score theoretically close. It was 14-3 at the half and 23-10 at the end, and never was there a doubt that Georgia was the superior side.
After four games, there is some question as to how good Georgia really is. The Boise State rout seems now to say more about Boise than about the Bulldogs, who a week later couldn’t put away a South Carolina crew that Alabama subsequently thrashed. The temptation is great to suggest the Bulldogs are wildly overrated, but if they win in Knoxville two weeks hence — and they could — we’ll all feel silly for yielding to it.
The cold truth is that Georgia has played four games against teams it should have beaten and has, to its credit, beaten all four. In a time when Louisville, touted as a BCS team, can be humbled by South Florida, holding serve is impressive in itself. By making it through September, Georgia has positioned itself to play for the SEC East title and a BCS berth. In its first month without David Greene and David Pollack and Thomas Davis and Brian VanGorder, Georgia has kept it going.
And if there was no majesty in this dismissal of middling Mississippi State, there was at least this sweet reward: When their business was finished, the Georgia Bulldogs got to leave. The stark reality of Starkville always looks nicest when viewed via the rear-view mirror.
Can I get a Misssissippi Ping on this? (And no MSU jokes :P)
Hey bradley...maybe the good folks of Starkville don't think much of you either. You are rude, crass and outrageously UNFUNNY. Whatever happened to good Sportsmanship? Obviously mr. bradley you were sleeping during that part of sports. If you don't like Starkville...don't come back. No one will miss you. Jerk!
My my my, what a proud little provincial this "journalist" is. Truth be known, this guy probably didn't exactly grow up in a metropolis himself, and is now smugly on his high horse ... the very epitome of "country come to town." Idiot.
everyone has a a--hole his just fits on his shoulders. maybe if he stood on his hands he could have better perspective.
This is a Mississipi ping with NO Miss State
jokes allowed.
safer than Atlanta and more polite too
Why do people always talk about what a great place Atlanta is? It is essentially a ghetto surrounded by cookie-cutter suburbs and office parks.
What does the average Mississippi State player get on his SATs? -----Drool.
I miss the big cowbells.
It all depends. You can go out on 12 and do a drive-by viewing of Ackerman. If you miss Ackerman, get on the Trace and ride to Kosciusko, home of Oprah! Or, you can ride north and west and stumble into Maben, home of Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck.
Man, you've got to expand your horizons!
Atlanta does have a couple of interesting buildings.....
The northern burbs are not bad.
I much prefer Nashville.
More four seasons and less congested and a bit less crime.
but, it has become pricey here
"I miss the big cowbells."
I do, too.
I remember the first game I saw after they were banned.
Some guy held up a HUGE sign that said...
DING DONG, DAMMIT!
;o)
My friends at UPS much prefer living in Louisville (where their air and logistics operations are headquartered) than Atlanta (where their headquarters is). I agree. Louisville has friendly people, great weather, and doesn't have all that glitzy nouveau riche arrogance of the north Atlanta suburbs.
banning big cowbells and dixie
man, mississippi does some stuck on stupid stuff
"man, mississippi does some stuck on stupid stuff"
LOL!
They surely do.
Sometimes they have help from the NCAA, though.
They've been doing a lot of stuck on stupid stuff lately.
He's just upset because there are a lot fewer liberals in Starkville. Either that, or couldn't find a gay bar after the game.
I miss the big cowbells.
The cow bells were actually born out of
necessity. They were used to distinguish between the
heifers and the cheerleaders.
Which bring up another point.
The definition of "safe sex" at State is
a cow that doesn't kick.
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