This past weekend, Mississippi State's hockey team traveled to Biloxi to compete in a tournament against Ole Miss, Tulane, And Middle Tennessee State University. Ten girls, myself included, traveled down to Biloxi as well to support the team as Ice Girls (which is basically like Diamond Girls for baseball, but for hockey), as well as a small number of fans. From Friday night through the rest of the weekend, I was grateful that I did not attend the University of Mississippi, or have any connection to them at all, due to this hockey team's countless actions that demonstrated a lack of class, and showed the University of Mississippi in the worst light possible.
It started on Friday night. At midnight, after a late game and dinner, our team finally arrived at the hotel. Thirty rooms had been blocked off in advance to be split between the four teams. We got there and found that Ole Miss' hockey team had taken 15 of them, sleeping one or two players to a room, while the other three teams were left to split the remaining 15 rooms among them. We were left with three rooms for about 20 of us, and some of us ended up staying at the homes of players about an hour away. The kind players on MTSU and Tulane's teams offered us some of their rooms, even though they had very few themselves. The men of the Ole Miss team offered no one anything.
The next day Mississippi State played Ole Miss at 8 p.m. Throughout the game, there were repeated acts of rudeness and disrespect. During the first quarter, one of Ole Miss' players grabbed at State player by the neck and threw him on the ice and started throwing punches. Hockey can be a violent sport at times, and fights are not uncommon. However, the team took a video of this fight, and posted it on their official twitter page with the hashtag #hottytoddy as if the fact that they were able to throw punches made them a better team.
Ultimately, Mississippi State lost the game, and the players of Ole Miss' teams were not the most gracious winners. Both teams were sponsored by the Hard Rock Café and attended dinner there. The boys of Ole Miss stood up and cheered for themselves and about their win while looking over a Mississippi State's players with looks and gestures mocking the team for their loss. We just looked at them and clapped because obviously, they needed the attention.
I am not saying the University of Mississippi is a bad place. There are some incredible people who attend this school, but the behavior of these players this weekend has given me a reason to have negative attitude towards Ole Miss. Let's hope that when their football team and fans come to Starkville in a couple weeks, they can show the University in a better light.
Hail State.
