Backtime Walkabout: Ole Miss

Only 24 hours in Oxford MS, but I got out to The Square a couple of times. Last night I actually got out to a new restaurant, McEwen's and my meal was top notch.

That is sweet potato-crusted Mississippi catfish with creole mustard, Gruyere mac & cheese, and the best spicy collard greens I've ever had. And while I almost always stick to wine or beer with my meal, I had a "when in Rome" moment when I looked at the blackboard.

Yes, "The Grove In A Glass" was just as sweet and southern a cocktail as you would expect. Some of the other options were "Daddy's Little Princess," "Faulkner's Cure," and "Blind Jim Ivy."

So after I recouped and got to my 5:45 AM (CT) call time, I managed to make it back to The Square for lunch (TV people will always call it lunch whether it's 9 AM or 5 PM) at one of the best breakfast/sandwich joints in the country, The Bottletree Bakery.

It was just as packed as you might expect for  a Saturday morning at a place that Oprah once recommended, so I had to take my coffee and breakfast croissant to go.

On the job, the Ole Miss Rebels defeated Arkansas without drama and went to 4-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1937. The drama was in the truck after a 25-minute 1st half power outage put a number of our flights out of Memphis in serious jeopardy.

Yes Mississippi has indoor plumbing, but it still takes 20 minutes for the lights to come on after a power surge. Fortunately we didn't go to OT like both teams had earlier in the week. And the small amount of time spent in Oxford was well backtimed.

Stuck In Neutral On Highway 30

If you haven't been following one of the muddier stories in sports, @Highway_30 is the Twitter handle for Houston Rockets rookie forward Royce White.

But to call White an NBA rookie or a Houston Rocket is starting to become a stretch. Despite being a 1st round selection and guaranteed $3.4M for his first two years, he has not played a minute. He has not been with the team and refused a D-League assignment. And today he was suspended by the team.

This is not your standard-issue contract holdout, or suspension for a violation of team rules. White has been suspended for "refusing to provide services" to his employer, the Houston Rockets.

White has an anxiety disorder, which includes a fear of flying. He claims to be working with the Rockets to come to an arrangement by which he could be a member of the team as well as tend to his mental health. The team appears to be ready to work with him, but it is White himself who can't commit.

White has become something of a phenom on Twitter with more than 140K followers. He has consistently drawn attention to his situation, and to the big picture of mental health in America. And he seems fully prepared to martyr his NBA career to bring light to the issue. Many go to his page on Twitter just to berate and insult him on the issue. His response is most always the same #BeWell friend...

White has a lot to say on mental health, including the Newtown shootings. He is making all of us think outside the box on the issue. He is an artist, a poet, a spokesman. But every day he becomes more at risk of not being a professional basketball player. And that's why the hatred on Twitter.

Like the Dixie Chicks were once told to "Shut up and sing," the response to White is "shut up and play." But White is adamant about raising questions, not dropping them.

White's music career may indeed be successful, and he may have a national voice on the issues on Oprah or some other platform. But a career in the NBA is looking less and less likely. Highway 30 doesn't necessarily connect Point A and Point B.

An Ole Miss Hit And Run

I joke with people that if they're ever on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and draw a question about college towns, that I am your lifeline. And while every college town is unique in it's own way, there's something truly singular about Oxford, Mississippi.

There's "The Square" where the courthouse sits in the center. It's symbolic of a town that still maintains its ties to the Old South while offering a progressive education and cultural environment, channeling its most famous citizen, William Faulkner.

Nowhere is that dichotomy more evident than this street corner.

Another tug-of-war in the deep south is over the Ole Miss Rebels (former?) mascot, Colonel Reb.

While the costumed mascot has been phased out, the image still lingers all over town. To some he represents the antebellum Southern gentleman, and to some he represents the plantation/slave owner and the confederacy. It depends upon your point of view.

Does American history begin in 1865? Is the word "Rebel" too symbolic of the confederacy as well? Does Ole Miss have to change their nickname too?

The Rebels aren't the class of SEC football. The saying goes, they don't redshirt All-Americas at Ole Miss, they redshirt Miss Americas. But their football tradition is evident everywhere.

The speed limit on campus is the number of Archie Manning's retired jersey. And in the gift shop, you are just as likely to see an Eli Manning jersey, as a Michael Oher jersey. Usually offensive linemen are relegated to the shadows, but when your life is immortalized in film (The Blind Side), that changes the dynamic.

And The Grove is hands down the best tailgating spot in the country. You'll know what I mean when you get there.

And finally, the Bottletree Bakery is a must. Just off The Square, it's my favorite sandwich joint in the SEC. But it's the selection of pastries and sweets (not my thing), that got Oprah Winfrey's attention.

So there's a lot to enjoy at the University of Mississippi if you're staying for a day or two...my recommendation is to get yourself (or at least one of your children) situated for 4 years.