It has been over 50 years since Ole Miss beat the top ranked
team in the country. On Saturday
evening, Ole Miss Faithful could finally exhale now that the fog has been
lifted. Ole Miss defeated top ranked
Alabama on Saturday evening to the delight of over 60,000 fans that packed Vaught-Hemingway
Stadium.
After the game ended, thousands’ of fans stormed the field
and many descended to each end zone to immediately remove the goalposts. Growing up in Jackson Mississippi, graduate
student Bucker Corso dreamed of the day when Ole Miss would defeat the top
ranked team in the country. Corso also
stormed the field with his friends’ and fraternity brothers’. Corso wasn’t the one who actually tore down
the goalposts’. However, Corso and 25
others picked up a goalpost and carried it out of the stadium and would then
walk about one mile to the “square” where the scene was reminiscent of Mardi
Gras in New Orleans. “Every place on the
square was packed with people and the euphoria of it all being an Ole Miss fan
growing up in the state of Mississippi is something I will never forget”, says
Corso.
On Monday, Corso presented Athletic Director of Ole Miss,
Ross Bjork with two pieces of the goal post that Corso and his crew took home
after the game on Saturday. Corso rented
a saw and cut up the goal post into 30 pieces.
“Every one of the 25 guys who carried the goal post got a piece, and I
gave two pieces to the AD.” Many have
offered large sums of money for a piece of the goalpost. One person offered $1,000 for six inches of
the post.
The SEC conference fined Ole Miss $50,000 for the fans
rushing the field. Additionally, it
would be another $25,000 to replace the goalposts. Mr. Bjork has asked the fans’ that attended
the game on Saturday to please donate money to rebelgiving.com. As of October 8th, the goal of
raising $75,000 was already achieved.
When valuing a piece of sports memorabilia, it is worth what
somebody will pay for it. $1,000 is a
lot of money and who knows how that investment will fare over time. However, the memories of each Ole Miss fan at
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday October 4th 2014 are priceless
and will be remembered for generations to come.
