Forgive me for using this forum as a sounding board for a moment, but it does have a sports tie-in so...This is just a rant from what I experienced today running into a State alum. Quick background info first…I’m a pilot for Southwest which means I travel this country a lot every week. Because of that, I proudly wear a gold and black USM lanyard around my neck to advertise USM everywhere I go. Notably, I’m based out of Houston, so I love it when a UH alum has some smack to say about us…it’s fun to ask if they remember the score the last time we played them…and exactly what all they lost that year because they lost that game, and exactly where the beat-down took place. Getting sidetracked…sorry.
So today, I’m in Chicago, and I’m supposed to take over a jet from a flight that just parked at the gate. As I walk down the jetway, the off-coming pilot sees my lanyard and yells “Hey…Hardy Street High!” I know of only one school that says that when wanting to sound condescending, and that’s State. UM doesn’t even acknowledge USM in anything, so that rules them out. I politely introduce myself, as is the custom from one pilot to another. He then says the Hardy Street thing again, obviously trying to goad me in some way. Success...’cause I ask him which of the two loser schools from the SEC did he go to? He replies “Hail State!” Then counters with, “We’re in Omaha…where the heck are you guys?...oooh that’s right…couldn’t make it out of the regionals.”
Since we’re standing in the jetway with passengers still disembarking the jet from the previous flight, I figured it best to keep this professional, afterall, we’d just met! So I congratulated him on State making it to Omaha…even threw in a question of how many times in a row now they’ve made it to either a Super Regional or Omaha, and how awesome that feat is. He could only reply “Who knows, we’ve lost count. How about you guys?” I then told him it’s okay, I actually don’t mind State that much, at least they’ve had the cojones to man-up and play us in football, whereas Ole Miss hasn’t for 40 years, and won’t. I don’t remember what snide remark he had for that, but it was definitely snide. Okay…so diplomacy isn’t going well. He’s set on just talking trash.
Now my copilot, who’s a La Tech guy, btw, is standing next to me, taking it all in. Strangely enough, he and I had just had a conversation on how things are in each other’s state as it pertains to college football …so he’s been laughing at the jabs he’s hearing, seeing the “how things are in MS” playing out right before his eyes…and the State guy has been playing up to it, just to add insult.
Trying to change the subject, I asked the State guy where he was from, told him I grew up in Biloxi. He said he grew up on a farm in northern MS, to which I attempted to interject humor by saying it made sense then for him to choose to attend State …cows in both those places. He came back with the Omaha thing again, so I’d had enough. He started to say something, but I cut him off with pointing out I was talking about the girls, not the animals (La Tech-guy thought that was particularly funny). I then asked State-boy how many times did their Omaha-baseball team beat us this year?…none, ‘cause we swept them. And how many more times have they’ve beaten us in football throughout all history…pointing out it’s only 2, so really not much ground to stand on in pretending they’ve proven themselves somehow above us. And then pointed out we have twice the number of players in the Pro Football HOF than they do. That one caught him off guard, and suddenly he wasn’t as jovial. My copilot, the La Tech guy, though still laughing, figured it best to change the topic and general overall atmosphere, so mentioned we needed to get going to get the jet prepped for the next flight. State-boy just left without saying goodbye. I at least told him it was nice meeting him as he was walking up the jetway. Sheesh! No manners.
I’m not in any way suggesting I was any better than the State guy. I sunk to his level in the end. And of course I’m not suggesting ALL State alums act as this guy did…heck, my brother went to State and was actually Bully for a stint (we in my family don’t talk about this though). But I’m being honest when I say I see more and more behavior like this guy’s from the other schools. Good humored jabbing is a staple in the pilot world. We thrive for competition and college sports provides all the topics we need to “get into it”. But man, they certainly have no problem dishing it out, but can’t seem to take it without getting upset. My theory is that it may not simply be that they can’t take it…they probably have no problem taking it from “one of their own”. It’s that they’ve accepted this idea that we really are somehow “less than they are”, and therefore won’t stand for someone “smaller” standing up to them. It’s the Scott Farkus syndrome (A Christmas Story). Nothing more than how a bully acts. No pun intended for the MSU fans, but if the shoe fits…
So today, I’m in Chicago, and I’m supposed to take over a jet from a flight that just parked at the gate. As I walk down the jetway, the off-coming pilot sees my lanyard and yells “Hey…Hardy Street High!” I know of only one school that says that when wanting to sound condescending, and that’s State. UM doesn’t even acknowledge USM in anything, so that rules them out. I politely introduce myself, as is the custom from one pilot to another. He then says the Hardy Street thing again, obviously trying to goad me in some way. Success...’cause I ask him which of the two loser schools from the SEC did he go to? He replies “Hail State!” Then counters with, “We’re in Omaha…where the heck are you guys?...oooh that’s right…couldn’t make it out of the regionals.”
Since we’re standing in the jetway with passengers still disembarking the jet from the previous flight, I figured it best to keep this professional, afterall, we’d just met! So I congratulated him on State making it to Omaha…even threw in a question of how many times in a row now they’ve made it to either a Super Regional or Omaha, and how awesome that feat is. He could only reply “Who knows, we’ve lost count. How about you guys?” I then told him it’s okay, I actually don’t mind State that much, at least they’ve had the cojones to man-up and play us in football, whereas Ole Miss hasn’t for 40 years, and won’t. I don’t remember what snide remark he had for that, but it was definitely snide. Okay…so diplomacy isn’t going well. He’s set on just talking trash.
Now my copilot, who’s a La Tech guy, btw, is standing next to me, taking it all in. Strangely enough, he and I had just had a conversation on how things are in each other’s state as it pertains to college football …so he’s been laughing at the jabs he’s hearing, seeing the “how things are in MS” playing out right before his eyes…and the State guy has been playing up to it, just to add insult.
Trying to change the subject, I asked the State guy where he was from, told him I grew up in Biloxi. He said he grew up on a farm in northern MS, to which I attempted to interject humor by saying it made sense then for him to choose to attend State …cows in both those places. He came back with the Omaha thing again, so I’d had enough. He started to say something, but I cut him off with pointing out I was talking about the girls, not the animals (La Tech-guy thought that was particularly funny). I then asked State-boy how many times did their Omaha-baseball team beat us this year?…none, ‘cause we swept them. And how many more times have they’ve beaten us in football throughout all history…pointing out it’s only 2, so really not much ground to stand on in pretending they’ve proven themselves somehow above us. And then pointed out we have twice the number of players in the Pro Football HOF than they do. That one caught him off guard, and suddenly he wasn’t as jovial. My copilot, the La Tech guy, though still laughing, figured it best to change the topic and general overall atmosphere, so mentioned we needed to get going to get the jet prepped for the next flight. State-boy just left without saying goodbye. I at least told him it was nice meeting him as he was walking up the jetway. Sheesh! No manners.
I’m not in any way suggesting I was any better than the State guy. I sunk to his level in the end. And of course I’m not suggesting ALL State alums act as this guy did…heck, my brother went to State and was actually Bully for a stint (we in my family don’t talk about this though). But I’m being honest when I say I see more and more behavior like this guy’s from the other schools. Good humored jabbing is a staple in the pilot world. We thrive for competition and college sports provides all the topics we need to “get into it”. But man, they certainly have no problem dishing it out, but can’t seem to take it without getting upset. My theory is that it may not simply be that they can’t take it…they probably have no problem taking it from “one of their own”. It’s that they’ve accepted this idea that we really are somehow “less than they are”, and therefore won’t stand for someone “smaller” standing up to them. It’s the Scott Farkus syndrome (A Christmas Story). Nothing more than how a bully acts. No pun intended for the MSU fans, but if the shoe fits…
