Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker got my attention with his request on the news. In a bit of background, in case you are not from here, the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Golden Eagles are hosting the Super Regional baseball games as they play Tennessee this weekend after winning the Auburn Regional last week. Mayor Barker requested that all Hattiesburgers (yes, that is indeed what we are called) wear USM’s black and gold from Friday through Monday, no matter what team they usually support. He is well aware that some of our citizens normally yell “Hotty, Toddy” or “Hail, State!”
Some Hattiesburgers, like me, have formed an additional allegiance. As a lifelong Rebel fan and graduate of Ole Miss, that school gets my first allegiance as you can see by the aged surround on my car tag, followed closely by the Baylor Bears where our two sons graduated. But more than two decades in Hattiesburg have led me to close ties to USM with its de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival, the Karnes Center for Gifted Studies, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. I must admit to smiling on occasion when some of my USM friends refuse to call the name of my alma mater and only identify it as “that school up north.”
This week, I could see the wisdom of Mayor Barker’s words and was happily ready to join the motto of “Southern Miss to the Top!” However, that led to a problem. I have black clothes, but never wear anything in the orange and yellow family since donning those colors tends to have people questioning what dire illness I am recovering from. But I figured it out. Gold jewelry counts so I can do black clothes with a chunky gold necklace.
For this weekend, I join Mayor Barker in wearing black and gold and will be shouting SMTTT with my fellow Hattiesburgers. Here’s hoping they can pull off wins Saturday and Sunday without having to carry over to Monday!