by Paul Jordan
No word yet on how many messages Boogie got after the Wildcat’s win over Mississippi, but I am willing to guess that most of the messages and texts he received were of the classless nature. And nothing less would be expected from the Mississippi State fans who furthered their reputation as the “armpit of the country.
On higher levels, the Bulldog brass did exude some class and if we are going to bash their fans for behaving like apes, we will recognize their administration for exuding class.
Mississippi State President Mark Keenum called UK President Lee Todd today to personally apologize for the incidents and called the fan’s behavior “an embarrassment for our university”. Athletic Director Greg Byrne went a step further and issued a direct letter to the fans and hinted at action against the fans who called and texted Cousins or threw garbage on the floor. Here is a portion of Byrnes letter:
ESPN color analyst Jimmy Dykes said the university received a “black eye” last night, following our overtime loss to Kentucky. Because of the actions of a few, we embarrassed ourselves on national television and damaged the university’s name.
The post-game events, in which some of our fans threw items on the playing floor, were totally unacceptable. It is our goal – one of our five defining principles as an athletic department – that we will act in a first-class manner as we compete for championships. We will never truly be considered winners – or champions – no matter the outcome of a game, if we do not act with class and integrity.
No matter what transpires on the court or the field, there is never justification for fans throwing debris, or acting in any other similar way, to demonstrate displeasure. It puts everyone in jeopardy of injury, and is just not the spirit of intercollegiate athletics. Thus, I am asking anyone who saw an individual throw debris on the court to come forward. Please contact me directly at byrne@athletics.msstate.edu. It is our intent to always act with class.
Our lack of sportsmanship started earlier in the week when some of our fans gained access to a Kentucky basketball player’s cell phone number. According to the player, some of our folks bombarded his cell phone with calls and text messages, some of which may have been highly objectionable. We have asked University of Kentucky officials to provide us with the phone numbers associated with any objectionable messages.
In both cases, we will do our best to track down those individuals responsible and take appropriate disciplinary measures, which could include denial of future ticket privileges.
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