The World According To Carl

When I was growing up in rural Mississippi, my Daddy took my brother and me to many Mississippi State football games in Jackson, Mississippi. Back then, they, as well as Ole Miss, played all home games in the stadium in Jackson. Now both universities play their home games on campus but when I was a kid, going to Jackson meant it was football season. I developed a deep affection for Mississippi State even though I had never even seen the campus and had never even been to Starkville. However my Daddy, my Uncle and my Granddaddy were all MSU alumni and I made up my mind that I was going to attend Mississippi State no matter what.

And in the fall of 1981, I drove onto the campus of Mississippi State University for the first time as a freshman student.

A long held tradition at Mississippi State football games is the ringing of cowbells by Bulldog fans. This creates a lot of noise and has been known to completely disrupt opposing teams’ offensive and defensive units from hearing anything on the field. This tradition lasted for decades until Auburn coach Pat “Tie” Dye managed to convince SEC officials to pass a rule prohibiting “artificial noisemakers” from SEC games. In other words, cowbells were illegal to bring to MSU games when they played an SEC opponent. On the road, people’s cowbells were confiscated while at home games, stadium officials would develop “cowbell blindness” allowing hundreds of cowbells to make it into the stadium (unless an SEC official was present forcing the stadium official to “confiscate” cowbells which meant they held them until the SEC officials wandered off and if you came by during the game, you could get your cowbell back while the game was going on).

According to the official Mississippi State athletics website concerning MSU traditions:

The most unique and certainly the most resounding symbol of Mississippi State University tradition is the cowbell. Despite decades of attempts by opponents and authorities to banish it from scenes of competition, diehard State fans still celebrate Bulldog victories loudly and proudly with the distinctive sound of ringing cowbells.

The precise origin of the cowbell as a fixture of Mississippi State sports tradition remains unclear to this day. The best records have cowbells gradually introduced to the MSU sports scene in the late 1930s and early 1940s, coinciding with the ‘golden age’ of Mississippi State football success prior to World War II.

The most popular legend is that during a home football game between State and arch-rival Mississippi, a jersey cow wandered onto the playing field. Mississippi State soundly whipped the Rebels that Saturday, and State College students immediately adopted the cow as a good luck charm. Students are said to have continued bringing a cow to football games for a while, until the practice was eventually discontinued in favor of bringing just the cow’s bell.

Whatever the origin, it is certain that by the 1950s cowbells were common at Mississippi State games, and by the 1960s were established as the special symbol of Mississippi State. Ironically, the cowbell’s popularity grew most rapidly during the long years when State football teams were rarely successful. Flaunting this anachronism from the ‘aggie’ days was a proud response by students and alumni to outsider scorn of the university’s ‘cow college’ history.

In the 1960s two MSU professors, Earl W. Terrell and Ralph L. Reeves obliged some students by welding handles on the bells so they could be rung with much more convenience and authority. By 1963 the demand for these long-handled cowbells could not be filled by home workshops alone, so at the suggestion of Reeves the Student Association bought bells in bulk and the Industrial Education Club agreed to weld on handles. In 1964 the MSU Bookstore began marketing these cowbells with a portion of the profits returning to these student organizations.

Today many styles of cowbells are available on campus and around Starkville, with the top-of-the-line a heavy chrome-plated model with a full Bulldog figurine handle. But experts insist the best and loudest results are produced by a classic long-handled, bicycle-grip bell made of thinner and tightly-welded shells.

Cowbells decorate offices and homes of Mississippi State alumni, and are passed down through generations of Bulldog fans. But they are not heard at Southeastern Conference games (not legally, at least) since the 1974 adoption of a conference rule against ‘artificial noisemakers’ at football and basketball games. On a 9-1 vote SEC schools ruled cowbells a disruption and banned them.

This has done little harm to the cowbell’s popularity, however, or to prevent cowbells from being heard outside stadiums in which the Bulldogs are playing. They can still be heard at non-conference football contests, as well as other sporting events on campus. And bold Bulldog fans still risk confiscation for the privilege of keeping a unique Mississippi State tradition alive and ringing at SEC affairs.

My Daddy bought me a little kiddie cowbell when I was a little crumb-cruncher and I rang that sucker proudly for many years at many Bulldog games. However I was envious at all the really cool looking cowbells painted maroon & white with the bicycle handles and various MSU decals. One of my first quests upon becoming a Mississippi State student was to purchase my very first real MSU Bulldog cowbell.

I soon discovered several folks around Starkville selling custom cowbells and after I registered for classes, got my books, settled all my stuff into my dorm room I went into town and purchased my very first cowbell. A big white one with a plastic bicycle handle which I adorned with decals purchased from the campus bookstore. I later added the Greek letters once I pledged Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. I took that thing to every Bulldog game that year down in Jackson especially that year’s “Egg Bowl” (the annual instate rivalry game against Ole Miss). And I took it with me when I went to Gulf Coast Community College the following year and then Florida State the year after that. It made for an interesting conversation piece in my dorm room in Tallahassee during the 1983/1984 school year.

In the fall of 1984 I went back to Mississippi State after taking some summer classes at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi. Things had changed a lot during my time away. Mississippi State played home games on campus. And the fraternity I joined was no long off campus. They also no longer were the friendly folks they’d been last time I was there. They turned into a bunch of snooty uber-preppy types that I despised at the time. And apparently this new bunch of ATO’s didn’t care for me either, so we had a mutual parting of the ways. Actually they voted me out in violation of the rules of the national organization. When the national organization found out (from a frat brother who graduated the year before and had moved to Memphis) they read the MSU chapter the riot act and forced them to ask me back. However I was old enough to know not to go back where I wouldn’t be welcomed. Why should I pay dues to a bunch of preppy jerks who didn’t want me around? It just didn’t make sense to me. So I became a born-again GDI (e.g. - “gosh-darned independent”).

I didn’t want to use my old cowbell with the fraternity letters on it and I didn’t want to get rid of it or scrape the letters off. That cowbell had a lot of sentimental value so I kept it. But I wanted a new one for the new season and the new me.

I easily found someone in Starkville selling custom cowbells. This time it was a guy selling what he called “Bully Bells” and even had his own custom decals which he would adhere on one side of the bell. He double welded them for extra strength on the side seams and I got a nice anti-Ole Miss decal for the blank side. That cowbell was my main one for my junior and senior years in college. Rang it loud, rang it proud.

I’ve also inherited cowbells as well:

This is the MSU cowbell that my Granddaddy had for years in his office at the bank he owned and ran. I don’t know the origins of the bell and I think someone gave it to him as a gift. The MSU decal with the arrow flying around the logo is vintage 70’s and the little paper bulldogs were applied directly to the paint well enough that the ones that eventually fell off due to age took the paint with them leaving little blank spots shaped like little bulldog silhouettes. Granddaddy never went to any of the games due to his claustrophobia. He never liked to be in crowded situations. He always listened to Jack Crystal call the Bulldog football games on radio however. The cowbell just sat in his office until he sold the bank. The cowbell was given to me by my Daddy several years after my Granddaddy passed away.

This is my Daddy’s cowbell. I always thought it was the coolest cowbell ever made. Someone gave it to him when he was working for Granddaddy at the bank sometime in the 1980’s. It’s an ornamental cowbell with a handtooled leather segment with the MSU logo/seal. It wasn’t used at games. Actually Daddy never rang cowbells at games. He left that up to me much to his amusement. That is until my cowbell ringing got annoying and then he would confiscate it until the game ended.

Many years after I graduated, got married and moved to Florida, I ran across someone on the internet selling MSU cowbells so I got three from him. The first two were custom painted with decals which the seller created. The third one however is a special chromed cowbell, and I plan on finding an MSU seal made from pewter (or a pewter-like substance) to adhere to one side. The one at the top of the three currently sits on a short cabinet in the cubicle where I work. Just a little taste of football home for me while at my job.

This last cowbell was one I picked up via ebay. It’s very rare when a Mississippi State cowbell comes up on ebay and when they do, MSU alums tend to bid quickly. I took an interest in this one because it reminded me a lot of the little kiddie cowbell my Daddy bought for me back in the 1970’s to take to the home games in Jackson. In the group photo at the very top of this entry you can see how small this cowbell is in comparison to all the other ones in my collection. The decals, similar to ones on my Granddaddy’s cowbell, are from the same timeframe as when Daddy gave me my first MSU cowbell.

Those nine Mississippi State University Bulldog cowbells comprise my current collection. I plan on keeping them and if I happen to run into another one or two via the internet or estate/garage sale (doubtful here in Florida but you never know) I might add to my collection. Regardless of how one feels about Mississippi State University (some refer to it as a “cow college” and “Moo U”), MSU Bulldog fans are diehard fans. And those who have rung cowbells at games for any length of time tend to keep those cowbells long after they cease to attend games. Many keep them on display in their homes until they die. Some even leave their cowbells to children and grandchildren in their wills. It means much to the MSU Bulldog fans and has for generations.

I hope it continues.

And a big ol’ MSU Bulldog alum welcome to readers from Outside The Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Big Dog’s Weblog, Stix Blog, Right Truth, The Populist, Shadowscope, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Adeline & Hazel, The Magical Rose Garden, third world county, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, CommonSenseAmerica, Right Voices, Church & State, MoreWhat, The Random Yak, AZAMATTEROFACT, 123beta, DeMediacratic Nation, Adam’s Blog, Webloggin’, Phastidio, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao’s Blog, , Conservative Cat, Nuke’s, Faultline USA, The Crazy Rants Of Samantha Burns, Blue Star Chronicles, High Desert Wanderer, Gone Hollywood, Public Eye, The Yankee Sailor. Also, ring your cowbells in thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 6th, 2007 at 11:39 pm and is filed under LinkFests, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.