I think so.
Playing out of love for one another made for a great speech in 2012. I even used it as the opener for my former show on Rebel Sports Radio. It was a hair-raising, goose bumps kind of speech, one of Freeze's best, but how far can love really get you in football?
Football is a violent sport predicated on the desire to beat the man in front of you. Linebackers crush ball carriers, wide receivers beat corners, defensive tackles gobble up running backs and defensive ends take pleasure in sacking the quarterback. A couple years ago C.J. Johnson didn't run over State quarterback Tyler Russell because he loved his teammates. He wanted to hit a quarterback and lay him on the turf, not because he wished any harm to Russell, but because that's what defensive ends do. They hit people.
Ole Miss had other issues in the recent 17-10 loss to Mississippi State than just desire, but motivation appeared to be a factor. The Bulldogs wanted that game more. At 5-6 and facing the possibility of a bowl-less season and a 2nd straight loss to Ole Miss Dan Mullen was backed into the corner of Davis Wade Stadium like a rabid raccoon, and he did a good job of impressing on his team that same level of urgency. The Bulldogs were going to scratch and claw until there was nothing left to scratch and claw. Ole Miss, on the other hand, didn't have that look. How State could ever want that game more than Ole Miss is mind boggling to me, but I give all the credit to Mullen. He gets it. Houston Nutt never did. Freeze does get it I think, but I just don't know if I agree with his approach (not that he ever asked me or ever would).
Love for one another is a nice concept, but when it comes to knocking the other guy on his butt, hate would seem to go a lot further, not to mention be more authentic.
Can't we just be real about it? Mississippi State, as a fan base hates Ole Miss. Ole Miss, as a fan base, hates Mississippi State, but for some reason there's this need to pretend that it doesn't. That it's too good for that. However, that righteousness is quickly betrayed in the 12 hours after a loss to State when the whole lot of you scream in agony into your computer keyboards. I saw the things you said. You were mad. Real mad. It hurt bad.
Why pretend? Embrace it. You hate State. It's okay to admit it.
And please don't misunderstand what I mean by hate. When I say hate, I'm talking about sports, not life. I don't mean anybody wishes criminal acts of violence or wrongs against anybody. That should be obvious. I'm just talking about good old fashioned I don't wish you anything but a loss type of hate. Like the Yankees and the Red Sox. Or Auburn and Alabama. Does anybody at Alabama like Auburn? Do I even need to answer that for you? No. Auburn's entire existence in sports is based on trying to beat Bama in everything it does. Those two schools hate each other, and they don't apologize for it. They shouldn't because there's nothing wrong with it. Their hatred for one another is what makes their games so beautiful, and was certainly one of the reasons Saturday's Iron Bowl was so incredibly marvelous.
Those 95,000 people in Jordan Hare Stadium weren't cheering for Auburn as Chris Davis ran 109 yards toward that end zone. They were celebrating the takedown of Nick Saban and the fulfillment of a lifetime of hatred of Crimson, White and all things Alabama, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Hate is what makes winning great. Hate is also what makes losing hurt so bad. The reason losing to State stung so bad Thursday night and still does is because you hate them. Losing to somebody you hate hurts a lot worse than losing to any other school. Likewise beating a hated rival feels better than any other win (I have a vague recollection of this). Hate in a rivalry is healthy or at least fun. And while I don't claim to be a biblical scholar, I've never seen anything anywhere in the bible that says you can't wish your rival loses every game it ever plays and that you squash them on the football field like a cockroach.
State hates Ole Miss. Anybody on Facebook or Twitter knows that this week. Mullen's program is built on it. Maybe the Ole Miss football team needs to spend the next 12 months learning to hate them back. Love for one another is a good thing, but in the end you've got to want to beat those guys so bad it hurts. That's what I call hate.