What It's Like to Grow Up in a House Divided
The Egg Bowl is hard for random fans of Mississippi State or Ole Miss who come in contact with each other... but imagine growing up in a house divided.
That's what my life has been like for the past 19 years. My mom graduated from MSU, and my dad went to Ole Miss-- as you can imagine, they didn't meet until after college. Mom's side of the family are big State fans, and my relatives on Dad's side root for the Rebels-- except my uncle, who loves the Alabama Crimson Tide for some unknown reason. As my younger brother and I grew up, there was plenty of speculation about how each of us would turn out.
My brother, Will, picked his team at a very young age. On a random day when he was no older than six or seven, he proudly told my mom that he hated State. It came out of nowhere, and Lord knows that he might have said it just to push her buttons. As you can imagine, Mom was shocked at such strong feelings coming from such a little kid. But whether or not he truly meant it, he adopted that mindset.
I took a little bit longer to decide. In my mind, I didn't want to upset either of my parents for cheering against their team. I never had any reason to like one team over the other. I loved my family's day trips to games in either Starkville or Oxford for different reasons. The Grove was home to my Aunt Cathi's tent and the fun thing the Rebels called "locking the Vaught." Meanwhile, Starkville meant "Dawg Bone" cookies from the bakery, seeing the fountain at the Chapel of Memories and Bully. For me, the Egg Bowl just guaranteed that one of my teams would have a victory. I didn't care too much about the game itself.
As I got into the double-digits in age, I finally started leaning more towards the team in maroon. To this day, I can't remember exactly what made me pick a side. However, I still remember what made me fall wholeheartedly in love with Mississippi State: visiting Starkville for "College Gameday" and the big win over Auburn in 2014.
Once everyone in the family had a side, it became extremely difficult to watch any competitions between the two universities. The Egg Bowl was the worst. The entire week before was filled with discreet trash-talk. Thanksgiving was certainly not a calm and beautiful day among the four of us, even when the game was still played on Saturday. A little before kickoff, we would go our separate ways: Dad and Will watched the game in one room, while I sat with my mom in another room with a different TV. All of the doors between us were closed to block out as much noise as possible. Even cheering when your team was doing good was could stir up anger.
After the game, one pair always had smug looks and walked around with a little more pep. The other two tiptoed around the topic to avoid being reminded of what had happened. The winners knew they had the bragging rights for the next year and could bring up the game whenever necessary.
Things have been different since I left for college. I applied to Ole Miss just to make my Dad happy, and he was a good sport when he moved me to Starkville. We haven't all been able to watch the Egg Bowl together since I left for school...but I'm not complaining.
Many people don't know what it's like to grow up in a family where the parents are big fans of two different colleges. Even less than that live in a family of bitter rivals that is split straight down the middle. I'm sure my phone will be blowing up with texts from both sides tonight even though I'll be at the game myself. With it being Thanksgiving, take a moment to think about the families that live in a house divided.
It's not easy for any of us, but it's worth it.
