Does Color Matter?

Mississippi State University (MSU) hosted Jackson State University (JSU) in Jackson, MS on December 14th. On a night when rain was coming down at near flood rates, there were probably over 3,000 people in Mississippi Colesium. The game was decided in the last five minutes.

Whether you supported the Maroon and White or Blue and White, the floor was covered in black. The starting five for both MSU and JSU were African American players. Although most of the crowd supporting MSU was Caucasian it didn’t matter as long as they had on maroon and white. At one point during a time out the cheerleaders lead the crowd in a chant of Maroon (home side) and White (visitor’s side). Not to be outdone, a few Jackson State fans on the home side began to shout Blue instead of Maroon. Everyone laughed at the good spirit of the competition.

Observing the crowd coming into the game, there was the representation of a number of African Americans that supported Mississippi State University. The majority of the supporters were Caucasian and included a number of families out supporting the Bulldogs.

Mississippi is still making strides in the area of racial equality, but our sports serve as neutral ground where the emphasis is placed on the content of the character of the players and their school colors.

Before the tip-off, I witnessed a beautiful event in the wake of the recent passing of Mississippi State University’s football coach, Mike Leach on 12/12. The entire crowd stood on their feet for a moment of silence.

I witnessed a hard-fought battle between both teams. Jackson State, despite being 1 and 8 at the time has something positive to build on. Mississippi State has something positive to build on as well and stretched its record to 10 and 0. JSU, hopefully, learned that the team has what it takes to compete against a top-20 opponent. MSU, hopefully, learned that when faced with an opponent that shows some grit, their players can rise to the occasion.

#HailState #IStillBelieveinThee