Ole Miss has always and shall forever be the SEC's resident schizophrenic. Thus an internecine conflict between the administration and the fanbase makes total sense: it's in character, it is Faulknerian in its familial dysfunction, and it gives everyone something to yell about due to the football team being functionally dead for the 2011 season. This is no exaggeration: Ole Miss is 118th in total offense, 102nd in rushing defense, and looking at the schedule ahead have one probable win on the schedule.
(We are not saying they will beat Louisiana Tech. They will, in all likelihood, lose to them. That win is Kentucky, because Joker Phillips is tanking for Andrew Luck, and does not understand the NFL draft or how college football works.)
The situation has deteriorated to the point where University Chancellor Dan Jones has had to intercede and plead for civility in discussing the future of Pete Boone, an AD whose situation might be charitably described as "embattled."
A debate worthy of attention is about who we are as a university family. Will we remain civil, reasonable people? Will we respect the dignity of each person? I believe we will. We know what our values are.
A civil discussion would point out that Pete Boone fired David Cutcliffe after five winning seasons and one losing season, then hired Ed Orgeron, and then followed that up by hiring Houston Nutt. That does not a stellar defense strategy make, but it would also be appropriate for Ole Miss' administration to be unable to defend a ground attack on their offices and decisionmakers. As the football team goes, so goes the school.
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