Welcoming back second-favorite SEC team – The Oxford Eagle

Published 9:00 am Thursday, October 22, 2026
By Steve Stricker
Welcome once again, Vanderbilt, my second-favorite SEC football team, to beautiful Oxford, the University of Mississippi, and legendary tailgating in our Grove. Today, Saturday, October 28, 2023, we meet on the gridiron at 6:30 PM, our Homecoming, at the Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium. Whew – won, 33-7.
On any other Saturday, I would cheer for Vanderbilt. I love Vandy! How’s that you say? Among other things, it is a nationally respected university situated on a beautiful, manicured campus much like Ole Miss, in the fantastic city of Nashville, TN.
Vanderbilt’s renowned Baseball Coach, Roy Mewbourne (1979-2002), assisted me with my Ole Miss doctoral dissertation featuring SEC Baseball Athletes; and Dr. Stephen Kim, Retinal Vascular Eye Surgeon with the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, has helped me immensely with numerous consultations.
The main reason I love Vanderbilt, however, is because my oldest son Stephen graduated from there with his BS degree in Molecular Biology, and living on Campus, I slept on his dorm room “floor” on several game weekends – football and basketball.
Stephen was in the Vanderbilt Band and when I visited for a football game, I pinned a large Vandy Band badge on my Ole Miss attire, prompting fans in our section to raise an eyebrow – “Uh, what’s up with the pin?” same on our campus when Vandy’s band traveled here. A game I loved was when Vandy played Notre Dame in Lou Holtz’s last season as coach – loved Vandy and Notre Dame!
On one occasion when Georgia was in Nashville for a basketball game, the seating in Memorial Gymnasium was sold out, so Stephen got permission from Dr. Dwayne Sagen, Director of University Bands (was at Ole Miss), for me to sit with him in their Basketball Band “Pit,” just below the playing court.
Dressed in Black and Gold, I held a sign that said “WHOOSH” on one side and “DOH” on the other. When Vandy scored a free throw, we yelled, “Whoosh!” When Georgia missed a free throw, we shouted, “Doh!” It was great fun being a Commodore for an evening with Stephen and is one of my treasured memories…I still have that sign on the wall in my home office. Conversely, when Ole Miss played Vanderbilt in Memorial, I was, uh, not welcomed in the band. Ha!
When Stephen graduated from Vanderbilt, he came to Ole Miss and completed his Master of Science degree in Biochemistry. I was working on campus at the time and it was awesome having him here as we spent a lot of time together.
With Vanderbilt in Oxford for a football game one Saturday (much like this one) we sat together as always. I wore Red and Blue and Stephen, loyal to his Alma Mater, Black and Gold. We chatted constantly and when Stephen went to get something to eat, an Ole Miss fan in front of us turned around and said, “Uh, y’all seem mighty friendly, what’s up with that?” I explained our family “rivalry” and he loved it.
Stephen then completed his Pharm.D. (Doctor of Pharmacy) degree at The University of Missouri in Kansas City (UMKC), did residencies at the University of North Carolina and Emory, and for several years, was an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy in Birmingham, Alabama and had a practice as a Clinical Oncology Pharmacist with Birmingham Hematology and Oncology Associates. He is now a Senior Oncology Medical consultant with a Pharmacy firm in Boston and lives in Bourbon County across the river from Cincinnati, OH, in Union, KY. Bloomin’ Yankee….
So – Stephen, as he should, will cheer for Vanderbilt, and me Ole Miss, and then we’ll revert to supporting each other. So, best wishes, Stephen and Vanderbilt. Having said that, no offense and with a smile – GO REBELS! SINK THE ‘DORES!
Now, GO REBELS, BEAT MIZZOU! JMJ

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