2008 Football Season Begins

It was one of the best opening college football weekends ever in Oxford and Hattiesburg as Ole Miss and Southern Mississippi launched their new campaigns under new coaches, Houston Nutt and Larry Fedora. Derek Dooley also had a hot time in Ruston as Louisiana Tech shocked Mississippi State.
The Grove was never fuller as picnickers flooded one of College Football's all-time great pre-game palaces. Chancellor Robert Khayat gathered with ole teammates which included All-Americans Charlie Flowers and Billy Ray Adams, Kent Jr. Lovelace, Bobby Ray Franklin, Warren (Beaux) Ball, Warner Alford, Dr. Shed Hill Robertson, Ray Brown and lovely wives and daughters.
Beaux and Beatrice, who live in New Orleans, were concerned about their home in the threatened storm as were Lovelace and Brown about their Gulf Coast residences. Ed Wilburn Hooker, who majored in poker at Ole Miss, recalled the day he was riding with Beaux in their senior year and Beaux pointed at a stately building and said to Ed Wiburn what was the name of the structure and Ed said "It is the Library.,"
The night before I was in Hattiesburg for the P. W. Underwood Roast. I had been invited to be a Roaster and came well prepared only to be told that only to be told that the only Roasters would be former Underwood coaches. I purchased my ticket earlier and it was for a good cause, a scholarship in honor of Underwood. What is my history with Underwood? All I did was recruit him for Coach Pie Vann when I was the Athletic Publicity Director.
I had told Pie that there was a big lineman who attended Mississippi State who was with the Army at Ft. Jackson and had not gotten along with Coach Slick Morton and might not want to return to State. Pie told me to make the contact which I did. Ordinarily you take a prospect to the Library, which I didn't.
After showing Underwood around the campus I parked the car and we got out of the car and sat on a bench by a tall tree where every coed which had to pass to get to the Grill. I told Underwood that I knew he was a good football player and if he came to Southern he would get the publicity because I handled the publicity. I also told him that all of the coeds were attracted to football players and he asked me where did he sign?
I later nick-named him The Undertaker and added that he had a Coffin just your size on the gridiron. It caught on.
] Back to Ole Miss I encountered Liberty Bowl Executive Director Steve Ehrthart and we talked about the passing of founder Bud Dudley and Percy Jr. Roberts, Captain of the 195l Memphis State Tigers and one of the founders of the Highland Hundred Tiger Booster Club. Both passed away in recent weeks. Percy and Bud were both members of the All-American Football Foundation Board of Directors. Percy was also the Godfather of my daughter Joanna. I miss them both and treasured their friendship.
The Liberty Bowl pits a SEC team against a Conference USA team. Wouldn't it be something if the Liberty Bowl sought to pit Ole Miss against Southern Mississippi?
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