University of Mississippi - Ole Miss Yearbook (Oxford, MS)

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The traditional Homecoming Bonfire raised the spirit to a fever pitch among the students and filled many an alumnus with nostalgia.

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FIRST RUMBLINGS OF THINGS TO COME With the preliminary requirements, such as registration, dutifully fulfilled, the fun was about to begin. The football fever hit Ole Miss and hit it hard. It built up slowly, like a tropical storm gradually picking up strength. A national sports magazine picked Ole Miss for the number one spot in the nation at season ' s end. Students talked about it, but many still wondered. Freshmen were taught the basic forms of athletic ex- hortations, as only the Ole Miss cheerleaders could teach them. Louder, you freshmen, louder! Let ' s give ' em a Hotty Toddy they ' ll hear in Memphis! Louder . .. louder .. . louder! And it grew. Sportswriters in the Memphis and Jackson newspapers sang the praises of the Ole Miss eleven. Tues- day became a red letter day, because then the AP and UPI released their national rankings. The name Mississippi began creeping up on the charts. Louder . . . louder . . . louder! Homecoming came. The campus was jammed with alum- ni and friends. They came back to see Ole Miss, to see tan- gible evidence of fond, sometimes hazy memories. Lynda Lee came back and was the hit of the show. Hem- ingway Stadium rose to cheer her as she rode around the track, and she rose to cheer the team that was making the nation take notice. Lynda heard the sounds, the alumni heard them, the stu- dents heard them. They went Louder . . . louder .. louder! Once a Rebel, always a Rebel, and that ' s true even if you are Miss America.

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THE SOUND AND THE FURY The spirit flamed. Pat McRaney reigned as Homecoming Queen, then stepped back to watch Ole Miss annihilate hapless Tulane. Strangers walking over the campus that night saw strange and wonderful sights indeed. But there were few strangers. With half the schedule completed, students began anxi- ously glancing northward to Memphis. Their thoughts were focused on a patch of green in the city known as Crump Stadium, where the Rebs would face one of their toughest tests against the rugged Arkansas Razorbacks. Not to be left out, the school cafeteria put several pigs on display on the grounds, and ceremoniously roasted the luckless animals, Arkansas could be rough, you know. And then there ' s LSU the next weekend. Aaah, don ' t sweat it. And they didn ' t. Minutes after the Arkansas victory, some nameless student first uttered those thundering words, We ' re Number One! , and it grew and grew into a mighty, unified chant, and they took this chant and went to Baton Rouge with it, after the most emotion-ridden week of pep rallies in the school ' s history. And they brought it back with them, muted perhaps, but still powerful and heartfelt. It erupted more violently than ever the next weekend when news of LSU ' s defeat reached anxious, Rebel ears. Louder . . . louder . . . louder. Squeals filled the stadium as two beautiful young ladies walked gracefully onto the football field. No one knew who the coming Queen was to be. Then, as the roses were presented to Pat, the squeals from the KD ' s grew deafening. No one knows exactly why the pajama parade was started, but everyone figures that some smart coed wanted to see what her lover-boy looked like before she married him. Looks like one girl likes what she sees!