Our apologies. Between work schedules, Ghost gallivanting in New Orleans*, and general holiday weekend/ frustrating basketball team apathy it's been a little slow around here.

The baseball Rebels split a two-game series with the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian and are now ranked 20th in the latest Baseball America poll.

In basketball news, Kentucky is still ranked number one. Of course, winning in Rupp Arena two days after the babytown frolics of the Vanderbilt game would be a challenge for most every team in the country.

In Oxford news, the Double Decker music lineup has been announced. Highlights include Iron & Wine, Mavis Staples, and Patterson Hood. You should be there.

Finally, because it's president's day and I love music, politics, and trivia, kill some time with this Paste Magazine list of songs for each president. I found the use of Little Feat's "Fat Man in the Bathtub" for William Howard Taft to be especially accurate.

*He is also displeased with Delta Airlines, in case you don't follow the Cup on Twitter.

Let's assume we're all sports fans. Let's assume that you've watched some television over the past month. If you're anything like me, your regular bowl game, NFL playoff, and NBA (hahaha, gotcha!) viewing has been punctuated by breathless announcements from Verne Lundquist about tonight's national championship game (full disclosure: it might be Gary Danielson, Bob Costas, or anyone else. For the life of me I can't tell those guys apart.) Since it is an intra-SEC matchup, and television contracts have all but assured the Sabanization of your Autumn weekends, we at the Cup created a flowchart to help disinterested sports fans fine-tune their rooting interests. Much like that scene in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade, your pathway to enlightenment follows after the jump.

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In the comments section, vote for someone who didn't accidentally poison themselves.

So, we lost by seventeen points to the (now-second!) worst team in the SEC. In spite of that, there are might be a few bright spots. Exercise your right as an American and as a now wholly disgusted fan--vote today for the Rebel of the Week. 

Due to the pervasive herp, derp, and general incompetence of our Rebels' third-quarter performances, many of the Ole Miss faithful have suspected that Houston Nutt doesn't do anything during halftime. Quite frankly, we at the Cup are appalled by this outrageous accusation; the Right Reverend has twenty minutes in the middle of the game--surely he must do something. Using a complex algorithm factoring personality traits, game situations, and the frequency of rabies diagnoses in the Southeast, the RCR brain trust has developed several theories about Nutt's halftime activities in this Bermuda Triangle of football competence:

• Playing Jenga with Derrick Herman. At stake: Herman's role in the offfense. Nutt has yet to win.
• Updating the circle of the untrustables.
• Watching Benny Hill with David Lee. Demanding that Gunter Brewer join in. 
• That Seinfeld episode where they wait at the Chinese restaurant.
• Planking.
• Hailing a cab to take him to Dreamland BBQ, realizing he's now in Opelika, continuing as planned.
• Mispronouncing Senquez Golson as "Sequins Golden." Giggling uncontrollably.
• Challenging the ball boys to NCAA Football. Losing. 

Sure, it could at times be frustrating, but there were some bright spots. Exercise your right as an American and as a numb fan: vote today for the Rebel of the Week.

Sure, it could at times be frustrating, but there were some bright spots. Exercise your right as an American and as a fan: vote today for the Rebel of the Week.

Sure, it wasn't the most fun game to watch, but there were a few bright spots you probably stopped watching in the third quarter, and no one blames you. Exercise your right as an American and as an apathetic/apoplectic/pathetic/apologetic fan: vote today for the Rebel of the Week.

For what it's worth, a few other things I noticed looking through the stat lines for this game. 1. Ole Miss was not penalized this game. So we've got that going for us, which is nice. 2. Sweet Mother Mary, Alabama punted once. One time. 

Saturday, I made the trek down I-81 from my humble abode in our nation's overpriced capital to Blacksburg, Virginia, where the Virgina Tech Hokies played the Miami Hurricanes. I spent most of Saturday drinking warm beer in a parking lot, getting sunburned, and asking strangers where I could buy a Marcus Vick jersey. These things are related. But it was a great game, and I got to be there for this: 

Fans in Lane Stadium Go Crazy to Enter Sandman - End of Game: Miami vs. Virginia Tech (via GameDayESPN)

Around the minute-and-a-half mark of that video, I had one of those thoughts that seems profound at the time--"you know, this is a hell of a game." And it was. All of these sun-poising induced thoughts led to wonder about the best game ever--you know, one of those games where you leave knowing that you'll be able to brag about being there for the next couple of years.

And since this Kirby Smart-led, Gandalf-inspired (YOU SHALL NOT PASS) defense will probably limit much of our optimism leading into this game, let's take a moment to reflect on the games we've seen--Ole Miss or otherwise--where we've been happy leaving. Sure, it's tough to compare other teams' games to Ole Miss games, simply because the level of emotional involvement isn't the same. That being said, there is a lot of collective football attendance among us Cuppers. Let's get to reminiscin'.

[ED: Yes, it's Tuesday. Yesterday was kind of busy around here, both with blog stuff and day job stuff, so the Monday Discussion: Tuesday Edition will have to suffice.]

I think I've developed Stockholm Syndrome watching this particular Ole Miss team. Somehow, my masochism and my nihilism have blended together to the point where I almost enjoy watching us meander and derp our way around the gridiron. Of course, I enjoy it the same way that I enjoy the Three Stooges or some episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm--it's good for most of an episode once a week or so, but by the fourth time Moe pokes Curly in the eyes I get a little tired. (Side Note: In this situation, Houston Nutt is Curly and Moe is a coordinated defensive scheme. Shemp is a hypothetical interim coach. THIS ANALOGY IS FLAWLESS.) But still, I keep coming back, I keep buying overpriced pitchers of beer and average chicken tenders at the local Ole Miss alumni bar, and I keep managing to convince myself that Ole Miss football only hurts me because it loves me. 

It's no coincidence, then, that this season might be my first one where I look forward to other teams' games more than ours. One game in particular has been circled on my proverbial calendar since halftime of the Vanderbilt game--the November 5th matchup between LSU and Alabama. Watching a Nick Saban vs. Les Miles game is like watching chaos vs. order: Saban coaches teams with the cruel precision that Ceausescu would find anal-retentive; giving Les Miles control over your team is like giving a monkey a gun--it is hilarious, unpredictable, and the other guy will get hurt. The monkey also might hurt itself and will definitely eat grass. 

So that's the football dragon that I'll be chasing this season. What's yours? It doesn't have to be something left on the schedule--if you think that the Michigan-Notre Dame game was as good as it's going to get, that's fine too. So tell us, Cuppers, what game you're looking forward to for taking the edge off this season. We all need one.

Sure, it wasn't the most fun game to watch, but there were a few bright spots. Exercise your right as an American and as a numb fan: vote today for the Rebel of the Week.

After the babytown frolics of Saturday's game, this isn't going to be a "should Houston Nutt go?" kind of discussion. I think everyone is past that; let's move on to the next step. Luckily for us, it's filled with the kind of hearsay and wild online speculation that Ole Miss fans love. So let's pick a coach! 

The following poll contains a list of coaches that I think are viable options for us, considering the financial constraints and prestige of a head coaching job at a despondent historically middle-tier SEC school. That, and they are also a group of coaches who we have seen and heard Rebel fans discuss over Twitter, Facebook, sports forums, and this here blog. Pick your favorite or, if he's not listed, select "other" and tell us why. Nothing is off limits right now because, in our confident, inspired minds, anything seems to be possible at this juncture.

Sure, it wasn't the most fun game to watch, but there were a few bright spots. Exercise your right as an American and as a frustrated fan: vote today for the Rebel of the Week.

Sure, it wasn't the most fun game to watch, but there were a few bright spots. Exercise your right as an American and as an ambivalent fan: vote today for the Rebel of the Week.

Saturday brings us the first Rebel road trip of the 2011 season. We like to think of ourselves as a fan base that travels well—it allows us an excuse for trips to exotic locales like Knoxville and Baton Rouge, and gives us a chance for bragging rights about bar tabs in Dallas or war stories from the trenches of Tiger Stadium. 

Everyone has a favorite story from one of these trips. Mine involves a narrowly avoided bar fight in Memphis sparked by the line "You’re a Memphis football fan but you went to Middle Tennessee State? That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard." We’re not the most responsible group of fans, so I know I’m not the only one who has done or seen something stupid on a football road trip. Take advantage of the anonymity of the internet, and tell us something hilarious. 

Sure, it wasn't the most fun game to watch, but there were a few bright spots. Exercise your right as an American and as a disappointed fan: vote today for the Rebel of the Week.

The one thing that all Ole Miss fans love is providing advice on what to see, do, eat, and drink in Oxford. Presumably, many of the BYU fans making the trip to the Grove and the too-friendly confines of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium will be here on their maiden voyage. Let's give them some advice on our town. 

There is a catch: some of these visitors will be students at BYU. College basketball fans will remember the Brandon Davies story from the past NCAA tournament, a story which brought the Brigham Young Honor Code to national prominence. The Honor Code, in short, prohibits drankin', smoking, coffee, tea, drugs, and premarital relationships with the ladyfolk (or menfolk too, technically.) Here at Red Cup Rebellion, we don't advocate for anyone to be kicked out of school, but we always advocate for a good time. My honor code-approved Oxford recommendations are after the jump. 

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The University of Jawja recently released its version of the Nike Pro Combat uniforms, seen below.

I think that most of the conference does well avoiding uniforms like this. Around half of the SEC has (in my opinion) done a good job of maintaining consistent and traditional uniforms and keeping the excessively gaudy, Oregon-style uniforms off the field. Personally, I'd like to see Ole Miss stay away from uniforms inspired by things like this:

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I have a theory that October 20, 2007, was the single worst day in Ole Miss athletics of the past decade or so. There's a chance that you were able to successfully repress this memory, so I'm going to take out the proverbial doll and remind you exactly where it touched you (Hint: It's the heart, the head, and probably the liver.) The Arkansas game of that year ended in a 44-8 Razorback rout. Inexplicably, a Rebel team with BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Shay Hodge, Mike Wallace, and Dexter McCluster managed to successfully avoid the end zone until late in the fourth quarter. Seth Adams also threw four interceptions. There is a correlation here. 

But Ed Orgeron was nothing if not a showman, and someone in the sports marketing department planned a fireworks show to announce a new capital campaign. Which is great, right? Everyone likes fireworks! At 2:30 in the afternoon! In the Mississippi sun! 

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Hopefully, this is the first in a weekly series that will brighten up your Monday while we pretend to work or study. Today's topic is simple--name your three favorite all-time athletes, and then justify it. They don't have to be Ole Miss related, although they certainly can be. If you like Joe Namath because you wear fur and love Suzy Kolber, that's fine. If you like Tim Lincecum because he reminds you of the scraggly kid from Dazed and Confused, that's fine too. If you like Tim Duncan because fundamentals, dammit, also fine. In no particular order, my top three are after the jump.

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