Is This The Beginning? No, But You Can Get There From Here.

Sometimes the devastating hangover or the blackout brown liquor drunk can take a form akin to the famous "Jordan Flu." The idea that when your body is weakest, you turn over control to the more primal instincts and perform in a purely efficient way, elevated to a different level. When things go wrong in the boiler room, your internal Captain Sully Sullenberger has let go of the wheel to go down below and help Mr. Scott put things back together. That's when Captain Busey takes the helm, throws some Marshall Tucker Band in the cassette deck and tries to drive with his teeth.

So it was that I, filled with daquiri, nerves and a few struggling delusions of preseason hype before last year's Alabama game, sat watching Nebraska and made the comment, "We need us some Samoans." Actually, I believe my initial dispatch to Basil while watching Ndamakong Suh was "Mr. President, we have to give bears the right to vote... or bears will rise up and then BEARS will be in Congress and we will be the ones performing in the circus, wearing little hats. " He then translated it into a more understandable form.

Outside of personal prophecetical fulfillment, I'm still not sure what this Masoli signing actually means for Ole Miss. Our last highly-touted transfer QB, another reclamation project with a ganja-tarnished image trying to make good, will be best remembered as part of the chorus to the Coach O song and for the rumored shanking of a teammate. While it's not a perfect comparison, one question remains valid-- can a quarterback walk in cold to August camp and successfully make a positive impact in an SEC offense?

One thing is for sure, the vision of Masoli's skill set and physical make-up is the stuff little Houston Nutt used to doodle on his junior high wide-rule notebooks during home room. Basically a rather large badger with opposable thumbs who is low enough to the ground to hide behind the line, run with power, take the hit after flipping the lateral and smell of freshly juiced pineapples. If he can get his head straight, he can run this scheme and provide the Rebels with at least the minimal amount of offensive competency that's going to be needed for us to win a good chunk of our games this year.

I never embraced the idea of the Masoli transfer. It seemed forced. I couldn't make a connection. Even if Masoli came in and lit the world on fire, what connection can he really have to Ole Miss. At his best, he's a damaged mercenary. Like Rooster Cogburn or Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner. Why do I care? I couldn't make the connection until I read Steve Duin's excellent column. Now it works. If anybody understands being a victim of space and time and carrying the stain of those you once associated with, it's Ole Miss. Now lay back into the Right Reverend's river here, Jeremiah, let's see if we can't both wash some of this dirt off.