Cowbells and Empty Threats
by Year2 on Oct 26, 2010 11:30 AM EDT
in SEC Football
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PrintThe SEC made a Mississippi State cowbell compromise this summer, making the artificial noisemakers legal in Starkville as long as the fans don't ring them while the game is going on. Fair enough. The school is doing its part. The fans, however, are not.
You could see it clearly in the Bulldogs' first SEC game of the year. For the first half and most of the third quarter, the fans only rang their cowbells when they were supposed to. It was a close game though, and State had an opportunity to beat Auburn. So late in the third quarter, the fans quit following instructions and rang their bells with abandon.
Mike Slive has noticed that MSU fans haven't been Ringing Responsibly™ and issued this warning about what could happen when the conference members review the cowbell policy next year:
"The focus would be on convincing the conference membership to maintain the legislation to permit cowbells in the stadium in the future because, if it's not continued, then the prohibition that had been in place for all those years will be back in place and I'm assuming that's not what fans want," Slive said.
Right. The SEC banned cowbells in 1974, officially making them contraband at Scott Field. The reason is simple: the other member schools hate the things. Mississippi State fans, as you know, managed to ring them anyway for 36 years. This summer, the topic somehow made the agenda of the conference summer meetings. Everyone hatched this compromise deal, which is now in jeopardy of being erased.
Unless the revocation of the policy includes stepped up enforcement, it's an empty threat. State fans rang them without penalty for nearly four decades after the first ban went into effect. Killing the compromise without vigilant enforcement only puts things back where they were.
That's why I don't really see this as a big issue. It's in the SEC's best interest simply leave things the way they are. I have a hard time believing that the cowbells will ever go away as long as the fans want to bring them. At least with the compromise, the SEC gets some money from fines to redecorate the league offices or something.
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well, everyone saw this coming
make them ‘legal’, let them/us break the rules. make them illegal. still hear them at EVERY GAME IN STARKVILLE. fans are not going to stop bringing them to games. they were against the rules when i was a student. i still took mine to every game. i wasnt dumb enough to take my bell to away games, but that would just be stupid to do, anyway. i really dont see what is so horrible about the bells. State has one of the smallest stadiums in the conference. so… maybe the bells make ~55K sound like ~70K (maybe). what is the big deal?
You can't get there, from here.
by CoastalCowbell on Oct 26, 2010 12:00 PM EDT reply actions
what a joke!
If Miss St wants to have crowd noise, build a big stadium and put some fans in it! Don’t tell me they can’t stop fans from bringing them in, search them. Done. The SEC is really screwing this up.
Agreed that it doesn't make a lot of difference
But I really don’t like stupid rules about trivial things. And this falls under that on both counts.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
My issue is fairness in enforcement.
For instance. Since all artificial noise is no longer allowed during play, they are not allowed to do the rooster crow on 3rd down anymore in Williams-Brice. However, in Starkville, they can do whatever they want. This isn’t just a Miss State issue, however. For instance, Florida mikes the student section and puts over the loud speaker, a clear breaking of the rules. (Don’t tell me they don’t, Year 2, I’ve sat under the speakers). The league office doesn’t know, or doesn’t care about this either.
I just feel like if its not going to be enforced, don’t make it a rule. Its unfair to programs that actually care about things like following the rules. (You know, like tasering students so they don’t rush the field)
I’m not sure when and what situations that they do that, but I could have sworn I heard crowd noise over the speakers when I was down for the Miami (OH) game this year. My family’s seats are in the south end zone lower bowl (a long way from the speakers, in other words), so I never noticed it before. But, with attendance a little lower in the post-Tebow era and everyone frustrated with the game, it got quiet enough that I think I did hear that.
But beyond that, you’re absolutely right. The enforcement is completely uneven. It’s easier to legislate about the stadium loudspeakers since there’s one person behind it, which makes the Mississippi State situation much more difficult.
I’d like to see each school get to pick one form of artificial noise (should it want one, but not music or the bands) and get to do that largely whenever it wants to. MSU could pick its cowbells, SC could pick its rooster crow, etc. There’s no way to shut artificial noise down entirely, so you might as well legalize it in a small form to match reality and keep it contained.
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I am going from my experience at the 2006 game.
I was sitting in the upper bowl just below the speakers in the visiting section. They had the speakers on the entire game, during play and all. I could hardly hear for about 3 days after (no exaggeration). I don’t know if opposing teams just don’t realize it, or if no one complains, but I am amazed that it has gone on this long. It is in clear violation and I think the Swamp can be plenty loud with out it. No offense to you intended, but its one of the many reasons I dislike the way Florida runs its program. I think they can be dirty as hell. Which has always surprised me since I felt that they have been good enough on their own merit that they didn’t need to be.
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