When the body plummeting out of the oaks landed on the lush Grove turf, you could hear the beer sloshing inside.

For a long moment, nobody said anything. Then, miraculously, the body twitched … shook … and rose to its feet. More zombie than human, the Ole Miss kid had mud in his teeth and grass stains along the length of his shirt, khakis and tie, but as he lifted his arms in triumph, a crowd of at least two hundred cheered as one.

“Flim flam bim bam!” the kid shouted, spitting out a tooth in mid-chant.

“OLE MISS, BY DAMN!” the crowd bellowed in response. One final cheer, and the crowd dispersed back into the ten-acre college football nirvana that is The Grove. There’s no finer place to tailgate before a game in the country, and there’s no finer way to drown out the sorrows of a loss, either … which is exactly what the Ole Miss faithful were doing tonight, their beloved Rebels having fallen 38-14 to the Deep South Bootleggers.

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