Colonel not exactly a longtime tradition-By Rick Cleveland

Came across this article/blog in the ClarionLedger today and figured I'd share it. Rick Cleveland did a great job in this article and I couldn't agree more. http://orig.clarionledger.com/news/0306/19/srick.html

By Rick Cleveland
rcleveland@clarionledger.com
So, you think Colonel Rebel, the ill-fated University of Mississippi mascot, is a long-standing Ole Miss tradition, of a similar vintage to those stately oaks in The Grove?
Wrong. Jackson lawyer Jeff Hubbard was the original Colonel Rebel mascot. Hubbard first donned that huge, mustachioed head, with the wide-brimmed hat, all the way back in 1979.
"It was when sideline mascots were really coming into vogue both in college sports and the pros," Hubbard says by telephone from his Jackson office. "Everybody was going to a mascot that was sort of a caricature of the team's nickname."
In other words, it was late 20th century. Old traditions are said to die hard. How about relatively new ones?
"I'm torn about this," Hubbard says. "I represent eight professional mascots. I'm negotiating the contract for the Sacramento Kings' (NBA) mascot this week. Really good mascots add a lot.
"And I enjoyed my time as Colonel Rebel," Hubbard continues. "It wasn't about the Confederacy; it was about Ole Miss. At the same time, I know other schools use it against us in recruiting. It's a shame.
"Bottom line: I'm for what's best for Ole Miss. I trust Robert Khayat and Pete Boone to do what's best for the university."
Khayat, Ole Miss chancellor, and Boone, the athletic director, want to put the Confederacy and the 19th century behind them and move forward into the 21st century. Ole Miss coaches have said for years that Old South symbols, such as the Confederate battle flag, the song Dixie and Colonel Rebel, have hurt them in the recruitment of African-American athletes.
But, get this: The model for the original Colonel Rebel emblem was a black man, Blind Jim Ivy, a campus fixture for years until he died in 1955.
Historian David Sansing documents that little known fact in his splendid history of Ole Miss.
"Is that not irony?" Sansing says from his Oxford home. "If you look at the photo of Blind Jim in the three-piece suit, with the hat, there's a striking resemblance. The original Colonel Rebel emblem is a spitting image of Blind Jim Ivy, except for white skin."
Ivy attended most Ole Miss athletic events and was fond of saying, "I've never seen Ole Miss lose." Ivy was very much a part of the Ole Miss scene in 1936. That was the year Billy Gates, editor of the school newspaper, proposed a contest to produce a new nickname for Ole Miss teams, which were then known as The Flood.
Rebels was one of five entries submitted to a panel of sports writers. Of 42 newsmen contacted, 21 responded and 'Rebels' was the choice of 18. That's how The Flood became the Rebels. Two years later, Colonel Rebel appeared for the first time as an illustration in the university yearbook. It would be 41 more years before Colonel Rebel appeared on the sidelines.
"The closest we had before that was a cheerleader, with a microphone, dressed in a Confederate Army uniform," Jeff Hubbard says.
UM loyalty, not mascot
Gates would become the Ole Miss sports information director, whose job it was to publicize John Vaught's nationally renowned football teams. Gates died years ago, but his son, Bill Gates, continues the family's Ole Miss tradition. Gates, who lives in Memphis, is a diehard Rebel fan and a past president of Memphis-area Ole Miss alumni.
"Obviously, I'm steeped in Ole Miss traditions," Bill Gates says. "It was my daddy's idea to come up with the new nickname, so in a way he was responsible for Colonel Rebel. I can appreciate the feelings a lot of alumni and fans have for Colonel Rebel. At the same time, I'm for whatever will move Ole Miss forward. You can't tie one arm behind Deuce McAllister's back and expect him not to fumble. Well, you can't tie one hand behind our coaches' backs and expect them to win championships.
"Personally," Gates continues, "I'd rather have no mascot in Atlanta for the SEC championship game than have Colonel Rebel in Shreveport for the Independence Bowl."
Many, many others, including so many letter writers to this newspaper, disagree. They say they prefer tradition to political correctness. They believe if Colonel Rebel dies this year, the nickname Rebels may soon follow.
Sansing, on the other hand, points to universities that have successfully changed mascots and flourished, citing Stanford and Southern Miss as examples.
Stanford changed from Indians to the Cardinal. USM went from Southerners to Golden Eagles in 1972 and did away with a mascot called General Nat, named for Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, founder of the Ku Klux Klan.
"I don't think there's any question that Southern is better off for the change," Sansing says.
Sansing, known to friends as the Emperor of the South End Zone, proudly cheers his Rebels.
"I love Ole Miss, but I cheer for the team; I cheer for the university," Sansing says. "People who are loyal to Ole Miss are loyal to the university, not some funny looking, little Civil War character."
Sansing is a wise, thoughtful man, who loves Ole Miss dearly. I bow to the Emperor on this one.