When I moved to Oxford, MS, in 1986, the University of Mississippi band played "Dixie" as a fight song, the Rebel flag of the Confederacy was proudly waved in the stands and the mascot was "Colonel Rebel," an overblown Colonel Sanders look alike with a huge hat and a cane to wave.

Over the years, they have departed the scene one by one. Other schools in the Southeastern Conference used the fight song and Rebel flag as warnings to black high school athletes that they would not be comfortable going to Ole Miss. The Colonel himself was the last to fall, being farmed out a few years ago.

So Ole Miss is now actively seeking a mascot for the school. They have polled the student body and fully 75% are in favor of getting a new mascot. The other 25% are the traditionalists who have not acknowledged that the old way has passed them by.

I admit that I am pleased that events have come to this point. When I first moved here, I would be embarrassed to return to towns where I had lived and watch Ole Miss games on TV. When the flag was waved in the stands, someone would ask me, "Are they serious? Is that shit still going on down there?"

I should point out that Ole Miss football fortunes have not suffered from the lack of song, flag or Colonel. They have played winning games in the past two Cotton Bowls.

I have not given much time to pondering a new mascot but I know which school went out of their way to secure the most unique mascot. It is the University of California at Santa Cruz. Their mascot is the Banana Slug.

Long may it slither . .