RebelFaithful.com

Fellow Rebels,
On behalf of my son Chris Bowers(#52), as well as my wife and family, I would like to take this farewell opportunity to say thank you for the memories. We have made many friends and for those of you who have made it a point to find the good in these kids in spite of your opinion of their play on any given Saturday let me say you are a class act and greatly appreciated. This season certainly erased the pain of the O-Zone years of which Chris simply describes as a blur. You have no idea what agony these kids went through for 3 years while being subjected to a mentally and physically abusive environment the chancellor and AD created by hiring one Ed Orgeron. Those were dark years for the team, the fans, and the university. Let me say again, you have no idea, no clue at all how bad it was. I can tell you stories that are unquestionably true, being confirmed by several eye witnesses, that after hearing you would accuse me of being a liar with a personal agenda. Orgeron neither mentored, nurtured, nor made my son a better person. I have told many of you I don't give a d*** if we ever win a football game. I do care however, what condition my son ends up in when his time is done here. And now it is. Houston Nutt reversed most of the damage that was done. Upon asking Chris what he thinks of Nutt he will tell you he knows Coach Nutt cares about him. That is good enough for me and in my estimation this makes Nutt the best. Chris on the other hand being an athlete does care about winning and is on an all-time high after being a contributor on a team that beat the likes of Florida, LSUcks, and now #7 Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. I am so proud of him. He is my hero.
Please allow me to point out one thing to those of you who have no life outside of this message board and Ole Miss sports. I want to encourage you to consider the level of immaturity it takes to sit on this board all day worshipping 19 year old kids and degrading others who don't meet your standards of athletic ability. These young men were not put on this planet for your entertainment. They are in Oxford to get an education. My son did with honors. He is all-world in my view and destined for great things, none of which will give you bragging rights on Monday morning at the office. No apologies from me. They have sacrificed their traditional college experiences to work year-round to play major college football for the love of the game. Many now have permanent injuries that in spite of rehab and surgery will plague them throughout their lives. Anyone out there had their knees replaced and shoulders repaired due to playing sports? If so, you know what I mean. I have taken great issue with many of you who sit in condemnation acting as judge and jury as you criticize these young men for not living up to your expectations. Shameful. Here's some news; the players, and less importantly parents, read your remarks. Grown men degrading someone's son because of a missed pass, a blown play, or an interception. Terrible, unforgiveable behavior. Here is another bit of enlightment; the 2's and 3's? They are equally as valuable as the 1's. Those special team players? They are equally as important as the players giving interviews after the game. Those walk-ons? Great young men with bright futures. All incredible, intelligent, and necessary participants in this thing call TEAM.
Thank God every day for losing to MSU last year. Otherwise, it's year 4 of status quo and we are at this moment looking for a new coach who by the way is not Houston Nutt. He would have already been employed elsewhere coaching against us.......not good. However, the future is bright and great things are on the horizon for Ole Miss football. Enjoy the ride without becoming arrogant. I have lived in Louisiana all my life and NOBODY is more annoying than these inbred arrogant a-holes called LSUcks fans. I hate 'em. Don't allow success to ruin what Ole Miss stands for. My wife and I love this university and Chris does, too. The students and fans are a step above in everyway. We love Oxford and hope to retire there one day. One year ago Chris told me he would avoid driving anywhere near there he was so burned out from it. Now he is looking for a job there so he can stay. What a difference a year makes.
We will be watching from a distance in Shreveport from now on, occassionally showing up for a game or two. I told my buddy Sam Farrington I would definitely make all future bowl games if he will get me tickets. The Ole Miss flag will fly daily on the front of the house as it has over the past 5 years earning stares from people as they drive by. Thankfully, we get to hold our heads high going into 2009 and Chris will have earned the right to say he played on the team that turned things around for the Rebels.
Thanks to Dave Childers for all the hard work he does everyday maintaining this website. He has been terrific covering my son and Ole Miss sports and we sincerely appreciate it.
Good luck and let's win an SEC championship. This Shreveport Rebel will be there when it happens.
Randy Bowers


Hopefully this will get posted on UT's board now...definitely a reflection of O's recruiting.

Great story. Not to say I told you so either, but this is the same inside story I heard about O as well and it is why I don't give O much of the Credit for the success we had this year. The man did bring on board many of the players and that's great, but he probably ran off just as many that could/would have made a difference for us. If Nutt leaves today, he did more for this football program and this school than any coach since the Vaught days in my opinion.

I hope Nutt becomes the next Vaught type legend for Ole Miss, and I think he can if he decides he likes it here and wants to stay. Regardless, it's been a great year and a heck of a run. For the previous 4 years I was so glad the season came to an end, but for once in a long while, I really do not want this one to end. It was a special year for us..... even better than Eli's Sr. year in my opinion. Next year won't come quick enough for me. Hotty Toddy and thanks to all the players and coaches that made this a special year for all Ole Miss fans! Thanks to the Bowers family for giving us their son for 4 years as well!

Very interesting letter from Mr Bowers. I am glad that Chris had such a positive finish to his career at Ole Miss and the SEC. It is a shame that Coach O brought such a dark cloud to the team but what does not kill us will make us stronger and going 9 and 4 with a win in the Cotton Bowl over a 7th ranked team is something that I would not have believed before the season started. Good luck to Chris and the rest of the graduating seniors and I can't wait for next season. . .now what do I do for 8 months?!?

I hope that the parents, players and friends of the players read our board because I think we are a fair bunch who no matter what loves our Rebels.

Cajunrebel

I'd like to think that we here at RF have a sense of understanding that these players are students first.

That's why I stick around.

So, commendations are in order to all of the regulars and the mods who keep it so well maintained.

In other news, what a season.

Love Chris Bowers. he played hard every time he came in. Im gonna miss him.

LSU fans on Tigerdroppings.com have apparently seen this post from either this board or the one it originally came from, and are fuming. They are attempting to get this out into the public to hurt Randy Bowers' career.

http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/Mess ... 35378&Pg=6

Not sure if the link will work...the thread was shut down after about 8 pages.

dgmcdowe wrote:I'd like to think that we here at RF have a sense of understanding that these players are students first.

That's why I stick around.

So, commendations are in order to all of the regulars and the mods who keep it so well maintained.

In other news, what a season.

I had set up a private board just for parents for this purpose, but it really didn't get much use.

Of all the boards, I think this one has become the best - IMHO. We don't dog the kids, we're pretty level headed when it comes to Ole Miss, and realistic about what we can and cannot do. We don't have all the recruiting gurus, and that may be a blessing in disguise. There are some of them that I would run off just because they can't give info on recruits without going nuts...

Later,
RushB