re: Chinese Bandit Question

What are some of the Ole Miss traditions? Educate us now swayzedaysofsummer.

On that final goal line stand,O.Miss had first & goal inside the 5 yr line & we held them for 4 downs. On the last play, not only was Cannon in on the tackle, so was our QB, Warren Rabb & the other RB, Johnny Robinson. 3 of our better players, including the QB, played defense as well as offense. Today, they have specialists for the specialists it seems like.

You can't fully understand the Go Team, White Team, and Chinese Bandits unless you understand a little bit about the arcane substitution rules in effect at the time. I have had them explained to me before and forgotten the intricacies, but suffice it to say that you could not substitute freely except at certain times (I think the end of a quarter was one such time). So, the players had to play both ways until a sub was allowed. You could have a "platoon" that was intended to be your best offensive squad but b/c of the sub rules, they could end up playing defense and vice-versa.

Back to the Bandits: as I have heard the tale, the scrappy, defensive-oriented Bandits would be serenaded with the vaguely Oriental music and bowing when they made a stop. In the 60's, the rules were changed and platoon football went the way of the buckboard wagon. Thus, the Bandits no longer existed, so the tradition of the music and bowing evolved such that it occurred any time the defense made a stop.

I probably made some mistakes but this is pretty close.