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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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Ole Miss called off its online mascot vote on Thursday, apparently because the only people voting in the non-binding election were Mississippi State fans. Also it seems that the artist who submitted the “new” Rebel Bruiser mascot forgot to mention that a statue of Bruiser beating up a Bulldog has been on sale for a year. Hopefully, we can all put this behind us and start concentrating on real news like the Siegfried and Roy disaster or Halle Berry’s marital problems. Sure the University of Mississippi has released an official statement on this latest setback, but Dr. S is still waiting to hear from his personal choice as the new Rebel mascot, former Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (left).

Previous Comments

Oh no! Halle Berry is having marital problems?


Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! That Siegfried and Roy pic has been getting around.


You really ought to read Mary Hartwell Howorth’s letter to the DM, entitled “Changing Mascot to Mule Has Kick” I thought it was going to be a grand satire until I read it (it is delightful, but not entirely tongue-in-cheek) and came away blinking, dazed, and, dare I say it . . . CONVINCED. I can see it now – muleprints all over bulldogs and tigers . . . ahhhhh. With the prospect of white supremacist Richard Barrett coming out to rally support for the old mascot, I’m beginning to feel quite mulish. http://www.thedmonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/10/10/3f8661fb188c0?in_archive=1

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.