July 26, 2006

Ole Miss retires Mullins #38

The University of Mississippi has chosen to retire the #38 of Roy Lee "Chucky" Mullins with a ceremony before the season opener hosting Memphis.

I mentioned earlier this year that the tradition of awarding the number to the best defensive player each spring will be missed due to its uniqueness, and I feared that the change today was inspired by recruits who would prefer to wear their own jersey number rather than switch because of an award. See the link as I developed that point fully then.

I have a couple links posted on the right hand side if you want to know more about the life of Chucky and all he touched. His father/guardian was humble and appreciative of the newest honor:
"It's a blessing," Carver Phillips said when notified about the upcoming retirement of Chucky's number. "This is an amazing honor for Chucky, and our family is very excited about it. I thought it would happen sooner or later. It's going to be a great day for our family, and we look forward to representing and supporting Chucky."
Please tell me if I am overreacting to this story - it doesn't make me ill, it just smacks of the insidious "me-first" culture infecting another great tradition.

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