I know this will come as a surprise to you all, but Hotty Toddy the locals have finally come forward with a grand admission: Oxford, Mississippi has a drinking problem.
Oxford is home to Ole Miss University and is an epic tailgate setting in the fall when fans the world over settle in "The Grove" to make one of the world's great parties. It's an idyllic setting but apparently the whole imbibery thing isn't just a six-day-a-year affair. Shocker, I know.
First Baptist Church pastor Eric Hankins provides all of today's great quotes about the situation as produced in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
Do we really want to be known as a drinking town with a football problem?'" he asked. "I think we want to be known as a wonderful town with a great heritage, where retirees and families are welcomeHa!
Ok it's not funny, really. But you gotta love that quote. To be serious for a moment, a violent, alcohol-induced situation set the gears in motion for some changes in Oxford.
After University of Mississippi police officer Robert Langley died in October while trying to arrest a drunk and drugged student, public attention focused sharply on substance abuse at Ole Miss.Good deal. But Pastor Hankins isn't mincing words.
Oxford officials and residents, however, acknowledge that the "culture of alcohol" and the responsibility to curb it do not lie solely on the university campus.
"Our No. 1 community problem is the culture of alcohol,'" Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth said in his "State of the City" speech Tuesday.
"In a 12-step program, the first step is admitting you have a problem," he observed. "The city and university have moved from We're no worse than anybody else' and Alcohol is a part of the college culture everywhere' to both of them admitting, The culture of alcohol is our number one problem.'"It's going to be an interesting fall, no? We'll see if the city's efforts extend to cracking down the behavior when say, Mississippi State or LSU come to town.
