By JIM STEELE

Back in January, I remember hearing word that Ole Miss, also known as the University of Mississippi, was rattling its sabre over McKenzie's use of the Rebel man as its logo. I asked MHS principal Terry Howell about it and one could tell by his demeanor he didn't really want to talk about it, that it was something to be scrutinized, but nothing to make a big deal out of.

Until now.

It finally came to light this week, after months of swirling rumors, that McKenzie will no longer be able to use the Rebel man as its logo. You can thank Ole Miss for this. They say they have the licensing deed to the logo.

Never mind that Ole Miss officially discontinued use of this logo for public display in 2003. Never mind that Ole Miss began distancing itself from many of its Confederate symbols back in 1983 (former Ole Miss coach Billy Brewer removed the Rebel man from the helmets and presented more of a sky-blue hemlet in those days; now the helmets are the traditional navy blue with just the red "Ole Miss" script logo). Never mind that the Col. Reb symbol appears nowhere on its athletic OR academic websites. Ole Miss, with all the money in the world, thanks to many of their hoity-toity donors, feels it has nothing better to do than pick on small schools who want to do nothing more than display a logo. McKenzie certainly isn't profiting directly from use of the logo..

I don't have just a monster hatred for Ole Miss and have always respected their traditions. I also realize there are some folks in these parts who hold Ole Miss near and dear. That's fine. I think Ole Miss is being a whiney Nancy boy over this one. Similarly, I thought the same thing when Kentucky pitched a hissy fit over Bethel's use of a similar Wildcat logo.

If Ole Miss is so proud of its Col. Reb display, then why isn't it more prominently displayed? How come it seems to be hidden from view, removed from atheltic uniforms, helmets, caps, jackets of Rebel athletes? Oh yeah, I checked the atheltic website for merchandise. I crunched some numbers. Ole Miss offers, on its athletic website, 397 merchandise items. You can buy an Ole Miss rubber dinosaur, but it doesn't have a Col. Rebel logo on it. They are touting Father's Day shirts, ties, shorts, pants, but none of it has a Rebel man on it. Of the 397 items offered, 26 of them have the Rebel man, mostly small images on caps (though a couple of caps have a somewhat large, off-center likeness). Of all the cheap crap Ole Miss pitches on its website, 6.5 percent of it has the Rebel man on it.

For a hypersensitive school with crummy athletics, I find it curious why they are so anxious to protect a logo that they seldom, if ever, use.

I am told this will affect Obion Central and Stewart County. I'm not sure about Maryville or Franklin, the other Rebels in Tennessee that I know about for sure.

The Rebel man has been used by McKenzie High School since the 1940s, according to Rebel historian Jack Holland, when McKenzie made the transition from the Blue and Gold of the Yellow Jackets and Red and Gray of the Rebels. But like most money-grubbing Division 1 institutions of pro-athlete development, they license their logos.

I remember one of my last conversations with the late, great Ray Mears, former Tennessee basketball coach. He lamented that he didn't get the trademark for "Big Orange" and "Big Orange Country," which was co-opted by then-Tennessee athletics director Doug Dickey, who, to cover his keester, claimed that "Big Orange" and associated phrases were long a part of Tennessee athletics before Mears arrived from Wittenberg back in the 60s.

Wrong. John Ward and Mears both told me about the evolotion of "Big Orange Country." Mears is credited with the expressions, much like Ward's "bottom" when a bucket was scored in basketball, or "give 'em six" after a touchdown in football. But Tennessee owns the rights to "Big Orange" and "Big Orange Country," basically shafting the man who gave his all for Tennessee to the point where it nearly killed him.

What Ole Miss should do is take care of its athletics program. It ranks near the bottom of all SEC schools, even below Vanderbilt. It's football team was dead last in the SEC West. The best finish a sports team from Ole Miss had was volleyball and it finished second in its division. It's athletics director, Pete Boone, has shown suspect judgment. For example, David Cutcliffe, current Duke head coach, led Ole Miss to its first 10-win season in 2003. The Rebels were Western Division co-champs, 10-3 and defeated Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl, its first Jan. 1 bowl appearance since 1991. Cutcliffe recruited two of the most storied football players in Rebel history when he lured quarterback Eli Manning and Bruceton linebacker Patrick Willis. A year later, after losing many experienced players, Boone fired Cutcliffe and replaced him with Ed Orgeron, who pledged to take Ole Miss to another level.

He did...a lower level.

Meanwhile, there has been scandal and malfeasance in the Ole Miss football program going back to 1994 when Billy Brewer was fired for recruiting violations. Tommy Tuberville took over, but got out of Dodge with good reason after a couple of seasons. After Cutcliffe, came Orgeron, who led the Rebs to a 3-9 mark and an 0-8 SEC ledger. In 2007, several Ole Miss players were suspended indefinitely for stealing stuff from hotels on road trips (pillows, clock radios, etc.). They were given a slap on the wrist. There have been problems keeping players eligible academically as the controversy cauldron continues to bubble in Oxford.

It seems Ole Miss has more pertinent things to worry about than whether a small high school in a rural locale is using something that sort of looks like their logo. It's not like MHS is marketing Rebel garb nationwide for thousands of bucks. As the education and athletic subtraction continues at Ole Miss, its pettiness continues to rear its ugly head. Ole Miss continues to be the only school in the SEC without a graphic mascot now. Maybe its suffering an identity crisis.

I did a check, by the way. The most popular mascot in college sports is "Bulldogs" believe it or not (40 schools in all divisions). Next is Tigers (30), Bears (25), Panthers (18), Cardinals (17), Cougars and Wildcats (16 each), Eagles and Bobcats (15 each), Lions (10).

There may be more, but there are, from my estimation, five Rebels in Tennessee, two of them in West Tennessee. Ole Miss and Nevada-Las vegas are the only college to use the mascot. Meanwhile, there are five Mustangs in the college ranks.

I don't get this miserly, selfish attitude. Ole Miss should quit worrying about who uses and doesn't use its logo and continue to do what it does best: Try to figure out how to stay off of NCAA probation. Ole Miss has bigger problems to deal with.