Thanksgiving Day did not end in a celebration for Mississippi State football fans. The Bulldogs fell at home to rival Ole Miss, 31-21 and there was no joy in Starkville as Rebel players took the customary victory lap around Davis-Wade Stadium, having retained the Egg Bowl trophy for back-to-back years.

But in another sense, perhaps, something was gained, despite the outcome.

There were no fights, no flagrant shows of poor sportsmanship, no taunts or threats of reprisal after the game’s final play. Players from both sides met on the field to exchange hugs and congratulate each other on a game hard-fought and fairly contested.

What transpired on Thanksgiving night was that a sense of proportion and perspective accompanied a game that has featured neither in years past.

This was the 24th time the rivalry, which dates to 1901, was played on Thanksgiving. Most of those games were televised. As the only college football game played on Thanksgiving Day, the Bulldogs and Rebels had the spotlight to themselves.

While the significance of these Thanksgiving showdowns have always been obvious to fans of either school, for most of the television audience, people who had no real rooting interest or more than a casual familiarity with the teams, the game’s appeal was likely built on something other than football.

For years, MSU vs. Ole Miss has been touted as one of the fiercest rivalries in college football, mainly for reasons that have very little to do with the actual competition.

It’s a series filled with fights and acrimony and regrettable acts of poor sportsmanship.

It’s like watching the football version of the TV show “Cops.” People tuned in to see what sort of ridiculous scene would unfold between two decent-to-mediocre teams. Very rarely did the game itself have much of an impact on the national scene — just two mundane teams fighting it out, generally with nothing more on the line than a trip to a generic bowl game that only the most football-obsessed fans would bother to watch.

Thursday was different. Ole Miss came in ranked eighth in the nation and left with a win that will almost certainly secure for the Rebels a berth in a major bowl game. The Bulldogs, despite the loss, will go bowling, too, although to a more humble bowl game. Even so, it will mark MSU’s 12th straight bowl game, which is no small feat for a team that had been to just 13 bowl games between its first in 1938 and 2010, the year the current streak started.

But it was not merely the fact that both teams had enjoyed success going into the game that gave Thursday’s contest significance.

For once, what viewers saw was not some sort of absurd spectacle, but a competitive game between two quality teams.

As is often the case, the teams are a reflection of their coaches, which probably had a lot to do with how the game was contested. Unlike past years, when coaches seemed to inflame the passions of their players to gain some dubious edge, both MSU coach Mike Leach and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin hurled no insults, but rather, were complimentary of their opponent. Neither coach had any significant ties to either program when both arrived in the state two years ago. To them, it was a rivalry, not a zero sum game.

For too long, fans of both programs seemed to hold the view that any success the other team enjoyed, regardless of the opponent, was a loss for their team. Conversely, a win by their team is a repudiation of the other, almost as if there is a finite supply of success and that any success the rival gains is success denied their team.

That’s an unhealthy attitude. Certainly, there is value in a rivalry, and bragging rights are something to be embraced. But in the end, it’s a game and it’s the quality of the competition that should matter, not some trailer-park style outburst that reflects poorly on the teams.

People have long been fascinated by the Hatfield-McCoy feud, but nobody ever admired either clan for it. There was no high road, only a ditch.

Maybe the type of game we saw on Thanksgiving night — the outcome notwithstanding — will set a new standard for what can and should be a rivalry admired for the right reasons.

That’s something Bulldogs and Rebels alike could be thankful for.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.

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