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Student Column: My First Hotty Toddy experience was during the 2020 pandemic

Posted on: November 17th, 2020 by ldrucker

Before transferring to Ole Miss this semester, I was not yet a Rebels fan. I am originally from Louisiana, and my family collectively roots for one team, and one team only. That should explain why I was not a Hotty Toddy-chanting fan. But attending my first Ole Miss football game quickly changed my mind.

The game was the highly anticipated game against Alabama. The Rebels were going up against the #2 team, and it was the first time Head Coach Lane Kiffin was playing the team he had previously coached.

I had been excited about the game for weeks because there is no team I despise more than Alabama. I remember being in one of my Zoom classes when tickets went on sale. We had a little break during class, and I immediately logged into my student account to purchase a ticket.

While I was securing the ticket, the site asked if I wanted to purchase insurance for the ticket. In my mind, I thought, “There is nothing that would stop me from going to this game,” so I opted out of insurance purchase.

To my surprise, there was a tropical storm threatening the Gulf Coast later that evening. The storm developed into a hurricane overnight. Since the storm was in its early stages, I had little worry about the storm affecting the game.

Throughout the week, Hurricane Delta strengthened and was projected to make landfall on the Mississippi and Louisiana coast nearing the weekend. I still did not think the storm was going to affect any elements of the game. I didn’t even think Oxford would see any rain leading up to the game weekend.

I was wrong. The hurricane moved quickly throughout the Gulf Coast, causing the kickoff time to be moved to 6:30 p.m. instead of the original time of 5 p.m. Hurricane Delta made landfall Oct. 9, just one day before the game.

Because of all the rain Oxford was receiving, I was now afraid the game would get cancelled. For 24 hours, I felt angry with myself for not purchasing insurance for the ticket. With three hours left before kickoff, I still wondered if the game would be cancelled due to the storm.

It made me very anxious, but I was already anxious for many reasons. I was going to the football game alone, and it would be the first time I was going to a highly populated event during the pandemic.

Like I was doing all week, I was keeping an eye out for the storm. An hour before the game, the rain lightened up, and the winds died down. Fortunately, the game did not get canceled. The rain stopped 10 minutes after kickoff.

Walking into Vaught-Hemingway Stadium eased my anxiety. Seeing most people wearing a mask or face covering also calmed me a little. The feeling of being at a football game had my adrenaline pumping.

My excitement for the game tried to mask the fear of contracting the virus during the game, but it was always in the back of my mind. I kept my mask on the entire game and often sanitized my hands.

The first time the student section did the Hotty Toddy chant felt so natural to me. I had never done it before, but I surprised myself when I knew all the words. I finally felt like I belonged at Ole Miss.

It was so surreal to be at the game during these times. The game itself was one of the best games I have ever seen. The Ole Miss Rebels kept up with the Crimson Tide throughout the first half of the game, even scoring the first touchdown of the night.

At halftime, the score was tied at 21. Each team’s offense demonstrated explosive plays. The entire game was a shootout game. The game was even tied at 42 in the last quarter.

The Rebels fell short to the Crimson Tide with the final score of 48-63. Although the Rebels lost the game, there were plenty of records set.

The combined 111 points is the highest scoring game in SEC history. The Ole Miss football team had a total of 647 yards, marking the most yards the Alabama defense has ever given up.

There were many emotions felt during the game. My emotions ranged from anxious to excited to defeat and eventually to happy. I was so happy to have witness such a great game in a safe manner, and I had a lot a fun. Even though I went to the game by myself, I never felt alone.

This game made me feel like I am finally part of the Ole Miss family. I believe Ole Miss now has me as a fan for life. Hotty Toddy!

Lindsey Trinh is a junior journalism major with specializations in sports promotions and a minor in digital media studies. She is originally from Houma, Louisiana.

Trinh is the oldest of three and the only girl. Her interests are sports and music. She enjoys listening to hip hop and electronic music. One of her favorite things to do is to go to music festivals or shows with friends.

For the past two years, she has been a part of Winter Circle Productions and BUKU Music + Arts Project’s promotion team. Her favorite NFL team is the New Orleans Saints, and her favorite NBA player is Kevin Durant.

During her breaks from school, she enjoys traveling to big cities such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Houston. She also loves spending days inside with her cat, Chai. She says her style is inspired by streetwear.

Trinh is a part of the creative team for Square Magazine, the student-run magazine at the University of Mississippi, and a reporter for Oxford Stories. When she graduates, she would like to work with a sports or music organization in either marketing or journalism.

Beatty works behind the scenes for the Ole Miss Rebels

Posted on: November 14th, 2017 by ldrucker

Videographer, journalist and social media guru are all words used to describe Kayla Beatty. Beatty is a senior at the University of Mississippi and in her second year working for Ole Miss Athletics in production.

As a journalism student, she has gained essential skills for working professionally in the field. As a main videographer for Ole Miss Athletics, Beatty has worked every sports event at Ole Miss. Her favorite sport is basketball, but not always.

“I grew up watching soccer,” she said. “I knew nothing about football, basketball or baseball.

She quickly learned the sports and now sometimes thinks she could coach them. Beatty works on a team of roughly nine to 12 people. Half of them are students. This a paid job, but her first year counted as internship credit.

“While I may not go into the sports production field, the skills and opportunities I have been given are out of this world,” said Beatty.

Before every basketball game, the team of videographers meet two hours before to begin testing equipment. There are multiple cameras around the Pavilion to get high and low shots. They check lighting, sound and angles to get the perfect shot at game time.

An hour before the game begins, they get into position. They start getting clips of the crowd, and the teams warm up. The team films everything that spectators see in the arena and what is posted throughout the game on social media.

Everything that the cameras in the arena pick up is sent immediately to the control room. There, staff members operate music, lights and everything you see on the jumbotron. They also quickly make graphics for social media and talk with SEC Sports.

“We all have headsets on so we know what we all are doing,” Beatty. “Communication is key in the industry.”

Beatty’s favorite video to capture is when she follows the ball closely on camera and gets the angle as it lands in the net. She uses a “slash camera” to achieve this. This was one of the hardest skills to perfect. She said she is still learning.

Videography and photography is all about practicing. When she first started, she shadowed an existing staff member to learn the basics.

“They take baby steps so they can ensure you will know everything before you are on your own,” she said. “A lot of basic skills I taught myself on my iPhone.”

After shadowing someone with experience, the videographers are on their own. After about a year, they usually end up having a shadow or “buddy” to teach.

Beatty said the most important piece of advice is know your equipment. Supervisor Hank Lena is their main support. Lena works the control room and is in charge of the team during the game.

“The staff is so talented,” Lena said. “They are always eager to learn. For my students, I am here to make sure they are getting the knowledge they will need to continue a career in production and journalism.”

Another favorite part of the job for Beatty is creating graphics for Ole Miss sports teams’ social media. Within minutes of the live footage, the staff sends Tweets, Instagram posts and Snapchats.

A great part of working for Ole Miss productions is they allow everyone to rotate positions. Everyone may have their preference, but they are given the opportunity to use a high camera, low camera or work in the control room. Staff is exposed to videography, still photography and social media.

“I get to play with toys and get paid,” said Beatty. “I get to work with the best cameras and equipment in the industry.”

Work does not feel like work when it is doing something you love. Everyday is different working in production.

“I love what I get to do for a living, so hiring people that are also so passionate about journalism is the best part,” said Lena.

A lot of hard work goes into what looks easy to the average viewer at a sporting event. From preparation to putting all the footage together at the end, students and staff move quickly.

Beatty said she wishes she had known about this job earlier in her college career because of the skills she has learned and the connections and people she has met. She hopes to continue learning as much as she can this upcoming basketball season.

By Kelly Zeidner
Oxford Stories
knzeidne@go.olemiss.edu