Earlier this week, the Ole Miss fan social media sphere was in a bit of a tizzy after a new-ish Rebel athletics logo found its way onto some merchandise. The logos, which feature a script “M” that, presumably, stands for “Mississippi,” were found on new shirts, shorts, caps, and other basic apparel.

But while this week might have marked the first time that many Ole Miss fans have seen the logo, this newly available cursive “M” isn’t all that new, per Michael Thompson via the Oxford Eagle. It’s been in use for a little under a year now, and even found its way onto basketball warmups and some of the (SEC Champion) softball team’s apparel. It’s also more or less the same “M” that’s present in the ubiquitous script “Ole Miss” logo seen pretty much anywhere it can fit on an athletics uniform, so the design and intent of it should not be unfamiliar to the supporters of the red and blue.

Surely people would either not notice or not have much of an opinion about this simple tertiary icon for their favorite sports teams, right? Well ... (via SaturdayDownSouth’s Facebook page):

Oh, and like anyone's opinion other than [CHANCELOR JEFFREY] Vitter's matters. He'll do whatever he wants regardless if we like it or not ... just like the last administrations that took away the flag, Colonel Reb, Dixie. University of Nothing. They just won't stop until they take everything away, will they? When does the cursive Ole Miss go away? When does the name "Ole Miss" itself go away?? This is just another attempt to take all things southern from the University of Nowhere (Mississippi) Bring back Dixie and Ole Col Reb then I will give you my answer.

It is important to note here that there has been no clear attempt to reduce the use of the nickname “Ole Miss,” nor has their been any noticeable move away from the script Ole Miss logo. Nor is it seemingly (yet) a replacement for the block “M” that already exists in Ole Miss athletics logos, most notably as a logo for Ole Miss baseball. It is also important to note that a large letter “M” is not, itself, particularly Southern, nor does it have any real historical significance.

Simply put, there’s nothing to support any of the aforementioned concerns.

That very important detail doesn’t matter, though, because this is just another example of the deep state lib infestation of Oxford and its attempts to undermine and disrespect all decent and good things about whatever it is that you define as “Southern.” This isn’t an innocuous new logo whose merits are entirely subjective; this is an all-out assault on the very fabric of our identity, and the PC tyrants in the Lyceum will not rest until every last vestige of who we are has been vanquished. This is a very, very important issue, whose solution is found in loudly complaining about it on social media before doing something more important (i.e., literally anything else) and inadvertently demonstrating the trivial nature of this entire hoopla.

The good news, at least, is that the time-honored Ole Miss tradition of arguing about Ole Miss traditions is not forgotten. Nor is our incessant paranoia and insecurity. No sir/ma’am, no change to our brand will ever rid us of that.

Happy offseason.