Would somebody please yank my shoulder out of socket and away from Rod Sterling and this apparent &uot;Twilight Zone&uot; I’m walking through.

Perhaps it’s the calm before the storm. Maybe it’s the blasting heat that has gotten to them (By the way who wants to eat turkey, sweet potatoes and stuffing when the snowball stands are still open? Not I.) but things could not have been more amicable when Vidalia’s Dee Faircloth and Ferriday’s James McFarland talked about tonight’s showdown this week.

Hey guys, we’ve got a gate to make here. Where’s the trash talking, where’s the bulletin board material, where’s the Jerry Springer?

These two make that Tonya Harding-Paula Jones fight look like the Ali-Frazier bouts.

&uot;He knows I want to win real bad and I know that he wants to win real bad,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;But after it’s all said and done, he’s still going to be Dee and I’m still going to be Mac, and we have the utmost respect for each other.&uot;

Ugh, get a room! What is Chuck Woolery going to send the pair to for a candlelight dinner at the Sandbar after the game?

This is the biggest game in town this week. Yeah, we got teams either already headlong in or beginning a run in November for an elusive state championship, but all eyes and ears will be tuned in squarely on this epic rivalry.

I want mamas brought out, I want a pair of bullies taking into the streets to settle their beef.

I want, I want, I want Š: &uot;(McFarland) has done a great job, an outstanding job this year,&uot; Faircloth said. &uot;Hopefully we’ll be ready to play. Ferriday has always been one of the more outstanding programs in this state and they’re going to continue to be.&uot;

NOT THAT!

&uot;We leave it on the field. It never spills over,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;Once the whistle blows it’s good, clean football. Then, we shake hands and we go our way and they theirs. These are two class acts. It’s intense now. But as far as all that goes, it’s on the field. I feel like I can call Dee and he’ll help me if I need it and vice versa. That’s the way it should be.&uot;

No it shouldn’t. OK, maybe for Crowville Lake Providence, but not when your up against your arch enemy.

Did you ever see Superman and Lex Luther sharing ‘a catch’ of kryptonite? Tell me when Elmer and Bugs ever dined together other than a pot of rabbit stew, which the floppy one was a key ingredient for? Were J.R. and Sue Ellen ever in marital bliss?

&uot;Play your hardest and let the chips fall where they may, that’s how it should be,&uot; McFarland said. &uot;I credit Coach Faircloth and the job he does every year with those kids.&uot;

Fairlcloth waxed:&uot; Their backs are really going to be a challenge for us. I don’t know if we can tackle them. They’re tough to stop.&uot;

I raise the white flag. Enjoy tonight’s sequel to &uot;Love Affair.&uot;

Chuck Corder

is a sports writer for The Natchez Democrat. You can reach him at (601) 445-3633 or by e-mail at

chuck.corder@natchezdemocrat.

com.