It was Halloween 1998 in Oxford when I learned how to separate my job as a sports writer from my passion as a fan. It was my first year in the media business and I was covering the football game between my alma mater LSU and Ole Miss.

The Tigers rallied from a 31-10 deficit in the last 10 minutes to tie it on the final play. They proceeded to give up a touchdown pass on the first play of overtime, couldn’t score on four plays inside the 10 on their possession, and lost 37-31.

As a fan, it was incredibly exciting and then totally gut wrenching, all in the span of an hour. Sitting in the press box covering it, I couldn’t say a word. Cheering up there goes over about as well as passing gas in church. So I held in my excitement and kept my professionalism intact.

Ever since then, I figured if I can make it through that without losing my cool, I can make it through anything. It was the first step in a 20-year process of slowly turning my passion for sports into a cool detachment. No matter what crazy thing happens, good or bad, I still have a job to do when it’s over. Keeping a level head helps to soak it all in.

Fast-forward two decades to Thanksgiving weekend 2018. Late Saturday night, LSU looked like it had won its game against Texas A&M with a late interception. I still root for LSU, so I was happy. I was also trying to sneak the score and updated SEC standings onto the agate page of The Vicksburg Post before a hard 10 p.m. deadline, so I was even happier that it was going to finish in time.

Then the replay official in College Station decided to go rogue. He buzzed down to look at the play and overturned it. He did the same thing on another play later on the drive. Texas A&M scored on the final play of regulation, much like LSU had 20 years earlier, to send it to overtime.

With no hope of getting the score in the paper, I changed the 31-24 final I had entered as a placeholder to (n) — the symbol for a late-night finish — finished the section and settled in for overtime.

Seven overtimes, actually. With a few more annoying replay reviews that did not go LSU’s way. By the time it was over I was a nervous wreck and screaming loud enough to frighten our dog.

For the first time in a long time, I was a fan again, and it felt good. I guess I could thank the SEC officiating crew for bringing that back to me, but I can’t go that far. They still stink.

Ernest Bowker is the sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com