Cowbells can be extremely annoying. Will Ferrell’s persistent pounding of the bell, for example, made for one of the most legendary SNL skits of all-time in part because it annoyed everyone else in SNL’s acting cast of Blue Oyster Cult.
It’s also uplifted Mississippi State football for decades (outside of an SEC-wide ban on artificial noisemakers from 1974-2010). Mizzou J-School alumni Pat Forde called Davis Wade Stadium an “ear-splitting slice of hell” in 2014 after being in-attendance for then-No. 3 MSU’s win over then-No. 2 Auburn.
Historically, the best means of silencing the cowbells has been the opposition playing well, which Mizzou did for most of Saturday evening against Mississippi State.