The late Babe McCarthy (MSHOF Class of 1974) was properly honored Thursday with a marker on Main Street in his beloved hometown of Baldwyn. The marker overlooks the area about a block away where his daddy operated a cotton gin. The Babe was a self-made coach, who grew up in basketball country and became one […]
Madison Central will celebrate it’s state championship team of 1999 Friday night when the Jaguars play host to Jackson Callaway. That 1999 team, coached by the inimitable Mike Justice, has to rank as one of the greatest high school teams in Mississippi history. They were a remarkable group that featured two future NFL offensive linemen, […]
A few years ago, I found myself in northeast Mississippi, in Hill Country, where tiny towns and communities share rich basketball histories. I had some time to kill and saw a sign pointing in the direction of Baldwyn, home of the late, great Babe McCarthy. I took the turn and 10 minutes later was there. […]
This entry comes with a caveat: Billy Watkins is a close friend, a writer I greatly admire. We worked together for decades. I believe he is one of Mississippi’s greatest-ever journalists, sports and otherwise. One reason Billy is such a fine writer is that he is the best interviewer I’ve ever witnessed. He has a […]
It is happening far too quickly. We lost the third member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame within the past five weeks. This time it was Leon Bramlett, who follows fellow Hall of Fame members Bert Jenkins and Tom Goode to those pearly gates. Leon, was a Clarksdale, MS native and graduated from Clarksdale […]
How does a state with a small population and low per capita income produce so many great writers, actors and athletes? At the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, we tell the stories of the Walter Paytons, Jerry Rices, Steve McNairs, Archie Mannings, Boo Ferrisss and so many more greats from Mississippi that have […]
It was brought to my attention last week that in 1908, the last time the Cubs won a World Series, they did their spring training in Vicksburg, MS. In that era training in the spring was much different than it is today. Teams would find someplace with a better climate than their northern weather […]
This was 53 years and several months ago at the old Mississippi Southern College baseball field just off Highway 49 in Hattiesburg. Delta State College was about to play MSC in baseball. I was 9. My dad was on the field talking to a tall, broad-shouldered man in a gray flannel uniform with a green […]
