Greatest single athletic feat in Mississippi history? In 1960, Laurel’s Ralph Boston broke Jesse Owens’ last world record with a long jump of 26 feet, 11 and ¼ inches. Furthermore, Boston broke his own record five times over the next five years. That’s definitely on the list. On July 3, 1983, Bolton’s Calvin Smith covered […]
Opinions are like noses. Everybody has one — or several — where the NFL Draft is concerned. My random thoughts on the NFL Draft’s first round: • Best first round: Easily the Cleveland Browns who got a shutdown corner with the eighth pick and then watched Johnny Manziel fall all the way to their […]
One pretty sure thing about this week’s NFL Draft where Mississippians are concerned: Mississippi State’s Gabe Jackson, the 2013 C Spire Conerly Trophy winner, will be the first player taken from the Magnolia State. And here’s one sure thing about this draft and any draft: Mistakes will be made. Future stars will go undrafted or […]
You could call him the greatest basketball player in Mississippi State history. You could call him an international basketball Hall of Famer and a Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer, as well. Now, you also can call the great Bailey Howell a street. That’s right. What was formerly Coliseum Drive, the east-west street adjacent to Humphrey […]
(I had a call Wednesday morning from a nice lady in Virginia named Marilyn Bray, who had just been cleaning out her attic and found a photo that had been the possession of Ed Bray, her great grandfather. The photo is of the 1905 Winona football team that played in Mississippi’s first high school game. […]
(This was the column I wrote after the death of Hall of Famer J.T. “Blondy” Black on May 4, 2000.) FASTEST, most powerful running back in Southeastern Conference history? Herschel Walker, you say? Bo Jackson? You could make a strong case for either. But old-timers, especially those of the maroon persuasion, remain Bulldog-ish on J. […]
(I write a syndicated column published in numerous Mississippi newspapers. This is an updated version of last week’s piece about Atlanta Braves pitching. I thought last week I needed to hurry up and do the column because there’s no way the Braves could keep pitching so well. So, of course, they went out and had […]
Seventy-two-year-old Doug Hutton, one of the greatest all-around athletes in Mississippi history, stepped to the first tee of beautiful Live Oaks Golf Club Thursday morning. The hole measures 285 yards from the senior tees and Hutton smashed his drive all the way to the front fringe of the green. Next up, 74-year-old Willie Richardson, another […]
