We love college football for many reasons, including the emotions the sport evokes from players, coaches and fans. Those emotions leave us with lasting memories, just as Thursday night’s Ole Miss-Vanderbilt instant classic will. The Rebels’ exhausting 39-35 victory over Vandy left me thinking back to 1969 when Ole Miss was on the other end […]
Where Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss are concerned, I cannot remember a time when football openers were more important than what the three face on opening week, 2013. All three games are important for so many different reasons. Ole Miss opens at Vandy tonight. It’s important, No. 1, because it is a conference […]
While my son and I were sharing some quality time — watching former Mississippi Brave Craig Kimbrel finish off the Cleveland Indians Wednesday night, my son said, “Dad you know we are watching the next Mariano Rivera.” My first reaction: Whoa! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. After further review, Tyler may be onto […]
Another season, another chance to make a fool out of myself. Here we go: Ole Miss 27, Vanderbilt 26 — Ole Miss is favored by 3, which is remarkable when you think about it. If that scores sounds familiar, that’s what Vandy beat Ole Miss by last season en route to winning its last seven […]
Bill Raphael, the beloved coach and teacher at St. Joseph High for 41 years, died Friday of pancreatic cancer. Here, Win Ellington (St. Joe Class of ’90) remembers his mentor and the lessons learned. When the St. Joe Alumni Facebook Page posted a status that Coach Raphael had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer I knew […]
Bill Raphael, a beloved coach and teacher at St. Joseph High School died Friday of pancreatic cancer. He was 87. Steve Shirley (St. Joe Class of 1976), who played and learned under Raphael, shares this remarkable tribute. Bill Raphael was a legendary math teacher. Through his decades at St. Joseph High School, thousands of […]
What follows is this week’s column syndicated through the Mississippi Press Association. An alert reader caught one slight error. The Poole brothers grew up in Homochitto, not Gloster . . . Homochitto is out from Gloster… As another Mississippi high school football season begins, this question looms as pertinent as ever: What is it about […]
Write about Mississippi football for 47 years and you learn that some days and nights — some stories and columns — stand out more than others. And some are those you would least expect. Take, for instance, a day and night I spent in Weir (yes, it sounds just like Where?) in 2004. Why Weir? […]
