By Ken Shearer Former Southern Miss football standout John Thomas Russell died May 3, at about 2:30 a.m. at a hospital in Austin, Texas. He was 76. John had suffered a severe stroke on April 27. Funeral arrangements are incomplete but the funeral is expected to take place late next week in Tylertown […]
By Billy Turner Seriously, let’s all calm down. The world as we know it didn’t change this week. Culture didn’t overtake Scripture as our GPS. The sun didn’t stop in the sky (oh, that would be impossible, right?). However, there’s no question that things blew up. Here’s a sampling of the great culture wars from […]
By Sid Salter A Mississippi baseball manager – one with an acknowledged background that included less than progressive racial views early in his life – played a pivotal role in bringing the first black player to America’s pastime. The number one movie in America this week is “42: The Jackie Robinson Story,” a marvelous film […]
By SID SALTER In life and in death, Donald W. Zacharias cast a long shadow over Mississippi State University — the school he successfully led from 1985 to 1997 — the second-longest tenure in the history of the university behind founding president Stephen D. Lee. Higher education in Mississippi has had few better friends. Long […]
By William “Brother” Rogers Cool Papa Bell was the fastest man ever to play baseball, and he grew up in Starkville. His achievements, primarily in the Negro Leagues, earned his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. in 1974. His Hall of Fame plaque reads in part, “…Contemporaries rated him fastest […]
By Randy Watkins The year was 1977 and I was practicing daily on my golf game in advance of the PGA National Junior Championship to be played at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Having advanced through two different qualifying tournaments, I was excited to play in one of the biggest and most prestigious junior golf […]
By Joey Martin Just wanted to throw in something about former Natchez track coach Henry “Doc” Woods, who died of cancer on February 9 in Dallas. Woods coached track and field for 43 years, starting out at the former Sadie V. Thompson High School before moving on to North Natchez and Natchez High. He won […]
By Douglas W. Shanks “Howdy Pardners, I’ve been waiting for you!” – with that booming introduction from the man himself, I was face to face with a true American legend. I was stunned at the hugeness of the man; everything was gigantic. His hands were massive. He stood at least 6’4” and he had one […]
