How do you celebrate the first national junior college men’s basketball championship in the long, storied history of the Mississippi junior college system? Jones Junior College coach Jay Ladner, one of the best coaches 99.99 percent of the country never heard of, answered his cell phone Sunday morning and answered that question. “We’re pulled […]
Jones Junior College this past weekend became the first Mississippi two-year school to win the juco Division I National Championship. The Jones Bobcats won five games in five days to claim the title. Back in 1951, Northeast Community College in Booneville played for the national championship at Hutchinson, Kan. The story is worth retelling… Northeast […]
Clearly, Southern Miss deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament. So did Louisiana Tech. Clearly, also, Conference USA has about as much pull with the NCAA Selection committee as I have with the people who pick Nobel Prizes. Zero. None. Nada. Null set. Such is life in the NCAA where the rich get filthy rich […]
Indianola native Sam Lacey, regarded as one of the most versatile big men in NBA history, died Saturday in his adopted hometown of Kansas City of natural causes. He would have turned 66 on March 28. Former Delta State and Ole Miss coach Ed Murphy helped recruit the 6-foot, 10-inch Lacey out of Gentry High […]
This was 105 years ago, before metal bats, before luxury suites and before any pitch was known as a split-fingered fastball or a circle change. This was even before Mississippi State was Mississippi State. Willie Mitchell was a 19-year old Mississippi A & M senior from the tiny Panola County community of Pleasant Grove (near […]
At halftime Friday, Victoria Vivians had scored just seven points, had made just 3 of 12 shots and seemed flustered by Coahoma County’s double- and triple-teaming defensive tactics. She had taken a couple hard spills to the floor, at least one elbow to the mouth. She had missed some shots she normally makes in her […]
Despite this recent Arctic blast, spring is about to have sprung. I see a few blooms around the neighborhood. That means baseball, and, in particular, little league baseball. Depending on how it’s handled, little league baseball and softball can be one of the most treasured memories of lifetime. Unfortunately, due to overzealous coaches and parents, […]
My column, syndicated through the Mississippi Press Association, which ran about in two dozen newspapers this week follows: Get the score in the first paragraph. Spell folks’ names correctly. Write in short direct sentences. The sooner you finish, the better. When I started writing sports for newspapers almost half a century ago now, those were […]
