Jackson Free Press

Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin has been featured on Richard Prince's 'Journal-isms' website.

We just received the following update about what venues will be open tonight for the marathon runners who came to Jackson for the Mississippi Blues Marathon that was cancelled due to the ice storm. Limited venues are open tonight for the scheduled Blues Crawl, but the shuttle will not run.

Verbatim from the organizers:

Due to the current street conditions, the Blues Crawl shuttle will not be running tonight. The weather has also impacted musicians and venues. As of this time, the following venues are scheduled to be open:

Hal & Mal’s (200 South Commerce Street, 601-948-0888);

Ole Tavern at George Street (416 George Street, 601-960-2700);

Martin’s (214 South State Street, 601-354-9712); One Block East (642 Tombigbee Street, 601-944-0203);

and Fenian’s (901 East Fortification Street, 601-948-0005).

If runners plan to get out tonight, we recommend calling the venues ahead of time.

The demise of the Mississippi picnic in Central Park, news the Jackson Free Press broke early last week, is not the only economic and public-relations fallout of Mississippi's passage of the anti-LBGT House Bill 1523.

On Jan. 1, California's banned state-funded and state-sponsored travel to North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kansas due to anti-LGBT laws passed in all four states. Assemblyman Evan Low, who is gay, co-sponsored the legislation in response to discriminatory legislation in the four states, The Advocate, an LGBT-focused national publication, reports.

"Our state has clearly said our taxpayer dollars will not fund bigotry or hatred," Low told The Advocate. "If other states try to pass similar laws, we will do everything we can in our power to stop any type of discrimination from happening to Californians. As you know, our zero tolerance policy says there is no room for discrimination of any kind in California and this bill ensures discrimination will not be tolerated of any kind outside our borders."

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation moved a scheduled racial-healing retreat from Asheville, N.C., to Carlsbad, Calif., in December in response to passage of the anti-LGBT House Bill 2 in the Tarheel State.

The areas in pink are still experiencing icy, dangerous conditions on Jan. 7.

Gov. Phil Bryant announced at MEC Capital Day on Thursday that Mississippi won the Business Facilities’ 2016 Economic Development Deal of the Year for sealing the deal with Continental Tire, which is set to open a tire plant outside of Clinton in Hinds County.

“To be chosen as the top recipient of Business Facilities’ 2016 Economic Development Deal of the Year national competition is a great honor for the state, the Mississippi Development Authority, Hinds County and the numerous individuals who worked tirelessly to bring Continental to Hinds County,” said Bryant said in an MDA press release. “This award confirms the state’s position as one of the top destinations for business and is something in which all Mississippians should take pride. I appreciate the team at Business Facilities for recognizing our efforts with this top honor.”

Bryant called a special legislative session last year to ram through the incentives package that brought Continental Tire to Mississippi in the first place. Continental invested $1.45 billion in the state, and eventually, the plant is supposed to create 2,500 jobs over the next decade. The state spent over $600 million in bonds and tax breaks to bring the German-based tire manufacturer to Hinds County, an AP analysis shows.

Bryant is a fan of tax cuts to bring in economic development projects. At the Jackson Marriott on Thursday, he reiterated his dedication to tax incentives to bring development and jobs to the state.

"Without tax incentives we've offered companies, they would not be here," Bryant told business leaders on Thursday.

The Hinds County tire plant will open with 100 jobs in 2018, but currently, the company is issuing contracts for development of the almost 1,000-acre plot. Mississippi companies are strongly encouraged to apply, but any company can bid on the contracts.

Fans have hope that the national championship game on Monday, Jan. 9, lives up to last year’s game, when Clemson University and the University of Alabama played an instant classic in the Crimson Tide’s 45-40 victory.

A thrilling championship game for two years in a row can mask the problems with the college-football playoffs. In the three years since the games started, just two have been close. That excludes Monday’s title game, of course.

In year one, the University of Oregon pounded Florida State University 59-20 in one semifinal. Ohio State University outlasted Alabama 42-35 in the other semifinal, and that was the only close game that year.

The first championship game under the new playoffs produced a stinker when Ohio State blasted Oregon 42-20 and took the title. Two blowouts in the first three games didn’t produce the drama everyone hoped for with the playoffs.

A first-year misstep or two wouldn’t be shocking in the first year of a new playoff. That is, until year two. Both semifinal games then ended in a rout, as Clemson spanked the University of Oklahoma 37-17, and Alabama smoked Michigan State 38-0.

So the national title game between the Tide and Tigers was one for the ages, but in the first two years, four of the six playoff games ended in blowouts.

This year saw both semifinals end with little drama, as they were over before the fourth quarter. Alabama took care of the University of Washington 24-7, and Clemson destroyed Ohio State 31-0.

That means six of the eight playoff games have produced little or no drama in the second half. The playoff committee’s job is to pick the four best teams for the playoffs and not produce drama on the field. That is the job of the four teams.

Even so, with six of the eight games being blowouts, is there a problem with the playoffs? And if there is a problem, how can it be fixed for future playoffs?

One fix would be adding more teams. That might not fix the blowouts but would produce more chances for drama.

A six-team playoff in year one would have added Baylor University as the fifth seed and Texas Christian University as the sixth seed. Baylor blew a huge fourth quarter lead to Michigan State in a 42-41 loss, but TCU blew out No. 9 University of Mississippi 42-3.

If the playoff doubled, Mississippi State University would have been a seventh seed, and Michigan State would have been the eighth seed. MSU ended up losing 49-34 to No. 12 Georgia Institute of Technology.

In year two of the playoff, No.6 Stanford University upset No. 5 University of Iowa 45-16, but No. 7 Ohio State took down No. 8 University of Notre Dame 44-28.

Again, even adding teams to the playoff might not produce more drama if the scores above are any indication. Except for Michigan State’s …

Things can change quickly in the NFL. One year a team may be raising the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season and the next, the team may be sitting at home waiting for another one to raise the trophy.

The Denver Broncos, who were last year’s Super Bowl champions, are sitting at home, and another team will win a title this year. Runner-up the Carolina Panthers missed the playoffs, too.

Denver finished last season 12-4, and Carolina went 15-1. Both teams won the AFC and NFC titles. This year the Broncos went 9-7, and the Panthers went 6-10 in disappointing seasons.

A multitude of reasons for teams falling off after making the playoffs, including free agents leaving, player retirements, coaching changes and, of course, injuries, exist.

The exact opposite can happen for teams that make the playoffs after missing out the year before, with reasons such as key free-agent signings, injury-free seasons, smart draft choices and a great coaching hire.

The Broncos struggled in the first season after Peyton Manning retired. While the defense was its dominant self, the offense struggled without a strong quarterback.

Injuries and free agent losses were big reasons for the Panthers’ slide, but so was quarterback Cam Newton’s play. He wasn’t nearly as good this season as last. Denver also struggled at quarterback due to the lack of a halfway decent running game.

Of the 12 teams that reached the playoffs last season, only six reached the postseason again this year. Four of those were in the AFC: the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans.

Things are drastically different in the NFC. Just the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers returned to the postseason.

In the AFC, the Cincinnati Bengals went 12-4 last season but went 6-9-1 this season. Nearly every team in the AFC playoff field bettered its record from 2015, except the Houston Texans, who finished 9-7 both years.

Top seeded New England went from 12-4 last year to 14-2 this year, and that was without quarterback Tom Brady for four games. Second seed Kansas City went 11-5 in 2015 and finished 12-4 this year.

Third-seeded Pittsburgh improved one game from 10-6 in 2015 to 11-5 this season. The Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders went from out of the playoffs to in the playoffs.

Miami was 6-10 last year but improved to 10-6 this year, and in 2015, Oakland was 7-9 but went 12-4 in another dramatic turnaround in 2016. These two teams give hope to every AFC team that finished with a losing record.

Things were vastly different in the NFC, where four teams from last season failed to make the playoffs. The two repeat teams, Green Bay and Seattle, basically held serve from 2015 to 2016. The Packers went 10-6 both seasons, and the Seahawks went from 10-6 to 10-5-1.

Besides the Panthers, last year’s second seed in the …

Now that we are firmly into the New Year, it is time to take a look at the women’s college basketball teams in our state. Most but not all teams have started conference play.

Since women’s basketball in Mississippi has six Division I teams, that is where this update will begin. The Division II and other levels of college basketball will follow.

The Mississippi State University women’s basketball team is having a historic season. The Bulldogs have climbed all the way up to No. 4 in the nation in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls.

MSU is a perfect 15-0 overall and 1-0 in the Southeastern Conference this season and has met little resistance of opponents along the way such as when it overcame Iowa State University in an overtime victory. Mississippi State is the only SEC team left undefeated at this point in the season and is one of three undefeated teams left in the nation.

The Bulldogs started SEC play on Jan. 1 against Louisiana State University with a 74-48 win at home. MSU has finished the out of conference slate and plays conference games for the rest of the year. Next up for the Bulldogs is a road contest against the University of Arkansas.

The University of Mississippi sits at 12-2 after finishing its out-of-conference slate and 1-0 in SEC play. Both of UM’s losses happened during away games, which are the only ones this team has played.

The Rebels fell 64-57 to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and to former-No. 16 West Virginia University 66-61. UM has an 83-67 victory over former-No. 25 University of Oregon at home.

UM opened conference play against the University of Arkansas with a 73-64 win at home.

Road trips to the University of Alabama on Jan. 5 and MSU on Jan. 16 await the Rebels.

The University of Southern Mississippi has a solid 8-5 overall record and a 0-1 Conference USA record. USM has fallen to Tulane University, MSU, the University of California, Berkeley, and Northern Kentucky University. The Golden Eagles played California and Northern Kentucky games at a neutral location.

Southern Miss stumbled at the end of the out-of-conference slate when it lost three of its last four games. The Golden Eagles started C-USA play on Dec. 30 with a 72-61 loss on the road against Louisiana Tech University.

USM is on a two-game losing streak, as the team has lost four of its last five games. The Golden Eagles will try to break their losing streak on the road against the University Texas, San Antonio on Jan. 5.

Jackson State University began the season with a three-game winning streak before going on a three-game losing streak. The Tigers have won four of their last five games, which earned them a 7-4 overall record and 1-0 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.

JSU played its final out-of-conference game against Fisk …