Jackson Free Press

One of the biggest sporting events of the year returns next week. Central Mississippi will host the PGA Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson.

Tournament week begins on Monday, Oct. 24, but the general public won’t be allowed on the grounds until Wednesday, Oct. 26, which is the Allen Exploration Pro-AM.

This year’s Pro-Am features two former professional athletes. Former football player Herschel Walker and baseball player Paul Maholm will play when the Pro-Am tees off at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

Walker played college football at the University of Georgia, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1982 and was a three-time All-American. The Dallas Cowboys drafted him in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL Draft, shortly before the USFL folded that same year.

He played for Dallas until 1989, when the Cowboys traded him to the Minnesota Vikings. The trade was the start of the Cowboys’ 1990s Super Bowl runs as the Vikings struggled.

Walker played in the NFL until he retired at the end of the 1997 season. While still active in the NFL, the star running back competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics.

Since retiring, he took on two Mixed Martial Arts fights and won both. At age 54, Walker is still in fantastic shape.

Maholm, a Holly Springs native who won an amateur golf tournament when he was 14, was a three-time letterman at Mississippi State University and an All-American in 2003. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him that year with the eighth overall pick.

The star pitcher spent time with the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers before his career ended in 2015.

On Thursday, Oct. 27, the Sanderson Farms Championship begins when gates open at 7 a.m., and first tee at 7:40 a.m. The full field of 132 players won’t be announced until Friday, Oct. 21, but several players have already committed to the tournament.

Five former tournament winners will be in the field including 2015 winner Peter Malnati. The other four champions are Nick Taylor (2014 champion), Chris Kirk (2011 champion), D.J. Trahan (2006 champion) and Cameron Beckman (2001 champion).

Several notable names will be in the field, including two-time major winners Angel Cabrera and Retief Goosen. Cabrera won the 2007 U.S. Open and the 2009 Masters, and Goosen won the 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open. Other major winners in the field are Stewart Clink, the winner of the 2009 British Open, Lucas Glover, winner of the 2009 U.S. Open, and David Toms, winner of the 2001 PGA Championship.

Several notable names committed to playing are Boo Weekley, Ricky Barnes, Stuart Appleby and Ben Crane. Former University of Mississippi standout and Brandon, Miss. native Jonathan Randolph is also committed to playing.

Friday the tournament opens at 7 a.m. with morning tee times beginning at 7:40. The field will be cut down on Friday with the tournament resuming …

Verbatim Release from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality:

"(JACKSON, Miss.) – The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued a water contact advisory Monday for a segment of Terrapin Skin Creek in Rankin County. The advisory extends on the creek from just above Highway 80 in Brandon to where it crosses Highway 18 (see attached map).

MDEQ recommends that people avoid water contact such as swimming, wading, and fishing in that section of the creek. People should also avoid eating fish or anything else taken from these waters until further notice. MDEQ will monitor the water quality in the creek and will revise the advisory as needed.

The advisory is being issued due to a break in a small, four inch line from a commercial building that is discharging sewage into Terrapin Skin Creek. In addition, the creek is backflowing this water into the city’s main sewer line. The city is excavating this line to determine the extent of the problem and make repairs. MDEQ will remain in contact with city officials and adjust the advisory if necessary."

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2016/oct/17/27010/

Two current titans in hip-hop are headed for Jackson.

Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz are currently on tour in support of their collaborative album, "Collegrove," a portmanteau of the neighborhoods where the two rappers grew up, 2 Chainz's College Park near Atlanta and Lil Wayne's Holly Grove in New Orleans, La.

The tour stops in Jackson on Wednesday, Oct. 26, for a performance at the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Building at Jackson State University (1400 John R. Lynch St.). The concert coincides with JSU's homecoming weekend and also features a performance from Jackson-native rapper Silas, who garnered national media attention last year with his single, "Gullah Gullah Island."

Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m. General admission tickets are $65, and VIP tickets are $100. To purchase tickets, call 800-745-3000 or visit jsums.edu.

Next week the University of Southern Mississippi will host Marshall University for homecoming. But before the team can start to enjoy the festivities, it must first get past a showdown against Louisiana State University.

LSU is spending a good deal of time in the news this football season, and most of it is for what is not happening on the field. The Tigers have fired their head coach Les Miles, former Heisman candidate Leonard Fournette has spent most of the season injured, and LSU and the University of Florida have been fighting about a makeup date over a cancelled game.

Miles shouldn’t have been fired after a 2-2 start in the first four games. Where are the Tigers going to find a coach that will average 10 wins a year now? Former University of Mississippi coach Ed Orgeron is now the head Tiger and gets to make his case to keep the job after the season.

At this point, Fournette should shut himself down and get ready for the NFL draft. The running back has been injured for most of the last two seasons. He needs to heal up and show out at the combine. If he does play again this season, it will be just to show the folks at the next level his commitment and ability to get back on the field after injury.

Florida gave up a home game, and both schools have to buyout their Nov. 19 foes, but they will play. In the end, the Gators will need this game more than the Tigers if Tennessee loses to Alabama on Saturday and if UF can beat Georgia later.

Now, to LSU against USM.

This is an interesting match up.

Southern Miss is coming off a game where the University of Texas, San Antonio burned USM’s defense for 532 yards. The Golden Eagle defense wasn’t much of a “Nasty Bunch” as just plain nasty against the Roadrunners.

Much like the other loss this season against Troy University, USM started slow on offense, was sloppy on both sides of the ball and couldn’t cover or tackle on defense. When they go against LSU, the Golden Eagles can’t play the way they didn’t against Troy and UTSA and still have a chance to win.

USM scores 40.2 points per game, and LSU scores 25.2 points. On the flipside, the Golden Eagles’ defense is allowing 27 points per game, and the Tigers only allow 14.8 points.

The question is which team can reach its average. LSU struggles on offense and won’t have Fournette against USM.

Southern Miss can put up points, but can the Golden Eagles’ offense put up enough points on a very stout LSU defense? The Tigers struggle to score on offense and make it a struggle for foes to score on defense.

While LSU won’t have Fournette, it will have Derrius Guice at running back. This season, Guice has run for 402 …

Gov. Phil Bryant says Constitutional rights are at risk this presidential election, in an email sent from the Mississippi GOP. "The next President will fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s vacancy and will likely appoint three or four additional Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Putting liberals on the court could set back the conservative movement by decades," the email says.

"We know what kind of Supreme Court Justices Hillary Clinton would appoint if she were elected President," the email continues. "And she has not been bashful about it either when she’s said."

The email then lists the following three quotes from Clinton:

1) “The Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment [referring to the Supreme Court’s decision in Heller, which affirmed individual gun rights]. And I am going to make that case every chance I get.”

2) “The unborn person does not have constitutional rights.”

3) “Deep-seated religious beliefs have to be changed.”

For some fact-checks and context around those quotes, see below:

• 2nd Amendment, Thoughts on Heller Clinton does think Heller was decided wrongly, for specific reasons. One of her aides told Bloomberg that "Clinton believes Heller was wrongly decided in that cities and states should have the power to craft common sense laws to keep their residents safe, like safe storage laws to prevent toddlers from accessing guns." Clinton does not support abolishing the 2nd Amendment, however, and while she advocates for gun control like expanding background checks and banning the sale or use of military-style weapons, she is not advocating to repeal the 2nd Amendment.

• 'Unborn Person' Comments In an April interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" Clinton said that "the unborn person does not have constitutional rights," infuriating both anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights activists alike. Anti-abortion rights activists praised her rhetorical error as a recognition of a 'person' not yet born, while pro-abortion rights activists were equally upset because she neglected to use the word 'fetus.' In her policy plans, Clinton has vowed to repeal the Hyde amendment and support Planned Parenthood

• On Changing 'Deep-Seated Religious Beliefs' This quote needs some ellipses in it for starters, but for better context here's what Clinton actually said at the 2015 Women in the World Summit:

"Far too many women are still denied critical access to reproductive healthcare and safe childbirth. All the laws we've passed don't count for much if they're not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice, not just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will, and deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed. As I have said and as I believe, the advancement of the full participation of women and girls in every aspect of their societies is the great unfinished business of the 21st century."

The deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases Clinton referenced in this speech had everything to do with …

Jackson State University got off to a rough start at the beginning of the Tony Hughes era with three losses out of the gate.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas pounded the Tigers 63-13 in the season opener. UNLV had the game well in hand at the half with a 42-7 lead, and JSU got outscored 21-3 in the second half.

The team looked to have righted the ship in the first half against Tennessee State University with a 23-19 lead at the break. The second half was another matter, as TSU outscored the Tigers 21-0 and won 40-23.

Entering SWAC play, Grambling State University jumped out to a huge 28-0 lead in the third quarter. JSU added a touchdown in the third and another in the fourth, but GSU’s lead was too large to overcome in the end.

The first win of the season came in the fourth game against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. JSU jumped out to a 25-10 lead at halftime with a 71-yard interception helping the Tigers build it.

UAPB began a comeback in the second half, as the team scored 10 points in the third quarter and cut the JSU lead down to 25-20. The Tigers added a late third-quarter touchdown, sealing the 32-20 victory.

JSU looked to begin a winning streak against Mississippi Valley State University. The Tigers fell behind 7-0 early in the first quarter against an inspired Delta Devils team. JSU added a field goal late in the quarter, cutting the deficit to 7-3.

MVSU made another touchdown in the middle of the second quarter, building the lead to 14-3. JSU scored 13 points in a furious rally before halftime, taking a 16-14 lead.

Neither team could score in the second, so the Tigers notched the second season win. JSU, which is currently at 2-1 in the conference, owns first place in the SWAC East, with Alcorn State University in second at 2-2.

The team comes off a bye week and looks to win its third straight game for first time since 2013, when the Tigers won six straight. During the winning streak, the Grambling State game ended up being cancelled after the GSU players began boycotting athletic department conditions.

In the SWAC East, it looks like a two-horse race between JSU and ASU. Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University are both 1-4 in SWAC play, and MVSU is 0-4 in conference play.

If you throw out the UNLV game, JSU has been outscored 45-24 in the second half. In SWAC play, the Tigers have been outscored 69-62.

The second-half struggles cost JSU wins against Tennessee State and nearly allowed UAPB’s comeback. Finishing games in the second half might be the difference from reaching the SWAC Championship game or watching Alcorn State play in it again.

JSU hosts Southern University this weekend as it looks for win number three. The Jaguars …

Gov. Phil Bryant hosted former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (SC) and representatives from the Heritage Foundation at the Governor's Mansion on Tuesday night for a reception in Gov. Bryant's honor for receiving the prestigious Conservative Leadership Award, an honor he received for signing House Bill 1523 into law (even though it didn't actually become law) last month in Washington, DC.

“I am humbled to be recognized as a Conservative Leader by this outstanding organization. It's the greatest professional honor of my career," Bryant said in a press release from the Mississippi GOP. "Standing together, we can right America and make it that shining city on a hill once more. Mississippi has become a beacon to the rest of the nation.”

Demint is the president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, which has managed to influence many of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's policy platforms and U.S. Supreme Court nominee list. Demint left Congress back in 2012 to take his role as president of the foundation.

"I'm leaving the Senate now, but I'm not leaving the fight. I've decided to join The Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas," Demint said in a statement in 2012.

Part of that "fight in the conservative movement" came to Mississippi during the 2016 legislative session when the Mississippi Legislature passed House Bill 1523. Demint wrote an article (posted on the Daily Signal, the media arm of the Heritage Foundation) praising Gov. Bryant's "courage" back in April for signing the bill into law.

The conservative Heritage Foundation came to Jackson last night for a shindig at Gov. Phil Bryant's mansion a block from the Jackson Free Press.

Apparently, at least one conversation happened there between a Crystal Springs, Miss., man and the former U.S. senator from South Carolina who now heads Heritage, which plays footsy with Donald Trump.

Afterward, Ford Crews, who lists himself on his Facebook page as a web developer, posted public comments about what he told DeMint at the mansion under a public post by Charles C. Johnson, a conservative and sometimes controversial journalist and pundit. Johnson had posted a FiveThirtyEight graphic showing that the vast majority of the country would go for Trump if women didn't vote, following a national trend on Twitter today to #repealthe19th (giving women the right to vote). "This would be a better world," Johnson wrote at the top.

Crews agreed, writing below: "I was at a The Heritage Foundation event at the Mississippi governors mansion, and one of the things I talked about with Jim DeMint was how we need to work to get more men out to vote, and encourage women to stay home, because of how overwhelmingly one sided women's support of regressive ideas is. Sadly when women stay home, conservatives win, when they get pissed off and go vote, they not only vote for democrats, they take their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and try to push them to vote for democrats. This whole Trump tape dump was nothing more that a way to piss women of so they go vote against Trump."

Other commenters, male and female, unloaded on women's apparent stupidity underneath that post. "[W]ish I could disagree, but after seeing some of their comments—women who don't know the difference between men trash talking among themselves and actual rape are too stupid to vote," Jennifer Verner wrote.

James Flynn advised: "If she wins if a woman wants a favor. Tell them to ask Hillary."

Then this exchange. "Without the votes of women would FDR have been elected? All the suffering liberals have inflicted on this country can be traced back to women voting liberal," Scotty Collins offered.

"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been, Carter, Clinton and Obama sure wouldn't have been," Crews answered.

"Women are emotional creatures and most vote with their emotions and not logically," Nancy Bennett added.

Then Craig Kerr red-baited women, and slammed us for Prohibition. "First thing women voting gave us was Prohibition. Then they moved on to cultural Marxism," he said.

"I'm a woman and I totally agree. Women are destroying the west," Zita Norte added.

Susan Klassen agreed: "The majority of women vote based on emotion, not logic, and are grossly uninformed or misinformed. They look at govt as a charity. There are of course, exceptions. I am one of them. But before I educated myself via AM talk radio, starting with Rush, I thought I was a liberal. Studying the Bible at the same time gave …