Jackson Free Press

After Chane announced earlier this month that he would no longer do Fondren's First Thursday, the event's future was up in the air. However, Fondren Renaissance Foundation recently announced that it will come back as Fondren After 5. Here is some information about the new FA5 directly from Fondren.org:

Rotating presenters • Ever Changing Activities • Always Family Friendly

Fondren After 5 – Always First Thursdays – is a neighborhood open house, presented by the merchants and restaurants of Fondren – with opportunities to enjoy good food from one of our nearly two dozen restaurants, bakeries, bars and coffee shops and shop with our unique mix of merchants, mixed in with street-side fun.

In April, Duling Avenue, presented by Hals & Mal’s, Babalu Tacos & Tapasa, Saltine Oyster Bar, Abita Brewing and New Belgium Brewing, is the focus of activity with “Duling Avenue Live.”

Future months include:

May – Fondren Reniassance’s Arts Eats & Beats June – Duling Avenue Live July – State Street Concert Series August – Duling Avenue Live September – Duling Avenue Live October – State Street Concert Series November – Jackson Indie Music Week December – Fondren Renaissance’s Fondren Unwrapped

Welcomed by Fondren Renaissance, whose mission is to empower others to build a better Fondren!

CORRECTION: The original version of this story said Fondren Renaissance Foundation has taken the reins of Fondren After 5. However, for each event, different organizations and businesses such as FRF, Hal & Mal's and Saltine Oyster Bar will be in charge of FA5. The Jackson Free Press apologizes for this error.

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Even if you don’t follow sports, you’ve probably heard of the 1980 Olympics’ “Miracle on Ice” at some point. A group of young American hockey players took down one of the best hockey teams in the world in the USSR.

What you might not know is that the game against the USSR wasn’t even for the gold medal. The U.S. team still had to play Finland to win the gold, but the game against the USSR is so steeped in lore most just believe it was for the gold.

That USSR team was cloaked in an aura of invincibility. It was a team that reached mythic status even as they still played the game. The country had already beaten many teams before the U.S. stepped on the ice against them.

Why is a game hockey at the end of March so important with no Winter Olympics in sight? If you think about it, the “Miracle on Ice” and the Final Four game that the Mississippi State University women’s basketball team will play on Friday, March 31, are similar.

MSU will face the University of Connecticut, which compares well to that USSR team. The Russians were considered the best in the world and so are the Huskies.

The USSR dominated their sport, even beating the NHL All-Stars 6-0 a year before the Olympics. Connecticut has won 111 straight games and is making its 10th straight Final Four, but the Bulldogs are making their first appearance.

In the 1980 Olympics, the USSR crushed most of the other teams in the tournament in the run-up before facing the Americans. The team had close games against Canada and Finland, but the Russians still won easily.

In the Final Four, UConn is normally in the midst of a blowout before halftime of nearly every game it has played. The closest game the Huskies have played is a 15-point victory over the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Huskies beat many teams that step on the court before the opening tip because UConn possesses the same aura and mystique that the USSR displayed. It is easy to see why since the Huskies have won the past four straight national championships and six of the last eight.

Going into the 1980 Olympics, the USSR had won four straight Olympics, the World Championship and the World Cup. People considered the Russians, like UConn today, nearly unbeatable.

Before the Olympics, the U.S. and the USSR played each other in a game where the Russians won 10-3, as the opposition starstuck the Americans. MSU might not have been starstruck, but they were beaten 98-38 in the Sweet Sixteen last year.

U.S. hockey coach Herb Brooks knew he had to break that aura and mystique the Russians held over his players. He began to compare great USSR player Boris Mikhailov to comedy legend Stan Laurel of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy.

MSU …

A season for the ages for the Mississippi State University women’s basketball team just keeps getting better and better. The program reached the Sweet Sixteen for the second year in a row, but these Bulldogs didn’t want to go home in the first game of the second weekend.

MSU’s task in the Sweet Sixteen was to find a way to slow down Kelsey Plum of the University of Washington, who happens to be the all-time leading scorer for women’s NCAA basketball and has set the single-season record for scoring.

The Huskies star ended up scoring 29 points, but on 10-of-25 shooting and 3-for-8 from the three-point line. MSU harassed Plum all game long with a suffocating defense that rarely gave the guard open looks at the basket.

Even with the stellar defense on Plum, Washington stayed in the game until the fourth quarter. That is when Bulldogs center Teaira McCowan put the team on her back and carried them.

In the first three quarters, McCowan scored six points before exploding for 20 points in the final quarter alone. No player was more dominant in the game than the Bulldogs center, who nabbed 12 rebounds and made a career-high six blocks.

Washington had no answer in the paint for McCowan, as she grabbed rebound after rebound and put missed shots back for easy buckets. A close game for three quarters saw the Bulldogs pull away in the 75-64 victory.

MSU used its depth to wear Huskies out, with 11 players getting into the game and seven playing double-digit minutes. Star guard Victoria Vivians came off the bench and scored 13 points, and rounds-one and -two leading scorer Blair Schaefer scored 10 points. Another impressive fact is that 10 of the 11 players who saw action scored at least two points.

The win propelled MSU to its first Elite Eight appearance in program history. But then Baylor University stood in the Bulldogs’ way of reach the Final Four, and the two teams put on a show on Sunday night.

During that game, each team seemed to battle back after the other made a run to either tie or take the lead. Just when it seemed like one team was about to put the other away, the game tightened up again.

It might not have been a masterpiece for every second, but it was two teams making big shot after big shot. The smallest Bulldog on the floor, Morgan William, ended up taking and making most of those big shots for MSU.

William entered the game after scoring 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting in the team’s other three games during the NCAA Tournament. She exploded for 41 points on 13-of-22 shooting, 6-of-8 from three, and 9-of-10 from the free throw line, with seven assists and zero turnovers.

William hit shots no matter which Bear tried to guard her, and even hit deep three-point shots when Baylor …

Football players could soon be safer from concussions and if so, they will have Mississippi State University to thank for that. Researchers at the Bagley School of Engineering are studying ways to reduce concussions.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control show that the U.S. has an estimated four million concussion each year. Football is one of the sports that has come under fire for concussions after recently retired players started showing signs of brain damage.

Several former players who have allowed scientists to study their brains have been shown to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Scientists are just now discovering the condition and can only make a diagnosis after death. Some of the players discovered to have CTE died of natural cause but other committed suicide to have their brains studied.

The researchers at MSU have turned to nature to look for answers to protect the human brain from concussions, studying the shock mitigation within the horns of big rams and woodpeckers’ beaks to learn how different materials react to shock mitigation.

These researchers have learned that most brain injuries don’t come from that big hit we all cringe at, but instead from the stress waves it causes. The composition of the beak and bone of a woodpecker allows it absorb shocks 10 times greater than those inflicted on football players. Similar, the spiral shape of a ram’s horns help provide an escape route of those dangerous shock waves.

Research has led the scientists at MSU to design a helmet out of advanced materials such as composite and titanium to make the outer shell and facemask, with the facemask lighter. The design shifts center of gravity away from the neck to the nose region while making the helmets stronger and more durable.

Another innovation is on the inside. Researchers have replaced the traditional foam in helmets with foam made out of microstructures similar to a rams’ horns. Tests have shown that the MSU helmet is three times more likely to prevent a concussion.

MSU just isn’t trying to make a better helmet to protect players. Researchers are working on a mouth guard that would record motions and help detect concussions.

The MSU team created a startup company named Rush Predictions Protective Systems and is working with another MSU startup company named Predictive Design Technologies. This research has led to 12 patents with a possibility for more on the way.

These scientists are hoping to use the new helmets during the Bulldogs’ spring training camp this year. MSU’s research could lead to fewer concussions, which could make the game safer for players and help reduce injuries.