Jackson Free Press

Records, news, trades, playoffs and retirements have fueled the sports world for nearly the last 24 hours. It seems that if you look away for a single second, or go to bed before midnight like I did last night, you missed something happening in sports.

Things got started in the NHL as the playoffs got underway last night with three games. Tampa Bay outlasted Detroit 3-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Pittsburgh used a hat trick from Patric Hornqvist to beat the New York Rangers 5-2. Finally, the St. Louis Blues needed overtime to get past the Chicago Blackhawks in their 1-0 win.

The NHL Playoffs were nice, but the final night of the NBA regular season had a legend in his final game and a chase for a record. In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant played in his final game at home as a Laker. In Oakland, the Golden State Warriors went for win 73 to break the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins in the regular season.

In his final game, Kobe didn’t disappoint as he put on a show for the home fans. The Laker great went for 60 points in his final game.

Bryant became the oldest player to score 50 or more points in an NBA game. There is one catch to Kobe’s big night, though: It took him 50 shots to get 60 points.

He had 22 made shots out of 50 attempts, six made three-point shots off of 21 attempts and 10 of 12 free throws made on the night. Just two other Lakers attempted double-digit shots.

Sure, Kobe got 50, but he got there pretty ugly. But the only thing people will remember is that Bryant got 60 in his final game—not the way he got the points.

On a side note, the Staples Center, where the Lakers play their home games, along with the Clippers, sold $1.2 million worth of merchandise in one day. That breaks the record for most merchandise sold in a single day in any arena in the world. The previous record belonged to O2 Arena in London when Led Zeppelin sold $1 million worth of merchandise in their first full-length concert in 30 years.

While Kobe remembered that there wasn’t a shot he didn’t like in his NBA career, the Warriors were trying get their 73 wins. Golden State cruised to a 20-point lead at halftime over the Memphis Grizzlies, and Stephen Curry had hit 399 three-point shots at that point in the season.

Curry wasted no time getting his 400th three-point shot of the season shortly after halftime. He finished the regular season with an NBA record 402 three-point shots.

The Warriors' star also became the third player in NBA history to shoot more than 90 percent from the free throw line, 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from the three-point range. The only other …

This afternoon Gov. Phil Bryant signed SB 2161 into law. The bill amends the Mississippi Charter Schools Act of 2013 to allow students who live in C, D and F districts to cross district lines to enroll in charter schools.

Currently, the only two charter schools in the state are open in the city of Jackson. Jackson Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Sharolyn Miller said today at a public hearing on public education funding held by the Black Legislative Caucus in conjunction with House and Senate Democrats that charter schools billed JPS's local tax contributions $565,000 for the 221 JPS students enrolled this school year.

“The law requires that for every child who goes to a charter school who lives in Jackson, we have to send a certain amount of dollars to fund charter schools," she said at the hearing this morning.

Sierra Mannie is an education reporting fellow for the Jackson Free Press and the Hechinger Report. Email her at [email protected].

In just three weeks, the dreams of 253 college football stars will come true. They'll will be lucky enough to hear their name called during the 2016 NFL Draft.

The NFL released the names of the 25 prospects that will be in attendance at Roosevelt University’s Auditorium Theatre in Chicago for the draft April 28-30. Ohio State University ties the 2012 University of Alabama record for the college with the most invites, but plenty of prospects from our state will be there, as well.

Highlighting the list is University of Mississippi offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, who is projected to go in the top few picks. Tunsil could be the No. 1 overall pick if the Tennessee Titans don’t choose cornerback Jalen Ramsey out of Florida State University.

Tunsil has all the skill you want in a left tackle to protect your quarterback for the next decade in the league. He won’t last long, and,I believe he will be gone in the first five picks of the draft.

Rebels fans might not have to wait long to hear the next UM player off the board. Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell is expected to be off the board quickly. He might be picked as high as sixth by the Baltimore Ravens, but he shouldn’t last any longer than the 15th pick of the Los Angeles Rams.

Treadwell is considered to be one of the two top receiver picks. If he isn’t the first receiver off the board, it will more than likely be Will Fuller out of the University of Notre Dame.

While much has been made about his lack of speed, the fact that he doesn’t have sprinter speed didn’t stop Treadwell from coming back from a broken leg, which he suffered last year, to be one of the most productive receivers in the nation. He has a big body; he knows how to use it to shield defenders, and he has strong hands. He competes for the ball, and when it is in the air, he goes and gets it.

The final Rebel to get an invite is defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche. A ton of speculation surrounds Nkemdiche as he heads into the draft.

There are questions about off the field issues, disappearing at times during games, his conditioning and so forth. What is not in question, though, is when he plays at his peak, he is a top five pick.

Will a team take him on his potential over his production or will his red flags force him to slide down the draft board? It seems highly unlikely that Nkemdiche will slide out of the first round, but stranger things have happened in the draft.

One lone Bulldog out of Mississippi State University will be in attendance for the draft. Defensive tackle Chris Jones will represent MSU, and where he could land is a mystery.

Seven other defensive line prospects were invited to the draft besides Jones such as …

Organizers today cancelled the 37th Annual Mississippi Picnic in Central Park, saying it would not happen this year due to passage of House Bill 1523. The picnic was planned for Saturday, June 11, Noon to 5:00 pm in Central Park at 5th Avenue and 72nd Street. The theme of the 2016 picnic was to be “Nothing but the Blues,” as a tribute to B. B. King.

The New York Mississippi Society organizes the picnic, which has been a huge promotional and networking opportunity that draws together Mississippi natives living in New York City and tourism and other business officials who travel there for the picnic.

A woman who answered the phone at the number posted on the website promoting the picnic earlier today said that an update would be posted on the website soon.

Mississippi Development Authority spokesman Jeff Rent said today, via email, that the State and MDA were not consulted in advance of the decision, which came from the organizers based in New York. "The New York Mississippi Society has made the decision to cancel the Mississippi Picnic in Central Park. We are disappointed in not only their decision, but also their lack of discussion with Mississippi partners before cancelling the event," Rent wrote.

Two years ago, famed Oxford chef and restaurateur John Currence and Ole Miss students brought a pro-LGBT message to Central Park after Gov. Bryant signed the earlier, but less odious religious-freedom act.

A petition had urged New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and others to stop the picnic in Central park after the passage of House Bill 1523.

The website states:

Faster than a New York minute, we can tell you one thing, Mississippi should not be proud, nor does it deserve to celebrate their State in this park if they don't share New York’s values of diversity, inclusion and mutual respect.

The official website for the picnic lists their mission as "To preserve the culture and heritage of the state of Mississippi." The "heritage" of Mississippi has no business being on full display in the cathedral of parks in New York City. Mississippi has routinely been on the wrong side of history and once again in 2016, the state passes legislation that puts members of the LGBTQ community at risk. At an event of this nature, Mississippi wants to claim the literary great in native son Tennessee Williams, a gay man, who if alive today could now be legally denied a meal in an Oxford restaurant because the owner didn't approve of his sexual orientation.

The front page of the website promoting the picnic changed dramatically in the last half hour, from the top image here to the bottom one:

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2016/apr/12/25355/

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2016/apr/12/25356/

UPDATE: The Copiah County Courier has a copy of a press statement from the picnic organizers posted. Here is is verbatim:

Annual New York - Mississippi Picnic Cancelled Event was scheduled for June 11 in Central Park

We, the founders …