Jackson Free Press

No disrespect to the other three NFL Playoff games in the Divisional Round, but the Green Bay Packers at the Dallas Cowboys is the marquee matchup. This will be the eighth playoff meeting in these two historic franchises.

The Cowboys have a 4-3 record against the Packers in the playoffs, but the bulk of those four wins came in the 1990s. Dallas defeated Green Bay three straight years (1993,1994,1995) in the playoffs when the Cowboys were in the midst of their last dynasty.

In the most recent playoff meeting, Green Bay won 26-21 at Lambeau Field over Dallas in 2014 in a game that featured controversy. Most football fans will remember the catch-no catch that Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant made.

The referees ruled it as a catch at first. Then, Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy challenged the ruling on the field. After a replay review, referee Gene Steratore ruled, “Bryant didn’t complete the entire process of the catch” and ruled the pass incomplete.

Another famous meeting between these two teams took place in the 1967 NFL Championship Game. This game is also known as the “Ice Bowl,” as the players battled dangerously low temperatures.

Green Bay won, just like the Packers did over the Cowboys in the 1966 game, and returned to the NFL-AFL World Championship Game, which is now known as Super Bowl II, but the name Super Bowl wasn’t used until the third game.

Green Bay and Dallas combined have made 13 Super Bowl appearances. The teams have combined to reach 20 NFC Championship games.

The two boast a wide number of legendary coaches and players. They are two of the most talked about franchises in the NFL even when they are suffering from a down season.

One could argue that no team is discussed more than the Dallas Cowboys. The men with the star of their helmet are expected to carry on the winning tradition every season.

And one could argue that no player is more discussed than the Dallas Cowboys quarterback. Playing that role leads to instant stardom for not only the starter but for the backups as well.

Playing quarterback for Green Bay comes with its own burden of following in the footsteps of Bart Starr and Brett Favre. Cowboy quarterbacks must live up to Don Meredith, Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers already has a Super Bowl win to carry on the tradition that Starr and Favre set. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott is trying to take the Cowboys to the Super Bowl as a rookie.

This game features well-established stars for Green Bay such as Rodgers, linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, and wide receivers Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson. Dallas also features well-known stars in Bryant, tight end Jason Witten and linebacker Sean Lee.

The Cowboys hopes will fall on two budding stars in Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott. Both rookies played a major …

UPDATED Jan. 14: After a national firestorm and a No. 1 trend on Twitter, Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said the Biloxi City Council on Tuesday, the day after the holiday, should change the city’s Code of Ordinances" to reflect the official federal name of the holiday, 'Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,' commonly known as 'Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.'”

“In my opinion,” Gilich said in a statement on the city's website, “that is the appropriate step to take, for the holiday to have the same name as the federal holiday.”

The statement also conflicts with what city workers put out in social media yesterday, blaming the State of Mississippi for making the city call King Day "Great American's Day."

"The name has since been traced back to a City Council on Dec. 23, 1985 to proclaim the third Monday of every January “to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as other great Americans who have made important contributions to the birth, growth and evolution of this country.”

Presumably, among the other "great Americans" is Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who the State of Mississippi also honors the same day.

Did the State of Mississippi Rename MLK Day 'Great Americans Day'? Short answer: Not that we can figure out. The City of Biloxi apparently did rename the holiday, however, with local ordinance 15-2-2 declaring the third Monday of January as "Great American's Day. No sign of a state law, yet, however.

Still, the City of Biloxi is claiming that the State of Mississippi made 'em do it on its Facebook page (see image below), even as social media is starting to blow up nationally criticizing Biloxi, and maybe the whole state, for quietly changing the name of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to "Great Americans Day." Considering that Biloxi is the home of Jefferson Davis' museum-home, run by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, this does not completely surprise. (SCV are major opponents of changing the Mississippi flag).

The City of Biloxi posted this Friday: "Non-emergency municipal offices in Biloxi will be closed on Monday in observance of Great Americans Day, a state-named holiday.""

When challenged under the post, the unnamed Biloxi employee double-downed that this name came down from above: "The City of Biloxi did not declare nor name this holiday. The holiday was declared and named by the state Legislature. The city, in fact, as it has done for years, touted our upcoming MLK celebration in a Bmail and on the city website this afternoon."

The problem is that, so far, we have not found evidence that the state Legislature officially changed the name of the holiday, and lawmakers we've reached say they have no idea about it, either. Rep. Jay Hughes, D-Oxford, said on the Facebook page of Lea Campbell of the Mississippi Rising Coalition that the "Great Americans" name applies to a different holiday altogether: "Great Americans Day is a combination of all presidents days, …

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves wrote the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions a letter this week, to put his support for Trump's Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos in writing. In his Jan. 10 letter, Reeves wrote to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that DeVos represents a change that "our students so desperately need."

"As Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi, I know the importance of ensuring that every student has access to a truly revolutionary education, regardless of the zipcode in which they live or the income level of their parents," Reeves writes. "Mrs. DeVos's continued commitment to ensuring that every student has access to a school that best serves their needs -regardless of the delivery model or the school governance structure-gives me utmost confidence in her nomination and subsequent position."

DeVos's confirmation hearing was pushed back and is now scheduled for next Tuesday, largely due to the fact that the Office of Government Ethics had not completed a review of "DeVos's financial holdings and potential conflicts of interest," the Washington Post reported.

DeVos, known for her work as the Republican Party Chairwoman in Michigan and for using her political and monetary influence to support the school-choice movement there, is a big advocate of voucher programs, charter schools and lobbying for those efforts, reporting from the Detroit Free Press over the years show.

One editor in Detroit writes in an op-ed that DeVos is not qualified for her role because she has very little practical education experience. Indeed, DeVos hold a bachelor's degree in business administration and political science from Calvin College and has worked as a businesswoman at the Windquest Group and a principle actor in how the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation spends its money. Her political experience is evident, and her involvement in Michigan's Republican Party and lobbying for school-choice reforms are well-documented.

"She is, in essence, a lobbyist — someone who has used her extraordinary wealth to influence the conversation about education reform, and to bend that conversation to her ideological convictions despite the dearth of evidence supporting them," Detroit Free Press editor Stephen Henderson writes. "For 20 years, the lobby her family bankrolls has propped up the billion-dollar charter school industry and insulated it from commonsense oversight, even as charter schools repeatedly failed to deliver on their promises to parents and children."

DeVos and her husband, a billionaire businessman, were influential in how Michigan's charter school law was written back in 1993, Chalkbeat reports, and continues to be involved with ed policy decisions there.

"When Michigan lawmakers this year were considering a measure that would have added oversight for charter schools in Detroit, members of the DeVos family poured $1.45 million into legislators’ campaign coffers — an average of $25,000 a day for seven weeks. Oversight was not included in the final legislation," a 2016 Chalkbeat report says.

Consequently, the majority of Michigan's charter schools are run by private companies, …

The following was sent to the Jackson Free Press in the form of a press release this morning, reprinted here verbatim: Virgi Lindsay to Run for Jackson City Council Ward 7

Expert in Neighborhood Revitalization Knows the Formula for Success

[Jackson, MS] Virgi Lindsay, a community leader and expert in neighborhood revitalization is running for Jackson City Council Ward 7. After filing her official statement of candidacy today, Ms. Lindsay remarked.

“I love Jackson and have spent decades working to make it safer, cleaner and a more vibrant place to live and work. Now I want to use this experience to help all the neighborhoods in Ward 7.”

Virgi has spent 15 years directing the Greater Belhaven Foundation, one of Jackson’s most successful improvement groups. She understands how the city operates. Under her leadership property values improved and new businesses brought more jobs to the city.

Virgi’s accomplishments led to Greater Belhaven’s designation as one of America’s Top Ten Neighborhoods in 2014. Experts in Mississippi neighborhood and downtown revitalization chose her as statewide Main Street Director of the Year in 2015.

Virgi Lindsay’s skillset extends beyond her successes in urban and community development.

Before managing the Greater Belhaven Foundation, Mrs. Lindsay was a reporter for the Clarion-Ledger. She later served as Public Relations Director for the Jackson Public Schools and Communications Director for the Mississippi Arts Commission. This combination of experiences make Virgi Lindsay uniquely qualified to represent Ward 7.

Mrs. Lindsay has identified four areas of focus. She considers them all critical and of equal importance in making Jackson better. They are: • Repair our streets, water lines and other infrastructure • Make Jackson safer • Restore leadership in Jackson Public Schools • Improve and protect housing for all

Mrs. Lindsay has begun an extensive series of meetings all across Ward 7. She explains her intentions “There are shared issues that unite Ward 7 –for example we all have concerns about streets, water, sewer and drainage. But I also have tremendous respect for the uniqueness of every neighborhood in Ward 7 and the people who call it home. I know that in every neighborhood there are champions who are working to protect and improve their community.

These are the dedicated residents who are willing to do the hard work to make things better. I already know some of these leaders, but I want to know them all, and work alongside them to make things better. I want to partner with our neighborhoods and use my experience in community development to help them succeed.”

Virgi Lindsay has lived in Ward 7 for 32 years. She and her husband Chuck have two grown children, Chaz and Mary- Michael. The family has attended St. Richards Catholic Church for 34 years. Virgi currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Jackson Zoo and New Stage Theatre.

A dark storm is brewing in and near Natchez, Miss., after the publisher of MissLou Magazine, The Natchez Sun and Natchez Sun XPress made shocking statements about young black people on Jan. 11, 2017, apparently in jest.

Peter Rinaldi wrote in a MissLou Magazine column titled, "Bang, Bang, You're Dead": "Natchez has become increasingly dangerous in the last eight years. As the population becomes more demographically poor, uneducated, unskilled and dominantly African American, the number of shootings has gone through the roof."

Rinaldi then lists three shootings and two deaths since the year started. He then added: "This is not such a bad thing, as one cynic remarked. The more criminals who shoot each other and are 'taken out,' the safer it is for the rest of us, the logic goes. Three shootings, three bad guys eliminated. Fifty shootings, 50 bad guys eliminated."

Then, he turns to joking, it seems, saying that "we were glad to hear local officials have finally fashioned a new anti-violence plan, which will be advertised in print and on the airwaves shortly, with posters spread all over town." That plan, he wrote, is called the Natchez-Adams County Gangbangers' Rodeo, which will be held March 12 at 7 p.m. at Liberty Park (where Natchez's Klan rallies used to happen, but we'll get to that). It is open to those 13 and up.

Rinaldi then explains in detail how this "rodeo" will work: "Open to all gangbangers with a .45 or 9 mm handgun. Limited to 20 rounds per person. Entry fee $100. Must be paid in cash in advance. No checks." The participants will then get in a circle and start shooting each other when the referee fires the starter pistol. They all kill or maim each other, and the last one standing gets $10,000. Free hot dogs and beers will be served, as well as fireworks. DJ Mortem, he writes, will provide live rap music. (See images of his event description below.)

The Mississippi Rising Coalition on the Gulf Coast alerted me to the editorial. Lea Campbell of MRC sent me the following statement:

"This kind of blatantly racist and classist editorializing and commentary from the publisher of a magazine in the Natchez area is irresponsible and unacceptable. Widespread violence in a community is the symptom of underlying social problems like poverty, institutional and structural racism, underfunded and segregated educational systems, untreated mental illness among many, many others. Mr. Rinaldi fails to express an understanding of these factors and scapegoats the issue of increasing violence in a way that will only act to fuel further racial and class division in the community instead of bringing the various community members together to work on effective, sustainable solutions. Shame on him for using his power and platform in such a reckless, dehumanizing and negligent way."

She also sent this statement from an MRC member whose parents reside in Natchez: "There are a million reasons that these shootings are occurring, and not a single one of them is …

The world’s biggest sport is expanding its biggest event. In 2026, the World Cup will move from 32 teams to 48. While some might cry that expansion will ruin the tournament, it could, in reality, be a great move.

Here are how the current 32 teams are chosen: Europe gets 13, Africa gets five, South America and Asia get 4.5, North and Central America, and the Caribbean gets 3.5, the host gets an automatic bid, and Oceania gets a .5 bid.

Playoffs between other conferences decide those half bids.That means South America could get five teams instead of four if it wins a playoff for an extra team.

More bids means more teams from other places besides just Europe. Africa is a huge continent but only gets five teams into the World Cup. The African nations deserve more bids, and so do the Asian countries, North and Central America, and the Caribbean.

Europe is where some of the best national soccer teams in the world are located, but so is South America. Adding a team or two from South America could enhance the tournament.

It seems stupid to slam the idea of expansion until seeing how the 16 added teams are distributed across the confederations. If Africa gets four or five, Oceania gets one, North and Central America get two or three, South America gets three or four, Asia gets two or three, and Europe gets four to one, that would be a nice mix.

The main thing is not to give Europe a bunch more teams. The other confederations should get the bulk of the new bids, and Europe gets the leftovers, if there are any.

There are other details to be worked out since the group stage would go from four to three teams per group. The top two from each would advance to the knockout stage of 32.

One major problem would be stopping teams from colluding with each other to fix the outcomes of which ones advance. There are a couple of ways to fix this problem.

FIFA floated the idea of having penalty shootouts for group games that end in a draw. Personally, I think this is a great idea.

The NHL does something similar in the regular season when games are tied at regulation and have played a five-minute overtime. If a NHL game is tied after regulation, the game goes to a shootout. The team that wins the shootout gets two points, and the losing team gets one point.

Teams that win the shootout could earn three points, and reaching it would earn a team one point. Teams that lose in regulation would get no points, of course.

Adding a shootout is good because overtime in group-stage games could add too much extra wear on players’ legs. Going straight to a shootout saves players if they are level after 90 minutes of play.

A shootout would change …

The need for a new defensive coordinator is becoming an offseason tradition at Mississippi State University. MSU recently tapped Todd Graham as its fourth defensive coordinator in as many years.

Since Dan Mullen has been the Bulldogs head coach, defensive coordinator is one coaching position that has become a revolving door. This is his seventh defensive coordinator as he enters his ninth year with the school.

In his first season, Mullen hired Carl Torbush as the defensive coordinator. Torbush left after one season to become defensive coordinator at the University of Kansas.

Manny Diaz began his first stop in Starkville in 2010, replacing Torbush. Diaz left after the season to become defensive coordinator at the University of Texas in Austin.

Diaz’s departure brought Geoff Collins to the defensive coordinator position. Collins ended up being the longest-tenured defensive coordinator under Mullen, as he stayed for four seasons.

Collins left Starkville after the 2014 season to become defensive coordinator at the University of Florida. He was recently named head coach at the University of Temple after spending the 2015 and 2016 seasons with the Gators.

Chris Wilson was co-defensive coordinator under both Diaz and Collins and left after the 2013 season. He is currently the defensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Diaz returned to the Bulldogs after Collins departed to begin his second tenure as defensive coordinator. Once again, Diaz left the job after just one season to become defensive coordinator at the University of Miami in Florida.

Mullen brought in Peter Sirmon for the 2016 season as the third defensive coordinator in the last three years. Sirmon is now on the move to the University of Louisville and will replace new MSU defensive coordinator Graham at that position.

MSU and Louisville are essentially trading defensive coordinators from the 2016 season. Graham spent the last three seasons with the Cardinals, and his defenses each season ranked in the top 20 nationally. His 2014 defense led the nation with 26 interceptions. He spent 2010 to 2013 as the defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia.

Last season under Sirmon, the MSU defense ended up 110th nationally in total defense and 93rd in scoring defense. The 2016 Bulldogs defense gave up 31.8 points per game, and the Cardinals only gave up 23.3 points per game and finished ninth in the nation in total defense.

Several of Mullen’s defensive coordinators have left for what they considered better jobs. Mullen would do well to try to keep Graham in Starkville for a few seasons. It would help the Bulldogs to have some consistency at the defensive coordinator position and would help the players to not have to learn a whole new defensive scheme each season they are at MSU.