Jackson Free Press

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Since starting at the Jackson Free Press in May, I have been involved in producing 15 issues. For some of them I didn't do a lot, but others I can flip through and see the work I put in on most of the pages inside. It's very cool having a physical product for our efforts each week and see people carrying it around, but it's even better to be proud of what we're doing—not just printing words and images into a paper, but being a force that strives to make Jackson a better place.

And now, we're upping those efforts on the Internet with our new website, including these fancy blogs for staff members and anyone who wants to create one.

So what's my story? I was born in Utah to Oregonian parents, moved to Mississippi for high school and decided to stick around for college—I went to Millsaps and loved it. Then I went to graduate school in Boston and lived three blocks from Fenway Park for two years. Boston was big and wonderful and I loved so much of it, but it was difficult to feel connected to the community in a meaningful way. So when the time came to move back to Mississippi (this time, for my fiancé-now-husband's enrollment in medical school), I was actually excited.

I touched on a lot of the reasons why in my first editor's note, but when I went to the Sal & Mookie's/Parlor Market collaboration PM Pizza on Monday night, I was reminded all over again how great our city is becoming these days. To me, the event is a perfect example of why I'm glad to be back in Jackson. First of all, Liz Lancaster (who does marketing for Mangia Bene) is a great friend of mine and a fellow Millsaps alum, and I just love seeing young people (especially intelligent former Majors with open hearts and minds) become the movers and shakers in this town. Liz and everyone at both restaurants did an amazing job for the event.

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Second, the community. Walking over from the JFP office, I immediately found the table of my people, and throughout the night several more people or groups came in and came over for hugs and happy greetings. Everywhere I looked I saw people I either knew well or recognized. I love living in a capital city that still manages to create those moments.

There was also an influx of players from the local kickball league, which my table immediately wanted to know more about and get involved with. A friend who is moving out of the country for a year said multiple times how great Jackson is and how jealous she was that all of us could do events like PM Pizza and local kickball leagues. This person is moving to Paris, y'all, and she couldn't stop talking about how great Jackson is.

Third, the food. Ohhh, the food. I was there …

Mississippi State University (41-16-1) was one of the four SEC teams to earn one of the eight national seeds when the NCAA announced the field of 64 teams. This is the first time the team has been a national seed.

The Bulldogs are the No. 6 seed with fellow SEC teams, No. 1 seed the University of Florida (47-13), No. 4 seed Texas A&M University (41-16) and No. 8 seed Louisiana State University (42-18).

The four national seeds from the SEC are a record for the NCAA Baseball Tournament. But that’s not the only record the conference made when the field was announced.

A record seven SEC teams will host a regional. Along with the four national seeds, these SEC teams will host a regional: the University of Mississippi (43-17), Vanderbilt University (43-17) and University of South Carolina (42-15).

In the Starkville Regional with MSU is No. 2 seed California State University, Fullerton (35-21), No. 3 seed Louisiana Tech University (40-18) and No. 4 seed Southeast Missouri State University (39-19).

The Bulldogs will open regional play against Southeast Missouri State University at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, June 3, and the game will be on ESPN3. Cal State Fullerton and Louisiana Tech will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the second game.

The losing teams will meet at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, in an elimination game. The winners will face off at 6:30 p.m., and the winner of that game plays for the regional title on Sunday, June 5. All regionals are double elimination.

In the Oxford Regional, No. 2 seed Tulane University (39-19), No. 3 seed Boston College (31-20) and No. 4 seed University of Utah (25-27) will join the Rebels.

UM opens regional play at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 3, against Utah on ESPN3. The first game of the day is Tulane against Boston College.

While the Rebels and Bulldogs will host a regional, Conference USA Baseball Tournament winner, the University of Southern Mississippi, will not host a regional. The Golden Eagles instead were placed in the Tallahassee Regional.

Florida State University (37-20) is the No. 1 seed, USM (40-18) is the No. 2 seed, University of South Alabama (40-20) is the No. 3 seed, and Alabama State University (38-15) is the No. 4 seed.

USM will open regional play at 11 a.m. against South Alabama on Friday, May 3. FSU and Alabama State will play in the second game at 5 p.m., and both games will be on ESPN3.

If Mississippi State wins its regional, the team will play the winner of the Lafayette Regional. That regional has No. 1 seed University of Louisiana at Lafayette (41-19), No. 2 seed University of Arizona (38-20), No. 3 seed Sam Houston State University (41-20), and No. 4 seed Princeton University (24-19).

If the Rebels win the Oxford Regional, they will face the winner of the Coral Gables Regional. That regional features University …

Credit for the Dallas Cowboy’s eight-game winning streak seemed to be split between the offensive line and running back Ezekiel Elliott entering their game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Nov. 20. It isn’t like Dallas’ rookie quarterback, Dak Prescott, doesn’t get enough credit, but many seemed to think he was more of a game manager than a quarterback who can win games on his own.

The Ravens’ game plan was to force Prescott to try beating them with his arm.

That plan looked perfect early on, as Baltimore’s top-ranked rush defense bottled up Elliott for 26 yards on six carries in the first half. The Ravens even rattled Prescott, who started four for 10 on pass completions, gaining only 31 yards on the Cowboys’ first four drives.

Dallas punted on those drives, and everyone had to wonder if having Tony Romo as the backup quarterback was putting pressure on the young rookie. Then came first down and 30 yards for the Cowboys with under 10 minutes left in the second quarter and Baltimore leading 7-0.

Most of the time, a team facing first and 30 from its own 28 yard line would lead to a punt from the offense. But this is when Prescott began to take over and showed that he is a major reason for the Cowboys’ rebirth.

Prescott took off for 12 yards on first down, and on the next play, he ate up 12 more yards with a pass to wide receiver Dez Bryant, setting up a makeable third down and six yards.

Then, Prescott hit wide receiver Brice Butler on a 41-yard bomb to set up first and goal at the Baltimore seven yard line. The Cowboys scored three plays later when Prescott found Cole Beasley in the end zone to tie the game at 7-7.

Prescott shook off this rough start to end the game with 23 completions for 26 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. In the second half, he went 14 for 15 on passing, and Dallas began to take over the game.

The Cowboys salted away the game in the fourth quarter with a drive that lasted more than six minutes. Prescott went three for three on passing, but Elliot handled the bulk of the work. All the same, great play from the fourth-round draft pick at quarterback led the way for the Cowboys’ running game to take over in the fourth quarter.

Prescott made play after play throwing the ball in a game where the Ravens wanted to see if he would fail under the pressure. But Baltimore’s game plan blew up in its face when Prescott proved that he can make every throw needed to beat opponents.

It is likely that the rest of the teams on the Cowboys’ schedule will try to employ the same tactic down the road. Even though that seems like a sound strategy, the former Mississippi State University star has shown …

Two former college-football stars ended up dead just over a year apart. Both former players ended up hanging themselves in their jail cells.

Former University of Nebraska star running back Lawrence Phillips didn’t have the best childhood, as he grew up in group homes in his youth. Football was a way for Phillips to escape his past and build a future.

The running back might have been able to outrun defenders on the football field, but he couldn’t outrun his anger off the field. He dragged a former girlfriend down a couple of flights of stairs while playing for Nebraska.

Then-Cornhuskers head coach Tom Osborne kicked Phillips off the team for just six games before reinstating him, saying he needed the structure of football in his life. Phillips helped Nebraska win back-to-back national championships.

Life in the NFL was not as great for the former college star. The St. Louis Rams drafted him sixth overall but cut him due to him showing up drunk for work and his inability to stay out of trouble.

Phillips spent time with the Miami Dolphins, NFL Europe, the San Francisco 49ers and the Canadian Football League. The running back ended up being released at nearly every stop for fighting with coaches, getting into legal trouble or failing to do the necessary work to be successful at the pro level.

After football, Phillips stayed in trouble and ended up in jail after running over three teenagers with car and nearly choking his girlfriend to death. He was no longer a football star and on Jan. 13, 2016, the former star hung himself.

Flash-forward to today, April 19, when former University of Florida and New England Patriots star tight end Aaron Hernandez was found dead from hanging in his jail cell. Hernandez was a high school star at Bristol, Conn., before he committed to play at Florida.

While at Florida, the coaches were worried about the people Hernandez was spending time with off the field. The coaches even tried to keep him in Gainesville, Fla., when school was out for breaks.

Some of the issues Hernandez dealt with while in college was a fight at a Florida bar, a double-shooting and rumors of spending time with the wrong people. There were also rumors of failed drug tests while playing for the Gators.

Those issues ended up dropping Hernandez to the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. The New England Patriots gambled that the tight end would leave his past behind him and even rewarded him with a contract extension in 2012.

Hernandez didn’t leave his past behind and was still associated with the wrong people. He was convicted in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd and given a life sentence in 2015.

Last week the former NFL player was acquitted of double murder charges in Boston, Mass. He was still suspected of other crimes at the time of …