Jackson Free Press

Don't trust everything you hear. Make sure "reliable sources" are actually reliable.

Anyone who keeps close tabs on the NFL knows that on Friday afternoons it's worth paying attention to press releases. The league has become masterful at dropping news late on Friday afternoons when most people have turned their attention to the weekend.

The University of Mississippi used a similar approach last Friday. Before the holiday weekend, UM released its response to a NCAA notice of allegations, using Memorial Day weekend and the dumpster fire that is Baylor University football as cover to quietly put out its report. In that 154-page response, the university self-imposed 11 total scholarships in football over the next four years.

The school also asked for a delay on a scheduled hearing with the Committee on Infractions until it could fully investigate the Laremy Tunsil draft-night fallout. UM is scheduled to meet with the COI this summer.

Of the 13 allegations the NCAA has leveled against the school, nine came under the watch of current head coach Hugh Freeze. Four of those allegations are Level I violations (the most severe), two are Level II violations and three are Level III violations.

On Monday, Freeze began damage control as he defended his program. Freeze said he takes full responsibility for the violations and then said the violations were more about mistakes made than an effort to cheat.

The head coach zealously denied that he or anyone on his staff had knowingly violated rules. In an ESPN story, Freeze said, “There’s a big difference between making mistakes in recruiting and going out there with the intent to cheat."

Freeze knows, like any coach, that it is important to win the court of public opinion. He is also trying to repair his reputation. Freeze was quick to point out that several of the violations linked back to former coach Houston Nutt.

UM is hoping that suspending a couple of assistant coaches from recruiting for a month, the loss on scholarships and disassociation with boosters will keep the NCAA at bay. The organization could take all of the Rebels self-imposed punishments and call it a day.

It is highly unlikely that the NCAA won't add to the Rebels punishment. Also, it seems like Freeze and the university aren’t “owning” their violations by trying to point out Nutt's complicity at every chance.

Freeze and the Rebels still have to deal with the Tunsil draft-night fiasco, and the NCAA could reopen its investigation. This is not a simple as Freeze is trying to pin the worst parts on past coaching staff.

There have been rumblings about how Freeze and his coaches recruited since his highly regarded draft class of 2013. Freeze tried then to play off those rumblings as ranting from haters.

Now, it seems the haters were right, and Freeze is trying to hand at deflection. If even more comes out after the Tunsil draft night, it might be time for a coaching change in Oxford.

The NCAA would be wise to listen …

Since the passing of House Bill 2 in North Carolina, several boycotts and event cancellations have hit the state. The latest blow was a major sporting-event cancellation on Thursday, July 21, as the NBA decided to move its 2017 All-Star Game away from Charlotte, N.C.

According to multiple reports, New Orleans is the frontrunner to take the Charlotte Hornets’ spot. The league said in a statement on Thursday that it hopes to reschedule in Charlotte for the 2019 All-Star Game. Los Angeles is already scheduled to host the event in 2018.

"Since March, when North Carolina enacted HB2 and the issue of legal protections for the LGBT community in Charlotte became prominent, the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets have been working diligently to foster constructive dialogue and try to effect positive change,” the statement read. “We have been guided in these discussions by the long-standing core values of our league. These include not only diversity, inclusion, fairness and respect for others, but also the willingness to listen and consider opposing points of view.

"Our weeklong schedule of All-Star events and activities is intended to be a global celebration of basketball, our league and the values for which we stand, and to bring together all members of the NBA community—current and former players, league and team officials, business partners and fans. While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2.”

Now that the NBA has moved its event, will other sports follow? The impact of the NBA move could have a domino effect with other sports moving or cancelling events.

Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford said his organization, which holds its football championship in Charlotte, will revisit the issue in October.

NASCAR will hold a sprint cup race in Charlotte in May 2017, and the PGA Championship is scheduled to take place there in August of next year. The professional golf organization released a statement on the status of its tournament venue earlier today, July 22.

"Since the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte is a private facility not subject to all of the provisions of HB2, at the 2017 PGA Championship, we plan to allow spectators to use the restroom that conforms with their gender identity or gender expression,” the statement read. “As we look to future events, our willingness to consider coming back to the State of North Carolina will be severely impacted unless HB2 is overturned."

The NCAA is now sending out questionnaires to potential host cities to ask how they would protect athletes and fans from discrimination. Cities must identify any local anti-discrimination laws in the questionnaires. The NCAA will then review the information to determine if these locations can remain hosts for events.

The questionnaires might not bode well for Greensboro, N.C., or Charlotte, which are already scheduled …