Jackson Free Press

The day after the regular season ended, Monday, May 22, turned out to be a great day for Mississippi State University first baseman Brent Rooker. He is in the midst of one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of college baseball in our state.

Rooker became the first MSU player to be named SEC Player of the Year. He is leading the conference in batting average at .415, total bases with 179, hits with 85, RBI with 73, doubles with 28 and home runs with 20.

The Germantown, Tenn., native is second in the conference in stolen bases with 18 steals out of 23 attempts.

But it isn’t just the SEC that Rooker is leading or near the top with his statistics.

He is first in the nation in slugging percentage at .873, total bases and doubles, second in batting average, third in RBI, fourth in home runs and on-base percentage, and seventh in the nation in hits.

Rooker was named First Team All-SEC and is the second MSU first baseman to be named All-SEC in the last two seasons. Last season, Nathaniel Lowe earned First Team All-SEC at first base.

Short stop Ryan Gridley joins Rooker on the First Team All-SEC, and outfielder Jake Mangum landed on the Second Team All-SEC. Mangum landed on the All-Defensive team as well.

Rooker beat out a trio of players from the University of Southern Mississippi and one from Delta State University for the 2017 C Spire Ferriss Trophy. He is the sixth MSU player to win the award in the 14 years it has been handed out.

Every winner for the Bulldogs has come in back-to-back years. Thomas Berkery was the first MSU player to win the award in 2006, and Ed Easley won in 2007. Chris Stratton took home the trophy in 2012, and Hunter Renfroe won in 2013.

Rooker’s current teammate, Mangum, took home the award last season. The University of Mississippi has produced five winners, Southern Miss has two past winners, and Belhaven University has one winner.

Taylor Braley, Matt Wallner and Dylan Burdeaux of USM, and Zack Shannon of DSU of were the other 2017 Ferriss Trophy finalists. Rooker led the fan-voting with 1,728 votes, Burdeaux ended up second with 987 votes, Braley ended up third with 548, Shannon landed in fourth with 197 votes, and Wallner came in fifth with 57 votes.

I say all the time on the @jfpsports Twitter account that one of the biggest parts of sports is responding. If the other team scores can you respond with a score of your own or if your team scores can the defense respond with stop and so on. The New Orleans Saints got punched in the mouth (repeatedly) last week by the Washington Redskins. Washington dominated the New Orleans offensive and defensive line most of the game.

Favre watch is never over.

The former NFL quarterback has been in the news quite a bit this week. In an interview with Deion Sanders, Favre spent time discussing how he doesn't need his jersey retired in Green Bay to validate his career and that he played in 2010 for, wait for it, the money.

Now comes reports from Biloxi-Gulfport Sun Herald that Favre is expected to return to football as offensive coordinator of Oak Grove High School. Favre's agent Bus Cook confirmed the legendary quarterback is taking the job.

"He is taking a job out there," Cook told the Sun Herald. "He is going out there, and it will give him something to do."

Oak Grove coach Nev Barnes told the paper nothing is official but the two sides will talk on Monday to gauge how much the former three-time NFL MVP wants to be involved with the program. Favre is currently on vacation in Colorado.

Favre has worked out with the football team at Oak Grove for several years. His workouts at the high school have often sparked "Favre Watch" in recent summers.

Seventeen weeks of the regular season has reduced the NFL down to 12 teams. Only two of those 12 will play in the Super Bowl.

Wednesday after the MLB All-Star game is without a doubt the slowest sports day of the year. Nearly every professional and college sports event takes the day off the day after the midsummer classic.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any sports on TV today. But it does mean you will have to watch reruns, catch early games, media days or sports outside the country.

Of course, you can catch SEC Football Media Days on the SEC Network nearly all day long. Various networks such as ESPNU and the Longhorn Network have replays of college football.

If you are looking for live football, look no further than ESPN3 and north of the border. Canadian Football League action features the Ottawa Redbacks against the Toronto Argonauts.

FS1 has UFC Fight Night, McDonald vs. Linker starting at 6 p.m. The UFC just sold for $4 billion this week, and on a slow sports day, you can judge for yourself if it was worth the cost.

Of course if you can always watch ESPN’s coverage of the ESPY Awards.

The network began coverage at 4 p.m. with ESPY's Countdown and continues with ESPY's Roadblock and countdown at 6 p.m., which will lead you up to the start of the show at 7 p.m. on ABC.

WWE Superstar John Cena hosts this year’s ESPY Awards, so things could get interesting.

Will the crowd chant “Let’s Go Cena” and “Cena Sucks” just like at live WWE events? Is there a chance The Rock will show up and give the host a “Rock Bottom,” or if The Rock shows up, will the two trade verbal jabs?

Other WWE superstars might not be in attendance, with both WWE Raw and Smackdown broadcasting on the USA Network, which NBCUniversal owns, but other wrestling stars could show up, as the wrestling organization heads toward the draft on the new live Smackdown next Tuesday.

News of music star Prince’s death rocked the world yesterday, and rightfully so, as an icon of the industry is now gone. Earlier in the day, however, reports were already coming in that former WWE star Chyna, whose real name was Joan Marie Laurer, had died.

Sadly, her death is too often a side of pro wrestling and her sudden exit from the business is still a major part of speculation between fans. Laurer’s went from the top of the wrestling world to working in adult films to posting rambling YouTube videos about vitamins and being a vegan.

At one time, Laurer was one of the biggest stars in the WWE. Then known as the WWF before a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund forced the name change. She rose to fame during the “Monday Night Wars” between the WWE and now defunct WCW.

Laurer, from Rochester, N.Y., began her professional wrestling career after working as a model and bodybuilder. She started, as most wrestlers do, on the independent circuit before meeting wrestlers Paul Levesque, better known as Triple H, and Shawn Hickenbottom, better known as Shawn Michaels.

Both Levesque and Hickenbottom were members of a group of wrestlers known backstage as “The Kliq” with Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman.

Laurer’s trainer, “Killer Kowalski,” also introduced her to the son of WWE owner Vince McMahon. She chose to join the WWE over WCW and, according to Laurer, a chance to join the NWO, whose members included Nash and Hall.

When she joined the WWE, she was paired with Triple H and Michaels when the duo started their stable called D-generation X, but she mainly played the role of Triple H’s bodyguard. Laurer was also billed as the “Ninth Wonder of the World” because Andre the Giant was billed as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” She stayed with DX after Michaels left the company due to back problems.

During her time with DX, she and Triple H began to have a romantic relationship in their real lives outside the ring. This relationship would later be a factor in her decision to leave the company.

Laurer broke several barriers for women in professional wrestling. She often fought against male wrestlers, and she also scored victories over the likes of Chris Jericho, Triple H, Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle, all of whom went on to become world champions.

She became the first woman to compete in the “King of the Ring” Tournament and the “Royal Rumble.” She is also the only woman to win the Intercontinental Championship. Laurer and Triple H split on-screen in 1999, and a year later, the couple separated in real life, with Laurer claiming that he had cheated on her with Stephanie McMahon, Vince’s daughter, before the two officially broke things off.

Triple H went on to later marry Stephanie and has since become an executive in the WWE. Laurer left the WWE in 2001, though both …

Not a bad week for our college football teams. Overall, most of the state's college pulled off victories. The big winner last week was Mississippi State.

Some interesting things have come out of New Orleans over the past few days. Both the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees seem to be trying to position themselves for some possible post-draft fallout.

By now, nearly every Saints fan knows that Brees currently has a $30 million salary number cap for this upcoming season. This is also the final year of his current contract with New Orleans.

The next few stories are why this is so interesting.

When the Carolina Panthers suddenly rescinded their franchise tag on cornerback Josh Norman, making him an unrestricted free agent, it quickly became apparent that Washington and New Orleans were his top destination options.

Norman signed with Washington instead of New Orleans, but after Norman was off the market, ESPN reported that Brees was willing to rework his deal so the Saints could sign the star cornerback.

Neither side has said it had a contract deal in place after Norman signed with Washington. But could Brees have worked out a deal in a few short hours to give the Saints room to sign Norman?

Then, there was this: Just this week, Ian Rapoport said the Saints were looking to move up to the number-one pick before a trade was made between the Los Angeles Rams and the Tennessee Titans.

Brees said in an interview on “The Rich Eisen Show” that he doubts the Saints tried to make a move for the top pick. New Orleans General Manager Mickey Loomis also said the report was false during a recent press conference.

Rapoport, in the same story, reported that the Saints were also interested in possibly moving up from the 12th pick to inside the top 10 to draft former University of Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch.

If you don’t remember, the Saints spent a third-round draft choice on Garrett Grayson last year. Grayson just rode the pine after the preseason, mainly as the Saints’ third-string quarterback.

The theory that New Orleans might want to draft a quarterback in the first round raises some questions.

Would the Saints want to sign Brees to a contract of three or fewer years if they draft a quarterback in the first round?

Will the Saints let Brees play out this season and then move on from the future Hall of Fame signal caller?

Will New Orleans rework Brees’ deal so they can trade him once his salary is more trade-friendly?

Even if the Saints rework Brees’ deal and draft a quarterback, is the club saying the Super Bowl window is closed with Brees?

Do the Saints want to rework Brees’ deal and make a couple of final runs at a Super Bowl?

Is this all really a pre-draft smokescreen that the Saints are using to work a better deal with Brees?

Let’s take a look at each question.

If the Saints take a quarterback in the first round, they …

This is the final guide to the bowl games that aren’t in the College Football Playoff or New Year’s Six games. These bowl games will mainly feature teams from Power Five conferences, but a few Group of Five teams are sprinkled in the mix.

This guide will take you from Thursday, Dec. 29, to Monday, Jan. 2. You can plan your New Year’s celebrations around the games you most want to see.

The Birmingham Bowl kicks off the games on Dec. 29 with the University of South Florida against the University of South Carolina. This game is a matchup between a Group of Five team and a Power Five team at 1 p.m. on ESPN.

South Carolina is rebuilding under first-year coach Will Muschamp, but the team still managed to reach a bowl game. South Florida won a school-record 10 games, but head coach Willie Taggart jumped ship to take over at the University of Oregon.

Both schools could be even better next season, and this game could set the tone for 2017. It would be a slight upset for a 6-6 SEC team to win against a 10-2 team from the AAC.

If you’re out getting after-Christmas sales and miss the Birmingham Bowl, make sure to be home in time to catch the Belk Bowl at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 on ESPN. This game will feature the University of Arkansas from the SEC against Virginia Tech out of the ACC.

The Razorbacks started the season 5-2 before stumbling to a 7-5 finish. Virginia Tech comes in this game at 9-4 after the Hokies gave Clemson University a scare in the ACC title game. Arkansas features the most sacked quarterback in the SEC, Austin Allen, who was put down 28 times. The Hokies hired Justin Fuente away from the University of Memphis, and he has done a fine job replacing coaching legend Frank Beamer.

The Dec. 29 games end with an 8 p.m. kickoff on ESPN for the Alamo Bowl in a top-15 matchup between No. 12 Oklahoma State University and No. 10 University of Colorado.

Colorado should be motivated coming into this game. The Buffaloes haven’t been to a bowl game since 2007, and the team hasn’t won a bowl game since 2004.

Oklahoma State enters this game with a chance to get to 10 wins. Colorado already has 10 on the season and played in the Pac-12 championship game.

This game will probably have a ton of points. Defense will be optional, and both teams have solid quarterbacks. Plan to stay up late, as with all the potential scoring, the game could run long.

If you are going to watch all the Dec. 30 college football games, be sure to have plenty of snacks and drinks on hand. The day starts with an 11 a.m. kickoff of the Liberty Bowl between the University of Georgia and Texas Christian University on ESPN.

In the preseason this game would …

Time once again for your Thursday, College football look back and look forward. [New to the JFP print edition is a look back at last week’s action][1], so this week will be more of a detailed look forward. There are several prospects for our weekly big winner. Mississippi State is 4-0 for the first time since 1999, Ole Miss is 3-1 and beating teams they should beat on their schedule, and Millsaps is a perfect 3-0 coming off a bye week.

Seven matches to predict are left on the card , and each one could be considered a main-event level match. If you missed the predictions for the three kickoff-show matches, and the three matches I would start WrestleMania 33 with, you can read all about them here.

“SmackDown” Commissioner Shane McMahon settles his beef with the “Phenomenal One,” A.J. Styles. If you haven’t seen Styles wrestle, go to YouTube and watch some of his matches. He really is phenomenal.

Even though McMahon has worked just two matches since returning to his father’s company, this match will be watchable because of Styles. You could give him a broken mop, and he somehow could get a four-star match out it.

The confusing part of this match is the lack of a gimmick. McMahon is normally in a cage match, no-holds barred one or a street fight-type one—any type of match with something for him to try to kill himself, like jumping off Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania 32.

Really, Shane McMahon has a death wish. He has done some insane things you can find all over the Internet. Be sure to check out the concussion he got in a match with Kurt Angle.

Styles even brought up the fact this match has no gimmick at the go-home show for “SmackDown Live.” If it is going to be a wrestling match, he will dominate the whole way. But the fact Styles mentioned the lack of a cage or weapons makes me wonder if a late stipulation will be added to this match.

The match should finish with Styles getting the win but start the tease of a McMahon heel turn. Shane is the only beloved McMahon. So Styles slowly pushing McMahon to perform heel actions as a way to get back at him will be great TV.

Former best friends clash when U.S. Championship holder Chris Jericho battles Kevin Owens. This could be the best match on the card, but it won’t go on last because it isn’t a world-title match and will be needed to pick up the middle of the show.

Jericho is doing some of his best work at the age of 46 and shows no signs of stopping. He can still pull out the moves he did back in WCW and is able to put on top matches with younger guys.

Even at this stage in his career, the crowd still loves Y2J. Here is a list of things Jericho has recently gotten over (getting over means the fans cheer or boo depending on what is trying to be accomplished) with the fans: scarves, a potted plant, saying, “stupid idiot,” telling people they are going to get (insanely long pause) it, a clipboard, a pen, the list of Jericho and the festival of friendship.

If you haven’t enjoyed the gift of Jericho, go to YouTube and drink it in, man.

There isn’t anything Jericho can’t turn to …

The oldest and largest youth football organization Pop Warner has decided to limit contact during practices. In an effort to make youth football safer the organization will only allow contact drills to one-third of practice time.

The first month of the NFL season is in the books and it has been a strange four weeks so far. At the quarter turn mark several of last year's playoff teams have started slowly or darn right awful. It is widely know that each year, nearly half the playoff teams from the year before fail to make the playoffs. Here is a quick look at last year's playoff teams.

The 2017 SWAC Baseball Tournament kicks off Wednesday, May 17, in New Orleans at the MLB Urban Youth Academy for the third straight year. Jackson State University is the No. 1 seed out of the East Division, and Alcorn State University is the No. 4 seed from the East.

Jackson State and Alcorn State are in opposite brackets of the double-elimination tournament. Grambling State University is the No. 1 seed out of the West Division and opens the tournament against Alcorn. GSU is opposite from JSU in the bracket.

Mississippi Valley State University failed to make the tournament, as it finished fifth in the East Division, and only the top four teams from both divisions make it in. The University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff failed to make the tournament out of the West.

JSU opens the games on Wednesday against No. 4 seed out of the West, Southern University, at 3 p.m. The Tigers own the best record in the SWAC at 36-15-1 overall and 20-4 in conference play.

Jackson State surprisingly didn’t win any individual postseason SWAC awards but did place four players on the First Team All-SWAC and one player on the Second Team All-SWAC. As a team, the Tigers have the best batting average at .322 and ERA at 3.46 in the conference.

First Team All-SWAC third baseman Jesus Santana is tied for first in the conference in home runs with nine and RBI with 62. He is fifth in the conference in doubles with 15 and total bases with 99.

Outfielder Lamar Briggs, who is second in the league in batting average with .379, first in the SWAC in hits with 77 and tied for first in doubles with 17, joins Santana on the first team. He is fourth in the conference in runs with 46, RBI with 45 and total bases with 102.

Bryce Brown joins Briggs as first-team outfielder and is third in the SWAC in batting average with a .368. Starting pitcher Miguel Yrigoyen is the final Tiger to make the first team All-SWAC. He is 9-2 in 12 appearances this season with a 2.93 ERA and 62 strikeouts.

Outfielder C.J. Newsome is the lone JSU player on the second-team All-SWAC. He is eighth in the conference in batting average with a .342 average, second in triples with 5 and third in stolen bases with 23.

Southern placed one player on the second-team All-SWAC in designated hitter John Pope. The Jaguars enter the tournament with a 16-25 overall record and 10-14 conference record. SU is seventh in the SWAC in team batting average at .253 and third in team ERA at 5.72.

JSU will face either the No. 2 seed out of the West, Texas Southern University, or the No. 3 seed out of the East, Alabama A&M University, on the second day. The games on day two start at 9 a.m. with the loser of the