Jackson Free Press

Sports are a great way to teach kids about life lessons such as winning and losing, hard work, dealing with adversity and more.

The First Tee Central of Mississippi is a way for kids to learn lessons using the program’s “Nine Core Values” of honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility and perseverance. Golf is a unique sport in that players are supposed to call penalties on themselves, fix the field of play, including replacing divots of grass that the club cuts out of the ground, follow a certain etiquette on the course, keep score and more.

The First Tee national program started in 1997 with a partnership between the LPGA, the PGA of America, the PGA Tour, the USGA and the Masters Tournament to get more kids playing golf by starting affordable junior golf programs.

With a need to grow the game and get kids interested in golf, those partners came up with The First Tee program. The organization blended learning the rules of the game with life lessons from its Nine Core Values.

In June 2008, The First Tee of The Pine Belt was established after a four-year quest to bring the national program to Mississippi. The journey of The First Tee of Central Mississippi started in June 2015. It became an official The First Tee program on March 30, 2017.

The First Tee of Central Mississippi held a press conference at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum on April 13, to make the formal announcement of First Tee becoming an official program in central Mississippi.

This program will serve Hinds, Rankin and Madison counties. Four golf courses, The Refuge Golf Course, LeFleur’s Bluff Golf Course, Grove Park Golf Course and Sonny Guy Municipal Golf Course are the first courses to join the program.

Now that the program is a part of The First Tee organization, the program is hitting the ground running. On June 1, a nine-week summer program is starting at the four golf courses, and www.thefirstteecentralmississippi.org will have information on signing up.

The First Tee of Central Mississippi is open to kids from ages 7 to 18. The program is going to partner up with physical-education teachers in the area to begin teaching kids about the game of golf and work with local afterschool programs such as the YMCA to help teach.

Lisa Hill, who is the program director, explained at the press conference that volunteers, equipment, donations and giving time are needed to help the program be successful. The First Tee of Central Mississippi is a nonprofit program.

For more information, visit the website, www.thefirsteecentralmississippi.org. The program is on Facebook (The First Tee of Central Mississippi), Instagram (@TheFirstTeeCentalMS), Snapchat (@TheFirstTeeMS) and Twitter (@TheFirstTeeCentralMS).

The Mississippi State women’s basketball team continues to rise up in the rankings. MSU made program history again, as the team is ranked No. 2 in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll.

The Bulldogs were No. 3 in the Associated Press Poll with the University of Maryland at No. 2 before the Terrapins fell 98-87 to Ohio State University on Feb. 20. The University of Connecticut is ranked No. 1 in both polls.

This is the 52nd week MSU has been in the polls and its 16th straight week in the top 10. The Bulldogs have been in the top five for the past 12 weeks.

The Huskies are on a 100-plus game-winning streak and the only undefeated team in the nation. MSU has the second-best overall record in the country at 27-1 and is the only team in the nation to have just one loss.

The University of South Carolina’s shocking 62-60 loss to the University of Missouri put the Bulldogs in first place in the SEC. MSU is certain to be one of the top two seeds when the conference tournament begins on March 3.

The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Sport Committee has also named the Bulldogs the No. 2 overall seed. MSU was fourth in the first two rankings, but other teams’ losses have allowed the Bulldogs to climb up in the final poll before the bracket is released on March 13.

MSU will try to secure the top seed for the SEC Tournament over its next two games. The Bulldogs can capture a share of the conference title with a win this Thursday, Feb. 23, at No. 22, at least in the AP Poll, the University of Kentucky.

The Bulldogs against the Wildcats will stream on SECN+ with the tipoff scheduled at 6 p.m. A win at Kentucky will mean MSU can win the regular season outright in the season finale.

The Bulldogs will host the University of Tennessee on Sunday, Feb. 26, with the possible regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament on the line. They will tipoff against the Volunteers at 4 p.m. ESPN2 will broadcast the game.

If MSU can win the SEC Tournament, it would be hard to see the team fall beyond one of the top three seeds.

By winning the tournament, MSU should stay at the No. 2 overall seed when the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament starts on March 17. The higher MSU can rise in the top four overall seeds, the easier it should be to get in the Final Four, in theory.

The JFP brought home awards this month.

The Association of Alternative Newsmedia has announced its award finalists for stories published in 2012.

Today, Sept. 3 is gearing up to be quite a day for the Jackson arts community. Fondren's First Thursday begins at 11 a.m., and other artist and businesses will have cool events tonight. Here's some of what to look for.

Power & Light Press Pop-up Shop at Thimblepress While this isn't in Fondren, it's still a pretty cool event. Kyle Durrie, who owns Power and Light Press in Silver City, N.M., combines her craft with pop culture and humor. From 5 to 8 p.m., she will be at Thimblepress (113 N. State St.). Deep South Pops will sell popsicles outside on the business' vintage truck, and other refreshments and drinks will be available. For more information, visit powerandlightpress.com or thimblepress.com, find the event on Facebook.

The Fourth Annual Cedars Juried Art Show Along with Jan and Lawrence Snow and Butler Snow, the Fondren Renaissance Foundation hosts the fourth annual The Cedars Juried Art Show. This year's guest juror is Myrna Colley-Lee. The 80 selected works represent 64 artists from 20 cities in Mississippi. Some of the Jackson artists include Jonathan Berry, Theresa Haygood, Elizabeth Robinson, Jasmine Cole and William Patterson. The event is from 5 to 8 p.m., at The Cedars in Fondren (4145 Old Canton Road). The exhibit will hang through Sept. 30. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. For more information, find the event on Facebook or visit fondren.org.

The Wonder Lab open house Fondren creative incubator The Wonder Lab has its open house tonight at Fondren's First Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. For more information, find The Wonder Lab (2906 N. State St., Suite B-8) on Facebook. To see a gallery of The Wonder Lab during its renovations, see the Jackson Free Press' gallery.

Fondren's First Thursday after party at Soul Wired Cafe After the fun on Fondren's First Thursday, Soul Wired Cafe in midtown (111 Millsaps Ave.) will have an after party beginning at 10 p.m. The event is $1. For more information, find the event on Facebook.

For more information on Fondren's First Thursday, find the event on Facebook or visit fft.city.

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The regular season is over for the SEC women’s basketball teams. This week the conference will hold its tournament in Greenville, SC., from March 1 to March 5.

Winning the tournament means getting the SEC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament. That automatic bid will be important for a team that is currently outside the projections to make the tournament.

In the latest ESPN Bracketology for the women’s tournament, eight SEC teams could end up in the field. Those eight need to make sure a surprise team doesn’t steal the automatic bid and possibly knock them out of the tournament.

Those teams are Mississippi State University, Texas A&M University, Auburn University, the University of Kentucky, the University of South Carolina, the University of Tennessee and the University of Missouri, which also happen to be the top eight teams in the conference standings.

None of the teams playing on the opening day of the tournament are from our state, so let’s skip to day two when 10th-seed University of Mississippi faces seventh-seed Louisiana State University.

The Rebels might make the tournament if they can reach the championship game, but at 17-12 overall and 6-10 in conference, they more than likely need to win the whole thing. UM is 10th in the conference and behind the University of Georgia, the eighth seed, and ninth-seed Auburn.

The latest Bracketology says Auburn is in the tournament, but the team faces Georgia, which is also 7-9 in SEC play. The Tigers are 17-13 overall and the Bulldogs of Georgia are 15-14. An opening-game lose for Auburn could knock the team out of the tournament and open the door for another one.

The Rebels enter the tournament after a 62-49 win over Texas A&M at the end of the regular season. UM is 4-6 in its last 10 games, which won’t look good to the committee. The team struggled in conference play after going 12-2 in the nonconference slate.

If the Rebels happen to get past LSU, they will have Mississippi State waiting for them in the quarterfinals on March 3. In two games against the Bulldogs, UM has lost by 11 points in the first meeting and 22 points in the second meeting.

But there is hope for the team.

MSU enters the tournament as the second seed but has lost two straight games heading into the postseason. That is not how you want to end the regular season and go into the conference tournament.

Teams want to be peaking at this time of year. Instead the MSU Bulldogs went from playing for the conference title to losing two straight games, ending up as the second seed.

MSU was considered one of the top four seeds overall in the NCAA tournament, but the two straight losses has dropped them to a two-seed in the latest Bracketology. The two …

The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum has announced the finalists for this year’s Howell and Gillom Trophies. Seven players received votes for the Gillom Trophy, which is awarded to the best women’s college-basketball player in Mississippi, and nine players received votes for the Howell Trophy, given to the state’s best men’s college-basketball player. The vote recipients were then narrowed to three finalists for each award.

Brittany Dinkins of the University of Southern Mississippi, Victoria Vivians of Mississippi State University and Morgan William of Mississippi State University are the finalists for the Gillom Trophy. Sebastian Saiz of the University of Mississippi, Devin Schmidt of Delta State University and Quinndary Weatherspoon of Mississippi State University are the three finalists for the Howell Trophy.

Vivians is trying to become the first player to win the Gillom Trophy three straight times. She passed 1,600 points for her career this season and is averaging 17.2 points per game with 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game.

Williams will try to dethrone her all-star teammate for the Gillom, as she is enjoying her best season at MSU. She is averaging 10.1 points, 5.4 assists, two rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, and has one of the best assists-to-turnover ratios in the SEC.

No one in the history of USM women’s basketball has played more games than Dinkins, who has appeared on the court 128 times. She is averaging 18.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 3.8 assists per game. She is fifth in the nation in steals and tops in Conference USA in that category.

Saiz will try to make it five Howell Trophy wins in a row for the Rebels. The native of Madrid, Spain, is the first player in school history to achieve 1,000 points, 900 rebounds and 100 blocks during a career. He is averaging 15.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, and has upped his free-throw shooting from 65 percent as a junior to 75 percent as a senior.

Schmidt is one of the best players in the history of Delta State and is 65 points away from becoming the all-time leading scoring in the Gulf South Conference. He is averaging 22.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Despite only being a sophomore, Weatherspoon is a finalist for a second consecutive year following his explosive freshman season in 2016. He was named SEC Player of the Week back in January as he is averaging 16.5 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Fans can vote for their choice for best men’s and women’s player in our state by visiting csopavoting.com and can place votes until 5 p.m., Saturday, March 4. The fan vote will make up 10 percent of the final count, with the media making up the other 90-percent. All the finalists will attend a banquet on Monday, March 6, at 11:30 a.m. at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum (1152 …

Super Bowl LI features a wide disparity between the two head coaches and starting quarterbacks in terms of experience. New England head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady are about to coach and play in their seventh Super Bowl together.

Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn and quarterback Matt Ryan are in their first Super Bowl together. If experience counts at all in the Super Bowl, Belichick and Brady are overflowing with it.

No coach and quarterback combo in the history of the NFL has reached seven Super Bowls together. Belichick and Brady are tied with Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw with the most Super Bowl wins with four.

Belichick is reaching his seventh Super Bowl and is 4-2 in his previous trips. He surpasses the great Don Shula, who made six trips to the big game but went 2-4.

Shula is still the NFL’s all-time winningest coach with 328 wins in 33 seasons as a head coach, but Belichick is currently fourth with 237 wins in 22 seasons as the top man. Belichick is still 91 wins behind Shula and will need at least nine more years of an equal number of wins just to have a chance to break Shula’s record.

Quinn on the other hand is in his second season as a head coach with a 19-13 overall record. If you do the math, that means Belichick has 218 more wins than the man he is coaching against in the Super Bowl.

There isn’t even another active coach with 200 wins in the NFL right now. The next closest active head coach is Andy Reid with the Kansas City Chiefs (173).

Other active head coaches who have won a Super Bowl are Mike McCarthy (Green Bay), Pete Carroll (Seattle), Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh), Sean Payton (New Orleans) and John Harbaugh (Baltimore), and none have even 125 wins.

Brady is tied with Joe Montana and Bradshaw for the most Super Bowl wins with four. Unlike Brady, Montana and Bradshaw were undefeated in Super Bowl starts.

Brett Favre and Peyton Manning have the most regular season wins by a quarterback with 186. Brady sits third with 183, but when you add playoff wins, the New England quarterback has the most with 207 wins.

Ryan has just 85 wins in the regular season and 88 in the postseason. It is amazing that Brady nearly has 100 more regular season wins than the quarterback who will oppose him.

Brady’s name is all over the NFL record book for passing. He is fourth in passing yards (61,582), fourth in passes completed (5,244), fourth in touchdown passes (456) and fifth in pass attempts (8,224).

Another amazing Brady stat: He has just 152 career interceptions. That is fewer interceptions than Peyton and Eli Manning, Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger.

Ryan has 114 career interceptions and came in the league eight years …

While most NCAA Division I softball conference tournaments around the country are getting started this week, Division II and Division III tournaments are already underway or have crowned their champions.

Belhaven University wasn’t able to reach the postseason as the Blazers continued their transition to Division III, but the Millsaps College Majors, who are also in Division III, made it all the way to the Southern Athletic Association title game.

The Majors won their first two SAA Softball Tournament games before falling 2-1 to Berry College. Millsaps then defeated Hendrix College 7-0 in its next game in the tournament and had to wait a week before playing in the conference title game due to rain. Ultimately, the Majors still couldn’t get past Berry and fell 4-2, which will end the season unless they earn an at-large bid to the Division III tournament.

In Division II, Delta State University failed to reach the Gulf South Conference Softball Tournament, but Mississippi College entered as the third seed. The Choctaws charged through the field and reached the title game, crushing the University of Alabama in Huntsville 18-5 to earn the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

This is Mississippi College’s first-ever GSC title in softball and the first GSC title for the college’s athletic program in general since the 1994-1995 men’s basketball team won a championship in the conference.

The Division I schools in our state will try to repeat the performance of Mississippi College when their tournaments start on Wednesday, May 10.

Alcorn State University is the No. 1 seed out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division and will play Southern University, the No. 4 seed out of the West Division at 6 p.m. In the second round, the Braves will face either the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which is the No. 2 seed out of the West, or the No. 3 seed from the East, Alabama A&M University.

In the other half of the SWAC bracket, Mississippi Valley State University is the No. 4 seed from the East and has to face the No. 1 seed from the West, Texas Southern University, at 3 p.m. The Delta Devils will then face either the No. 2 seed in the East, Alabama State University, or Prairie View A&M University, which is the No. 3 seed in the West, in the second round.

The SWAC Softball Tournament is a double-elimination tournament, with the top four teams from the East and West getting into the event. Jackson State University finished fifth in the East Division and will not participate in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the SEC Softball Tournament will be good news and bad news for Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi. The Bulldogs and Rebels clash in the first round at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, with the good news being that one of them is guaranteed to reach the second round.

Then comes the …

Update 1

R&B Fest Day 2 Update 1

When the Atlanta Braves owned the National League back in the early 1990s to mid-2000s, the team dominated with starting pitching. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and others helped the club win its division from 1991 to 2005.

The Braves set a MLB record after winning their division 14-straight times. Not even the great New York Yankees match that record.

Since that epic run of division titles came to an end, the Braves have reached the postseason three times but haven’t won a postseason series, and finished in first place just once. Last season, Atlanta finished in last place in the NL East.

There is plenty of hope for the team, and that hopes begins with its farm system. The Braves are stacked with talent working its way up to the majors.

Last season the Braves’ farm system showed why it could be the start of stocking Atlanta with talent for years to come. The Rome Braves, in Rome, Ga., won the 2016 South Atlantic League Championship at the Low-A level. At the Triple-A level, the Gwinnett Braves, in Gwinnett County, Ga., reached the championship series in the International League, and the Mississippi Braves of the Double-A level reached the championship series of the Southern League.

In 2016, the M-Braves finished 39-30 as the team earned a playoff spot. The M-Braves defeated Pensacola 3-1 in the semifinals. In the finals, the Jackson Generals defeated the club 3-1 and took the championship.

It is safe to say that this year’s club at Trustmark Park will feature plenty of talent. The 2017 M-Braves feature four of the top-10 prospects in the Atlanta farm system, Baseball America says.

Kolby Allard and Mike Soroka are the No. 3 prospect and No. 4 prospects in the Braves’ farm system. Both are 19-year-old pitchers selected in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft, and Allard left-handed.

Patrick Weigel is the No. 9 prospect who split time between Rome and the M-Braves last season. Weigel is 22 years old, and his 11 wins last season were second in the Braves’ minor-league system.

Max Fried is the No. 10 prospect in the Braves’ farm system. The 23-year-old spent last season in Rome. The Braves acquired him in a trade with San Diego in December 2014.

The M-Braves welcome 2016 High-A level Player of the Year in Keith Curcio and Pitcher of the Year Matt Withrow, respectively. Both players spent last season playing for the Carolina Mudcats in the Carolina League.

As the season begins, the M-Braves’ roster features 16 players taken in the first nine rounds of their respective drafts, and six former first-round draft picks. The roster includes eight players who spent last season in Rome, and 16 players who spent time in Pearl.

The M-Braves open the 2017 season with a five-game homestand beginning Thursday, April 6, against the Jacksonville …

Here's a great way to contribute to a great cause while also keeping shopping local in mind: today, Sept. 10, and tomorrow, Sept. 11, Thimblepress is teaming up with Tennessee business Little Things Studio and other small businesses around the country to aid Syrian refugees. If you shop Thimblepress online today and tomorrow, the store will donate all proceeds to World Relief, which is working with refugees who are fleeing from the violence in Syria. For more information, visit littlethingstudio.com or worldrelief.org.

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Jackon Mayor Yarber has been called out as one of the 'Tweet Elite' mayors in the United States, ranking 19 among 250 mayors for his use of Twitter.

It seems fitting that the final game of Mississippi State University’s 2016 football season came down to a special-teams play. One of the biggest question marks for this squad since the opening game was special teams.

MSU lost the first game of the season against the University of South Alabama due to a missed 28-yard field goal. There were other special-teams blunders along the way for the Bulldogs, so it made sense for the final play of the season to come down to a kick.

Late in the St. Petersburg Bowl on Monday, Dec. 26, the MSU Bulldogs, clinging to a 17-16 lead, watched Miami University from Ohio drive to their 20-yard line.

On third down and 20 yards, with 14 seconds left, the Miami RedHawks decided to try for a potential game-winning 37-yard field goal. It felt like the Bulldogs would end their season with the opposing team making a massive kick.

Instead, MSU defensive lineman Nelson Adams stuck his big paw into the air and blocked the field-goal attempt to seal the victory for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs ran out the final five seconds to finish off the game.

Adams’ block was the second in the game for the Bulldogs. MSU also blocked a Miami extra point after starting the game with a Christmas hangover.

Miami jumped out to a 3-0 lead on its first drive of the game and added to that lead with RedHawks quarterback Gus Ragland’s six-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. The RedHawks were up 9-0 after the initial blocked extra point, as the Bulldogs struggled to get going.

With 22 seconds left before halftime, MSU finally broke through with a touchdown on a two-yard run from quarterback Nick Fitzgerald to cut Miami’s lead to only two points at the break.

The RedHawks added to that lead with a third-quarter touchdown to go up 16-7 on the Bulldogs, but Mississippi State answered right back on its next drive to stay in the game as Fitzgerald made a 44-yard touchdown run. That touchdown cut the Miami lead to two points yet again late in the third quarter.

On the ensuing RedHawks drive, MSU corner Jamoral Graham picked off Ragland at the beginning of the fourth quarter, setting up Flowood, Miss.-native kicker Westin Graves to cap off a seven-play drive with a 36-yard field goal, taking the lead 17-16.

Graves’ field goal ended up being all the Bulldogs needed on offense to win the game. MSU’s defense played a solid game and kept the team in the running until the offense could get going.

The Bulldogs’ defense forced two turnovers, with senior linebacker Richie Brown forcing and recovering a fumble in the second quarter and Graham’s interception. The fumble helped to keep MSU alive, and the interception helped to win the game.

Fitzgerald struggled in passing, going 13 for 26 on throws for 136 …

Now that the college-football regular season has ended, conferences are beginning to honor players that stood out. Millsaps College, Delta State University, Mississippi College, Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi have released the names of players who received conference recognition.

In the Southeastern Conference, the Rebels and the Bulldogs were featured lightly. MSU wide receiver Fred Ross was named second-team All-SEC, and he is the only Bulldog to make the first or second team.

Rebels tight end Evan Engram made school history when he became the first player in school history to be named All-SEC four times. Engram earned first-team All-SEC in 2014 and 2016 and second-team All-SEC in 2013 and 2015.

Injured UM quarterback Chad Kelly earned second-team All-SEC. Kicker Gary Wunderlich joined him on the second-team. Kelly, Engram and Ross all were invited to play in the 2017 Senior Bowl, but Kelly won’t play due to his injury.

Twelve players from Southern Miss earned some type of All-Conference USA honors.

Offensive lineman Cameron Tom, defensive lineman Dylan Bradley and defensive back D’Nerius Antoine were named first-team All-CUSA. Running back Ito Smith and kicker Parker Shaunfield earned second-team All-CUSA honors.

CSUA named quarterback Nick Mullens, tight end Julian Allen and wide receiver Allenzae Staggers to honorable mention for offense. Defensive lineman Xavier Thigpen, linebacker Elijah Parker and punter Tyler Sarrazin earned defensive and special team honorable mentions.

Offensive lineman Ty Pollard earned C-USA first-team All-Freshman team.

Players from Delta State and MC earned recognition in the Gulf South Conference. Running back Chris Robinson of DSU and wide receiver Marcel Newsom of MC were named first-team GSC offense. Newsom earned first-team special team honors as a return specialist.

Statesmen offensive tackle George Roberts and linebacker Larry Tullo were named to the second-team All-GSU on offense and defense. Choctaws punter Matthew Turcotte earned second-team All-GSU honors on special teams.

Millsaps garnered several players on the Southern Athletic Association’s end-of-season honors. Offensive lineman Austin Harris, linebacker Hector Sandoval and defensive back Jared Bullock earned first-team All-SAA on offense and defense.

Wide receiver Rashad Sims was the only player the Majors placed on the second-team All-SAA squad. Running back Taz Watson, offensive lineman Bryan Pitman, defensive lineman Jacob Kendall, and defensive backs Benton Brown, Tyrone Howard and Chandler Loy received honorable mention All-SAA.

The SWAC and the American Southwest Conference still haven’t released the names of players who earned all-conference honors.

It wasn’t pretty at times, and it seemed insanely long, but the University of Southern Mississippi has back-to-back winning football seasons. The Golden Eagles went winless in 2012, hitting rock bottom after winning 12 games the year before.

USM lost 23 consecutive games before finally getting a 62-27 win over the University of Alabama at Birmingham to end the 2013 season. There was more progress in the 2014 season with three wins.

Finally, a breakthrough happened for USM in the 2015 season. The Golden Eagles had nine wins and went to a bowl game, but lost the final two games of the season.

In the offseason, Southern Miss lost head coach Todd Monken to the NFL. Monken left Hattiesburg to become the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. USM hired former assistant coach and then-head coach of Alcorn State University Jay Hopson.

There were high hopes entering this season, even with a new head coach, because of all the talent returning from the previous season.

Early on, it looked like USM would live up to those expectations with a 4-1 start to the season, including a win over the University of Kentucky out of the SEC. The University of Troy was the lone loss for the Golden Eagles in the first five games.

Southern Miss lost five of the next six games, suffering shocking defeats to the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of North Texas. All three of those teams finished with losing records after UTSA lost the New Mexico Bowl to the University of New Mexico.

The Golden Eagles needed to defeat Louisiana Tech University just to reach a bowl game, scoring a 39-24 win over the Bulldogs to play in the New Orleans Bowl.

In the bowl game, Southern Miss wide receiver Allenzae Staggers put on a show, making 11 catches for 230 yards and a touchdown to set a New Mexico Bowl record and school record for most receiving yards in a bowl game. USM quarterback Nick Mullens went 25 for 40 in passing, with 346 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and one lost fumble. Running back Ito Smith rushed for 138 yards on 26 carries with two touchdowns and one catch for six yards and a touchdown.

The trio of stars helped the Golden Eagles to a 28-21 win over the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, but USM’s defense did its part with six sacks, three quarterback hurries, nine tackles for a loss and one interception. However, ULL scored two touchdowns off of Mullens’ turnovers as a result of short fields.

Most of the night, Ragin’ Cajuns quarterback Anthony Jennings was under siege from the Golden Eagle defense. USM found ways to bottle up ULL’s star running back, Elijah McGuire, for parts of the game, even as he rushed for 99 yards on just 17 carries.

The New …

R&B Fest Day 1 Recap...

The True South Classic has battled rain every day of the tournament. Saturday was no exception with early morning showers holding up players from finishing the second round and starting the third round.

Players finished the second round late in the afternoon with 3-under being the cutline. There was not enough time Saturday to get the third round finished before the tournament was suspended for darkness.

When the tournament was stopped, Scott Stallings was in the lead at 18-under through ten holes. Three players, John Bohn, Billy Horschel and Heath Slocum, were tied for second at 14-under.

Bohn and Horschel were only through nine holes and Slocum had played 13 holes when play was suspended. William McGirt was in fifth play at 13-under after he was one of the few players to complete their full third round.

A group of eight players were tied for sixth place at 12-under. In that group is Brandon native Jonathan Randolph through 14 holes of his third round.

Defending champion Chris Kirk is still at 9-under through 11 holes in his third round. Kirk has some work to do at nine strokes back if he wants to repeat as tournament champion.

Play will begin Sunday at 7am with players completing their third round and the fourth round starting soon after. If the rain stays away the tournament should wrap up on Sunday but rain has slowed the tournament every day since it started on Thursday.

A new polling analysis published by examiner.com indicates something about Mississippi that has been in the works for a while: Based on recent elections, our state is trending blue.

Based on polling data on a Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump showdown in 2016, Mississippi is one of the few Deep South states that would go for Clinton in that matchup.

This analysis might surprise many who think that Mississippi is the reddest state of the red (especially based on our statewide cavemen, er, elected officials). But several facts make it much more complicated than at first glance:

1. State Democrats have provided very few even-marginally-progressive options historically, giving younger and less-conservative choices to vote for, creating voter lethargy among those who might turn out and vote "blue" otherwise. That fact is actually changing this year, with several openly progressive (and female) Democrats getting at least some party support, instead of the pseudo-Republicans the party has tended to put up in the last 20 years.

2. More young people of all races are staying in Mississippi, and many of them are voting Democratic, and have since 2004.

3. Demographics, demographics, demographics. The irony of Mississippi being the state with the highest percentage of enslaved people in 1860 is that our state still has the highest percentage of African Americans and is more likely than much of Dixie to go blue first. Put simply, African Americans tend to vote Democratic, ever since the Republican Party embrace of Dixiecrats back in the late 1960s after national Dems supported civil-rights laws, and we have the highest percentage of black residents in the country.

4. And, let's be honest, even many Republicans don't want bat-shit-crazy Trump running this country.

5. Finally, to be honest again, a lot of white people like Clinton better than Obama (even if I'm not one of them).

So, there are no surprises here: Mississippi has been steadily trending blue for a while now. The question, as always, is: Will the people who can flip the state into the blue column turn out both this November (to save public-education funding and turn out a governor who makes us look like the most stuck-in-the-past state) and next November?

Time, and voter registration, will tell. Progressive (which is easy to be here by rejecting the radical right) Mississippians must find the will to stop giving up our power to sellouts to bigotry and backward ideas (and ideologues) to lift our state up. I've watched this will grow since we started this paper in 2002—and saw serious evidence of it when we turned back Personhood, shocking the nation—and I believe in upcoming elections we may well surprise the world once again. I've believed this was coming for nearly 15 years now.

Stay tuned and register to vote.

UPDAT Aug. 24, 2016: The examiner.com link above is broken, but here is an article and another about …