Jackson Free Press

As human beings, we love nostalgia. We love TV series from our youth and get excited about “Twin Peaks” and “Gilmore Girls,” among other shows now getting a breath of new life.

We love listening to music that is considered classic, like those 1990s hits from my high school and college years. We get excited about new sequels such as “Independence Day: Resurgence” that come 20 years after the original.

Our love of the past is why, to wrestling fans, the signing of Sting to the WWE was such a big deal. Then you see his match with Triple H at WrestleMania 31. The match was full of nostalgia, with members of DX and the NWO making appearances.

But the match also showed that the Sting of 2015 wasn’t the Sting of our youth. The WrestleMania match needed all the outside interference because neither him nor Triple H were same men they used to be during Monday Night Wars.

If the WrestleMania match wasn’t enough to convince anyone that Sting was done in the ring, watching his match with Seth Rollins confirmed it. The match between Rollins and Sting wasn’t very good and that was before Sting’s neck was injured by Rollins’ botched powerbomb into the turnbuckle.

Sting was forced to retire after the match, once the injury revealed he suffers from cervical spinal stenosis, a neck condition that could leave him paralyzed or dead if he keeps performing in the ring.

Professional wrestlers normally have long careers, with some working in the ring until they reach their 70s. That doesn’t mean wrestlers should still be in the ring.

Sting was 55 years old when he joined the WWE. That was the last major draw from WCW to join the company. His best years were behind him and not in front of him.

Father time catches up to us all. The Undertaker really shouldn’t be in the ring anymore, and he is nowhere near the wrestler we grew up watching. His last couple of WrestleMania matches were only watchable because that is the only time of year he shows up.

His match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX is mainly remembered for Lesnar winning and breaking Undertaker’s streak of 20-0 at the event. The match was just alright at best and is only notable because Taker lost.

Undertaker is 51 years old and looks to be done after this past year’s WrestleMania 32. It would be shocking if he showed up for WrestleMania 33.

Now comes the return of Bill Goldberg. It has been more than 12 years since Goldberg was in a WWE ring. His last match was against Lesnar at WrestleMania XX.

Goldberg, for those who don’t know, was a professional football player before injuries cut his career short. He was once one of the biggest stars of the Monday Night Wars, as WCW inflated his win streak to 173-0.

Last night (Oct. 17), the …

The future direction of the New Orleans Saints might take shape over the next five days at the NFL Combine. New Orleans and the other 31 teams will be in Indianapolis to watch the players but also to discuss trades on their rosters or in the coming draft.

Potential trade talks could be important for the Saints with reports that they may soon trade wide receiver Brandin Cooks. Many media sources expect that both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tennessee Titans could be potential suitors for a trade.

The Titans own the fifth and 18th pick of the first round, and could move up and down in the draft if they want to make a deal. New Orleans has the 11th pick of the first round but adding a second first round pick could get the Saints to make a deal.

If the Titans gave the Saints their 18th pick with some other picks thrown in, it could allow New Orleans to rebuild its defense with some instant starters and playmakers.

The Saints need a pass-rusher, cornerback and linebacker help, and could get one of those in the first round if they make a deal. This is a good draft year for defense, and there will be plenty of talent available deep in the first round.

It would be intriguing if the Titans wanted to swap the fifth pick and the 11th pick for Cooks. That fifth pick could mean New Orleans might be looking for a quarterback, but this is a weak draft for that position.

New Orleans could try to get a quarterback to replace Drew Brees, who is 38 and heading into the final year of his contract. That leaves the Saints with two options. First, they could rebuild the defense quickly with this trade and free agency, and second, they could get ready for life without Brees behind center.

Cooks’ speed makes him a great offensive weapon, but he did lash out in the media after getting zero targets in the Saints’ blowout win over the Los Angeles Rams. He made 78 catches for 1,123 yards and eight touchdowns in 2016.

New Orleans found a nice surprise in second-round pick wide receiver Michael Thomas. That doesn’t mean Cooks is expendable, but it does mean New Orleans could find a cheaper player in the draft this year if they make a trade.

The Saints can rebuild their defense through free agency but will do it without 2014 free-agent pick Jairus Byrd. Reports suggest that the Saints plan on cutting the disappointing and often-injured safety, as he was never the same player for the Saints that he had been for the Buffalo Bills.

Currently, the Saints have $21 million to $30 million in cap space, and depending on how they release Byrd, they could add nearly $10 million more to that number. That should give New Orleans the funds to fix its porous …

In the first two rounds of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, things went as planned for Mississippi State University. The hosting Bulldogs switched up the starting lineup and rotation, but Head Coach Vic Schaefer made the changes work.

MSU got little resistance from opening-round foe No. 15-seed Troy University with a 110-69 win on Friday, March 17. The Bulldogs won an opening-round game for the eighth time in a row and topped 100 points for the first time in an NCAA Tournament.

The 41-point win is the largest in a tournament game and tied a school record for most three-pointers made in a tournament game with 12. Five players scored in double figures, with Blair Schaefer leading the way with a career-high 21 points. This is also the first time in MSU history that the program has won 30 games in a season.

At no time during that first contest did Troy lead after an 18-0 start by the Bulldogs. MSU got a much stiffer test in No. 7-seed DePaul University in the second round on Sunday, March 19. The Bulldogs’ 92-71 victory is even more impressive considering that MSU only led 32-31 at halftime.

In the third quarter, MSU took over the game and began to pull away. By the midpoint of the fourth quarter, no one could doubt the outcome after the Bulldogs’ offensive explosion.

The victory means the team will finish 12-1 at home and continues to set the school record for victories, now at 31 wins. It also puts the team in the Sweet Sixteen for the second straight year and for the third time in program history.

Six players finished in double figures against DePaul, with Schaefer scoring 18 points to lead the team for second time in the tournament. Dominique Dillingham also scored 10 points in the game to reach 1,000 points for her career.

In the first two rounds, MSU scored a total 202 points.

The Bulldogs had to wait until late Monday, March 20, to find out which team they would play in the round of 16, as MSU will face the winner between the No. 6-seed University of Oklahoma and the No. 3-seed University of Washington.

Washington rolled over Oklahoma 108-82, with Huskies guard Kelsey Plum scoring 32 points and elevating the record for the most points in a women’s NCAA season. She broke Jackie Stiles’ record of 1,062 points back in February of this year, and currently sits at 1,080 points. The Washington star also has the second-most points in NCAA history for men or women, only behind Louisiana State University great “Pistol Pete” Maravich.

The Huskies have been on an offensive roll, just like the Bulldogs, in the NCAA Tournament. Washington has scored 91 and 108 points in its first two tournament games. MSU will have to figure out a way to slow down Plum and the rest of the high-powered Washington offense.

There have been a few trilogies in sports over the centuries, but they are rare. Many people know that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson meet in three NBA Finals but not three straight finals.

This year’s NBA Finals is historic, as the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are meeting for the third straight year on June 1.

Golden State won the first meeting in 2015 in six games, as Cleveland’s Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were both out with injuries. LeBron James pushed the series as far as he could on his own, but he lost his fourth NBA Finals.

Cleveland had its revenge in 2016 when James won his third NBA Finals after erasing the Warriors’ 3-1 lead, winning in seven games. In back-to-back finals, James willed his team to win, making him as close to Michael Jordan as he ever has been in his career.

At some point James might pass Jordan in the eyes of the fans, but more than likely he will stay behind His Airness. Of course, his last two final appearances have made everyone forget about “The Decision” to join the Miami Heat. LeBron’s play in the 2015 and 2016 finals were truly legendary.

Now, The King faces Golden State again, but this time the Warriors have added Kevin Durant to its stacked roster of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Cleveland isn’t star poor with James, Love and Irving.

Golden State still hasn’t lost in these playoffs, as they have mostly crushed their opponents in three straight sweeps. The Warriors are the first team to enter the NBA Finals without a loss in the first three rounds.

Cleveland isn’t too shabby, with a 12-1 record heading into the finals. The lone loss was in the Eastern Conference Finals. James is playing in his seventh straight NBA Finals and eighth overall.

Golden State is a big favorite to win this finals matchup, and LeBron hasn’t been this big of an underdog since his first finals appearance against the San Antonio Spurs in 2007. In that series, San Antonio swept James and the Cavaliers.

If the Warriors can accomplish the sweep, they will be looking to pull off a perfect 16-0 playoff record. It seems highly unlikely that James would let himself get swept in a final again this late in his career.

It would be shocking if he couldn’t find some way to win at least one game if not two games. But there is some motivation for the Warriors to sweep James: He did ruin their historic 73-win season in 2016 when he denied Golden State the title.

As fans we can only hope for the seven-game thriller we received last year. Cleveland will try to play lockdown defense as Golden State bombs away three point shots as it runs and guns.

The Warriors look to be on a mission, and it …

Some Mississippians are incensed at North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue for comparing her state's recent successful ballot initiative defining marriage as between a man and a woman to Mississippi -- whose Constitution also defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

6:00 p.m. Final polls in Indiana/Kentucky. Polls close in Virginia. (They also close in Georgia, South Carolina and Vermont.)

Bernie Sanders has won re-election in Vermont; Virginia Senate race too close to call.

NBC calls Indiana for Romney; Democrat Joe Donnelly has slight lead with 7% reporting.

6:42 p.m. West Virginia and South Carolina both called for Romney.

6:47 p.m. Polls still open in Florida although there's some counting going on, with Obama in the lead, but close.

North Carolina polls are closed, and Obama is leading with 9% of the vote in. Exit polls seem to give Obama a shot in North Carolina.

7:00 p.m. NBC calls Georgia for Romney. 7:00 p.m.

Poll closings... Pennsylvania, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, North Dakota, Florida and New Hampshire. (Also non-leaners Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Texas.)

7:04 p.m. Interesting Senate races in this round, including Warren/Brown in Massachusetts; NBC calles Maine Senate race for independent Angus King.

7:06 p.m. New Hampshire, Florida and Pennsylvania are too close to call according to NBC.

7:08 p.m. AP: reports: Obama carried Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Romney's home state of Massachusetts. Also as expected, he won Delaware and Maryland as well as the District of Columbia and Illinois. Romney had South Carolina, Oklahoma, Kentucky and West Virginia in his column. He also won Indiana, a state Obama carried in 2008 but did not contest this year.

7:29 Roger Wicker wins re-election in Mississippi.

7:56 A lot still undecided; NC and FL being tough to call bodes better for Obama than Romney. McCaskill, Warren leading; CNN calls Pennsylvania for Casey, all Democrats leading/winning.

8:00 Polls close in swing states Colorado and Wisconsin, and in close-ish Arizona, Minnesota and New Mexico. (Plus: Louisiana, Nebraska, New York and Wyoming.)

8:02 Wisconsin and Colorado too soon to call; Wisconsin said to be lead by Obama. Romney gets 4 of 5 votes in Nebraska. Michigan projected quickly for Obama. Arizona too early to call and Romney leading; Minnesota too early and Obama leading.

8:04 NBC says the House will stay with the GOP. No surprise.

8:06 I just realized Orrin Hatch is still in the Senate. Good lord.

8:15 NBC calls Pennsylvania for Obama -- rust belt firewall continues to hold.

8:35 Wisconsin called for Obama; arguably first legit swing state. He's one medium-sized state away from the win.

8:37 CBS calls New Hampshire for Obama. Another swing state.

8:42 NBC calls Elizabeth Warren the winner in Massachusetts.

9:00 Polls close in Iowa and Nevada. (Also Montana and Utah.)

Again, these are two swing states (Nevada less so) both leaning toward Obama. If Obama has won New Hampshire, Colorado and Wisconsin by now and has held in the leaners (Minnesota, Michigan, Maine, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Nevada) then Iowa's swing votes (and Nevada's leaning votes) make him president of the United States. Again.

9:24 CBS says that Democrat Tim Kaine has won the Senate race in Virginia.

9:55 North …

You want to know why people are scared of Chokwe Lumumba? Here's a good place to start.

The headline that appears on a story that the WAPT web site (www.wapt.com) reads, "Lumumba wants to remove Christopher Columbus from history books."

The headline is misleading at best.

I was at the debate last Friday night when Lumumba made the comment that we need to stop teaching our children that Christopher Columbus discovered American in 1492. "Columbus didn't discover America. America wasn't lost, Columbus was," Lumumba is correctly quoted in the story as saying.

What the story doesn't do is put the quote in context. The way it reads, you'd think Lumumba was asked about education and launched into a Christopher Columbus hate-a-thon. He was asked how we can keep students from dropping out of Jackson Public Schools, and he answered that maybe if our black youth was learning a little bit more about black culture and roots, they might be a little more interested in school and have a little bit more self-worth.

Besides, Lumumba is right about Columbus and the wording "Columbus discovered America." You can't be the first person to discover something that someone else has already found. Native Americans lived here before Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean; therefore, he cannot be the first man to "discover" America. Even if you don't believe that African people from the northern part of the continent crossed the Atlantic before Columbus—and some do—you can't deny that Christopher Columbus was not the first man to set foot in the Americas.

But the story on WAPT gets worse. It clumsily tries to explain Lumumba's beliefs, saying that he believes "people from northern Africa had been traveling to the North American continent years before Columbus did in 1492," and my personal favorite line of the story: "In fact, a Google search by 16 WAPT News shows the discovery of America is a widely disputed one."

Well, at least you did your homework.

Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Lumumba said the headline and the idea that he wants to remove Columbus from the history books is "disappointing."

"I never said that. ... What I was really saying is that we need to add the people who came before ... . I just want the history books to accurately reflect that Columbus opened the Western Hemisphere to Europe," he said. "He did not discover it." Lumumba said he has used that line hundreds of times over the years, and said it was curious that it was just getting publicity now.

The bigger issue is that here we are, two days after Lumumba won the primary runoff, and this is the headline on local news stations. The divisiveness hit Twitter and Facebook as soon as the race was called. It hit comment sections on web sites of the JFP and Clarion-Ledger shortly thereafter. Now it is in a headline on WAPT. Where will it be in a month? A year?

For his part, Lumumba said he's …

Several organizations have issued statements responding to Gov. Phil Bryant signing House Bill 1523 into law. Mississippi law professors from both the University of Mississippi and Mississippi College law schools and legal scholars issued this memo, saying the bill violates the First Amendment.

Vermont, New York, Seattle and Washington D.C. have issued travel bans to the state as a result of the bill being signed. Attorney General Jim Hood issued a statement warning that House Bill 1523 will not protect state officials from federal lawsuits if they violate federal statutes.

Attorney General Jim Hood “Any lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of House Bill 1523 will have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We would caution government officials and others that House Bill 1523 does not override federal law or constitutional rights. If a person or government official violates a federal statute or constitutional provision, House Bill 1523 will not protect that official from a federal lawsuit or from potential personal liability under federal law.”

Rep. Jeramey Anderson, D-Moss Point

Rep. Anderson released a statement on Twitter regarding HB 1523 which was signed into law by Governor Phil Bryant today:

“In high school, I was educated about Jim Crow laws and practices, I never once thought, I would be a part of a state legislature that would create such discriminatory and unethical practices based on Christian beliefs or religious practices, the same Christian beliefs that encourage you to love your neighbor and not to pass judgment. We use religion as a shield to discriminate. The work this state has invested to progress past our dark past was challenged today when the Governor signed this discriminatory bill. Not only is this a setback to our State’s economy but it is also a setback for our young bright and talented Mississippi children who call Mississippi their home. First an underfunded public education system, crumbling infrastructure and now a discriminatory bill into law. Mississippi has to rise above and not continue to make national news for all the negative impacts on Mississippians. I firmly believe that an inequality for one is an inequality for all. I will continue to fight to ensure equality for all.”

The Democratic National Committee Verbatim Statement on HB1523 below:

Upon news that Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has signed the discriminatory House Bill 1523 into law, DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued the following statement:

“It’s embarrassing, shameful, and truly perplexing that the Republicans still don’t get it. LGBT Americans are entitled to equal protection under the law, just as everyone else. No exceptions. No allowances for discrimination. That we’re even still debating this in 2016 boggles the mind.

“‘Right to Discriminate’ measures signed into law by Republican governors are proof that the Republican Party’s leaders are stuck in the dark ages when it comes to equality and that they've been on a divisive path toward destruction since long before Donald Trump ran for president. In fact, the Republican National Committee has …

Texas A&M University sits atop the college-sports world in total revenue in a recent report from USA Today. The Aggies earned more than $192.6 million in 2015—quite a leap from their 2014 revenue of about $119.5 million.

A large portion of the 2015 revenue came from $92 million in contributions, with ticket sales adding more than $45.8 million, rights and licensing adding about $47 million, and other revenue adding about $7.7 million. The Aggies added zero in student fees to their total.

The University of Mississippi was the top-earning school in the state last year, with about $87.6 million in total revenue, 34th place on the list of schools. The athletic department transferred nearly $2 million dollars back to the university, which is viewed as a revenue loss. In 2014, UM collected nearly $76 million in total revenue.

In 2015, UM earned more than $39 million in rights and licensing, by far the largest revenue source for the school. The Rebels added more than $22 million in contributions and more $19 million in ticket sales. UM also earned revenue in student fees and from the school before giving some money back.

Mississippi State University comes in 45th on the list with only slightly more than $75 million in total revenue, up from the more than $62 million in 2014. MSU collected the most revenue from rights and licensing at about $40 million. MSU gave $1.73 million back to the school.

The Bulldogs collected nearly $17 million in contributions and more $14 million in ticket sales. MSU also collected student fee for athletic revenue.

There is a big drop off from the state’s two SEC schools down to the University of Southern Mississippi, the next school from our state on the list. The Golden Eagles earned nearly $24 million in total revenue, placing 118th on the list.

Student fees fed the USM athletic department to the tune of about $6 million. Rights and licensing came in just below $6 million, contributions barely exceeded $4 million, and ticket sales were only about $2 million. The school gave the athletic department nearly $3 million in revenue, and other sources gave USM nearly $3 million. USM athletic department didn’t give any money back to the school.

The Golden Eagles collected less than $500,000 more in total revenue than they did in 2014.

Jackson State University comes in 100 spots behind Southern Miss at 218th place, with about $8 million in total revenue. The Tigers’ main source of revenue was student fees at about $3 million.

JSU earned nearly $3 million from public funds, about $1 million from ticket sales, about $500,000 in rights and licensing, and just about $800,000 from other sources.

One interesting note on JSU: The athletic department claimed zero dollars on contributions. JSU made just above $7 million in total revenue in 2014.

Alcorn State University came in 222nd place with about $7 million in total revenue. The Braves’ athletic …

Verbatim release: A group of Mississippi ministers, community leaders, civic activists, and a Hattiesburg church who filed the first lawsuit challenging House Bill 1523 on the ground that it violates the principle of the separation of church and state, today applaud the decision of U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, who agreed with their arguments and issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the controversial law from taking effect on July 1.

Gov. Phil Bryant says Constitutional rights are at risk this presidential election, in an email sent from the Mississippi GOP. "The next President will fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s vacancy and will likely appoint three or four additional Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Putting liberals on the court could set back the conservative movement by decades," the email says.

"We know what kind of Supreme Court Justices Hillary Clinton would appoint if she were elected President," the email continues. "And she has not been bashful about it either when she’s said."

The email then lists the following three quotes from Clinton:

1) “The Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment [referring to the Supreme Court’s decision in Heller, which affirmed individual gun rights]. And I am going to make that case every chance I get.”

2) “The unborn person does not have constitutional rights.”

3) “Deep-seated religious beliefs have to be changed.”

For some fact-checks and context around those quotes, see below:

• 2nd Amendment, Thoughts on Heller Clinton does think Heller was decided wrongly, for specific reasons. One of her aides told Bloomberg that "Clinton believes Heller was wrongly decided in that cities and states should have the power to craft common sense laws to keep their residents safe, like safe storage laws to prevent toddlers from accessing guns." Clinton does not support abolishing the 2nd Amendment, however, and while she advocates for gun control like expanding background checks and banning the sale or use of military-style weapons, she is not advocating to repeal the 2nd Amendment.

• 'Unborn Person' Comments In an April interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" Clinton said that "the unborn person does not have constitutional rights," infuriating both anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights activists alike. Anti-abortion rights activists praised her rhetorical error as a recognition of a 'person' not yet born, while pro-abortion rights activists were equally upset because she neglected to use the word 'fetus.' In her policy plans, Clinton has vowed to repeal the Hyde amendment and support Planned Parenthood

• On Changing 'Deep-Seated Religious Beliefs' This quote needs some ellipses in it for starters, but for better context here's what Clinton actually said at the 2015 Women in the World Summit:

"Far too many women are still denied critical access to reproductive healthcare and safe childbirth. All the laws we've passed don't count for much if they're not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice, not just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will, and deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed. As I have said and as I believe, the advancement of the full participation of women and girls in every aspect of their societies is the great unfinished business of the 21st century."

The deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases Clinton referenced in this speech had everything to do with …

Several women have played football at the college level for years now. Most of these young women were walk-on players, or players with no scholarship.

In 1997, Liz Heaston became the first woman to ever play and score in a college football game when she scored in a game for Willamette University, in Oregon, a then-NAIA-level university, in a 27-0 win over Linfield College, in Oregon. Heaston kicked two extra points, and her jersey hangs in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Two years later, Katie Hnida became the first woman to suit up for a NCAA Division I (now called the Football Bowl Subdivision) school at the University of Colorado. In 2003, she became the first woman to score in a Division I game at New Mexico State University. She became the first woman to try an extra point in a bowl game the year before, but an opposing player blocked it.

Before Hnida, Ashley Martin became the first woman to kick an extra point at the NCAA Division I-AA (now the Football Championship Subdivision) level for Jacksonville State University. She made three extra points without a miss in a 71-10 win over Cumberland University.

Former University of West Alabama kicker Tonya Butler became the first woman to kick a field goal in 2003 when she kicked a 27-yard field goal in a 24-17 win over Stillman College.

Other women have been kickers at nearly every level of college football. Some did get a chance to kick for their teams, and others were never called upon.

It hasn’t always been easy for women playing college football. Hnida alleged that she had been sexually assaulted while at Colorado. She didn’t press charges, but the incident became a major scandal at the schools, as other women spoke out about being sexually harassed and assaulted by members of the football team.

In 2014, Shelby Osborne became the first woman to play a position besides kicker when she became the first college defensive back at NAIA school Campbellsville University, in Kentucky. NAIA schools don’t hand out athletic scholarships.

Last week, April 14, 2017, Becca Longo became the first women to sign a national letter of intent to play college football. Longo will kick for NCAA Division II Adams State University, which is located in Colorado.

She is the first woman at Division II or higher to play college football on scholarship. The other kickers and players who made history didn’t receive a scholarship.

Each year, it is becoming more common for young women to play football at the high-school level.

As it becomes normal for them to play football in high school, it will become more common to see them at the college level. One day, a young woman might quarterback a college football team at the NAIA or NCAA Division III level of college football.

A little while back, I touched on Jackson State University, Mississippi State University and the University of Southern Mississippi all fighting for division or conference titles in baseball. Jackson State finished its quest by winning the SWAC East title over Alabama State University.

JSU finished SWAC play with a 20-4 record and the best record in either the East or West Division. Alabama State ended conference play with an 18-6 record, finishing two games behind the Tigers.

In Conference USA, Southern Miss completed a huge sweep over Florida Atlantic University this past weekend. The Golden Eagles hold a three-game lead at 19-5 in C-USA play over second-place Old Dominion University at 16-8, with six conference games left to play.

USM hosts the University of Alabama at Birmingham this weekend and will finish the season at the University of Texas at San Antonio. UAB is 10th in the current standings at 8-16 in conference play, and UTSA is sixth in the standings at 13-11.

Meanwhile, ODU will finish the season at home against Florida International University and on the road against Florida Atlantic. FIU is ninth in the conference standings at 11-13, and FAU is third in the conference at 15-9.

If both USM and ODU stumble, Florida Atlantic could make a move for the top spot. FAU finishes the regular season with a road game against Western Kentucky University and a home game against ODU. WKU is currently in last place at 4-20 in C-USA play.

Southern Miss just has to avoid imploding over the final two weekends to win the regular-season title. It will also give USM the No. 1 seed heading into the C-USA Tournament.

Over in the SEC, Mississippi State currently sits at 16-8 in conference play. MSU leads the SEC West over Louisiana State University by a single game and is tied with the University of Florida for the best record in the conference.

The Bulldogs have two SEC series left to play—one on the road against the University of Georgia this weekend and another at home against LSU to end the season. Georgia is in last place in the SEC East at 7-17 in conference play, and only the University of Alabama has a worst conference record.

LSU is 15-9 in SEC play and is a game behind MSU in the West, lurking around for the conference crown, as well. The Tigers end the season with games at home against Auburn University, who is 14-10 in SEC play, and on the road against MSU.

Florida, at 16-8 in conference play, will try to hold off the University of Kentucky for the SEC West crown and overall conference title. The Gators end the season with a game at Alabama, who is 5-19 in SEC play, and another at home against Kentucky.

Kentucky ends the regular season with a home game against the University …

"We are all Tater Tots," Reeves said.

It was Interception Sunday in the NFL last Sunday........ Last week it seemed interceptions were coming as fast as quarterbacks could throw them. I counted all the interceptions from last week and their was 38 thrown from Thursday night to Monday night.

Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Rickey L. Cole's letter to the state ethics commission.

Sadly, it was only a matter of time before it happened here in Mississippi--a black man was killed by a white cop amid mysterious circumstances and officials are trying to keep tensions from simmering.

It happened on late Wednesday night in tiny Stonewall when, according to various media outlets, a 39-year-old black man named Jonathan Sanders had some sort of altercation with a white officer named Kevin Herrington.

Stewart Parrish, an attorney Sanders had once hired to represent him on a case, told Meridian television WTOK that Sanders was riding in a buggy exercising his horses when Herrington stopped Sanders, initiating an altercation that ended in Sanders' death, reportedly by choking.

The exact details are, of course, muddy. Early reports suggested that Herrington used a flashlight to subdue Sanders. Stonewall Police Chief Michael Street denied those reports, but hasn't gone into much detail about the incident that happened between 10:30 and 11 o'clock at night, citing his department's ongoing investigation. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is handling the case.

"We just ask that the citizens allow that to take place, not to try to take anything out in the streets. Our door is open," Street told WTOK.

Street's comments are an obvious reference to protests sparked by the deaths of African American men by--often white--police officers in the past year. Sanders' death is hauntingly similar to that of Eric Garner in New York City last summer. Like Garner, Sanders reportedly told Herrington that he couldn't breathe in the moments before he died, Parrish told the media.

The Guardian reported that Chief Street said "Sanders had no active warrants against him and that Harrington did not know who he was when the confrontation took place."

However, that didn't stop Jackson's local daily newspaper, the Clarion-Ledger, from using Sanders' mugshot (most other media outlets chose a picture of the victim warmly smiling with family members or with his horses; see below) and devoted the end of its story to talking about his rap sheet, writing:

"Sanders had crossed paths with authorities before. Circuit Clerk Beth Jordan said Sanders was out on bond from an April arrest for possession of cocaine, and that he had been convicted on charges of sale of cocaine in 2003."

The paper went on to point out: "MDOC Communications Director Grace Fisher said Sanders was given five years to serve with five years probation. He was released on May 23, 2007. Sanders' arrest record also shows arrests dating back to 2001 for disturbance of the family peace, sale of a counterfeit substance, domestic violence, and some traffic violations.

Several dozen commenters took the paper to task. Said one woman in the comments section: "Never fails; the weaponless dead victim is always prosecuted in the media to deflect how they ended up dead at the hands of police. Shame on the Clarion-Ledger."

As for the officer, the C-L made a point of noting that Herrington, according to Chief Street, "has never received any complaints of …

The Jacksonville Jaguars are adding former star wide receiver Jimmy Smith as the sixth member of its ring of honor, Pride of the Jaguars.

The five other honorees in Pride of the Jaguars are former owners Wayne and Delores Weaver, the franchise's first-draft-pick offensive tackle Tony Boselli, running back Fred Jackson and quarterback Mark Brunell.

Smith retired suddenly in May 2006, but the former wide out’s legal troubles, which include drug and weapons charges, made it hard for the team to recognize him.

Early in his career, Smith was the perfect example of a player who overachieved and overcame adversity nearly every step of the way.

At Callaway High School in Jackson, Miss., he was a standout receiver who didn’t get any looks from Division I schools. He did get offered a scholarship to Jackson State University and made the most of that opportunity. He finished his time with the Tigers with 110 catches, 2,073 yards and 16 touchdowns. The smooth wide receiver graduated with a degree in business management.

The Dallas Cowboys drafted Smith in the second round with the 36th overall pick in the 1992 NFL Draft. Injuries hindered his play for most of his time in Dallas. In his rookie year, Smith broke his leg and missed all but seven games, and he didn’t record a catch in the entire season.

In his second season with the Cowboys, Smith was expected to become the third wide receiver before he was forced to have an emergency appendectomy in August 1993. He missed the entire season after developing a post-surgery infection that nearly cost him his life.

The Cowboys released Smith in July 1994 when he refused to take a pay cut. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles but didn’t make their roster.

After being out of football for the entire 1994 season, Smith’s mother sent a folder of his newspaper clippings to then Jacksonville head coach Tom Coughlin. This earned Smith a tryout, and the team signed him in February 1995.

In his first season in Jacksonville, Smith caught 22 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns. In 1996, he scored 1,244 yards on 83 receptions and seven touchdowns, beginning a streak of seven straight seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards.

Smith played in all every Jacksonville game from 1995 to 2002 and became one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. In 2003, he only played in 12 games, as he received a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.

The 2003 season saw Smith fail to reach 1,000 receiving yards. He only caught 54 passes for 805 yards and four touchdowns. He then bounced back in the 2004 season to catch 74 passes for 1,172 yards and six touchdowns.

In his last season in the NFL, Smith garnered 1,073 receiving yards on 70 catches with six touchdowns. His retirement in May 2006 shocked many fans. He denied rumors of facing a …

University of Alabama coach Nick Saban doesn’t lose a lot of games. Since finishing with a perfect season in 2009, Saban has lost just 10 games.

He has lost just three games over the past two seasons, and two of those have come against the University of Mississippi. With the Rebels’ recent wins, they have been a thorn in the side of arguably the best coach in college football.

In 2014, UM won a dramatic affair when the team scored the game-winning touchdown with under three minutes to go and a late interception, sealing the victory. Last season, the Crimson Tide committed five turnovers and couldn’t overcome a 30-10 Rebels lead as the Alabama rally ran out of time.

Plenty of eyes will be on the Rebels and Tide this weekend. The game could have a major say in the postseason hopes for both teams.

This game means more to the Rebels than the Tide. In the past two years, UM has beaten Alabama, but the Tide righted the ship, making the College Football Playoff at the end of the seasons.

Last season, Alabama lost to the Rebels and still ended up winning the championship. The Crimson Tide has shown they can overcome a loss, but UM hasn’t been able to turn either win over Alabama into a SEC West title or a spot in the four-team playoff.

For the past two years, both teams entered this game undefeated. That is not the case this year, after the Rebels blew a 28-13 lead to Florida State University in their season opener.

Alabama will want to beat the team that has provided its only blemish in the regular season the last two years, but theTide could still make the playoffs even with a loss. For the Rebels, this is a must-win game in the middle of September.

UM quarterback Chad Kelly could see his Heisman Trophy hopes end and the Rebels’ playoff aspirations dashed before the first month of the season ends. If the Rebels lose the game, there is no tomorrow for them.

Kelly put up solid numbers against the Seminoles, going 21 for 39 passing with four touchdowns, but three interceptions and a fumble lost were really ugly for a Heisman hopeful. In fact, Kelly’s poor play late in the second quarter through the second half is part of the reason the Rebels lost.

A second loss in another marquee game would pretty much spell doom. No one really cares what numbers Kelly put up against Wofford College last week when it comes to winning the Heisman. He was supposed to put up big numbers, and did as he went 20 for 27 with three touchdowns.

If the team loses to the Tide, he would need to be out of this world the rest of the season to have any hopes to make a trip to New York. It wouldn’t be impossible for …

The College Football Playoff matchups are set, and there is little argument that the four best teams made it in the playoffs. The University of Alabama, Clemson University, Ohio State University and the University of Washington are the four teams playing for the championship.

There really aren’t any teams that can complain about being left out of the playoffs. If someone wanted to, he or she could make a small argument for Pennsylvania State University, the University of Michigan and the University of Oklahoma.

Personally, I have always favored an eight-team playoff. That means all the teams above would be in, and the University of Wisconsin or the University of Southern California would be the eighth team.

In most years, an eight-team playoff would include all the conference champions from the Power Five conferences and three at-large teams. It took years just to get to a playoff, and adding teams will take time.

Two schools from our state got bowl bids. Another blog post will break down these two games before the teams play them.

The University of Southern Mississippi received an invite to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and will face the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Mississippi State University, thanks to a high APR score, ended up in the St. Petersburg Bowl against Miami University from Ohio.

USM earned the six wins for a bowl and will play on Dec. 17 in New Orleans. That is a short drive from Hattiesburg, so Southern Miss fans should help fill the Superdome up for this game.

MSU finished the regular season at 5-7 but is still in a bowl game. The Bulldogs will play the day after Christmas, Dec. 26, in sunny Florida. Miami went from 0-6, winning six straight games to make this bowl.

Besides the playoff games and teams from our state, other bowls have good matchups. Here are the games I plan on making time to checkout.

The University of Houston and San Diego State University clash in the Las Vegas Bowl, which Geico will present on Dec. 17. Two Group of Five teams are exciting to watch, but this game loses some luster, as the Cougars head coach has left to take the same job at the University of Texas.

Boise State University will try to take down another Power Five team in Baylor University during the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl on Dec. 27. The Broncos normally play some inspired football against teams from the major conferences, but Baylor floundered down the stretch this year.

On Dec. 28 in the Russell Athletic Bowl, two former Big East teams, the University of West Virginia and the University of Miami in Florida, will battle. Now the Hurricanes are in the ACC, and the Mountaineers are in the Big 12.

Former Big 12 member Texas A&M University faces current Big 12 member Kansas State University. The Aggies are now in the SEC and need to …