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Prescott is Head and Shoulders Ahead of Other Rookie Quarterbacks
By bryanflynnNearly everyone this preseason has gone gaga over Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s performance this NFL preseason by. Well, unless you’re Fox Sports radio personality Colin Cowherd.
Unless you’re Cowherd or thinks like he does, it is hard not to be impressed with the way Prescott has played in two games. It is the preseason, after all, but with each throw and each play, the budding legend of Dak grows.
In his first start in his first game, Prescott went 10 of 12 passing for 139 yards with two touchdown passes. The two incompletions were drops from a backup tight end against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Internet went wild, and rightly so. Prescott’s performance was great for a guy who was picked in the fourth round and expected to sit behind Kellen Moore as the third-string guy. Instead, Moore broke his leg, and Prescott was thrust into the backup spot.
It seemed right to slow down the hype train with just one game under his belt. But Prescott went on to put on a show in his second preseason game.
When Dallas played the Miami Dolphins this past weekend, Prescott got to work with both the starters and No. 2 players on the depth chart. It might have been a new week, but it was the same performance, if not better, than week one.
Prescott went 12 for 15 passing for 199 yards and two touchdown passes and ran two more in for touchdowns. In his second game, Prescott had a four-touchdown game, has yet to throw an interception and has taken just one sack.
Cowherd wasn’t impressed, but the rest of the Internet was going bonkers for Prescott. In the preseason, Prescott has gone 22 of 27 passing for 338 yards with four touchdowns passing and two touchdowns rushing.
He has an 81.5 completion percentage and a 158.3 passer rating. The former Mississippi State University star leads all rookie quarterbacks in nearly every passing stat.
Cowherd might not be impressed yet, but maybe he can be convinced if he sees the stats.
So far in the preseason, 22 quarterbacks, including Prescott, have seen some sort of playing time. Those 22 quarterbacks include the 15 that were drafted and the rest who were signed as undrafted free agents.
During the draft, seven quarterbacks were drafted ahead of Prescott, and one was drafted just four spots behind him. One of the quarterbacks, Christian Hackenberg, who the New York Jets drafted out of Pennsylvania State University, has yet to even take one snap in the preseason.
For our purposes, only quarterbacks who have attempted 20 or more attempted passes will get a full rundown. That means Cleveland Browns quarterback Cody Kessler, drafted out of the University of Southern California in the third round, doesn’t make the list with his five pass attempts.
The first overall pick …
Don't Forget to Vote on Tuesday
By adreherIf you are planning to vote on Tuesday, don’t forget to bring a photo ID. In the 2011 November election 62 percent of Mississippi voters approved a Constitutional Amendment that requires voters to present photo IDs before casting in-person ballots at polls or circuit clerk offices.
The only exemptions to the voter ID law are those who have a religious objection to being photographed and don’t have an ID as a result or registered absentee voters. The Secretary of State’s Office lists 10 types of IDs acceptable:
- A driver's license
- A photo ID card issued by a branch, department, or entity of the State of Mississippi
- A United States passport
- A government employee ID card
- A firearms license
- A student photo ID issued by an accredited Mississippi university, college, or community/junior college
- A United States military ID
- A tribal photo ID
- Any other photo ID issued by any branch, department, agency or entity of the United States government or any State government
- A Mississippi Voter Identification Card
If you have not registered to vote, it is too late to do so for the August election, but there is still time to register before November. In order to register to vote, you must be a resident of Mississippi for 30 days, at least 18 years old, not declared “mentally incompetent” by a court and not convicted in court of a crime (crimes listed here). You can register to vote at a circuit or municipal clerk’s office and must be registered for 30 days prior to an election for your vote to count.
Read candidate profiles and more JFP Election Coverage here .
State Fair Music Lineup Announced
By R.L. NaveHere are the dates for the performances for this year's state fair.
October 1- Thompson Square
October 2- Ginuwine
October 3- Blue Oyster Cult
October 4- Rhythm & Blues Event: King Edward
October 6- Hinder
October 7- Marshall Tucker Band
October 8- The Charlie Daniels Band
October 9- The Spinners
October 10- Texas Country Showdown – Midway – Free
October 11- Country Rock: Acoustic Crossroads (pavilion) & Brantley Gilbert (coliseum)
For times and more information about the Mississippi State FAir can be found here: http://www.mdac.state.ms.us/departments/ms_fair_commission/state-fair.htm
Yarber Responds to Airport Legislation: 'Takeover'
By toddstaufferJackson Mayor Tony Yarber responded today to a bill proposed by Senator Josh Harkins of Rankin County designed to give the Governor control of a regional board that would oversee the Jackson airport; the airport is currently run by a board that is appointed by the mayor of Jackson and confirmed by the Jackson city council.
Clinton Leads Going into S.C., Sanders Leads Among Youngest Voters
By toddstaufferRolling into the South Carolina primary this weekend, here's a visual look at some of the polling data.
While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is favored by a significant margin (59-40), it is interesting to see the older candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, with stronger support among the youngest voters.
Sanders polls at 63% among 18-29 voters and 55% of 30-44 voters, according to the YouGov/CBS News poll.
Clinton swings back with 69% of the over-45 vote among Democratic primary votes.
JFP Wins 'Best in Division' in 66th Annual Green Eyeshade Awards
By Todd StaufferMembers of the JFP's editorial and design staff have won numerous honors in the 66th Annual Green Eyeshade award, including our first ever "Best in Division" award, receiving the top honor among all non-daily print publications in the contest.
Stewart Mans Up, Apologizes to Molpus
By R.L. NaveIt takes a big man to admit he was wrong.
Last night, that big man was five-foot funnyman and Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who had a little fun at Mississippi's expense last week when the news broke the state never officially ratified the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.
In the bit, Stewart does what people who've never stepped a toe in Mississippi tend to do when talking about Mississippi, and lampooned the entire lot of state officials who were in charge when the Legislature ratified the amendment in 1995 -- I know, I know; we probably deserve that one -- as slavery-loving racists.
Among those officials was then-Secretary of State Dick Molpus, whose office was to oversee the handling of the official ratification paperwork. For reasons that remain unknown, the paperwork never made it to the federal archivist in Washington, D.C.
Stewart (or, more precisely, his comedy writers) implied that Molpus likely destroyed the documents -- you know, being the scheming white xenophobe that too many folks ignorantly presume every Mississippi politician to be.
But after getting a flurry of pushback from people who know Molpus, Stewart admitted last night that the show erred in using "Dick Molpus...as an avatar for racial bigotry, forgetting, perhaps that Dick Molpus is a real person with a real record on civil rights."
That record, as Stewart notes, includes apologizing in 1989 to the families of the murdered civil-rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. Despite the threats he received against his life, Molpus counts the apology as among his proudest moments.
In doing so, Stewart proved himself to be a class act (it was, after all, a bad week for satirists. See: The Onion debacle). And if any good came out of the whole thing, it's that the rest of America learned a little bit about the classy Dick Molpus and about Mississippi.
See if Your Jackson-Area State Candidate Supports Initiative 42
By adreherThe League of Women Voters of the Jackson Area released the results of a legislative candidate poll that asked candidates if they support Amendment (Initiative) 42 with the options: Yes, No or Undecided. So far, seven Senate candidates and eight House candidates have responded. See your candidate's stance below.
Senate Candidates
John Horhn (D): Yes
Hillman Frazier (D): Yes
Sollie Norwood (D): Yes
David Blount (D): Yes
Josh Harkins (R): No
William Billingsley (R): No
Kathryn Perry (D): Undecided
House Candidates
Ray Rogers (R): Yes
Brad Oberhousen (D): Yes
Machelle Shelby Kyles (D): Yes
Kenneth Shearrill (D): Yes
Sam Begley (D): Yes
Tammy Cotton (D): Yes
Kathy Sykes (D): Yes
Adrienne Wooten (D): Yes
Cory Wilson (R): No
Jarvis Dortch (D): Yes
(Senate candidates who did not respond with "Yes, No or Undecided" answer: Barbara Blackmon (D), Kenneth Jones (D), Stephen Thompson (D), Eclecius Franklin (D), Will Longwitz (R), Ponto Downing (R), James Broadwater (R) and Dean Kirby (R). House candidates who did not respond with "Yes, No or Undecided" answer: Philip Gunn (R), Bruce Bartley (R), Joel Bomgar (R), Brent Powell (R), John Moore(R), Paul Buisson (R), Randall Stephens (R), Tom Weathersby (R), Wesley Wilson (R), Bill Denny (R), James Perry (R), Ed Blackmon (D), Debora Dixon (D), Earl Banks (D), Credell Calhoun (D), Alyce Clark (D), Plavise Patterson (D), Kimberly Campbell (D) and Corinthian Sanders (D).)
This post has been updated to reflect that Sam Begley, Democratic candidate for House District 70, Jarvis Dortch, Democratic candidate for House District 66 both support Initiative 42.
Casino-Mogul Trump Going Against the Odds With 'Muslim Ban'
By Todd StaufferBased on the odds of terrorism actually taking place (as calculated by the right-leaning Cato Institute) a blanket ban on immigrants (much less people actually holding a green card or visa waiver) coming into the country tackles a "problem" that presents a very small threat to most Americans.
Moe's Southwest Grill Returning to Jackson
By Dustin CardonMoe’s Southwest Grill, a fast casual Mexican restaurant chain with more than 600 locations around the United States, will soon be returning to Jackson.
Brilliant SNL, Daily Show Videos Respond to Trump, Racist Supporters—As We All Must
By Donna LaddThis weekend, I've seen a lot of excuses for Donald Trump's bigotry and xenophobia from his supporters, who don't seem to have many reasons for supporting him other than they are sick and tired of the way things are now. One gentleman showed up on my Facebook page to defend supporting Trump, saying it's not about bigotry and calling me "intolerant toward those holding different opinions" because I was willing to call out Trump's blatant bigotry.
I looked at his Facebook page, and he had reposted a letter to the RNC supposedly explaining why Trump supporters are fed up. The gist of it was about getting rid of "rabid, messy, mean raccoons":
You’ve been on vacation for two weeks, you come home, and your basement is infested with raccoons. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement. You want them gone immediately…You call the city and four different exterminators, but nobody could handle the job. There is this one guy however, who guarantees you he will get rid of them, so you hire him. You don’t care if the guy smells, you don’t care if the guy swears, you don’t care how many times he’s been married, you don’t care if he was friends with liberals, you don’t care if he has plumber’s crack…you simply want those raccoons gone! You want your problem fixed! He’s the guy. He’s the best. Period. Here’s why we want Trump: Yes he’s a bit of an ass, yes he’s an egomaniac, but we don’t care. The country is a mess because politicians have become too self-serving. The Republican Party is two-faced & gutless. Illegal aliens have been allowed to invade our nation. We want it all fixed! We don’t care that Trump is crude, we don’t care that he insults people, we don’t care that he had been friendly with Hillary, we don’t care that he has changed positions, we don’t care that he’s been married three times, we don’t care that he fights with Megan Kelly and Rosie O’Donnell, we don’t care that he doesn’t know the name of some Muslim terrorist.
When I asked the gentleman on my Facebook page (whom I don't know) who he thought the "raccoons" are, he said he "assumed" that the piece he was reposting meant "illegal immigrants"—perhaps not knowing that he is speaking of human beings that Trump has said the most horrible things about, especially the darkish ones south of the U.S. border. He also added: "Not agreeing on issues or politicians or political parties is one thing but when either side turns to vile hate towards others that don't agree with them then that is bigotry."
I'm seeing this argument all the time now from Trump supporters: It is just as "racist" — ??? — to point out someone's bigotry as it is to be the bigot, at least according to their twisted rationalization. In addition to being incredibly absurd logic, this is a straight-up defense of …
With Deadline Looming, 19 Flag Bills Are Stalled in Legislative Committee
By adreherIf [the state flag][1] is going to change, lawmakers from either the Senate or House Rules committee will have to pass a bill through in the next 24 hours.
MSU Wins the State on National Signing Day
By bryanflynnNational Signing Day in college football is close to the draft in the NFL. Most every coach will say that his team got some of the players that it needed to win in the next season or in the near future through that event.
Just like the NFL Draft, football fans won’t know the true winners and losers from Signing Day for a couple of seasons. The high-school and junior-college players that signed with teams yesterday, Feb. 1, still have to live up to the potential that made them worth taking a chance on.
Most recruiting rankings, including Scout, Rivals and ESPN, only look at the Division 1 FBS teams. There are few sites that rank FCS teams, but 24/7 Sports ranks 250 teams across the nation. The website has Alcorn State University with the 186th-ranked recruiting class and Jackson State University with the 206th-ranked class.
Mississippi Valley State University wasn’t ranked in the top 250 schools in the 24/7 Sports rankings, but interestingly, Mississippi College ended up at 218th on the site.
While the recruiting rankings are somewhat lacking for FCS schools, there are plenty of options for FBS-school rankings. Some look at every FBS schools, and some have a cut-off point at the top 75 or 100 schools.
The top-10 national recruiting classes, no matter which ranking service you are looking at, feature mostly blue-bloods of the sport. The University of Alabama, the University of Southern California, Florida State University, the University of Michigan, Louisiana State University, Ohio State University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Oklahoma all finished in the top 10 in the four ranking lists used for this article.
Alabama finished as the top class in every ranking, and the SEC finished with three teams in the top three. The Big Ten placed two teams, and the ACC, PAC-12 and Big 12 placed one team each.
Mississippi State University ended up with the best ranking out of the three FBS schools in our state. The Bulldogs had the 24th-ranked class for 24/7 Sports and ESPN, 25th class for Scout and 27th for Rivals.
The University of Mississippi finished with the 29th-ranked team on Scout’s list, 30th for 24/7 Sports, 36th for ESPN and 39th for Rivals.
In the SEC recruit rankings, MSU finished ninth according to 24/7 Sports, Scout and ESPN, but finished 11th for Rivals. The Rebels ended up 12th in the SEC for ESPN, 24/7 Sports and Rivals, and11th for Scout.
The University of Southern Mississippi finished with the 71st-ranked class according to Rivals, 79th for 24/7 Sports and 81st for Scout. ESPN didn’t have the Golden Eagles ranked among its 75-team rankings.
USM finished with the second-best ranking in Conference USA according to Rivals and the third best in the conference for 24/7 Sports and Scout.
These …
MSU’s Rooker Wins Ferriss Trophy and SEC POY Awards
By bryanflynnThe 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.
Justice Has No Timetable: A #mssen Retrospective
By AnnaWolfe“Justice has no timetable,” said State Sen. Chris McDaniel throughout the course of his challenge to U.S. Senate run-off election results against Sen. Thad Cochran. In the past two months, McDaniel has complained relentlessly about Mississippi’s election process, the one he has a hand in regulating as chairman of the Mississippi Senate Elections Committee.
From the beginning, the McDaniel camp tried to make the claim that so many “bad” votes were cast in the June 24 runoff between their guy and Cochran, that not only did they want Cochran’s win reversed, but they wanted McDaniel named the winner.
They made the claim that the use of election poll books was intentionally screwed up to skew the vote. When Pete Perry, Hinds County GOP Chairman, said that poll workers only found about one-fifth of the votes claimed to be invalid in Hinds County, the McDaniel camp said otherwise.
They compiled a binder of “evidence.”
The McDaniel camp blamed racial messaging. They blamed Democrats.
At more bizarre times, they involved a California blogger in the madness and even named their own lawyer as one of those “bad” votes. When the attorney general’s office launched an investigation into the shady election happenings, the camp’s spokesman was named in said blogger’s subpoena (which ended up on Twitter).
The validity of the challenge was further challenged when the Republican Party refused to hear the case.
Then, when the challenge finally reached the courts, it was shut down before things could get even sillier. Justice may have no timetable in the eyes of McDaniel, but today the presiding judge dismissed the case because he took too long to file.
Of course, McDaniel could always appeal. After reporting on the developments of this story in the last few months, believe us, we’ll be expecting it.
http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/aug/29/18623/
Awards, Awards, Awards: Cheers to JFP Staff, Freelancers
By Donna LaddYesterday was a very good day for the JFP staff, and especially our writers and designers.
USM and MSU in Hattiesburg Regional
By bryanflynnAt one time, it seemed like as many as four baseball teams from our state might end up in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. That’s not how things worked out in the end.
Mississippi Valley State University failed to make the SWAC Baseball Tournament, and their year ended after the regular season. Both Jackson State University and Alcorn State University made the tournament but couldn’t win the title and the conference’s lone bid.
The University of Mississippi made the SEC Baseball Tournament but lost a single-elimination game to Auburn University. That ended up holding the Rebels, who were seeded ninth, back from the NCAA Tournament since the Tigers were seeded eighth, and the top eight seeds from the SEC made the NCAA Tournament.
It is possible that the Rebels might have been in the field if they beaten Auburn. Upsets, such as Rice University winning the Conference USA Tournament and Brigham Young University winning the West Coast Conference Tournament, didn’t help UM’s chances, though.
The Rebels are missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.
Late Sunday, May 28, the NCAA announced that the University of Southern Mississippi would be one of the 16 regional host sites. That assured the Golden Eagles that they were in the tournament and hosting a regional for the first time since 2003.
USM scored a school-record 48 wins so far this season and won the C-USA regular-season title. In the conference tournament, Southern Miss made the championship game but came up short against Rice. The Golden Eagles are the No. 1 seed in the regional.
On Monday, May 29, the NCAA announced the full 64-team field, with Mississippi State University also playing in the Hattiesburg Regional. The Bulldogs are making their 36th NCAA Baseball Tournament appearance.
MSU is the No. 2 seed in the regional and received an at-large bid into the tournament. The Bulldogs will open the regional against the No. 3-seed University of South Alabama, which earned an automatic bid by winning the Sun Belt Tournament.
South Alabama lost two of three games to MSU during the regular season but won the last meeting 5-2. This is the second meeting between the teams in a NCAA regional; the Bulldogs got the win in the only other meeting.
Meanwhile, USM will open regional play against the No. 4-seed University of Illinois-Chicago. The Golden Eagles didn’t meet the Flames in the regular season. UIC earned an automatic bid into the tournament by winning the Horizon League Tournament.
The Bulldogs and Golden Eagles clashed in the regular season at Trustmark Park, with USM coming out on top 7-5. The two schools played once in a 2011 regional, which the Bulldogs won 3-0.
MSU hasn’t faced UCI in program history. USM defeated South Alabama twice in the regular season this year and won …
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