MSM May/June 2010

GRAND OPENING IN D’IBERVILLE, MS • MAY 31, 2010 808 Lake Harbour Drive Ridgeland, MS • 601-856-0789

22 Churchill Street Hattiesburg, MS • 601-288-7777

MISSISSIPPI SEEN Pictured, (L to R) Michael Rubentsein, Executive Director - Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, Nick Crutcher, President of the Board - Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, Bailey Howell, Jarvis Varnado, Alexis Rack, Peggie Gillom, Jim Richmond - Director of Corporate Communications, Cellular South

Back to Back JACKSON - Two history-making collegiate careers ended in historical fashion, as for the second time in as many years Mississippi State’s Jarvis Varnado and Alexis Rack were named the recipients of the Howell Trophy and Gillom Trophy, respectively.

It was the first time since the inception of the awards, presented to the top male and female college basketball players in Mississippi, there were back-to-back winners.

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine 2 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

Mississippi Sports Magazine - 3

MSM

S P O R T S H E A LT H

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

W

ith the seasons changing I know everyone is excited about getting back outside to enjoy the activities we have been missing in the winter months. Though we love getting out and playing tennis, golf, baseball or any other sport that will give our hearts and spirits a lift; I know we are not fond of some of the minor aches and pains that come along with them. I’m sure that you have heard the best offense is a good defense. Well I want to give you a simple exercise that will help defend against or help to alleviate back pain that you may experience this season, or at any time for that matter.

The pelvic tilt is a good exercise for nearly every kind of low back problem. It is used to strengthen abdominals, and stabilize posture by developing the core muscles of the body.

The pelvic tilt is a move that can be found in yoga, pilates, physical therapy and other exercise systems. Below are two variations of the exercise that you can do in the comfort of your own home.

Supine Pelvic Tilt 1. Lie on your back with the knees bent and the soles of the feet on the floor. This is your neutral position, with the natBy DR. ZINETTE C. LEE ural curve of the lumbar spine causing the low back to be slightly elevated from the floor.

2. On an exhale, gently rock your hips towards your face. Your butt will not actually leave the floor, but you will feel your low back press into the floor. You are essentially taking the curve out of the low back. Think of the pelvis as a bowl of water. When you do the pelvic tilt, the water would be spilling towards your belly.

3. After a few seconds, inhale and return to your neutral position.

4. Repeat this movement 5 to 10 times.

Standing Pelvic Tilts 1. Lean your back on the wall and bend your knees slightly.

2. On an exhale, lift the pelvis slightly up off the wall toward your face, causing your low back to press into the wall.

3. On an inhale, return to neutral.

4. Repeat this movement 5 to 10 times.

These should be considered carefully; consult with your health care provider about these and other treatment and prevention methods.

Performing this exercise can help you a great deal with your back pain. Chiropractic care is a terrific avenue to consider for management of back pain as well. For further information on chiropractic care, exercises that you can do at home, or to ask any questions of me visit our website at www.tklchiro.com. - MSM Dr. Zinnette Lee is a Mississippi native. She received a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology from Benedict College in Columbia, SC. Dr. Lee received her Doctorate of Chiropractic from Sherman College in Spartanburg, SC. Dr. Lee uses a health care approach that is focused on the needs of each individual patient. Dr. Lee has the primary goal of locating SUBLUXATIONS and correcting them. This approach allows the doctor to look for the underlying cause of disturbance (which may or may not be causing symptoms at the time) and make the necessary interventions that would optimize the conditions for normal function for the patient. Using this unique approach, Dr. Lee is able to help you to accelerate and/or maintain your journey to good health.

To Contact MSM > LETTERS • email MSM at publisher@mssportsmagazine.com or mail to Mississippi Sports Magazine, 405 Knights Cove West, Brandon, Mississippi 39047. Letters should include writer’s full name, address and home phone number and may be edited for clarity and space.

4 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

Volume 2, Issue 6 May/June 2010

Published by Pevey Publishing, LLC

Publishers Greg & Mendy Pevey

Featured Columnists Doug Colson, Steven Godfrey, Ben Ingram

Contributing Writers Erik Bartlam, John M. Brandon, Tyler Cleveland, James O. Covington, Tonya M. Huffman, Paul Jones, Nash Nunnery, Chuck Stinson

Advertising Sales Greg Pevey, Jay Pevey Mississippi Sports Magazine™ is published bimonthly by Pevey Publishing, LLC to promote Mississippi’s sportsmen and women, colleges, universities, high schools, communities and citizens in an informative and positive manner. We welcome contributions of articles and photos; however, they will be subject to editing and availability of space and subject matter. Photographs, comments, questions, subscription requests and ad placement inquiries are invited! Return envelopes and postage must accompany all labeled materials submitted if a return is requested. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in Mississippi Sports Magazine are those of the authors or columnists and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, nor do they constitute an endorsement of products or services herein.

We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement.

Pevey Publishing, LLC is not affiliated with any institution, college, university, or other academic or athletic organization. Subscriptions are $24 (1 year, 6 issues). Make checks payable to Pevey Publishing, LLC and mail to: 405 Knights Cove West, Brandon, MS 39047 or subscribe online at www.mssportsmagazine.com.

Pevey Publishing, LLC Mississippi Sports Magazine 405 Knights Cove West • Brandon, MS 39047 Phone: 601-503-7205 • Fax: 601-992-2885 email: publisher@mssportsmagazine.com www.mssportsmagazine.com

CONTENTS

14

16

26

34

6 Q&A - ALLEN BROWN

James Covington talks with the former Ole Miss Rebel and Green Bay Packer

8 GODFREY’S TAKE

Steven Godfrey - When Tweets Attack!

9 YOU KNOW WHAT I’M SAYING?

Doug Colson - Are we getting what we are paying for?

12 Wild at Heart

Brandon wildlife photographer Stephen Kirkpatrick

20 Paul Lacoste: Along for the ride

38 END OF AN ERA

Ole Miss SID Langston Rogers retires after 30 years.

40 BEHIND THE MIC

The Great American Summer

Mississippi Sports Magazine - 5

Q&A MSM

Q & A

ALLEN BROWN

Green Bay Packers, Ole Miss Rebels - Natchez, MS The Former Ole Miss All-American recently sat down with MSM’s James O. Covington about his upcoming introduction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in July, and about his playing days with the Green Bay Packers, where he was a member of the first two Super Bowl teams as a tight end for Vince Lombardi and the Packers.

Interview by James O. Covington

James O. Covington: First off I have to see those Super Bowl rings?

Allen Brown: Okay, I have the ring from Super Bowl 2 right here. I keep the first one put up.

JOC: Awesome ring. Back then did you ever think the Super Bowl would be what it is now?

AB: We really didn’t know how big it was.

The Stadium we played the games in (L.A. Coliseum) was not even full.

JOC: How did you and your teammates view the Super Bowl then?

AB: We looked at it as a regular season game that we got paid a little extra for in those days. We got paid $16,000 for two playoff games and then the Super Bowl.

Now it’s the biggest game in the world.

JOC: Not many people can say they caught a pass from Bart Starr, Joe Namath, and Archie Manning.

But you can?

AB: Smiling, yes I caught a few passes from Bart during my Green Bay

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years and from Joe in the 1965 Senior Bowl. I played in an alumni Spring game a few years ago and caught a pass from Archie.

JOC: That’s pretty amazing. So in college you played both ways?

AB: Yes, I played tight end on offense at Ole Miss, and defensive end/linebacker on defense.

JOC: In 1964 you were named First Team AllAmerican for defense not offense.

AB: The AP (Associated Press) named me first team defensive end and second team tight end. It was honor. But I was too young to know at the time what those honors really meant like I do now.

JOC: Speaking of honors, how do you feel about your upcoming introduction into the Mississippi Hall of Fame this July?

AB: It’s quite an honor. I’m looking forward to it. Being included in this group of men and women and being associated with the likes of Dizzy Dean and Archie Manning makes it even more special.

JOC: In 1965 you were drafted twice, once by the San Diego Chargers of the AFL and once by the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. Why did you elect to go play for Green Bay and not San Diego?

AB: Because my coaches at Ole Miss told me that the NFL would last longer than the AFL. And well it did. I made a little less money going to Green Bay at the time, but it was rewarding.

JOC: Rewarding indeed. You won three championships at Green Bay playing tight end.

That’s a feat for sure, wouldn’t you say?

AB: In 1965 we won the NFL Championship.

Then in 1966 and 1967 we won the first two Super Bowls. Coach Vince Lombardi liked us southern boys. Our team was made up of mostly guys from the south. It was some memorable years.

JOC: How was playing under Coach Lombardi?

AB: He was a motivator that’s for sure. We were all on Lombardi time, meaning 10-minutes ahead of the time he set for meetings or curfew or you got fined.

JOC: Were you ever fined?

AB: One time for $250 dollars. He collected $2,400 in fines one season and donated it all to Catholic charities.

JOC: Your roommate Bill Curry has had quite a career too. How was he during those days?

AB: Bill is a great guy and always has been.

He is a college football commentator now for ESPN. He coached at Alabama and Kentucky too. We talk every once in a while. It’s good to hear from some of those guys (former Green Bay teammates).

JOC: When was the last time you have been to Green Bay? AB: I went up a few years ago to watch a game and just got back from an autograph signing close to there. Green bay is a football crazy town.

JOC: Growing up you lived in a small SW Mississippi town in Amite County called Homochitto, right?

AB: Yes it was a small community, about 15 miles south of Meadville and just north of Crosby. It was right on the banks of the Homochitto River.

JOC: It must be something in the water there, because the small community has put out an enormous share of All-American football players that went on to play professionally.

AB: (Laughing) it must have been! My nephews were Paige Cothern, and the Poole brothers Buster, Ray, and Barney. They all played pro football. My brother Jerry Brown also grew up there too. He played for the 49ers.

JOC: You moved to Natchez and had a standout high school career at Natchez High. Why did you pick Ole Miss to play college football?

AB: A lot of the guys I grew up with went there like the Poole’s and they were coaching there too. So that made my choice easier.

JOC: Your two sons also played at Ole Miss, following in their dads footsteps?

AB: Tim and Burkes both played there too. I had a lot of fun watching them play through the years.

JOC: You live on the banks of Lake St. John, La. now, what do you do in your spare time?

AB: I fish a lot and hunt. I like it here. It’s beautiful and peaceful.

JOC: Would you change anything in your life if you had to do it all over again Mr. Brown?

AB: I wouldn’t change any of it. It’s been a real rewarding life. - MSM

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MSM

G O D F R E Y ’ S TA K E

Twitter®:When Athletes and Fans Attack

By Steven Godfrey Featured Columnist

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hile most Mississippians associate this year’s NFL Draft with the rise of Dexter McCluster, the epic fall of Jevan Snead and the last-day hopes of Anthony Dixon, it was a guy who didn’t even declare that stole the show. “@OleForty” is the official Twitter feed of Ole Miss defensive end Kentrell Lockett.

Lockett is a rising senior and will be tapped to replace Greg Hardy for the Rebels this fall, although judging by his “Tweets,” Lockett is a far cry from the shy and moody Hardy.

Here’s a sample: “Man, the Pouncey twins gay.” (In reference to the Pouncey brothers, one of whom, Maurkice, was drafted out of Florida to play for the Steelers. When this happened, the brothers had a long, warm embrace) “Marshal Faulk looks like the dude from ‘Bey Bey’s Kids!’”

“I bet Michael Irvin could snort a whole ButterFinger through them cocaine abused nostrils!”

And…. So on. You can’t read any of this comedic gold because shortly after Lockett’s comedic stylings caught fire across the Internet, they were suddenly deleted. I’m guessing someone on campus had an issue. Call it a hunch. Such is life for sports information departments and publicists in this Internet age, and this is exactly why you, the reader, should be on Twitter.

The entire concept of a filter between the athlete and the fan has been absolutely demolished. First it was the advent of blogs, then social networking (Facebook, MySpace), and now Twitter – the ability for anyone to shoot out a quick 140-character thought to anyone else in the world. It’s a management nightmare, and it makes news daily.

Case in point: @GVMcElroy That’s none other than the quarterback of a recently undefeated national championship football team in Tuscaloosa. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Tide fan or not - Somehow McElroy manages to be hilarious without being offensive, which is why I assume Bama hasn’t made him stop Tweeting as of press time. But where’s the line?

During the Draft McElroy provided humorous stories about Tide teammates headed to the NFL as well players he faced off with in college. The best part was his simple warn8 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

ing to viewers that as soon as Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle went off the board, fans would see plenty of McElroy getting hit. “Rib shot!” he tweeted.

Another Tweet: “The number #45 is the best number for a college linebacker. I don’t know why, that number is slimming or something.” Behold, America: The Jerry Seinfeld of SEC quarterbacks.

Chances are, if you’re under 30, you’re new to Twitter, afraid of Twitter, not sure what Twitter exactly is or just angry that Twitter is something else you now have to keep up with.

Deal with it, cranky. To help, I’ve assembled 15 suggested Twitter “feeds” somehow tied to Mississippi college sports you should follow once you create an account. (just Google it or something, it’s not as confusing as it sounds) (But before you do that, be sure to follow @TheGodfreyShow. If anything, it’s certainly the sexiest feed available.) @ESPN_SEC This feed operates exclusively as a link alert for new stories by ESPN’s SEC writer Chris Low, who basically colors what most every other beat writer in the South ends up writing. @DrSaturday Matt Hinton is a Southern Miss alum turned blogger who currently pilots “Dr. Saturday” for Yahoo! Sports. Remember the guy who pored through every stat page of every media guide back in college? Meet the guy worse than that. @ToddMcShayved In no way is this the real Todd McShay – ESPN’s maligned Draft analyst. But if you can appreciate a fictitious sociopath tasked with evaluating football players, this is comedic gold. @TomDienhart While I don’t have a favorite when it comes to the epic debate over Rivals versus Scout, Rivals’ Tom Dienhart always seems to catch the little details – like assistant coaching changes in football. @LSUFreek Terrance Donnels is the bastard child of a graphic artist from hell and an editorial cartoonist depraved enough to scare Muslims. His visual “creations” are hilarious, insane and iconic. @MrCFB The name says it all – it’s not official until “Mr. College Football” Tony Barnhart reports it. @RedCupRebellion Reports are sketchy, but somewhere between four to six to 25 young Ole Miss alumni keep the feed for SB

Nation’s “Red Cup Rebellion” going strong.

Ever dissect Mike Bianco’s decisions? Not like these guys, you don’t. @BFeldmanESPN Author of “Meat Market,” chronicler of the rise and decline of such programs as Miami and Southern Cal, and friend to Ed Orgeron. I try not to let that last one cloud my appreciation. @DavidBrandt The Clarion Ledger’s beat writer excels at gathering all things Ole Miss.

This feed will give you instant notice when Brandt’s blog or breaking news is live online.

Also, I recommend bothering him about “estimated” versus “actual” attendance figures as much as possible. @kyleveazey Mr. Technology. The Ledger’s State correspondent (and in the interest of full disclosure, my former college newspaper section editor) loves to Tweet. Lives to Tweet.

Is scouring the grand expanse of the Internet as you read this to deliver an obscure factoid about Mississippi State via Tweet. @philsteele042 Phil Steele is the hardest working and sometimes smartest man in college football and the author of the ONLY preseason guide worth buying. His Tweets link directly to new information he compiles daily.

Football nerd heroin. @FOTProgram Yours truly moonlights as a “social commentator” for “Friends of the Program,” a Louisiana based college sports blog. If there’s an awkward or sexually explicit tailgate photo making the rounds, this is your one-stop shop. @ESPNLunardi The inventor of the sometimes-reviled term “bracketology.” If you’re a college hoops fan, Joe Lunardi is basically the most important man in news from January through March. @sixpackspeak Depending on your shade of maroon, The Six Pack is either the single greatest or absolutely worst collection of Mississippi State fans ever assembled. I just think they need more hugs. @MorningVent One man, his radio show in the Jackson area, a love for all things Brett Favre, and lots of Wrangler jeans. - MSM Steven Godfrey is a freelance writer based in Nashville, Tennessee. He can be reached at www.thegodfreyshow.com or on Twitter, @TheGodfreyShow.

Y O U K N O W W H AT I ’ M S AY I N G ?

MSM

Time for Accountability at MSU & Ole Miss

By Doug Colson Co-Host of Mississippi Sports this Morning 620AM - Jackson

R

ecently in the not so distant past, the two head basketball coaches at Mississippi State and Ole Miss had reason to rejoice. Ole Miss Head Coach Andy Kennedy, after leading his Rebels to the NIT Final Four, collected a new contract extension through 2014 elevating his salary to 1.3 million per year. Hey maybe this is a sign of economic recovery! Meanwhile, Mississippi State Head Coach Rick Stansbury and his Bulldogs suffered a heartbreaking loss in the second round of the NIT at the hands of the University of North Carolina. While Coach Stansbury did not receive an increase to his 1.3 plus million-dollar annual salary, his contract was also extended through 2014. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not writing this article to player hate. I want to congratulate. College Coaches get paid a fraction of the money they bring in for their universities. Never mind the long hours they put in. How many of us can actually say we have been woken up at 2 AM with a call from work? And for coaches, those calls never end well. Coaches have to deal with the stress of rogue boosters, media types and people of my ilk’s constant criticism. Oh and let us not forget they must win and graduate their players. So while I’m not writing this to gripe about how much they make, more power to them. I am writing this to say their salaries demand results.

Going over Andy Kennedy’s resume the first thing you notice is that he is the model of consistency. Including the year he was the interim Head Coach at the University of Cincinnati, he has won over twenty games the

four out of the five years he has been a head coach. The only year Coach Kennedy failed to reach the twenty win plateau was with the 2008-2009 Rebels who were plagued by injuries and embroiled in self inflicted controversy due to the coaches arrest on assault charges.

I will admit I think it might have been Coach Kennedy’s best coaching job being dealt such a tough hand and finishing the year over .500.

Coach Kennedy has made it to the National Invitational Tournament three out of his four years at Ole Miss and four out of the five years he has been a head coach. He has twice made it to the NIT Final Four, but the question still remains whether Coach Kennedy can get Ole Miss over the hump and become a consistent NCAA tourney team. The NIT Semifinal game was a decent way to finish, but let’s not forget this team was ranked 14th in the country this year. No NCAA tournament bid this year should be viewed as a disappointment. The Rebels should be loaded for a run in 2010-2011 as Coach Kennedy brings back his top eight scorers and adds Indiana transfer Nick Williams, a freshman for the Hoosiers.

He averaged 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Throw into the mix instate newcomers Guard Dundrecous Nelson (Jackson Murrah) and 6’8”Center Demarco Cox (Yazoo City) and it’s NCAA Tournament or bust. Ole Miss Athletic Director Pete Boone speaking of Coach Kennedy recently said, “ He’s the perfect guy for us. We’ve never had more talent. I like his work ethic, commitment and sense of humor.” If Andy Kennedy’s 2010-2011 Rebels fall short of the big dance, Coach Kennedy better be performing two shows nightly at the Oxford Chuckle Hut and be Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Pryor and Chris Rock all rolled into one.

When I think of Rick Stansbury, I’m often reminded of Oliver Stone’s conspiracy flick JFK. David Ferrie’s character played by Joe Pesci uttered a famous line from the movie: “It’s a mystery wrapped inside a riddle inside an enigma!” This often repeated line is used by people when something confounds them. This describes Rick Stansbury’s Head Coaching tenure at Mississippi State to a T. Coach Stansbury has been the top Bulldog for the last 12 seasons. During that time he has amassed 256 wins, five SEC Western Division Titles, one SEC Conference title and two SEC Tournament championships. Which are all accomplishments Coach Stansbury and the Bulldog faithful should be proud of. But when

you put his resume under the microscope you begin to see the flaws and imperfections that dot his record. While Division titles are nice in the world of college basketball, coaches are judged by only two things: Did you get to the NCAA Tournament? And how far did you go? That’s it. As unfair as that sounds it’s all that matters. Coach Stansbury has done a good job guiding his team to the big dance six times but never has been able to escape the first weekend. I have been perplexed during his tenure at his ability to coach and motivate his team in the SEC Tournament only to have his team disappoint in the following weeks big dance. The last time Mississippi State made it to the Sweet Sixteen was the 1996 run to the Final Four with Richard Williams at the helm.

Since then 83 different teams have made it to the Sweet Sixteen including eight of the other eleven SEC teams. There are only 15 other power conference teams that have not earned a Sweet Sixteen bid since 1996 and all have made at least one coaching change since 2000. We can dig deeper into this by going over Coach Stansbury’s record versus the top fifty RPI teams in the country, but you would just accuse me of piling it on. The time has come for Mississippi State to take their program to the next level. The Bulldogs need to beef up their non-conference schedule. Stop riding the bubble and depending on miracle runs through the SEC tourney to get to the Big Dance. The task at hand will not be easy for Coach Stansbury. The program is losing the NCAA all-time leading shot blocker Jarvis Varnado and their all-time leading threepoint shooter in Barry Stewart. The Bulldogs will finally get big man Renardo Sidney next year after a long protracted fight with the NCAA over his eligibility. Adding him to an improving Dee Bost should help, but there is no way around the fact that 2010-2011 will be a transition year.

Maybe with the NCAA Tournament expanding by three teams next year, this will give Ole Miss and Mississippi State the wiggle room they need to get into the Big Dance. Not helping their cause is the terrible reputation the SEC West is beginning to earn. The time has come for fans of these programs to start demanding that these two programs move forward and stop spinning their wheels. The SEC West is there for the taking, and if these coaches can’t get the job done maybe the time is drawing near on finding ones who can. MSM Mississippi Sports Magazine - 9

MSM

SPORTS GIFTS

Whether it’s for the home, the yard, the car or tailgating, Hangin’ Out Flags & Fun Stuff at 1139 Old Fannin Road in Brandon (Reservoir area) has just what your dad or husband needs for Father’s Day, June 20th. From flags, banners, yard decor and more, the best selection around is at Hangin’ Out. All products shown available in Ole Miss, Miss. State and Southern Miss. Other College & NFL team items are also available.

THE SEASON LOOKS BRIGHT Collegiate Logo Sunglasses - $12.99

FOR THE YARD

12.5” X 18” Garden Flags $19.55

FOR THE CAR

Hoodware. Show your colors. Magnetic back attaches to the front of your car $24.95

SCHOTT’S MINI GAME HELMETS $15.95

FLY YOUR COLORS WITH PRIDE 28” X 44” Flags - $32.95 *Poles and accessories available.

PICNIC/TAILGATING CHAIR Logo with your favorite school on back - $89.95 10 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

ne x t issue Here’s a peek at what to look for in the July/August 2010 Issue...

2010 COLLEGE

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

JEFF BOWER

Lanny Mixon sits down with the former USM coach for his first interview since leaving Southern Miss.

GREEN MACHINE Does Delta State have the best athletic program in Mississippi?

RECRUITING 101 Recruiting guru David Armstrong of SoutheastScout.com tells us that stars don’t really matter?

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MSM

MISSISSIPPI OUTDOORS

WILD at HEART Wildlife photographer Stephen Kirkpatrick chases his passion and quite a few creatures as he documents the great outdoors.

By John M. Brandon Photos by Stephen Kirkpatrick Madison County Journal

O

utside is not only where Stephen Kirkpatrick finds the breathtaking shots that make up his captivating portfolio. For Kirkpatrick, the Louisianaraised photographer whose career has taken him from the mountaintops of Machu Picchu, to the waters of the Caribbean, and even to the nigh-deadly mazes of the Amazon jungle, “outside” is a way of life.

Kirkpatrick, whose father was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, was out-of-doors at an early age. He fondly remembers collecting the animals he found and forming a backyard zoo.

As Kirkpatrick grew older, he became an avid fan of hunting, a pastime which he would pursue until May 13, 1981. “That was a real crossroads in my life” says Kirkpatrick. “I was at a point where I had to decide a lot of things; namely, what I was doing in life.” It was on that day in May that Kirkpatrick’s father gave him his first camera. “It was a Nikon FE, with a 72-10 telephoto lens and I had no idea what to do with it.” Kirkpatrick, who had never taken a picture without saying “cheese,” went to bed that night with little more than questions in his mind.

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The next day, Kirkpatrick became a Christian. “I gave my life over to God,” recounts Kirkpatrick. “It was as if God said to me, ‘Stephen, your father just gave you a camera, now go out and use it to show people what I created.’ So I put down the gun, and started hunting with a camera.”

Kirkpatrick’s faith, he proudly states, has had everything to do with his career. At no

time has this been clearer to him than on one of his many trips through the jungles of the Amazon. In 1995, Kirkpatrick chartered a journey into the Amazon. He, alongside his team and a few locals, set out onto the river with little more than a crude map drawn on a napkin. “The map wasn’t terribly accurate, but it would have been nearly impossible to find a better one,” admits Kirkpatrick. “The Amazon changes from year to year. There’s no getting it down on paper.”

Kirkpatrick planned his trip as a photographic expedition. “It wasn’t just me - some guy wanting to go on an adventure. I was there on business.” The sparse lighting afforded by the thick jungle canopies left Kirkpatrick with only a few hours each day in which he could work; a fact not well received by his local companions.

“A few days into the jungle, the fellows we’d hired to carry the equipment just decided that they didn’t want to go any further. They dropped our gear on the path and turned around.” Left with few options and unable to leave behind his photographic equipment, Kirkpatrick and his companions were forced to carry only the most necessary of supplies; leaving behind much food and water. It was not until a few days later, however, that Kirkpatrick was truly tested. As the newly-smaller photographic team was navigating the turns of the Amazon River, their small river-craft collided with, and was destroyed by, a local motorboat that left them stranded in the waters.

Kirkpatrick, wounded and separated from his friends, was swept around a bend and carried away downstream, where he eventually was able to pull himself onto a floating piece of driftwood. There, broken, exhausted, and alone, Kirkpatrick says he had a revelation.

“Looking back, it wasn’t as bad as it might seem,” laughs Kirkpatrick. “Survival is mainly a mental thing. There, in the jungle, you don’t know how long you’re gonna be there. You don’t know when you’ll have food again. You don’t know for sure that you’re going to get out. There on the river, my leg was broken and I didn’t have anyone around to help me. There was nothing that I could do. I knew that I just had to trust that God would get me out of it.”

The next day, Kirkpatrick recalls, his companions found him washed up on the riverbank near a village, where they were able to radio for help. “We lost all of the footage in that wreck,” says Kirkpatrick. “I guess we got out pretty well, though. I lost 32 pounds through the whole thing.”

Not all trips to the Amazon have proven quite as tricky for the ever-vigilant photographer. It was on another venture down the river, this time in 1998, where Kirkpatrick fell

MISSISSIPPIANS

MSM

Franklin County’s Ben Yarbrough is a man of many Sports

By JAMES O. COVINGTON

in love with his wife Marlo. The journalist/author had been hired on as the writer for Kirkpatrick’s book To Catch the Wind. Constantly busy, the adventurous couple knew that they wanted to marry, but work and travel wouldn’t let them sit long enough for a ceremony.

“We were in Peru, and I was about to go off on a trip, and she was leaving right when I got back, and we’d just had it,” he explains. “We said ‘Hey! Let’s do it here.’ So we were married by the mayor of Machu Picchu, up in the ancient city, with a Peruvian pan-flute band playing ‘Hey Jude’ as our departure song.”

Even with all his adventures under his belt, Kirkpatrick has no plans to slow down his life’s work. Between hosting photography and wildlife workshops for hopeful photojournalists and wildlife fans alike, Kirkpatrick is always capturing the beauty that he sees around him. He is currently working on a long list of books to add to his already extensive collection, which includes Images of Madison County, a focus on the natural beauty of the place he calls home.

Always looking for his next work, Kirkpatrick stays focused to what he feels is his higher calling. “One of the projects that is nearest to my heart is this collection that Marlo and I are writing; Silence is the only Sound.” The collection, which parallels the books of Genesis and Job, is inspired by the 2003 loss of his son Ryan. “This is something that I started in order to work through it on my own. Now, I feel that it’s a message that I need to share.”

For more information on Stephen Kirkpatrick, visit www.kirkpatrickwildlife.com. MSM

Dr. Ben Yarbrough knows a thing or two about athletics, from his days of being a standout shortstop on the prep level at Marshall Academy to coaching soccer at Franklin High School, Yarbrough makes time no matter what. He even participates in golf tournaments throughout the state to help raise money and is an avid cyclist in Mississippi and Louisiana. And yet, he treats patients in and around southwest Mississippi as Medical Director of Family Medical Clinic located in Meadville.

“I stay busy, but I find time for athletics,” said Yarbrough. “I really enjoy coaching our girls’ soccer team. We have built a program of excellence.”

Yarbrough (57) graduated Ole Miss in 1975 with a B.S. degree in Biology he finished up at University Medical Center in Jackson in 1980. He served as State Medical Director over Children’s Medical programs (Special Needs) from 1984-1987.

“That was a special time for me,” said Yarbrough. “I got a chance to help and meet a lot of good people, especially at the Dream Street Camp that is held in Utica every year for children with special needs. I’ve been involved in that camp for 23 years. It’s great.”

In 1992, Yarbrough’s medical services found Franklin County in southwest Mississippi, where he helped open Family Medical Clinic in Meadville in 1995. It’s been a sweet combination ever since. Yarbrough became team doctor of the FC football team in 1996.

The school honored him with a Class 3A State Championship ring and jacket in 2006 for his services. The Bulldogs went 14-1 that season.

“I was very proud and honored when we won state, it was a great moment for our community and school,” added Yarbrough, who still tends to FC players needs as team doctor.

Besides assisting FC athletics, Yarbrough also helps raise money for several medical chapters. For the last 16 years he and his Team Yarbrough crew have participated in the Friends of Children’s Hospital Golf Tournament, helping raise money for the hospital. His team has helped raise nearly $40,000 alone.

“Ben and his team are very supportive to Friends of Children’s Hospital,” said Dr. Bob

Abney, Co-Chairman of Friends of Children’s Hospital annual Golf Tournament.

“Ben and his brother George are great and really make the tournament a lot of fun.”

When he isn’t teeing the greens to help raise money, he’s riding the roads on his bicycle to help fight cancer. Yarbrough has also participated in the Tour for a Cure, a 150mile bike ride split up into two days of 75 miles each to raise money to fight Multiple Sclerosis.

“It’s from Hammond to McComb, and split up into 75-mile intervals one on a Saturday and one on a Sunday,” added Yarbrough.

“I love cycling. When I moved to Franklin County I met Hal Graves, Bo Brasher, and Shane Kelly, and they got me back into cycling. It’s addicting.”

“My goal is to participate in the State Games of Mississippi cycling event and qualify for the Senior Olympics,” adds Yarbrough.

Not only does he ride but he collects. Yarbrough has several Lance Armstrong edition bicycles and other rare bikes as well. He also has a collection of authentic Presidential autographs. He has 32 of the 44 Presidents.

A native of Red Banks, Mississippi near the Mississippi/Tennessee line, Yarbrough likes to spend any off time he has around his children, Benjamin, Chester, Kilby, and Caroline.

But between now and then, Yarbrough is busy seeing patients. He’s keeping a county healthy and his athletic nature in tow no matter the sport. - MSM

Mississippi Sports Magazine - 13

MSM

F E AT U R E

Hitting the Links Again Former Ryder Cup team member Jim Gallagher, Jr., of Greenwood is working his way back to the Tour

By ERIK BARTLAM Special to Mississippi Sports Magazine

J

im Gallagher Jr. wasn’t born in Mississippi, but while talking to him it’s hard to imagine him living anywhere else. He’s a devoted father and husband. He’s an active member in his church. If Jim’s not golfing or rooting on the Mustangs at Pillow Academy, where his children are heavily involved in sports, then he’s hunting. Like most Southerners he can easily turn any conversation toward SEC football.

He just seems right at home in Greenwood, Mississippi.

“Mississippi’s a way of life,” he says. Jim credits the people of the state with making it such a great place to live. “When they ask you how you’re doing or if you need help, they mean it,” he explains. He’s proud of the role that faith plays in people’s lives here. It’s provided a great foundation for raising his children. There’s no doubting Jim when he says, “I love it here.”

Jim started life far from Greenwood. He was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and raised in Marion, Indiana. His father was a club pro in Marion, and he grew up on a golf course. He says he “just couldn’t get enough of it.” Literally, he couldn’t get enough. Kids were supposed to be off the golf course by 4:00 P.M. everyday, and the pro’s son was no exception. He was once grounded from the course for staying out until 4:15. Jim’s father was strict, but he was also supportive. His parents made sacrifices and saved money to send him to Junior tournaments.

They worked to support Jim’s dream of playing on the PGA Tour.

When it came time to choose a college, Jim had several things in mind. Weather was a factor. He says Ohio State University recruited him, but “there was no way I could stay up in that weather.” He wanted to go where the competition was strong, but also where he could play immediately. That meant the University of Houston was out. With players like Fred Couples, the Cougars were a powerhouse. He was advised that even as good as he was he wouldn’t start until his Junior year. Florida State and South Carolina, both independents at the time, showed interest, but a lot of Jim’s focus was on SEC schools.

LSU was an early favorite, and he visited the University of Florida.

Somewhat facetiously he explains that Alabama was dropped for sending him a letter addressed to “Dear Student Athlete.” Eventually the list was whittled down to South Carolina and Tennessee. South Carolina offered an 85% scholarship while Tennessee was willing to pay for 90% of his education. So, off to Knoxville he went.

Money wasn’t the only factor. He thought the Knoxville area was beautiful. Most importantly, Tennessee had arranged for him to go to a football game during his recruiting visit. Being from Indiana, Jim had grown up a Notre Dame fan. “I thought I knew all about football 14 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

Jim can be found regularly on the course at Greenwood Country Club.

tradition,” he says, but he found out that day in Neyland Stadium that he didn’t “know anything about it.” He fell in love with SEC football and never looked back.

Of course, Jim didn’t get a scholarship to play football at Tennessee.

He went there to play golf, and golf wasn’t the priority that football was in Knoxville. Not only did the team have no tradition to speak of, they didn’t even have a course of their own. They played in parks and at different courses around town. “We didn’t even have a range plan” he explains. They only had money to fly to one event a year.

None of that bothered Jim. He could play immediately, and he was excited about the chance to help build something at Tennessee. That’s exactly what he and a group of self-described “no-name” players did.

In his freshman year he helped the Volunteers win their first ever SEC Championship. In his senior year they finished in the Top 20. At the time the NCAA tournament was based on conference slots, and they were left out.

Jim’s overriding goal was to play professional golf, but he was determined not to leave Tennessee without a degree. He felt like he owed it to his parents. They had sacrificed a lot to put him in a position to go to Tennessee, and he didn’t want to let them down. He crammed in classes where he could and when he left school he had completed his Marketing degree in four years.

It was an example of the mind set that served Jim so well on tour.

He’s a goal oriented person and very focused. Those are two things that are crucial for success in golf. It’s an individual sport. You don’t have teammates to draw inspiration from. You’ve got to be self-motivated and focused. One hole at a time, one shot at a time. “I like to set a goal

Jim displays memorabilia at the Greenwood Country Club of the victorious 1993 Ryder Cup, of which he was a member.

and accomplish it,” he explains, and “I don’t like to bounce around.”

After leaving Tennessee, Jim joined the PGA Tour in 1985 and almost immediately his relationship with Mississippi began. His first PGA affiliated win came that year in Hattiesburg at the Magnolia Classic, a precursor to the Viking Classic. Through state golf clinics he became friends with a lot of local pros like Ben Nelson and Sam Dunning.

Most important of all he met Cissye Gallagher, Greenwood native, his wife and mother of their four children. She’s the reason he ended up in The Delta.

Jim’s golf game might have benefited from being in a more golforiented town like Orlando, but living in The Delta came with its own advantages. Greenwood provided benefits that were more intangible than world-class facilities, and in the end more important. The Tour was a fantasy world of free meals,” he says, but Greenwood is real. It kept him grounded. He learned perspective there from Cisssye’s mother. Dying from cancer she often showed more concern for Jim’s career than her own condition. “There she was in the hospital,” he says, “not knowing whether she was going to live and she’s worried about me making putts.” She was a real inspiration for Jim. Maybe the ability to inspire is an inherited trait. According to Jim his wife has a real gift for it. Without Cissye he says, “I wouldn’t have been able to live my dreams.” She’s the person that convinced him he was good enough to compete at the highest levels. “She got it out of me.”

Her support has been invaluable to Jim and his career.

One of Jim’s few regrets is that Cissye never got a chance to fully devote herself to playing on the LPGA Tour. Cisssye’s quite a golfer herself. In fact it was golf that brought the two of them together. Cissye was a teammate of Jim’s sister on the LSU golf team. She played on Tour for a year but battled a shoulder injury the whole time. Then her mother became ill. Soon she married Jim and children followed. None of that’s kept her off the golf course. Cissye’s won eleven Mississippi amateur championships. “If she could have ever devoted 100% to the LPGA,” Jim says without doubt, “she would have been a star.” As it is she can take a lot of credit for Jim’s accomplishments. He’s quick to explain that “she is as big a reason as any that I’ve had success.”

Throughout the late ‘80s Jim had some success, but his career really took off as the decade turned. For a five year stretch, starting in 1990, Jim Gallagher Jr. was about as hot as any golfer on tour. He won five times during this period. His first win came at the 1990 Greater Milwaukee Open. He won twice, in 1993 and 1995. During that time he finished in the Top Ten on the money list twice and was only out of the Top 25 for one of those years.

One of his favorite professional moments came in 1993 while playing on the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team. For Sunday’s final round he was pitted against Seve Ballesteros. Before the match his teammate Lanny Wadkins overheard Bernhard Langer telling Seve, “you got this guy 7-6.” That was all Jim needed to hear. “Lanny, I’m taking him down,” then he turned to Coach Tom Watson and said, “I’m taking him down for you too.” He proceeded to do just that. As they walked the fairways of the Belfry, the Warwickshire, England crowd, chanted “Seve, Seve,” Jim ate it up raising his arms to egg them on. It was over after the 16th hole. Jim had beaten Ballesteros 3 and 2. “I loved being in that underdog role,” he says. “I loved being told I couldn’t do something.”

Jim cooled off after 1995 and by the end of the decade bad thoughts began creeping into his head. There were a lot of “here we go again” moments, and it was time to quit. He could have hung around and focused on making cuts to pad his career earning stats, but that’s not his style. He says he just couldn’t be comfortable out there unless he was trying to win. He was also becoming torn between playing and being with his family. “When I was playing,” he explains, “I wanted to be home and when I was home I wanted to be out playing.” By 2000 he felt burned out, and he headed back to Greenwood.

Vijay Singh recently asked him, “what have you been doing bro?”

“Raising kids,” he told him. “No,” insisted Vijay, “besides that?” Aside from a four year stint with USA Network as a golf analyst, that’s what he’s been doing. He’s spent the last ten years watching his kids grow, and he’ll tell you “he wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Greenwood’s been a great place for that.

Recently though Jim’s been working to get back into competitive shape. He’ll be fifty next year, and he’s turned his attention to playing on the Champions Tour. He’s been stretching and working on his putting with Dave Stockton. Incredibly, there is some question about Jim’s status for the Champions Tour.

In a sane world Jim would be a no brainer for an automatic slot on the Champions Tour. He won over six million dollars in his career and when he started winding down at the end of the ‘90s, he was 51st on the career money list. The problem is that this amount doesn’t even register now. It’s a testament to how lopsided the relationship between wins and money became after Tiger Woods entered the picture.

For example, in 1993 Jim finished 4th on the money list ahead of players like Payne Stewart and Fred Couples. He played in 27 events and earned $1,078,870. He ended the year by winning the Tour Championship. That day Jim walked away with $540,000. It was almost half of his winnings for the year. Just ten years later the money that Jim earned in 1993 would have placed him 68th on the money list, just ahead of Rod Pampling. Chad Campbell was paid $1,080,000 for winning that year’s Tour Championship. He won more money in a single tournament that year than Jim did playing 27 events in 1993.

Up until a few years ago the Champions Tour required at least nine million dollars in career earnings to get an exemption. Since then a wins requirement has been added to the qualifications to deal with how skewed the money’s become in the last ten years. Jim’s determined to have a slot on the Champions Tour. Given his history it’s a safe bet that one way or another he’ll get it done. Fittingly his first appearance on the Champions tour will come at Fallen Oak at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic. He says that getting back into competitive shape is the most important thing right now. Jim will be playing in as many tournaments this year as he can. Look for him on the Nationwide Tour, and certainly at this year’s Viking Classic in Madison. “That’s Mississippi’s tournament,” he says, “and Mississippi is my state.” - MSM Mississippi Sports Magazine - 15

MSM

MISSISSIPPIANS IN THE PROS

Jamarca Sanford This Superman Soars to New Heights

By TONYA M. HUFFMAN Contributing Writer

J

amarca Sanford donned a Tigers blue and white football jersey in high school.

He currently sports a Minnesota Vikings purple, gold, and white uniform. But what truly led him to the pros was his performance at Ole Miss, turning out stellar results in football for the Rebels in a red and blue jersey.

But it’s no wonder: red and blue are the colors worn by Superman.

But before this super man flew to professional heights, he walked through humble beginnings.

Jamarca Deshaun Sanford graced the world on August 27, 1985. As an energetic child, this Batesville, Mississippi native learned of his competitive side as he and other neighborhood children played “Kill a Man.” a creative term they coined for football.

“About ten to fifteen of us got together to play ‘Kill A Man‘,” said Jamarca, reminiscing with a smile. “The football was thrown up in the air and whoever caught it tried to score, often tackling opponents.” With his competitive spirit, he developed a love of the game and began playing organized football in 7th and 8th grades. When he reached South Panola High School in his native Batesville, he earned a spot on the Tigers’ football roster where he began starting games. In 9th grade, he played corner for the junior varsity team.

By 10th grade, he joined the varsity team where he played half the season as a corner, and the other half as an outside linebacker.

As a junior wheel linebacker in 2002, Jamarca led South Panola to a 14-1 record, a state 16 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

Photo by Greg Pevey, Mississippi Sports Magazine

runner-up finish, and he was named Player of the Week seven times. His springboard junior year allowed him to soar as a senior where he played outside linebacker half the season and the other half as a safety, leading the Tigers to a 15-0 record, and winning the 5A Mississippi State Championship. For the win, Jamarca was voted MVP in 2003. As a senior, he recorded 98 tackles, 7 quarterback sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and 3 interceptions and was voted Player of the Week eight times.

Throughout his high school career, he earned 320 tackles, 25 quarterback sacks, and lettered four times in football, one during each year of high school. A good performance leads to great outcomes, and a complete trove of accolades began pouring in.

In 2003, Jamarca was named to the PrepStar All-Region Team that represented the top 275 players. He received a national 9th ranking

by USA Today. The Clarion-Ledger named him Top 40, All-State, and All-Region. He

MISSISSIPPIANS IN THE PROS

MSM

Photo Courtesy Minnesota Vikings

picked up the Mississippi Association of Coaches Class 5A First Team All-State Honors as an outside linebacker. Jamarca was included on a number of superlative player lists; the Max Emfinger Super South Top 200 ranked him 7th among safeties, Rivals.com rated him #19 in the state of Mississippi, and the Sun Herald listed him as a Top 30 Prep Recruit. In 2004, Jamarca was invited to play in the MississippiAlabama All-Star Classic in Mobile, Alabama.

In addition to earning these accolades and leaving a great football legacy at South Panola High School, simply graduating was a definite highlight. “My mother and I were happy that I graduated from high school. She went back to earn her GED and wanted me to finish my education and go on to college. Earning all the football accolades were a plus,” Jamarca said. So since Jamarca had to move on, the best way to have left was on top.

In 2004, he landed at Ole Miss. Although he was signed to play with the team, in 2004 he was redshirted for a year. In 2005, Jamarca began football spring drills as a corner, then a linebacker, then he moved to strong safety and worked his way to the top of the depth chart, starting 10 out of 11 games. Jamarca ranked 4th as a Rebel for tackles, turning out 58 in the season, including 40 solos. For these stats, he ranked 1st among SEC freshman, and 12th among all league defensive backs at 5.3 stops per game. He notched 1 interception, 1 pass break up, and tied for 6th place in the conference with 2 fumble recoveries.

As in high school, Jamarca’s talent drew attention and he earned his first letter as a Rebel. CollegeFootballnews.com named him First Team Preseason Redshirt Freshman All-America, and SEC coaches and the Sporting News gave him First Team Freshman All-SEC honors.

Sporting News also named him Third Team Freshman All-America.

Jamarca continued to fly high as a Rebel the start of his sophomore year in 2006. He started all 11 games of the season, four as a linebacker and the remaining seven as strong safety. Again he finished 4th as a Rebel in tackles with 64, and had 1.5 quarterback sacks. Following a great season, he earned his second letter as a Rebel.

Transcending even higher to his third football season as strong safety in 2007, he started 10 games. Athlon named him 2007 Preseason Third Team All-SEC. That year he finished 3rd on the team and 6th in the SEC with 83 tackles, averaging 8.3 per game. He ranked 4th as a Rebel with 5.5 tackles for losses and 4 pass break-ups. He also forced 2 fumbles and blocked a punt. Following this strong season, he earned his third letter as a Rebel. In his senior year in 2008, Jamarca continued to make aerial moves in football performance and in leadership skills.

He received the 2008 Chucky Mullins Courage Award and wore a #38 patch on his jersey in honor of the late Ole Miss defensive back whose football career came to an end in 1989 when he’d been rendered quadriplegic during a game against Vanderbilt before dying in 1991 of a pulmonary embolism related to his injury. Up until 2005, the winning player had worn Mullins’ #38 jersey but in 2006, the number was officially retired. Jamarca was humbled and honored to sport a Chucky Mullins #38 patch on the front of his jersey and receive a framed Mullins jersey and plaque.

“I didn’t know that I would receive the award, but my teammates had a hunch that I would, and they relayed this to me. The Chucky Mullins Courage Award is a great award and one of the best awards a person can receive. It is a great feeling to have been a recipient of this Mississippi Sports Magazine - 17

award that represents such a great person,” Jamarca said. Jamarca was also the recipient of the 2008 Leadership Award from the Birmingham Alumni Club, and was named to Phil Steel’s Midseason All-SEC Third Team.

As a senior, Jamarca served as team captain and continued as strong safety, starting all 13 games. During an October game against South Carolina in which he posted a team high 11 tackles, Jamarca was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week. He had a strong senior season, ranking 2nd in total tackles with 82, and topped the team in solo stops with 56. He tied for team lead with 2 forced fumbles and recorded 4 tackles for losses and 2 quarterback hurries. Following this fourth and final college season, he earned his fourth letter as a Rebel. As a senior, Jamarca was the SEC active leader in career tackles, and his solid performance got him invited to the 2009 Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Challenge, an opportunity he gladly accepted.

This four-year starter’s heavyhitting strong 287 career tackles garnered attention from NFL recruits, and he received an invitation to the 2009-scouting combine. His performance at the combine was awesome. One of the first in his family to graduate from college, with his B.A. in Criminal Justice, an impressive high school and college football career, including starting 44 games as a Rebel, and with his stellar combine results, Jamarca was ready to soar to the next level. What flew to him was an NFL opportunity.

The Minnesota Vikings selected him in round seven, pick 22, the 231st overall of the 2009 NFL Draft, the first Rebel to get drafted since 2005.

Jamarca was tired, but ecstatic when he finally made the pros. “It was the longest day of my life,” Jamarca joked, “for I had to sit through many rounds waiting to see if my name would be called. I didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to play in the big leagues. When my name was called, it was the best feeling that I ever had. It was a relief and an attest that hard work pays off. I had tears of joy. Since at first other teams touted me, on draft day, I never expected to be with the Minnesota Vikings, but I am glad to be with the team and look forward to another season.”

Jamarca credits his mother, Shirley Taylor, as the impetus for his success because as an example, she set the precedent for him. “My mother inspired me to succeed in life because she was a role model who worked so hard to pave the way for me. Because of her, I was motivated to make positive strides,” Jamarca said. And when Jamarca saw he had a knack for football, he decided to hone his skills and 18 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

follow the stride, full length and full force.

And of course, it paid off.

It isn’t surprising that Jamarca has a career playing football. Three of his cousins attended Ole Miss and played football, and one of them, Eddie Strong, went undrafted in the 2003 NFL Draft but signed as a free agent rookie with the New York Giants in May 2003 before his release three months later. The Minnesota Vikings drafted Jamarca’s first cousin, Dwayne Rudd in 1997 as the first round, 20th pick.

And Jamarca’s cousins Peria Jerry and John

As a competitive person, Jamarca has the personality where he can accomplish anything he puts his mind to, so accomplishing these goals with the Minnesota Vikings is a reality for him. And the jersey numbers he’s donned didn’t hurt either, for they’ve been worn by some of the most accomplished pro players in history. At South Panola High School, Jamarca donned the jersey #25, a number worn by MLB baseball great Barry Bonds, NBA players Mark Price, Gail Goodrich Jr., Gus Johnson, K.C. Jones, and Bill Melchionni, and NFL great Fred Biletnikoff. At Photo Courtesy Minnesota Vikings Ole Miss, Jamarca donned the jersey #13, a number worn by NBA great Wilt Chamberlain, MLB slugger Roberto Clemente, currently worn by both Omar Vizquel and Alex Rodriguez, and by NFL players Dan Marino and Kurt Warner. With the Minnesota Vikings, the #33 that Jamarca currently sports has been worn by MLB players Eddie Murray and Jose Canseco, a host of NBA legends including the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippin, Grant Hill, Alonzo Mourning, and currently by Shaquille O’Neal, and

by NFL legend Pro Football Hall of Fame Player Tony Dorsett. And the football greats #25 Fred Biletnikoff, #13 Kurt Warner, and #33 Tony Dorsett successfully led their teams to Super Bowl championships. So Jamarca has the necessary semblance and talent to rise to the occasion.

If it wasn’t already taken, the one number Jamarca would have at some point chosen in his career is #21 worn by his idol Demond “Bob” Sanders, who’s played safety for the Indianapolis Colts. “I idolize him for Jerry, both brothers, play football, as Peria was the way he plays the game. He is 5’8” while I a 2009 round one, pick 24 draft by the Atlanta am 5’11”. We both have similar playing styles.

Falcons as a defensive tackle, and as John We both have the same body frame. We both recently finished college at Ole Miss where he are undersized, but we both play bigger than played offensive lineman for the Rebels, and is we look,” Jamarca said. projected for an early round selection for the And speaking of numbers, Jamarca is well 2010 NFL Draft. So the apple doesn’t fall too known within the online community, for his far from the tree. myspace friends list is over 478…and rising, Jamarca is happy to play with the Minnesota and his facebook friends list tops 1,600…and Vikings and finished his rookie season playing counting. Jamarca will undoubtedly continue in 14 games with 29 solos and 6 assists. being recognized by people everywhere and Jamarca doesn’t rest on past accomplishments could eventually earn a hall of fame name or become complacent with his current skill for himself as his football skills continue to level, for he plans to continue flying high as ascend. Who knows? Maybe one day Jamarca he approaches his second year with the team. may don a #21 jersey to pay homage to his idol.

“Being in the NFL and performing is a grind. And maybe someday this super man’s zenith It’s no point in focusing on what was done last will be winning a Super Bowl Championship. year, good or bad, because this is all invalid - MSM for the present season at hand. My goals are Tonya M. Huffman is a freelance writer from Shaker to continue to work hard, be better than I was Heights, Ohio. She is an educator and an author of a self my rookie year, and to stay humble, because published inspirational book of quotes and of a children’s book as soon as the big head develops, the big cut that highlights the dangers of gossiping entitled Spreading the Gossip. She is currently writing other books. Tonya can be from the team could come,” Jamarca said. reached by writing to her at thuffman7@hotmail.com.

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MSM

F E AT U R E

Along for the Ride Jackson native Paul Lacoste is letting God lead the way in his life and career

By PAUL JONES Special to Mississippi Sports Magazine

D

uring his playing days, football took Paul Lacoste to many different places.

The former Jackson Prep standout earned All-SEC honors at Mississippi State, and then ventured to the professional level.

At the highest level, Lacoste played with the Indianapolis Colts, in the CFL and in Europe with the NFL-affiliated league. All the while, Lacoste was training for his current career in the athletic field.

Now based in Jackson, Lacoste owns Next Level Sports, LLC., which operates out of Paul Lacoste Sports Training.

“When I was in college, I trained with some guys, and Nike was starting up a program that focused on speed, agility and quickness,” said Lacoste. “That is now called the S.P.A.R.Q. program, which includes speed, power, reaction and quickness. We fly all over to put on speed seminars and work in inner cities like Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago. We put on the events for Nike, and that industry has grown over the years.”

Even during his time in pro football, Lacoste was preparing for his future.

“I trained people all the way through pro ball,” said Lacoste. “My teammates would hire me, and I would train guys after practice.

Sometimes, they would give me a hard time because I was doing this after practice and because I was a pro player, but I knew I wouldn’t be a pro player forever.”

“One day when I was training some guys, Peyton Manning came over and said he knew what I was doing, and that he appreciated it.

It was good to hear that from someone that 20 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

is a first-class guy.” >>>HE APPRECIATED WHAT? WHAT WAS HE DOING? Lacoste added that his programs aren’t just for athletes aspiring to reach their goals of professional athletics.

“One of our big goals is sports training and performance,” said Lacoste. “Our fitness goal is to kill obesity in Mississippi, and we are on the right track. We recently trained state legislators in Mississippi, and they lost a combined 1,401 pounds in 10 weeks.”

“We are currently working with legislators in Arkansas and Louisiana to do the same thing for their states. We have a plan to target every state and have the state legislators lead by example. We’ve been featured on Fox News and CNN and have had interest for some reality shows, so this thing is blowing up.”

Naturally, it makes for a busy daily schedule.

It’s a hectic schedule, yet one that has Lacoste feeling blessed.

“I get up at 3:30 a.m. and drive into town after dodging cows on country roads,” Lacoste said with a laugh. “Our first group starts at 5 a.m., and we have a couple of more groups after that. The rest of the day is spent training with pro athletes or young athletes with a combination of fitness training and performance.

“I believe God is leading me on the path he wants me on, and I am just along for the ride.”

ROUTE TO MSU As previously noted, Lacoste was an all-state linebacker for Jackson Prep. His collegiate

options were slim. However, Lacoste didn’t need much time to decide where he wanted to play college football.

He simply followed his heart and his role model.

“My oldest brother (the late) Jace Lacoste was a three-time, All-SEC decathlete at Mississippi State and graduated with honors,” recalled Lacoste. “He was the ultimate big brother to me. I know people talk about the time about family, but he was bigger than life to me. He went to Mississippi State, and I always wanted to go wherever he went. I tell people all the time that my goal was to make him proud.”

So, when MSU came calling, Lacoste jumped at the opportunity. “(Former MSU head) Coach (Jackie) Sherrill came by the house one day,” said Lacoste. “I had just played one of my best high school games against Jackson Academy. Coach Sherrill called me the next day and asked if I would come up for their game. Then, later that weekend, he came by the house and offered me a scholarship. It was a no-brainer to me.”

“I told Coach Sherrill I wasn’t one of those guys that would wait ‘til signing day, have all those hats on a table, and then choose one. I knew where I wanted to go. I had other teams recruiting me, but not at the magnitude of how State was recruiting me. My dad and grandfather ran track at Oklahoma and they were recruiting me, but Mississippi State was the only one that really believed in me, and at times, I think I was very lucky they believed in me.”

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS Adjusting from high school football to college football is one that all players make, and struggle with at times.

For a player hailing from the academy ranks, there was even more to prove. Early in his college career, Lacoste did just that – something he felt he had to do.

“I have a tough story that actually hurt my feelings pretty bad,” said Lacoste. “When I got to Mississippi State, I was in the bathroom when I over heard two of my teammates talking. One said he couldn’t believe Mississippi State offered me a scholarship.

He said I was an academy boy and an alumni signee. It was terrible, and it hurt my feelings.

I don’t know if they knew I was in there, but they didn’t see me.”

“I never said a word about it. I knew I would prove everyone wrong. I always believed in myself and always knew I would do great things, athletically, even if no one else believed.

My father always told me how great I was and how proud he was of me. And I believed every word of it. I tell dads now that they have an

Photo courtesy University of Pittsburgh Sports Information

Mississippi Sports Magazine - 21

Photo courtesy Mississippi State Sports Information

opportunity with their kids that no one else has. Kids believe what their parents say, the good and the bad. Turns out, I was starting by my junior year and was All-SEC as a senior and had some All-American mention.”

Early in his college career, Lacoste also faced an adjustment concerning his position.

He arrived at MSU as a fullback, but ended his career as an all-conference linebacker.

“During two-a-days my freshman year, we had some injuries at linebacker, and Coach Sherrill came to me about moving over there,” Lacoste recalled. “I always felt (former MSU running backs) Coach Jim Helms just didn’t want me anymore and didn’t see my potential.

For whatever reason, I guess my personality drove him crazy (laughing). I had high energy, and he was very laid back. I probably asked too many questions, and he probably got tired of me after a week and a half.”

So, one day in a staff meeting, Lacoste switched sides of the field.

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“Coach Helms threw it out there and said he didn’t think I would help at running back,” said Lacoste.

“Coach (Jim) Tompkins said he would take me, and I moved to linebacker. I guess he saw something Photo courtesy Mississippi State in my intense play Sports Information and my energy, but I didn’t even know how to tackle anybody and knew nothing about defensive football. I had been a running back all my life. My team would just hand the ball to me, and I would score. That was it.”

“I knew the move was all in God’s hands. I loved every minute of it. But even as a senior, I knew that if something happened, and Coach Sherrill needed me to run the ball, there is no

doubt I could still have been a great running back. I ran a 4.49, and guys would look at me wondering how a white guy at linebacker could be that fast; but I have trained for speed my whole life and I know how to run.”

Playing under Tompkins’ watchful eye was just the start of a players-coach relationship that continues today.

“I loved all of my coaches at Mississippi State and I still do,” said Lacoste. “I learned bits and pieces from all of them and I apply those to my teaching and training today. Coach Tompkins taught me the right footwork, and how to use my hands, eyes and arms. He taught me how to study defense.”

“He was my best friend in college and still is. We work together in my training career, and I visit him in Starkville many times. I would go to practice and then go study film in his office. Then, we would eat lunch together in the cafeteria. After that, Coach Tompkins would go back to the office to make recruiting calls, and I would follow him there. I would just study more game film, and I got very good at it. I got so good as a senior, that when game day came, I knew the play the offense was going to run 90 percent of the time. That was all due to what Coach Tompkins taught me.”

Of course, Lacoste quickly eased all doubts of others with his linebacker play. That even included his defensive coordinator who failed to recruit him at a rival school.

“Joe Lee Dunn was at Ole Miss when I was getting recruited, and then later was our defensive coordinator,” said Lacoste. “I loved Joe Lee, and one of his sayings was ‘actions speak louder than words.’ It was one of the sayings he always wrote on the chalkboard.

He always told us that if you can make tackles, then you can play for him. He played no favorites and found the right guys for his defense.”

“Later in my career, he told me he was sorry and apologized. I said ‘for what?’ He said he didn’t think I would be worth anything in college and told Ole Miss head coach Billy Brewer not to offer me. He told me I was one of his favorites on defense, but I told him it is hard to judge an athlete’s heart and desire, and that he didn’t have to apologize,” said Lacoste.

FAVORITE MOMENTS AT MSU During his college career, Lacoste was able to help the Bulldogs become a consistent winner in the SEC. He helped lead MSU to the 1995 Peach Bowl and led the team with 142 tackles in 1996.

Naturally, Lacoste had more than a few highlights in college, but two memories sit atop his favorites’ list.

“Actually, I have two of them,” said Lacoste.

“My freshman year, I got to dress out against Memphis. It was a non-conference game, so we got to dress out more players. I knew I would not see the field, but man, I had the best

warm up of my life. I went full speed and was excited for my first college game to dress out.

They kicked the ball off, and I had my helmet on, my mouthpiece in and I wasn’t even going into the game that day.”

“Then, I felt this arm around my shoulders.

I looked up, and it was Jace. He said he was proud of me and that he loved me very much.

I asked him how he got down there, and he showed me he had a police escort bring him.

That was a very cool moment in time for me.

It was a neat moment to see my brother and to see how proud he was of me.”

Lacoste’s other favorite moment is one that Bulldog fans also cherish.

“The next time I realized I was living a dream was when we beat Alabama in ‘96 for the first time in like 16 or 17 years,” said Lacoste. “I was the SEC Player of the Week and had a lot of tackles and key stops.”

“I guess there was also another good memory when we played LSU, even though they beat us. I had something like 20 tackles that game.

Every time I hit (former LSU running back) Kevin Faulk, I told him I was going to hit him every time he touched the ball. One time when I tackled him, I accidentally ripped off his jock strap. I ran off with it and handed it to (former MSU defensive coordinator) Joe Lee Dunn. He told me I was crazy.”

Lacoste added that the Bulldog coaches played a huge role in the teams’ success during that era.

“We were successful because of the leadership of our coaches,” said Lacoste. “We also had a lot of talent – guys like Eric Moulds and Walt Harris, who were unbelievable players. Coach Sherrill and his staff recruited a lot of talent, and we were successful because of their leadership and that talent.”

Still, Lacoste said he felt his college career could have produced even more.

“I don’t think we ever reached our potential,” Lacoste said. “Some guys didn’t know what it meant to be a team or play as a team. Some guys were trying to be too cool for this or too cool for that.”

“A lot of times, I wish I could go back and coach some of my teammates and be their strength coach. I wish Coach Sherrill would have let me run the discipline on the team and get rid of guys not doing what they were supposed to do. I would have loved to do that.”

LIFE AFTER MSU Following his collegiate career, Lacoste signed a free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills. He made it through fall camp up until the final cut. Former Bills Head Coach Marv Levy told Lacoste before the final camp scrimmage that he had made the roster.

“He told me not to get hurt,” said Lacoste.

“When I found out I made it, I was floating on air. And wouldn’t you know it, I tore my ankle to shreds that day and tore some ligaments.

They obviously had to cut me that day.”

Lacoste returned to MSU to finish up his master’s degree and get started on his doctorate. Then, another pro football opportunity came his way.

“I got a call from the CFL, and they wanted me to play there,” said Lacoste. “So, I went to British Columbia and I still badly wanted to play football. I remember getting on the plane to go to British Columbia, and my dad saying if I wanted to play in the NFL, I had to be the CFL Rookie of the Year.”

“I was the Rookie of the Year that season. It was one of those seasons where I could have tripped and fallen and still made a tackle. It was just a blessing. A guy could fumble the ball 10 yards away, and it would come right to me. It was just an awesome experience.”

Lacoste did get his NFL opportunity again.

He eventually signed and played with the Indianapolis Colts with the likes of Manning, Marvin Harrison and company. He later played in the XFL and NFL Europe, as well.

Yet, as Lacoste mentioned earlier, he was prepping for life outside of the sport he loves so much.

“I lived pro ball and all those opportunities, but I always knew I would be 10 times better as a coach or trainer than I was a football player,” said Lacoste.

“I have been very blessed. I get to do what I love to do, and have had many blessings from God all along the way.” - MSM

Mississippi Sports Magazine - 23

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Photo courtesy Jimmy Smith Foundation

26 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

COVER STORY

MSM

Man on a MISSION Jimmy Smith has a mission or two and he’s not shy about sharing his visions on two topics that are near and dear to his heart. The development and growth of young athletes as players and people and the return of Jackson State to gridiron greatness. After a successful 13 year career in the NFL, the former Callaway and JSU standout is back in his home state with his wife of 14 years, Sandra, and their five children and is ready to take his new challenges head on.

- BY CHUCK STINSON

A

man in love with Mississippi, Smith wants to give kids and aspiring football players lessons in football and more importantly life. “It goes hand in hand.

You can teach these people how to run, jump, play football and basketball all day long. But what is going to separate them? You have got to have more than just a jump shot and do more than just catch a football. I whisper criticism and shout encouragement.”

At the age of 41, Smith knows all about the intangibles when it comes to on the field

and even more importantly off the field issues. He has endured a lot. Some of it out of his control and some of it his own doing.

Jimmy followed in his father Jimmy Smith, Sr.’s footsteps by playing at Jackson State and being drafted into the NFL. His choice of playing at JSU was because his dad played for the Tigers. He was offered chances at bigger schools but he liked the idea of following dad’s lead and playing at home. “We ate and slept football all the time. I had plenty of offers from the University of Florida, University of Texas but I chose to go to Jackson State because of my father.”

Mississippi Sports Magazine - 27

After his days at JSU he was taken by the Dallas Cowboys as a second round pick in 1992. The start to his NFL career was a rough one. He suffered a broken leg in his rookie year and a near fatal infection following an emergency appendectomy in 1993. That led him out of Dallas and to a brief stop in Philadelphia where he was cut and left without a team in 1994. Even though he picked up two Super Bowl rings in Dallas despite his injury and illness, those are not the years he is remembered for as a player.

He is most remembered for his time in Jacksonville. He signed with the expansion Jaguars in their inaugural season of 1995.

Smith had something to prove and he did more than enough to do so. “No one knew me out of Jackson State. No one knew Jimmy Smith. They had a whole coaching staff from Boston College. They knew all the players from Michigan, the Desmond Howards, the Ohio State players. I wasn‘t even on their map.

I had a few coaches pulling for me that told coach Tom Coughlin to look out for me. He said that if I was so good then why was I sitting at home and he had a good point.” Smith said that because of his work ethic, perseverance and determination of wanting to be the best, he was able to impress the coaching staff and became one of the league’s top receivers for the better part of a decade. The Jaguars all time leading receiver, he was a five-time Pro-Bowler in Jacksonville and helped the franchise to two AFC Championship games.

His numbers are up there with some of the greats. Currently he is third on the all time receptions list behind Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Art Monk. His 12,287 yards rank 11th all time. Smith says he has Hall of Fame numbers but what is needed to solidify his resume to really be considered a Hall member is “giving back.” That is the next phase of his professional career and personal life.

Smith wants to share the determination that made him successful with kids he comes in contact with but even more importantly he wants to share the other side of the story.

The darker side. He eventually found himself wrapped up in the world of a professional athlete. A world that is not always based in reality. “When I was playing with the Jaguars I didn’t have to lift a finger. I had to get the right nutrition and make sure I was well rested and ready to go. Other than that I just had to get in my car and go to the stadium.” Once football was gone, Smith says that he lost the layers of protection that he was surrounded by because he was a pampered athlete. He admits that he didn’t handle that very well. In April of 2009 was arrested for drug possession. He didn’t do any jail time getting 18 months probation.

He also voluntarily entered a drug treatment program after his arrest. He previously had endured a four game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy in 2003. All because, in his words, he had trouble coping.

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Photo courtesy Jackson State Athletics

Photo courtesy Jimmy Smith Foundation

“I have been through those problems. I can mentor guys on how to avoid that trouble. There is a better chance that they will listen to me because I have been there than someone else who hasn’t been in that situation. The stuff that you do on the field is easy. The stuff off the field is the hard part.”

Photo courtesy Jackson State Athletics

Photo courtesy Jimmy Smith Foundation

On May 11, 2006, Smith announced his retirement from the NFL. He finished his career seventh in NFL history with 862 catches and 11th in league history with 12,287 yards.

He had 67 career touchdown catches with the Jaguars. He had seven straight 1,000 yard seasons which ranks third behind Jerry Rice and Tim Brown.

“The reason I got in trouble was that I saw drugs as a solution. I said, ‘Oh Calgon take me away.” Smith said that didn’t fix the problem it just covered it up. “I was not happy. I was not managing life”. Therefore he had to fire his old manager which was himself. He then made God as his new manager and got great family support from his wife and kids. That’s the story he really wants to share.

“I have been through those problems. I can mentor guys on how to avoid that trouble.

There is a better chance that they will listen to me because I have been there than someone else who hasn’t been in that situation. The stuff that you do on the field is easy. The stuff off the field is the hard part.” He wants to teach kids that find themselves under his tutelage that football will not always be around. Five years after retiring Smith states that he is “still having a hard time making that adjustment.” But he is immersing himself in his new passions, making kids understand all the aspects of athletics and returning his alma mater Jackson State to the glory years.

“During my time in the SWAC we were winning championships under W.C. Gorden.

My freshman year we were loaded. We had one of the top recruiting classes in the state.

We had about three or four top 40 recruits that year including myself. We won a lot of championships there. During my four years

there we won three.”

He adds that his coaches at JSU were coaches that helped develop the talents of players.

“W.C. Gorden and my offensive coordinator Cardell Jones (who later coached Steve McNair at Alcorn State) were fundamentally sound coaches. I was taught how to run a go route.

I was taught how to come off the ball. They were great teachers.” He feels that some of that is missing these days in Tigerland.

But it’s not just the JSU program he is concerned about. It’s the SWAC as a whole.

The NFL draft is void of SWAC talent for the most part these days and that is baffling to Smith. “ During that time we put players into the NFL consistently and you don’t see that nowadays.”

“Any time you don’t see a Jackson State player or any player in the SWAC for that matter not even mentioned on draft day.

We’ve got problems. The whole football world is watching. That’s the way it was when we used to put players in the first round. Not only did they become great players, they became some of the greatest players to ever play the game.”

Why is there such a gap between what the league is and what it used to be? Smith says it’s simple. “Obviously the programs are not up to par. I held a Jackson State pro day this year and just getting some comments from the pro

scouts that all the programs are not what they used to be. We have to go back and bring back the teaching and the good coaching that was once offered by SWAC coaching. The SWAC period does not have a lot of top tier athletes and that makes the conference poor.”

Smith, who was an all-conference performer for the Tigers, says that one of the keys to returning Jackson State is to involve former Tigers in the program more. “When I was in school I asked, ‘Why doesn’t Walter Payton come back? Why Doesn’t Jackie Slater come back?’. Then I get into the league and I don’t come back.” Smith says that he realized why they didn’t return. “Once we leave our schools we feel like that we are not embraced when we come back and the only thing that is wanted out of us is a check. If that is all they need out of us then there is no need for us to come back. That’s the feeling that I had and I’m sure that’s the feeling all these other guys had.”

Smith insists that he is not placing blame on the current coaching staff or past coaching staff or the administration. He just says that the mindset has to be changed. A mindset that would involve past Tigers in the program in more ways than financially. “We need to get guys to say, ‘You went to school here. We want you back here. We need you with the program.

We don’t necessarily need your money. We want your presence here.”

He is a firm believer that the Tigers and the league can return to the football spotlight.

“There is no reason what so ever than we can put players into the NFL either through the draft or free agency. I don’t think any of the guys are getting looks now and it’s all become of below average programs. This is not coming from me this is coming from NFL scouts.”

Smith also wants former greats around the SWAC to become more involved in making the league great again. He also says that the fans have a responsibility to return the league to greatness. “We’re going to educate. We’re going to bring out the awareness of the importance of having a quality program at my school.”

His fear is that the conference will eventually fade away. “It’s about to be out of here”. That is important to him because he doesn’t want the history and legacy of the league to be erased.

A legacy that he helped build along with so many other greats like Walter Payton, Jerry Rice and Steve McNair.

Ultimately maybe Smith can see his two passions fuse. Through the Jimmy Smith Foundation and Jimmy Smith Athletics he is mentoring kids in the ways of the games and the ways of the world. Then some of those kids will see what he has given back to the community and be proud to play where he did, at Jackson State or maybe somewhere else in the SWAC for that matter.

“If I can get one kid up on that podium (at the NFL draft) saying, ‘Thanks to Jimmy Smith I’m here today’, then I’ve done my job.”

– MSM Mississippi Sports Magazine - 29

MSM

FLASHBACK

Unlikely win over Ole Miss still sweet for ‘Wee’Willie 40 years later, Heidelburg’s feat has paved the way for black athletes in Mississippi and across the South

By TYLER CLEVELAND Special to Mississippi Sports Magazine

Photo courtesy Southern Miss Sports Information

T

his summer in Jackson, Belhaven College running backs coach Willie Heidelburg will stalk the sidelines of the Blazers’ football field, watching this year’s crop of tailbacks compete for a roster spot and a college scholarship.

Belhaven’s football team will be about half black, half white when they take the field for the 2010 season - a ratio that is almost universal in the modern age of college football.

For Willie, it’s a trend he once thought impossible.

A much younger Heidelburg was on the front lines 39 years ago, and his actions changed football in Mississippi forever.

USM coach P.W. “Bear” Underwood recruited Willie as a sophomore out of Pearl River Community College in the Spring of 1970. He was to be the first black football player at the University of Southern Mississippi.

At 5-foot-6, 147 pounds soaking wet, he was the smallest player on the Southerner roster. On Oct. 17, the Eagles were set to take the field against fourth-ranked Ole Miss Rebels and legendary Rebel coach John Vaught in Oxford.

A week earlier, the Eagles had been thrashed 41-14 by San Diego State. A headline in the Meridian Star that week bore a picture of Ole Miss senior captain quarterback and Heisman Trophy front-runner Archie Manning putting on his cleats, with a headline that read “Is this one even worth suiting up for, Archie?”

The Southerners went into Oxford a near 30-point underdog, and early on, it looked like the game might get that ugly.

Manning hit his favorite target Tommy Franks for a 51-yard touchdown strike on the opening drive, and made it look as easy as a stroll in the park.

Nothing was easy for the Rebels after that. The undersized, outclassed Southern Miss team kept plugging away at its highcaliber counterpart, and as Heidelburg remembers, “just kept making plays.”

“We were just thankful to get a chance to get on the field with a team of their notoriety,” Heidelburg said. “Realistically, we knew the probability of us getting beat was overwhelming, but as the game went on, we just hung around and hung around.”

Heidelburg, who according to lore was the only black man in the stadium aside from Ole Miss’ equipment manager, carried the ball three times and caught one pass, scoring twice on endaround reverses.

Retired New Orleans Saints scout Hamp Cook, then the Southern Miss offensive line coach, said he remembers the two scoring plays like it was yesterday.

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Photo courtesy Belhaven Sports Information

“Willie scored on the same play, twice,” Cook said. “I remember thinking, ‘Man I can’t wait to get home and watch some tape to see how great my guys blocked.’ But when I got home to look at the tape, we didn’t block anybody, Willie just dodged them all.”

As the game went on, the Southern Miss players started to believe, and when the Eagle defense stuffed an Ole Miss drive and got the ball back with two minutes remaining, it sunk in.

“I remember my best friend on the team was a third-string running back from Magee named Bubba,” Heidelburg recalls. “He turns to me with two minutes to go and says ‘We’re gonna beat Ole Miss!’ It was the first time I had looked at the game clock since halftime.”

Southern Miss defeated Ole Miss 30-14, with Heidelburg scoring the two touchdowns that made up the difference showing on the scoreboard.

Manning was as brilliant in defeat as ever in victory, completing 30 of 56 pass attempts for 341 yards. The former NFL quarterback says he will never forget that day.

“I remember we had just put in new astroturf on the playing field,” Manning recalls.

“We all thought it was cool, but we started to back track a little after Willie was just too fast on it for us to stop him.”

For days after the game, the headlines in the state’s newspapers were dominated by recounts of the game. Some called it the greatest upset in football history, some the “shot heard ‘round the football world.”

The repercussions from the game have spanned the decades in the state of Mississippi.

Later that season, John Vaught, still Ole Miss’ all-time winningest coach, suffered a heart attack and was forced to retire. The next season, Ole Miss signed its first black player, “Gentle” Ben Williams, who went on to become an All-American for Ole Miss.

The Rebels have never been ranked as high in the polls nationally since that day.

The next week, Southern Miss would get thrashed 51-15 by Miss. State, but the Ole Miss game would live on in USM lore forever.

The win meant a surge of funds for the USM football program that helped to more than double the capacity of the stands at Faulkner Field - now M.M. Roberts Stadium.

Southern Miss defeated Ole Miss five more times before the series ended in 1984, but no win was as meaningful as that day.

Heidelburg, who now resides in West Jackson, finished his USM career without much ado. In fact, the next week at Mississippi State, he was crushed on that same endaround call on the first play from scrimmage and forced to sit out the rest of the game.

But his legacy as the first black player to help a division-one university in Mississippi win a football game over an all-white team was cemented.

Of course, he was the first to ever be given the chance.

“I didn’t see it like that at the time,” Heidelberg reminisces from his office at Belhaven. “I was just happy to have the opportunity to go to college and play collegiate athletics.”

Heidelburg went on to get a degree in education, and taught at Jackson’s Murrah High School for 25 years.

Now retired, he has a chance to get back to his favorite past-time, college football.

“Growing up in Lumberton, my parents got the Hattiesburg American every morning,” Heidelburg said. “I read about Southern Miss

and Ole Miss and Mississippi State, and I just wanted to be a part of college football.”

Now in his tenth season at Belhaven, Heidelburg is teaching the next generation the lessons he learned with the opportunity he received many years ago.

“It’s a feeling that’s better than winning, to know you had a hand in the growth of these young men,” Heidelburg said. “The best part is getting to watch our players come in as boys and helping to mold them into young men.”

On a muggy day in October of 1970, Heidelburg helped mold every college football player in Mississippi, whether he was trying to or not. - MSM

Mississippi Sports Magazine - 31

MSM

2010 CHUCKY MULLINS AWARD

Kentrell Lockett Earns 21st Annual Chucky Mullins Courage Award

(l to r) Ole MIss Head Coach Houston Nutt, 2010 Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner Kentrell Lockett, William Hamilton with Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and Chad Bush with Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. - Photo courtesy Ole Miss Athletics

O

le Miss defensive end Kentrell Lockett of Hahnville, La., has been selected as the 21st recipient of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award, which goes to a rising senior defensive player each year.

The award, sponsored by Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, honors the late Chucky Mullins, who had his Ole Miss career come to an end during the 1989 Homecoming game against Vanderbilt when he was paralyzed after making a tackle. After returning to his studies at Ole Miss, Mullins passed away on May 6, 1991.

The selection of Lockett was announced April 15 at the Chucky Mullins Courage Award Banquet, which is sponsored each year by Phi Beta Sigma and Phi Kappa Psi fraternities.

Lockett was recognized during the Cellular South Grove Bowl spring football game on April 17.

Other finalists for the award included safety Johnny Brown, linebacker Jonathan Cornell, tackle Ted Laurent, tackle Jerrell Powe and linebacker Allen Walker. In addition to the revealing of the winner, attendees were

32 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

addressed by past recipient and current Duke assistant coach Derek Jones, who offered his reflections on Chucky Mullins and the significance of the honor.

“This award has really grown on me,” said Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt. “Once you understand and hear the stories from Coach (Billy) Brewer, and you hear these past recipients talk about what it means, it breaks you down a little bit. Each year everyone is very anxious to see who is going to be chosen the winnner. It’s awfully special.

“I think every one of the finalists would have been a good representative. It was very difficult, but we’re pleased with the selection.

(Kentrell) has always been a class act. He’s a special guy, a trememdous leader for us and an excellent football player.”

Lockett, who wears No. 40, will have the honor of wearing a “38” patch on his jersey during his senior campaign. Mullins wore No. 38 as a player at Ole Miss.

“I’m grateful that the coaches believed in me enough to nominate me with these great guys and to think I’m a responsible enough

person to receive this award,” Lockett said.

“This shows that hard work and living right pays off.”

A three-year letterman, Lockett has started every game the past two seasons and helped the Rebel defense top the SEC in tackles for loss both years. He earned All-SEC third team honors in 2009, when he recorded a teamhigh 13 QB pressures and ranked second on the team in both TFLs (10.0) and sacks (5.0).

As a sophomore, Lockett tied for eighth in the conference in TFLs with 11.5, and he gained national notoriety for his historic blocked extra point in the 31-30 upset of eventual national champion Florida in Gainesville.

Lockett joins 20 former Ole Miss Rebels to receive the Chucky Mullins Courage Award.

They include Chris Mitchell, Jeff Carter, Trea Southerland, Johnny Dixon, Alundis Brice, Michael Lowery, Derek Jones, Nate Wayne, Gary Thigpen, Ronnie Heard, Anthony Magee, Kevin Thomas, Lanier Goethie, Jamil Northcutt, Eric Oliver, Kelvin Robinson, Patrick Willis, Jeremy Garrett, Jamarca Sanford and Marcus Tillman. - MSM

Mississippi Sports Magazine - 33

MSM

OUTDOORS

VOICE OF THE SOUTH Paul Ott has been one true-blue ambassador for the state of Mississippi for the last 40-plus years

By NASH NUNNERY Special to Mississippi Sports Magazine

F

orget governors, senators, athletes, activists and musicians.

For many native Mississippians, there’s been one true-blue ambassador for the state in the last 40-plus years and his name is Paul Ott. Conservationist. Outdoorsman.

Singer. Songwriter. Media personality. Commercial pitchman. Cancer survivor. State ambassador.

All of the above aptly describe Ott, who has been dubbed the “Voice of the South” when it comes to conveying the message of conserving a place for wild things and wild places for future generations to Family has always been the most important thing to Paul. enjoy.

The Pike County native was preaching his ed on Hattiesburg’s WDAM-TV. “The Trees “cut a tree and plant a new one” philosophy Are Gone” tune was Ott’s subliminal way of long before the age of modern day radical en- protesting the National Forest Service’s unvironmentalists, whose idea of saving a tree is conscionable cutting of acorn trees in nearby to drive steel spikes into the bark to discour- Desoto National Forest. age cut-happy lumberjacks.

It certainly got the federal agency’s atten “I would consider myself a conservationist tion. and not an environmentalist,” said Ott, whose “We sang the song on our Thursday night easy-going manner and smooth south Missis- show and the phones lit up,” said the 76-year sippi drawl is familiar to thousands who might old Ott. “The last call came from an official not know his face but have heard his velvet from the Forest Service in Atlanta. He flew voice. “Deer hunting is like second heaven to into Hattiesburg the next day and suddenly me but I’ve devoted my life to preserving our the tree cutting stopped in Desoto.” outdoors and its resources through the uni- Today, Ott admits his motives were selfversal language of music.” serving. He says the clear-cutting of the In fact, Ott wrote his first song in the early Desoto forest was destroying his favorite deer 1960s for a 30-minute weekly show he host- hunting grounds. Little did he know the song

34 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

he penned would pave the road for a career promoting wildlife conservation.

Soon after, the Mississippi Game & Fish Commission asked him to co-write more songs and produce public service announcements to promote conservation in the state.

Ott initially balked at the offer, although he was working three jobs in Hattiesburg and starting a family.

“I told (MG&FC executive director) Billy Joe Cross I couldn’t come work for them,” he recalled.

“Well, Billy Joe told me he’d pay me three times what I was making.”

Cross’s offer launched a career that has served Ott and the people he’s touched with his fervent message of conservation, not only in his home state but across the nation, as well.

Pike County’s favorite son became one of America’s favorite sons.

A couple of those early MG&FC public service television spots garnered national attention, including one featuring Ott’s pre-teen son Paul Ott Carruth, Jr., who later made a name for himself as a running back for Bear Bryant at Alabama and then the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.

The National Wildlife Federation took notice of Ott’s musical talent and his heartfelt

Photo courtesy of TNA Wrestling

“We sang the song (The Trees are Gone) on our Thursday night show and the phones lit up,” said the 76-year old Ott. “The last call came from an official from the Forest Service in Atlanta. He flew into Hattiesburg the next day and suddenly the tree cutting stopped in Desoto.”

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commitment to all things outdoors.

“With the NWF, I traveled all over the country promoting conservation,” he said. “I had the pleasure of appearing at the state governor’s conventions in all fifty states and six state legislative sessions on behalf of the organization. And everywhere we went, I ‘spoke Mississippi.’ I agree with (former state First Lady) Pat Fordice. Our state is the best kept secret in the world.”

Ott grew up mostly in his beloved Pike County, though he and his mother lived in Jackson until he completed second grade, when he moved back to rural Dixie Springs.

His step-grandfather fueled Ott’s interest in hunting and fishing.

“He taught me how to hunt squirrel and rabbit, fish and appreciate the outdoors,” said Ott, a University of Southern Mississippi graduate.

Every Monday night, Ott hosts his popular “Listen to the Eagle” live radio call-in show with son Bert Carruth and Chris Whittington.

With 19 affiliates scattered across the state, the show reaches the Mississippi masses with a format he describes as “religious-outdoors.”

Ott’s favorite item in his studio is this replica of the Ten Commandments

Ott “on the air” in his studio

On a typical “Listen to the Eagle” show, listeners are treated to lively conversations as varied as returning prayer to public schools, wild game recipes or callers debating the location of the best turkey hunting in the state.

“Ours is a God, family and country show,” said Ott, who made national headlines several years ago when he faced-off with an ACLU attorney at a local high school football game over prayer in the schools. “The name of our show coincides with the bald eagle being the symbol of our country. We should listen to what the folks in our country are saying.”

Life hasn’t been always idyllic for the personable Ott. His first wife and mother of the three Carruth children, Alberta, died of ovarian cancer at age 44 after a two-year illness. Ott’s daugh36 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

ter, Carla Carruth Tigner, learned that she had breast cancer at the age of 42 and underwent a double mastectomy and chemotherapy.

Then, in 2007, Ott discovered a lump in his breast one night while taping his radio show.

The lump turned out to be breast cancer.

Medical experts say the risk of a man experiencing breast cancer is extremely small – about 1 in 100,000.

Ott’s doctor recommended a mastectomy, which he received. However, the cancer didn’t require either chemotherapy or radiation.

Appearing on NBC’s Today Show afterwards, Ott was told by a doctor on the program that his cancer was “necrotic,” which means that the cancer died from lack of blood.

Ott says that his cancer dying was the Lord’s

Sons Paul (left) and Bert

work, plain and simple.

Now in his fifth decade of promoting conservation, Ott is like the Energizer Bunny, and keeps going and going and going.

He and wife Lynda share a wonderful lake home at his beloved Dixie Springs and he continues to maintain a full schedule of speaking engagements and appearances, all the while “talking Mississippi.”

In addition, the ambidextrous Ott, who picked up the sport of tennis at age 40, plays the game several times a week. Left-handed or right-handed, he’s competitive, having been ranked the state’s No. 1 Senior Singles player at 60.

“I still compete in Senior doubles with my half-brother, Benson Holland,” he said. “Tennis keeps me fit and active.”

Asked how he wants to be recalled when he’s gone, the master storyteller Ott keeps it brief and succinct.

“I’d like to be remembered as a man who gave more than he took,” he answered.

In a nutshell, that’s Paul Ott. - MSM

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Mississippi Sports Magazine - 37

MSM

F E AT U R E

END OF AN

ERA

After 30 years as SID at Ole Miss, Calhoun City native Langston Rogers retires Photo courtesy the Calhoun County Journal

By JOEL McNEESE Calhoun County Journal

L

angston Rogers is most comfortable staying in the background.

It’s there behind the scenes that the Calhoun City native has put together a Hall of Fame career as a sports information director with Delta State University and Ole Miss.

Rogers practically grew up on the Calhoun City Square. His mother died when he was not yet 1-year-old, and his father was in the Merchant Marines, stationed in St. Petersburg, Fla. He later served almost 20 years in the U.S. Air Force.

Rogers, his brother David and sister Raymona (James) were 1, 3 and 5-years-old and facing the possibility of being separated.

“They wanted to split us up. I was going to get sent to Memphis with family, my brother to a great aunt in Shannon, and my sister would remain there in Calhoun City with our grandparents,” Rogers said.

“But my grandmother put her foot down. She wouldn’t have it.”

38 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

Olivia and Buck Langston raised all three of their grandchildren.

Mr. Langston farmed ap-proximately 20 acres just east of Hwy. 9 near Bobby Parker’s business today at the northern city limits of Calhoun City. Mrs. Lang-ston operated a small cafe on the Calhoun City square.

“It was originally on the northeast corner of the square,” Rogers said.

“I remember when it was moved, just like a house, to the southwest corner. It was the place to go for a good hamburger and Coke. Her Brunswick stew was one of her calling cards.”

Rogers wanted to work on the farm with his grandfather, but his grandmother said he was too small. His brother went to the farm, and Rogers went to work in the cafe.

“I would wash all the dishes after breakfast and then go play baseball,” Rogers said. “Then I’d come back and wash the lunch dishes and then go play ball again. I practically grew up in that cafe.”

Rogers later found work with the Monitor-Herald newspaper and the Murphree family. Publisher Stanley Murphree paid him 50 cents

every Saturday to sweep out the building.

Editor June Murphree gave him his first writing assignment when he was 8-years-old.

“I turned in my first story to June, which was on my Little League ball game,” Rogers said.

“She told me I needed a byline. I wrote ‘By Langston Rogers, Sportsriter.’

“She printed it exactly like that, misspelled, just to teach me a lesson,” Rogers grinned. “I was only in the third grade, but I learned my lesson.”

Later, Mr. Murphree allowed Rogers to sweep up the shavings from the linotype. He would build a big fire under a cast iron pot and melt the shavings down to pour into a mold.

“I learned to recycle early,” Rogers laughed. “I got paid a $1 for that.

I learned the newspaper business literally from the floor up.”

Rogers’ grandmother instilled a work ethic in him that kept him busy. He worked at various times at Listenbee’s drug store, Western Auto, and even shined shoes on the square.

“Some Saturdays I would make $12 shining shoes,” Rogers said. “I thought I was the richest man around.”

Rogers recalled when the streets were paved in Calhoun City, he and his brother loaded up a “little red wagon” with hamburgers, candy and Cokes and walked to the spot just outside of the town where the workers were making the asphalt and set up shop.

When he wasn’t in school where he worked on the school newspaper and annual, or at work in the cafe or one of his other jobs, Rogers was most often enjoying his favorite pastime of baseball.

“Baseball meant everything to me,” Rogers said. “My relationships came from baseball.”

It was baseball that brought him to Bruce to play for Coach Odis Logan’s American Legion team. It was the only one in the county at the time.

“I’ll always remember how uncomfortable it was putting that Bruce uniform on in the cafe and all the strange looks I would get,” Rogers grinned. “I would hitchhike to Bruce. It was all in good fun.”

As graduation neared, Rogers desperately wanted to go to Ole Miss.

Dr. Carter Dobbs helped him to secure a manager’s position with the football team. But Coach John Vaught’s rule was freshman managers had to volunteer and could earn a scholarship as a sophomore.

“I didn’t have the where-with-all to do that,” Rogers said.

Then came legendary coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan to Calhoun City one day looking for football players for East Mississippi Junior College. Rogers met Sullivan and ended up landing a scholarship to East Mississippi as a statistician for the football team, baseball player, and student sports information director. While there he also served the school as editor of the campus newspaper and student body president.

“I got involved in everything I could,” Rogers said.

From East Mississippi he traveled to the Delta where he played baseball for Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Dave “Boo” Ferriss at Delta State. Rogers earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Delta State where he was also hired as a student sports information director.

There Rogers climbed the ladder and was eventually hired as the university’s first full-time sports information director.

He served in that role for 17 years before coming to Ole Miss on July 1, 1981.

Rogers was a finalist to come to Ole Miss a few years earlier, but pulled himself out of the running. He was being interviewed by Coach Vaught and other members of the selection panel when he told them that Bobo Champion deserved the job. Champion had served longtime SID Billy Gates as his assistant.

“Bobo had been extremely loyal, and loyalty means a lot to me,” Rogers said. “I guess that goes back to my grandmother and what she taught me. I had a great job in Cleveland, and my family was settled there.”

A year later Steve Sloan was hired as the new Ole Miss coach and he

brought his own SID in, reaffirming Rogers’ earlier decision to stay in Cleveland.

Ole Miss did come calling a few years later when Warner Alford extended the opportunity. Rogers was ready this time to fulfill his dream of being a Rebel. In 1984, he was named the assistant athletics director for sports information, and has since been promoted to senior associate athletics director.

“Ever since I was a kid I wanted to come to Ole Miss,” Rogers said.

“It’s hard for me to believe now that I’ve been here at Ole Miss longer than I was at Delta State.”

Rogers credits his time with Coach Sullivan at East Mississippi and his tenure with Coach Ferriss and Coach Horace McCool at Delta State with putting him “on track.”

“Coach Sullivan gave me the opportunity and responsibility to succeed right out of high school,” Rogers said.

“I had so many great years at Delta State. I was there at a wonderful time when the women’s basketball program was in the midst of winning three straight national championships. That experience really opened a lot for doors for me in building relationships with the national media.

It’s all about relationships in this business.”

Rogers said his time at Ole Miss has been filled with more great memories, such as the football win at Alabama in 1988 – the day the Bear Bryant museum was dedicated.

“There have been so many great wins and heartbreaking losses in all the sports, it would be impossible to name them all,” Rogers said.

Among his favorite memories, however, are the student athletes who have come to him before leaving just to say thanks – athletes like Wesley Walls, Terrance Metcalf, Eli Manning, Deuce McAllister and more.

“That’s why I do it,” Rogers said. “To see those student athletes come in as kids and leave as adults. It’s not about me. It’s about the student athletes, coaches and administrators.”

Rogers’ career has been filled with numerous accomplishments.

He is a past president of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and served 11 years on the Board of Directors.

He continued to serve on several key committees of CoSIDA and became the 100th inductee into its Hall of Fame in 1990. Rogers has also received the Trailblazer Award from CoSIDA. The award goes to a person who has mentored and helped improve the level of ethnic and gender diversity within CoSIDA. Rogers was also inducted into the Mississippi Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame in 1997. He received the Distinguished Statesman Award from Delta State in 1998, the Elmore (Scoop) Hudgins Sports Information Directors Award from the All-American Football Foundation in 1999, and the Arch Ward Award from CoSIDA in 2001. The Arch Ward Award is presented annually to a CoSIDA member who has made outstanding contributions to college sports information and is the highest award presented to a member of that national organization.

He served as a member of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame District 3 screening committee, was a member of the Media Coordination Committee for the NCAA Women’s Final Four Basketball Championship and was an honorary member of the University of Mississippi M-Club Alumni Chapter. He is also a past president of the Southeastern Conference sports information directors and was one of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s press liaison officers at the 1982 National Sports Festival.

“This wasn’t an easy profession,” Rogers said. “I’ve been blessed with a very supportive family.”

He is married to the former Paula Lowery of Cleveland, Miss. They have two children, Laura and Bill, and four grandchildren, Austin, Anna, Abbie and Avery. Laura received her PhD from the University of Mississippi and Bill’s undergraduate degree is from Ole Miss.

“I’m proud of where I came from in Calhoun City and Calhoun County,” Rogers said. “It was a great place to grow up. I had wonderful grandparents who worked hard and instilled tremendous values to carry us through life.” - MSM Mississippi Sports Magazine - 39

MSM

BEHIND THE MIC

The Great American Summer

By BEN INGRAM Host of The Ben Ingram Show 930AM - Jackson

H

ere in the deep south and particularly in Mississippi, college football has been as deep seeded a tradition as eating Thanksgiving dinner at your grandparents house or wearing new clothes for Easter Sunday. Football to some is almost religion and can often be heard as the topic of conversation in barbershops, your local gym’s locker room and on sports talk radio year ‘round. Football’s popularity is higher than ever and is without a doubt the most popular sport in the state. However, there was a time when football was distant second in popularity to the great game of baseball.

Football didn’t start in the south but it does have deep roots in the south. That being said, if college football is that big, beautiful magnolia tree in your grandmother’s front yard, then baseball is the humongous old oak tree around back. It’s twice the size of the beauty in the front yard, but sits behind the house. It is very visible from the street and is extremely beautiful, but doesn’t get the attention the magnolia receives. Not in Mississippi anyway.

It’s not quite summer time yet, but the hot, dusty, dry weather is knocking on our door.

For some people, that has them thinking about the upcoming football season that is still four months away. That’s all fine and dandy, but I feel sorry for people that go through the dog days dwelling on autumn rather than the time that is upon us. The marvelous, American summer. Summer means baseball and that means a smile on my face.

Is there anything more uniquely American than a father and son at the ballgame? Heck, outside of the Constitution, is there anything more uniquely American than baseball itself?

In my opinion there isn’t and never will be. To me, the game is absolutely perfect. There may be people in the game that aren’t, in fact the game has always had it’s fair share of villains, scandals and thieves but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t perfect. This game that comes to life with nature in the spring and dies with the leaves in the fall is a thing of absolute beauty.

I love football. I love tailgating, bowl season and Saturdays in the fall. But what I feel for baseball goes significantly deeper. Baseball isn’t just the game. It’s learning the game from my Dad at a young age. It’s seeing the thrill 40 - Mississippi Sports Magazine

on a young boy’s face who’s just hit his first home run and has the overwhelming joy of getting pats on the back from his teammates as he enters the dugout. It’s walking through the concourse at Fenway Park, eating a hot dog in the bleachers at Wrigley Field or just sitting back in any ballpark and just filling my nose with the unique smell of the summer air. It’s laying down next to my radio as a kid and listening to the voice of Vin Scully or Jack Buck make the game come to life over the static of an AM radio station. It’s pure and it’s perfect and it’s only provided by baseball.

Mississippi and Baseball When baseball began, it was completely amateur and had no single point of origin.

It spread across the country like wild fire and eventually evolved into a game played by men who were paid to play. Through the years, several leagues sprung up all over the country. Through the evolution of it all, the National League was organized and the American League came on roughly 23 years later. Once the game was professional and organized, it was all boys around the country could do to keep from going to bed at night with dreams of one day running out onto the field at Sportsmans Park in St. Louis or Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Young males were mesmerized by Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner. Tales of their legendary performances and those of many others were all the rave and baseball was the undisputed king of American sports.

Baseball’s popularity was widespread and became extremely popular in the south and in Mississippi. In the Magnolia State, the early days of baseball meant the Cotton States League. A lower class league, featuring semipro ballplayers that started in 1902 and ran off and on all the way into the 1950’s. Teams like the Vicksburg Hillbillies, Greenville Buckshots, Meridian Southern Giants and Greenwood Scouts all featured Mississippians that became local heros. These ballplayers were farmers, mechanics or millworkers. They would play ball any and every chance they could. Playing all weekend, playing double headers, traveling to other cities and bringing the thrill of baseball to a state that was crazy for the game.

Throughout the years and decades, this state not only became giant fans of the game, but also started to see some of their own

playing baseball at the highest level. Cool Papa Bell, Boo Ferris, Claude Passeau and Harry Walker were some of the first players from Mississippi to make it as professionals.

Through the decades, Jake Gibbs, Frank Baker, Don Blasingame, Bob Didier, George Scott and many others made the state proud with their advances in baseball. Some never making it out of the minor leagues, some making it all the way to the major leagues. This is a trend that has only been enhanced with time, as the majors and minors are saturated with Mississippians. Current ball players like Roy Oswalt, Seth Smith, Fred Lewis, Brent Leach, Bill Hall, Nook Logan and Paul Maholm are just a few of the names that make Mississippi baseball fans proud every night during the summer. This group of Mississippi ballplayers follows the last generation of players that included names like Jeff Brantley, Ellis Burks, Dmitri Young, Oil Can Boyd, Charlie Hayes and Dave Parker.

Just these names alone have been apart of World Series championships, no-hitters, historic records and even the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. There may be states that can boast more Hall of Famers or MVP’s, but this is a state that is truly unique in it’s baseball heritage. A state who’s fingerprints are all over the history of the game.

A complete history of Mississippi and the game of baseball would take up more pages than this magazine has in it, but that’s something that should make all Mississippi baseball fans awfully proud. Mississippi has seen the grande game go from the old bean fields where grown men would play on Sundays after church, all the way to the modern day games at Trustmark Park, Dudy Noble Field, Swayze Field and Pete Taylor Park. Each venue has it’s own traditions and fan bases, but it’s the game that brings us out.

The game that we celebrate and revere this time every year.

So in closing, I am proud to see the unique ways that my home state has celebrated baseball through the decades. I can’t wait to see the game continue to thrive across our great nation and in our home state of Mississippi.

The game is great and always will be and it’s something we do very well in Mississippi.

Football will be here soon enough, till then, spend some time under the old oak tree in the back yard. It has so much to offer and will always be perfect. - MSM

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