| Monday, August 13, 2018 |
| MVNU2MSU Takes over Mississippi State's Campus | |
 | Starkville natives might have noticed the extra traffic over the weekend. That's because college students are back in town for move-in day at Mississippi State. And even a little rain on Sunday won't stop these determined new students. MSU started move in a little earlier this year because of the amount of students participating in sorority recruitment and other camps. Students are excited to make the dorm rooms their new homes for the upcoming school year and see what the college life is all about. This is just the first day of move-ins for MSU. Next Saturday will wrap up the rest of move-ins. |
| Mississippi State, National Guard announce Bulldog Free Tuition Program for service members | |
 | Mississippi State University and the Mississippi National Guard announced a new program Tuesday that will ensure free tuition for Mississippi National Guard service members enrolled full-time at MSU. MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Maj. Gen. Janson D. "Durr" Boyles, Adjutant General of Mississippi, both signed a memorandum of agreement establishing the Bulldog Free Tuition program during a ceremony at MSU's G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Center for America's Veterans at Nusz Hall. The Bulldog Free Tuition Program builds on current National Guard education benefits to create a unique opportunity for eligible Mississippi Air and Army National Guard service members. "Readiness is our force's top priority and this tuition program will help to attract personnel who will staff our future state and federal missions," Boyles said. |
| Free National Guard Tuition at Mississippi State University | |
 | Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum and National Guard Commander Maj. Gen. Janson "Durr" Boyles signed an agreement on Tuesday, Aug. 7, that says MSU will guarantee free tuition for Mississippi National Guard service members. To be eligible for the program, service members must be full-time undergraduate students in good standing with their unit and cannot be within a year of their expiration of term of service, a press release from MSU states. Currently, around 650 U.S. Armed Forces veterans, service members and dependents of service members are enrolled at MSU. In 2015, the Military Order of the Purple Heart designated the school as a "Purple Heart University" for its support of the military community. |
| MSU Extension 'promises' to help communities combat opioids | |
| Agents and specialists with the Mississippi State University Extension Service are "promising" to confront the opioid problem in Mississippi communities. "PReventing Opioid Misuse in the Southeast," or PROMISE, is an Extension initiative to address this national crisis in communities across the Southeast. PROMISE is funded by a $310,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. MSU Extension health specialist David Buys said one of the main issues with the misuse of opioids is that they are more accessible than they need to be. "Most of the work that is being done is somewhat reactive: it's providing treatment and addressing issues after an addiction begins," he said. "We need to limit the number of opioids that can be prescribed at one time and require people to come back to their physician to verify that the patients actually need a refill." |
| Final portion of Highway 12 project underway | |
 | The final construction on the project to improve Highway 12 is currently underway. North District Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert said the project is slated to be complete by mid-September. "We are in the final stages of construction which is essentially the paving stage and putting down the final stripe," Tagert said. Tagert said all the construction is being done at night to minimize the interaction between traffic and workers. "The paving and final stripe are placed at the very end of the project to minimize wear and tear on the project," Tagert said. "Our deadline is mid-September, but we hope to be finished before then." Tagert said the goal of the project is to improve traffic flow on Highway 12 and decrease the high crash rate of the corridor. |
| Oktibbeha County begins work on $2 million storm shelter | |
| After years of effort, Oktibbeha County has started construction on a long-awaited storm shelter. Early dirt work is underway at the shelter's site, at the intersection of Lynn Lane and Industrial Park Road in Starkville. County Administrator Emily Garrard said the project is currently expected to be completed in the late spring. The storm shelter is a dome structure that will be 8,756 square feet, with 7,915 square feet of usable space. It will be able to accommodate 1,582 people and is designed to withstand winds of up to 250 miles per hour. The total project, including a planning and site survey phase the county has already completed, is about $2 million. Oktibbeha County has been planning for or working toward the shelter for about five years. |
| Lottery finds little favor among many Northeast Mississippi lawmakers | |
 | If a lottery comes to Mississippi, it will likely happen without strong support from the legislative delegation of the state's northeast corner. Gambling, like alcohol, has long been politically fraught in a state that tends toward conservative social views from whichever party holds power in Jackson. But recently, a drumbeat of support in favor of a lottery has grown more pronounced. Gov. Phil Bryant has been a key voice maintaining attention on this issue. The governor has suggested throughout the summer that a special session may occur in August to take up infrastructure funding, with the creation of a lottery one possible option to generate new revenue. |
| Analysis: Road money session waits on lieutenant governor | |
 | A special session to seek more money for Mississippi's roads and bridges could be drawing near. But nothing is likely to happen without Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves' agreement, and many observers aren't sure what he wants. Gov. Phil Bryant has been facilitating talks among himself and fellow Republicans Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn, seeking an agreement. "Any special session will include an infrastructure package," Bryant spokesman Clay Chandler said Friday. "Nothing is certain beyond that." Rep. Trey Lamar, a Senatobia Republican who has been involved in some talks on the House side, said a late-August date is possible for such a session, although speculated start dates have been pushed back over the course of the summer. |
| To fix bridges, counties forced to look at raising taxes and borrowing | |
| The Marion County Board of Supervisors had the same difficult conversation in their meeting on Wednesday morning that others across the state have had in recent days: If the Legislature doesn't come up with the money to fix hundreds of closed bridges, how will we? Close to 500 county-owned bridges across the state remain closed, and many counties, like Marion, cannot afford the necessary repairs to reopen them. As legislative leaders negotiate behind closed doors to determine how or if to offer financial relief to these counties, county officials cannot wait, facing a tight deadline to finalize their budgets for next fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1. But as the number of closed bridges in the state could double this year, the foremost options the cash-strapped counties are left to consider will stick the problem directly to taxpayers: Raise property taxes and borrow money. |
| Election sticker battle: MSGOP blasts Jay Hughes 'vote for vet' decals | |
 | The state Republican Party is crying foul over Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Rep. Jay Hughes following through on his promise to distribute thousands of "vote in honor of a veteran" stickers with his name and current office on them. In a statewide email, the MSGOP said there were voter complaints from the Jackson school bond issue election Tuesday about "(Hughes) and his Democratic allies distributing stickers to vote for candidate Jay Hughes disguised on vote in honor of a veteran stickers." Hughes in June decried similar stickers featuring his likely Republican opponent for lieutenant governor next year, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. The Hosemann stickers were being distributed to voters at polls during the mid-term primaries. |
| She could be the first black, female governor. 'I'm Georgia-grown but Mississippi-raised.' | |
 | Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams says she likes to tell people that she's Georgia-grown but Mississippi-raised. Abrams returned to her state of birth Friday and regaled attendees of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute's annual policy conference in Tunica with stories of her upbringing in Gulfport and Mississippi's Gulf Coast region, using the vignettes to explain why she's vying to become the nation's first African American woman governor. "I'm not running for me," Abrams told a conference luncheon Friday. "I'm running for my family, I'm running for my community, I'm running for the South. And when we win the South, we win America." Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., a Congressional Black Caucus member, said he invited Abrams, a former Georgia House minority leader, to Tunica because of her Mississippi roots and her potential history-making run. |
| Supreme Court upholds Lowndes County as venue for AG Jim Hood's Google lawsuit | |
| The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled a lawsuit by state Attorney General Jim Hood against Google may be heard in Lowndes County. Hood sued Google, Inc. in Lowndes County Chancery Court in January 2017, alleging the California-based tech company was targeting advertisements toward school children who used its G Suite for Education platform in violation of both Mississippi law and Google's own policies. In February 2017, Google moved for the case to be dismissed on the grounds Lowndes County Chancery Court was not a "proper venue" under the Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure. Since then, the two parties have gone back and forth, with Chancery Court Judge Kenneth Burns finally ruling in September 2017 that the case could be determined in Lowndes County and the Supreme Court upholding that ruling earlier this week. |
| Mississippi courthouse named for Thad Cochran | |
 | Officials gathered in Jackson, Miss., on Friday to celebrate the unveiling of the newly named Thad Cochran courthouse, named for former Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). The building first opened in 2010 and contains 12 courtrooms and other federal offices. Cochran attended the ceremony, along with his wife, Kay, and Mississippi's two current senators, Roger Wicker (R) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R). Former Gov. Haley Barbour (R), federal judges and members of Cochran's old congressional staff also joined the ceremony. Cochran, 80, retired from the Senate after 40 years in April. |
| White House Takes Aim At Financial Protections For Military | |
 | The Trump administration is taking aim at a law designed to protect military service members from getting cheated by shady lending practices. NPR has obtained documents that show the White House is proposing changes that critics say would leave service members vulnerable to getting ripped off when they buy cars. Separately, the administration is taking broader steps to roll back enforcement of the Military Lending Act. The MLA is supposed to protect service members from predatory loans and financial products. But the White House appears willing to change the rules in a way that critics say would take away some of those protections. Retired Army Col. Paul Kantwill recently left a position at CFPB, where he worked on issues facing service members. "I am very concerned about" the prospect of weaker oversight, he says. |
| White-supremacist rally near White House dwarfed by thousands of anti-hate protesters | |
 | White supremacists held a rally in Washington on Sunday, and almost no one but their opponents and the police showed up. Jason Kessler, one of the organizers of last year's violent and deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, wanted to hold an anniversary demonstration there, but the city wouldn't let him. So he brought his show to Washington, where he hoped 400 supporters would join him for a rally at Lafayette Square, across from the White House. Fewer than 40 turned out. City leaders and law enforcement officials were determined that the event would not be a repeat of the mayhem in Charlottesville last year, when city police and Virginia state troopers allowed white supremacists and neo-Nazis to clash in the streets with anti-hate protesters. For opponents, the day felt like a victory, albeit an often tense and angry one. |
| The W recognized by area breastfeeding coalition | |
| A recent recognition by the East Mississippi Breastfeeding Coalition has reinforced that Mississippi University for Women cares about its campus community. On Aug. 1, Sirena Cantrell, dean of students and Title IX coordinator at The W, was presented with the "Caught You Caring Award" by representatives of the East Mississippi Breastfeeding Coalition. "I was delighted to accept this award on behalf of the university. It was great to hear that our students, faculty and staff had shared with the East Mississippi Breastfeeding Coalition about the support they received during breastfeeding times," said Cantrell. "In the past few years we have worked hard to ensure mothers (faculty, staff and students) on campus have places they can utilize. Each of these spaces may be used to breastfeed or to express milk using a breast pump. The designated locations are identified by signage marking each one as a Lactation Room." |
| Casey Lauer named Ole Miss facilities management director | |
 | Casey Lauer, an experienced engineer and facilities operations expert, has been named director of the Facilities Management Department at the University of Mississippi. The Kansas native has more than 11 years of leadership and experience in the fields of energy engineering, facilities operations, and property and project management. Lauer also will be responsible for assessing needs for growth, development and improvement on the campus. Lauer, who officially assumes his duties Sept. 10, will oversee the department's budget of $31.6 million and nearly 275 employees. Lauer joins Ole Miss from Kansas State University, where he was assistant vice president of facilities operations and physical plant infrastructure for the last four years. Before that role, Lauer was KSU's first director of energy and environment program. A 2004 graduate of the University of Kansas, Lauer holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. |
| Case against Ole Miss Title IX office could set national precedent | |
| Doe v. The University of Mississippi will appear before the fifth circuit court on Aug. 14, and it could set a precedent for the way sexual assault cases are handled across the country. The case centers around a March 30, 2017 sexual encounter between John Doe and Jane Roe, both undergraduate students at the University of Mississippi. Part of the reason for the lawsuit, according to official court documents, is that the University of Mississippi's Title IX adjudicator training is unfairly biased against men and, as such, Doe feels he did not receive due process. Doe is requesting reinstatement at the university and that his record be expunged and sealed. According to Dr. KC Johnson, a Harvard University graduate and history professor at Brooklyn University, this case stands out as one of the 225 cases of its kind since the 2011 "Dear Colleague Letter" changed federal Title IX policy. |
| Emergency disaster response moving under one roof | |
| When Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, Mississippi emergency responders had no idea of the challenges they would face to deliver medical care or how challenging it would be to talk to each other. Lessons learned from that record disaster galvanized efforts to create the state's first comprehensive emergency medical response system. That network includes the Mississippi Center for Emergency Services. The University of Mississippi Medical Center broke ground Thursday on the facility that also will encompass the Mississippi Integrated Public Safety Communications Center. U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and former U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran led the effort to shepherd almost $20 million in federal grant funding to build a home for the emergency services center and outfit it with the latest technology. In coordination with emergency response agencies and partners statewide, "we stand ready for the next disaster, if it occurs," Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, said. |
| New Marine Research Center offers unique environment | |
 | The Gulf of Mexico provides the perfect environment for oceanic exploration. Unlike the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, it's warm year-round. It offers waters that stand in for turbid rivers, clear blue oceans and shallow or deep conditions. Its variety of environments is one reason the University of Southern Mississippi decided to base its new Marine Research Center on the Gulf at the Port of Gulfport. Construction on the $10 million structure was completed earlier this summer, and Southern Miss staff took possession of the building in June. The center will be officially opened at a ribbon-cutting Sept. 21. Meanwhile, researchers are already operating there and delighting in the center's high-tech trappings and proximity to the water. "I would define this building as the gateway (to the ocean)," said Monty Graham, director of the Southern Miss School of Ocean Science and Engineering. |
| Traffic around Alabama campus will be affected as students move in | |
 | The majority of University of Alabama students living in residence halls on campus will begin moving in at the end of this week. Some groups participating in early move-in arrived last weekend. This week, move-ins will begin at 8 a.m. Friday. Tuscaloosa City Hall has extended service hours and placed temporary garbage bins to assist with students moving in. These extended hours will continue until demand subsides, city officials said. To help with the household waste and garbage that accumulates during this time, the city's Environmental Services department has placed nine additional garbage bins around the city in areas with high college student populations. And to limit the amount of garbage created during this time, recyclable materials like cardboard boxes, plastic bottles (bearing the Nos. 1 or 2 symbols), plastic bags, aluminum cans, steel soup cans, newspapers, magazines, and office paper can be placed in the blue curbside recycling bins or taken to drop-off recycling trailers located around the city. |
| Early move-in students get settled at Auburn University | |
 | Freshman Julia Kern, 18, left her home in Spanish Fort with her parents around 4:30 a.m. Friday morning to move into her new residence at Auburn University. She is the youngest of three, but is the first to move away for college. "We're a little nervous about her going away from home, she's our baby, but we are excited too," said Mark Kern, Julia's father, as he sat in her dorm room while surrounded by her unpacked belongings. "We are proud of her. This is a great place and we think it will be good for her." Monday and Friday were early move-in dates for returning band members, potential new sorority members, Army and Navy ROTC students, and other groups, according to Residence Life director Virginia Koch. The move-in date for the remaining student population is set for next Thursday. This year's move-in tactics are a little different than in years past, Koch said, which involves multiple locations and drop-off strategies to prevent congested traffic near the dorms. |
| U. of Arkansas gets two new sorority houses; campus 'Greek' life is on upswing | |
| Two new sorority houses at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville further spotlight a growing community within the university. The opening of houses for Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Mu -- adjacent to each other on West Maple Street -- come after the two organizations reopened UA chapters in 2012, according to information published by the university. Other major sorority projects include the early stages of house construction for the Delta Gamma sorority, as well as a renovation and expansion of the Delta Delta Delta house. The Kappa Delta sorority has demolished its previous home and is building a new one. Costs for the projects altogether top $50 million, according to information provided by UA and the organizations. Last fall, 4,429 UA students were members in what are now 11 sorority chapter organizations. The membership total has increased by about 37 percent compared with 2012, when UA had 3,231 sorority members. |
| Soon-to-retire UT President Joe DiPietro's home has sold for $720,000 | |
 | University of Tennessee System President Joe DiPietro, expected to retire soon, has sold his Knoxville home for $720,000. DiPietro's home, at 6938 Old Kent Drive in the Westmoreland Estates subdivision, sold in June. The 4,500-square-foot home includes four bedrooms four bathrooms and sits on close to half an acre. DiPietro has not said when exactly he plans to retire, but his contract runs through June 2019. Meanwhile, the Knoxville home of former UT Knoxville Chancellor Beverly Davenport, who DiPietro terminated in May, is also about to sell, according to Jon Brock, an agent with Realty Executives Associates. The 3,396-square-foot house, built in 1920 and located at 2733 Kingston Pike, has had a pending offer for 19 days, more days than it was on the market. |
| South Carolina students can pay in-state tuition out-of-state | |
 | For South Carolina students considering college options, it's important to know that residents can be eligible for in-state tuition at colleges in other states, and that most offer lower in-state tuition than the Palmetto State. That's true for undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate-level programs, and for students transferring to a four-year program from a two-year school such as a technical college. The Academic Common Market and Regional Contract Program are multi-state agreements that make in-state rates available, for certain programs at particular institutions. If the programs offered match a student's goals -- and the student can gain admission -- they can be a great way to save money. In some participating states, in-state tuition and fees are thousands of dollars lower than South Carolina's in-state rates, which are the ninth-highest in the nation according to The College Board. |
| 'I am sorry,' university president says to students attacked in Charlottesville | |
 | University of Virginia President Jim Ryan on Saturday apologized to the students who were injured amid white supremacist violence in Charlottesville a year ago. "I am sorry," he said at a university event to commemorate the anniversary of the events, The Daily Progress reported. The newspaper said it was the first apology offered from the president's office for the march. Students and alumni have previously called on UVA's administration for stronger condemnations of the violence. While the university has often referred to the alt-right movement in more general terms, Ryan on Saturday called the marchers "white supremacists," "neo-Nazis" and "lost souls." He said that like the counterprotesters, university administrators must follow the advice of President Abraham Lincoln, who asked Americans to listen to the "better angels of their nature." |
| Dropping gainful employment means for-profits keep billions in student aid | |
 | More than 2,000 career education programs serving over half a million students risked losing access to Title IV federal student aid under the Obama administration's gainful-employment rule. Those programs look to be in the clear after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Friday she plans to rescind the regulation. The move, which was widely expected and reported weeks earlier, is the latest step by DeVos to roll back Obama era student loan regulations that largely targeted the for-profit college sector. The announcement also made clear the Education Department's new preference for consumer information in place of accountability rules that could trigger the loss of access to federal aid for programs that perform poorly on federal standards. Rescinding the rule, the department estimates, will mean an additional $5.3 billion over 10 years goes to programs, most of them for-profit, that would likely otherwise be cut off from federal funds -- about $4.5 billion of that from Pell Grants and the rest from student loans. |
| Trump's Attacks on Media Are Shaping College Journalism | |
| There was a president with an energizing message, then a sharp, seemingly instant, political shift. The new president kept an enemies list that included a number of reporters. And he was knee-deep in controversy---though that only led some people to support him more fervently. It was the 1970s. President Richard Nixon had been undone by a pair of young reporters at The Washington Post, Hollywood had made a blockbuster movie about it, and the reporters had become celebrities. People were excited about journalism -- and that was reflected in massive enrollment jumps at journalism schools across the country. In 1970, enrollment of journalism majors hovered at about 33,000; by 1979, that figure had jumped to 71,000. Fast-forward nearly half a century, and the attacks being made on journalism are too lengthy to list, but they flow from the top. |
| Women's colleges see boost in yield in wake of 2016 election | |
| For years, top women's colleges have faced a challenge in that the overwhelming majority of high school girls have no interest in attending a women's college. Student satisfaction surveys show that, once enrolled at these colleges, students love the experience. But many of them arrive despite a college being a women's institution, not because of it. That may be changing. Some of the top women's colleges are expecting record classes to enroll this month, as yield -- the percentage of admitted applicants who accept admissions offers -- is up significantly. Last year's decisions about where to enroll came after Election Day 2016, but much of student planning and thinking about college choice that year preceded the Trump election and the Me Too movement. That impact appears to be showing up this year. To be sure, not all leaders of women's colleges have embraced the Me Too movement. At Sweet Briar College, which has struggled with enrollment of late, many students and alumnae were horrified when college officials did not criticize a commencement speech in May that appeared to place the blame for sexual harassment on its victims. |
| How to speak to a college class | |
| Consultant and columnist Phil Hardwick writes in the Mississippi Business Journal: The fall academic semester approaches. If you are successful in business there's a good chance that sooner or later you will be asked to speak to a college class about your company or a current business issue. The experience can be personally rewarding or a flop. I've been teaching as an adjunct professor/instructor at the college level since the late 1970's. Over the years, I've taught real estate, management, business strategy and communications. At the end of each course, I ask my students what they liked best about the course. The number one answer has almost always been "the guest speakers." I don't take that personally because that's the response I always gave when I was a student. |
| Tactics can ease stress of homework | |
| Angela Farmer, an assistant professor of educational leadership at Mississippi State, writes: As the fall semester begins again, it is time to proactively prepare for the inevitable homework burden that is always tangent to learning new concepts. While few students look to homework with enthusiasm, there are a number of tactics parents can use to help ease the stress and streamline the process. According to an article written by Peg Dawson of the Child Mind Institute (childmind.org), establishing homework routines in advance makes all the difference in the quality and efficacy of homework produced. She breaks it into four easy-to-follow steps. |
| GOP leaders call Democrats dangerous enemy | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: Mississippi Democrats are a scary, dangerous enemy. Speaker of the House Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves set the stage in Neshoba County Fair speeches. Gunn focused his speech on stern warnings about Democrats, according to a Y'all Politics report. Reeves claimed he had been "under attack from Democrats and their liberal allies in the media," reported the Meridian Star. State Sen. Chris McDaniel delivered the punch line when he said the Democratic Party has become an "enemy" and "dangerous" to the country, as reported by the Clarion-Ledger. Chuck, Nancy and Bernie may be a little scary, but calling our neighbors and friends who happen to be Democrats enemies? Come on. ISIS, the Taliban, Iran, North Korea, and such are enemies, not Mississippi Democrats. |
| Delivering ourselves from evil | |
| Mississippi newspaper editor and publisher Ray Mosby writes: It strikes me that we should just stop aiding and abetting. Indications are, after all, that quite enough of that's gone on already. Since the president insists on taking potshots at the Fourth Estate, allow me to suggest that perhaps its members should just stop making themselves such obvious targets of opportunity. There is something to be said, you know, for not willfully placing one's self in harm's way. Besides, the press exists to report the news, not be the news, and that is fast what is happening, courtesy of a deliberate strategy by the 45th president of the United States.. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State has earned the right to be confident | |
| Expectations are high for Mississippi State entering its first season under new coach Joe Moorhead. The Bulldogs were voted 18th in the USA Today preseason coaches' poll and were picked to finish third in the Western Division at SEC Media Days. However, the preseason hype hasn't seem to faze MSU as it starts its second week of fall camp. "Whatever people think of us outside this building doesn't really matter," quarterback Nick Fitzgerald said Saturday during media day interviews. "We've been ranked dead last in the West, picked to win two games or picked high up there like we are now. We're going to work hard no matter what. We're not going to worry what other people think or their preseason rankings." The Bulldogs bring back 17 starters and return 49 letter-winners from a team that went 9-4 and won the TaxSlayer Bowl last season. |
| Mississippi State's high hopes rest on Joe Moorhead, Nick Fitzgerald | |
| If Mississippi State's Nick Fitzgerald is going to have a storybook ending to his college career, first-year coach Joe Moorhead has to get off to a fantastic start. The Bulldogs are a popular pick to contend for the Southeastern Conference championship after finishing with a 9-4 record last season, and a glance at the roster reveals plenty of reasons why. Fitzgerald is among the SEC's top returning quarterbacks and he should have plenty of help from a deep roster that includes veterans like running back Aeris Williams and defensive linemen Montez Sweat and Jeffery Simmons. Now new-guy Moorhead is trying to build the relationships necessary to take advantage of that talent. |
| Joe Moorhead has high expectations for first year | |
| Mississippi State is heading into 2018 with a new head coach, but it is far from a rebuilding year for the Bulldogs. In his first year as a head coach at the FCS level, Joe Moorhead inherits an MSU team that returns 17 starters and went 9-4 last year and won the TaxSlayer Bowl. "Our task as a staff is to elevate the program, which has a very solid foundation, from good to great," Moorhead said. "We're embracing the expectation level. We feel no one rises to low expectations. We talk about championship standard. I feel I was brought here to take a program that's really had one winning season in the SEC play in the last 15 years and make sure that we're competing in the conference play on a weekly basis and give ourselves a chance to win a conference championship." |
| Joe Moorhead has new goals to build on lessons learned in spring | |
| The 15 practices of the spring was a learning time for everyone in the Mississippi State football program. It was the time for MSU's offensive players to learn the Joe Moorhead system and the time for the defense to learn coordinator Bob Shoop, but it was also the time for those coaches to learn their players. With that experience in hand, Moorhead found a new goal for the team and one that he's emphasized in recent days. Moorhead shared that goal at the team's media day Saturday before its first of its three intrasquad scrimmages of the fall. "Another one of our goals, which was new from the spring and something we emphasized with our team, was the ability to handle adversity and handle prosperity and be able to show our emotions without being emotional," Moorhead said. |
| Mississippi State's Media Day defined by buoyant Bulldogs | |
| Mississippi State's Media Day at the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex was mundane for a while Saturday afternoon. That changed when coaches moved off the podium and players stepped up to it. Senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald answered questions about his running ability and progression with his deep ball. He spoke with conviction and poise. During the week leading up to Media Day, Fitzgerald has seen that talent first-hand on the field. He'll see it again during MSU's first scrimmage of training camp Saturday night. Ultimately, coaches and fans would love to see it three weeks from now against Stephen F. Austin. The demeanor in the media room is indicative of the way the team collectively feels as time ticks closer to September. Mississippi State is ranked No. 18 in the preseason coaches poll, and optimism abounds in Starkville. But the Bulldogs are taking it one day at a time -- one laugh at a time. |
| Bulldogs need their WRs to rise up | |
| For Joe Moorhead's offense to work effectively at Mississippi State, the Bulldogs will need much more production from their wide receivers. Due in part to a rash of injuries, no MSU wideout managed more than 300 yards receiving last year. But with everyone healthy and Moorhead promising more vertical passing, the Bulldogs are searching for some separation at that position during fall camp. "We ended spring ball with the waters a little bit muddy and guys kind of grouped up," Moorhead said. "Ideally, you'd like to go into a game with three guys who are the primary starters and you generally travel eight to a road game. We have not been a huge rotation team in the past so we'll have three guys that are the primary starters and get the majority of the reps but that's not set in stone." |
| Mississippi State's Tem Lukabu strikes a balance in his coaching style | |
| Erroll Thompson stood in the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex on Thursday night with his shoulder pads on and sweat beading down his face. He just finished Mississippi State's sixth preseason practice. The clock ticked closer to 9 p.m. The redshirt sophomore seemed understandably tired, but he still graciously answered questions about his role as a leader in the Bulldogs' linebacking unit. His eyes finally lit up when he was asked about someone other than himself. "What kind of impact has Tem Lukabu had on you?" Thompson smiled, then chuckled, and seemed thrilled to speak on his linebackers coach. "It's great having a coach who is going to coach you hard but can also put his arm around you and talk to you as a father figure and not just a coach," Thompson said. |
| Jeffery Simmons, Montez Sweat among nation's best on defensive line | |
| Jeffery Simmons sees the lists, even though he'd rather not. Thus, he knows he and linemate Montez Sweat are considered two of the best defensive linemen in the nation. He tries not to think about it. "That's a distraction to me," Simmons said. "I see all the media posting about the best defensive linemen and all that, but it's a distraction and I try to block out all the distractions." The Macon native may not be reveling in his glory, but that doesn't mean it will go away any time soon. The status is well-earned, after last year's production earned he and Sweat First Team All-Southeastern Conference honors from the coaches both at the end of last season and this preseason, the first teammates in SEC history to pull that double. Sweat earned those honors after tying for the conference lead with 10.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss. Simmons was not far behind with 12 tackles for a loss, five of them sacks. Both were preseason Third Team All-Americans by Athlon Sports. |
| MSU Notebook: Marcus Murphy will start out on defense | |
| Mississippi State signed the state's reigning Class 5A Mr. Football Marcus Murphy as an athlete. After graduating high school early, the former West Point standout spent the spring in the Bulldogs' secondary and that is where he will begin his college career. Murphy is working at nickelback and free safety during fall camp. "He's fast, competitive and tough," said MSU defensive coordinator Bob Shoop. "He's still learning a little bit about the game of football on the defensive side because he was a high school quarterback. But there's an old saying of 'I don't know what it is but he's got it'. He's got it, he's a playmaker." |
| Slow down! Fast-football craze shows signs of fading | |
| The result of the play is a first down and the offense rushes to the line of scrimmage and sets up, linemen in their three-point stances, receivers out wide. The quarterback directs traffic, barks out something or other, maybe claps his hands, and then ... he stops and looks to the sideline for a play to be signaled. Hurry-up offense? More like hurry-up-and-wait. The fast-paced, no-huddle offenses made fashionable by Chip Kelly, Rich Rodriguez and most of the Big 12, fueling a scoring frenzy in college football for more than a decade, are becoming less prevalent. Multi-tempo has replaced up-tempo for a lot of college offenses. Mississippi State's Joe Moorhead, who was offensive coordinator at Penn State the last two seasons, said his offense mostly operates at three speeds. "We want to run the best play possible against the look presented rather than a bad play quickly," said Moorhead. |
| NCAA injury debate pits player privacy vs. gambling concerns | |
| Indiana safety Jonathan Crawford is very clear about what he thinks of colleges releasing information on player injuries. "No," he said. "Especially if I have no say in it, I wouldn't want my personal business out there." The U.S. Supreme Court's decision that allows states to legalize sports gambling has sparked a debate about requiring injury reports in college football, a sport that hasn't had unified rules. NCAA leaders are analyzing whether it's possible to have more medical transparency to prevent collusion and be more consistent among hundreds of teams balancing the rules of various universities, conferences and state and federal laws. Some coaches are more specific. Others are reluctant to share anything at all. Others are more forthcoming, like Joe Moorhead at Mississippi State and Duke's David Cutcliffe. That inconsistency could potentially raise red flags as legal gambling grows throughout the United States. |
| Teaira McCowan, Chloe Bibby lead Mississippi State women in first game in Italy | |
| Teaira McCowan had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Chloe Bibby added 18 points Saturday to lead the Mississippi State women's basketball team to a 97-49 victory against Deep 3 Select 97-49 in its first of three games on a 10-day trip to Italy. Bibby and McCowan score MSU's last 10 points in the first quarter to give the team a 23-18 lead. MSU turned up the defense in the second quarter, outscoring Deep 3 Select 25-9. McCowan had 14 points in the opening half, including eight in the second quarter, while Bibby notched 11 points in the first half. "We've come to expect double-doubles from Teaira, but Chloe is going to be a big one for us," MSU coach Vic Schaefer said. "She's going to have to shoot it well, and she's been doing that all summer. Chloe, Teaira, and Jazzmun (Holmes) have been really consistent for us all summer." |
| Southern Miss football suspends quarterback Kwadra Griggs | |
 | Southern Miss quarterback Kwadra Griggs was suspended indefinitely by the team on Saturday morning, pending the resolution of a "student conduct matter." The senior quarterback started seven games for Southern Miss in 2017, passing for 16 touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 55.8 percent of his passes for 1,879 yards. Griggs, who missed spring practice in 2018 while rehabbing from offseason Achilles surgery, also rushed for 270 yards and three touchdowns in 2017. Behind Griggs, Southern Miss can call upon junior college transfer Jack Abraham, a one-time Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Mississippi at Oxford. USM's other quarterbacks include redshirt freshman Marcelo Rodriguez and freshman Tate Whatley, who is coming off an ACL tear sustained last fall. This isn't Griggs' first eligibility issue. |
| Ole Miss' new on-field mascot makes debut at Meet the Rebels | |
| What started as a nickname in 2008 has turned into Ole Miss' mascot. On Saturday, during Ole Miss' annual 'Meet the Rebels' event, the athletic department debuted Tony the Landshark as the newest on-field mascot. Tony replaces Rebel the Black Bear, who was Ole Miss' mascot from 2011 to 2017. "We knew this mascot was going to need some energy," Micah Ginn, Ole Miss associate athletic director for sports productions and creative services said. The development process of the new landshark mascot was not a task taken lightly by Ginn and his staff who sought help from outsides resources, including a company out of Hattiesburg called Rare Design. Once a decision was made on Tony's look, Ole Miss reached out to Nascent Perspective Studios, a movie prop company based out of Glendale, Cali., to help with the creation of the mascot costume, particularly Tony's head. |
| Ole Miss unveils its Landshark mascot at Meet the Rebels Day | |
| In a burst of fog and confetti blasting from all sides, the figure sauntered onto the stage. For a moment he just looked like a football player in full pads, number 47 printed in white on his red jersey, muscular arms flexing and pointing. Then the shark head cleared the pillar of smoke. A permanent toothy grin spread across Tony the Landshark's face as he bounced along to the music----- landsharks, the crowd learned, can dance as well as any landlocked creature. His rubbery head nodded along, a fin protruding from the back of it. Ole Miss unveiled its new on-field Landshark mascot Saturday. An Ole Miss spokesperson told the Clarion Ledger the whole venture, including branding, a new website, costume design and multiple costumes, cost somewhere between $50,000 to 75,000. It was privately funded by the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation. The Landshark launch committee wanted the mascot to strike a balance between being intimidating but also not scaring young children. |
| Ole Miss track and field athlete arrested for sexual battery | |
| Officers with the Oxford Police Department responded to Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi for a report of a sexual assault on Aug 4. The victim identified Courtland Barnes, 21 of Oxford, as the aggressor. According to the Ole Miss athletics website, Barnes is a member of the men's track and field team. After an investigation, a warrant for sexual battery was issued for Barnes. Barnes turned himself in and was taken to the Lafayette County Detention Center, where he was given a bond of $10,000 by a Justice Court Judge. |
| Former UGA players, families impacted by concussions and CTE | |
 | Ralph Thompson's playing days as a starting free safety ended two decades ago. Since taking off his cleats, Thompson has worked as an educator, a coach and for the past five years as an assistant high school principal outside of Nashville. The married father of three still feels the toll from playing football; hard hits delivered and absorbed. "I experience migraines -- headaches from all the pounding and whatnot," said Thompson, who played three seasons for the University of Georgia in the early 1990s. Thompson figures he had "probably anywhere from 25 to 35 concussions" at Georgia, but he said it wasn't until the last several years that he really knew much about brain injuries. In recent years, strides have been made to protect players. |
| Nick Savage gives Gator conditioning program a lift | |
| The sounds of the band Creed are blaring through the loudspeakers in the Florida weight room. This isn't for a team workout. Instead, members of the University Athletic Association staff are getting their lifts in. "I have a whole different music playlist when the players are on here," said Nick Savage. "I like to see how they respond to certain music." The 28-year old Savage has been given the task of delivering a different looking Florida football team to Dan Mullen when the Gators get back on the practice field. His techniques may be different than his predecessor's, but it's not like he is re-inventing the wheel. "We keep it simple," he said. Savage has made a meteoric rise up the ranks ever since he was promoted to head strength and conditioning coach at Mississippi State in 2016. |
| Larissa Anderson focused on bringing concentration, culture to Mizzou softball | |
 | Gliding down the side of a mountain on a pair of skis taught Larissa Anderson the importance of concentration. As a 16-year-old ski competitor at the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid, N.Y., Anderson gained the advantage of understanding that discipline, focus and visualization can be the difference between the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Anderson, set to embark on her first season as the coach of the Missouri softball team, brought those lessons with her to softball. Success can be bred from being able to visualize execution. Anderson comes to Columbia after 17 years with Hofstra, the past four as head coach. At Hofstra, Anderson compiled a 130-73-1 record with a pair of NCAA regional appearances. The Tigers are trying to return to normalcy after a turbulent couple of years at the end of Ehren Earleywine's tenure. A lightning rod for controversy, Earleywine was the subject of an athletic department investigation that reportedly started after complaints from parents and players. Earleywine was fired 13 days before the 2018 season opener. |
| Maryland Suspends Football Coach D.J. Durkin After Report of Abuse | |
 | The University of Maryland on Saturday placed its football coach, D. J. Durkin, on administrative leave while it investigates accusations about mistreatment of players that surfaced after offensive lineman Jordan McNair collapsed during a May workout and died weeks later. The suspension came one day after an article by ESPN detailed a culture of fear and intimidation at Maryland, according to current and former players and staff members, who said that coaches and trainers commonly embarrassed and humiliated players. The sources of the accusations were anonymous. Maryland's president, Wallace D. Loh, said such behavior was unacceptable. "Our responsibility as teachers is to inspire and enable students to perform at their best and expand the boundaries of their potential," Loh said in a statement. |
| Will Muschamp makes passionate plea for DJ Durkin amid Maryland allegations | |
 | South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp blasted an ESPN story that targeted his former defensive coordinator and referred to the anonymous sources for that report as "gutless" on Saturday morning. DJ Durkin, who was Muschamp's defensive coordinator at Florida from 2011-2014, is now the head coach at Maryland. Terrapins offensive lineman Jordan McNair died in June after a football workout, and this week ESPN published a report citing anonymous "current Maryland players, multiple people close to the football program, and former players and football staffers" who alleged an abusive atmosphere in the team's strength program. Muschamp expressed strong opinions about the story when asked Saturday after the Gamecocks completed a morning practice. "There is no credibility in anonymous sources," he said. |
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