Monday, March 4, 2019   
 
Mississippi State donates bus to Oktibbeha County EMA
Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Agency is closer to having a mobile command center after receiving a bus from Mississippi State University. MSU donated the bus -- a 24-passenger Goshen Coach that was in service from 1996-2018 -- on Friday. Emergency Management Director Kristen Campanella said the county has been in discussions with the university to get the vehicle for about a year. With the bus in hand, Campanella said the management plans to convert it into a mobile command center, which could serve as a workspace for events ranging from storm responses to search and rescue operations. MSU President Mark Keenum said the university is always looking for ways to collaborate with different facets of the community. This donation is just one way to do that. "What we're doing today is to support the emergency management agency here in the community and provide them an asset that I think will be very helpful for them in serving the needs of our community," Keenum said.
 
Free Tuition Program for Mississippi National Guard Members
The Mississippi National Guard and Mississippi State University together announced a new program that will ensure free tuition for Mississippi National Guard service members enrolled full-time at MSU. MSU President Mark E. Keenum and MG Janson D. 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. The Bulldog Free Tuition Program builds on current National Guard education benefits to create a unique opportunity for eligible Mississippi Army and Air National Guard members. "We have a long, proud history as one of the Nation's most military-friendly college campuses," Keenum said. Through its Montgomery Center for America's Veterans and university faculty and staff, MSU supports National Guard service members as they navigate classes, basic training, drill and deployments.
 
Potholes breaking open due to heavy rains
Local road departments are scrambling to deal with issues that have popped up after last week saw more than a month's worth of rain dumped on the area. In Starkville, Mayor Lynn Spruill said the city has had crews out all over town making pothole repairs. Hot asphalt mix the city prefers to use for pothole repair isn't available, but it's using cold mix, which is typically used during colder months, in its stead. Despite the rain, Spruill said, an ongoing project along Lynn Lane to expand a turn lane at the intersection with Industrial Park Road and widen the intersection near the Sportsplex, remains on schedule. According to an update the city released on Friday, work on installing a concrete median curb on the east side of the Sportsplex intersection was expected to begin Wednesday and last through the end of the week. Work will then move to install the base material for the turn lane on Industrial Park Road on the week of March 4, and once that's completed, work will begin to repave the entire Lynn Lane corridor from Industrial Park Road to Louisville Street.
 
All five Oktibbeha supervisor races competitive
Seven new candidates joined county races as the qualification period for 2019's election came to a close on Friday. District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams picked up two challengers in former county road manager Victor Collins and Interstate Batteries manager Jared Pruitt. District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer gained a challenger as Tremell Orlando Sherman qualified to run on Friday. John Rice joined the race for the sheriff's office. Cindy Mills joined the Justice Court District 3 election. Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees member John S. Brown registered to run against incumbent Tax Assessor Allen Morgan. Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk Tony Rook qualified to seek re-election on Friday. Rook, who registered as an independent, is running unopposed. Oktibbeha County Chancery Clerk Sharon Livingston changed her party affiliation to Republican. Livingston, who faces a challenger in Democrat Martesa Bishop Flowers, had originally registered to run as a Democrat.
 
Jeff Smith, Chuck Younger draw opponents in legislative races
Qualifiers for state office elections are set, and several legislative districts will have contested races this year. In District 39, which covers parts of Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties, Dana McLean will face incumbent Jeff Smith in the August Republican primary, according to a list of candidates the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office released Friday evening after the qualifying deadline. Smith chairs the House Ways and Means Committee. He also serves as the attorney for the Lowndes County School District and Columbus Light and Water. Former Starkville alderman Lisa Wynn is again challenging District 38 Rep. Cheikh Taylor for his seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Wynn, who formerly represented Ward 2 on the board from 2013-17, qualified to run as a Democrat against the incumbent representative. She unsuccessfully ran for the position in a 2017 special election after former Rep. Tyrone Ellis retired. District 38 includes parts of Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties. Both candidates are from Starkville. Wynn and Taylor will meet in August's Democratic primary election.
 
Analysis: Mississippi will see big turnover of state offices
Mississippi this year will have its biggest shake-up of statewide offices in a generation, no matter who wins in November. Five of the eight current statewide elected officials are not seeking re-election, so there are open races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and treasurer. That's a contrast to 2015, when all eight statewide officials were re-elected. Since 1991, no more than four statewide offices have changed hands in any given election cycle. That is a good year to start looking at political transition because voters in 1991 elected Mississippi's first Republican governor since Reconstruction. Kirk Fordice, a blunt-spoken contractor from Vicksburg, unseated Democratic Gov. Ray Mabus, who was trying to become the first to win back-to-back terms since the state lifted its ban on gubernatorial succession.
 
Hood, Reeves headline 2019 Mississippi election field
The top of the ticket for Mississippi's 2019 statewide election could feature the most competitive governor's race since 2003, but a dearth of strong Democratic candidates down the ballot shows the party's continued weakness in Mississippi. Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood and Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves will be favorites in their respective Aug. 6 primaries, but each will have to get past some serious challengers. Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith is challenging Hood in the Democratic field, along with seven lesser-known candidates. On the GOP side, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. and state Rep. Robert Foster of Hernando will try to upset Reeves. Louisiana and Kentucky are the only states besides Mississippi that are scheduled to elect governors in 2019.
 
Party switches come as qualifying ends
A late-breaking defection guarantees that Republicans will flip at least one seat in the Mississippi legislature this election cycle. State Rep. Nick Bain is in his second term as a Democrat, representing House District 2, which includes Alcorn County. He announced re-election plans earlier this year, but not until Friday, the last day of qualifying, did it become publicly known that he will change parties and run for re-election as a Republican. A Republican, DuJuana Frazier Thompson, had previously qualified in that district to challenge the Democratic incumbent. Following Bain's party switch, Thompson promptly dropped out of the race. Bain's decision apparently took Democrats by surprise, and no Democrat qualified, leaving Bain unopposed for re-election. In a press release issued by Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, Bain justified his switch by stating a desire to have more influence in the state capitol.
 
Trump demands removal of China's agriculture tariffs
President Donald Trump said late Friday that he has asked China to remove its tariffs on U.S. agricultural exports as the two countries work on reaching a broader trade agreement addressing Beijing's trade practices. "I have asked China to immediately remove all Tariffs on our agricultural products (including beef, pork, etc.) based on the fact that we are moving along nicely with Trade discussions," Trump said in a series of tweets. "And I did not increase their second traunch of Tariffs to 25% on March 1st. This is very important for our great farmers - and me!" The USDA's most recent forecast shows that the trade standoff between the two countries has severely hurt U.S. farm exports to China. Sales of U.S. soybeans and other farm commodities to China fell to $16.3 billion in fiscal 2018, from over $20 billion in fiscal 2017. They are forecast to decline even further -- to $9 billion in the current fiscal year.
 
Earmarks won't be back this year, at least in the House
House Democrats don't plan to revive home-state earmarks during the upcoming appropriations process, though they expect to continue discussing the issue with their Republican colleagues. "Unfortunately, there is currently not the necessary bipartisan, bicameral agreement to allow the Appropriations Committee to earmark," Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey wrote in a letter sent to members of the panel Thursday and released publicly on Friday. "For that reason, I do not expect fiscal year 2020 House spending bills to include congressionally-directed spending." Ever since the ban was put in place, there has been a discussion about how lawmakers could bring back earmarks, without returning to the days where they received negative press attention for what many viewed as unnecessary or frivolous spending.
 
Steve Forbes to speak at Delta State on Monday
Delta State's Spring 2019 Colloquia Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series will feature Steve Forbes, the publishing magnate and two-time candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. president. His talk, "In Money We Trust? The American Dollar and Your Everyday Life," takes place on Monday, March 4, at 6 PM in the Jobe Hall auditorium on the Delta State campus. The event is free and open to the public. "I am thrilled that Steve Forbes has agreed to be our Spring Colloquium Distinguished Lecturer," said Delta State President William N. LaForge. "I'm so grateful for the opportunity to participate in Delta State's prestigious forum," said Forbes. "Our film, In Money We Trust?, is an illuminating exploration of how money functions in an economy and why its stability is essential not only for prosperity but also for social trust. When money is trustworthy, we flourish. When it isn't, we stagnate, and destructive social tensions erupt."
 
Melinda Lowe named director of Outreach & Innovation at MUW
Melinda Lowe has been named the director for Outreach & Innovation and coordinator of education at Mississippi University for Women. "Melinda Lowe brings the right skill set to this position. We could not ask for a better match with the division's redefined structure and goals," said Marty Hatton, head of the Division of Education & Outreach. Lowe has served as the interim director of Outreach & Innovation since March of 2015. Prior, she served as the associate director of Outreach & Innovation since August 2013. According to Hatton, Lowe's experience with program development and educational-based partnerships are respected throughout the state. Hatton also said, "Her proven leadership in mentoring teachers and developing new mentor teachers is absolutely essential for the division's plans to provide complete support for education students well into their initial placements as new teachers."
 
'What we stand for as an Ole Miss family': Meet the students leading a multiracial, bipartisan movement to relocate the school's Confederate monument
Inside a third-floor study room overlooking the Grove at the University of Mississippi, a half dozen students gather around a boardroom table fashioned out of two smaller tables to finalize their plan. One of them, John Chappell, locks the door, pulls a stack of documents from a backpack and spreads them out on the table in front of his colleagues and a reporter in the Croft Institute for International Studies. "This is it," Chappell said. "This is what we've been working on." The documents -- printouts of state laws, attorney general's opinions and court rulings -- provide the foundation of a strategy the students formed over the course of two months. Their ultimate goal: move the Confederate statue from the heart of campus to an on-campus cemetery, less visible to visitors and students, where hundreds of Confederate Army soldiers are buried.
 
Ole Miss student group calls for moving Confederate monument
A student government group at the University of Mississippi is calling for the relocation of a Confederate monument to the Confederate cemetery on campus. The Associated Student Body Senate resolution passed the ASB Rules Committee on Thursday. The full Senate will hold a final vote at its meeting Tuesday. The Daily Mississippian reports the resolution states that the Confederate ideology "violates the tenets of the University Creed" and the monument's current placement on The Circle undermines the school's mission "to maintain an inclusive and safe environment." The school administration did not respond to a request for comment.
 
'Tweets are my own': How James Thomas's Twitter sparked a conversation about academic freedom
James Thomas's nose crinkles when he smiles, which is more often than his Twitter followers might think. "I get the sense that people who don't know me well think that there's this sociologist on campus who puts out these confrontational things, a one-note person," he said. "I'm not that. I'm a very good classroom instructor. I'm really good at my job." The sociology professor has taught at the University of Mississippi since August 2012 and has been on Twitter since February 2011. Since the creation of his Twitter profile, with the intentional handle @Insurgent_Prof, Thomas has tweeted about 18,600 times and has garnered 1,651 followers. Thomas, an outspoken "sower of discourse" on Twitter and no stranger to online controversy, was denounced by the online and university communities last semester for a tweet that later drew a response from the FBI. The tweets began to pour in, as did hundreds of concerned emails to then-Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter. As revealed in a public records request, people from all over the country, including donors and alumni, emailed Vitter about the tweet in the weeks following.
 
Mississippi College to offer graduate degree in nursing
Mississippi College has received authorization to begin a new master's program in nursing. The State College Board granted its approval Feb. 21 for the school to proceed. The first graduate students would enroll in late August. School officials say the Clinical Nurse Leader program trains professionals to practice across the spectrum of care in today's rapidly changing healthcare environment.
 
U. of Alabama explores bike-share program
The University of Alabama is exploring options for a bike-share program to supplement existing transportation options on campus and plans a small-scale rollout this spring. UA issued a request for proposals in the fall and met with bidders in February, according to Chris D'Esposito, director of transportation services. UA representatives from recreation student life, the student government association and city officials attended the meetings. "Since the campus is a more bike-friendly environment, it is natural that UA take the lead in this project, but we know these bikes will work their way into areas of the city and the hope is to have a seamless experience using a bike-share program," D'Esposito said. "Our hope is for city officials to feel comfortable with the bikes around the city knowing they are affiliated with an authorized company held to identified standards."
 
At 97, Vicksburg woman becomes oldest-ever to graduate from U. of Alabama
The early 1940s were a turbulent and uncertain time for Americans, as the strains of World War II required men and women to serve beyond their traditional roles and make extraordinary sacrifices. In 1943, Frances Gammon, a first-generation college student from a farming family of 10 children in Fort Deposit, was nearing completion of her education degree at the University of Alabama. She'd also met her husband, George, a football and track letterman, while attending UA. The couple welcomed its first child, George, Jr., in 1944, while George, Sr., was awaiting deployment to Europe. Frances, just a quarter shy of completing her degree at UA, had withdrawn from school and moved with George, Sr., who, like many servicemen, faced an uncertain return from war. She'd carry the disappointment of not being a UA graduate for nearly 75 years until December 2018, when a coordinated effort from her son, Joe, and various departments across UA's campus would reveal a "Christmas miracle": UAs New College LifeTrack program, a distance-ed program, reviewed Frances' transcripts and determined that she'd accrued enough credits to earn a bachelor's degree from UA.
 
Killer tornadoes strike: Death toll expected to rise as searches resume
Tornadoes struck terror in Lee County on Sunday afternoon, killing at least 23, a number most officials expect to rise as searchers resume their hunt for survivors early Monday morning for the many residents still known to be missing. More than 50 were injured and rushed Sunday to East Alabama Medical Center for treatment, some of them in critical condition, and many more "walking wounded" were treated on scene. Some of the injured taken to EAMC were transferred to surrounding hospitals asked to help while EAMC kicked its emergency disaster plans into effect. The story quickly became national news, and among those expressing grief over the tragedies was Apple CEO Tim Cook, an Auburn University alumnus. "Devastated to hear about the lives lost in Lee County, a place close to my heart. Wishing strength and healing for all those affected by today's tornadoes," Cook tweeted.
 
After Sex Week report, U. of Tennessee Board strips funding approval from student group
The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees unanimously passed a new funding model for student organizations, removing student approval from the process. As the decision was being made Friday at UT Martin, approximately 50 UT-Knoxville students were outside in Friday's rain protesting the changes and the university's response to the comptroller's report on Sex Week. Specifically, Friday's vote removes approval by the Student Programming Allocation Committee (SPAC) -- which is made up of students and faculty -- and gives it to the chief student affairs officer. Vice Chancellor for Student Life Vincent Carilli said he will work throughout March with students and other members of the UT community to come up with a new process for allocating funds. Carilli and Interim President Randy Boyd both said they are committed to including students in the process.
 
U. of Kentucky students raise more than $1.8M in record-breaking DanceBlue marathon
After 24 sleepless hours at this year's DanceBlue, University of Kentucky students learned Sunday night their fundraising efforts brought in $1,880,954.88 to fight childhood cancer. The money brought in by the students set a record for the event. The amounts raised by the marathon have steadily increased each year since the first event in 2006. In 2018, students raised $1,804,068.77, according to the DanceBlue website. This weekend's event, which was held at Memorial Coliseum from 8 p.m. Saturday to about 8 p.m. Sunday, was the fourteenth annual DanceBlue. About 1,000 UK students participated in the 24-hour dance marathon without sitting or sleeping for the duration of the event. The proceeds from the dance marathon go toward the Golden Matrix Fund, which benefits the DanceBlue Kentucky Children's Hospital Hematology/ Oncology Clinic. Since the first marathon in 2006, the event has raised more than $15 million to fight children's cancer.
 
Arkansas Electrical Engineers Ride a Power Surge
Slide into a new car and you're entering Alan Mantooth's world. All around are extensions of electrical engineering, from the LIDAR system tracking obstacles as you park to the antilock braking system halting you at the stoplight -- even to the seat warmer, well, warming your seat. "In a brand new car, there might be 15 or 20 computers, computer chips," said Mantooth, an electrical engineer and professor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. "All these things are manifestations of how inexpensive and yet flexible electronics have become." Arkansas' college programs in electrical engineering are thriving, with enrollment up over the past 10 years in all of the state's accredited programs. Mantooth said that interest declined after the dot-com bust of 2001, with many potential students shifting into mechanical engineering. But EE studies have been rebounding for a decade, and UA's undergraduate program had 246 students last fall, up from 207 in 2014; the university had 88 doctoral students in electrical engineering last fall, up 72 percent from 51 just five years ago.
 
This Louisiana program luring adults to college could benefit students, state; here's how
Until a few months ago, Courtney Henderson was a full-time mom raising five children. Now she is part of a pilot project aimed at trimming the staggering number of adults in Louisiana 18 years and older with a high school diploma or less -- nearly 1 of every 2 adults. Henderson, 32, is on scholarship at Baton Rouge Community College, where she is studying business management in hopes of eventually opening her own hair salon. "I am going to do whatever I have to do to succeed," she said. Higher education leaders hope the pilot program benefiting Henderson and a few hundred other students soon turns into a state-funded program that could someday help transform the state's economy. "They are there because they know this is going to be life changing for them," Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed said.
 
U. of Missouri Faculty Council digs into RSVP Center resignations
During a somewhat tense meeting Thursday, University of Missouri Faculty Council members had plenty of questions about MU's Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center after the departure of the center's victim advocate and coordinator last spring. In May, two full-time RSVP Center staffers resigned under pressure in the wake of a Columbia Daily Tribune series about MU's Title IX process. The center advocates for victims of sexual assault and serves as an education resource about sexual violence. The questions about the RSVP Center were for Donell Young, assistant vice chancellor for student engagement and success. Young was quoted in a follow-up story published Sunday that looked at how and why the resignations occurred. Young works for MU's Division of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity, where his responsibilities include overseeing MU's social justice centers, including the RSVP Center. Although Young said he could not answer council questions about personnel matters, he said he was able to announce that Amelia Howser, MU equity consultant and investigator and Title IX representative, accepted the role as student advocacy coordinator and will step into her role March 11.
 
Trump Says He'll Sign Order Requiring Colleges to Protect Free Speech
President Trump announced on Saturday that he would soon sign an executive order threatening to cut off federal research money to colleges that fail to support free speech. He made the announcement at a gathering outside Washington, D.C., of the Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC. "Today I'm proud to announce that I will be very soon signing an executive order requiring colleges and universities to support free speech if they want federal research grants," he said. Terry Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education, said in an interview on Saturday that the threatened order "is a solution in search of a problem." "Free speech is a core value of research universities because it is intimately connected to academic freedom," he said.
 
President Trump vows to issue executive order barring research funds to colleges that don't support free speech
President Trump vowed Saturday to "soon" issue an executive order that would deny federal research funds to colleges and universities that do not support free speech. "If they want our dollars and we give them by the billions, they've got to allow people to speak," said Trump in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He did not describe how the executive order would work, or who would judge whether a college or university was not protecting free speech. Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, said via email, "Public research universities have a First Amendment constitutional obligation to protect free speech. It is an obligation they take very seriously and work hard to protect. Our campuses serve as important forums for the debate of diverse ideas. An executive order is unnecessary, as public research universities are already bound by the First Amendment, which they deeply respect and honor. It is core to their academic mission."
 
How UT-Austin's Bold Plan for Reinvention Went Belly Up
Gregory L. Fenves had heard the calls for change, and he pledged to act. Standing before a quiet auditorium in the fall of 2016, the University of Texas at Austin's president detailed a path forward: Project 2021. In five years, he said, the university wanted most of Austin's students to be able to enroll in revamped degree programs. Project 2021, officials would later say, would incorporate state-of-the-art online classes. Redesigned curricula. An academic calendar that included short courses outside of traditional semesters. And researchers would dig into data to examine every aspect of the undergraduate academic experience -- to measure what worked and adjust accordingly. "Even the best," Fenves said in his address, "can do better." Not two years later, Project 2021 was dead.
 
Purdue University extends streaming website ban
Purdue University students planning to use university Wi-Fi to watch videos, play games or listen to music will soon have to find a new way to stay awake during class. When students return from spring break on March 18, they will find access to Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Steam, iTunes and Pandora blocked in all academic spaces on campus. System updates to Apple devices will also be barred. Purdue tested blocking access to five streaming sites in four lecture halls at the beginning of fall semester 2018. The pilot program has run continuously since then and has been extended to more spaces on campus. The list of streaming sites that are banned has also grown. Mark Sonstein, executive director of IT infrastructure at Purdue, said the ban was not driven by a desire to get students to pay more attention in class, although some professors said they hoped this would be an added benefit. Rather, the move was taken to prevent students from hogging bandwidth that others need to do their work.
 
Homework can place unrealistic burden on students, parents
Angela Farmer, an assistant clinical professor in Mississippi State University's Shackouls Honors College, writes: The typical school day for kindergarten through 12th-grade students runs from around 8 a.m. until somewhere near 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. There are multiple subjects introduced, discussed and debated. There are also a variety of strategies demonstrated to help students learn to navigate mathematical calculations in order to solve empirical problems as well as complex situations. Factor in a few course electives, lunchtime, an extra-curricular obligation or three, and enough rigor to make colleges appreciate a student's efforts in order to create the perfect student schedule. As heavily laden as this type of scheduled student finds himself during a traditional day, most days are far from over when the last bell rings for them to leave.
 
The new Republican reality: Debt, debt, and more debt
Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: Shhh. All these peak debt levels have occurred with Republicans in control of the Congress and White House. No surprise really. Take the national debt. Republicans like to talk "eliminate the deficit" and "reduce the debt" and "balance the budget," but since George H.W. Bush was president have never followed through with the walk. It's really the height of hypocrisy these days when they talk down Democrats about spending and deficits. Remember Donald Trump's campaign promise to eliminate the debt? In a March 31, 2016, interview with the Washington Post, he promised to eliminate $19 trillion in debt in eight years. Instead it has gone up $3 trillion. Rising interest rates and escalating debt are a formula for economic turmoil if not collapse. Debt watchdog, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, reported in December that interest on the national debt "will nearly triple over the next 10 years, soaring from $315 billion in 2018 to $914 billion in 2028." Soon interest payments alone with top $1 trillion annually.
 
Hood, Reeves, if they make it to November, could rival Barbour-Musgrove
Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: In many ways, the 2003 gubernatorial campaign was the birth of the modern, powerhouse Mississippi Republican Party. Republican Haley Barbour of Yazoo City took what he had learned through decades in Washington, D.C., in numerous capacities, including as the political director for President Ronald Reagan, and focused it on incumbent Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Musgrove ran a competent campaign, probably good enough to win against most opponents, but the combination of Barbour's unprecedented campaign fund-raising and Barbour's campaign expertise was too much for the incumbent to overcome. It should be pointed out that Musgrove had some glaring weaknesses that Barbour could exploit. The biggest weakness probably centered around the fact his first term coincided with the beginning of low paying manufacturing jobs leaving the country. Mississippi was hit particularly hard by that exodus.


SPORTS
 
Teaira McCowan Leads No. 5 Mississippi State to SEC Title
Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer couldn't have been more ready to face South Carolina, and he showed his passion when his players needed it. Schaefer loudly protested a third-quarter foul on Bulldogs guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter, coming up the court and drawing a technical with his team trailing 39-34. "I had had enough," Schaefer said he recalled thinking. "I'm ready to fight. Who's in with me?" Mississippi State's players showed they shared Schaefer's fire. Teaira McCowan had 18 points and 17 rebounds to help the fifth-ranked Bulldogs rally from 10 points down and hold on through a wild finish to defeat No. 14 South Carolina 68-64 and win the Southeastern Conference title on Sunday.
 
Women's basketball: Mississippi State clinches SEC title outright over South Carolina
Championship teams adjust at halftime. Trailing by seven at the break on the road against No. 14 South Carolina, No. 5 Mississippi State needed to do that if it wanted to secure the regular season SEC title outright. The Bulldogs were able to do so. They beat the Gamecocks, 68-64, to win the regular season conference championship for the second-straight year. South Carolina (21-8, 13-3 SEC) would have forced the two programs to share the title had it been able to win on its home floor. Mississippi State (27-2, 15-1 SEC) wouldn't let that happen. "They're just a tough, physical, aggressive basketball team," MSU head coach Vic Schaefer said of South Carolina. "And I like to think we are too."
 
Desperate late rally not enough as South Carolina falls to Mississippi State
In an intense back-and-forth battle, No. 14 South Carolina women's basketball sprinted out to a authoritative early lead over rival Mississippi State, gave it all away in a poor third quarter, then stormed back to within two points in the last minute, only to lose, 68-64. At one point, the Gamecocks (21-8, 13-3 SEC) led the Bulldogs (27-2, 15-1) by 10 points in the second quarter and had the large crowd at Colonial Life Arena at full volume, as No. 5 MSU and star player Teaira McCowan seemed on their heels and taken aback by USC's intensity. Things changed completely in the third quarter, though, as MSU outscored Carolina 19-8, holding coach Dawn Staley's team to its lowest point total in SEC play all year. The Gamecocks will play in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament in Greenville on Friday at 6 p.m. Their opponent is to be determined.
 
What we learned about Mississippi State baseball in undefeated Frisco Classic showing
The weather in North Texas this weekend was numbing. The Bulldogs' pitching staff made matters worse for No. 15 Mississippi State's opponents in the Frisco Classic. Not only were Sam Houston State and No. 4 Texas Tech batters a little stiff because of the crisp, cold conditions, but they were frozen in their tracks because of masterful Mississippi State pitching displays. In the two games the Bulldogs (10-1) played at Dr. Pepper Ballpark before the third was canceled because of a frigid forecast, MSU pitchers combined for 21 strikeouts and just two walks. The team had an earned run average of 1.51 against two teams that will surely be factors during postseason play. "I'm very pleased," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "They compete. That's one thing I've liked since I got on campus with this group. I knew it coming in. We are a very competitive group of guys."
 
Mississippi State baseball has three named to Frisco Classic All-Tournament team
Three Mississippi State baseball student-athletes were named to the Frisco Classic All-Tournament team following a 2-0 weekend at the event. Freshman JT Ginn was named the Most Valuable Player, while sophomore Justin Foscue and senior Elijah MacNamee were each named to the all-tournament team, as well. Ginn fired off seven innings of three-hit, two-run baseball in his third career start to improve to 3-0 with a victory over No. 3 Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon. The right hander fanned eight batters and walked only one in the outing. This is Ginn's second career honor, as he was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week following last week's outing vs. No. 21 Southern Miss. Foscue and MacNamee each pick up their first in-season honors of the season. Foscue led MSU with a .500 (4-for-8) average at the event. His four hits were the most for a Bulldog and he scored the game-winning run vs. Sam Houston State after leading off the eighth inning with a double down the left-field line. MacNamee hit .333 (2-for-6) at the Frisco Classic, but owned a .556 on-base percentage with two walks and a hit-by-pitch. He scored two runs and drove in one RBI on the weekend.
 
Orley Hood on Bailey Howell: Shows how perceptive great sports writing can be
Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Five years ago this week, we held beloved newspaper writer Orley Hood's memorial service at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Museum. The place was packed. All seats were taken and people stood everywhere, including on the mezzanine overlooking the arena area. Gov. William Winter, a huge Orley fan, spoke eloquently, as always. "When I was growing up, I wanted to be Orley Hood," Gov. Winter, once an aspiring sports writer, told us. Charles Overby, the great newspaper editor and Orley's former boss, spoke. Sid Salter, a colleague and good friend of Orley's, had his say. So did Malcolm White, Jackson's social chairman and Orley's pal all those years. Hunter Hood, Orley's oldest son, spoke as eloquently as any. All talked of Orley's zest for life, his love of family, sports and people, and his mastery of words, sentences and paragraphs. ... Thursday night, many of us gathered again at the Hall of Fame. Once again, we celebrated Orley, who died Feb. 21, 2014, after a long and brave battle with leukemia. He was 65. This time we celebrated a new Orley Hood exhibit at the museum.
 
Montez Sweat set big-man record for 40-yard dash
The defensive linemen hailed as the gems of the draft class didn't disappoint during their on-field testing Sunday, and nobody performed better than Montez Sweat. The 6-foot-6, 260-pounder from Mississippi State clocked a 4.41-second 40-yard dash at Lucas Oil Stadium, the fastest time by a defensive lineman since at least 2003. That topped the mark of 4.43 seconds set by Emanuel Lawson in 2006. He was faster than all but two of 23 running backs who ran the 40 at the NFL scouting combine this week, and he was 0.12 seconds faster than Jadeveon Clowney's time at the 2014 combine. He said Saturday that he models his game after "old-time pass rushers like Jason Taylor," and when asked what would set him apart among this year's deep D-line class, Sweat said, "I think I would separate myself with my effort and my play. Just getting after the QB is what I do best."
 
Ole Miss AD Ross Bjork: town hall meetings 'healthy' for fan base
If Ross Bjork had to describe the last three weeks he spent traversing Mississippi and speaking with the Ole Miss fan base he would use the word 'healthy.' On Thursday Bjork wrapped his one-man town hall series where he visited seven towns across the state and Memphis to allow people to ask whatever they wanted or to simple vent frustrations over the NCAA investigation among other topics. During Monday's Tupelo stop Bjork addressed the events that happened in Oxford with the pro-confederate rally and at the basketball game in his opening comments. After Bjork's opening statement he noted there were not any questions throughout the night about the events, though one question about the public relations aspect. On Thursday he chose to not address it in his opening statements but a couple questions were asked. One person gave a comment, feeling the university did not do enough to address the rally taking place on campus ahead of the game.
 
'When it rains, it pours.' Southern Miss baseball is battling early season woes
A bad week got worse Sunday for the Southern Miss baseball team. The Golden Eagles had lost five straight games but Sunday, they led Gonzaga 7-1 after 3 1/2 innings at Pete Taylor Park due to a grand slam by Erick Hoard and a two-run home run by Matt Guidry. But a half inning later, a storm moved into the Hattiesburg area, the game was canceled and because it didn't go five innings, the 7-1 lead goes out the window. No game. No grand slam. No two-run homer. Most importantly, no win. "When it rains, it pours," Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said in one of the most apt quotes of the sports year. The Eagles (4-5) will host Southern (La.) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
 
LSU baseball swept by Texas; loses third game after leading by two runs entering ninth inning
The ball bounced toward pitcher Todd Peterson, a slow, hopping grounder capable of preserving LSU's one-run lead against No. 18 Texas in the ninth inning at Disch-Falk Field. But the double play to end the game didn't happen. Instead, Texas won 7-6. The Tigers, who entered the weekend ranked No. 1 in the country, led by two runs going into the ninth inning Sunday afternoon. Peterson, trying to conduct a five-out save, allowed three runs. LSU (8-3) got swept. Texas improved to 10-3. "That's a good team," Peterson said. "And they beat us. They beat me. I wasn't good enough." The Tigers entered the weekend winners of eight straight games. Their pursuit of a championship is still possible, but they left with three losses, needing to figure out how to improve.
 
Wake Forest names John Currie as new athletic director, replacing Ron Wellman
John Currie's first job out of college was at his alma mater, when Ron Wellman kept him on at Wake Forest after graduation, working for the Deacon Club for $828 a month. Currie's ACC roots actually run even deeper than that. Currie, who will become Wake Forest's athletic director upon Wellman's retirement in May, moves the school announced Sunday, grew up in Chapel Hill the son of a North Carolina alum. He was baptized at Binkley Baptist by Robert Seymour, who was Dean Smith's pastoral guide. Currie may not be the son of an ACC commissioner like his new N.C. State counterpart Boo Corrigan, but he's not far behind. Currie's return to Wake Forest, where he worked for six years before going on to become athletic director at Kansas State (for eight years) and Tennessee (for eight months), is a homecoming in many ways, and not one that seemed to be in the cards. His precipitous firing at Tennessee last fall after a prolonged coaching search gone wrong -- which turned out, in the end, to be partly a palace coup -- opened the door for him to come home now.
 
U. of Memphis expects AAC media rights revenue distributions to double from new contract
The University of Memphis athletic department expects its revenue from the American Athletic Conference to more than double after the league's new Media Rights deal goes into effect. Memphis estimates it will receive about $5 million next year from conference distributions but expects that figure to increase to $8.5 million in fiscal years 2021-23, according to documents released ahead of Athletic Director Tom Bowen's presentation to the university's Board of Trustees Wednesday morning. Memphis expects to receive about $3.34 million in conference distributions this year, which is similar to what it received in the fiscal year 2018 ($3.32 million) and fiscal year 2017 ($3.37 million). U of M President M. David Rudd, who is part of the committee helping the AAC during its negotiations for a new media rights contract, shared in previous interviews that the deal is expected to be announced soon. The AAC is currently in the sixth year of a seven-year, $126-million media rights deal that it agreed to with ESPN when the league was founded ahead of the 2013-14 school year. Its new media rights deal would not go into effect until 2020-21.
 
College basketball teams add more glitz in attempt to keep fans coming
College basketball teams are trying to get fans to keep coming to games in the age of smartphones by making those phones an integral part of the experience. That's evident every time cellphones in the stands light up arenas across the country during pregame lineup introductions. Over 20 schools subscribe to a service enabling fans to have their phones light up in sync with music playing during pregame festivities. The program, organized by a company called Cue Audio, adds glitz to lineup introductions at various arenas from Oregon to Georgia. Football Bowl Subdivision attendance has dipped every season from 2014-17 (2018 figures haven't been released yet). The same concerns exist in basketball. The average attendance for a Division I basketball game last year was 4,807, a slight increase from the 2017 total of 4,799. Attendance rose 4.9 percent in the Southeastern Conference and 3.6 percent in the Big East, but dropped 5.2 percent in the Pac-12 and 4.3 percent in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while holding steady in the Big Ten and Big 12.



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