| Thursday, February 22, 2018 |
| IHL commissioner announces retirement | |
 | Commissioner of Higher Education Glenn Boyce announced Wednesday his intention to retire at the end of the current fiscal year. Boyce has served as commissioner since 2015. Prior to being named commissioner, Boyce served as Associate Commissioner of Academic Affairs for the Institutions of Higher Learning. He joined IHL after serving as president of Holmes Community College for more than nine years. "Dr. Boyce has provided tremendous leadership for the university system," said Trustee C.D. Smith, President of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. "He understands the needs of our students and our state and has worked tirelessly to ensure that the university system addresses both in our rapidly-changing world." |
| Mississippi education commissioner Glenn Boyce retiring | |
 | The head of Mississippi's public universities has announced his retirement. Commissioner of Higher Education Glenn Boyce, who became commissioner in 2015, wrote in a letter Wednesday that he will step down on June 30. Boyce will continue to serve in his role for the remainder of the 2018 fiscal year. No plans for an interim have been announced, but the state College Board is expected to discuss the search for Boyce's replacement soon. "It has been a blessing to spend my life as an educator, and looking back on it, I would not have traded my chosen field for any other," he wrote. "The experience of working with and beside wonderful people to help students fulfill their dreams through education has given me an extremely rewarding career. After 37 years, it is finally time to pursue the dreams my wife and I put on hold while building careers and raising a family." |
| Commissioner of higher education announces retirement | |
 | After nearly three years as commissioner of higher education, Glen Boyce has announced his retirement. He is expected to retire at the end of the current fiscal year. As commissioner of higher education, Boyce has set records in the areas of enrollment and degrees awarded. Under his leadership, he established a statewide program to increase the number of degree holders in Mississippi. "Dr. Glenn Boyce has been a transformational leader in his role as Mississippi's Higher Education Commissioner," said Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State University. "During my tenure at Mississippi State University, I have come to deeply respect Dr. Boyce and appreciate his passion and commitment to the cause of advancing higher education in Mississippi. I wish him every success and happiness as he enters the next phase of his life and work." |
| Girls encouraged to seek careers in engineering | |
 | Of the 27 Northeast High School girls attending an event Wednesday to encourage young women to pursue engineering careers, only two were interested. This amounts to about seven percent of the group of ninth graders at the program, which was held in the MCC-Riley Workforce Development Center in Meridian. The numbers of girls interested in engineering illustrates the national challenge to find enough engineers to work in high-wage, high-skill, critical thinking careers as other nations encourage more young people to enter the science fields. Lori Bruce, dean of Mississippi State University's graduate school and an electrical and computer engineer, said national needs to produce more engineers are driving efforts to encourage more women to consider careers that involve problem-solving with science and math. "If you don't encourage women, you rule out half of the population," she said. |
| Former alderman: LGBT issues expected under 'lesbian leadership' | |
 | A former Starkville alderman is claiming she warned that Starkville would be confronted with issues such as Tuesday's vote on a Pride parade under "lesbian leadership" in a thinly-veiled swipe at Mayor Lynn Spruill. Lisa Wynn, who represented Ward 2 until being defeated in last year's election by current alderman Sandra Sistrunk, took to Twitter after Tuesday's vote to thank the four aldermen -- Ward 1's Ben Carver, Ward 3's David Little, Ward 6's Roy A. Perkins and Ward 7's Henry Vaughn -- for denying the parade request. Spruill, when contacted by The Dispatch, said she was aware Wynn's tweet, and was going to ignore her comments, which she said are neither "beneficial nor productive." |
| Group plans lawsuit against Starkville after LGBT pride parade blocked | |
 | The grassroots organization Starkville Pride plans to file a lawsuit against the city after the Starkville Board of Alderman voted to deny its permit request for an LGBT Pride Parade. Aldermen approved the motion to deny the request with a 4-3 vote. Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver, Ward 3 Alderman David Little, Vice Mayor and Ward 6 Alderman Roy A'. Perkins and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn voted in favor of denying the request. Attorney Roberta Kaplan of Kaplan & Company, LLP will represent Starkville Pride organizer Bailey McDaniel and the group after being notified by the Campaign For Southern Equality. Kaplan has been involved with litigation issues with respect to LGBTQ rights in Mississippi. "It's pretty clear to us that what the town did here was a blatant and overt violation of the First Amendment," Kaplan said. "You can't deny people the right to speak publicly based on the contents of their speech." |
| C Spire trots out its 5G technology | |
 | C Spire publicly tested its 5G ultra-fast fixed-wireless technology on Tuesday, and brought along an FCC commissioner to cheer it on. Brendan Carr, is in the 3-2 Republican majority that overturned the Obama-era imposition of rules intended to ensure a level Internet playing field and protection of consumers. Instead, Carr has said, the opposite happened. Investment and innovation was curbed and broadband expansion was slowed. Critics still fear the effects of the loosening of regulations. The Democrat-majority commission in 2015 applied Title II of the 1934 Communications Act to broadband communications and reclassified service providers as common carriers to be held to standards similar to telephone, gas and electric providers. Carr has been designated as the agency's lead on wireless infrastructure deployment. |
| Hotel Carrying New Trump Brand Secures $6 Million Mississippi Tax Break | |
 | The State of Mississippi on Wednesday awarded a tax break worth up to $6 million for a hotel project involving the Trump family business, a public subsidy that could indirectly benefit President Trump. The board of the Mississippi Development Authority approved the so-called tourism tax rebate, which had been requested by the development's local owners, Dinesh and Suresh Chawla. The Trump Organization will brand and manage the hotel and collect fees from the Chawlas for doing so. The state's approval of the tax rebate is the culmination of more than two years of efforts by the Chawlas that predate their partnership with the Trumps, according to emails obtained by The New York Times through a public records request. The award renews legal questions about a Trump-affiliated property receiving benefits from a state or local government. |
| Could Mississippi elect 1st Democratic governor in 20 years? Jim Hood thinks so | |
| In his strongest statement to date, Attorney General Jim Hood said he is doing all he can to get ready to run for governor in Mississippi. The 55-year-old former prosecutor said his wife and family are still considering it. "It's tough on the kids," he said. "If you're the candidate, everybody's patting you on the back and telling you what a good fellow you are, but your family at home doesn't get any of that." Instead, he said, they often have to face the brunt of social media. The odds are against Hood, the lone statewide Democratic office holder, in a state that has grown increasingly Republican. Political observers say Hood represents one of the strongest Democratic candidates in years. In 2015, Gov. Phil Bryant's Democratic competitor was an unknown truck driver. |
| Tollison plans no major changes in Senate to House MAEP rewrite | |
| Senate leadership does not plan to make any major changes to legislation passed by the House earlier this session to rewrite the Mississippi Adequate Education Program school funding formula. "I do not anticipate any substantive changes to the bill as it passed the House," said Senate Education Chairman Gray Tollison, R-Oxford. Tollison's committee met Wednesday to discuss the House proposal to rewrite the Adequate Education Program, which was considered landmark legislation nationally when it was passed in 1997. The Education Committee has a Tuesday deadline to pass the bill and send it on to the full Senate for consideration. It would not be unusual for the other chamber to make major changes to such a substantial bill. The Education panel met Wednesday for the first time to discuss the House proposal. |
| Senate will move forward with House school funding bill | |
 | Senate leaders indicated Wednesday that they don't plan to make substantial changes to the House's school funding proposal as it moves forward in the legislative process. Since House Bill 957 passed the House last month, questions have swirled about the Senate's plans for the formula, even among senators. With an important deadline looming on Tuesday, Senate Education Committee Chairman Gray Tollison finally indicated there would be no "substantial changes" to the bill. Tollison, R-Oxford, did say a few provisions of the bill are still being worked on. Opponents of the rewrite spent the most time questioning Tollison and EdBuild CEO Rebecca Sibilia about the new formula at the meeting Wednesday. |
| Senate keeps alive possibility of increasing cigarette tax | |
| The Senate leadership is keeping alive the option of increasing the cigarette tax. Wednesday was the deadline to pass revenue bills, such as tax increases, out of at least one chamber of the Mississippi Legislature. While the Senate did not vote to increase the cigarette tax, it did pass a bill with four dissenting votes that contains the legal code section that would be needed in any bill that raises or lowers the cigarette tax. That means legislators still can opt at a later point in the session to try to increase the cigarette tax. The cigarette tax language was placed in a bill dealing with issuing state bonds to pay for building projects on university and community college campuses and for other state building projects. The bond bill contains numerous construction projects throughout the state. At this point, there is still a long way to go before deciding which bond projects will be in final legislation. |
| Could Mississippi lawmakers be ready to raise cigarette tax for first time in a decade? | |
| Some say raising the cigarette tax in Mississippi by $1.50 per pack would save lives and improve the health of citizens. Other see it as raising taxes on citizens. The debate could play out this legislative session with a push by some lawmakers and health advocates to an increase in the cigarette tax. There are bills in the House and Senate to raise the cigarette tax. Senate President Pro-Tem Terry Burton, R-Newton, a smoker; said Thursday he believes raising cigarette tax is something lawmakers can agree on. But Burton said he doesn't believe it will be raised to $1.50 per pack. The current tax is 68 cents per pack. |
| Public Service Commission's Hire Mississippi initiative goes live March 1 | |
 | While the Mississippi Public Service Commission is known for regulating utilities, it also works behind the scenes to improve how utility companies operate in the state. One of its newest initiatives, introduced last year by Chairman Brandon Presley, will encourage utility companies operating in the state to hire more Mississippi contractors for work. Presley, who visited the Hattiesburg American newsroom Wednesday, said only about 30 percent of utility companies' $870 million in maintenance and operations contracts is given to Mississippi businesses. "That's 70 percent -- $609 million -- going out of state," he said. The Hire Mississippi rule is expected to change that. The program is the only one of its kind in the country, Presley said. |
| Coroner vs. medical examiner? Death of DeSoto coroner highlights national debate | |
| Josh Pounders was a toddler when his father was first elected as DeSoto County's coroner. It was a job that Jeff Pounders held for 34 years until he died. Now his oldest son has been appointed to fill the reminder of his father's four-year term. "One of my first memories as a child was when I was 3 years old and we were standing on the courthouse lawn the night my dad first got elected," Pounders recalled. As DeSoto County looks to elect a new coroner, debate continues around the country about whether coroners should continue to document deaths or turn that duty over to more qualified medical examiners. Although the two positions are often used interchangeably, they are different. Coroner systems date back to the 9th or 10th century in England. "Crowners," as coroners were called, originally alerted the king of deaths so he could extract taxes one last time. |
| Marco Rubio Is Jeered and Lectured on Gun Control | |
| Senator Marco Rubio and a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association were repeatedly heckled at a nationally televised forum on Wednesday night in Florida after they refused to back new gun control measures. The spokeswoman for the N.R.A., Dana Loesch, offering the group's first public comments after a shooting last week at a Florida high school, strongly defended the gun advocacy group's positions in front of students and teachers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Mr. Rubio, Republican of Florida, also drew the ire of the crowd for refusing to support a ban on assault weapons and for saying that he intended to continue accepting money from the N.R.A. and other groups that support his pro-gun agenda. |
| 'Fix it': Students and parents tell Trump he needs to address gun violence at schools | |
 | President Trump leaned forward and listened intently for nearly an hour Wednesday afternoon as students, parents and teachers begged him to do something, anything, to prevent a mass shooting from happening at another school. The group offered a wide variety of suggestions -- bolster school security, drill students on what to do during a shooting and raise the age at which someone can buy an assault rifle -- but in the end, the president remained focused on the solution he often proposes after a mass shooting: increasing the number of people with guns so they can quickly stop shooters with lethal force. The 70-minute listening session with students, parents and teachers at the White House was a remarkable event with participants' raw emotions often on display. |
| Seeking to outsmart US, China races ahead on artificial intelligence | |
 | When a Google computer program beat the world's best player of an ancient Chinese board game last May, it might have seemed like an incremental milestone. But for some, the success of the program known as AlphaGo marked more than a man vs. machine clash. It set up a broader race between China and the United States over artificial intelligence, a competition that could mold the future of humankind just as the widespread arrival of electricity did in the last century. Perhaps it was a coincidence of timing, but the AlphaGo competition kicked off events that demonstrated China's resolve to close the gap with --- and quickly surpass --- the United States in deploying artificial intelligence, or AI. Goals Chinese authorities announced last July are ambitious: Reach parity with the United States by 2020, achieve major breakthroughs by 2025, and "occupy the commanding heights of AI technology by 2030" as the world's undisputed leader. |
| Parking citations decrease as UM parking department works to correct confusions | |
 | Since Mike Harris joined the University of Mississippi as director of the Department of Parking and Transportation in February 2014, the numbers of citations for offenses like parking and obstructing traffic have decreased. There were 46,356 total citations from July 2014 to June 2015 and 52,764 from July 2015 to June 2016. In the previous school year from July 2016 to June 2017, there were 39,689 citations and 6,299 of those were warnings. To date this school year, since July 2017, there have been 24,398 citations, 3,950 of which were warnings. Harris said the parking warning system began during his time as director. "We write warnings that first week or so of classes so that people kind of get used to where they're parking," Harris said. After working in parking for 24 years, Harris said citation numbers at a university the size of UM should be in the 35,000 range. |
| UMMC physicians creating models to reduce opioid addiction | |
 | Doctors at the University of Mississippi Medical Center are working to prevent and reduce opioid addiction. Medical experts say an average of half a million opioid pills are dispensed daily by doctors in Mississippi. Now a team of physicians is changing the way patients are treated for pain. "When I started feeling the actual cravings for them that's when I should have asked for help and that was a decade ago," said Tom, a veteran battling opioid addiction. Tom shared his story about his struggles in November. Today, University of Mississippi Medical Center physicians are working on a model that would prevent opioid dependency through alternative methods. Other options include treating pain with non-pharmaceuticals, acupuncture, physical and occupational therapy. |
| Millsaps College continues investigation over 'vulgar' Trump graffiti | |
| A 2017 incident at Millsaps College involving profanity-laced graffiti is back under investigation after additional photos surfaced that showed the graffiti was larger and more vulgar than previously known, said Millsaps President Robert W. Pearigen. One photo shows profanity directed at President Donald Trump. At the end of the spring semester last year, a group of students wrote and drew on the walls of several rooms in the Christian Center, a building that was scheduled for major renovations. Pearigen described much of the graffiti as vulgar. Pearigen said in a statement that a few faculty members were present during some of the activity and joined in a group photo in one of the defaced areas. Disciplinary processes were taken against the students and faculty involved, he said. The disciplinary process is confidential, he said, but the administration said it believes that appropriate actions were taken. |
| William Carey officials discuss emergency policy | |
| William Carey University is speaking about their emergency policy after the recent school shooting in Florida and the many threats against high schools across the country. "We're doing everything we can to be prepared," said Executive Vice President and Provost Scott Hummel. "A part of that is that we have security on campus. We also monitor students when they come on campus. So, at night ID's are checked and we're able to monitor that." If something were to happen on campus, Hummel is confident that the university can respond in a timely manner. "We have the mechanisms to be able to get the word out very quickly through Sader Alert," Hummel said. "We even have panic buttons located in certain positions on campus. They'll be able to hit that and it will send out an automated message." The university wants to be proactive. Hummel said it's important to prevent an incident before it happens. |
| U. of Alabama law school pioneer dies at 93 | |
 | The University of Alabama School of Law's first female tenured faculty member, Camille Wright Cook, has died. She was 93. "I write, in sadness, to let you know that Camille Wright Cook died yesterday. Her son (and fellow alumnus) Sydney Cook reported this morning that she passed away at home, surrounded by family, listening to Frank Sinatra," Dean Mark E. Brandon wrote in a statement released Wednesday by the college. Cook, the John S. Stone professor emerita of Law, was a 1948 graduate of the college and taught for 24 years before retiring in 1993. She served a variety of roles at UA, including administrative assistant to the dean, assistant dean and professor. She became the first tenured female member of the faculty in 1976 and the first woman to hold an endowed chair in 1992 when she was named the John S. Stone Chair of Law. |
| Max Gruver's parents: LSU's plan to curb hazing, drinking contains no meaningful reform | |
 | Responding to the death of a fraternity pledge last fall, LSU unveiled its highly anticipated corrective action plan on Wednesday --- a list of 28 proposed changes that officials say are meant to tamp down on binge drinking and stop hazing as fraternities and sororities recruit new members. The plan calls for banning hard alcohol at fraternity parties, requiring supervision at pledge activities, engaging with alumni to create more chapter oversight, and creating a transparency website where disciplinary sanctions for Greek organizations are publicized. But the parents of Max Gruver, the LSU student whose death prompted the look at Greek Life on campus, said LSU's proposal is an empty gesture. "The report epitomizes what happens when task forces like these are comprised of members with vested interests in perpetuating the current, failed Greek Life system," Rae Ann and Stephen Gruver said in a statement. |
| Kentucky college students may have to shell out hundreds more for this new fee | |
 | A proposed fee to help Kentucky's public universities renovate and maintain aging buildings could cost college students hundreds more each year, even as tuition payments continue their steady climb. When Gov. Matt Bevin released his two-year budget proposal last month, higher education officials were pleased to see a $300 million bond issue that would help renovate aging buildings on Kentucky's campuses. But to tap the proposed pool of money, public universities would have to raise millions more in a dollar-for-dollar match. They're turning to students for the money. A rule approved last week by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education will allow colleges and universities to raise much of the required matching money by charging students a new fee. |
| U. of South Carolina's first African-American professor now honored by statue on campus | |
 | The University of South Carolina unveiled a statue Wednesday of its first African-American professor. A 9-foot-tall statue of Richard T. Greener stands next to the Thomas Cooper Library, where Greener worked, teaching philosophy, Latin, Greek and law on the Columbia campus. The first African-American to graduate from Harvard University, Greener arrived at USC in 1873. That was during the post-Civil War Reconstruction period, when black South Carolinians were allowed to go to college for the first time. Greener earned a degree from USC's law school and was active in the state Republican Party until 1877, when Gov. Wade Hampton shut down the integrated college. Greener went on to become the dean of Howard University's law school and held a diplomatic post in Russia. |
| Texas A&M system chancellor announces potential new grant program to support students facing hardship | |
 | Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp announced a new initiative in Austin on Wednesday aimed at helping middle-class students facing hardships avoid additional debt. The initiative, if approved by the A&M System Board of Regents, would fund the new "Regents' Grants" with $3 million from the Available University Fund each year over the next decade. Sharp announced the potential program Wednesday morning as part of his testimony before the Joint Interim Committee on Higher Education Formula Funding. System officials said the hope for the initiative would be to assist students through times of hardship so that they can remain in school and on-track for graduation without the need to accrue additional debt. |
| Higher ed group seeks key role in alternative credential landscape | |
 | Major employers will be invited to have their internal training programs evaluated for academic creditworthiness under a new digital credentialing system led by the American Council on Education. The initiative, launched today, will see ACE team up with the digital credential provider Credly to help people put a value on skills they have learned outside college courses. Through a $1.5 million grant from the Lumina Foundation, ACE will work with employers to assess which skills and competencies employees can derive from work-based training programs, and how much college credit these are worth. While making it easier for working adults to enter postsecondary education is what many college officials might care most about, that's not the sole driver behind the new effort. The digital credentials offered through the initiative can also be used as third-party verified resumes when employees seek new jobs. |
| Legislators had options to fully fund MAEP, chose not to | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Bobby Harrison writes: "Senate Education Chair Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, maintains that the new school funding formula being advocated by him and other members of the legislative leadership preserves the core tenets of the Mississippi Adequate Education program. Even Rebecca Sibilia, the chief executive officer of New Jersey-based EdBuild, who was paid $125,000 by the legislative leadership to develop a new funding formula, acknowledged during a recent meeting that the MAEP was landmark legislation when it was passed in 1997. What Sibilia was referring to is the direct, and at the time innovative, way of ensuring a higher degree of equity in school funding." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State can close regular season home slate unbeaten | |
| Victoria Vivians, Morgan William, Blair Schaefer and Roshunda Johnson have been a big part of Mississippi State's success throughout their careers. Tonight the four Bulldog senior guards will take the floor one final time during the regular season at Humphrey Coliseum to host Auburn at 7 p.m. No. 2 MSU (28-0, 14-0 SEC) has already clinched the SEC championship and is two wins shy of closing out the regular season undefeated. The Tigers have lost two straight including a 70-60 loss at Alabama on Sunday. |
| Fantastic Four: Seniors help change Mississippi State landscape | |
| In March of 2012, shortly after his introductory press conference at Mississippi State, Vic Schaefer got on a plane back to Texas A&M to help coach the Aggies in the Sweet 16. While he had unfinished business with his boss Gary Blair for a few more weeks, his first priority was beginning to build his future in Starkville. While on the plane, Schaefer picked up the phone and made a call. It was to Scott Central head coach Chad Harrison who was coaching a superstar in the making in Forest. That call was about sophomore Victoria Vivians who was already one of the top scorers in the nation. VIvians would ultimately decide to stay home in the state of Mississippi and play for Schaefer. It sparked what would become a revolution in women's hoops in Starkville. |
| Family atmosphere the favorite part of Blair Schaefer's time in Starkville | |
| It was a day that seemed like a long time ago for Mississippi State head women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer, but on the other hand, it was like only yesterday. When Schaefer watched his daughter Blair sign a scholarship to become a Bulldog at the Starkville High School library, it was the start of quite a journey for their family. Coach Schaefer said the opportunity to have success at State with his daughter on the team is like "living the dream." Blair and this year's other four Bulldog seniors have enjoyed a 117-20 record in the last four seasons. During that time, Blair has come to love and appreciate MSU and the Starkville community. She said the family atmosphere is what impressed her the most after the Schaefer family moved from Texas. |
| Vic Schaefer named semifinalist for Naismith Coach of the Year | |
 | A record-setting start to the season and an SEC regular-season championship have landed Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer semifinalist honors for the prestigious Werner Ladder Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday morning. Schaefer earned a spot on the list after guiding Mississippi State to a school-record 28-0 overall record, 14-0 SEC mark and the program's first SEC regular-season title. His Bulldogs also became the first MSU women's sports program to hoist a conference regular-season crown. One of two teams in Division I men's or women's basketball without a loss, Mississippi State's 28-game win streak to begin the year is a school record and the most wins in the country. The Bulldogs also notched the most SEC wins in program history with their 14th in Sunday's title-clinching victory against No. 17 Texas A&M. |
| The day Vic Schaefer put Mississippi State on the path | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: "The rise of Mississippi State women's basketball has been phenomenal. Let's review. In 2011, the year before Vic Schaefer came to Starkville, State finished 11th of the then 12 teams in the Southeastern Conference. They tied for 11th in Schaefer's first season and then were 13th of 14 in his second (2012-13). They were again 13th in his third. Meanwhile, Schaefer was recruiting his tail end off. He hit paydirt on Sept. 23, 2013. That's when he convinced Scott Central's remarkable Victoria Vivians to shun offers from many more successful out-of-state programs and commit to Mississippi State. 'Tory was the first big-timer to say yes,' Schaefer said earlier this week. 'It gave us creditability in State and, really, across the nation. She wasn't a McDonald's All-American but she should have been.' The rest is amazing history." |
| Mississippi State moving on with Gary Henderson at the helm | |
| There was only one thing left for Mississippi State to do in the wake of head coach Andy Cannizaro's resignation on Tuesday. Play ball. The 21st-ranked Bulldogs returned to the field Wednesday evening and responded with a resounding 12-1 victory at Jackson State. "It's definitely an unfortunate event but at the same time, we have two ways we can react to it," said designated hitter Hunter Vansau. "We can let if affect us or either overcome it." That was exactly the type of message interim head coach Gary Henderson shared with his team before they returned to the diamond for the first time without Cannizaro, who left abruptly after making "poor decisions" off the field. "You're disappointed but you know immediately that you've got to move forward and that's what you do," Henderson said. |
| Mississippi State starts process of moving on from Andy Cannizaro; beats Jackson State | |
| Loud shouts of "That's the way, Mac," and "There you go, Mac" from Mississippi State's dugout followed after Elijah MacNamee cracked an RBI single to right. That was in the ninth inning during Mississippi State's 12-1 win over host Jackson State, and the Bulldogs held a nine-run lead at the time. Still, the Bulldogs were supportive, attentive and upbeat. This was baseball. That type of thing -- teammates encouraging a player who had been struggling at the plate, in this example -- happens every game. Normal stuff. It's worth pointing out, though, because the circumstances surrounding Wednesday night's game were immensely abnormal and what mattered for the Bulldogs was how they would respond to the undesirable situation. Mississippi State didn't play like a distracted team -- it made no mental errors and pounded JSU's pitching staff for 10 hits, including two home runs. You wouldn't have known Mississippi State was playing its first game since Andy Cannizaro's sudden resignation one day after the announcement. |
| Former Penn State, UConn Assistant Joe Moorhead On Another Level As Head Coach At Mississippi State | |
| Joe Moorhead is rolling with bigger dogs now and if history means anything he'll be on the porch barking right along with them. "Every day I walk in here I feel how fortunate I am to have this opportunity," Moorhead said. "I'm sitting in my office overlooking the practice fields and understanding the magnitude of being a head coach at this level. It really is, in a sense, out of the frying pan and into the fire. You're trading Ohio State for Alabama, Michigan for Auburn and things like that. Iron sharpens iron. I think my time spent at Penn State and in the Big Ten, the Big Ten East in particular, was a great proving ground and opportunity to prepare for something like this." The 44-year-old Moorhead brought the Penn State offense back to life in the two seasons he was there, and last August he was tabbed Sports Illustrated and Yahoo's No. 1 rising assistant in college football. He also led his alma mater, Fordham, to three consecutive FCS appearances and helped UConn reach its first and only BCS game. Recently, he became the 33rd head coach at Mississippi State. |
| Mississippi State's Joe Moorhead talks fatherhood at Overstreet | |
| Fatherhood and football were discussed Wednesday morning at Overstreet Elementary, when Mississippi State University head football coach Joe Moorhead spoke at the school's Fathers Matter Breakfast. The breakfast was attended by more than 90, primarily fathers of Overstreet students and their children. Moorhead's youngest son, Donovan, is a student at Overstreet. Moorhead, a father of three, discussed the need for fathers to step up and be involved in their children's education. He also tied in the three areas he expects his football players to excel in: academics, athletics, and social skills. He described his working-class upbringing in Pittsburgh. "My dad was the guy that swept the floors," Moorhead said. "He worked at a steel mill for 35 years. He was a bartender. He was a janitor. He worked three jobs to put three kids through college." |
| New Mississippi State offensive coordinator Luke Getsy believes in Joe Moorhead | |
| Luke Getsy was in an outstanding situation just a few short weeks ago. He was a wide receivers coach for one of the National Football League's most storied franchises -- the Green Bay Packers. Getsy was coaching a unit which was getting thrown the football by Green Bay's star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Getsy and his team were in the NFL's playoff picture virtually every season. Fast forward to the present. The 34-year-old Getsy is now the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Mississippi State. The question to be asked is why in the world would Getsy leave Green Bay in the past for Starkville? Because as great as Green Bay was, he sees another fantastic opportunity with the Bulldogs and new head coach Joe Moorhead. Getsy's past connection to Moorhead was the primary selling point to bring him to Starkville. |
| Orgerons' new $900,000 home in Baton Rouge: Five bedrooms, lakeside, golf course view | |
| LSU Football Coach Ed Orgeron has purchased a $900,000 home in University Club, putting him in the same upscale neighborhood as LSU Chancellor F. King Alexander and former Gov. Bobby Jindal. Orgeron and his wife, Kelly, closed on a home at Tiger Crossing Drive in a deal that was filed Wednesday. The seller was Traditions LLC, a custom home builder headed by Jackie Braud. According to an online real estate listing, the 4,300-square-foot home is located on a lake, overlooking the University Club golf course. The home has five bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths, with amenities such as an outdoor fireplace, an outdoor living room with a grilling kitchen, a freestanding tub in the master bath and an indoor gas fireplace. |
| New Sugar Bowl president Rod West seeks to ward off competitors | |
 | Rod West remembered that late-season game. Notre Dame had just completed an undefeated regular season in 1988 when a Fiesta Bowl representative personally invited the top-ranked Fighting Irish to play in a postseason game that capped their national championship season. "It was a big deal when a bowl rep came to your game and invited you to play in the Jan. 1 game," West said. That was then. One of West's duties as the newly appointed Allstate Sugar Bowl committee president in 2018 will not include traveling to late-season college football games so he can extend an invitation to a deserving school. Instead, the Sugar Bowl is well-positioned to continue attracting some of the top programs in college football on an annual basis. |
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