| Wednesday, August 28, 2019 |
| Mississippi Horse Park generating millions in 20 years of operation | |
 | The Mississippi Horse Park hosted 23 events in 1999, its first year in existence. Last year it hosted 134. "We started off just as an idea on paper, and then we were four metal buildings on a gravel road, and look where we are today," facility director and Oktibbeha County District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller said at Monday's Starkville Rotary Club meeting. The park located on Poor House Road, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, resulted from a partnership between the city of Starkville, Oktibbeha County and Mississippi State University. The park has hosted a professional rodeo since 2003, and the Starkville Rotary has produced it since 2005. The Rotary Classic Rodeo is the club's biggest fundraiser. Starkville Rotary president Sid Salter said the rodeo is "only as good as the next one" and encouraged members to continue supporting it. |
| Tate Reeves wins Republican nomination for Mississippi governor | |
 | Mississippi second-term Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves won the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday, setting up a November general election showdown with Democrat Jim Hood, the state's four-term attorney general. Reeves defeated retired Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. in a Republican primary runoff. Reeves, 45, spent more than $6 million this year -- the most of any candidate in the race, regardless of party. Waller, 67, spent about $1.4 million. Waller is a retired brigadier general in the Mississippi National Guard and son of the late Gov. Bill Waller Sr., a moderate Democrat who served from 1972 to 1976. Waller told a subdued group of supporters at his party that he believes his campaign raised important issues that will continue to be debated leading into the general election, including improving highways, bolstering health care and increasing teacher pay. |
| Tate Reeves wins Mississippi GOP governor runoff, advances to general against Jim Hood | |
 | Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday defeated former state Supreme Court Justice Bill Waller Jr. in the Republican primary runoff for Mississippi governor. Reeves now faces Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood in the November general election -- a contest both men and state political observers have anticipated for years. Reeves beat Waller 54 to 46 percent, according to preliminary results late Tuesday, with nearly all precincts reporting. The Associated Press declared Reeves the winner at about 8:45 p.m., and Waller called the lieutenant governor shortly after to concede. "What a great victory tonight," Reeves told several dozen supporters gathered at The Westin hotel in downtown Jackson. "The state Capitol press corps said we couldn't do it. They have been predicting my demise all summer long, but they forgot that I had you, an army of grassroots volunteers." |
| Tate Reeves wins GOP nod for Mississippi governor | |
 | Lt. Gov Tate Reeves will be the GOP nominee for governor in Mississippi after winning a Republican primary runoff on Tuesday. Reeves defeated former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller in the runoff, 54 percent to 46 percent, according to The Associated Press, with nearly all precincts reporting. Reeves will now face Democratic state Attorney General Jim Hood in the Nov. 5 general election. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, called Reeves "a principled, policy-driven conservative leader," in a statement issued after the AP called the race. "The RGA congratulates Tate on his win tonight, and we're with him all the way to victory in November," Ricketts added. Noam Lee, the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, pointed to the close GOP race. "Reeves was supposed to skate through the primary, but instead he is barely limping out of this runoff," said Lee. "We look forward to making this Reeves' toughest race of his career and electing Jim Hood the next governor of Mississippi," Lee added. |
| Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves prevails in GOP runoff, will face Democrat Jim Hood in November | |
 | Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves defeated former chief justice Bill Waller Jr. in a Republican runoff for governor on Tuesday, setting up a November general election bout with Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood. Reeves, who spent the three-week runoff campaign blasting Waller for what Reeves called "liberal" values, greeted voters at his watch party at the Westin hotel in downtown Jackson to chants of "Tate! Tate! Tate!" Reeves' mother, Dianne Peeples, was the first at the watch party to notice that the race had been called for her son, letting out a cheer that was quickly echoed by the 100 or so supporters gathered at the event. Reeves won the runoff Tuesday on the backs of a strong showing on the Gulf Coast and rural counties across the state. Waller's strength in the Jackson metro area, including in Reeves' home county, Rankin, could not offset Reeves' surge across at least 70 of Mississippi's 82 counties. |
| Lynn Fitch wins GOP nomination for Mississippi attorney general | |
| Second-term state Treasurer Lynn Fitch won the Republican nomination for Mississippi attorney general on Tuesday, defeating former gubernatorial chief of staff Andy Taggart in a primary runoff. Fitch now advances to the Nov. 5 general election to face Democrat Jennifer Riley Collins, 53, of Clinton, a military veteran and former director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi. Because Fitch and Collins are the only candidates running, Mississippi will elect a woman as attorney general for the first time. Fitch, 57, of Ridgeland, is in her second term as state treasurer after serving as state Personnel Board director and working as an attorney for state government and in private practice. Taggart, 62, of Madison, is an attorney in private practice. He was a Madison County supervisor for one term after serving as Republican Gov. Kirk Fordice's chief of staff in the 1990s. |
| John Caldwell wins Republican runoff election for Northern District Transportation Commissioner | |
 | John Caldwell won the Republican nomination for the Northern District Transportation Commissioner's race in a runoff election Tuesday, which will set him up to face former state Rep. Joe "Joey" Grist in the general election in November. Caldwell, a former Desoto County supervisor, received 56% of the vote, attributing most of the success to his volunteers and supporters who helped him in the race. He told the Daily Journal by phone Tuesday night this experience has been very humbling for him, and stressed more campaigning still has to take place ahead of the general election. The election comes at a pivotal time when approximately 411 bridges have been posted with weight limits and 65 bridges have been closed in Northeast Mississippi, and when leaders of rural communities have said access to quality infrastructure could determine the economic futures of their towns. The race became an open seat when outgoing transportation commissioner Mike Tagert announced he was not seeking reelection. |
| Mississippi officials confirm multiple cases of voting machines changing votes in GOP governor runoff | |
 | State officials have confirmed at least three reports of voting machines in two counties changing voters' picks in Mississippi's GOP gubernatorial primary runoff. Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves are currently in a runoff for the Republican nomination in the governor's race to see who will take on Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood in the November general election. Reeves led Waller in the Aug. 6 balloting by a 49-33 margin, though the race went to a runoff after no candidate hit 50 percent. The issues emerged Tuesday morning, with one Facebook user posting a video showing a touch-screen voting machine changing their selection from Waller to Reeves. A spokesperson for the secretary of state's office told the Ledger that their office was made aware of the problem and contacted Lafayette County, later sending a technician to the precinct. One machine in that county was later replaced after 19 votes were cast. |
| Breaking: Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson to resign from Senate at end of 2019 | |
| Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson said Wednesday he was stepping down from office at the end of 2019 as he struggles with Parkinson's disease, setting up two elections for U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2020. A four-decade veteran of Georgia politics, Isakson has served in the U.S. Senate since 2005. He won his third term in 2016 by a comfortable margin and isn't up for re-election until 2022. Isakson, 74, has suffered several falls since announcing he has Parkinson's, which limits his balance and mobility. He recently spent six days in an inpatient rehabilitation program after being hospitalized in Washington on July 16. And he said this week he had surgery to remove a growth on his kidney. Three Georgia Democrats have already announced a challenge to U.S. Sen. David Perdue, a first-term Republican who is up for election in 2020. Isakson's seat will likely draw several other Democrats, who see Georgia as increasingly competitive. |
| DEA May Soon Allow More Growers To Produce Cannabis For Medical Research | |
 | Researchers hoping to study marijuana for scientific and medical purposes are one step closer to expanding their limited supply of the plant. This week, the federal government announced it would begin processing dozens of pending applications for permission to cultivate the plant for scientific research. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's decision comes after several years of delay for some applicants and a lawsuit filed against the agency by one cannabis researcher. Even as many states have legalized marijuana for recreational and medical use, scientists who want to conduct rigorous studies of the plant still have only one place where they can get it: a facility at the University of Mississippi, which contracts with the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This arrangement, which has existed for more than 50 years, amounts to a "monopoly," says Dr. Sue Sisley who heads the Scottsdale Research Institute in Arizona, which studies cannabis. |
| LSU graduates make pretty good money, survey says | |
 | In the latest Payscale 2019-20 College Salary Report, LSU graduates ranked fourth for early-career earnings among SEC schools behind Vanderbilt University, Texas A&M University and University of Florida, and fourth behind the same schools in mid-career earnings. "Outcomes matter to our students and their families," said LSU President F. King Alexander. "As we continue to break records by graduating and recruiting our largest, most successful and most diverse classes on record, we also pay careful attention to the markers that demonstrate their success." According to Payscale, a student with a bachelor's degree from LSU has a median income of $54,800 during the first five years of work and after 10 years has median mid-career earnings of $102,900. |
| Health care premiums going up for University System of Georgia employees | |
 | Tens of thousands of University System of Georgia employees will face average increases in their 2020 health care premiums of up to 7.5 percent. Also starting next year, a university employee will have to pay a $100 monthly surcharge for spousal coverage if the spouse has health insurance offered by an employer but does not take it. The premium increases follow projections of similar hikes among large employers for health benefits next year. Large U.S. employers are predicting that their health care costs for 2020 will rise by a median of 6 percent if they don't make adjustments to deal with the trend, a recent survey found. "Across the country, health care costs are rising, and Georgia tracks closely with national health care costs trends,″ said Jen Ryan, spokeswoman for the University System of Georgia. "In fact, nationally, health care costs are expected to rise 6 percent in 2020, which is higher than the national trend for the last two years.″ |
| Student dies in U. of South Carolina's Greek Village, president confirms; authorities investigating | |
| A University of South Carolina student died Tuesday of an apparent suicide, President Bob Caslen said in a statement. A call came in after 11 a.m. regarding a death in the Greek Village near the 500 block of Blossom Street, according to Richland County Coroner Gary Watts. That is where many of the school's fraternity and sorority houses are located. Authorities closed roads and began investigating. In Caslen's statement, he encouraged students to be aware of the resources the school has for treating mental health issues and coping with grief. "In times like these, we must come together and support each other as one university community," Caslen said. "Please know that we stand with all of you, and as Gamecocks, we gain strength by helping one another through difficult times." Students can also seek mental health treatment at walk-in sessions at the Thompson building on Monday through Friday and at the Center for Health and Well-Being on Sundays. |
| New center offers space -- and quiet -- for Aggie musicians | |
 | Earlier this month, Susan Haven stood inside the brand new music activity center designed for the more than 1,300 student musicians at Texas A&M University. Just outside, the approximately 370 members of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band played Noble Men of Kyle on the artificial turf field north of the facility. "I couldn't hear a thing," Haven, the administrative assistant for university bands, recalled Tuesday afternoon from inside the 55 foot high, 4,000 square foot Motheral Aggie Band Rehearsal Hall, one part of the just-completed 70,000 square foot John D. White '70 -- Robert L. Walker '58 Music Activities Center. Student musicians participating in 14 orchestras, bands and choral groups have begun their work inside the center, which formally opens with a ceremony Friday. On Tuesday afternoon, students and staff said that the new facility, with its emphasis on soundproof spaces, allows for large bands and individual singers alike to practice without noise interruptions. |
| Facing Criticism, College Board Backs Away From 'Adversity Score' | |
 | The College Board is walking back the single, overarching "adversity score" that it had planned to attach to students' SAT scores after it drew broad criticism. The proposed score was part of an Environmental Context Dashboard, a program the organization had tested at 50 colleges over the last year in an effort to help admissions officers gain broader context about each applicant's socioeconomic background when evaluating SAT scores. The adversity score did not factor in race. Rather, it grouped together data from the Census Bureau and public records about crime rates, median income, and parents' education levels in each student's environment. Those measures, combined with such other data as the academic rigor of a high school or receiving free or reduced-price lunches, were used to create a student's overall adversity score. In the new program, renamed Landscape, there's no overall adversity score, but all the other contextualizing data points remain the same. |
| Luxury student housing worsening socioeconomic divide in higher ed | |
| Luxury housing for college and university students has become a multibillion-dollar industry, with shiny new apartment buildings featuring the likes of pools, clubhouses and spin studios encircling U.S. college and university campuses. This kind of two-tiered housing system is becoming such a standard feature of campus life, observers have a name for it: the country club phenomenon. They also say it's worsening the socioeconomic divide in higher education by segregating rich students from their poorer classmates and pushing up other off-campus rents. Lower-income students often can't afford to live with their friends who are more financially well off, said Michelle Ashcraft, director of the Purdue Promise program, which provides financial and academic support to low-income college students from Indiana. |
| Pitt suspends Chinese scholar program amid pressure from U.S. State Department | |
| A program at the University of Pittsburgh placing scholars from China in area K-12 schools and colleges to help teach language was halted for the upcoming year after the State Department required changes in the program, including more oversight of its instructors. Campus officials Monday said they were unsure if concerns raised about the program that is operated out of Pitt's Confucius Institute are related to rising tensions between the United States and China. Nationally, a number of Confucius Institutes have been shuttered at universities in recent months amid prolonged criticism from some quarters -- initially over academic integrity and Chinese influence over American instruction -- and more recently about potential for espionage, as U.S.-China relations frayed. Pitt's institute, located in Posvar Hall and funded jointly by the university and the Chinese government, remains open, officials said. |
| How China Uses LinkedIn to Recruit Spies Abroad | |
 | Foreign agents are exploiting social media to try to recruit assets, with LinkedIn as a prime hunting ground, Western counterintelligence officials say. Intelligence agencies in the United States, Britain, Germany and France have issued warnings about foreign agents approaching thousands of users on the site. Chinese spies are the most active, officials say. "We've seen China's intelligence services doing this on a mass scale," said William R. Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, a government agency that tracks foreign spying and alerts companies to possible infiltration. "Instead of dispatching spies to the U.S. to recruit a single target, it's more efficient to sit behind a computer in China and send out friend requests to thousands of targets using fake profiles." The use of social media by Chinese government operatives for what American officials and executives call nefarious purposes has drawn heightened scrutiny in recent weeks. |
| Protecting Campus Intellectual Property: Best Practices for Addressing Foreign Threats to Universities | |
| In recent years, federal intelligence, security and science agencies and Congress have expressed concerns regarding theft of intellectual property, breaches in scientific integrity, cyberattacks, the participation of academic researchers in foreign talent recruitment programs and other forms of foreign interference relating to research performed at American universities. Earlier this year, the Association of American Universities (AAU) -- which includes 60 of the nation's leading research universities -- and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) conducted a survey asking campus representatives to provide examples of effective policies, practices, tools and resources they are using to combat these emerging foreign security threats. The associations gathered a sample of some of the best practices being implemented by universities and encourages all universities to review the examples and consider implementing them on their campuses. |
| When John Grisham Movies Were King | |
| In the opening minutes of the 1993 movie "The Firm," an in-demand Harvard Law School graduate named Mitch McDeere takes meetings with one legal firm after another, each offering him a different vision for his future. Does he want to be a judge someday? Would he like to have a lighter workload so he can start a family? Does the California lifestyle sound appealing? How about Wall Street? Mitch (played with no small amount of "Top Gun" swagger by Tom Cruise) ends up choosing the under-the-radar firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke, in Memphis. He's impressed by its down-home charm and likes that it is off the beaten path. New York? D.C.? That's been done. Time to give Tennessee a try. In a way, Mitch was a lot like America as a whole, circa 1993, when the "New South" was on the rise. I was living in my hometown, Nashville, Tenn., at the time, and I had just graduated from the University of Georgia. I was tracking all the little victories for my region -- just as I was counting all the division titles for my beloved Atlanta Braves. |
| Our higher education system compared to surrounding states | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: The Chronicle of Higher Education's annual "Almanac of Higher Education" edition for 2019-20 is hot off the presses and the information contained there is useful for those interested in reviewing how Mississippi's higher education system compares with our contiguous neighboring states. ... What's the tale of the tape? A Mississippian can cross the state line in any direction into a contiguous state that spends more on their higher education systems, more on scholarships and other support for their college students, and whose higher education institutions charge higher tuitions and fees than do Mississippi schools. The other common denominators? Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee all have higher per capita incomes and lower poverty rates than does Mississippi. |
SPORTS
| Three questions Mississippi State must answer in season opener against Louisiana | |
 | Game week. It's here. For months, Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead and his players have had to answer questions about the 2019 Bulldogs in front of cameras, iPhones and recording devices. Now, they can answer the questions on the field. Mississippi State begins the season with a neutral site game against the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. These are the questions the Bulldogs must answer in the season opener: How does Tommy Stevens look? Who will be suspended? How strong is MSU's d-line? |
| Mississippi State coach, QB counting on fruitful reunion | |
| Mississippi State quarterback Tommy Stevens and coach Joe Moorhead are counting on their shared background to benefit them. Stevens was a backup quarterback at Penn State, and Moorhead was the Nittany Lions' offensive coordinator before taking over as the Bulldogs' head coach last season. Stevens, a graduate transfer, will make his first career start Saturday when Mississippi State opens the season by facing Louisiana-Lafayette in New Orleans. Moorhead says he's seen plenty of changes in Stevens since they last worked together in 2017. "I've seen a lot more maturity and a lot more understanding," Moorhead said. Stevens arrived at Mississippi State in early June and spent the next two months getting to know his teammates. That process continued in training camp as he steadily built the trust of his coaches and teammates. |
| Tommy Stevens thrilled to be Mississippi State's starting quarterback | |
| Tommy Stevens' instructions were simple. A text from quarterbacks coach Andrew Breiner asked him to meet around 2:30 p.m. Thursday. When the time came, the former Penn State signal caller strode into Breiner's office. Breiner quickly posited how Stevens thought camp went. He responded in the affirmative. "I still think it was my best camp, all-in-all. I think I closed it out that way," Stevense said Tuesday. "I think I continued to play at a high level, higher than I have played before. I guess that goes to being in the system longer. I was able to play more comfortably." As the conversation meandered, Breiner finally broke the news. Stevens would be the No. 1 quarterback. "Obviously it is what I wanted coming here," he said. "I don't want to say it's relieving because there is obviously competition in every aspect of life and this isn't the end of the road either. I have to continue to progress but I am very happy that this is where we are at. I have to continue to grow from this point on." And while the announcement had yet to fully cement itself, Monday brought more major news Stevens' way. Following a team meeting Sunday, he was named one of the five team captains. |
| Bulldogs bring back experienced linebackers | |
| There is no denying the amount of talent Mississippi State lost from its top-ranked defense last year. Three Bulldog defenders were even selected in the first round of the NFL Draft back in April. MSU must also replace its entire starting defensive line as well. But there is one position group that remains intact for the Bulldogs and that's at linebacker. Senior Leo Lewis and juniors Erroll Thompson and Willie Gay Jr. all return to give State a good foundation for a rebuilding defense. "At linebacker, we bring most of the guys back, including two of the top players in the country," said MSU head coach Joe Moorhead. "At other positions, we have talent that requires experience." Thompson is the Bulldogs top returning tackler. The Preseason All-SEC first team selection stacked up 87 tackles in 2018 to go along with nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and was also tied for the team lead with two interceptions. |
| Getting to know the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns | |
| Scott Prather has covered Louisiana football for ESPN1420 for 14 years. Ahead of the Mississippi State football team's season opener on Saturday against Louisiana, Prather spoke with The Dispatch to discuss the Ragin' Cajuns' matchup against the Bulldogs, Louisiana's three-headed monster in the backfield and the comment that brought coach Billy Napier unwanted nationwide attention. |
| Josh Johnson hired as Mississippi State softball assistant coach | |
| Samantha Ricketts announced the addition of Josh Johnson, the former associate head coach at Ball State, as Mississippi State softball's newest assistant coach. Johnson joins Tyler Bratton, who is returning for his seventh season as an assistant coach with the program, to round out Ricketts' full-time staff. "I am excited to add a coach of Josh's caliber to our coaching staff," Ricketts said. "His experience not only as a coach but also as a player on the men's fastpitch circuit will provide tremendous knowledge to our program. He is data driven and will help us advance our player development through new technology and research. We are looking forward to welcoming Josh, his wife Jenny, and son Jake to StarkVegas." Johnson spent the last five seasons as part of the Ball State's coaching staff as a pitching coach and was elevated to associate head coach prior to the 2019 campaign. Over his five seasons with the program, the Cardinals complied a 157-119 record and a 56-49 mark in Mid-American Conference play. guided Ball State to the 2018 MAC Western Division Crown. |
| MDWFP asks hunters to report deer harvests | |
| In an effort to better manage Mississippi's deer herd, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is asking hunters to report deer they harvest in the coming season. "We need your help," said William McKinley. MDWFP Deer Program coordinator. "We need you to report your deer harvests through Game Check." Game Check is a reporting system MDWFP implemented earlier this year for reporting turkeys. Now it has been expanded to report deer. "You know how it worked for turkeys," McKinley said. "It worked great. There were very few flaws in it." When reporting, hunters will be asked the sex of the deer, type of weapon used, estimated main beam length, county of harvest and type of land the deer was harvested from, public or private. McKinley said the smartphone app is the best option. "We recommend the app," McKinley said. "It takes less than one minute to do, even shorter if it's a doe. If they're using a smartphone, this app has a lot of other features." |
| Ole Miss Interim AD Keith Carter expects final decision on stadium alcohol sales next week | |
 | The wait for a stance on alcohol sales in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium during the 2019 season could soon be over. Ole Miss Interim Athletic Director Keith Carter says the administration will meet later this week with hopes of reaching a consensus for the upcoming football season. Carter expects an official announcement sometime next week before the Rebels' home opener against Arkansas on Sep. 7. Six SEC schools have confirmed they will sell beer and wine to fans in general seating of their football stadiums since the conference lifted its ban early this summer. Multiple schools have also already announced that alcohol will not be sold in 2019, but Ole Miss has yet to make a statement in either direction. "It's taken a little longer than we hoped, but I think we're nearing the finish line and hopefully we can make that announcement in the near future," Carter said. |
| Oxford homes getting top rental rates for Ole Miss football weekends | |
 | Home is where the heart is, but it's also where the money is for Oxford residents willing to rent out their pads on Ole Miss football weekends. Accommodating the lodging needs of out-of-town game-goers is so popular, in fact, that the short-term rental Web-based operator Vrbo has designated the municipal home of the University of Mississippi Number Seven among its top 10 U.S. college towns. Vrbo based the selection on average nightly rates and vacation rental demand. In terms of house money, Oxford vacation home rentals last season spiked to an average nightly rate of $675 during Ole Miss home game weekends, Vrbo reports. On those weekends, vacation rental demand increased by over 750 percent over non-football weekend rentals. Residents can rent out their dwellings for 14 nights a year before Lafayette County's 2 percent bed tax kicks in. |
| Kroger Field now offering Chick-Fil-A, Skyline Chili, Bourbon n' Toulouse at UK games | |
 | University of Kentucky football fans will notice a wide variety of new food offerings for football games this season at Kroger Field. Chick-Fil-A, Skyline Chili, local favorite Bourbon n' Toulouse and Irvine-based House of 'Cue will now have concession stands at the stadium in time for the Wildcats' first home game of the season Saturday against Toledo. House of 'Cue, which is already a feature at UK's Kentucky Proud Park, will serve up BBQ sandwiches, BBQ tacos and BBQ nachos at its stand near Gate 6 and Section 17. Its stand near Section 226 will offer the same BBQ entrees along with pulled pork egg rolls and smoked chicken wings. You typically have to go to Bourbon n' Toulouse's Euclid Avenue location to try its Cajun and creole dishes, but it will now be stationed at Kroger Field inside Gate 10 by Atomic Ramen. It will serve jambalaya, chicken etouffee, southwest etouffee with crawfish, red beans with sausage, black beans and caramelized corn, grilled andouille sausage and a specialty dish called the CrawDawg. UK kicks off its 2019 season Saturday at noon. |
| Arkansas-Missouri game will move to Arrowhead Stadium in 2020 | |
| Arkansas' game at Missouri in 2020 will be moved to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, according to a press release Tuesday from Missouri. The game is tentatively scheduled to be played on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020, but the date of the game could be changed to accommodate a TV broadcast. The past five games between Arkansas and Missouri have been moved to Black Friday and this year's game will also be played on the day after Thanksgiving. The move to the 74,416-seat Arrowhead Stadium, home of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, comes a little more than a year after Arkansas announced it would play its next three home games against Missouri at Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium. On-campus attendance has been poor most years for the Arkansas-Missouri game, which began in 2014. |
| 7,212 feet: Missouri football players preparing for Wyoming's altitude | |
 | Beet juice. If you say it three times Michael Keaton won't appear, but if you drink enough of it, it can help your body acclimate to high altitude. Missouri opens its 2019 football season at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming, which sits at an altitude of 7,212 feet above sea level. It is the highest elevated stadium in the FBS. "We can't fly into the mountains and train," said MU offensive coordinator Derek Dooley. "I think it was Churchill who said, 'When you fight in the Nordic, you've got to train in the Nordic.' But we can't do that. We can't just take our team and go train in the altitude for a week." Given that it is impossible to replicate Wyoming's elevation on the practice field, the team has turned to beet juice. "It tastes absolutely horrible," said center Trystan Colon-Castillo. High altitude has an effect on athletic performance. The higher up someone is, the less oxygen available. With less oxygen, it becomes harder for the body to produce nitric oxide, which helps blood vessels function properly. That is where nitrate-rich beet juice can help. |
| Mizzou moves into new South End Zone facility | |
 | The dialogue started about five years ago to build a state-of-the-art facility at Faurot Field's south end zone. That was Mike Alden's final year of 17 as Missouri director of athletics, and Gary Pinkel was near the end of his 15-year run as Tigers head football coach. Pinkel said while awake in the middle of one particular night that year, he thought of the idea for something like what's erected now at 1 Champions Drive. He waited until the morning to call Alden, who loved the idea. Missouri was still in the early stages of navigating through the Southeastern Conference, but two weeks later, Alden had turned around a design for the renovation project and the idea was truly in motion. The project's total estimated cost was $98 million, but for Missouri to stand out in arguably the nation's best athletic league, those in MU leadership say it had to be done. |
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