| Tuesday, November 26, 2019 |
| Egg Bowl run another hit for fans | |
 | Ole Miss ROTC cadets carried a football to Calhoun City where they gave the game ball to Mississippi State cadets in preparation for Thursday's Egg Bowl. The "Egg Bowl run" is a relatively new tradition, but it's been a big hit each year. Calhoun City is the mid-point between Oxford and Starkville. After receiving the game ball, MSU cadets then carried it to Starkville, where the football game will be held on Thanksgiving night. Once at MSU, the cadets will present the ball to head football coach Joe Moorhead. The Egg Bowl kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. |
| Caution urged due to construction near Colvard Student Union, McCool Hall | |
 | Due to construction on the south end of Colvard Student Union, those accessing the Union, McCool Hall and nearby sidewalks are urged to use caution. Construction will continue through the end of February 2020. Questions may be directed to the Facilities Management Service Desk at 662-325-2005. |
| Permanent pickleball courts come to Starkville | |
 | The Starkville Parks and Recreation Department celebrated on Friday the completed renovations of 10 athletic courts across the city. Of the courts that were repaved and repainted, three were basketball courts, three were tennis courts and four were created to be permanent outdoor pickleball courts, a first for the city. Parks Director Gerry Logan said Starkville was not the outright first city in the state to have such courts installed but was among the leaders in bringing the game to the Mississippi citizens. In total, Logan said the court renovations cost about $43,900. Because the pickleball courts were overlaid on tennis courts, the costs total out to roughly $7,000 per court. Logan said pickleball had become a community favorite with regular appearances by players from the Starkville Pickleball Association at the Travis Outlaw Center and McKee Park, where the permanent outdoor courts are located. |
| Reduce the risk of a house fire while cooking this holiday | |
 | The bulk of deaths related to cooking-fires in the home happen during the Thanksgiving holiday. That's according to the National Fire Protection Association. So far this year, mistakes while cooking have claimed the lives of three Mississippians. Mike Chaney is the State Fire Marshal. He explains a few don'ts while frying a turkey. "Never ever try to cook a turkey in hot oil if it's frozen. If the oil comes out you then run the chance of having a fire 99 percent of the time and burning your house down if the turkey is not far enough away from your home," said Chaney. Chaney says when a frozen or partially frozen turkey is dropped into a fryer, the cooking oil could react violently to the water, overflow from the pot and catch fire once it reaches the flame below. He says keep a fire extinguisher nearby and be sure your fire alarm is working. |
| The first Thanksgiving: Rethinking the feast at Plymouth, Massachusetts nearly 400 years ago | |
 | Before they're served piles of turkey and pie, kids often hear the story of the first Thanksgiving -- how Pilgrims and native Americans came together to feast and count their blessings. But most aren't told native people likely outnumbered English colonists 2-to-1 at the harvest feast in 1621. Nor do they usually learn just how much Pilgrims relied on the native Wampanoag tribe during those tough early days. As Plymouth, Massachusetts, prepares for the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower's arrival in 1620, new archaeological work at the town's original Pilgrim settlement has unearthed more artifacts from native Americans than anticipated. The discovery provides more context to a Dec. 11, 1621, letter written by Edward Winslow, an early Pilgrim, to a friend back in England that offers the clearest clues about the feast that became known as the first Thanksgiving. |
| Sea turtles released back into Mississippi Sound will help scientists track water quality | |
 | A pair of sea turtles stranded on Mississippi beaches were released back into the Mississippi Sound on Monday after spending months recovering at the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport. The turtles are not only back in their natural habitat, but they'll also give scientists clues into how healthy the water is off our shores. The Bonnet Carre Spillway opening took its toll on the Mississippi Sound and the wildlife that call it home. "This was a very difficult time," said Moby Solangi, executive director of IMMS. "A lot of animals died, but these turtles released today made it." Scientists believe the opening contributed to an estimated 200 turtle deaths this year. "What we've gone through in 2019 with the spillway and water quality issues, the number of turtle deaths has been double the average for the state," said Paul Mickle, the chief scientific officer for the Department of Marine Resources. |
| Jackpot! Mississippi Lottery sales off to a quick start | |
 | At the Chevron Food Mart on the corner of South Gloster Street and Cliff Gookin Boulevard, owner Mike Arnous saw his first Mississippi Lottery buyers bright and early Monday. "I went home Sunday night at 1 a.m. and came back at 5, and we started selling," he said. And there were some winners early on, with a couple of customers nabbing $100 each. For now, the Mississippi Lottery is selling only scratch-off tickets, but on Jan. 30, lottery ticket sellers will be able to buy Powerball and Mega Millions multi-state tickets. "That's where the big money will be," Arnous said. Roughly 1,200 convenience stores and other sites across the state were selling tickets on Monday. For the first 10 years, the first $80 million a year from lottery revenue will go to infrastructure needs. After the $80 million benchmark is hit, the rest goes to education. |
| Legislative leaders, governor anticipate $107 million more for 2020 than during 2019 session | |
 | Legislative leaders and Gov.-elect Tate Reeves will have an additional $107 million during the 2020 session to address campaign promises made during the recently completed statewide elections, based on early estimates. Legislative leaders and outgoing Gov. Phil Bryant met Friday morning in the Woolfolk state office building to adopt an official estimate of the amount of money the state will collect in tax collections for the remainder of the current fiscal year and for the new fiscal year, which starts July 1. It is possible -- perhaps likely -- that the revenue estimate will be adjusted late in the 2020 session, which starts in January, but the preliminary estimate is that there will be $107 million more to expend during the upcoming session than there was during the 2019 session. Those funds will come in handy since both Reeves and Lt. Gov-elect Delbert Hosemann committed to significant teacher pay raises for the 2020 session. In addition, there has been talk of expending funds on other items, such as on work force development, early childhood education and on a state employee pay raise. |
| Ray Mabus: Trump snubbed commanders, 'took military advice from Fox News' in Navy SEAL case | |
| Ray Mabus, the longest serving U.S. Navy secretary in the post-World War I period and former Mississippi governor, says President Donald Trump acted inappropriately in getting involved with a Navy SEAL's court-martial. In a tweet last week, Trump ordered the Pentagon not to remove a Navy SEAL at the center of a high-profile war crimes case. Top Navy officials wanted to oust Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, who was convicted in a court-martial trial of posing for photographs with the body of a teenage Islamic State captive in American custody. "The president completely inappropriately inserted himself into this process," Mabus told Mississippi Today on Monday afternoon in a telephone interview from Washington. "He undermined military justice and disrespected people who have served honorably," Mabus added. "But the main thing at issue is a president keeping a military service from imposing accountability, seeking out justice and deciding who is qualified to be in that service." |
| Trump's strain with Pentagon inspires talk of more departures | |
 | President Donald Trump came into office vowing to unshackle his military commanders from years of Obama-era micromanagement. But now he's facing a rupture with his Pentagon leaders after steamrolling them on a series of decisions -- from Mideast troop movements and the use of military funds for a border wall to disciplinary actions involving individual commandos. Even before Navy Secretary Richard Spencer's forced ouster this weekend, a handful of the Pentagon's highest-ranking officials have been debating just when they would feel compelled to resign over what they see as Trump's disregard for the chain of command, two current senior officials told POLITICO in recent days. "There's a sense of dejection by senior leaders in the Pentagon, that the president and the secretary of defense are going to side with the loudmouths at Fox News against the reasoned opposition of senior military professionals," said another Pentagon official with direct knowledge of high-level discussions. "That's the sense in a nutshell." |
| Federal Judge Rules That McGahn Must Testify, Delivering Blow To White House | |
 | A federal judge in Washington has ruled that former White House counsel Don McGahn must testify to House impeachment investigators, despite orders from the Trump administration that he not cooperate with Congress. The decision by U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson clears the way for McGahn's testimony, sought by House Democrats in exploring Trump's possible obstruction of justice related to the Russia probe. Jackson declared in her 118-page ruling that "presidents are not kings" and that "no one is above the law." She added: "However busy or essential a presidential aide might be, and whatever their proximity to sensitive domestic and national-security projects, the President does not have the power to excuse him or her from taking an action that the law requires." A lawyer for McGahn says that his client will obey the court's ruling to testify. |
| Supreme Court stops House subpoena for Trump financial records | |
 | The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily stopped enforcement of a House committee subpoena, siding for now with President Donald Trump over Congress in a case that could reshape the limits for impeachment and other investigations into a sitting president. A majority of the justices voted to grant Trump's emergency request to put a hold on a lower court ruling that required accounting firm Mazars USA to comply with a House Oversight and Reform Committee subpoena for eight years of Trump's financial and tax records. The one-page order freezes the status quo as the Supreme Court considers whether to hear an appeal from Trump's personal lawyers to stop enforcement of the subpoena. It does not indicate how each justice voted. The justices signaled they wanted to act quickly, and gave Trump's lawyers until Dec. 5 to file an appeal. If the justices agree to hear the case, the freeze would remain until they rule, likely before the end of the current term at the end of June. |
| Trump signs a sweeping federal ban on animal cruelty | |
 | resident Trump on Monday signed into law a new federal ban on animal cruelty, called the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act. The bipartisan bill, which passed the House and Senate earlier this year, will outlaw purposeful crushing, burning, drowning, suffocation, impalement or other violence causing "serious bodily injury" to animals. Violations could result in a fine and up to seven years' imprisonment. Advocates say the Pact Act, which was pushed through the Senate by lead sponsors Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), will fill crucial gaps in national law, which bans animal fighting as well as the making and sharing of videos that show the kind of abuse the Pact Act would criminalize. All states have provisions against animal cruelty, said Kitty Block, president of the Humane Society of the United States, but without a federal ban, it's hard to prosecute cases that span different jurisdictions or that occur in airports, military bases and other places under federal purview. |
| To Train Foreign Service Agents, You Must Build a Fake Town | |
 | Were it not for the deadly serious nature of the work conducted there, the State Department's new Foreign Affairs Security Training Center in Blackstone, Virginia, would certainly be a cool place to hang out. Take the 19 miles of intertwined roads that replicate virtually every type of automotive interchange, intersection, and interstate likely to carry the federal agents tasked with protecting US diplomats and citizens around the world. They include traffic-free driving circles, twisties, and long highway sections where agents learn to evade ambushes and intercept suspects. The tree-lined labyrinth is both a tempting playground and a post-apocalyptic vision of suburban emptiness. The goal is to help agents develop "hard skills" for the real-world situations they'll encounter at the embassies, consulates, or other foreign service posts to which they're assigned. "This is about building confidence as they're getting ready to go," says Wendy Bashnan, deputy assistant secretary of the Diplomatic Security Service, the State Department division charged with securing embassies and their personnel and ensuring the safety of Americans traveling abroad. "We're instilling resilience, so you're prepared when you have your worst day." |
| New $100 million ship to be named after civil rights icon who led Biloxi wade-ins | |
 | A Gulf Coast civil rights icon is being honored as the namesake of a new, $100 million National Science Foundation oceanographic research ship, to be operated by the Gulf-Caribbean Oceanographic Consortium, led by the University of Southern Mississippi and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. NSF officials have informed the National Science Board that the ship, which is under construction and will have dual homeports at the Port of Gulfport and Houma, Louisiana, will be named Research Vessel Gilbert R. Mason. For decades until his death in 2006, Dr. Gilbert Rutledge Mason Sr. was a pioneering Civil Rights leader and physician to the mariner community along the Gulf Coast. "I am so proud of the National Science Foundation's demonstrated confidence in the quality of our work at the University of Southern Mississippi as part of the Gulf-Caribbean Oceanographic Consortium," said USM President Rodney D. Bennett. |
| More than 7,000 accepted in UGA early admissions | |
 | More than 7,000 students received news of their acceptance to the University of Georgia Friday as part of nonbinding early action admission. "The University of Georgia congratulates the stellar group of young scholars admitted to the Class of 2024 through early action," said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. "We look forward to welcoming them to our extraordinary academic community next fall." Nearly 17,000 students applied for early action admission to become members of the Class of 2024, a 25% increase compared to five years ago. This year's applications came from 39 countries, 50 states and 3,450 high schools. As in previous years, students who were offered early action admission enrolled in rigorous coursework relative to what is available at their school and also earned outstanding GPAs and SAT or ACT scores. |
| U. of South Carolina opens brief search for new financial executives | |
 | The University of South Carolina has opened a brief search for two top financial officers. The positions are chief operating officer and chief financial officer, according to USC spokesman Jeff Stensland. USC is seeking these new positions because the chief operating officer used to do the job of both a traditional chief operating officer and a chief financial officer, said USC spokesman Jeff Stensland. The previous chief operating officer was Ed Walton, who will remain as a senior vice president. When USC President Robert Caslen was at the University of Central Florida, he determined that having one person do both of those roles was one of many problems that led to the school misspending $85 million, he told The State in a previous interview. Should USC hire the new chief operating officer before the provost or chief diversity officer, this would be Caslen's highest-level hire since taking office. |
| U. of South Carolina students pulled from study abroad in Hong Kong following unrest | |
| Fourth-year international business and operations and supply chain student Madison Mueller escaped her university in Hong Kong on "a dirt path lined with wooden planks used by maintenance" to get to the airport. Every other way out was blocked by protesters, roadblocks and barricades. She then took a taxi to the airport. "Before the taxi arrived some men offered us beers in glass bottles, and, since we had all had ourselves quite a day, we took them," Mueller said in an email interview. "Later on we were told that they wanted us to drink them so they could use the bottles to make Molotov cocktails." The recent escalation of events on the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus led to an early evacuation of all USC students participating in the Darla Moore School of Business international business and Chinese enterprise program. |
| Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin appoints his staffers to U. of Louisville, UK trustee boards | |
| As his term as Kentucky's leader nears its end, Gov. Matt Bevin has appointed several new members to the boards of trustees for the University of Louisville, University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University. Three of the appointed members are currently serving in Bevin's administration. In 2016, Bevin removed all 17 governor-appointed members of the university's board and appointed a new group to oversee U of L's operations following controversy at the school, including a men's basketball recruiting scandal that led to the dismissal of coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich. On Friday, Bevin's office also announced Bryan Sunderland, the governor's current deputy chief of staff for policy and legislation, is joining the University of Kentucky's board of trustees. Sunderland, of Louisville, led public affairs efforts for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce prior to his service in Bevin's administration and is a public policy expert. A Kentucky governor appointing members of his own staff to public university boards is not unprecedented. |
| Betsy DeVos poised to issue sweeping rules governing campus sexual assault | |
| Students accused of sexual assault will win new rights under sweeping rules being finalized by the Trump administration, giving universities clear but controversial guidance on handling these emotionally charged conflicts. The final regulation will maintain contentious elements of a version proposed a year ago, including a provision requiring universities to allow cross-examination of those alleging sexual harassment or assault, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the rules. In publishing last year's proposed regulation, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said the new rules would restore balance in a system that, in her view, had been skewed in favor of the accusers. She said her approach would provide clarity and fairness for victims and those accused of wrongdoing. |
| New federal data show which college programs result in highest debt, lowest earnings | |
 | On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education released data on first-year earnings for thousands of different college programs. The data are both limited and flawed in some ways, but they are also some of the most accurate outcomes information currently available about different academic programs and majors. Among the limitations: many programs are missing from the data set because the department chose to withhold information on those with small enrollments to safeguard students' privacy in those programs. The debt information also only illustrates federal student loan debt taken on by students themselves, not private debt and not any loans taken on by parents. The debt and earnings information was also taken from different student samples -- debt information collected from those who graduated in 2016 and 2017 and earnings from those who completed in 2015 and 2016. Yet the new information is the best that is currently available about the relative financial value of many degrees. |
| Medical school is expensive for everyone. But for low-income students, the hidden costs can be prohibitive | |
 | American medical schools are the training grounds for a white-collar, high-income industry, but they select their students from predominantly high-income, and typically white, households. Ten years ago, a national study found that over 75 percent of medical school students came from the top 40 percent of family income in the United States, representing an annual income above $75,000. A study last year from the Association of American Medical Colleges re-examined medical school demographics and found that the numbers had barely budged. Between 1988 and 2017, more than three-quarters of American medical school students came from affluent households. Aspiring doctors know that tuition is costly; the median educational debt held by medical school graduates in 2018 was $200,000, up 4 percent from the previous year. But less advertised are all the hidden costs of a medical education. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State's Kylin Hill nominated for 2019 C Spire Conerly Trophy | |
| Mississippi State football junior running back Kylin Hill is one of 10 nominees for the C Spire Conerly Trophy, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum announced Monday. The C Spire Conerly Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding college football player in Mississippi. The 10 nominees represent the football-playing universities and colleges across the state and have been chosen by their athletic departments. The winner will be announced Tuesday, December 3, at the Country Club of Jackson. A combination of votes from the C Spire fan voting and a poll of sports news media representatives determine the winner. Fan voting begins today at 5 p.m. CT and runs through noon on Sunday, December 1. Voters can cast a ballot up to three times per day at http://cspireconerlyvoting.hscampaigns.com. |
| Joe Moorhead introduced to Egg Bowl rivalry last year | |
| Last year was Joe Moorhead's first foray into the annual Battle for the Golden Egg between Mississippi State and Ole Miss. By the time Moorhead and his Bulldogs left Oxford with a 35-3 victory and possession of the Golden Egg Trophy, the MSU head coach felt as though he had been fully indoctrinated into the rivalry. The 2018 Egg Bowl featured a fight that led to the ejection of four players as well as a postgame scrum between the two teams which also involved Moorhead having a heated verbal exchange with members of the Rebels' administration on the field. "I don't think you really understand it until you're in it," Moorhead said. "Leading up to the game, I think I got a pretty decent idea but once the game started -- and obviously and unfortunately afterward -- you got a true sense of what the rivalry means." |
| 3 questions Mississippi State must answer to beat Ole Miss in Egg Bowl 2019 | |
 | For team meetings. For practices. For one-on-ones with head coach Joe Moorhead or their respective position coaches. Any time Mississippi State players entered the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex during the last year, the Golden Egg rested inside a glass case on the first floor of the building. It's impossible to miss the trophy. It serves as a reminder of what every Bulldog works so hard for throughout the year. "I'm very excited to make sure we're doing everything we need to to make sure that beautiful trophy stays put here in the Seal building," Moorhead said. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Mississippi State supporter who would say the season hasn't been disappointing, but you'd be just as lucky to find one without a smile on his or her face if the Bulldogs pull together and beat Ole Miss on Thanksgiving night. These are the three questions Mississippi State (5-6, 2-5 SEC) must answer to make it happen and keep the Golden Egg in Starkville for another year. |
| Coaching hot seats and brawl fallout add intrigue to Thursday's Egg Bowl | |
 | To Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead a win in the Egg Bowl means one thing -- an extended season. Speaking with the media during his weekly press conference Monday, Moorhead was asked whether he has had any conversations with administrators as to whether the result of Thursday's contest had any further bearing on his future at MSU to which he responded in the negative. "No." he said. "I think the outcome of this game means that we win the Egg Bowl and we go into the postseason," Moorhead continued. While his future at MSU remains murky should the Bulldogs fall to Ole Miss, this year's Egg Bowl should boast plenty of off-the field intrigue -- starting with Rebels coach Matt Luke. Luke -- who's been decidedly on the hot seat this season having lost six of his last eight games -- received a vote of confidence from new Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter despite a middling 4-7 season thus far. |
| NOTEBOOK: Bulldogs back near full strength | |
| Mississippi State saw five key players leave last Saturday's game against Abilene Christian with injuries. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, none of those ailments will keep wide receiver Osirus Mitchell, left tackle Tyre Phillips, defensive end Marquiss Spencer, linebacker Erroll Thompson or cornerback Jarrian Jones out of Thursday's Egg Bowl against Ole Miss. Additionally, MSU will also get All-American corner Cameron Dantzler back after sitting out against Abilene Christian with an undisclosed injury. "Cam is available and all the guys that went out from the game will be ready for" practice on Monday, MSU coach Joe Moorhead told reporters. |
| After last year's bad memory, 2019 Egg Bowl 'stands alone. | |
| Complete domination by Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl last year won't be a primary motivating factor for Ole Miss on Thursday night in Starkville, Rebels coach Matt Luke insists. The Bulldogs won 35-3 in Oxford last year, capping a 5-7 season in which the Rebels struggled to score points against the more physical SEC defenses in losses to Alabama, LSU, Auburn and MSU. Through the years, there have been severe beatings in this rivalry in both directions. Last year the Rebels managed just 189 yards and could attach only a 32-yard second-quarter field goal to the scoreboard. Ole Miss was minus-3 in turnover margin. It's a bad memory for Ole Miss but not one that will impact this season's game, Luke said. The Rebels need a win to reach five wins this season. "This game stands alone. You can't worry about what happened last year. These are two brand-new teams and a different set of circumstances," Luke said. "You really don't need any extra motivation when it comes to this game. It's very very important on its own." |
| Egg Bowl 2019: What Ole Miss, Mississippi State coaches are doing to prevent fighting | |
| At the end of the third quarter of the 2018 Egg Bowl, Ole Miss and Mississippi State's benches cleared for a fight that triggered four ejections and personal foul calls assessed against every player on both teams. Watching in person as a recruit, Ole Miss running back Jerrion Ealy wasn't surprised. "It was pretty normal," Ealy, a Jackson native, said. "Kind of expected it. It's a rivalry game. You kind of expect those types of things to happen." Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead wants to avoid a similar fate befalling the 2019 Egg Bowl. "We want our play in this game and for all Egg Bowl games to be known for our competitiveness and execution between the whistles, not any nonsense before the game, not any post-snap chicanery and certainly nothing that happens after the game regardless of how it goes," Moorhead said. "To me, this is a game that [Mississippi State athletics director John] Cohen and our administration and obviously commissioner Sankey and the league obviously want to be played between the whistles, and that's where it should be played." |
| Jordan Danberry helps No. 10 Mississippi State beat Marquette | |
 | Jordan Danberry scored 20 points and No. 10 Mississippi State held off a late surge from Marquette to remain unbeaten with a 74-68 victory Monday night. The Bulldogs (6-0) led by just one at halftime but seemed to take control of the contest late in the third with a 12-0 run that put them ahead, 52-47 with 2:17 left in the quarter. Marquette, though, stormed right back and after getting a jumper from Jordan King and a 3-pointer from Isabelle Spingola. The Golden Eagles trailed 54-52 heading into the fourth. The Golden Eagles pulled ahead by five with 5:14 to play before Mississippi State recovered and went on a 9-0 run to take a 65-61 lead with 2:27 to play. The Bulldogs held on from there. |
| Vic Schaefer earns 200th career win in Mississippi State's road victory over Marquette | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer earned his 200th career victory Monday night as the Bulldogs defeated Marquette 74-68 in Milwaukee. Schaefer, who is now in his eighth season in Starkville, became the second-fastest coach in SEC history to accomplish the feat. "It's really hard for me to believe to be honest with you," he told The Dispatch Monday. "I didn't have any idea I was in this position until a few days ago. It takes so many to make something like that happen and I've had so many great players." "And of course Johnnie (Harris) has been by my side for all of them, Maryann (Baker) -- they've been there throughout it all. Dionnah (Jackson-Durrett) and Elena (Lovato) have been there for a lot of them too. So I'm just so appreciative of them." MSU next travels to Victoria, British Columbia for the Greater Victoria Invitational. The Bulldogs will first face San Francisco at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. With a win, they would play either Bowling Green or Green Bay, while a finals matchup against No. 18 Syracuse or No. 3 Stanford could loom after that. |
| Bryant-Denny Stadium overhaul begins Monday | |
 | Bryant-Denny Stadium is ready for its makeover. Beginning Monday, Wallace Wade Avenue from Paul W. Bryant Drive to Eighth Street will be closed as work begins in earnest for nearly $106 million in improvements to the 90-year-old home of University of Alabama football. Construction is expected to be complete in time for the 2020 home opener against Georgia State on Sept. 12. Greg Byrne, UA's director of athletics, discussed the stadium's improvements on Thursday during the Roll Tidecast, the official podcast of Alabama's athletics department. Byrne said some elements of the upgrades were already underway even before the end of Saturday's home finale against Western Carolina. "We will not waste a day. We need to use every day to the maximum and get this project done for next football season," he said. |
| Razorbacks football team dealing with mumps, bruises | |
| It's not just the normal bumps and bruises the University of Arkansas football program is dealing with in this short Thanksgiving week ahead of Friday's season finale against Missouri. The Razorbacks (2-9, 0-7), in the midst of an eight-game losing streak, also have to be wary of the mumps. After an outbreak that has led to nine confirmed cases of the contagious disease on the UA campus, according to the Arkansas Department of Health, all coaches, players and staff in all sports had access to MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) vaccines made available at the Smith Football Center on Monday. Trevor Williamson, athletic department tutor coordinator, sent an email Monday to tutors that read: "Two student-athletes have been diagnosed with the mumps and they have been at the Jones Center recently. A few staff members in athletic training have also been quarantined. To be safe, we strongly recommend that everyone get the vaccine." |
| Tennessee football recruiting chief reveals Vols' long process to sign players | |
 | Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright have been key components of Tennessee's improvement on the offensive line this season. But to Vols Director of Player Personnel Drew Hughes, Morris and Wright represent a prime example of the recruiting process done well. The Vols identified a need at offensive tackle, targeted the five-star duo early, got them to visit Knoxville, got to know their families and, eventually, signed both as important pieces of Tennessee's present and future. "It's important for us to get on the right guy," Hughes said. "I think that's one of the biggest things we do. We're not the NFL. We don't have draft picks. We actually have to find the right guys and then we have to recruit them and persuade them to come to our school. That's something we have to continue to get better at every day." On Monday, Hughes explained Tennessee's recruiting process at the Knoxville Quarterback Club. |
| Gamecock football fans lose another tradition in a disappointing season | |
 | It was no "2001," no entrance through the smoke and not a fight song. Yet it was still a tradition of South Carolina football. The "Gamecock Bi-Lo" off Garners Ferry Road dropped the Gamecock before the football season began as the grocery store chain cut its collegiate marketing partnership with the school. There are several Bi-Lo stores still operating across North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia but the appeal of the Garners Ferry location was the tie-in with USC. "My buddies and I always enjoyed stopping in there to get our food and then head to the stadium," longtime season-ticket holder John Tidikis said. "I hate that it's gone." The store would offer more localized fare such as cookies with garnet and black icing, or Gamecock balloons. They still do, but they're no longer affiliated with USC. Clemson had a similar store near its campus with a Tiger paw on its sign and orange decor, but it removed the signage as part of the same marketing drop. |
| Congress boos plan to cut Minor League Baseball teams | |
| A proposal from Major League Baseball to slash the number of affiliated minor league clubs is generating outrage on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. Sen. Bernie Sanders took those complaints to the next level Monday afternoon, with the independent from Vermont writing in a letter sent through his presidential campaign to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred that the league's exemption from antitrust laws could be at stake. Sanders is not alone in expressing concern about eliminating the affiliations, which tie minor league teams to the major league pipeline. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer is pointing to the potential effects all across New York state, from the Staten Island Yankees to the Southern Tier. There's been considerable consternation from the House side, as well. More than 100 House members, representing both parties, signed on to a letter led by West Virginia Republican Rep David McKinley and Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
