By the numbers: how Mississippi stacks up

On the Fly (as published in The Democrat on August 28, 2012)

States such as Florida, Texas and California receive a great deal of fanfare for their high school football programs and are considered “hot beds” for colleges searching for new talent, but a look at the numbers shows that the talent pool here in the Magnolia state is nothing to sneeze in its own right.

Each year, Rivals.com, a website that focuses largely on college football recruiting, posts a look at the number of athletes by state who have signed scholarships with colleges to play high level football in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

By sheer numbers, it comes as no surprise that the top three states are Texas (371 signees), Florida (325) and California (228). Georgia and Ohio round out the top five with 165 and 159 signees, respectively.

At first glance, Mississippi, which had 42 signees in 2012, pales in comparison, but a look at the ratio between signees and the total number of high school football players statewide can tell a different story.

Mississippi’s 42 signees come from a total of 22,306 players throughout the state, which indicates that Mississippi has one player sign a scholarship to play FBS football for every 531 players. This ratio is good for 18th nationally.

Texas, which had the most signees at 371, only reports a ratio on 1:455 due to its staggering 168,680 high school football players. The same can be said for California, whose 228 signees factor into a 1:456 ratio due to 103,921 total players.

Florida, on the other hand, leads the nation with a ratio on 1:119 with 325 signees in 38,451 players. Florida has an advantage that many states such as Mississippi do not have. In the state of Florida there are seven FBS colleges: Florida, Florida State, Miami, Central Florida, South Florida, Florida International and Florida Atlantic. Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss are the only three FBS schools in the Magnolia state.

Aside from Florida, Georgia (1:194), Louisiana (1:214) and Alabama (1:243) round out the top four.

Alabama is an interesting example because its 22,833 football players are comparable to Mississippi’s 22,306, but Alabama had 94 FBS signees while Mississippi had 42. Alabama has five FBS colleges: Alabama, Auburn, Alabama-Birmingham, South Alabama and Troy.

Mississippi finishes just behind Arkansas and just ahead of Tennessee. Other states in the Southeasten Conference region finishing behind Mississippi were Kentucky and Missouri.

I think that FBS signees serve as a good gauge to determine where the state stands, but it’s not a be-all and end-all. Of Mississippi’s revered NFL Hall of Famers, neither running back Walter Payton (Jackson State) nor Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State) signed with FBS schools. Quarterback Steve McNair (Alcorn State) could also receive future Hall of Fame consideration.

Mississippi also has a vibrant junior college football system that many other states do not have. Many of Mississippi’s community colleges are considered among the cream of the crop nationally and many Mississippi players sign to play at these schools as well, another reflection on the state’s talent level.

Quick hitters

• ·       One name for Mississippians, particularly Mississippians who love baseball, to keep an eye on is shortstop Billy Hamilton. Hamilton, a graduate of Taylorsville High School, is currently playing minor league baseball in the Cincinnati Reds’ system for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Hamilton recently broke baseball’s single season stolen bases record of 145, which was set in 1983. He has 146 steals and counting now with 12 games left to play. For those keeping track, the Miami Marlins lead the majors in stolen bases as a team with 121, 25 less than Hamilton has accumulated alone. Interesting side note: the most bases ever stolen in a single National League game is co-held by a Philadelphia Phillies player on August 31, 1894. His name? Billy Hamilton.
• ·       An oversight in last week’s column is that Magnolia Heights’ baseball team won the 2012 Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA (D2) state championship as well. They are to be commended. Congratulations to those young men and thank you to the reader who brought this to my attention.
• ·       As far as The Democrat’s football contest is concerned: I’m taking Coldwater, Senatobia, Starkville Academy, NWCC, Clemson, Michigan State, Alabama and BYU.

There must be something in the water

On the Fly (as published in The Democrat on August 21, 2012)

I always love seeing our local athletes succeed and lately Tate County has had no shortage of good news.

It’s even better for me to see that each of the schools in the county has had its share of success recently.

·       For Strayhorn High School, Greg Caston won the first state championship in school history in any sport when he finished best in the state for the 2A classification in the shot put competition.

·       For Coldwater High School, alum sprinter Trell Kimmons represented the school, county, state and country in London as part of the 2012 Olympics. The boys’ basketball team won the 1A state championship and the girls’ basketball team came within one game themselves.

·       For Senatobia High School, alum Quintavius Burdette is likely looking at playing time as a freshman on the Ole Miss Rebel defense, having consistently received high praise from coaches for his work ethic and dedication to film study.

·       For Independence High School, alum Quentin Saulsberry is currently preseason football in the National Football League for the Minnesota Vikings following a career on the offensive line at Mississippi State.

·       The same can be said for Magnolia Heights School, as alum Addison Lawrence is playing NFL preseason football for the Baltimore Ravens following his time at Mississippi State. His younger brother Cameron Lawrence is now entering his senior season as a linebacker for Mississippi State and is expected by many to be the leader of the Bulldogs’ defensive unit after leading the team in tackles as a junior.

·       Northwest Community College recently received big news of its own, as former Ranger defensive lineman Cortez Kennedy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Kennedy, who played for the Rangers under coach Bobby Franklin in 1986-1987 before finishing his collegiate career at the University of Miami, played 11 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks, amassing 58 sacks. He was voted into the NFL Pro Bowl game eight times.

While it’s great to hear of these athletes’ successes in their respective sports, what I am even more appreciative of is the examples that they have set for the youth in our county.

I’ve had the privilege of personally knowing many of these athletes and they’re equally as impressive off the field of play as they are while they’re on it.

It’s great for young athletes to have role models such as these to model themselves after, but it’s even greater that they have examples such as the ones these athletes have set to follow outside of the sport.

Quick hitters

• ·       It’s impressive that LSU took the stand it did in kicking Heisman trophy contending defensive back Tyrann Mathieu from the team following a violation of team policy. It’s interesting, however, that quarterback Jordan Jefferson remained on the team last year despite his involvement in the beating of an off-duty police officer.
• ·       While there’s no doubt the Los Angeles Lakers will benefit from a trade acquiring elite Center Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, it’s still premature to write the Lakers into the NBA Finals. The Lakers as a team are growing old and Howard has been injury-prone throughout his career. I still think the Thunder are the conference’s safest bet, but don’t sleep on the Memphis Grizzlies.
• ·       High school football kicked off August 17. Others sports were already in progress. Please come out and support your local student athletes. They work hard for it.

Spoilers, spoilers everywhere

On the Fly (as published in The Democrat on August 7, 2012)

I have a love and hate relationship with the Olympics. Don’t get me wrong; I love it, I truly do. There’s no other sporting event like it and to see the triumphs and heartbreaks each year is everything that a sports fan could ask for.

But this year, I also have a big problem with it: The spoilers.

The 2012 Olympics will go down in history as the first Olympiad to play out in the social media era.

Social media sites such as Twitter bring users news to-the-minute, but can pose difficulties for fans of the games. That’s where the spoilers come into play.

With the Olympics playing out in London, six hours ahead of Mississippi’s central time zone, the quality primetime television programming is all shown on tape delay, and we watch as the Olympic athletes in London sleep.

While delayed programming of Olympic events has never posed much of an inconvenience in the past, Olympics fans who also use Twitter have been on the receiving ends of multiple headaches caused by spoilers on their news feeds.

Readers who don’t know anything about Twitter should ask their children, grandchildren, or neighbor’ children what Twitter is. Answers shouldn’t be hard to come by as its use has become quite common. Millions use Twitter each day.

I am a user. Because of this, I have not been able to watch primetime Olympics without already knowing the results of what is coming on television. That takes a lot of the fun out of the games.

What good is it to watch Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte go head-to-head in the pool when you’d known the results for hours? While it’s still enjoyable to watch, it loses its intrigue. It’s like watching a movie that you’ve seen before. I watch Forrest Gump every time I see it on television and I enjoy it, but it’s not as interesting when you know what’s going to happen next.

While that is a down side to the 2012 Olympics, the positive is that the 2012 Olympics offers better access to the games than ever before.

Each event can be viewed live online at www.nbcolympics.com, and, at any given time, users may choose which event they’d like to watch. For a noted sports junkie like myself, this is an invaluable addition to the coverage of the games.

It’s also of great benefit to the athletes. Not every event is shown on television, even on delay. There are events, such as Judo, which never make it to the small screen, because they lack the popularity of larger events.

If Coldwater’s Trell Kimmons participated in Judo, the people of Tate County may never be able to watch their hometown hero’s Olympic journey unfold, until now, thanks to the online video content.

Not everyone has daily access to this content, but luckily for Tate County residents, the men’s 4x100-meter relay Kimmons will be running in, is one of the most anticipated events of the second week of the Olympics.

Kimmons’ 4x100 relay is expected to begin Friday, Aug. 10, with the qualifying heats at 1:45 p.m. CST. The final round of the event is scheduled to begin Saturday, Aug. 11, at 3:00 p.m. CST.

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USA Basketball: A dream matchup 1992 vs. 2012

On the Fly (as published in The Democrat July 31, 2012)

There’s been hot discussion in recent weeks regarding the current United States men’s basketball team’s place in basketball history, stemming from 2012 team member and future hall of fame guard Kobe Bryant’s comment that his squad would beat the 1992 USA team.

The comment may not have inspired much debate if the 1992 team, known affectionately as “The Dream Team” wasn’t considered by many to be the greatest basketball team ever assembled.

Formed for the 1992 Olympic Games, the first in which professional basketball players were deemed eligible for Olympic competition, the Dream Team ran roughshod through the competition en route to a gold medal, defeating opponents by an astounding average margin of 43.75 points.

Despite my initial inclination to laugh at Bryant’s claims, Michael Jordan reportedly did laugh, I’ve decided that Bryant may have a valid point.

So I decided to have a more in-depth look at the two teams to see how Bryant’s 2012 well team would really fare.

PG Russell Westbrook (2012) vs. PG Magic Johnson (1992) – I’m using Westbrook here because at an extremely athletic 6’3, he would present the biggest matchup threat to Johnson. Westbrook, at only 23 years old, is known as one of the game’s most athletic players and can really score the ball. Johnson, at 33 years old, is on the downside of his career and trying to prove that he still belongs with the game’s elite. While there is no doubt that Westbrook’s speed would be difficult for Johnson to defend, Johnson’s six inch height advantage and game experience would prove to be the difference maker, as Westbrook has been known to struggle maintaining composure. Advantage: 1992.

SG Kobe Bryant (2012) vs. SG Michael Jordan (1992) – The matchup NBA fans will always dream of features two of the game’s greatest players of all-time. The two have combined for 11 NBA championships. One is in the basketball hall of fame, while the other is a lock for the hall post-retirment.  Unfortunately for Bryant, Jordan is 29 years old and reaching the pinnacle of his professional career. Bryant is 33 and nearing the twilight of his career.  Advantage: 1992.

SF Kevin Durant (2012) vs. SF Larry Bird (1992) – Few doubt that Bird is one of the most effective pure shooters in NBA history. Kevin Durant is one of the most dominant scorers in today’s NBA. In 1992, Bird is 36 years old, however, and on the verge of retirement following the Olympics due to chronic back issues. Durant’s athleticism and length would prove to be too tall a task for the aging Bird to handle. Advantage: 2012.

SF Lebron James (2012) vs. PF Charles Barkley (1992) – Lebron James may play the small forward position but he’d have no trouble holding his own at the power forward spot and, at 6’9, would hold a size advantage over Barkley, who was coming into his own and led the Dream Team in scoring. Barkley, a hall of famer, was a special player during his era, but James’ athleticism and size, as well as his multi-faceted game give him the advantage here. Advantage: 2012.

C Tyson Chandler (2012) vs. C Patrick Ewing (1992) – If we’re honest with ourselves, there’s not much to discuss here. Chandler is a great player, but he’s known for his defense and not much else. At 7’1 he is the largest player on the 2012 USA team, but there’s no doubt USA team misses Dwight Howard. Ewing, on the other hand, is one of the greatest NBA big men of all time, and his well-rounded game has to be respected. Advantage: 1992.

PG Chris Paul (2012) vs. PG John Stockton (1992) - While I understand that Westbrook won’t start for 2012 USA, the opportunity to match up possibly the two greatest floor generals in NBA history was too much to pass up, if you’ll pardon the pun. I’m taking Paul over Stockton because of his scoring advantage. Advantage: 2012.

SG James Harden (2012) vs. SG Clyde Drexler (1992) - I’m also going to take Drexler over Harden because although Harden is a devastating scorer, Drexler has a big edge in experience, and, in 1992 at age 30, was coming off a better statistical season than Harden. Advantage: 1992.

SF Carmelo Anthony (2012) vs. SF Chris Mullin (1992) – Both guys can score, but Anthony gets the nod over the hall of famer Mullin because of his combination of athleticism and physicality. I expect Anthony to have a big 2012 Olympics. Advantage: 2012.

PF Anthony Davis (2012) vs. PF Karl Malone (1992) – Karl Malone is a hall of famer. Anthony Davis has played in zero NBA games. Advantage: 1992.

PF/C Kevin Love (2012) vs. C David Robinson (1992) – I love Robinson. He would hold a big size advantage at 7’1. (Love is 6’10.) But Love negates the height differential with his weight (260). Robinson weighed 235. Robinson is a deserving hall of famer, but Love is able to space the floor better than any big man on either team, and has great range on his jumper. Advantage: 2012.

SG Andre Iguodala (2012) vs. SF Scottie Pippen (1992) – This is another great matchup because these are two guys who do all of the little things. While I was initially skeptical of the addition of Iguodala to the 2012 team, my skepticism has faded watching the 2012 teams exhibitions, as Iguodala has out hustled the competition and done everything right. Pippen, however, is a five-time NBA champion, and an NBA Hall of Famer known for doing the little things. If hustle is a wash, I’m going with the hall of famer. Advantage: 1992.

PG Deron Williams (2012) vs. PF Christian Laettner (1992) – That Williams is matched up with Laettner is almost as unfair as, well, the Dream Team’s run through the 1992 Olympics. Advantage: 2012.

My head-to-head evaluations came out even at six.

The 1992 team holds a distinct size advantage over the 2012 team, but the 2012 team makes up for that size advantage with superior quickness and athleticism.

It’s debatable whether or not Jordan and company would be give up shots in order to win a game taking advantage of the 1992 team’s size.

It’s debatable how superior the 2012 team’s speed and athleticism is in comparison to the 1992 team. How much of a difference would it really make?

What’s not debatable is that the 1992 team featured 11 hall of famers (of 12 team members, for those keeping track) and I’d never expect 11 hall of famers to lose in anything.

In summary, I think most people are right in saying that the 1992 team would win, but I don’t think those who are right, are as right as they think they are.

What next in Nittany Land?

On the Fly (as published in The Democrat July 24, 2012)

This is the sports scandal of my generation; the one there’s no doubt that I’ll be telling my grandkids about one day. (When they’re old enough.)

The fallout still unfolding in State College, Penn. surrounding Penn State University will no doubt be looked back on as an event that changes college athletics forever.

Former football Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky was accused and found guilty of sexually assaulting ten boys during his time with the university. In June, Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 possible charges and now faces a maximum sentence of 442 years in prison.

Joe Paterno, the university’s head football coach from 1966 through 2011, and the all-time winningest head coach in major college football history with 409 career wins, was fired as a result of the scandal, an event that evoked rioting in the streets by outraged students and alumni.

Also forced to resign in the aftermath of the allegations was school president Graham Spanier, while athletic director Tim Curley remains suspended following an indictment for perjury related to the scandal and senior vice president Gary Schultz resigned as well.

Louis Freeh, a former director of the FBI, lead an internal investigation into the scandal and his 267-page report, released on July 12, concluded that Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz were complicit in “concealing Sandusky’s activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities.” Freeh’s report said that the men were concerned that Sandusky be “treated humanely” but that the same feelings had not been expressed toward the victims.

According to the report, the four men “exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky’s victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being.”

As far as the governing body of college athletics, the National College Athletics Association is concerned, no punishment for the university has to this point been determined.

I suggest handing Penn State the “death penalty.”

The NCAA has handed out a “death penalty” only once, in 1987 to Southern Methodist University, citing a lack of institutional control due to disregard for the NCAA’s rules and regulations.

A lack of institutional control? Sounds pretty familiar.

The lack of institutional control exhibited by the leadership at Penn State in covering up a decade of the sexual abuse of young boys reaches a level never before seen in college athletics.

While SMU was punished for, among other things, a “slush fund” resulting in under the table payments to the school’s athletes. I’d argue that these allegations, the ones at the root of the most severe penalty ever handed down by the NCAA, seem rather mundane, and pale in comparison to troubles facing Penn State.

The death penalty for SMU resulted in the school’s cancellation of its 1988 football season. Every player on the team was granted permission to transfer to any other institution immediately and forego the typical rule requiring transfers to sit out for a year before playing for their new school.

Penn State fans would argue that it is not fair to punish the players on the team for crimes in which they had no part, but I would argue in turn that it was even more unfair for ten young boys to be put in such a heinous, despicable situation and have to spend the rest of their lives coming to terms with it.

I’d also argue that even though the offending parties at the leadership of the institution are no longer in power; Spanier and Schultz resigned, Schultz is on administrative leave, and Paterno was fired and later passed away in January at 85, the NCAA’s precedent for a lack of institutional control was set with SMU.

And I agree that it’s a shame.

It’s a shame that Paterno, college football’s winningest coach, has had his once great legacy tarnished, because rather than stand up for justice, he cowered to protect a friend and valued his football program over human decency.

It’s a shame that the student athletes on the football team, who had nothing to do with the scandal, would be put in the position of not knowing whether they would even be allowed to play again due to circumstances beyond their control.

It’s a shame for the university’s fans, who are known as some of college football’s most passionate, that they are forced to confront the harsh reality that all of the good times they’ve shared with a man they’ve revered for 46 years weren’t with the same man they believed him to be.

The greatest shame, however, is that the victims must live with the experience for the rest of their lives, because no one had the courage to step in and put an end to Sandusky’s reign of terror.

I love football more than almost anyone I know, but football is a game. A game should never have been allowed to trump a real life terror, and it should never be allowed to happen again.

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BCS playoff long overdue

On the Fly (as published in The Democrat July 17, 2012)

The recently approved college football playoff system is a resounding victory for fans of the game.

The playoff system, which would put an end to the oft-bemoaned Bowl Championship Series (BCS) selection system, will be made up of four teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine a national champion.

Much of the criticism of the BCS selection system focused on the use of computers, which combined a number of factors including records, poll rankings and strength of schedules, to determine the two teams which would play for the national championship.

The system led to controversial selections almost every year, such as the 2004 game in which an 12-0 Southern California team defeated a 12-0 Oklahoma team 55-19, while a 12-0 SEC Champion Auburn squad was left out of the picture. (USC later had the win vacated.)

The four teams for the new playoff system will be chosen by a selection committee which will consider win-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results and whether a team is a conference champion.

This comes as big news to programs such as Boise State, who despite several recent undefeated regular seasons, has not been able to play for a national championship due to a weaker, non-BCS conference affiliation.

The real winners of the new system are the fans.

College basketball’s annual 68-team tournament in March to determine its national champion, affectionately known as “March Madness,” is one of the more popular annual sporting events among fans, drawing huge audiences across multiple television stations.

In terms of collegiate athletics, football trumps basketball in most areas of the county. I suspect the result will be tremendous TV ratings, which means more revenue for everyone, from advertisers, to the National Collegiate Athletics Association, to the conferences, and in turn to the schools.

The college bowl system has been stale and in need of a shakeup for quite some time. The main changes seen in recent years have involved the addition of bowl game after bowl game.

That’s great for those of us who participate in “Bowl Pick ‘Em” contests amongst our buddies. (Just don’t tell my parents!) But the common football fan doesn’t sit around watching Southeastern Great Lakes University play the Mesa Verde Technical Institute in the Fruit of the Loom bowl to determine which team finishes the season one game over .500.

While it’s unlikely that the number of bowl games will decrease, four teams having a chance to win the national championship generates a much needed boost in excitement to the system.

Can an overachieving underdog shock the world? I don’t know the answer to that, but I’m excited that the world may now have the chance to find out.

By the numbers:

• ·       Since the BCS system was put into place in 1998, national championships have been predominantly claimed by the Southeastern Conference, with eight national championships; the Big 12 Conference has two, the Atlantic Coast Conference has one, the Big East Conference has one, the Big 10 Conference has one, and the Pacific-12 Conference has zero following USC’s title vacation.
• ·       SEC teams have appeared in the national championship game on eight occasions, with a record of seven wins, zero losses, and in 2012 both Alabama and LSU appeared in the contest.
• ·       Three SEC schools have as many national championship or more than any other conference since the BCS was established: LSU (2), Florida (2), Alabama (2).
• ·       The Big 12 Conference has 7 national championship game appearances, second only to the SEC’s 8, but has posted 2-5 record, for a .286 victory percentage, the lowest of any BCS conference.