Friday, January 19, 2007

Shelly's Snow Haiku

Writing from the frozen Tundra of New Jersy after the First snow, Shelly Williams penned this verse of Haiku;

Snow covered sidewalk
Step, slip, slide, balancing act
Watch for yellow snow
Geaux Saints

Ross & Price a Perfect Match at Ole Miss




By Jeff Lippman

If Hollywood sports movie endings tell us anything, it's to expect the unexpected. To always dream big. With enough heart and desire, the underdog David can defeat mighty Goliath. And finally, everything happens for a reason.

Going just short of calling it fate, the relationship formed by player and coach four years ago, when neither knew anything of the other, is certainly considered by both involved to be the single specific moment when Ole Miss women's basketball program began its turnaround.

Now members of the Top 25 for only the second time since 1996, coach Carol Ross, star player Armintie Price and the Rebels have officially arrived, once again, on college basketball's scene.

And they owe it all to each other.

"Wow, she's been everything," Ross said of Price. "She's meant more to this program than any single student-athlete that I've ever coached, at any time, and I've coached All-Americans and Olympians, but the significance of Armintie to Ole Miss women's basketball is not just what you see on the court or on the stat sheet, it's her mentality and her passion for success and her work ethic, her enthusiasm, it's so many things wrapped up into one.

"Her attitude and energy really rubs off on her teammates and her coaches as well. She just has a light about her that draws people to her. She has fun working hard and that really just rubs off on people and she has helped create a very competitive and successful environment in the locker room as well as on the court."

That is incredible praise coming from coach to player, a relationship in which usually the player owes her career to her teacher. But the love fest is mutual and Price does consider Ross to be the sole reason she is the All-American candidate she is today.

"She has made me who I am," Price, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, said. "Just being aware about the game, just my will to win, I've learned a lot from her, I feel like I'm going into see her almost every day. Just listening to how she coaches, what she sees on the court, it has made me grow as a player. When she's on the bench and she's huffing and stuff, I was confused on what she was saying, but now I'm starting to learn and watch the shot clock and see the positions of the game and time and score, all because of watching her and listening to her and trying to understand what she's saying about the game.

"Just me watching her every day and her teaching me that this is for the love of the game, this is something you've got to give your all for, and you are not just playing for yourself but for 13 other girls out there, so just giving a great effort and representing your school and your family and everybody else out there."

To know the relationship between player and coach, one must first understand how they happened upon each other four years ago, almost by chance, without knowing who the other was and what they'd ultimately mean to the struggling program.

Ross had just spent a year, "pursuing other things," after stepping down from her position as head coach of the Florida Gators women's team at the end of the 2002 season. The winningest coach in Florida history had burnt herself out after 12 seasons and 247 victories with the Gators.

When Ole Miss, her alma mater where she was a four-year starter from 1978-81, and where she still holds the school record for most career steals, telephoned to say they wanted to hire her to become the next head coach, she felt an obligation to accept.

"When [Ole Miss] called, you know, I still didn't want to get back in," Ross admits, "and I certainly didn't want to get back into the SEC where I just left, but, at some point I felt a real sense of duty and I felt like this would be my opportunity to come back to Mississippi and help not only the program that gave me my start, the university that gave me my education, but also a state that needed people to come home and help. So it was more an allegiance to those things than it was my need to get back into coaching."

The year prior to Ross' return was not a good year for Ole Miss basketball. The current No. 24-ranked team in the country finished 12-16 in 2002-03, including going 1-13 in SEC play.

In Ross' first season--Price's freshman year of 2003-04--she made leaps and bounds with the roster she inherited, having not even recruited the freshman she was now coaching. Ross turned an abysmal group into an NCAA tournament team almost immediately, earning SEC co-Coach of the Year honors.

And who won SEC Freshman of the Year honors? Armintie Price, who just happened to fall into Ross' lap.

"I was just lucky enough to arrive at the same time as Armintie," Ross said.

Price stumbled upon Oxford as well, not even considering playing college basketball until her senior year of high school in Myrtle, Miss.

"I only started playing ball when I was in eighth grade, so I didn't touch a ball when I was little, I didn't know anything about basketball," Price said. "I started playing and then I wasn't too interested in anything else. Once I got to high school, I still didn't watch college basketball, I was just playing because my friends wanted me to play. And then once my senior year came, my coach talked to me about college choices and if I wanted to go and if I wanted to play. My family wasn't as big on sports then as they are now.

"I didn't have that many choices in the first place. I told my mom about Ole Miss, it was close to home and I ended up meeting my teammate now, Ashley Awkward, at an Adidas camp my senior year, and I met Jada Mincy and they all talked about they were going to Ole Miss and I said, `Ya know I think they recruited me too,' so we all said if you sign, I'll sign, so that's basically what happened and we all ended up signing."

Four years and many honors later, player and coach who were unknowingly thrust upon each other, can't imagine a day at Ole Miss without the other.

Price is currently the leading scorer for the 15-4, 4-0 SEC Lady Rebels at 19.2 ppg. She is also the leading passer at 4.6 assists per game, leading ball thief with 3.7 steals a game and leading rebounder with 8.4 boards per contest. Shoot, she's even third on the team in blocked shots. One could surmise, she pretty much does everything and means everything for the Rebels.

And Ross knows it.

"I would hate to even think about where we'd be without her," Ross said. "We wouldn't be sitting here talking about the success of Ole Miss women's basketball, we wouldn't be talking about a 4-0 start in SEC play and we wouldn't be talking about NCAA tournaments.

"I think the impact that she has had on this program is by far and away the most important thing that has happened to this program in the last four years. All the successes we have enjoyed, she has had her finger in the pot the entire time. She has that impact. I would dare say she impacts whatever she does in the same way, we're just fortunate that she is wearing an Ole Miss uniform and she plays basketball at Ole Miss."

Price is more than just a great basketball player. She is a well-rounded, modest student-athlete who is well aware of her ability and knows what she needs to do to achieve her goals. And those goals are quite lofty.

"My ultimate goal for myself is to be an unstoppable player," Price said, and she meant it, you could tell. "I don't want to have any holes in my game, basically. Not just have one thing I can do, but bring many things to the table. One of my main goals for this year was to become a Kodak All-American."

Of course, all players at the collegiate level would love to be an All-American, but what makes Armintie different, besides the fact that she is one of the best talents in the sports, is her drive and desire to work at for it.

"I didn't think about things like that [being an All-American] until I saw a couple of posters around with different players and I told myself that I want to work hard enough to be that, to be where they are, and still to this day I feel I've got a lot of work to do, I know I do, and I just want to leave a good mark here at Ole Miss," Price said.

"I think my main weakness is just myself, my confidence," she admitted. "My confidence in shooting the jumper and shooting the three more consistently and just taking over when I need to. If I get that confidence, I think I'll be a scary player. I'm working on it now and it's coming to me now that it's my last year and I do have to take over when it's time for me to take over and be a great leader. So I'm working on it now so it won't be a weakness anymore."

As the newest Top 25 team's season continues, coach and player carry on to what promises to be the most successful season the Lady Rebels have had in quite some time. Reaching goal after goal, always striving for more. That is how Ross taught Price and how Price leads her teammates.

Where does Ole Miss go from here?

"Up!" Ross exclaimed. "We eked into the Top 25, I don't think we have a resounding vote of confidence from across the country, that's for sure. Our goal was never to be in the Top 25, we want to win championships. We feel like we've just gotten started, we take it one game at a time; it's worked so far, so we'll continue with that format. We'll see where we end up at the end of the season."

And there is another character trait that Ross has instilled in Price. The ability to hope and dream big. Ole Miss doesn't have the talent of North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Tennessee or Connecticut, but what they do have is the heart and character to never give up.

"I don't know what the limit for us is," Ross said. "We think big and we dream big and we always have, and I think that's why we've always exceeded other people's expectations, because our own have never been limited."

Price said the perfect ending to her collegiate career would be winning the NCAA championship. Those who think that is not a realistic goal can take it up with Armintie's point of view that, "If I didn't think it was a possibility, I shouldn't even be playing."

So what happens to Ole Miss when Price leaves at the end of the year?

"Ole Miss has a history of being successful and proud, and certainly we hope that that would continue," Ross said. "We think that Armintie's presence over the past four years has allowed us to recruit other great players that hopefully will take the lead and take her example and continue to move forward with it."

In Armintie's skewed, but modest opinion, the Lady Rebels will be just fine.

"Without me?" Price wondered aloud. "Well, I think the team would be quite alright because this team has a lot of heart. And I do add a lot of heart and a lot of other things to this team but I think with their love for the game and with a coach like coach Ross, she wouldn't have them anywhere but on top."

Whether Ole Miss continues down the road to NCAA glory or not, whether they are a winning team for years to come or just having the best season during the senior year of one of the program's greatest players, only time will tell.

But one thing is certain, while the basketball team will most definitely miss her physical presence, coach Ross will miss having one of the greatest players and best people she has ever coached on the sidelines with her each game.

Four years ago they were a match made in heaven, now they are a Top 25 team, and tomorrow? Well, like coach Ross and her star pupil, dream big, expect the unexpected, and finally, everything will happen for a reason.

Lady Tigers Pick Apart Wildcats



BATON ROUGE -- LSU’s eighth-ranked women's basketball team forced 17 first-half turnovers and led by as many as 31 points before putting away Kentucky, 76-58, on Thursday evening at the Maravich Center.
LSU center Sylvia Fowles led three Lady Tigers (17-2, 3-1 SEC) in double figures scoring with 16 points and 12 rebounds, as LSU won its 40th-straight home game.
In the process, Fowles moved into fourth place in the school's career rebounds list with 942 (passed Ramona Dozier, 934, 1980-84).
LSU starting guards Quianna Chaney and RaShonta LeBlanc had 14 and 13 points, respectively. Freshman guard Allison Hightower, starting forward Ashley Thomas and reserve guard Khalilah Mitchell each added seven points.
Kentucky, which only committed three turnovers in the second 20 minutes, shot only 37 percent from the field (22 of 59).
"I thought from the very beginning we established execution on both ends of the floor,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “The most obvious was defensively. You saw a concerted effort by the entire team and the bench. We really tried to carry out the scouting report defense.
"They went to the zone. I thought we stood around a bit for about three and a half minutes against the zone, but then the defense picked it up. The bottom line is you saw a concerted effort by the entire team, and the result was a nice win."
The Wildcats were led by 6-6 junior center Sarah Elliott who scored 19 points and had eight rebounds. Guard Samantha Mahoney was the only other Kentucky player in double figures with 17 on 7-of-14 shooting.
LSU opened a 23-4 lead in the first 12 minutes and led by 18 at the break, as the Lady Tigers scored 19 points off 17 Kentucky turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
In the process, LSU had eight steals and four blocked shots while holding the Wildcats to 9-of-26 shooting (34.6 percent).
“Kentucky struggled a bit earlier. We would like to think that we coupled that with good offensive execution,” Chatman added. “Our goal was to see if we run offense well enough to make them change defenses.”
Behind 10 points from LeBlanc, LSU led 37-19 at halftime.
Kentucky clawed within 14 early in the second half, however, a 27-6 Lady Tigers run put the game out of reach, 66-36, with 7:40 to play.
The Lady Tigers led by as many as 31 before Kentucky used a 16-4 run to end the game.
The Lady Tigers return to action on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT, as they travel to face Alabama.
GAME NOTES- Quianna Chaney scored in double figures for the 10th straight game with her 14 tonight.- Sylvia Fowles scored in double figures for the 12th straight game with 16 tonight.- Fowles recorded her 12th double double of the season and the 47th of her career with 16 points and 12 rebounds tonight. This marks the sixth straight game with a double double for Fowles. - Fowles moved into fourth-place on LSU’s career rebounds with, passing Ramona Dozier. Fowles finished the game with 642 career boards.- LSU extended the home court win streak to a nation’s best 40 straight games. The Lady Tigers have also won 18 straight SEC games at home.
LSU HEAD COACH POKEY CHATMAN
Opening Statement
"I thought from the very beginning we established execution on both ends of the floor. The most obvious was defensively. You saw a concerted effort by the entire team and the bench. We really tried to carry out the scouting report defense. Kentucky struggled a bit earlier. We would like to think that we coupled that with good offensive execution. Our goal was to see if we run offense enough to make them change defenses. They went to the zone. I thought we stood around a bit for about three and a half minutes against the zone, but then the defense picked it up. The bottom line is you saw a concerted effort by the entire team, and the result was a nice win."
On the team's improvement ... "You are only as good as your last game. We improved from Ole Miss and Mississippi State. I don't know if I will ever be fully satisfied, but I saw a lot of improvement. I thought the energy was there. The execution was there by several players. There are a lot of areas we need to improve upon. There were too many hollow possessions offensively. Some were related to Kentucky, but more were related to LSU. We can eliminate some of those, but it was an improvement from Mississippi State."

Trot Nixon to Cleveland


The original dirt dog is now an Indian.
ESPN's Peter Gammons reported today that former Red Sox right fielder Trot Nixon has agreed to a one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians for $3 million. The Red Sox had elected not to offer salary arbitration to Nixon, a Type B free agent, who was paid $6.5 million last season. Nixon hit .278 in his 10 seasons with the Red Sox and hit 133 home runs while driving in 523 runs.
Nixon is expected to platoon in Cleveland's right field with Casey Blake. Today's Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Trot could increase his base salary of $3 million to $5 million this season if he earns all his performance bonuses.
One of Nixon's biggest hits in a Red Sox uniform was an 11th inning walkoff home run on Oct. 4, 2003 as the Sox beat the Oakland A's 3-1 to avoid elimination in their best-of-five AL playoff series.
"All the home runs you hit in your career in the regular season don't mean much unless you start hitting some in the postseason," said Nixon after the game winner. "This is what you play for."
Nixon, a Fenway fan favorite, was with the Red Sox organization for his entire professional career before becoming a free agent at the end of the 2006 season. He spent the last eight years as Boston's starting right fielder, though he had been plagued with a series of injuries over the last few seasons.
"I am confident I am going to get a job,'' Nixon was quoted as saying in yesterday's Wilmington Star. "I can't have what is going on with free agency consume me.''
"I am confident I will be with a team next year,'' Nixon said. "Where, I don't know. My mom asks, 'How are negotiations going? Are there any negotiations?' I'm like, 'Nothing.'
"It is real easy for me to worry because obviously this is the first time I've gone through the free-agent market. I've done plenty of wondering why this or that in the offseason. I don't think I have done anything in my career that has given me a bad name or anything.''
More on Nixon:
"He's a loyal, deep, strong human being that I have a tremendous respect for," Gabe Kapler rold the Globe's Gordon Edes in October. "It was hard to watch without getting emotional, him walking off the field [on Oct. 1], for no other reason than he deserves to be recognized, not because he is or is not coming back to Boston but because he means a whole lot to a lot of people."
"I heard so many great things, I can't thank those fans enough," Nixon said after his last game playing for the Red Sox last October. "Tipping the hat, blowing kisses here or there, that's not me. But maybe they pick up the paper tomorrow and read the fact it truly means a lot to me what they've done for me the eight years I've been here.
"I did care about this organization and did care about this town. This town has been unbelievable for my family and I, absolutely unbelievable."

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Future Rebel Golf Great Makes Appearance in Hattiesburg


What is likely to be a future member of the Ole Miss gilf team made a preview appearance in Hattiesburg Yesturday afternoon. Accompanied by his future family, what is to become the latest member of the Bolster clan appeared on an ultrasound screen. Jenny says he will be named Price Christian Bolster although Travis & Duke favor Yaz Popi Bolster. Since Scott's middle name is Theodore as in Ted Williams, I guess we have the Red Sox covered as good as we will be able to. How about Billy Cannon Bolster. Has a certain ring to it. Anyway, you should be able to see the extra appendage which qualifies him for malehood.

Dukester


Close but no Cigar


BATON ROUGE — Ole Miss, which hasn't won a Southeastern Conference road game in more than a year, had an excellent opportunity against LSU here Wednesday night.
Ole Miss trailed by a single point with five minutes to play before the 16th- ranked Tigers made all the clutch plays late to claim a 62-55 victory.
The Rebels, 12-6 overall and 1-3 in the SEC, have now lost nine straight SEC road games. LSU moved to 13-4 and 2-1.
Asked what will it take for Ole Miss to win on the road, Rebels senior guard Todd Abernethy responded, "We've just got to step up at crunch time. Over the last four minutes, LSU made the plays you have to make and we didn't. It's that simple."
And that painful for Ole Miss.
Ole Miss cut LSU's lead to 43-42 midway through the second half on Clarence Sanders' 3-pointer. The Rebels then had two chances to take the lead. Sanders missed a well-guarded 3-pointer and then a running 16-footer on the baseline.
Neither shot was what Rebels coach Andy Kennedy wanted, but Kennedy was quick to point out, "Clarence hit two big shots, good shots, to get us in that position. I just need him to learn the difference between the shots we want him to take and the bad ones."
A basket - and a lead - would have been huge at that point, Abernethy said.
"It would have gotten them back on their heels and given us a big boost," Abernethy said. "But you can't just look at those two shots. We missed enough makable shots to have had a big lead at that point."
Ole Miss trailed the entire game after Darnell Lazare and Glen Davis made eye-level shots in the paint to give LSU a 4-0 lead. After trailing by as many 11 in the first half, the Rebels made a second-half run.
Dwayne Curtis scored a rebound basket with 15 minutes, 27 seconds remaining to cut the LSU lead to 37-34. After that same play, Davis, the Tigers' best player, left the game rubbing a sore left shoulder.
Unfortunately for the Rebels, Davis returned 80 seconds later and helped LSU when it needed it most near the end.
"We played with a lot of effort," Kennedy said. "I can't fault that, but in the end, this deep in the season, you have to make the plays. We know what LSU is going to do. They know what we're going to do, so you've just got to make plays.
"They made them. We were down by one when Terry Martin makes an SEC-level basket off the dribble; then Tasmin Mitchell jumps up and sticks a big shot. Big Baby (Davis) makes a pro play (a backboard-rattling slam dunk) because he's a pro. During those same trips, we didn't even get a shot at the basket. Hence, the game gets away from you.
"We've done that in our three SEC losses."
Mitchell led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Martin with 15. Sanders led Ole Miss with 12. Curtis added 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Kenny Williams provided 10 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.
The road gets no easier for the Rebels, who play at No. 1-ranked Florida Saturday.
"We've got nothing to lose and everything to gain," Abernethy said. "We just have to look at it as a great opportunity."
LSU coach John Brady, a McComb native and former Belhaven player, wasn't happy with his team's play. His assessment was much the same as Kennedy's.
"I didn't think we played with much emotion," Brady said. "But the bottom line is there at the end that we had to make in order to win the game, and that's why you play."

Rabalais: Tigers a Work in Progress

What to make of the LSU men’s basketball team after Wednesday’s 62-55 victory over Ole Miss?
This a team in search of an offensive identity.
This a team that plays defense.
This a team that is a shadow of last year’s Final Four participants and Southeastern Conference champions.
This is a team that leads the SEC West — virtually by default, it’s true — but still leads it going into Saturday’s game at Arkansas.
This is a team that should hang “under construction” signs on the Maravich Center doors and offer hard hats to the first 5,000 fans who come through.
This is a team that could be quite dangerous if it ever finds its rhythm.
It is still early to pass judgment on this LSU team, especially after it plays Ole Miss. Every game with the Rebels is about as comfortable to watch as a tooth extraction. Last year, LSU gutted out a 79-73 win in Oxford and ended the regular season with a narrow 55-52 victory at home over the Rebels, part of the Tigers’ remarkable ongoing 19-game SEC home game winning streak.
“We didn’t have a seven-point win last year (over Ole Miss) with a team that I think is a little better than this one,” LSU coach John Brady said.
It’s almost always ugly and sloppy with Ole Miss. Wednesday night’s game was merely a continuation of LSU’s 23-20 overtime football victory over the Rebels across the street from the PMAC back in November.
Things turned out just fine for that LSU squad, which went on the road to beat Arkansas and Notre Dame to finish No. 3 in the country. And the same could be true for this LSU team, if it continues to play defense as it has lately.
The Tigers have won, rather quietly, seven of their last eight games. Only once, in the 71-61 loss at Alabama, has LSU allowed more than 63 points. Five times in the winning streak — albeit against teams like Wright State and Samford — the Tigers have held the opposition to 55 points or less.
“Our saving grace right now is our defense,” Brady said. “Fifty-five points, I’ll take that every time out.”
The critical issue for LSU is to score more points than the opposition. The Tigers didn’t crack the 55-point barrier until the game’s final three minutes.
“It shows where we are that we’re not playing well but we’re still winning,” said Garrett Temple, who scored on three free throws and was 0-for-3 from the field.
“We need to play better, execute better, score at a more efficient rate.”
The critical question is: Can the Tigers do that? Saturday’s game at Arkansas, where LSU began its march to the SEC title last season with a confidence-building 63-58 win, will be quite the test.
“We have to be on point with everything we do,” said Glen Davis, who was hounded into just 4 of 9 shooting by Ole Miss’ double teams. “We have to execute in a hostile environment.”
Sometimes that’s an environment the Tigers create for themselves.

Tigers do Just Enough to beat Rebels


Sometimes the bottom line is the best thing to look at, hold on to and focus on.
Sometimes the process isn’t exactly wrapped up as neat as a coach or his players might want it to be.
No. 16-ranked LSU slugged past Ole Miss, 62-55, on Wednesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, getting a methodically productive night from Tasmin Mitchell (19 points, 10 rebounds) and huge 3-point baskets from him and Terry Martin after the Rebels again closed within a single point with 5:12 left in the game.
The victory was the Tigers’ 19th in a row at home against an SEC opponent — an incredible streak that was extended in unspectacular fashion.
“Certainly this game is not going to be FedExed overnight to the Basketball Hall of Fame,” Rebels coach Andy Kennedy deadpanned after his team dropped its ninth consecutive SEC road game. “Neither coach was very happy with the flow of the game.”
John Brady wouldn’t argue that point, but he also had a little more to show at the end of the night.
“It’s great to win,” Brady said. “I will never apologize for it or give it back.”
The Tigers (13-4, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) prevailed because they did the same things they’ve done well most of the season — play stifling defense, control the backboards and find somebody in the right place at the right time to make plays when absolutely necessary.
LSU won despite what has become its glaring Achilles’ heel: Offensive execution.
For the fifth straight game, the Tigers scored 66 points or fewer — their longest such streak since the end of going seven games in a row under 66 at the end of the 2003-04 season — and seemed disjointed most of the night with the ball in their possession.
Shooting accurately wasn’t a major problem, but simply finding the right shot apparently was. LSU launched only 46 field goals, its third fewest this season, and made 21 (45.7 percent). Tigers All-American Glen Davis put only nine shots up, his fewest in an SEC game since Ole Miss limited him to five in March.
“We need to get a little bit better offensively,” Brady said after his team’s sixth straight win over the Rebels, the fourth in a row by seven points or fewer. “We can’t put it on our defense to win the game every night.”
Several times Wednesday, the Tigers toyed with blowing Ole Miss (12-6, 1-3) away.
In the first half, LSU belted the Rebels with a 15-5 haymaker to bolt to a 24-13 lead. Martin sandwiched 3-pointers around a free throw for seven straight points, Dameon Mason came off the bench to contribute back-to-back tough bank shots from the lane and Mitchell cranked in two mid-range jump shots to fuel the Tigers.
But LSU let Ole Miss off the mat by scrounging up only five more points over the last 7‰ minutes before halftime.
Same thing happened immediately after the break when Mitchell swished a pair of foul shots and Martin popped a 3 from the left baseline on an inbounds play. The Tigers had a nine-point lead (34-25) and it seemed like it was time to breathe easy.
The Rebels didn’t go along, getting their first nine points of the half from 6-foot-8, 280-pound Dwayne Curtis and hovering nearby the rest of the night.
“When we had an 11-point lead, and you don’t have to do anything but make two or three more stops and get two or three more critical baskets and it’s a 16-point lead which would have made it very difficult for the opponent,” Brady said. “We’re not to the point where we sense that, where we have that killer instinct.”
The Tigers were instinctive enough to figure out that Mitchell and Martin were their best options on a night when the Rebels bottled Davis up and limited him to 11 points and eight rebounds.
Whenever Ole Miss lunged closer, Mitchell, Martin or both delivered.
With LSU ahead 37-35, Martin fed Mitchell for a baseline jumper. When the Rebels clawed within 39-37 on Bam Doyne’s circle jumper, Mitchell drained another shot from the corner and Martin sliced along the endline for a reverse layup to nudge the LSU advantage back to 43-37.
When Ole Miss refused to buckle and got back within 43-42 on Clarence Sanders’ stickback jumper at the 5:12 juncture, Martin rifled in his fourth 3-pointer on the ensuing Tiger possession. Moments later, Mitchell took a pass from Martin and stuck a 3 and the dagger in the Rebels’ hearts — giving LSU a 53-46 edge and enough breathing room to survive.
“They were double-teaming Glen every time he got the ball, so the perimeter guys knew we had to step up,” said Martin, who scored 15 points and teamed with Mitchell to produce 22 of the Tigers’ 33 second-half points. Those two attempted 24 of LSU’s 46 field goals and 12 of the Tigers’ 17 3-pointers. “We just tried to help and knock down a shot.”
Just as helpful as Mitchell and Martin was the Tigers’ normal defensive security blanket.
Although Ole Miss shot 50 percent (14 of 28) in the second half, the Rebels finished the game hitting only 40 percent (24 of 60). If not for Curtis’ second-half resurrection (11 points on 5-of-8 shooting) and Sanders’ brief eight-point outburst, the Rebels may not have had enough firepower to hang around.
LSU also overcame Curtis’ 12 rebounds to beat Ole Miss 35-32.
“We try to defend every game,” Martin said. “Our defense has been pretty good and we just buckled down. In crunch time, you have to bow up and just guard your man.”

NCAA Committee Sets Sights on Confederate Flag

The Confederate flag will again be placed in the forefront of NCAA discussions next week when the Minority Opportunity and Interests Committee holds its annual winter meeting in Indianapolis. The MOIC, an advisory committee formed by the NCAA to examine diversity in intercollegiate athletics, will meet Monday and Tuesday evening to discuss a number of issues. Among the issues set to be discussed is the placement of the Confederate flag on the state flag of Mississippi, as well as the state capitol of South Carolina. Southwestern Athletic Conference commissioner Robert Vowels Jr., who serves as chair of the MOIC, confirmed that the Confederate flag will be a topic of conversation, but is not the sole reason for the meeting."This is our annual winter meeting and there is a host of issues on the docket," Vowels said. "One issue to talk about is the Confederate flag and the stance of both Mississippi and South Carolina."Currently, there is an NCAA-mandated ban on predetermined NCAA championships (such as basketball regional sites) in Mississippi and South Carolina because of the presence of the Confederate flag.However, merit-based NCAA postseason events, such as the hosting of a baseball or tennis regional, are currently permitted in South Carolina and Mississippi by the NCAA.Vowels said the decision to address the merit-based postseason events was made this past summer when Floyd Keith, executive director of the Black Coaches Association, came to Vowels with the proposal.Keith refused to comment for this story but did speak with CSTV in an August 2006 interview. He told CSTV, "I don't know that anybody is comfortable playing in a place where they fly the Confederate flag."Should the NCAA choose to extend the ban to merit-based postseason events, the Ole Miss baseball and men's tennis teams, which have each hosted regionals in Oxford in previous seasons, would be prevented from hosting the events in the future.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Comments from Dandy Don

Good Morning, Tiger fans. The reaction to the hiring of Gary Crowton as LSU's new offensive coordinator has been very positive. As a matter of fact, I have not received a single email from any of my readers who disapprove of the hire. There are many LSU fans who are surprised that Miles hired an offensive coordinator with the reputation of running a wide-open offense. There are also many LSU fans who believe that Les Miles took over the play calling for Jimbo Fisher late in games when LSU was leading, but I do not believe that is accurate. I honestly believe that Tiger fans will learn next season that it was Jimbo Fisher who became conservative with the play calling late in games. I have spoken to three coaches who have coached with Crowton and I spoke to several people in the Ruston/Monroe/West Monroe area who speak highly of Crowton as a coach and as a person with high moral standards. I believe that LSUís quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers will enjoy learning from Crowton who has experienced coaching at all levels. I am hoping that Les Miles will be able to hire an offensive line coach with credentials as strong as Crowton's. With the addition of Crowton and whoever the offensive line coach is going to be, there will no longer be any coaches on the staff from the pre-Miles era. Also, less than 50 percent of the players on the 2007 roster will be players recruited by the previous staff. Les Miles has had back to back eleven-win seasons with a large percentage of players and coaches from the previous staff, so I think it will be accurate to say, starting with the upcoming Spring practice, that this is the Les Miles era. I believe Miles will continue with great success at LSU. Going into the 2006 season there was still a large percentage of LSU fans who had doubts about Les Miles, but most of the doubters are now believers. I'd say there are still 10-15 percent of Tiger fans not sold on Les Miles, and a few will never be.

Kennedy's REbels Travel to PMAC to Take on Tigers


Ole Miss will travel to Baton Rouge to play the No. 16 ranked LSU Tigers tonight at 7 pm. The trip to LSU is the first of two road games this week, both coming against Final Four teams from a year ago. The Rebels will also travel to Gainesville to play defending national champion Florida on Saturday. Ole Miss is 1-2 in Southeastern Conference play, but is coming off of 74-72 home win over Arkansas. The win snapped a three-game losing streak, and gave the Rebels confidence before going to play the Bayou Bengals. "I've got a fragile group," head coach Andy Kennedy said. "Tonight I could see a relief come over them because now they know. Arkansas is as good as anybody in our league they've proven that to this point. "[Saturday's] effort despite our inefficiencies sometimes at the end of the game showed what we're capable of doing. So know we'll get lined up prepared for a very good LSU team and grind them out one at a time." Ole Miss point guard Todd Abernethy echoed the sentiments of his coach. "Its helps us so much mentally. Having lost three games in a row, and two in the SEC, a win [against Arkansas] just takes care of everything," said Abernethy. "We have a tough stretch with LSU and Florida." LSU stands at 1-1 in SEC. The Tigers lost at Alabama 71-61, but hung on to win at home 65-63 over Auburn. The Tigers are led by Glenn Davis who is third in the SEC in scoring (19.2 ppg) and leads the conference in rebounding (10.9). Tasmin Mitchell joins Davis to form a formidable frontcourt by averaging 14 points and 7 rebounds a game. Terry Martin made his first career start for LSU against Auburn, and may have helped the Tigers find a replacement for last season's point guard Darrel Mitchell. Martin made five three-pointers and scored 23 points in the win. Despite the big difference in the records between Ole Miss and LSU, the Rebels gave the Tigers all they could handle in both meetings last season. In the first meeting Ole Miss led by as many as 10 points in the first half, and had the game tied at 71 with two minutes remaining before losing 79-73. LSU made 20 of 26 free throws to beat the Rebels 55-52 in the final regular season game. The backcourt trio of Abernethy, Bam Doyne and Clarence Sanders has carried Ole Miss through most of the season, but the frontcourt stepped up in the win over Arkansas. Dwayne Curtis, Kenny Williams, and Jermey Parnell combined for 35 points after only scoring 27 in the first two SEC games. According to Williams, if the frontcourt can continue to improve, it will be the key to winning games in the SEC. "We know LSU with Big Baby [Glenn Davis] and Florida with Al Horford. Our frontline just needs to keep picking it up everyday, that is our main goal. As long as our backcourt keeps coming and stepping up, and we get a little bit off the bench we can at least be .500 in the conference."

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Russell Named Manning Award Recipient

January has been an exciting month for LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell. The first week of the New Year had the junior being named the Sugar Bowl MVP following LSU’s 41-14 win over Notre Dame.
A week later, Russell announced that he was going to bypass his senior season with the Tigers to make himself eligible for the NFL Draft in April. Many think that Russell could be the first player picked in the draft after his performance against Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.
Now, three weeks into the New Year, Russell is getting more headlines as he’s been named the recipient of the Manning Award, the Sugar Bowl Committee along with the Manning Family announced on Tuesday. Russell learned of the news on Tuesday morning when Archie Manning called him with the news.
“(Archie Manning) called to congratulate me,” Russell said. “He told me good luck in the future and wished me the best.”
“This is a tremendous honor. To win an award named after the Manning family, a family full of great quarterbacks, is wonderful. And, to be mentioned alongside some of the past winners of the award is also an honor. This is very special, but I couldn’t have done this without my teammates.”

Gary Crowton Named LSU Offensive Coordinator at LSU


Today's big news to report is that Gary Crowton has been hired as LSU's new offensive coordinator to replace Jimbo Fisher. Crowton runs a wide-open offense that often features four wide receivers, but he also runs a balanced attack. Below are just last year's stats alone. I can't think of an offense more fitting for an athlete such as Joe McKnight: FIRST DOWNS135 rushing 151 passing RUSHINGAttempts- 471Avg per rush- 5.0 Avg rush per game- 182.2Rushing td's- 26 PASSINGAttempts- 486 Avg per catch- 10.9 Avg per game- 241 Passing td's- 18 TOTAL OFFENSEAvg per play- 5.7 Avg per game- 423.2 This year, Oregon's offense was ranked 9th overall in the country. Some have said that all Coach Crowton does is pass, but that isn't necessarily true. Oregon's rushing offense was ranked 14th in the nation, averaging almost 182 yards a game. As a comparison, LSU's offense was ranked 11th overall in the country and their rushing offense averaged 166 yards a game, which was 31st best in the country. Crowton had success as a head coach at LA Tech from 1996-98 and LSU wide receiver coach Todd Monken was the wide coach at LA Tech at that time. In my opinion, the hiring of Crowton will increase LSU's chances of signing both Terrance Tolliver and Joe McKnight.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Rebels on Short List of Top Rated Recruit

The numbers don't sound very gaudy for one of the nation's top prospects, but John Curtis Christian coach J.T. Curtis said take a closer look.
Sure, his prized player, running back Joe McKnight, only rushed for 709 yards as a senior. But he scored 14 touchdowns. And he did it on just 45 attempts.
Now quick, do the math.
"It's right at 15 (yards a carry)," Curtis said. "When we got up in games, Joe was out of the game. He played on a team that was talented and had other good players."
McKnight also caught 24 passes for 735 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged 30 yards a reception. In all, McKnight averaged more than 20 yards every time he touched the ball for the New Orleans school.
Ole Miss doesn't need a calculator to gauge its interest during the final month of recruiting. The Rebels, like other elite programs, want his signature on a national letter of intent on Feb. 7.
Ole Miss kicks off recruiting's final month by hosting one of the nation's elite prospects this weekend. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound McKnight is rated No. 1 in the nation by ESPN.com. He's also rated No. 4 by Scout.com and has drawn comparisons to players like New Orleans Saints all-purpose back Reggie Bush and Ohio State's Ted Ginn Jr.
"He's a difference-maker with the ball in his hands or on the other side of the ball," said Scott Kennedy, recruiting analyst for Scout.com. "His size, speed and athleticism is something we saw this year in Teddy Ginn, Jr. ... (Ohio State) got the ball in his hands and used him in as many ways possible. (McKnight) is a very, very similar type of prospect."
The Rebels are on a list that includes big-time suitors like Southern California, LSU, Texas and Notre Dame. Ole Miss is his first trip this month and will be followed by official visits to USC, LSU and Arkansas.
But is McKnight's interest in Ole Miss sincere? Curtis said it is because of his familiarity with Ole Miss running backs coach Frank Wilson, who was a long-time high school coach in New Orleans. There's also a connection with Orgeron, who recruited Louisiana when he was an assistant at USC.
Kennedy believes USC is the leader for McKnight but said "any time you can get them to campus you've got a shot." The publicity will help Ole Miss, which currently has 27 oral commitments, either way.
"It brings a lot to the program," Kennedy said. "Even if you don't get him, there's a bunch of people that say, 'Well, heck, Joe is looking at them. That's a good thing.'"
But make no mistake, the Rebels want McKnight to come to Ole Miss.
Curtis said the running back - who can also play cornerback or safety - probably won't make any decision until close to signing day. But he could take as many as five trips in the next four weeks and will make a splash wherever he lands.
"He's looking forward to it," Curtis said. "It will be his first trip, so he's obviously a little anxious. We sat and talked about the things he needs to be observant of and what to look for and I think he'll do a good job of that."

Here is a list of Ole MIss Signees & Committments:

Mark Jean-Louis
OL
6-3, 325
Cerritos (Calif.) CC
Commitments
Jamariey Atterberry
CB
5-10, 165
Kosciusko
Allen Bell
CB
6-1, 195
Independence (Kan.) CC
Lionel Breaux
WR
5-11, 185
New Orleans McDonogh
Johnny Brown
RB
5-11, 190
Charleston
Lamar Brumfield
LB
6-2, 235
Compton (Calif.) CC
Larry Dennis
DE
6-2, 265
Compton (Calif.) CC
LeRoy Diggs
CB
5-10, 185
South Panola
Robert Elliott
RB
6-1, 195
Okolona
Dion Gales
DE
6-7, 288
Mississippi Gulf Coast CC
Jeramie Griffin
FB
6-1, 220
South Panola
Paul Henry
OL
6-7, 265
Ft. Smith (Ark.) Northside
Jamison Hughes
S
6-1, 200
Oxford
A.J. Jackson
WR
6-6, 226
College of the Sequoias (Calif.)
Rishaw Johnson
OL
6-4, 320
Hammond (La.)
Ted Laurent
DT
6-1, 285
Powder Springs (Ga.) McEachern
Eric Nicks
FB
6-1, 258
Northwest Mississippi CC
Stanley Porter
DE
6-3, 240
West Bolivar
David Rue
TE
6-6, 250
Monroe (La.) Richwood
Justin Sanders
DT
6-5, 276
New Market (Ala.) Buckhorn
Isaiah Smith
LB
6-0, 220
Columbia (Tenn.) Central
Cannon Smith
QB
6-1, 175
Olive Branch
Bradley Sowell
OL
6-7, 345
Hernando
Chris Strong
LB
6-3, 255
South Panola
Alex Washington
OL
6-5, 360
Monroe (La.) Carroll
Alex Williams
OL
6-5, 300
New Orleans O. Perry Walker
Darnell Williams
WR-DB
6-2, 180
Winter Park (Fla.)
Marshall Williams
LB
6-2, 200
Decatur (Ga.) Southwest Dekalb

Rebels on Short List of Top Rated Recruit

The numbers don't sound very gaudy for one of the nation's top prospects, but John Curtis Christian coach J.T. Curtis said take a closer look.
Sure, his prized player, running back Joe McKnight, only rushed for 709 yards as a senior. But he scored 14 touchdowns. And he did it on just 45 attempts.
Now quick, do the math.
"It's right at 15 (yards a carry)," Curtis said. "When we got up in games, Joe was out of the game. He played on a team that was talented and had other good players."
McKnight also caught 24 passes for 735 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged 30 yards a reception. In all, McKnight averaged more than 20 yards every time he touched the ball for the New Orleans school.
Ole Miss doesn't need a calculator to gauge its interest during the final month of recruiting. The Rebels, like other elite programs, want his signature on a national letter of intent on Feb. 7.
Ole Miss kicks off recruiting's final month by hosting one of the nation's elite prospects this weekend. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound McKnight is rated No. 1 in the nation by ESPN.com. He's also rated No. 4 by Scout.com and has drawn comparisons to players like New Orleans Saints all-purpose back Reggie Bush and Ohio State's Ted Ginn Jr.
"He's a difference-maker with the ball in his hands or on the other side of the ball," said Scott Kennedy, recruiting analyst for Scout.com. "His size, speed and athleticism is something we saw this year in Teddy Ginn, Jr. ... (Ohio State) got the ball in his hands and used him in as many ways possible. (McKnight) is a very, very similar type of prospect."
The Rebels are on a list that includes big-time suitors like Southern California, LSU, Texas and Notre Dame. Ole Miss is his first trip this month and will be followed by official visits to USC, LSU and Arkansas.
But is McKnight's interest in Ole Miss sincere? Curtis said it is because of his familiarity with Ole Miss running backs coach Frank Wilson, who was a long-time high school coach in New Orleans. There's also a connection with Orgeron, who recruited Louisiana when he was an assistant at USC.
Kennedy believes USC is the leader for McKnight but said "any time you can get them to campus you've got a shot." The publicity will help Ole Miss, which currently has 27 oral commitments, either way.
"It brings a lot to the program," Kennedy said. "Even if you don't get him, there's a bunch of people that say, 'Well, heck, Joe is looking at them. That's a good thing.'"
But make no mistake, the Rebels want McKnight to come to Ole Miss.
Curtis said the running back - who can also play cornerback or safety - probably won't make any decision until close to signing day. But he could take as many as five trips in the next four weeks and will make a splash wherever he lands.
"He's looking forward to it," Curtis said. "It will be his first trip, so he's obviously a little anxious. We sat and talked about the things he needs to be observant of and what to look for and I think he'll do a good job of that."

Here is a list of Ole MIss Signees & Committments:

Mark Jean-Louis
OL
6-3, 325
Cerritos (Calif.) CC
Commitments
Jamariey Atterberry
CB
5-10, 165
Kosciusko
Allen Bell
CB
6-1, 195
Independence (Kan.) CC
Lionel Breaux
WR
5-11, 185
New Orleans McDonogh
Johnny Brown
RB
5-11, 190
Charleston
Lamar Brumfield
LB
6-2, 235
Compton (Calif.) CC
Larry Dennis
DE
6-2, 265
Compton (Calif.) CC
LeRoy Diggs
CB
5-10, 185
South Panola
Robert Elliott
RB
6-1, 195
Okolona
Dion Gales
DE
6-7, 288
Mississippi Gulf Coast CC
Jeramie Griffin
FB
6-1, 220
South Panola
Paul Henry
OL
6-7, 265
Ft. Smith (Ark.) Northside
Jamison Hughes
S
6-1, 200
Oxford
A.J. Jackson
WR
6-6, 226
College of the Sequoias (Calif.)
Rishaw Johnson
OL
6-4, 320
Hammond (La.)
Ted Laurent
DT
6-1, 285
Powder Springs (Ga.) McEachern
Eric Nicks
FB
6-1, 258
Northwest Mississippi CC
Stanley Porter
DE
6-3, 240
West Bolivar
David Rue
TE
6-6, 250
Monroe (La.) Richwood
Justin Sanders
DT
6-5, 276
New Market (Ala.) Buckhorn
Isaiah Smith
LB
6-0, 220
Columbia (Tenn.) Central
Cannon Smith
QB
6-1, 175
Olive Branch
Bradley Sowell
OL
6-7, 345
Hernando
Chris Strong
LB
6-3, 255
South Panola
Alex Washington
OL
6-5, 360
Monroe (La.) Carroll
Alex Williams
OL
6-5, 300
New Orleans O. Perry Walker
Darnell Williams
WR-DB
6-2, 180
Winter Park (Fla.)
Marshall Williams
LB
6-2, 200
Decatur (Ga.) Southwest Dekalb

Thompson Possible Addition to Ole Miss Staff


John Thompson's lengthy career has led him to defensive coordinator positions at Southern Miss, Memphis, Arkansas, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana Tech and Northwestern State.
His next stop could be Ole Miss.
Thompson said Thursday he has spoken with Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron about a position on the Rebels' staff.
Thompson, 51, is the athletic director at Central Arkansas - his alma mater - but is considering a return to the coaching ranks.
"Let me just say that we've talked," Thompson said. "Coach Orgeron is a friend of mine and we've been friends for a long time and, yes, we have talked."
Thompson coached Orgeron in his first season as defensive coordinator at Northwestern State in 1983. Orgeron also worked as a graduate assistant under Thompson in 1984.
It was one of several coaching stops for Thompson, who has 20 years of experience as a defensive coordinator. In addition, Thompson also had a two-year stint as East Carolina's head coach.
Thompson's last coaching job was as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at South Carolina under Steve Spurrier in 2005. Thompson moved back to his home state as Central Arkansas' athletic director last spring.
"It is fairly public that he has been approached by Ole Miss and that is a tribute to his ability," Central Arkansas president Lu Hardin said. "Obviously, my understanding is his name has been mentioned for many defensive coordinator jobs. We hope he stays, but understand opportunities have to be examined."
Orgeron, who has served as his own defensive coordinator the past two seasons, wouldn't talk about specific possible staff changes on Thursday.
Neither would athletic director Pete Boone.
"This time of year, there's a lot of great guys that are available," Orgeron said. "There's a lot of great coaches that would like to be at Ole Miss and in the SEC, so we have a lot of options. I'm going to do what makes our staff stronger to take us to the next level."
Ole Miss has one staff opening after receivers coach Matt Lubick resigned to accept a position at Arizona State last month.

DT Dorsey to Return for Senior Season


LSU All-America defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey said Sunday he's staying at LSU for his senior season.
Dorsey, 6 feet 2 and 299 pounds, said that an injured shin is one of the reasons he's returning. He played with the injury in the Tigers' 41-14 victory against Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3 at the Superdome, and he said it would have hampered him in the NFL scouting combine.
"I'm coming back," Dorsey said. "The injury won't require surgery, but I think I can come back and have a chance at being a higher draft pick next year. I'm at peace with my decision. It's the best decision for me and my family. I thought about it, prayed about it, talked to my family about it and got as much information as I could."
Dorsey said the NFL advisory committee told him he might be a No. 1 pick. In his first season as a starter, Dorsey had 54 tackles, 8 1/2 for losses, and three sacks. He got off to a fast start and spent the rest of the season fighting off double teams.
NFL analyst Chris Landry said Dorsey probably would have gone in the first round. Now Dorsey gives LSU a chance to improve on its No. 3 finish this past season.
"I'm anxious to come back and have a chance to win the national championship," Dorsey said. "We have a great chance to do that."

Mike Lowell on Manny


Although the Red Sox have yet to come to contract terms with outfielder J.D. Drew, who is slated to play right field this season, Mike Lowell was asked if he was surprised the Sox have not traded Manny Ramírez.
"Not really," said the third baseman, who was in town last night to receive an award at the annual Boston Baseball Writers dinner, "because if you're going to trade him, you've got to get something for him. Those numbers he puts up are too ridiculous.
"Manny in itself, we blow it out to be this saga. He's actually a guy who's very friendly with us and kind of stays to himself. It's not like he's a nuisance in the clubhouse, by any means.
"But we want him to play all year and be behind David [Ortiz] all year. I think when he's not in the lineup, it not only affected him but it affects David. David walked a ton when Manny wasn't in there. Manny, to me honestly, he's the best hitter I've ever seen."
Ramírez played in only 10 of the team's last 38 games last season, batting just .160 (4 for 25). The four hits represent half the total he had in an August weekend series against the Yankees in which he went 8 for 11 before coming out of the finale with what was called patellar tendinitis in his right knee.
Ortiz, who in that same span was sidelined more than a week with a heart scare, averaged more than a walk per game (32 in 29 games) after Ramírez went down. Before then, Ortiz had walked 87 times in 122 games.
Ramírez was named an All-Star for the 10th time last season and finished first in the American League in on-base percentage (.439) and fourth in slugging (.619). Neither Ramírez nor his agents have publicly weighed in on how he feels about coming back in 2007. And what if he is not inclined to play for the Sox ?
"I'm glad it's not my call," Lowell said. "I know it's been compared to other years, and I don't know how it was other years, but this past year if he says he's hurt, I've got to believe him, you know what I mean?
"That's a fine line, when you're questioning whether someone is hurt or not. If he says he's hurt, you've got to take his word for it. If you see him doing squats or running on the treadmill, that's another story."
That's precisely what confounded club officials and teammates last season, seeing Ramírez work out on the treadmill with no evident discomfort.
"I heard that but I never saw that," Lowell said. "If I did, I think I'd say something because I think that's something not too many players would take."
Asked if he thought the veterans might speak with Ramírez about any issues this spring, and about how much he's needed, Lowell said: "He knows how much he's needed. I think he likes to feel needed. You can't treat every player the same way. There are a lot of different personalities and his personality is very different.
"I think it is the responsibility of players if you think something is wrong to say it. I'd like to believe if I'm hurt and feel I can't play, no one is going to question whether I can play.
"I saw him in the trainer's room after every game, getting treatment, and waking up at the hotel getting massages in the morning. That's not the process of preparation for a guy who feels totally good and just doesn't want to play. So take it for what it's worth."

Clay Buchholz on Road to the Bigs

Everyone in the Red Sox organization is anticipating the rise of 22-year-old righthander Clay Buchholz. Buchholz, a lanky 6 feet 3 inches, 190 pounds, was a combined 11-4 with a 2.42 ERA with 140 strikeouts and 33 walks in 119 innings at Single A Greenville and Wilmington. Here are a few questions for Buchholz, who could start at Double A Portland.

Noam Chomsky is probably the most caustic critic of our sports culture.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor has written on the role of sports, "I suppose that's also one of the basic functions it serves society in general: It occupies the populations, and it keeps them from trying to get involved with things that really matter.
"In fact, I presume that's part of the reason why spectator sports are supported to the degree they are by the dominant institutions," Chomsky wrote.
Chomsky's observation may be accurate as far as it goes. Americans seem to be more concerned about who will win the Super Bowl than who will win the next presidential election.
But in light of our current circumstance here in this flood-ravaged city, Chomsky's analysis seems limited.
Believing in Bush
The things that really matter in our city -- the issues of crime, rebuilding and return -- are so much with us that we can't ignore them.
Even victories by the Saints and LSU won't stem the rage at callous insurance companies and detached political leaders.
But the Saints playoff victory Saturday was probably the single most healing event since Carnival 2006.
What other event could have had a similar impact?
We've had religious services aimed at such healing, but sports binds folks of different denominations and faiths in ways that most priests, imams and rabbis are unable to do.
Not even our music and food, those most emblematic portions of our culture, bring us together in this way.
The bumper stickers welcoming Reggie Bush demonstrate the point brilliantly.
"Finally a Bush we can all agree on," the stickers say in a subtle reference to the fact that the nation is still divided over the Bush occupying the White House.
But we can gather around the coffee pot or the water fountain at work today and find common ground that has no relationship to our political or religious views.
The dream's alive
The Saints are not the champions of the National Football Conference, yet.
They are one win from the Super Bowl. But in the near term, that doesn't matter.
Our city can be fueled by Super Bowl dreams. And given how far we've come this year, even a loss wouldn't be fatal to our spirit.
We've survived on Super Bowl dreams for generations. Regardless of what happens in the next few weeks, these are the most substantive Saints dreams we've ever had.
Some people dream in color. Others in black and white.
We dream in black and gold.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Kyle Snyder Signed to 1 Year Contract


The Red Sox have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with pitcher Kyle Snyder, General Manager Theo Epstein announced Saturday. No further terms of the contract were disclosed.
The 29-year-old Snyder went 4-5 in 16 games (10 starts) for the Red Sox in 2006. Boston claimed the righthander on waivers on June 16. Snyder was 0-0 with a 22.50 ERA in one start for the Kansas City Royals and 0-4 with a 3.88 ERA for Triple-A Omaha before coming over to the Red Sox.
The Red Sox also announced today the signing of free agent outfielder Alex Ochoa to a contract with Triple-A Pawtucket. Ochoa, 34, spent the last four seasons with Japan’s Chunichi Dragons. He hit .273 with 15 home runs and 77 RBIs in 138 games for Chunichi last season. Ochoa played eight seasons in the major leagues, batting .279 with 46 home runs and 261 RBIs in 807 games with the Mets, Twins, Brewers, Red, Rockies, and Angels from 1995 to 2002.

Inside Play helps Ole Miss beat Arkansas

OXFORD — They had been pushed around, boxed out and dominated by Ole Miss' last three opponents.
They missed open layups on the offensive end, gave up easier buckets on defense and faced the fact they had become the obvious weakness of a struggling team. So when the Rebels undersized and outmanned frontcourt prepared to play Arkansas on Saturday, it had one thing in mind: It had to change - immediately.
The group accomplished its mission against the bigger, taller Razorbacks, leading the Rebels to a nail-biting, 74-72 win in front of 7,292 in Tad Smith Coliseum.
Led by Dwayne Curtis' 20 points and 12 rebounds, the Rebels (12-5, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) got key contributions on both ends of the floor from each post player to snap a three-game losing streak.
"They did everything that post players were supposed to do and they did it well," guard Bam Doyne said. "It just led to other great things. Shots, steals and easy buckets.
"Everything that comes with having great post players."
It also helped Ole Miss claim its second SEC win in the past 16 games. The only other win during that stretch was also against Arkansas (12-5, 1-2) which has lost 10 of its past 11 games in Oxford.
"It's for our guys, for our psyche," coach Andy Kennedy said. "I've got a fragile group. I could see a relief come over them because now they know. Arkansas is as good as anybody in our league. They've proven that to this point.
"(Saturday's) effort, despite our inefficiency at times, showed what we're capable of doing."
The biggest improvement came from the frontcourt, which turned in its worst performance at Mississippi State on Wednesday. But Curtis said the long bus ride from Starkville - which was filled with film study that replayed the deficiencies - served as motivation for the group to change Saturday.
It was obvious from the start, when Curtis, Kenny Williams (10 points, 7 rebounds) and Jermey Parnell (4 points, 4 rebounds) set the tone by totaling 26 points and 12 rebounds to help Ole Miss open a 38-30 halftime lead. Much like the past three games, it didn't last.
After Ole Miss built its lead to 63-49, Arkansas responded with a 16-2 run to tie the game at 65-65 with 4:07 remaining.
The Hogs took the lead when forward Charles Thomas - the former Callaway star who scored a game-high 23 points - knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 72-71 with 31 seconds left.
"We knew they were going to bring the fight to us," Williams said. "That's our main problem this year, being mentally strong. When adversity shows up, keep playing.
"We know they're going to make runs, but we've got to, too."
It wasn't a run, but Ole Miss scored the final three points. Curtis was fouled by Arkansas guard Gary Ervin and made both free throws to make it 73-72.
MSU transfer Ervin then drove and was stripped by Williams underneath the bucket with 11 seconds left. After Clarence Sanders made one free throw, Ervin missed another field goal attempt with Williams in his face.
But Ervin tied up Curtis to give Arkansas another chance with less than one second left. An attempted lob was tipped away by Williams, leading to a celebration at midcourt.
"We knew it was going to be a very big challenge," Kennedy said. "Although, certainly it was a little nerve-wracking for me at the end, we found a way to win and hopefully that will do wonders for the confidence of this group."
Especially for Ole Miss' frontcourt, which buried a frustrating three-game stretch Saturday.
"It's a release," Williams said. "I was bleeding from this whole left side from these three losses we had. ... So now, this wound is kind of patched up."

LSU Beats Auburn on at P-MAC

Coach John Brady's LSU basketball team extended its 17-game SEC home winning streak to 18 games with a hard earned 65-63 win over Auburn. Auburn took a 7-0 lead in the game, but LSU fought back and took a 17-16 lead with 13:00 to play in the first half. After taking a one-point lead, LSU went over six minutes without scoring and trailed 22-17 with 7:14 to play in the half. Auburn held a 30-19 lead with under four minutes to play in the half, but LSU cut the lead to 32-28 on two three-point shots and one free throw. LSU came out fired up to start the second half and tied the game at 36-36 with 17:31 remaining. The lead changed three times and there were four ties during the next 10 minutes of the game with LSU leading 49-47 with 7:26 to play. LSU led by as many as five points four times in the second half, but Auburn kept fighting back and trailed by only two points, 61-59, with 1:43 to play in the game. That was as close as the Auburn Tigers would get. LSU played hard the entire game, but turnovers and bad shot selections kept Auburn in the game. John Brady is going to have to get more production from the point guard position and from Darnell Lazare and Magnum Rolle if the Tigers are going to make a return trip to the NCAA tournament. LSU was led in scoring by Terry Martin with 23 points hitting on eight of 16 shots. Tasmin Mitchell, who sat out most of the first half with three fouls, scored 12 points. Glen Davis did not play one of his better games on offense but scored 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. With the win, LSU's season record improved to 12-4, 1-1 in the SEC. LSU's next game will be Wednesday night, January 17, against Ole Miss at LSU.

Ried Punted

By Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer:Andy Reid punted.
With his Eagles' fifth NFC championship game appearance in six years on the line, the head coach chose not to go for a first down on fourth and 15 with less than two minutes on the clock last night.
Even though, once upon a time, the Eagles won a playoff game by converting on fourth and 26.
Even though, on the previous play, Hank Baskett caught a pass that would have been good for a first down. That catch was negated by a false-start penalty on the Eagles, setting up the fourth-and-10 situation.
Even though the Eagles' defense had been completely unable to stop the New Orleans Saints' offense throughout a wild divisional playoff game at the Superdome.
Reid punted and so the Saints will play in their first NFC championship game next Sunday. They continued their feel-good run under first-year head coach Sean Payton by beating the Eagles, 27-24, exactly the same score as the Saints' regular-season victory here in October.
It was a thrilling, entertaining game from start to finish, a contest played at a pitch every bit as high as the stakes. The game deserved Reid's best gamble on fourth and 15, not a white flag.
The Saints gladly took the punt and ran out the clock.
"In hindsight, I guess maybe we should have [gone for it]," Reid said, "because we didn't get the ball back. I thought we would be able to get the ball back."
"You can't put the coach in that situation, where it's fourth and 16 or whatever the yardage was," center Jamaal Jackson said. "That's an impossible position."
The Eagles only had that last chance because the Saints made their lone error of the night. They were driving toward another score and, just as important, running time off the clock, when quarterback Drew Brees' pitch went over running back Reggie Bush's head. Darren Howard, a former Saint, recovered.
This was the miracle moment. This was the chance to steal a victory. Reid banked on getting another one, and he didn't. Given the wild nature of the game, the big plays and the heroics, fourth and 15 was the best the Eagles could do.
Inside the Superdome, you could follow the action with your eyes closed. The record crowd of 70,001 rocked the building with waves of thunderous noise when the Saints were on the march. When the Eagles scored, the crowd went so silent you could almost hear live jazz from the French Quarter.
The Eagles scored on the longest run, the longest pass and the highest leap in team playoff history. During the third quarter, the Saints broke their team record for total yards in a postseason game - a record they set against the Reggie White-led Eagles in 1993.
Every time the game seemed to settle into a pattern, something happened to amaze and confound.
When it looked as if Jeff Garcia just didn't have it, he suddenly chucked a ball with all his might. It settled into the arms of wide receiver Donté Stallworth, who had gotten beyond the defense. Stallworth, traded from the Saints to the Eagles last summer, turned it into a 75-yard touchdown. He punctuated it by finding a group of fans in Stallworth's No. 18 jerseys and tossing them the football.
When it looked as if the Eagles' running game just wasn't working - they had a total of 12 yards on the ground in the first half - Brian Westbrook exploded off right tackle and kept right on going for a 62-yard touchdown. He carried the ball and Saints defensive back Josh Bullocks the final 5 yards.
It wasn't even Westbrook's most exciting run of the game. He needed about a foot to score the Eagles' second touchdown of the game. He got it by vaulting clear over his offensive line and a pair of Saints linebackers, landing 3 yards beyond the goal line.
Payton, meanwhile, deployed his array of skill players brilliantly. Even without injured veteran wide receiver Joe Horn, the Saints' offense is an embarrassment of riches.
The Eagles simply couldn't stop powerful running back Deuce McAllister. He broke long runs, running over some Eagles and dragging others. Like Westbrook, though, his most impressive run was short. McAllister scored from the 5-yard line, driving the entire pack the full distance. It may have been the slowest 5 yards ever gained.
When the Eagles did seem to stop lightning-fast Reggie Bush, he would suddenly pop out, cut to the other side of the field and disappear. Bush wiggled out of trouble for a 25-yard run in the first half. He scored the Saints' first touchdown by tearing himself loose from the Eagles' defense and sprinting around the right side.
The game was filled with big plays and great play calling.
Until the very end.
The Eagles had handled the Superdome noise superbly all game. They were not called for a single false-start penalty until the game's most important offensive play. And then it was called on guard Scott Young, who was playing only because Pro Bowl starter Shawn Andrews had injured his neck.
The mistake by a young player was forgivable. The decision by an experienced coach was something else.