Ole Miss dominates itself; manages to prevent major injuries. The 2009 version of spring practice concluded this weekend in Oxford with the playing of the Red and Blue game. To be honest, I can’t remember which color team won, but one of them won 55-28. Now you may say that’s a bit high (especially if you’re a State fan conditioned by the Sylvester Croom era), but Houston Nutt awarded the team consisting of mostly backup players seven points at the end of each quarter. So in reality, the backup team was demolished by the starters 55-0, which is still really high.
As I’ve said before, I only have one hope for spring practice and that is that no one gets hurt. I’d rather just have all the backups play or those competing (lookout, an Ed Orgeron buzzword!) for a starting job. Having your starters bust it in April only makes me nervous. Plus, there’s nothing more uninspiring or completely void of interest than an intra-squad scrimmage. I don’t need 60 minutes of scrimmage to let me know our second and third team defenses are no match for the first team offense. However, stepping away from my crotchety old man get-off-my-lawn fist shake, if it generates money and gets some national publicity, I’m all for it (Yes, I’m a whore and can easily be bought).
Mississippi State battles itself to the wire; manages to prevent major injuries. Here I can’t even remember the actual score (I know it was close), nor will I or did I put in the time to research which color team, maroon or white, won this game, but I did want to point out something interesting that new coach Dan Mullen incorporated in this game. At some point, either before the game or after the first quarter (again, lack of research is a common theme around here), Mullen had players from each team engage in a little contest of bull in the ring.
If you’re not familiar with bull in the ring, it’s essentially one player being put in the middle of a circle of other players who, when their number is called, try to destroy him. The attacking players can be in front of or behind the player in the middle so he’s got to be extremely alert or he’ll get abused more than he already will be. If you’ve watched Friday Night Lights, they provided an excellent example when Tim Riggins was placed in the middle of the ring after doing one of the many dumb things he did.
Anyway, Mullen took the results from bull in the ring and added them to the scores for each team in the game. Now this is an idea I can get behind. The spring game isn’t really a game so why not make it as gimmicky as possible? I can assure you I’d be more interested in watching bull in the ring for ten minutes than I would Billy Tapp lead a six-play, eleven yard drive that ends in a fumble. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t enjoy a game of keep away or having two offensive lines racing to see which one can drive the blocking sled 50 yards first? That would be entertainment gold. Someone with some authority needs to get on this.
Ole Miss baseball continues the tradition of Ole Miss owning Florida. The Rebels took two of three from the Gators over the weekend in Gainesville and are now currently tied with LSU for second in the SEC West with an 11-7 conference record (Currently, the Rebels are behind only Georgia for the conference’s best record at 28-11). Only the Gator basketball team has had any recent success against Ole Miss, winning three of the last four meetings (that could be a better record, but I only found results from the last four years). I said it during football season, but it’s only a matter of time before Ole Miss is forced to pay city taxes in Gainesville.
Andy Kennedy avoids the clink with guilty plea to lesser charge. Kennedy pled guilty to a disorderly conduct charge from his run-in with a cab driver in Cincinnati and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and six months probation. Perhaps this will put an end to his desire to go to bars outside of Oxford. After all, not every bar offers the security and protection of The Library’s Road House wannabe bouncers.
Ole Miss running back Enrique Davis does not avoid the clink; familiarizes himself with the Lafayette County Detention Center. According to this fascinating report, Davis was arrested for disorderly conduct (apparently, it’s an Ole Miss thing) and for failure to comply. The arresting officer said in his report that Davis originally gave the officer a “shunning face” when asked to present his identification and, when asked several more times for his ID, Davis gave the officer a “crazy face” and walked away and was arrested. Oh, and this all took place at Jerrell Powe’s apartment.
First, the difference between a “shunning face” and a “crazy face.” Hmmm. Well, there is none. Only because no one knows WHAT THE HELL A “SHUNNING FACE” IS. I’ve seen people shunned before, but never have I heard a face described as “shunning.” I’m pretty sure this the first time in the history of the English language this has happened. So congratulations Officer Zachary White, your originality is to be commended.
But as for the “crazy face,” how was it crazy? Like a clown or like a genuinely insane person? I’d like to know because if Enrique Davis is in fact genuinely insane, then I’d feel better about seeing his playing time slipping away. There’s no need to play insane people. However, if it was crazy like a clown, I’m a little concerned. Football needs more colorful people, especially those willing to give a police officer a non-threatening “crazy face.” Getting them out of football only hurts all of us.
As for the actual arrest, it sounds like Davis was arrested for being an idiot. If he simply had taken his ID out, we wouldn’t be talking about this. A little rule I’ve always stuck to in life is that whatever a police officer asks you to do, you do it and do so in the most cooperative manner possible. He’s looking to release some pent-up rage that was accumulated before he became cop and had authority given to him, and you don’t want to be the target of that release. Just a tip from me to you.
Finally, one of the best parts of the story:
“White asked if Powe would read the bottom of the citation and sign it to ensure he would show up in court, but Powe stated he could not read and would not sign, the report said.
The officer informed Powe that he did not need to sign and he would issue the citation regardless. Powe finally read the citation information and signed and was released afterwards.”
Jerrell Powe plays dumb, then realizes playing dumb was not a good idea, then actually does read the statement and even signs his own name. Powe’s decisions making and progression through that sequence has me excited he really might bring something to the table next season. Good for him.
Dan Mullen lied; Jackie Sherrill DID interact with players in a State practice. Well done, Dan Mullen, well done. Things are off to a great start in Starkville.
How the hell did I forget about this? According to ESPN’s Bruce Feldman, Ed Orgeron will play himself in the upcoming movie based on Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side. I present Exhibit A as to why this is THE GREATEST IDEA EVER CONCEIVED BY MAN:
No comments:
Post a Comment