Happy Memorial Day.
I’ve always found this to be a somewhat somber holiday. I think of D-Day, Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan and wonder if I’d have had the courage those men and women had.
I think about my visits to the World War II Museum in New Orleans and all those names on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. and always am struck with respect and awe.
So, to all who have served, are serving and will one day serve, thank you. You are heroes.
1. The road to Omaha will go through Oxford, at least for one weekend.
Ole Miss will host a regional at Swayze Field beginning Friday. Illinois, Clemson and Jacksonville State will round out the field.
Ole Miss, the No. 12 national seed, is paired up with No. 5 national seed Arkansas. If both the Rebels and Razorbacks win, they’ll face off next weekend in a super regional in Fayetteville.
Frankly, Ole Miss fans should be thrilled. Given Ole Miss’ struggles in the non-conference schedule and some of their struggles late in the regular season, the Rebels couldn’t have asked for a better draw.
Ole Miss will face a talented pitcher on Friday night, but neither Illinois or Clemson should scare the Rebels. My guess is while it won’t be easy and there will likely be some tense moments, Ole Miss will survive and make the trip to northwest Arkansas next weekend with a trip to the College World Series on the line.
I figured Ole Miss was going to be seeded No. 15 or 16. I guessed the Rebels would be paired up with Vanderbilt or some other overwhelming opponent. Instead, Ole Miss drew an Arkansas team that it has beaten three of five times this season. Further, Ole Miss tends to play well in Fayetteville, as evidenced by the 2-1 series at Baum Stadium earlier this season.
Again, there’s no such thing as an easy road to Omaha, but the one Ole Miss drew is as free of severe obstacles as the Rebels could have possibly hoped.
2. I’ve always subscribed to the theory that the Southeastern Conference Tournament was fairly meaningless. After the past week and Sunday and Monday’s bracket announcements, I’m going to have to rethink that.
Ole Miss and LSU very clearly helped themselves last week at Hoover. Texas A&M, meanwhile, likely lost a host bid when the Rebels and Tigers outlasted the Aggies.
Missouri probably would’ve made the tournament had it beaten Ole Miss on Tuesday. Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Georgia left Hoover with their respective stocks unchanged, I suspect, as did Auburn and Mississippi State.
I’ve always believed the committee’s collective mind was essentially made up prior to the conference tournament. At least for this season, I was wrong. The tournament mattered a lot, and once again, it delivered with drama and story lines and packed houses.
3. Here’s the other thing I think Ole Miss got out of Hoover last week: The Rebels saw, once again, that when they relax and just have fun, good things happen.
A year ago, of course, Ole Miss won the SEC Tournament, playing phenomenal baseball for several consecutive days. This year, on the way to a second-place finish in Hoover, the Rebels pulled out one clutch win after another, doing it with banana peel sock puppets, fruit-inspired rally caps, exercise roller arms and more.
Mike Bianco, following his team’s 11-10 loss to Vanderbilt Sunday, praised his team and implored them to bring the same spirit to the regional round.
Fairly or not, this team will be judged largely on what happens in Oxford this weekend. While the atmosphere might not be easily replicated, the Rebels absolutely know the formula to having success in the postseason. It’s pitching, timely hitting and having some fun, dammit.
4. Texas A&M hired Ross Bjork as its new athletics director Thursday, a move no one outside of Bjork and a select few in College Station, Texas, saw coming.
First, good for Bjork and his family. They go from an unsure situation in Oxford to leading one fo the most lucrative athletics departments in the country, complete with security and _ I presume _ a healthy raise. My anticipation is Bjork will do good things there.
Bjork leaves behind a complicated legacy in Oxford. I’ve had several days to think about it, and I still can’t quite put it into context. I think he did a lot of good things in Oxford, and I know for a fact he cared deeply about winning and making Ole Miss nationally competitive in multiple sports.
Fans blame him for a lot of things, and I understand their frustration. The NCAA case was a cluster-you know what. Hugh Freeze’s embarrassing exit from Ole Miss bothered many fans, who wondered if Bjork and Co. should have known and/or if Freeze’s actions really required termination. (Note: Bjork and Co. absolutely looked into rumors about Freeze’s personal life and yes, Freeze absolutely had to be fired once the phone calls became public knowledge).
In the end, it’s my opinion Bjork wasn’t always allowed the decision-making his job requires. Some of the moves that were made in his tenure, in my educated opinion, weren’t his calls.
Regardless, he’s gone now, off to a school that frequently has unrealistic expectations of its own. I’ll leave it at this, at least for now: I always found Bjork to be fair. He didn’t always like everything I said or wrote, but unlike a lot of people I’ve dealt with at Ole Miss, he would always confront me with it. A couple of those confrontations were a lot of fun, but I respected the professional way we worked through them.
I always felt he respected the job I did and how I did it, and that respect was mutual. The people who worked for him in Oxford thought highly of him as well. That speaks volumes. He will be difficult to replace, in my opinion.
5. Keith Carter was promoted to interim athletics director on Monday. It was a move that was obvious from the moment Bjork’s departure became public knowledge.
Carter was a popular basketball player at Ole Miss and he’s done a superb job in fundraising. He was a key figure in Kermit Davis’ hiring in March 2018 and he has the respect of donors and fellow athletics department employees.
I’ve talked to several people who believe Carter’s interim status might be short-lived. In other words, some believe the lack of a chancellor will lead to Carter having the job long enough to prove his worthiness for the permanent post.
We’ll see. This isn’t a knock on Carter at all, but my sense is change is likely coming. My guess is it’s mid-fall at the very earliest before a chancellor is named, and my expectation is that chancellor will have some ideas in his or her mind regarding the athletics director post before he or she gets settled in Oxford.
Carter’s chances for the permanent gig might be tied to football success this fall. That’s certainly not fair, but if the Rebels get off to a less than desirable start and attendance falls off at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the call for change figures to be loud.
On the flip side, a strong start could lead to big crowds, a chase for a bowl bid, increased morale and an opportunity for Carter to guide Ole Miss into a brighter time.
For now, however, he’s the perfect person to hold things together while Ole Miss navigates through a transition of power.
6. Recruiting will heat back up starting this weekend, as Ole Miss is expecting a number of high profile visitors in town.
Among those expected in town:
Jabari Small (commitment watch)
McKinnley Jackson (possibility)
There will be a lot of activity on Saturday. That’s when Ole Miss plays host to a 7-on-7 tournament and the OL/DL camp as well. Small is on commitment watch, per sources. Jackson could, though it's likely he plays things out, at least publicly, for a while.
7. When I took over on the Auburn beat in 1998, the voice of the Tigers, Jim Fyffe, either felt sorry for me or took a liking to me. I was a kid then, one without any sources on the Plains and fighting for my proverbial life on a beat filled with seasoned vets.
Fyffe was good to me. He encouraged me, bought me a drink at times on the road and even invited me to play golf once in Gainesville, Florida, the day of a Tigers-Gators basketball game. When Fyffe died unexpectedly in 2003, I remember thinking, “Man, I’d hate to have to be the guy who replaces a legend like Jim Fyffe. That might be impossible.”
Rod Bramblett not only replaced Fyffe, but he also became a legend in his own right, maybe even more legendary than Fyffe. He adopted Fyffe’s famous “Touchdown Auburn!” call and made it his own as a tribute to his predecessor. He also had several signature moments of his own, endearing himself to Auburn fans over the past 16 football seasons. Bramblett and his wife, Paula, were killed Saturday in a car accident in Auburn, just a couple of days after Bramblett called the Tigers’ appearance at the SEC Tournament in Hoover. The couple left two children behind.
I’m not an Auburn fan and I didn’t know Bramblett particularly well. I left the beat in 2003 and left the state five years later. However, I understand how beloved he was with Auburn fans and can see how so many are personally impacted by his death.
I suspect Bramblett is one of the last of a dying era. All of the games are on television now. At the least, they’re available to be streamed. There’s less need to follow along on the radio. Still, for a generation of Auburn fans, Bramblett was the soundtrack that accompanied Auburn sports. Changing that voice will be painful for oh so many.
I can’t imagine, by the way, having to be the guy who replaces a legend like Rod Bramblett.
8. The NBA Finals begin Thursday. Golden State, without Kevin Durant for at least the start of the series with a calf strain, will look to defend their title against Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol and the Toronto Raptors.
This figures to be the end of the Warriors’ run, certainly as currently composed. It could mark the end for Toronto as well, as Leonard is a free agent and could end up in Los Angeles (with the Clippers or the Lakers) next season.
In other words, there’s a lot at stake for both franchises.
My pick: Warriors in 7.
9. The Stanley Cup Finals begin tonight in Boston, with the Bruins hosting the St. Louis Blues.
Years ago, I took Carson to his first NHL game, a Game 5 of a playoff series between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Blues in St. Louis. I bought Carson some Blues stuff, but by the end of the second period, his Chicago loyalties had won out and he was cheering for the Blackhawks.
Chicago won in overtime, and on our way out of the arena, Carson, wearing a Blues jersey, said, "Daddy, I'm sure glad we won."
A despondent Blues fan in front of us turned to look at the source of the comment. He saw Carson is his blue jersey trimmed in yellow and said to his wife/girlfriend/date, "I sure as hell wish I thought we won."
It was all I could do not to laugh at loud. So, for that guy, I hope the Blues win the title. My pick, however: Bruins in 6.
10. My daughter, Campbell, graduated from Oxford High School Friday night. It was a neat night after a crazy day that began with Laura and Caroline at the doctor’s office with throat issues. They slept all day, the downstairs air conditioner quit (it turned out to be minor) and the dryer died (that was terminal, unfortunately).
Anyway, everything went fine. Laura and I looked through lots of pictures from Campbell’s childhood that afternoon and shed a tear or two. Mostly, we laughed.
After the ceremony, we celebrated with champagne, shrimp cocktail and Campbell’s favorite sausage and cheese platter. She left for Florida Sunday morning, meaning the Memorial Day weekend was mostly the four of us. Life is changing, but she’s ready. Orientation in Fayetteville is just three weeks away.
A personal note about graduations: People who disrupt them by acting like moronic idiots when their family member graduates are disrespecting the young person being announced next. At Oxford’s graduation, the principal asked for the audience to wait until all of the graduates had received their diplomas before breaking into applause. Now, it’s cool if family members and friends applaud their graduate; it’s a proud moment in life. However, the screaming and chanting _ and the use of an air horn _ is over the top, ridiculous and disrespectful. A few kids’ moments were ruined by that behavior. I wish the offenders could have been escorted out, but we all know the result of that action would’ve been ugly. It’s just a shame.
When I was a little boy, my first favorite Cub was Bill Buckner. I would go outside and throw a tennis ball against the brick wall and pretend I was the shortstop for my team. “Our” first baseman was always Buckner. In 1981, when I was 11, Buckner made the All-Star Game. The next year, WGN came to Ruston, and I watched Buckner, Larry Bowa and the Cubs as often as I could. The Cubs traded him to Boston in May of the magical 1984 season to open first base for Leon Durham. I was a fickle 14-year-old, and by then, my baseball affections were centered on Ryne Sandberg.
Two years later, Buckner became known for his error in Game 6 of the World Series, one that helped the Mets beat the Red Sox and made Buckner the latest face of the “Curse of the Bambino.” In April 2008, after the Red Sox had won the 2007 World Series, Buckner threw out the first pitch and received a two-minute standing ovation. Afterwards, he said, “I really had to forgive, not the fans of Boston, per se, but I would have to say in my heart I had to forgive the media for what they put me and my family through. So, you know, I’ve done that and I’m over that.”
Buckner died Monday after a bout with Lewy Body Dementia. He was 69. Sports are powerful. News of his passing both saddened me and took me back to my childhood, reminding me of some wonderful times. Rest in peace, Bill Buckner.
We’ll have coverage of the Oxford Regional, football recruiting and more this week on RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me _ and hopefully, to you _ for your reading pleasure:
Ole Miss Says Goodbye to 2019 But It's Only The Beginning
AuburnSports.com - A tribute to Rod and Paula
SEC alcohol sales policy: Rule change imminent in Destin? | SI.com
CECIL HURT: After flat start, Crimson Standard donations on the rise | TideSports.com
UGA board approves $153.9 million athletic budget - Sports - Athens Banner-Herald - Athens, GA
Why is 'completely irrelevant' hoops executive making $1 million annually?
College Football Playoff 2019: Prediction for every semifinal, bowl game
Bill Belichick, Iowa State and the future of defensive football
Giannis' motivation to be the best (2:11)
Pippen: Now isn't the time to offer Lillard supermax (1:38)
2019 NBA Mock Draft 8.0: Whose Stock Is Rising Most Post-Combine?
MLB teams’ involvement with Cuban players under Justice Department scrutiny - The Washington Post
Holy cow! ’80s Cubs Jody Davis and Leon Durham reunited in Reds system – The Athletic
The All-Star Closer Who Is Trying to Save Bookstores - WSJ
Pirates' Josh Bell proving critics wrong with breakout season
Kellen Winslow Jr. trial: Homeless woman testifies against ex-NFL star - sports.yahoo.com
NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. wins Coca-Cola 600 with final pass | Charlotte Observer
In memorium: Why Marine Jamel Herring keeps fighting
The Decline of Historical Thinking | The New Yorker
Disconnecting to spend time with your kids could sabotage your career - cnbc.com
The Wonderful Result Of Finding Family: Meeting Ruthie For The First Time
