1. 10 Weekend Thoughts are going to be really short this week. It’s that time of year and frankly, I’m a little shook on this Sunday.
All is fine, but at church this morning, during the final song of the service, Carson, who was standing to my left, began to lean over the pew in front of him. I couldn’t tell what was happening. I leaned over to see what was going on and I immediately noticed that he appeared to be losing consciousness.
At first, I thought he was about to have a seizure. Caroline, sitting to Carson’s left, thought he was getting sick. He was clammy and pale and his lips had no color. I got him out of the aisle and took him to the nearest exit, which happened to be the front of the church. Luckily, there were several very good doctors _ one of the advantages of living in Oxford is there are a plethora of very talented medical professionals here _ in the front rows of the church.
Michael Dennis was one of the first ones to get to him. He got him some water and some juice and quickly, it was obvious he was going to be ok. I think he got dehydrated and hot and uncomfortable and anxious and it just spiraled on him. But it scared the hell out of me.
Throw in Campbell’s surgery tomorrow morning and my thoughts are scattered.
That said, I hope you’ve all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I did.
2. You didn’t come here to read about me, so let’s turn to some other topics. Ole Miss dropped two of three at Auburn _ maybe you would prefer to read about me _ at Plainsman Park, falling to 27-14 overall and 10-8 in the Southeastern Conference. That’s tied for fourth in the SEC West in a logjam with Mississippi State and Auburn. Arkansas leads the West at 12-6. Texas A&M, 11-6 in the league, heads to Ole Miss on Thursday to begin a three-game series. The Rebels also face Mississippi State on Tuesday night in Pearl. That game won’t count in the league standings.
What’s going on with the Rebels, who have now lost four of their last six SEC games? I’ll leave that analysis to Chase Parham, who provided it all weekend. He’s actually seen the team play. I’ve seen a few innings on television.
What I can say is this: If this message board is any indication _ and I always contend it is _ Mike Bianco and Co. are flirting with apathy.
3. Here’s the deal, at least in my opinion: That Monday doubleheader loss to Tennessee Tech in an NCAA regional last June devastated a fan base. It came back this spring in record numbers but it did so tentatively. The belief was this team was so talented that it would return to the top of the rankings, host another regional in Oxford and then fans would discover if the Rebels learned their lessons from last season’s one-day collapse.
As the losses have piled up, however, fans are either panicking or rationalizing. There’s time to go on a run, but keeping it real, this team probably has to go 8-4 down the stretch to have any real hope of hosting. It probably has to go 9-3 or even 10-2 to have any hopes of a national seed.
If this team can’t do that and it ends up on the road in an NCAA regional, apathy is going to hit new heights, unless the Rebels can escape and make a super regional by pulling off an upset in the regional round. Ole Miss is good enough to do it, but it would likely require a near-perfect run to pull it off. That’s a lot to count on.
If the Rebels are eliminated in the regional round in a locale not named Oxford, it’s going to be difficult to get fans to buy in next season, certainly not in the same way they did this year. That’s just reality.
Bianco has built a monster that must be fed. The more it’s fed, the bigger it gets. The bigger it gets, the more it must be fed. When the monster doesn’t get his food, things get ugly.
I have a very unpopular opinion on this matter, and more importantly for Ole Miss and Bianco, it’s a minority opinion. The majority appears to believe Ole Miss should be a perennial threat to get to Omaha. Bianco’s detractors point at his failure to get to the College World Series _ or at least to the super regional round _ consistently and they’re pretty much deaf and blind to any other arguments to the contrary.
Truthfully, last season’s team was good enough to go to Omaha and compete for a title there. It had a disastrous day on a Monday in June and it’s my opinion the program and the fan base simply haven’t recovered.
Perhaps Ole Miss will close strong. It wouldn’t be the first time a Bianco-coached team got hot and finished with a flourish. However, as June baseball at Swayze Field becomes less and less likely, I think it’s at least interesting to keep a barometer on the fan base.
4. The NFL Draft begins Thursday in Nashville.
I’m not a guy to study hundreds of mock drafts, but it certainly appears two Ole Miss wide receivers _ DK Metcalf and A.J. Brown _ stand a remarkably solid chance to be drafted in the first round.
Tight end Dawson Knox, offensive lineman Greg Little and wide receiver DaMarkus Lodge will hear their names called over the weekend. Others could as well, and several former Rebels will certainly get opportunities via undrafted rookie contracts.
Ole Miss coach Matt Luke will be there, and it’s an opportunity for the Rebels’ program to have a really positive night. (Forgive me if I curl up in a ball Thursday, having flashbacks to the 2016 NFL Draft, a night that neither Laremy Tunsil nor I will ever forget.)
To recruit elite players, a program must prove it can put guys in the NFL after just three years. That will be proven Thursday, likely without a Darth Vader/marijuana smoking contraption and without texts that further fuel an NCAA investigation.
In other words, while Ole Miss is going to miss Metcalf, Brown and the others, it should be an excellent weekend for Ole Miss football, one the Rebels can and should turn into momentum on the recruiting trail.
5. Khadim Sy will take his highly-anticipated official visit to Ole Miss on Tuesday. The Rebels would love to have him signed, sealed and delivered by the weekend.
On Friday, the Rebels announced that Oxford native Jarkel Joiner, who has been very good in his two years at CUSB, is transferring to Ole Miss. He’ll sit out next season due to transfer rules and then go on scholarship for his final two seasons of eligibility beginning in the 2020-2021 season.
There might be other names on the radar, but I’ll be honest; if they’re out there, I’m unaware. The only other possibility I know of is Jaemon Brakefield could still conceivably change his mind and reclassify. The Rebels would certainly make room.
As I say all the time: The numbers always work out.
6. Ole Miss' softball team continued its roll over the weekend, winning two of three at Mississippi State.
The Rebels are now 33-12 overall and 11-6 in the SEC. Winners of 25 of their last 31 games, the Rebels will look to keep things rolling in the final non-conference game of the season on Wednesday, hosting Southern Miss at 6 p.m. at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
The five SEC series wins is a program record for Ole Miss. The Rebels had never previously won more than three in a single season. The 11 league wins ties the program record and matches the SEC victories racked up by the Rebels during the 2016 season.
7. The NCAA proposal to add a third paid assistant to baseball and softball programs failed Friday.
I think it’s ridiculous we’re still having this discussion. Frankly, I think the 11.7 scholarship limit is silly. The fact, however, that this proposal was one that would have made it an option and not a requirement to pay a third assistant is revelatory of stubbornness, pettiness, stupidity or some combination thereof.
Don’t take my word for it, though. I thought Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello expressed that general sentiment better than I possibly could. His comments are linked below.
8. The annual Oxford Double Decker Festival is this weekend on The Square. Two things I would like to remind you of:
First, my sister-in-law, Elizabeth Polland, will have a booth set up Saturday. It'll be Booth No. 82, across from Old Venice. I'm biased, of course, but she's incredibly talented and versatile. I've included a couple of examples of her work above. Her art is amazing. Check it out if you're attending the festival.
Also, if you're going to be in Oxford on Sunday, you're invited to Blue Delta Jeans' five-year anniversary of their moving to The Square. All you have to do is RSVP to Blue Delta Jeans on Twitter or Instagram or send them an email at info@bluedeltajeans.com. There will be complimentary Bloody Mary and biscuits from Big Bad Breakfast and you can check out the new spring/summer line of denim and Holland and Sherry from Blue Delta Jeans.
9. It’s Easter, so it’s time for the Drink of the Week. Tonight, we have two of them. First, here’s Jonathan Howard:
Happy Easter, everyone! I hope the Easter bunny brought you all the eggs filled with chocolate and sweets you desired. And speaking of eggs, they actually go great in cocktails. So, a PROPER whiskey sour is your drink of the week.
Eggs have been a part of our diet since the dawn of time, and they have been a part of our drinking history since the Dark Ages. Peasants would mix eggs with milk, alcohol and other spices to make a posset. Possets were initially used either as medicine or to keep warm at night. Over time, the upper class adopted the beverage but used better liquor and spices. This is one of the world’s first “cocktails.”
The posset went on to become a standard colonial beverage which makes it a part of our American drinking heritage as well. We then moved naturally into making egg nog and eventually were being used commonly by bartenders in the 19th century for all drinks called “sours, fix, or flips.”
But here we are going to focus on the whiskey sour. The oldest historical mention of a whiskey sour was published in the Wisconsin newspaper, Waukesha Plain Dealer, in 1870. And In 1962, the Universidad del Cuyo published a story, citing the El Comercio de Iquique, which indicated that Elliott Stubb created the "whisky sour" in 1872. The egg white was taken out of the drink on a common basis somewhere around the 1970s but revived the practice slowly in the late 1990s, so you see, it has been a drink containing egg a lot longer than not.
But, why the egg? First it is important to note in a whiskey sour we are only using the white of the egg. The main thing the egg white gives the drink is a velvety texture and frothy head to the beverage. It is a more luscious and decadent drink, and if you disagree, I’ve got a bar stool in Nashville for you to change your mind. Otherwise the drink is simple.
Bourbon, I prefer Makers Mark for my Whiskey Sours, fresh lemon, sugar, and the white of one egg. The tricky thing about an egg white drink is getting that texture you want. So, we do what is called a dry shake. A dry shake is when you shake a cocktail before adding the ice. This froths it up without watering it down Then add your ice and go to town. Strain into a cocktail glass and express a peel of lemon over the drink. This helps keep away the stale egg smell, if the drink even lasts that long.
Cheers!
Whiskey Sour
2 oz. Makers Mark Bourbon
¾ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
¾ oz. Simple Syrup (1:1)
1 Egg White
Directions: In a large mixing tin, crack an egg into it separating the yolk from the white. In a small tin add all remaining ingredients. Add egg white to small tin and shake. Add ice and shake again. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and finish with a peel of lemon expressed over the top.
Now, here’s mine.
We ran out of wine on Friday night during the Thunder-Blazers playoff game. Horrors! However, I improvised. I made a Chocolatini, infused with a dash of Kahlua. The goal was to get Laura McCready imbibed. I was successful. However, the drink had a similar impact on me. By the end of the third quarter, I couldn’t find the basketball on the television screen. Pro tip: Enjoy these, but don’t enjoy whiskey and wine first.
Chocolatini:
2 oz. Absolut vodka
3/4 oz. Creme de Cacao
1/4 oz. Kahula
Directions: In a mixing tin, add all ingredients and crushed ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Add shaved chocolate (Laura was impressed by the extra effort). Cheers!
10. We'll have coverage of Ole Miss basketball recruiting, football recruiting, baseball and whatever else may come up this week on RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me _ and hopefully, to you _ for your reading pleasure:
Judge: Will Wade, Sean Miller don't have to testify in college hoops case - sports.yahoo.com
Rosenthal: What happens to ‘let the kids play’ when not all of the kids are on board? – The Athletic
Jackie Robinson Day: Why is it hard to grow baseball among black players? - cincinnati.com
UCF QB McKenzie Milton's journey, in his own words -- 'I got hurt for a reason' - espn.com
McGrady: Cousins a 'devastating loss' for Warriors (0:59)
Tiger Woods’ 2019 Masters win was about a mother and a son too - SBNation.com
Scientists spur some activity in brains of slaughtered pigs
Big Bets and a Fast Buzzer: The Secret Sauce of James Holzhauer’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Success - The Ringer
Katie Bouman and the Black Hole That Made Her Famous - The Atlantic
