It's time for The Mailbag, presented by Whitney McNutt of Tommy Morgan Inc. Realtors, Edition 147.
I asked for your questions. You delivered. So here we go...
From celinareb: if you could only watch one game at a time this weekend, what game would you chose to watch for the 11cst game, mid afternoon, and evening?
11 am -- Penn State at Wisconsin
1 pm -- Rice at Arkansas (I want to be able to celebrate my girls being able to go to a game and talk to them about it)
3:30 pm -- Louisiana-Lafayette at Texas
7:30 pm -- LSU at UCLA
From um98rebl: What is the likelihood that we see something like a 24 team, 2 Super Conferences? I could foresee an NFL playoff style model within those 2, culminating with a championship between them.
I think it's a decent likelihood. Look, the NFL model works. I won't be shocked at all to see the college game emulate it. It makes a ton of sense, and a playoff at the college level would be stunningly successful and change the regular season in a positive way as well.
From ozzy2378: I was reading an article titled “Best Expensive Restaurant in Every State” and your favorite place for shrimp cocktail in America, St. Elmo’s in Indianapolis, was Indiana’s representative on the list. It seems their shrimp cocktail is so good it was worth mentioning in the article. Given your disdain for the NCAA would you reconsider your relationship with them so you could be one of the lucky few to enjoy a FREE St Elmo’s shrimp cocktail just like your journalist colleagues in exchange for a little NCAA Tournament brown nosing? We are talking about the World’s Greatest Shrimp Cocktail here.
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I am successful enough to take myself to St. Elmo's and buy a shrimp cocktail all on my own. I have tasted the cocktail sauce, and I love it, but I could afford it on my own. Apparently some of my "colleagues" in sports media can't say the same.
From RebYell: In your opinion, is there a GOAT in any, or each, of the major sports?
It's so hard to compare generations. And in football, the positions are so very different. The GOAT in basketball is Michael Jordan. In baseball, it's either Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Trout or Kris Bryant (leave me alone; I'm hurting). In hockey, it's Wayne Gretzky. It's just impossible to compare generations. The games are so different from one generation to the next.
From DeuceMccluster22: Chad or Matt?Dexter or Elijah?Which duo would u most want on your team?
Maybe it's recency bias, but give me Corral and Moore. I think their NFL legacies will prove me correct. We'll see.
From North Tampa Rebel: Really enjoyed the Will Hall interview last week. It was the first time I heard him speak and to say his southern accent is thick is an understatement. Do you think that would hold him back from getting a big time job? I think it worked out well for him that he didn't get the OC job here because the first sign of trouble, the Mississippi made shit would have been used against him.
I like Will a lot. I think he's a rising star in the right job. I don't think the accent hurts him in the South, especially if he wins at USM. And yes, his not getting the Ole Miss offensive coordinator job was an example of unanswered prayers and all of that.
From MrSunglasses: Who schedules the bye week? Would seem that a week 4 or week 12 bye week would be way too early/late.
I think it's a combination of the school, the league and circumstances. Oh, and TV plays a huge role, also.
From OrangeBeachReb: What does Laura or your kids say to you when you get involved or sucked into a big Twitter argument? Do they usually see it or so you have to tell them? Do they get mad or just roll their eyes?
Nothing, really. They know I sometimes can't help myself. I think Laura wishes I'd leave Twitter forever. I think they roll their eyes more than they get mad, per se.
From AJforPres: would you like Mike Tyson punch you in the face for a million dollars?
God, no. He'd kill me. I like money, but it does me no good at all dead.
From walnutreb: Who wins the opening coin toss? Do they defer? What's your guess on unis?
I'll say Louisville wins the toss, defers and regrets it immediately when Ole Miss scores on its opening possession.
As for uniforms, Louisville is going all red. I'll guess Ole Miss counters with powder helmets, powder jerseys and white pants. I'm hoping for that uniform combination. I think it would be fun -- sort of an eastern version of UCLA-USC.
From BigDogSaint23: One surprise for 2021 FB season and one disappointment?
It's hard to say, but I'll try.
Surprise: Dannis Jackson emerges as a legitimate SEC deep threat on offense.
Disappointment: Ole Miss' junior college defensive linemen simply aren't ready to contribute in 2021.
From Toddy_Reb: Why do you think Steve Robertson is so concerned with Ole Miss? Similarly, why do you think Steve Robertson tries so hard to ruffle your feathers?
Robertson, in my opinion, desperately needs the rivalry to be mutually passionate, so he does his part. Further, it means so very much to him, so he is obsessed with it. He's a former drug addict, and I suspect hating Ole Miss is his new drug.
As for me, I don't know. I suspect I confound him a bit. I'm not an Ole Miss fan. I admit that up front. I didn't have a great college experience, through no fault of Ole Miss', mind you. Then I took this job and dealt with a lot of crap. Then 2016/Laremy Tunsil/Hugh Freeze/Chicago happened, and the aftermath was really, really ugly. I've been transparent here about all of that; it changed the way I live here. I don't go anywhere, don't know many people, stay to myself, etc. As my kids get older and move away, those habits only solidify.
Robertson doesn't understand or acknowledge that, largely because he doesn't want to. I've openly admitted the university severed ties with me several years ago and it and I have no personal relationship whatsoever any longer. I've been up front about that, repeatedly noting that I respect the way Ole Miss officials handled it. Frankly, it's made me better at my job.
Steve wants desperately to paint me as a huge fan, in large part because it's the only thing that would fit his narrative. If he were to acknowledge that I am not a fan and that I just cover the school's athletics program, he'd have to find something new to attack.
We've built a strong product here, at least in my opinion. I cover Ole Miss. While there's no personal relationship, I have a tremendous respect for the university, a fairly strong professional relationship with it and I take great pride in the work that I do.
I suspect Robertson can't relate to what I just wrote at all. He wants me to be a passionate fan. He wants me to care about the rivalry the way in which he does. I don't, and that, like I said, confounds him.
From TX via TN Rebel: Do I need to file a FOIA form with you to know whether or not there have been RG internal discussions about any NIL sponsorships? Hypothetically, what players/sports outside of football would a player come from that would give you your biggest "bang for your buck"?
We've had discussions regarding several players in different sports. As for players that would have a "bang for the buck," I'm simply not sure. We've talked about athletes in basketball, baseball and golf. It's hard, at least at this point, to determine who might have value to us.
From sadkins11: Access is discussed often. I’m wondering if the NIL will have any affect on access. It seems that teams would want their players in front of the camera more in order to secure more NIL deals. What are your thoughts?
I'm not sure. I honestly never think about access. It is what it is. If I were running a program, I'd want fans invested in my players, and I'd want those guys exposed to media, but I'm not in media relations and I'm not a coach, so maybe I don't see the entire picture.
From pinntrust: You are named college football czar and your primary goal is to bring parity to the game. What do you do?
This won't be popular, but part of the appeal of college football is the utter lack of parity. However, to answer your question, there's no way to bring parity to it. There's simply no path. Kids are going to go where they want (to the highest bidder), and some programs put more emphasis on recruiting than others, if you know what I'm saying. There's simply no realistic way to truly even the playing field.
From OneStopReb: is it just me or in this era where conference expansion was always possible why haven’t other schools done enough to make their football programs better? For example — Kansas . Football program has been by the wayside for years — if the Big 12 does dissolve, who would take them? Seems KSU would be the much better option and then they’d be left twisting in the win.
No one wants Kansas. It's screwed. I don't think it believed this day was coming, and yet, here we are. The way expansion will work will have nothing to do with who is winning in football, however. It will come down to brand value, and in the end, Kansas' brand is worth far more than Kansas State's. The Wildcats are truly screwed beyond repair. They're done.
From OT6: How does the OL coach appear to be working out? The line will be a strength of the team, minus depth concerns and Thornton has been credited with exceptional recruiting so far. From the outside it appears he’s been an improvement.
This will sound flippant, but we'll see. I saw one week of practice. They looked bigger and the first unit looked solid, but it was the first week of preseason camp. Thornton does appear to be recruiting at a high level. He's got tons of energy and kids like him quite a bit.
I'll add this: The "minus depth concerns" is a major concern. People are excited about this season, and I think they should be. However, as I wrote Sunday, there is a lack of depth at most spots on the roster, and that's something Kiffin has openly worried about. If Ole Miss can stay healthy up front, I think this is a dynamic offense. But if it can't, well, I think things could get dicey.
From pcrebel: In the pre covid world, how did you determine how to give your tips? Did you do a percentage based on the total of the bill or the subtotal before tax? I always did tips based on the bill total. Now that so many restaurants are giving servers hand held devices or bills come with suggested tip amounts on them, I have noticed that suggested tips are based on the pre tax amount. Do you think this is having a negative affect on servers' tips?
I noticed that this past weekend in Jackson, Tenn. I bartended and waited tables some in my past life, so I've always been a pretty generous tipper. I typically tip around 25 percent no matter what, as I figure those young people could use the extra couple of dollars. However, to your point, I noticed this past weekend that the handheld devices they used to allow the customer to enter the tip didn't factor tax in. So I ended up tipping closer to the 20-22 percent range. If that's the case, yes, I think it's likely costing servers some money over the course of a shift.
From StevieRayVaughan: Have you ever been considered (not that there is the possibility of a revenue source) hosting an instructional podcast on English grammar and reading comprehension? This board could really use it.Feel free to make necessary grammatical corrections.
No, but I fight an overwhelming urge on social media to correct grammar. Some of the grammatical mistakes are egregious. They're inexcusable, frankly, a reflection on either a lack of intelligence or a lack of attention to detail. I notice them. They drive me crazy. If I commit a grammatical mistake -- and I carelessly do from time to time -- I lose sleep over it. The worst is Siri. I use Siri a lot for voice app, and even though I've worked for the better part of my life to lose the Southern accent, apparently I still have one, and Siri punishes me for it in the form of grammatical mistakes that make me sound like an idiot.
So, no, I've never considered a grammar podcast.
Now, reading comprehension... That's a problem in society today. People have grown so accustomed to everything being 280 characters that they don't read something in its entirety. Often, the answers to the questions they pose, either on social media or on this message board, are contained in the content they could have read.
My mother taught high school English and even taught some English and/or literature classes at Ole Miss before she retired. My father has a Masters of Arts in English from Ole Miss and a doctoral degree in something similar from Alabama, so I grew up in a house where grammatical errors were pointed out, even in common conversation. I'm quite thankful for that, if I'm being honest, for while this makes me a bit of a grammar snob, I do judge people on their ability to write and speak in grammatically correct sentences.
