If You Build It, WILL They Come???

The new debate among the Ole Miss faithful, is whether or not to take on a North Endzone expansion for Vaught-Hemingway stadium. Over the past ten to fifteen years Ole Miss added on significantly to the Vaught, and attendance increased with these numbers. With a remarkable 2003 season, most games were sell outs and you could not find a ticket anywhere. Now Ole Miss fans feel we need to add on a North Endzone with club seats and sky boxes matching the South Endzone. The South Endzone expansion was very impressive and looks great. But if we build more seats will people fill them?? I have no idea, but I do know that if we play like we did last year there is no chance we will sell those seats. Surveys have been floating around the Loyalty Foundation elite, many people are upset they did not get the survey. In order for the athletic department to believe there is enough support out there, all these people that are griping are going to have to pay up. For an expansion to happen we have to get a pre-committment for a certain amount of luxury seats to be sold. I am still not 100% sold on the project, but I truly wish that UMAA and the Loyalty Foundation would do a better job in investigating this possibility. Do you think we should add on, I am interested in the few readers opinion......

New Kid on the Block

Ole Miss has picked up a new player on the basketball team. Justin Cerasoli has made his intentions know that he will be transfering to Ole Miss from Seton Hall. Dunno much about this guy.


Cerasoli, a member of the 2004 signing class, comes to Oxford via Chicago's Aurora High School. He signed with Seton Hall and played in 26 games last fall starting 10. He averaged 6.2 points 3.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists over 21.8 minutes in those 26 games.-----(OMSN)

Bristol in Neshoba????????

Neshoba ---- The 116th annual Neshoba County Fair is getting attention from what might be considered an unlikely source this year. The cable sports network, ESPN, has contacted Fair officials about doing a live broadcast from the fairgrounds on Thursday, July 28 at 6 p.m. eastern. The visit is part of the channels 50 states in 50 days promotion. "We are so excited and honored by this planned visit," said Fair Board Member Laura Thrash. "They actually contacted us about coming, so it was really nice that they knew about the Fair and wanted us to host them at their Mississippi stop."

Of course this would happen while I am hundreds of miles away.

This Will Get You Going

KNOXVILLE — He hasn’t won an SEC game in three years. He lost his last SEC game at home when he was an 18-point favorite, costing his team a chance to play for the SEC title and, perhaps, the national title. He’s won just one SEC Championship since 1996. Yet, when you pick the SEC’s top football coach, it’s hard to get past Steve Spurrier. Yes, he’s cocky and brash and failed in the NFL. And he hasn’t coached in the SEC since 2001. But you can’t ignore what he did at Florida. He won four straight SEC championships. He won six overall in 12 years and had the best record one other time. Perhaps teams caught up with Spurrier during his final years at Florida. But that doesn’t mean the Ol’ Ball Coach — he likes to be called the New Ball Coach now — isn’t the guy you’d like on the sideline to win a big game. The SEC’s second-best coach is Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer. Fulmer has the nation’s best winning percentage (minimum of 10 years) but he failed to capitalize when Spurrier left the league. Fulmer hasn’t won an SEC championship since he won the national title in 1998. Here’s my rating of the other 10 SEC coaches:
3. Tommy Tuberville, Auburn. The Sporting News rated Tuberville ninth. Ludicrous. Tuberville was voted the national coach of the year after guiding the Tigers to an SEC championship and a 13-0 record. In Tuberville’s six years at Auburn, the Tigers have won or shared the West Division title four times.

4. Mark Richt, Georgia. No doubt, Richt is a bright coach. But he won for four years mostly with talented inherit from Jim Donnan. And he won with quarterback David Greene. Now, he has a chance to win with all of his own players, and his own quarterback, D.J. Shockley.

5. Urban Meyer, Florida. Maybe that’s high for a coach who’s never won an SEC game. But you couldn’t help but be impressed by his outstanding and undefeated team at Utah. It was well-coached in all aspects, especially on offense. What Meyer did at Utah rivals Spurrier winning the ACC while at Duke.

6. Houston Nutt, Arkansas. Nutt took his first six Arkansas teams to a bowl game. He was 9-0 in 1998 before losing a tough game to eventual national champion Tennessee. He has scored his share of improbable upsets. And he’s averaged almost eight wins at a school that doesn’t have a strong in-state talent base.

7. Les Miles, LSU. Like Meyer, Miles hasn’t won a game in the SEC. And like Meyer, he inherits enough talent to win the SEC and field a top-10 team. At Oklahoma State, he upset Oklahoma twice and almost beat the Sooners a third time.

8. Mike Shula, Alabama. After a suspect first season, Shula showed signs of improving as a coach. The Crimson Tide won six games and likely would have won at least eight had quarterback Brodie Croyle not suffered a season-ending injury in the third game. The secondary went from 10th in the SEC in pass defense to first in the nation.

9. Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State. Croom has proven to be a stern disciplinarian. He is laying a solid foundation, but the Bulldogs won’t be much better than last year’s 3-8 team.

10. Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt. It’s hard to judge Johnson. Vanderbilt doesn’t have tradition or players. They play teams close for a half or three quarters, but then wilt when the game is on the line.

11. Rich Brooks, Kentucky. Brooks was almost fired after two seasons, but his job was saved when offensive coordinator Ron Hudson resigned after one unproductive season. A former NFL head coach, Brooks has been beset by transfers and unhappy players. If he doesn‚t win more than three games, he might be gone after three seasons.

12. Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss. The man called “Bay-bay” has a big hill to climb. He will bring energy to the program, but he doesn’t have the talent to win more than five games. The Rebels have a chance to be decent on offense, but the defense is suspect.

Nichols Released

It appears the Minnesota Vikings have released kicker Jonathan Nichols. I do not know much about this right now, but I will try to get more info on the former Ole Miss and Pillow Academy star.

TOO LOW

1. Texas 56-16
2. Florida 48-23
3. Tulane 56-12
4. Baylor 46-24
5. Nebraska 57-15
6. Arizona State 42-25
7. Oregon State 46-12
8. Tennessee 46-21
9. Cal State Fullerton 46-18
10. Mississippi 48-20
11. Georgia Tech 45-19
12. Arizona 39-21
13. Rice 45-19
14. Clemson 43-23
15. Miami 41-19
16. Florida State 53-20
17. Southern California 41-22
18. Louisiana State 40-22
19. Long Beach State 37-22
20. Alabama 40-23
21. Missouri 40-23
22. Mississippi State 43-22
23. Coastal Carolina 50-16
24. Pepperdine 41-23
25. South Carolina 41-23

President Bush Acknowledges Ole Miss

It's been slow news recently in Ole Miss sports. So check this link out. President Bush was speaking on Social Security Reform recently and Ole Miss grad Ben Ferguson was on the stage with him. Ben's segment with Bush is towards the end of the video.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050623.html

Quarterback Leaves Team

A back-up quarterback has parted ways with the Ole Miss football team. Paul Eck a Cutcliffe recruit from Kansas, who saw no game action during his career. Orgeron and Eck supposedly parted on good terms.

Flowers Released By Browns

Official Release from the Browns:

Signed quarterback Doug Johnson to a one-year contract; waived defensive lineman Larry Burt, defensive backs Charles Byrd and Justin Fraley, wide receivers Bradley Chavez and Bill Flowers and running back Adimchinobe Echemandu

Dissapointing News Out of Oxford

Rod Barnes has promoted Grant Pate to Assistant Basketball Coach from Director of Basketball Operations. Nothing against Grant, cause he is a great guy. Rod really needed to go out and bring in a true X's and O's guy. I really do not understand this move. He might have made a decision that could affect his career at Ole Miss.

Praise God

He is finally leaving. The worst official in the entire SEC is officially leaving the conference. I have seen him make more bad calls against Ole Miss than anyone in my entire life. He has upset more fans and than anyone could ever believe. In his last visit to Oxford he acknowledged my presence while I was yelling at him. You all know, you all think he is terrible, you all are praising that he is gone.


ACC commissioner John Swofford has hired one of college basketball's most respected referees to become the ACC's officiating coordinator.
John Clougherty of Raleigh said Tuesday he will retire from refereeing to supervise the ACC's officials. He has been a Division I official for 30 years, refereeing 12 Final Fours and four NCAA title games.
"I don't know if supervising will ever be as good as officiating," Clougherty said. "I've never lost my passion for officiating and still haven't, but you can only do it for so long, and this is a great job for me. I'll be in the arena, but I'll be in a different capacity."
Following the 2004-05 season, ACC associate commissioner Fred Barakat relinquished his duties as supervisor of officials to concentrate on supervising scheduling and the conference tournament for the ACC.
Clougherty takes over as supervisor of a high-pressure element of the game that has been the subject of intense scrutiny in the ACC. With referees' calls sometimes proving pivotal and coaches under pressure to win, officiating has become the subject of ongoing controversy in recent years.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt was reprimanded last season after complaining publicly about a foul called on Jarrett Jack during a 69-64 Duke victory in the ACC tournament final.
In the previous ACC tournament, official Larry Rose angered N.C. State fans with a bizarre technical foul call against the Wolfpack for failing to wipe up an on-court spill fast enough at the end of a timeout.
ACC coaches have complained that referees work so many games that they don't have time to review their performances after coaches question calls.
"There's got to be more time to look at what you just did and how you did and have someone to critique and make it constructive criticism, so that those guys continue to improve," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said in May.
Reducing officials' scheduling load is difficult. Referees are independent contractors and often work games in multiple leagues, which Clougherty said leaves the ACC little authority to demand they cut back their workload.
Williams said one official -- whom he did not name -- worked 90 games last season. Clougherty said he understands those concerns and admitted that he once worked too many games and grew tired late in the season himself.
Clougherty said he prefers highly respected referees working for the fourth straight day to those with lesser pedigrees who are more rested. But Clougherty said he won't schedule officials to work early afternoon games on Sunday in the ACC after they work Saturday night.
"If they want the Saturday night game, fine, then let me try to get them a Sunday evening game," Clougherty said, "but I don't need to have a guy at Providence on Saturday night and have them work at (N.C.) State at noontime (Sunday)."
Clougherty said his most important objective is to ensure that his crew chiefs enforce consistent rules. He doesn't want one crew to allow rough, physical play in one game and have another crew call 70 fouls during a similarly played game a few nights later.
Swofford, who has said the officiating coordinator's job couldn't be filled by a beginner, said in a statement that Clougherty was recommended repeatedly.
"He has earned tremendous respect in the basketball community and brings not only integrity, but a first-hand knowledge of officiating," Swofford said.
Clougherty is looking forward to working in a league with great basketball visibility. He said the Big East has excellent basketball but doesn't command a huge percentage of the audience in Philadelphia (Villanova) and New York (St. John's).
"They get, not all the best players (in the ACC), but a higher percentage of better players than any other league," Clougherty said. "And the games are incredibly competitive."

A Game that Will Be in the Back of Our Mine for a Long Time

The setting was perfect, the stands were packed, and the players were ready. Over 10,000 people drove to Oxford from all across to hopefully cheer the Rebels to a College World Series birth. But there was no ESPN, the sports network was busy covering the OSU-USC game that took extra hours to complete. Finally, as the game went into the fourth inning Ole Miss appeared on the screen. The game was up and down emotionally. Eric Fowler retired several batters in a row and the Rebels were beginning to put runners on the bases. But when it came down to it, the Rebels could just not get it done. With two outs and two runners on and three time All-American Stephen Head at the plate, Rebel Nation was praying hard for just a base hit. Head thinking home-run struck out on a breaking ball. All Rebel fans were emotionally drained at this point. The Rebel team was faced with the reallization they were not going to Omaha. Honestly I believed we would make it all along. The two teams that played in Oxford last weekend, both belong in the National Championship game. I am not blaming this loss on anyone at all, but I really question why Ole Miss and Texas faced off in the Super Regional. I also question the home team rule. What is the point in being a higher seed and hosting, if in the third game you have to flip a coin to decide your fate. At any rate, whats done is done. We have to pick up and move on. I don't want to read on the message boards about how this is just "typical Ole Miss, can't win in big situations." I do not buy that kind of talk. The day will come, I just hope I am around to see it. The Longhorn DH basically sums it up in this quote,

"Win or lose, this was an awesome experience. Aside from a few hecklers who were probably drunk, the Ole Miss fans were great and the atmosphere was electric. Ole Miss was the best team we have faced this year - this series could have gone either way and neither team would have had anything to hang their heads about. I was on the edge of my seat for 27 innings. Ole Miss recruited me pretty hard and after this weekend I now know that this place would have been a great choice. I think Texas and Ole Miss will meet again in the near future, probably in the CWS. My hat is off to them and everyone at Ole Miss. Great Southern hospitality. This was a memorable experience to all of us on the Texas team."

Possibly the Biggest Day in Two and Half Decades

Today on the Ole Miss campus is one of the biggest in two and half decades. The last time Ole Miss made the College World Series was 1972. There have been SEC divisional title football games, basketball championships and sweet sixteen appearances, but for this sport there has not been a bigger day. Fans will be coming from all parts of the state for the third time in three days. The place will be rockin and even louder than last night. There are many up here who would love to be there today. If you are going scream loud, and help cheer the team to victory. At this point we are about two hours away from game time. Its simple: Win and We Are In.

A Big Day That Could Have Been Bigger

No Sunday in Oxford has ever been louder. Many players from both teams say they have never been part of a louder baseball game in their entire lives. The Ole Miss baseball was able to capture one game on Sunday. In the first game Anthony Cupps took the hill and pitched well, before being relieved by Stephen Head to close the game. Bianco and his troops went to small ball and were able to load the bases off of a couple of bunts and errors from Texas. The Rebs never looked back as they went on to capture the first game.
The time in between game was awful. Many Ole Miss fans spent the time debating on reservations for Omaha and what they would do if we won.
After waiting several nervous hours, the Rebels finally took the field. The outcome was not as good as the first. Matt Maloney pitched a good game for the Rebels, but he could not get all the help he needed. The offensive bats could not get going for the Rebels and frustration began to build up. The Longhorns went on to win and stretch out the series to three games. We will wait several more hours to find out whether to make those plans or not.

Letter From Maine President

Dear Editor:
Back home now after participating in the NCAA Regional Tournament, members of the University of Maine baseball team can not stop talking about the wonderful reception they received during their trip to Oxford. I write, on behalf on the UMaine community, to express my appreciation for the warm hospitality extended by fans, the Ole Miss players and coaches, and others involved in the tournament.It is not easy to travel hundreds of miles to play against top-notch competition, but we were very proud of the Black Bears' performance. I have no doubt that part of the reason they competed so well was the support they received in the Ole Miss community. The overall experience for the players, coaches, staff and UMaine fans was enhanced significantly by the wonderful people they encountered in Mississippi.

Sincerely,Robert A. Kennedy
President, University of Maine

Drunk in Public

A little late on this story. Former Ole Miss assistant Joe Cullen was convicted of public intoxication earlier this week. He was forced to pay a fine and to my knowledge is still unemployed. His lawyer stated they will appeal the decision. As far as the lawsuit, most talk of that has been put on hold ever since he was found guilty.

Ex-PA pitcher drafted by Braves

Coleman, the 2005 All-Commonwealth player of the year, was drafted Wednesday during the second day of the Major League Baseball amateur draft. He was the first high school player from Mississippi selected, going in the 28th round of the 50-round draft to the Atlanta Braves as the 857th overall pick.Coleman got the news Wednesday about 3 p.m. but didn't know he was the first state prep player chosen until last night."I was extremely excited about just getting drafted, and I was surprised to find out I was the first Mississippi high school player taken," said Coleman, who posted a 9-1 record this past season and helped lead the Mustangs to a 19-5 record and the team's first postseason appearance in several years. "It's just really all hard to believe right now."As a 28th-round pick, Coleman isn't expecting a financial offer from the Braves, but his plans for the future may still be in doubt. Coleman, a Meridian Community College signee, and his parents, Hal and Kathy Coleman of Schlater, were invited to LSU last weekend while the Tigers were hosting a NCAA Regional. During that visit, the LSU staff offered Coleman at least a 70 percent scholarship, according to Hal Coleman.On Tuesday, Ole Miss called and invited them to this weekend's Super Regional matchup in Oxford against Texas. Hal Coleman said he expects the Rebels to make his son a scholarship offer.Louis Coleman said all of the sudden attention from SEC powerhouse schools like LSU and Ole Miss is quite flattering, but that he expects to stick with his commitment to Meridian CC. "The Braves, of course, want me to go to Meridian, because if I go to a four-year school, I wouldn't be eligible to be drafted again until I am 21," said Coleman, who turned 19 in April. According to Hal Coleman, the Washington Nationals called during the first day of the draft and said they would draft him in the 12th round if they would accept a $20,000 signing bonus. Hal Coleman said he told the team representative no, believing that wasn't a fair offer for a 12th-round pick."We're 99 percent sure Louis will go to Meridian. That seems like his best, or quickest, shot at playing professional baseball," Hal Coleman said. "We're still a long way from professional baseball, but we're still in good position for the future. Our whole family is really thrilled about it." Coleman, a second-team all-state selection by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger newspaper, had an incredible 0.51 ERA during his senior season. He had four complete-game shutouts and one no-hitter.Coleman faced 268 batters in 682/3 innings, allowing 11 runs, just five earned, while striking out 114 and walking just 16. Opponents batted just .152 against the hard-throwing right-hander.Coleman was also the team's top hitter, batting .414 for the season as the clean-up hitter and .417 with runners in scoring position. He also led the Mustangs in home runs (three), doubles (12), slugging percentage (.714), RBIs (25) and on base percentage (.558). He was second in runs scored with 25.Coleman was one of 18 Mississippians taken on the second day of the draft, pushing the two-day total for the Magnolia State to 28. Other Mississippi high school players chosen were: Hillcrest Christian's Cody Satterwhite, an Ole Miss signee and first-team all-state pick; Northwest Rankin's Tyler Moore, The Clarion Ledger's Mr. Baseball; and West Lauderdale's David Woods.Matthew Rozier of Carrollton, who went 8-2 this season as a starter for Meridian CC, went undrafted after being selected in the 42nd round of last year's draft by the Chicago White Sox. His father, Ronnie Rozier, said this morning that his son has committed to Ole Miss and will sign a scholarship offer with the Rebels soon.

Dumb Texans

It appears Texas is staying in Tupelo this weekend. Evidently they did not want to stay at the Super 8(used to be called the Ramada). This move actually might work out in favor of the Rebels. Witht the rain that is approaching this weekend, there will probably be some long delays. Instead of going back to the hotel to rest they will now have to just sit around. They are going to have to bus an hour just to practice and come to the games. I really do not understand why they are doing this.

Just Plain Dumb

It's official. Ole Miss runnig back Vashon Pearson will no longer be a part of the Ole Miss football team. Pearson failed to make his grades in the spring semester. This blows my mind. I do not know the facts, but I think an athlete only has to pass like 6 hours. Anyone that can not pass 6 hours just needs to give it up anyway. If you can learn numerous football plays, you can pass 6 hours of class.

Here We Go

It was announced yesterday that the Ole Miss-Texas super-regional in Oxford will be played a little differently this weekend. The best two out of three game series will begin on Saturday and end on Monday if necessary. Thankfully, the game on Saturday and Sunday can be seen on ESPN2 for those not anywhere near Oxford. They have also planned pre-game festivities in the Grove which shall be very interesting.

It Worked

The MSU trackster who was accused of testing positive for drugs before a Jamaican meet has pulled himself out of the NCAA's. In a story reported earlier on Worldclassglass, a petition was started to help prevent Steve Mullings from running in the 100m dash. Mullings has withdrawn from the event and has released a statement. However in typical MSU fashion the athletic department will not take place in an interview concerning the event. The article can be seen at www.clarionledger.com.

Not Yet

Through five rounds of the MLB draft none of our recruits have been drafted. However, Stephen Head drafted to the Indians, Mark Holliman to the Cubs, Matt Maloney to the Phillies, Brian Pettway to the Blue Jays, and Eric Fowler to the Blue Jays. Many more Rebs will be drafted before the end of the draft.

Blown Away

I was able to catch the Sunday game on t.v. against Oklahoma. The Rebels absolutely destroyed the Sooners scoring 20 runs. Just about every position player on the team played at some point in time. The Rebels will play Texas on Sat, Sun, Mon. Hopefully, we can take the series in two games. Playing on Monday will probably hurt our attendance. The games will probably be televised on some type of ESPN so hopefully those of us not near Oxford will be able to watch the games. I would expect record crowds, if you live in Mississippi or within driving distance and are not at the games than you are not a true Ole Miss fan. This is the best it has been in a long long time. Please show your support for the Rebs.

Typical Typical Typical

This article was forwarded to me through email and was originally published on a track web-site on the internet. Sign the petition if you have time.

The NCAA Outdoor track and field championships are taking place next week in Sacramento, CA. One of the premiere events of most track meets is normally the men's 100 meters. On paper, that appears to be the case this year as two men including Mississippi State's Steve Mullings enter the meet with blistering fast 10.06 seed times. However, the fact that Steve Mullings is entered in the meet is quite simply a disgrace.
It's disgraceful because Mullings tested positive for testosterone (aka steroids) at last years Jamaica Olympic Trials where he won the 200 meters. The Jamaicans did the right thing and left him off their Olympic team as all steroid abusers are subject to a 2-year ban from competition even though the bureaucratic process of officially convicting Mullings of a steroid offense would last for many months. Amazingly, Mississippi State did the wrong thing and offered Mullings an athletic scholarship to compete on their track and field team as Mullings had just completed two years of junior college when he tested positive.
It's unfathomable to us that Mississippi State, or any school that matter, would offer an athletic scholarship to someone accused of abusing performance enhancing drugs. It would be akin to a school offering an academic scholarship to someone accused of cheating on the SAT exam. Mullings has no business competing at the NCAA level. Mullings didn't "earn" the scholarship - he stole it.
Mullings is eligible to compete at the NCAA level because for some reason the NCAA doesn't acknowledge drug tests conducted by the IAAF or any national governing body. They only recognize their own tests which is ludicrous and makes zero sense. Can you imagine a school not expelling a student who was convicted of a serious crime only because it happened in the summer or because he or she wasn't arrested by the campus police?
Mississippi St. no longer has any valid reason to allow Steve Mullings to compete. Up until last Friday, we imagine they would have claimed that they offered Mullings a scholarship and allowed him to compete at a time when he was only accused of steroid abuse and had not been officially convicted. We think this argument is ridiculous and again ask one to think about what would happen in the SAT analogy. However, this excuse is hollow as on last Friday, Jamaica officially banned Mullings for 2 years (and we remind you that Jamaica did not let him compete in the Olympics last summer).
It's hard to know what Mississippi St. thinks about the issue as they aren't talking. We'd love to ask them what kind of message they are they trying to send to the youth of the Mississippi and America by allowing Steve Mullings to compete as a convicted drug cheat. Unfortunately, our call to head coach Al Schmidt on Wednesday was not returned. We also left a message with Athletic Director Larry Templeton, who was at some SEC meetings, but it wasn't returned either. Thursday, things got even worse as Al Schmidt answered his phone but he promptly hung up on us when we said we were calling from LetsRun.com. We immediately called back and he let the call go to voice mail and we left another message which hasn't been returned. It's clear to us that certain players at Mississippi St. hope that no-one makes too big of an issue of this and it will be swept under the rug. We are here to make sure that doesn't happen.
The point of colleges and universities is to educate but Mississippi St. unfortunately seems to have forgotten its main mission. Their behavior up to this point is inexcusable but we urge them to do the right thing and pull Steve Mullings from the NCAA meet.
If you agree with us, you can help the cause by doing two things. 1) Sign our on-line petition. 2) Take the time to politely email or call official(s) at Mississippi St. and let them know you think they are currently making the wrong call. The contact info of the relevant players at Mississippi St. is as follows:

Congrats

Outfielder/Reliever Brian Pettway has been named a Louisville Slugger First Team All-American. This is a huge accomplishment for Pettway whose batting average is .400. Stephen Head was named to the third team All American team. Congratulations go out to both these players and let's go to Omaha.

Bring It On

Allie Prescott, the man once charged with getting people to envision an $80 million baseball stadium thriving in downtown Memphis, now has a new vision.Prescott sees Memphis as a destination for Southeastern Conference championships. Picture the SEC men's or women's basketball tournaments played at FedExForum. Or the baseball tournament at AutoZone Park.How about women's soccer at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex? Or even the golf championships at the Tournament Players Club at Southwind?If there's a championship event to be played, and Memphis has the facilities, then why not host it? That's the approach Prescott plans to take in Birmingham June 14 when he meets with SEC commissioner Mike Slive.Prescott is the managing consultant for the Memphis Sports Development Corporation, which seeks out sporting events for the city."I'm going to ask about all of them," Prescott said. "Then, I'll take the sport and match it with our facilities and the type of crowds they draw."What I want to do is just go and tell him that Memphis is in the game. We want to be players on a regional and national scale. We've got some great facilities, and we've got a great city here and we love your conference."The two biggest events on Prescott's wish list are the men's basketball and baseball tournaments. Memphis has hosted two SEC men's basketball tournaments, the last in 1997 at The Pyramid. Future sites are booked through 2012.Next year will be the second straight year FedExForum will host the Conference USA men's basketball tournament. Prescott, a University of Memphis alum, said he's not looking to bump that event in favor of the SEC tourney."I want to do everything I possibly can to help (the UofM),'' he said. "I just have to wear both hats equally and do what's best for the city of Memphis."The baseball tournament has been held in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover the last eight years. The final year of that current contract is 2006.Prescott has already received the blessing of Redbirds president Dave Chase to pursue the event for AutoZone Park, which has roughly 4,000 more seats than Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Last week's championship game between Ole Miss and Mississippi State was played in front of a sellout crowd of 12,290."Generally, our position has always been if a major baseball event comes to Memphis, we want to be a part of it," Chase said. "I think that the SEC would be one of those caliber events that we would definitely want to see at AutoZone Park if we could make it work."SEC athletic directors have talked of moving the tournament away from Hoover every few years."It's not like we have to get something done this summer," Slive said. "We're just starting talks."The biggest stumbling block would be a potential scheduling conflict with the Redbirds. The Pacific Coast League does not grant requests for teams to be on the road for certain dates.Two years ago, the Redbirds were able to work around hosting Spring Fling high school baseball games.But the SEC tournament, with its five-day format, would present a bigger challenge should the Redbirds be home for all five days.Chase said it may be possible for the Redbirds to flip-flop a series with an opponent. But he would probably not be willing to do what Oklahoma did last week when it hosted the Big 12 tournament. The RedHawks moved two of their games to Tulsa, costing them two home dates.Prescott said his meeting with Slive is simply to explore the necessary steps that it takes to host SEC championship events."We want to get some options out there for Memphis," Prescott said. "If we've got a facility and there's an event happening on an annual basis that makes sense for Memphis and doesn't have a permanent home, that's what I'm going to look at."I'm starting close to home with Conference USA and the SEC. Then, we'll branch out. We want to dream big for Memphis. We want to go after the best."Prescott said that includes going after NCAA tournaments, as well.He is hopeful UofM baseball coach Daron Schoenrock, who just completed his first season with the Tigers, is capable of turning that program around to the point where it can one day bid to host an NCAA regional at AutoZone Park."This is an exciting challenge for me," Prescott said. "I'm looking forward to it."

**From Commercial Appeal**

Cut Out of Oxford

Former Ole Miss head coach and Notre Dame offensive coordinator, David Cutcliffe officially announced his retirement from football for this year. Cut announce he and his famiily would be moving to East Tennessee. Cut's son, Chris will be a freshman at U.T. in the fall. It is my projection Cut will spend a few years away from coaching and then will work for the U.T. athletic department. For those worried about Cut being unemployed, don't worry he is being payed a nice chunk of change from Ole Miss.

Cut to Retire

Rivals Radio is announcing that former Ole Miss head coach David Cutcliffe is retiring from football today. Coach Cut had recently undergone heart surgery in Tupelo. Cut is currently employed by Notre Dame, but has spent most of his time in Oxford recovering from heart surgery. Will Cut remain in Oxford or will he move back to Vol country?