OHER CLEARED BY NCAA!!!!!!!!!!!

Leevin

Welcome to the new age of Ole Miss football. It is being reported that former Oxford high school standout offensive lineman and red-shirt freshman Lance Lee has left the Ole Miss football team. Evidently, Lance could not take the heat anymore and quit. From what I have read Lance is known for actions like this. The kid knew what he was signing up for when he joined a college football team. I am glad Coach O took care of this problem before the season. Below are some quotes Lee supposedly said.


"Coach O has been on my ass more than anybody since I got here."
"Coach O went batshit when I missed a tutoring session and said there was always some excuse from me."
"I missed drills yesterday morning because I was a passenger in a wreck the night before. Again, O said I always used excuses."
"The last thing Coach O told me was not to let the door hit me in the ass on the way out."

Rebs Pick Up New Transfer

• Richard Washington (6), a Fort Myers High School graduate, caught 73 passes for 848 yards and eight touchdowns in two years of play at North Carolina State. He will transfer to Ole Miss. Photo courtesy of N.C. State sports information With a transfer to the University of Mississippi this fall, Richard Washington knows he'll be off college football's radar screen."Way off," he said.But he promises to return as an NFL-caliber player.The dynamic Washington is transferring from North Carolina State after playing two seasons. He missed his freshman year because he was ineligible. He'll sit out this fall with the Mississippi Rebels under Division I scholarship rules."I started with the Fort Myers Rebels (a Pop Warner team) and I'm back as a Rebel again," said Washington, a Fort Myers High School graduate.There still appears to be a little rebel in him.Washington chose to transfer from N.C. State after being suspended for a second time. The first suspension was in 2003."Uh, violation of team rules," Washington said of the suspensions. "Nothing I did at home."Coach (Chuck) Amato said, 'Keep this between you and me and I'll help you find another school.'"He was true to his word. I wanted to tell him I wanted to go to Ohio State, but he still was mad about losing to them. I didn't want to make him madder."Washington will join Ole Miss offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, who held the same position at N.C. State.Mazzone was on vacation and unavailable for comment."That was a big role in going to Mississippi," Washington said. "(Mazzone) was here at N.C. State my sophomore and junior years."When I expressed my interest in coming, he said, 'Do you want to make 80 catches or 40 catches?' He knows what I can do with the ball in my hands."Washington caught 73 passes for 848 yards and eight touchdowns in two seasons at N.C. State. He missed six games because of either injury or suspension.Last season, he had a solid game against Miami, then injured his knee against Clemson and missed the final three games.He was suspended before spring ball began.Washington leaves behind teammates and coaches who will miss him despite his troubles."He's a sweetheart," said North Carolina State sports information director Annabelle Vaughan. "When he was on the field for the spring game with the players, they all came up to him and gave him a hug."Washington said that, in the tunnel before the spring game, a tearful Amato told him he was like a son. He added that he still keeps in touch with his former Wolfpack teammates."We talk two, three times a week," he said. "They said things aren't the same without me."Lately, Washington has been talking — and working out — with Phillip Buchanon, a Lehigh Senior High graduate who is now with the Houston Texans. He's also training at Fort Myers High until he leaves for Mississippi on Aug. 4."I'm also trying to get in touch with Deion Sanders," Washington said. "I was compared to him out of high school. I'm also reading his book (a book about Sanders). I'm on the seventh chapter."Washington knows it'll be tough sitting out this season, but he thinks a year out will help him get closer to graduating and help in his getting stronger for a possible chance at pro football. His goal this fall is to be the scout-team MVP, like he was at North Carolina State during his freshman season."The talk around town is that Richard Washington is done," he said. "I don't want to show them. I want to show myself that it's not over with."

Media Days

Below is a link to the first four minutes of Coach O at SEC media days. ESPN cut out on the interview early. So it is pretty short.

www.ebicom.net/~mbraz/Osecmedia.wmv

O-Zone

This description of the O-Zone can be found on the Ole Miss Sports Web Page. It is evidently another marketing plan of our great marketing department. Thanks Levenway.

The Ole Miss Athletics Department and the 2005 Football team want our atmosphere inside the stadium to match the intensity of our coaches and players in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The desired atmosphere will offer the football team a competitive advantage-one that is full of electricity and enthusiasm to create an intimidating home field advantage. Our desire is develop a tough environment for our opponents and offer our fans a great game day experience. It's going to take all of us to make this happen. Oxford, Ole Miss and Coach Orgeron, a winning combination. This is the Ozone Experience!

Croom's Dogs

Three Mississippi State football players were arrested and taken into police custody because of their their involvement in two separate incidents in a Columbus nightclub on July 8, police records show.
Projected defensive end starter Titus Brown and reserve De'Mon Glanton were arrested by the Columbus Police Department and charged with disorderly conduct, according to police records. One hour later in a separate altercation, projected defensive end starter Michael Heard was arrested and charged with simple assault, police records say.Each incident occurred at Big Kahuna's Beach Club, located on 201 Alabama Street in Columbus.Through MSU spokesman Mike Nemeth, coach Sylvester Croom, who was aware of the incident, said that no disciplinary action would be taken.Croom added: "If they are arrested for defending themselves, so be it."The players were not immediately available for comment.According to the Columbus Police Department's incident report, Brown and Glanton were two of six people involved in a fight with another patron. Public relations officer Donnie Elkin said Heard scuffled with a bouncer one hour later.Neither player spent the night in jail. Heard and Glanton each posted his $350 bond and was released, then each pled guilty to his charge in court on July 20.Brown is scheduled to appear in court on July 27.

Sounds Like Something Jackie Would Do

Turned down by Georgia's admissions office, former Bulldogs recruit Jamar Chaney has decided to suit up for the competition.Chaney, a linebacker prospect from Fort Pierce, Fla., will enroll this fall at Mississippi State, his mother said."They were the ones that really stepped to the plate," Alice Chaney said Sunday. "He's just ready to go to school and play football."Last month, Chaney was denied admission to Georgia after his SAT score of 1260 out of a possible 1600 was flagged by the Education Testing Service as unusually high for a student with a 2.8 GPA.While the Chaneys stood by the validity of the test result, Georgia denied the player admission after determining he "failed to abide by the Honor Code provision in the application process," according to a letter written to the player on June 6 by Nancy G. McDuff, associate vice president for admissions and enrollment management at Georgia.Chaney is one of five players in Georgia's 19-man recruiting class who won't be on campus this fall for academic reasons.Alice Chaney said her son also considered Maryland, N.C. State and Rutgers before settling on Mississippi State, which hosts Georgia on Sept. 24 in Starkville. Under NCAA rules, Mississippi State officials cannot comment on prospective recruits until they enroll."We've just put that all behind us," Alice Chaney said. "It was a dark cloud but we don't hold anything against Georgia. It just wasn't meant to be."

Boykin Named One of the Best In S.E.C.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Ole Miss senior defensive tackle McKinley Boykin was one of six Rebel players to be named to the 2005 Southeastern Conference Coaches Pre-Season All-SEC Football team, announced Wednesday.
Boykin earned first team honors in the panel of the league coaches. The 6-2 Bessemer, Ala., native was named second team All-SEC by the coaches as a junior after recording 36 tackles, including 8.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks.

Sick of This P.R. Mess

From today's Clarion Ledger:

"Athletic director Larry Templeton added to the optimism by announcing that ESPN has asked to nationally televise the openers in 2006 and 2007. In the preliminary 2006 schedule to be released today, MSU is scheduled to play UAB. But ESPN asked for another specific opponent. Templeton would not disclose that opponent and said the talks are ongoing."

Why in anyone's right mind would you want to televise a team's home opener for back to back seasons that has won a TOTAL of FIVE games over the past two years. Unless ESPN knows of some secret new team that MSU has, I can think of much better home opener games they would want to televise. I would really love to know what ESPN logic is behind this.

Trustmark Park and Golden Buzzards

(AP) Southern Mississippi and Ole Miss have decided to move their annual baseball game in Jackson from Smith Wills Stadium to Trustmark Park in Pearl - the home of the Mississippi Braves.
The April 4, 2006, game will also be televised, but school officials have not released which network will carry the instate matchup.
Officials at Trustmark Park have been trying to lure away college baseball games from Smith Wills Stadium in Jackson to the new stadium in Pearl. Smith Wills is home to the Jackson Senators, an independent minor league baseball team and is much older than Trustmark Park.
"I'm excited about the opportunity our players have to play in one of the premiere baseball facilities in this part of the country," Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer said. "It also gives our fans a chance to see two quality in-state teams play a game in such an outstanding setting."

Black Bears Back in Mississippi

After New Mexico dropped Ole Miss from its baseball schedule for next season, the Rebels were left lookin for an openent. The Rebels turned to their new friends, the Maine Black Bears. The Black Bear baseball team became friends with the left field crew, as they were shown Southern hospitality during their recent regional tournament appearance in Oxford. The game will be played at the end of February and will be quite a change in temperature for the Maine team. Oh and by the way, this is the same university that traveled to Starkville and beat the MSU Bulldogs last year in football.

He's Only Just Begun

I have shown my housemate a few pointers.

Ole Miss rising junior Brice Bailey captured medalist honors at the 2005 Memphis Golf Association Amateur Championship at the Colonial Country Club on Wednesday.
With rounds of 74 and 71 on Tuesday, the Memphis native entered Wednesday's final round with a share of the lead with Zach Jaworski.
Then came five-time champion David Apperson, who fired his way into the lead with just two holes left.
Bailey, who finished runner-up in last year's MGA Amateur Championship, needed birdies on the 17th and 18th to force a tie at three-over par and a playoff with Apperson.
"It was pretty pressure-packed," Bailey said. "There were a couple of times I thought I might have been out of (contention), so to get that close made me pretty mentally tough. Plus there were about fifty family and friends around the 18th green, so it was exciting."
Indeed Bailey did birdie 17 and 18, thus creating the playoff scenario. On the third playoff hole, it was still undecided as both golfers were close to the hole with chances at par and an additional hole.
But Apperson missed his two-foot putt, and Bailey drained his four-footer, giving Bailey his first substantial amateur win and some momentum going into the State Amateur and attempts to qualify for the U.S. Amateur.
"There have been a few tournaments I thought I should have won, so it's a good feeling to get this one," Bailey said. "I think this will make it easier to win in the next few tournaments."
Bailey is expected to be one of the major contributors next season for the Rebels, who return six players with tournament experience from last season.

Otis

It is being reported that former Ole Miss assistant coach Joe Cullen and the school have settled a lawsuit outside of court. Cullen was dismissed from his job due to his arrest for public drunkeness. Cullen and the school were at dispute over the firing. The arrest turned out to be one of several P.R. nightmares that were being caused by players and coaches and their run-in's with the Oxford Police Department. Financial terms were not released, but it is believed the school will pay Cullen between $60,000 and $100,000. Mike Wall, Cullen's Oxford attorney says Cullen has moved to Illinois to continue his coaching profession.

Neely To Have Surgery

Former Jackson Academy All-Star and current Ole Miss freshman offensive lineman Reid Neely tore his Achilles tendon recently. It is being reported that Neely is going to have surgery in Jackson sometime soon. Tearing an Achilles Tendon is an extremely painful injury. From my understanding, some people never recover from this type of injury. Hopefully Neely will have the work ethic to recover and will be ready to go in two years as a red-shirt freshman.

Time To Pay Up

The Athletic Department will be making a pitch tonight to the Board of Alderman concerning funding of the expansion of O-U Stadium. The stadium was originally built with funds from the Oxford tourism tax. They pay roughly $200,000 a year towards the note on the stadium which will be paid off in 2007. U.M.A.A. will be asking for the Board to continue to fork over money, which will go towards the new expansion. When the stadium was built, the tourism revenue was no where near where it is today. I would venture to say it is almost ten times as much today as it was when the original tax was issued. The town of Oxford owes this to the University. This summer alone is evidenced of how much money U.M.A.A. brought the businesses of Oxford with the hosting of regionals and super-regionals. There is no reason why the Board of Alderman should shoot this down. Voting against this, will not be a good move by the Alderman.

Excuse Me?????

The following rankings are currently on http://cbs.sportsline.com/ in an article written by Gregg Doyel. How can someone rank Oxford as one of the worst cities he has ever visited. I guess I am a little biased, but Oxford is always mentioned in various top-notch newspapers and magazines as a great place to visit. This guy grew up around Oxford and now lives in Cincinatti. I have yet to understand why we wrote this. When he was a kid in Oxford, evidently nobody picked him to be on their team, and that made him mad.

Worst cities
1.Teaneck, N.J.: Before my first Adidas ABCD Camp, I wasn't expecting much from Teaneck. Even with that, it was a letdown.
2.Los Angeles: Bad traffic, crime, awful air. Why would anyone choose to live here?
3.Detroit: From Cincinnati, Detroit is the longest five-hour drive of your life. And then the Palace, home of the Detroit Pistons, is another hour north. Did I mention the construction delays?
4.Greensboro, N.C.: Get me on a highway -- any highway -- and get me out of here.

5.Oxford, Miss.: When I was in eighth grade, someone built a Wal-Mart. That's where kids hung out -- at Wal-Mart. Enough said.

Who Needs College????

Former Ole Miss running back Vashon Pearson, who was declared academically ineligible for his senior season, has moved up in the world. It is being reported that Pearson has signed a contract with the Indianapolis Colts for a reported $1 million. However the contract is contigent on Pearson making the squad. I really do not understands what this means. How do they sign a guy for $1 million, yet he has not even made the team yet.

Another Basketball Pick-Up

Herbert Terry (SF, Indianapolis, IN) - One of Indiana's top rising seniors has decided to play for Ole Miss next year. The 6' 6 1/2", 225 pound small forward is going, I do not know much about this guy right now. I will try to find some more info on him later.

DEAMONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ole Miss Athletics Director Pete Boone announced Wednesday the addition of Wake Forest University and Northwestern (La.) State University to future Rebel football schedules. "We are excited about being able to add another opponent from a Bowl Championship Series conference in Wake Forest of the Atlantic Coast Conference," Boone said. "We are also fortunate to add Northwestern State to our schedule. Northwestern State is Coach (Ed) Orgeron's alma mater and he had expressed a personal interest in our efforts to play them in the immediate future." The contract with Wake Forest calls for the Demon Deacons to face the Rebels first on Sept. 23, 2006, in Oxford, with the return game to Winston-Salem, N.C., to be played Sept. 6, 2008. Northwestern State and Ole Miss have also scheduled two games as the Demons will visit Oxford both times. The first game will be on Nov. 4, 2006, followed by a Nov. 3, 2007, meeting. The addition of Wake Forest marks the second time in recent months for Ole Miss to announce the scheduling of a future football opponent that is a member of the ACC. Last April, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech announced a two-year contract calling for the Rebels to play in Atlanta on Sept. 11, 2010, with the Yellow Jackets coming to Oxford on Sept. 10, 2011. Since beginning its football program in 1893, Ole Miss has never played Wake Forest or Northwestern State on the gridiron. Although Georgia Tech was once a member of the Southeastern Conference, the Rebels and Yellow Jackets didn't meet on a regular basis. Georgia Tech holds a narrow 2-1 series edge with Ole Miss.

I guess this is good we areplaying an ACC team. However I do not know about Northwestern State, is this the same level as Ark. State or what? I guess if Coach O wants it, it works for me.

Former Rebel Quarterback Leaving Team

Former Ole Miss quarterback and Jackson Academy signal caller Tom Luke appears to be leaving the football program to join the private sector. Luke, who has been with the program for a couple of years, came to Ole Miss after serving in assistant roles at Jackson Academy for several years. Under the current system Luke was employed as the Director of Football Operations for Internal Affairs taking care of day to day activities and camps. I will try to get more on this story when the official release comes out, but the replacement will be interesting for some of you.

Movin On Up

It appears Stephen head is moving on up in the baseball ranks. Head will be moving up to High A ball in Kinston, North Carolina. Head, who was drafted by the Cleveland Indians will be making a fast trip up to High A ball, by-passing the regular season Low A ball. It appears Stephen is already catching eyes in the Indians organization.

Questionable Move

Just when I thought the Ole Miss basketball team might be actually moving in the right direction. They go out and offer a scholarship to Solomon Bozeman, son of former Barnes assisant coach Eric Bozeman. Solomon has played the last several years at Oxford High School but is moving to Arkansas to join his dad who will be the head coach at Southern Arkansas. From all reports Bozeman seems to be a good high school player, but no superstar, definately not a SEC recruit. While I have never seen Solomon play, I really question this move. He may turn out to be a good player but for now, I doubt it. This program, which is in dire need of some talent, has been making good news recently with the signing of a good recruiting class and transfers. However they continue to make poor decisions with the coaching and administrative staff they continue to promote. It is my understanding there will be more basketball news to come in the coming months.

Orange County Chopper - Rebel Style

It appears the big announcement that was made on SouthZone Live today deals with a bike being built by the famous Orange County Choppers. The group that has their own t.v. show, specializes in designing customized motorcycles. While I have watched the t.v. show just scanning through, I have to admit they produce some pretty impressive bikes. While I do not subscribe to DotTV, from what I have read the bike will be accepted by Eli and will feature the design of an Ole Miss helmet somewhere on the bike. This should be interesting, however I have no idea what the university will do with the bike when they complete it. Maybe Robert Cook and the staff of the Yerby Center can find some use for it.

Someone Explain This

As the summer news continues to be slow, I bring up another topic that I like to discuss.

How is it that the Univeristy of Mississippi is home to the National Center for Physical Acoustics, yet at any sporting event you attend, you can not hear the public address announcer. The speaker system at the University's athletic facilities are absolutely pathetic. Whether it is trying to hear Glen Waddle yell First Down.....Ole Miss or hearing some rap music over the speakers, it is almost imposible to hear in some parts of the stadium. This does not even include the Hotty Toddy that celebrities conduct. I do not think I have ever been able to hear one of these in my three years at Ole Miss.

Someone really needs to get it together and beef up the sound system. I do not care if some 75 year old fan that gives alot of money to the school complains because it hurts their ears, if this is the case they need to buy their own sky box or something.

It is my desire that when the 2005 football season starts, they will have this problem fixed.

O on the List

ESPN's King Of All MediaThis week's list. The criteria: accessibility, quotability and personality. Not so coincidentally, most of the guys on the list have the rep of also being great recruiters

1. Mike Leach, Texas Tech
2. Bobby Bowden, Florida State
3. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
4. Mack Brown, Texas
5. Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia
6. Ed Orgeron, Mississippi: Some guys are great working the podium with their one-liners. Although that's not Orgeron's speed, few are better in the one-on-one setting, talking football. His Cajun Caveman persona also makes for great copy. He took good notes, studying mentors Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll, and it wasn't all X's and O's.
7. Tommy Bowden, Clemson
8. Tommy Tuberville, Auburn
9. Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic
10. Pat Hill, Fresno State
Just Missed the Cut: Bobby Wallace, Temple; Art Briles, Houston; Pete Carroll, USC; Larry Coker, Miami; Mike Price, UTEP; Phil Bennett, SMU; J.D. Brookhart, Akron; Mike Stoops, Arizona.
(ESPN.COM)

Update on Former Rebs

(OXFORD EAGLE REPORT) _ _ The New York-Penn League of Class A has quickly turned into a summer reunion for some former Ole Miss Rebels.Stephen Head, Matt Maloney, Eric Fowler and Brian Pettway are all playing in the short-season Class A league that started just under a month ago.Head, who was picked in the second round of the recent MLB draft by the Cleveland Indians, is hitting .412 for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, who are based out of Niles, Ohio.Head, who is playing first base, collected two hits over Maloney's Batavia team and has two home runs, seven RBIs and a double in 17 at-bats.Maloney's Muckdogs squad were swept by the Scrappers but Maloney, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies, is off to a good start. He is still 0-0 on the year but has struck out nine batters in eight innings of work against just two walks. Maloney, a left-handed pitcher, also sports a 1.13 ERA after only allowing one earned run so far.Pettway, who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays last Wednesday, is hitting just .167 in his first seven games and has struck out eight times in his first 30 at-bats. Pettway has hit a home run and driven in two runs.Fowler, who is a teammate of Pettway, is 2-0 in three apperances out of the bullpen with four strikeouts in five innings of work. Pettway and Fowler play for the Auburn (N.Y.) Doubledays and will play Head's squad in a three-game series starting on July 28.Former Rebel teammate right-hander Anthony Cupps isn't on the East Coast, but he is playing minor league ball in Montana for the Missoula Osprey in the Pioneer League.Cupps has gotten off to a rocky start in the rookie league as he is 0-1 in three apperances with a 15.75 ERA. Cupps has six strikeouts against just one walk in four innings of work but he has given up nine hits and seven runs.Right-handed pitcher Mark Holliman is the only Ole Miss junior who hasn't signed to play minor league ball. Holliman was taken by the Chicago Cubs in the third round which was the second time the Cubs selected Holliman in three years.

Former Rebel Center Gets Promoted

OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss head football coach Ed Orgeron announced Tuesday he has promoted tight ends coach Matt Luke to assistant offensive line coach. Luke will continue working with the tight ends as he takes on his additional offensive line responsibilities.
"Matt Luke has done a tremendous job and is very deserving of this promotion," Orgeron said. "This will strengthen our staff as Matt works with George DeLeone, who is one of the finest offensive line coaches in all of college football."
Luke is in his fourth year with the Rebels, having joined the staff in 2002 as the assistant offensive line and tight ends coach. Luke, who also serves as recruiting coordinator, is the only member remaining from the previous the coaching staff.

Former Rebel Wins Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England - Former Ole Miss men's tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi captured his eighth grand slam title winning two matches Sunday, with Mary Pierce, to claim the Mixed Doubles Championship at Wimbledon.

While at Ole Miss, Bhupathi led the Rebels to the NCAA team finals. He became the first Rebel tennis player to win an NCAA title when he teamed with Ali Hamadeh to capture the Doubles Championship in 1995 and ended the year as the No. 1 doubles team in the nation. In addition, Bhupathi was an All-American, 1995 SEC Singles Champion and SEC Player of the Year.

Laying Down The Law

OXFORD, Miss. ­ Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron announced Friday that incoming freshman linebacker Wallace Bates is no longer a member of the Rebel football program."Wallace Bates has been dismissed from the Ole Miss football team due to a violation of team rules," Oregron said in a statement released by the Athletics Media Relations Office.Bates, a 6-1, 210-pound linebacker from Woodland Hills, Calif., was a member of Orgeron's initial Ole Miss signing class last February. An All-Region selection by SuperPrep Magazine following his senior year at Taft High School in 2003, Bates was credited with 233 tackles over his last two years at Taft.

Just Plain Mad

I am officially fed up with the Clarion Liar and their so called Ole Miss beat writer Michael Wallace. Today the Liar reported about the two arrests of Ole Miss athletes. Mark Wright arrested for a DUI and Wallace Bates for drug related charges. There are two possibilities to how this was reported.

1) There is some hot-headed cop down at Chief "the pig" Bramlett's police station who is leaking information to the press. This would not surprise me one bit for the OPD to be releasing information that would hurt the P.R. of Ole Miss students. These guys absolutely hate Ole Miss students and would arrest us all if given the opportunity.

2) Our so called writer, Wallace, is going down to the police station everyday and reading the rolls to see if anyone got arrested. If this is the case, we should all boycott the Liar and never read the paper again.

It is my true belief that we should not allow Wallace into press conferences and give him special interview requests that he submits. If he is going to continue to report arrests than we should not let him in. Someone in the athletic department needs to have a conversation with him and tell him it must stop. But of course the "Chickenwing" will never have this conversation with him.

Am I wrong believing the arrests of college students should not be reported in the state wide paper??