It's a Win

As I stated earlier this year this Ole Miss team is not going to blow anybody out of the water. That statement proved to be true tonight as the Rebels defeated New Orleans 85-77. This moves the Rebels to 7-1, their best record since the 2001 season.

The play of the big guys Kenny Williams and Jeremy Parnell helped the Rebels win this one, as they scored 15 and 16 points respectively. Surprisingly the guards of Bam Doyne, Clarence Sanders, and Todd Abernathy struggled to find the basket in the first half. However Doyne did wind up with 16 in the game. I was glad to see Eniel Polynice step up and play tonight. He looked like a pretty good player as he contributed 15. As Trusty and Sparky stated earlier this season we will probably see alot of him this year.

I'm sure many of those that watched the game on CSS, think that this team is miserable and is worse than last years. While I do not think they are the next UNC or Duke, we are an improved team from last year. Tonight was evidence of how Kennedy has brought new talent to the team with the play of Williams and Polynice. Hang with this team it's not going to be pretty but they are going to fight hard and win games.

Privateers Come to Oxford

Just a reminder that the basketball game tomorrow night against New Orleans will be at 6:00, different from the normal start time of 7:00. The game is also going to be on tv, so those of you that have access to CSS can watch the Rebels play for the first time on cable tv. Unfortunately I do not have CSS with my cable and will be searching for a place in Birmingham to watch the game.

The Rebels should win this game, but you never know with a young, new team like Ole Miss. They have trailed in most of the games they have played this year, but have turned it around in the second half. The Rebels have had a much needed rest after the planes, trains, and automobiles tour to UCONN and then two games over Thanksgiving break.

Do not expect to see Dwayne Curtis in this game. Even though he has been cleared to play, I expect they will keep him out of the playing action. Also do not look for Shay Hodge or Gregg Hardy. Kennedy has announced that while both of these guys will be practicing, they will not play for the rest of the semester to focus on academics. Notice I said the rest of the semester, so this does clear them to play the day after finals against Memphis next week, if Kennedy chooses, however I doubt we will see them that early.

Here is some scouting notes from the SID on UNO:

After two years as a Texas A&M assistant, Buzz Williams is in his first season at the UNO helm. He returns three starters and eight letterwinners from last year's 10-19 squad that tied for fourth in the Sun Belt conference. Junior guard Bo McCalebb is back as one of the top scorers in the Sun Belt. He suffered a broken wrist last year (Nov. 30) at Mississippi State and received a medical redshirt. He averaged 19.0 points per game during that first month of 2005-06 and is dropping in 24.4 in this season's early goings. Returning guards James Parlow and Jamie McNeilly and JUCO transfer Shaun Reynolds are each adding 10 points per contest.

Willis Wins the Conerly

(C-L)Ole Miss linebacker Patrick Willis won the Cellular South Conerly Trophy tonight, capping a senior season in which he led the Southeastern Conference in tackles for the second consecutive year.
The Conerly, chosen by a vote of 60 media members from around the state, honors the top football player from Mississippi’s 10 four-year schools. Willis was presented with the trophy in a ceremony that ended moments ago at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum in Jackson.
Willis was a finalist for the award last year and is the fourth Ole Miss player to win it, following Stewart Patridge (1997), Deuce McAllister (’99) and Eli Manning (’01 and ’03).

Note: More Ole Miss players have won the trophy than any other school in the state.

Football or Basketball??

(Clarion Ledger)OXFORD — The Ole Miss’ men’s basketball teams two newest players — Greg Hardy and Shay Hodge — won’t be in uniform when the Rebels (6-1) play New Orleans (2-5) in Tad Smith Coliseum on Thursday.Coach Andy Kennedy said the football players will be concentrating on academics the rest of the fall semester. They will continue practicing with the team, but will not dress out or play until the semester ends.“We’re going to get through this academic quarter just to make sure they’re on point academically,” Kennedy said. “We didn’t want to take them away from their academic responsibilities. That’s priority No. 1.”Both players began practicing Monday, two days after the football season wrapped up with a 20-17 win against Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. Both were two-sport stars in high school and Kennedy said they’ll be given a chance to help the Rebels this season.Kennedy said the earliest they’ll be able to play will be on Dec. 9, when the Rebels play at Memphis.“We’re just so new into this, I want to give them an opportunity,” Kennedy said. “We’re still learning about one another.”In addition, running back Mico McSwain practiced on Tuesday and said he was practicing again today when he walked into Tad Smith Coliseum. But Kennedy said McSwain “won’t be a part” of the team.

The First of Many Awards

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss linebacker Patrick Willis was named a first team All-America by Rivals.com on Wednesday afternoon. The Bruceton, Tenn., native, led the Southeastern Conference for the second-straight season with 137 tackles and is a finalist for both the Bronko Nagurski Award for the top defensive player and the Butkus Award for the best linebacker.

Willis was one of six players from the SEC to make the first team, joining offensive players Darren McFadden (RB, Arkansas), Robert Meachem (WR, Tennessee), Ben Grubbs (OL, Auburn), Glenn Dorsey (DL, LSU) and Reggie Nelson (S, Florida). Eleven more players from the SEC were selected for the second and third teams.

SportsSouth Picking Up the Coverage

OXFORD, Miss. -- Four more Ole Miss basketball games have been picked up for television, as SportsSouth announced today it will air the Rebels' final three non-conference home games and the road encounter at Saint Louis.
SportsSouth's telecasts of Ole Miss hoops start Tues., Dec. 12 when the Rebels host Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m. Also on the slate are meetings with UIC on Dec. 19 and Alabama A&M on Dec. 22, while the showdown with the Billikens is Dec. 30.
The Rebels are now scheduled to make at least 17 television appearances in 2006-07, marking the ninth straight season that Ole Miss has played on TV 10 or more times. The Rebels have already faced UConn on ESPNU and take on New Orleans on CSS Thursday at 6 p.m. CT in Oxford.

Former Rebel to Indians

This was reported by FoxSports Ken Rosenthal a few hours ago. Why would the Rangers owner say this. If he realized they made the mistake, then why not bring him back. It was incredibly stupid to let him go.



(Fox Sports) The Indians have found a new left fielder, reaching agreement with free agent David Dellucci on a three-year, $11.5 million contract, FOXSports.com has learned.

The deal is contingent on Dellucci passing a physical. The examination is expected to take place Thursday in Cleveland.
The signing of Dellucci, a left-handed hitter, will enable the Indians to play Shin-Soo Choo in right field and move Casey Blake to first base. Jason Michaels, a right-handed hitter, likely will play left against certain left-handed pitchers.

Dellucci, 33, spent last season as a part-time player after the Rangers traded him to the Phillies on April 1. He performed well in his limited role, however, hitting 13 homers and producing an .899 on-base/slugging percentage in 264 at-bats.

Rangers owner Tom Hicks cited the absence of Dellucci when bemoaned his team's lack of toughness in a radio interview late in the season, saying, "I think we missed David Dellucci. I think that leadership in the clubhouse part is really important, and we didn't have that after he left."

Dellucci, a 10-year veteran, has a career .348 on-base percentage.

Bam Bam

(C-L)OXFORD — Ole Miss guard Bam Doyne was named Southeastern Conference Basketball Player of the Week today.

The 6-foot-4 senior helped the Rebels improve to 6-1 by averaging 22.5 points in two wins last week. He scored a career-high 25 points against Tennessee Tech and added his second career double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds) against Nicholls last Friday.

It is the first SEC Player of the Week honor for Doyne, who is currently second in the conference in scoring (18.1 points) and ninth in rebounding (7.7). Doyne also is the first Ole Miss player named SEC Player of the Week since center Dwayne Curtis, who was recognized last January.

Ole Miss Frosh Honored

OXFORD — Ole Miss wide receiver Marshay Green was named SEC Freshman of the Week today for his performance in last Saturday’s 20-17 Egg Bowl victory over Mississippi State.

Green returned five punts for 105 yards, including a 47-yarder for a touchdown with 3:39 left that proved to be the winning points. His 23-yard punt return in the third quarter helped set up an Ole Miss field goal, which put the Rebels ahead 13-10.

The Bastrop, La. native, finished the season ranked fifth overall and second among freshmen in the SEC in punt return average with 11.2 yards per return. He also finished third overall and first among freshmen in kickoff return average with 25.2 yards per return.

For The Most Part I Agree

(Clarion-Ledger) Even though the Rebels failed to become bowl eligible for the third straight season — and second under Orgeron — Boone said he’s pleased with the progress of the program.

“At some point, it gets down to W’s,” Boone said. “But the things I was looking at in the sense of how the kids responded, their work ethic, their competitiveness on game day and also the working relationship, the camaraderie within the coaching staff.

“Everybody is upbeat. I just felt like a lot of very, very positive things happened this year.”

New Players for Rebel Roundballers

This caught me by surprise. I knew that Hardy had claimed he wanted to be a two sport athlete, but I had no idea they were going to let him do it. Hopefully these two will be a little better than the previous two sport athletes I can remeber: Michael Boone and Syniker Taylor. Anybody have any more two sport athletes in the last 10-15 years.

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss basketball team welcomed a pair of two-sport athletes and the return of a familiar face to practice on Monday. Rebel football players Greg Hardy and Shay Hodge began workouts with the basketball team, and All-SEC center Dwayne Curtis was back at practice. Both Hardy and Hodge concluded their true freshman seasons with Ed Orgeron’s Rebels on Saturday.

A 6-foot-5, 240-pounder from Memphis, Hardy played in all 12 games on the defensive line, tying for the team-lead in sacks (3.0) and ranking fifth in total tackles (49). His four fumble recoveries also tied for third in the SEC, and against MSU, he saw his first action at wide receiver and hauled in a 23-yard touchdown.

During his prep days at Briarcrest Christian, Hardy garnered honorable mention All-State honors on the hardwood as a junior. He was a forward and competed alongside current Rebel sophomore guard Patrick Spach.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Hodge played wide receiver in all 12 games for Ole Miss this year and was third on the club in receptions with 16 for 193 yards. At Morton (Miss.) High School, he earned four letters as a guard on the basketball team, receiving team MVP honors while averaging 25 points per game.

The Egg Returns

The famous Golden Egg returned to Oxford this weekend after a 20-17 win by the Rebels. Ole Miss improved its record in the series to 59-38-6 over the Bulldogs. The game was tied at halftime and many fans were concerned about the way the game was going for the Rebels. The Rebels were up 3 going into the fourth quarter. Marshay Green added 7 on a punt return that put the Rebels up 10 and appeared to have finished the Bulldogs for good with 3 minutes remaining in the game. Instead, the Bulldogs marched right down the field in less than a minute to pull them within a field goal. A late attempt by the Bulldog kicker to send the game into overtime came up wide and the Rebels prevailed.


There were a few surprising things that happened in this game that concerned me.

- I was shocked to see how MSU dominated our defense with their rushing game like they did. Most of their yards came in the first half. But the Rebels gave up a lot in the first two quarters and made several adjustments to slow them down in the second half.

- Once again QB Brent Schaeffer was pulled with a lead in the second half and replaced with Seth Adams. Once again the offensive production stopped and the momentum of the game shifted. Why this happened as it did last week, I have no idea. Some people on the Square were commenting that Brent was making bad audibles and changing plays which was messing up the team and our gameplan. All I know is Seth Adams does not belong on the field as an SEC quarterback. There is no way he should ever see the field again.

- Going into the game Ben Jarvus Green Ellis needed only 38 rushing yards to reach the 1,000 yard mark for the season. If you would have told me he would not get to that point I would have told you that you were crazy. Green-Ellis finished with 999 yards on the day. I hate it that he did not reach this point. University officials are however reviewing game film to see if a yard can be found somewhere to put him at the 1,000 yard mark.

Here are a couple of notes the SID has put out that I find interesting also.

• Sophomore Mico McSwain earned his first start of the year at running back ... He started six games in the backfield as a redshirt freshman a year ago, but made his only start this year at flanker.
• Junior Bruce Hall made the first start of his Ole Miss career at quarterback ... Hall came to Ole Miss as a quarterback but moved to tailback in spring drills.
• Junior Brent Schaeffer made his first career start at wide receiver ... It was his only play of the game at wideout.


Bottom line is a win is a win. Winning this game was incredibly huge not only for the team but for the fans also. We truly needed a win to carry us into the offseason. I will post a wrap up of the season later this week.

Rebels In The Post Season

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss (19-12, 10-10 SEC) continued its season of firsts on Sunday as the Rebels were selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the history of the program.
The Rebels will travel to Los Angeles to take on the national fifth-seed Southern California Women of Troy. Southern California (25-4, 14-4 Pac-10) is ranked sixth nationally heading into the first round of competition. The Women of Tory are hosting the first and second round events as part of the Honolulu Regional.
“It’s a great reward for the girls and all of their hard work this year and that belief in themselves can take you this far,” said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. “We’re excited to go to Los Angeles and play the Women of Troy. We’ve had volleyball for 30 years and there have been a lot of players, coaches and staffs who have put a lot of work in to get Ole Miss volleyball to this point. I am proud this team can represent Ole Miss, and I am proud of all the hard work those who came before us put in to pave the way for this opportunity for this team.”
Ole Miss and Southern California will face off in the first round at 9 p.m. CST in the second match of the day. In the first match of the day, the BYU Cougars (24-5) will take on California-Santa Barbara (19-11) at 7 p.m. CST.

Favorite Egg Bowl Moment of the Past

I would like everyone to post their favorite Egg Bowl moment of the past. There have been many Egg Bowls over the years that you have all witnessed and surely you have a memorable moment. Just in my lifetime there have been some good ones, some that I will leave out and need you to fill in. There was Ole Miss putting Sleepy Robinson to sleep. The Immaculate Deflection. The pregame fight in 1997. Jackie's last game. The game MSU game back in the late 1990's to shock the Rebels. And then the two point conversion from Patridge to Peterson.

To be honest I have not been to many Egg Bowls in my lifetime. I never made the trip to Jackson as a kid and I had never stepped foot in Davis Wade until my Sophomore year in college.

One of my first Egg Bowls was in junior high in 1996. My dad and I had gone to Ole Miss to watch former Pillow Academy QB Stewart Patridge play in one of his first games. Patridge had just taken over the job from Paul Head at the Georgia game. It was before the new expansion to Vaught Hemingway Stadium. They had already started alot of the construction, but we sat on the top row of the old stadium. Which is now about halfway up on the east side.

Some of you may be thinking, the Rebels lost this game so why is it that memorable to me. Well the reason is Patridge got rocked the entire game. He kept getting sacked in the backfield and had very few completions. The fans and particularly the ones around us were booing Patridge and calling him all sorts of names. It was many of those in attendance first time to see him play ever. I had watched Stewart play for the past 5-6 years so I knew he was better than what was taking place on the field.

Patridge would start the entire season the next year and prove all those that were at the 96 Egg Bowl that booed him they were wrong. He led the Rebels to their first bowl in a long time to the Motor City Bowl and orchestrated one of the best Egg Bowls ever in 97. He even broke some of Archie's records and held them from several years until Eli came along.

We all have memories of Egg Bowls like the one I mentioned. I would be interested in hearing everyone's most memorable game, even those of you that are A&M fans.

They Keep Coming

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss added a pair of right-handed pitchers and a catcher/outfielder to its signing class as David Goforth, Josh Thomason and Tyler Wells all signed letters of intent to play for the Rebels, head coach Mike Bianco announced on Tuesday.

Goforth, a right-handed pitcher from Neshoba Central High School, was named first team All-Conference as a junior and was named the team’s Most Valuable Player as he led Neshoba Central to a 17-10 record and its first appearance in the state playoffs since 1999.

As a junior, Goforth posted a 7-2 record on the mound as he struck out 82 batters in 56.0 innings of work with a 1.97 ERA. The right-hander also had a solid season at the plate as he hit .322 with seven home runs, nine doubles and 28 RBI on the season.

Josh Thomason comes to Ole Miss from Lafayette High School after helping lead the Commodores to the 2006 State Championship on the mound and at the plate. The right-handed pitcher posted a 3-1 record with one save while holding opponents to a .179 batting average. He also posted 56 strikeouts and a 3.78 ERA in 29.2 innings of work.

At the plate, Thomason hit .307 with seven home runs. Thomason tallied 33 RBI with 10 doubles and a triple. He has played infield and outfield in addition to his time on the mound.

Tyler Wells signed with Ole Miss from Vicksburg High School and continues a line of athletes from the Gator program that includes current brothers Justin and Jordan Henry.

Wells played a variety of positions for the Gators as he logged time behind the plate, in the infield and outfield. He hit .417 last season, second on the team behind current Rebel Jordan Henry, while leading the team with 28 RBI. He also posted four home runs and nine doubles as he helped Vicksburg to the advance to the state playoffs for Class 5A.

Rebels Suffer First Loss

So far this season has gone as planned in my opinion. 4-1 was how I figured we would start. These first five games have really shown our weakness that we do not have a big man besides Dwayne Curtis. Without Curtis we are going to lose some more games.

We have two games this week that should be pretty well attended by Rebel fans. Ole Miss will play Wednesday and Friday night. I plan on making both of these as this will be my first real games to watch in person this year.


HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Jeff Adrien controlled the paint, and A.J. Price took care of the rest of the floor as No. 19/21 Connecticut handed Ole Miss its first loss of the year 77-59 Sunday to win the Hispanic College Fund Classic.
The lead changed hands six times early, but Connecticut broke the game open midway through the first half, thanks in large part to Price and Adrien. Tied at 14, Price hit a 3-pointer to give the Huskies the lead for good.
Up 17-16, the Huskies went on an 8-0 run. When Price found Adrien with a no-look pass in the lane, his short jumper made it 33-22. The Huskies stretched the lead to 39-23 at the half, when Curtis Kelly shot an air ball, but Marcus Johnson grabbed it and sank a reverse layup at the buzzer.
Connecticut led by as many as 23 points in the second half, before the Rebels used a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 63-48 with just over six minutes left.
Bam Doyne led Ole Miss with 16 points. Clarence Sanders and Todd Abernethy had 13 apiece.

Let Another One Get Away

The Ole Miss football team played their hearts out Saturday night but came up short losing to LSU 23-20 in Baton Rouge. Neither team scored in the first quarter, but LSU opened the second with a touchdown to go up 7-0. That would be the last points the Tigers would put on the board until the 4th quarter. The Rebels dominated this game for most of the night. They went into the lockerroom at halftime with a 14-7 lead, and at led the game 20-7 for most of the second half.

With the Rebels leading 20-14, LSU QB led the Tigers on a 14 play drive and an eventual 4th down completion to take the lead and what appeared to be the end of the game. However the Rebels had a different thought. Most of us in attendance at the game had already been gathering our stuff to head for the exits. Instead, Ole Miss offensive lineman John Jerry blocked the extra point to leave the game tied and send it into overtime.

In overtime the Rebels never really had anything going on offense when on 3rd down QB Brent Schaeffer was sacked and fumbled the ball. LSU would take over possesion and after a Rebel defensive stand would kick a field goal to win the game.

Some thoughts from Baton Rouge:

- As always the Rebels had a great crowd in Tiger Stadium. The place is a great venue for football. After the game the Tiger fans I saw were not taunting Rebel fans, they were just glad to get out of there with a win

- When the Rebels came out of the lockerroom in the second half they were the most pumped up team I have ever seen. Coach O was leading them out in the tunnel for about 2 minutes jumping up and down and pumping the fans upp. The collapsable tunnel was about to fall in as the Rebels were rocking it back and forth. All Rebel fans in attendance were going nuts. The LSU fans had never seen anything like it. This is what I love about Coach O.

- Some keys to the game I felt like may have changed the outcome:

On a third down in the fourth quarter the Rebels sacked Jamarcus Russel and forced him to fumble. There were three Rebels around the ball, instead of jumping on top of the ball Brandon Jenkins tried to pick it up and return it for a touchdown. The result was the Tigers keeping possesion of the ball and punting to the Rebels deep into Rebel territory. If Ole Miss would have recovered the ball they would have had the ball in LSU territory. The end result could have been a field goal or more than likely punted to pin the Tigers deep into their own territory. I don't blame him for not trying to pick it up and score, but that was just a bad break for us.

The punting game in the second half was miserable. Having a bad punting game really puts your defense in a bind. The Tigers started their posession twice at around mid field due to poor punting. Hopefully a punter will be looked at in this recruiting period.

I do not know why the decision was made to change quarterbacks in the second half. Starter Brent Schaeffer had not had that bad of a game when they made the decision to take him out of the game and replace him with Seth Adams. Adams who has seen very little action this year did not seem to motivate the offense the way it needed to be. The crazy thing was the fact we put Schaeffer back into the game to lead the troops in overtime. Why this decision was made, we will probably never know.



The Battle for the Golden Egg is this weekend. The Rebels need to win this game to go into the offseason with a positive attitude. They have lost 4 close games this year to teams that are pretty good and ranked nationally. This team has had its ups and downs and I know Coach O has not been satisfied with our record, nor have the fans been satisfied. However if we play MSU like we played LSU last night, we will be able to add one more win to this seasons record. More on the Egg Bowl later this week.

Basketball Prediction

I said last week I would give my prediction on the basketball season. I guess I should get it out of the way before we get too deep into the season. After watching and listening the Rebels play a couple of games I predict they will win 17 games this season. No this will not get them into the tournament, but it is a drastic improvement from the past several years.

I am expecting the Rebels to win all but two of their pre-SEC games. Then going a few games below .500 in conference play.

For the Rebels to get to 17 wins, Dwayne Curtis needs to get back onto the court. Having Curtis out really hurts the depth downlow. The Rebels are having to start Jeremy Parnell or Kenny Williams while Curtis is in street clothes. I feel like that Clarence Sanders or possibly Bam Doyne will lead the Rebels in scoring this year. I predict the starters in January will probably be Curtis, Doyne, Todd Abernathy, Justin Cerrasoli, and Sanders.

As I have stated several times on this page, I feel that Trey Hampton can be a good player. I feel like he has the skills, but I do not know if he has matured into SEC basketball form yet. He plays up and down from night to night. Hampton and Xavier Hansbro will provide very valuable minutes this year and either of them could wind up in the starting lineup before the season is over.

What will be interesting to see is how the new players on the team will develop this year. So far we have seen very little of players like Andy Ogide and Rodney Jones. I would guess that at least one of the two will be red shirted. We will see a little of Eniel Polynice this year and hopefully he will contribute some quality minutes this year.

Andy Kennedy is going to do great things for this program. He brings alot of energy to this job that has not been there in a long long time. Just watching Kennedy's reaction is going to be worth going to the games. If the University and fans will make a commitment to basketball and improve the facilities, Kennedy's goals can be reached. But until we make a commitment, they are going to be hard to attain.

I long for the days again when I could go to SEC basketball tournaments and expect a win in the opening round instead of a loss. The Tad Pad can be a very intimidating place to play when it is packed and loud. While I do not think we will reach that status this year, I truly believe Kennedy will build this program back to where it was just a few years ago, if not better.

Willis on Yet Another List

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FWAA) -- Ole Miss senior linebacker Patrick Willis is among five finalists for the 2006 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, it was announced Thursday by the Football Writers Association of America and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.The other four finalists vying for the honor of college football's best defensive player include Clemson's Gaines Adams, Michigan's Leon Hall, Ohio State's James Laurinaitis and Florida's Reggie Nelson.The winner will be announced on Dec. 4 and presented the Bronko Nagurski Trophy at a gala banquet at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, the award's only two-time winner, will give the keynote address.

Cozart Named All American

Oxford - Junior shortstop Zack Cozart was named a first team selection on the preseason All-America team selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Tuesday, the organization announced.Cozart returns to help lead Ole Miss as he finished the 2006 season second on the team in batting with a .338 average and helped lead the Rebels to the second-most wins in a single season a second-straight Super Regional.“We are very proud of Zack for receiving this honor,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “It’s certainly something he deserves and has earned with his performance on the field. We could not be more proud of him.”The Collierville, Tenn., native earned First Team All-SEC honors last season as he helped lead Ole Miss to a 44-22 record and the 2006 Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship. He also played a pivotal role in the Rebels hosting a third-straight NCAA Regional and second consecutive NCAA Super Regional. The Rebels claimed the 2006 NCAA Regional before hosting Miami in the NCAA Super Regional.

Bianco Adds More

OXFORD, Miss. – Left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz and infielder Tim Ferguson have signed national letters of intent to play for the Ole Miss Rebels head coach Mike Bianco announced on Wednesday.

The pair of signees are part of the 2006-07 early signing period and will be eligible to compete for the Rebels in the 2007-08 academic year. They join right-handed pitchers Michael Park and Logan Williams as early signees for the Rebels.

Pomeranz, a 6-3 left-handed pitcher from Collierville High School in Collierville, Tenn., has been rated as one of the top pitchers in the state of Tennessee in his high school career. As a junior, Pomeranz earned Louisville Slugger All-America honors in 2006 as he posted a 9-1 record with a 1.01 ERA. He posted six shutouts in his nine wins and also struck out 130 batters in 85.0 innings of work.

Ferguson, a 6-2 infielder from Beaumont, Texas, was rated by Perfect Game as the 55th-ranked position player in the nation and a Scout.com Top 100 Draft Prospect. Ferguson earned All-District and All-Conference First Team honors as a junior before being named to the All-Southeast Texas All-Star Team. He was also named to the “Super Gold” First Team by the Beaumont Enterprise and the “Dream Team” First Team by the Port Arthur News.

Rounding Out The Class

OXFORD, Miss. – Andy Kennedy solidified the future of his Ole Miss basketball program Wednesday, announcing the signing of Zach Graham, Chris Warren and Kevin Cantinol to national letters of intent. All three will be eligible for the 2007-08 season as freshmen.
“We are very excited about the three players we signed during the November signing period,” said Kennedy, who is in his first fall as Rebel head coach. “We feel we have addressed many key needs of our team and have taken another step in returning our program to prominence. In Zach Graham, Chris Warren and Kevin Cantinol, we have brought in three quality young men who will contribute to this university both on and off the basketball court.”

A 6-foot-5, 220-pound wing from Suwanee, Ga., Graham is rated the 87th-best player in the nation by Hoop Scoop and the No. 29 small forward by Rivals.com, first in the Atlanta metro area. He was a two-time all-star selection at the ABCD All-American Camp.

A native of Orlando, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Warren is the nation’s 20th-ranked point guard by Scout.com. He is also named the No. 7 player in the state of Florida by Vince Murray of The Florida Focus scouting service.

A 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward from Clearwater, Fla., Cantinol is also listed among the state’s top-20 players by The Florida Focus, and was an All-Tournament selection at the Disney Super Showcase. Playing for coach Dave Bintz at Calvary Christian Academy, Cantinol tallied 16 points, 12 boards and 3.5 blocks in receiving All-Conference accolades as a junior a year ago.

Rebs Win Another One

The Rebel Roundballers defeated Louisiana Lafayette tonight 69-54. It was the first time the Rebels have started the season with two consecutive wins since the 1999-2000 season. The Rebels had another up tempo game under Coach Andy Kennedy. They were led by Clarence Sanders with 22 points who played all but 4 minutes of the game. Bam Doyne and Kenny Williams both contributed twelve in the contest for the Rebels. Todd Abernathy and Dwayne Curtis both remained injured and did not play for the Rebels.

The Rebels shot around 45% from the field and 60% from the line. I was glad to see Kenny Williams get in there and contribute tonight by making some baskets. With Curtis out, Williams is definitely going to have to step up. Justin Cerasoli, the Seton Hall transfer, contributed 10 points for the Rebels. I look for him to score about this many points each game.

I listened to the post game show and Coach Andy Kennedy is pretty funny. He referred to their upcoming trip to Hartford as, "Plains Trains and Automobiles." The Rebels will be traveling to Hartford, Conn. this weekend to play in the Hispanic College Fund Classic, where they will take on Fairfield, Central Arkansas, and UCONN. (Who knows what famous basketball player played at Central Arkansas without googling it?)

More on the basketball team later this week.

Baseball Notes

Baseball has become a sport that many Rebel fans can not wait to begin. With the first pitch a little over 2 and 1/2 months away, here are a few notes.

- Baseball ticket re-order forms have been sent out. As we all know reserved seats have been sold out since the beginning of last season. A new package that will be offered this year is reserved seating/grilling area in the outfield. I called today to inquire about this and they informed me they were already sold out. I was a little upset to hear this, because I never saw one note that they were going to offer this type of package to anyone.

-OXFORD, Miss. – Right-handed pitchers Michael Park and Logan Williams have signed national letters of intent to join the Ole Miss baseball program head coach Mike Bianco announced over the weekend.

The duo are the first two signees of the 2006-07 early signing period and will be eligible to compete for the Rebels in the 2007-08 academic year.
Park, a 6-2 pitcher for Memphis University School, has been rated as one of the top pitchers in the state of Tennessee as he helped lead MUS to the semifinals of the state tournament this past season. Park earned All-Conference honors and was also named to the TSWA All-State team as well as the “Private” All-Metro team by the Commercial Appeal.

Williams, a 6-1 pitcher from Damascus, Arkansas, also plays in the infield for South Side Bee Branch High School. A two-time All-State, All-Region and All-Conference selection, Williams was also selected to play in the Texas/Arkansas All-Star game for the 2006 season.

On the mound, Williams posted a perfect 11-0 record with 125 strikeouts in 59.0 innings of work for South Side Bee Branch. Williams also performed well at the plate, hitting .602 for the season as he set the Arkansas High School record for RBI in a season with 73, breaking the record of 64 he set the previous year.

I Want an Explanation

It was announced today that the Egg Bowl will be played at 1:00 next Saturday at Vaught Hemingway Stadium on the Ole Miss campus. This is the 3rd game this season that kickoff in Oxford will be 1:00. I have yet to understand what the advantage is of playing a football game at 1:00 in the afternoon. I want someone to give me an explanation as to why we have to play these games at 1:00. The atmosphere is AWFUL. I am not saying that every game has to be played at 6:00. A 3:00 or 4:00 kickoff is perfect, I will even settle for 2:30. This gives those that want to drive an adequate amount of time to get to the game, with time to go to the Grove beforehand and it also puts them home at a decent hour. Why we continue to set game times like this is besides me. I would love to have a discussion with whoever makes this decision and give them a piece of my mind.

LSU - Bama Game

Did anyone else see the end of the LSU-Bama game when Les Miles called timeout with 3 seconds left with the Tigers up 14 points? I could not hear what the commentators were saying as to why Miles called timeout. But I was pretty ticked off at Miles for calling timeout and trying to run the score up. This just shows the type of person Miles is and the type of school that LSU is.

Again, I was not able to hear what the commentators were saying, nor did I see the entire game. I will take my comments back about Miles if someone can give me a logical explination about why LSU did this.

Rebs Start the Season With a Win

Andy Kennedy started his career at Ole Miss with a win. It took the Rebels about a half to get going, but they put it on the Delta Devils in the second half. Starter Todd Abernathy went out early in the game with a hit to the face. With Abernathy and Dwayne Curtis out of the game the Rebels were without two of their starters for the entire game. The Rebels back up big man Kenny Williams got in foul trouble early and stayed in it.

The surprise of the game in my opinion was the lack of contributions from the new players on the squad. By all means I am not pointing fingers, but I felt like some of the new players would contribute a little bit more in the first game of the season. It's early for the season, but the Rebs need as many wins as they can get before January rolls around. The Rebels return to the court on Tuesday to take on Louisiana Lafayette.

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Bam Doyne scored 19 points to lead Ole Miss to a 72-49 win over Mississippi Valley State on Friday in the season opener for both time and the beginning of the Andy Kennedy era in Oxford.
Jermey Parnell and Xavier Hansbro added 11 points apiece and Brian Smith had 10 for the Rebels (1-0), who have won 10 of the last 11 home openers. Richard Cannon led Mississippi Valley State (0-1) with nine points.
The Rebels shot 28-of-63 from the field, including 6-of-12 from 3-point range. Mississippi Valley State managed only 14-of-54, 26 percent, from the field and no player had more than two baskets.

A Man I Have Always Disliked

“Mississippi gets more than their fair share back in federal money, but who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?”

These are the words of New York US Representative Charlie Rangel, the soon to be chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. These are the type comments from the type of people that are going to be taking over Congress in January. Rangel, a black Democrat, who has long been a controversial member of the House of Representatives has crossed the line with this comment, yet he will get away with it. Not a member of the press outside of the State of Mississippi will call him out for this. Since I began keeping up with the House of Representatives, I have always had a disklike for this Congressman from New York with his raspy voice.

I commend Mississippi Representative Chip Pickering for calling him out on his statement. I hope other Congressmen from Mississippi will follow in his footsteps. Pickering made these comments:

“I hope his remarks are not the kind of insults, slander, and defamation that Mississippians will come to expect from the Democrat leadership in Washington, D.C.,”

Chip, I hate to say it, but I have a feeling this is the way the new leadership in D.C. is going to be.

Willis a Finalist

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss senior linebacker Patrick Willis was named to two different national award lists on Thursday. Willis is the first player ever from the state of Mississippi to be named a finalist for the Butkus Award and he was also selected as one of seven semifinalists for the third annual Lott Trophy.

Willis joins sophomore James Laurinaitis of Ohio State and 2005 winner senior Paul Posluszny of Penn State as the three finalists for the 2006 Butkus Award®. The winner will be announced Saturday, December 9, 2006. The Butkus Award® will be presented to the winner by the award’s namesake former University of Illinois and Chicago Bear NFL Hall of Fame member, Dick Butkus.

AK Gets Player to Sign the Dotted Line

OXFORD — Chris Warren, a point guard from Dr. Phillips High in Orlando, Fla., signed a letter-of-intent today with the Ole Miss men's basketball team.
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Warren announced his decision during a news conference today in Orlando. He is rated as the nation's 20th-best point guard by Scout.com and a three-star prospect (out of five stars) by Rivals.com.He chose Ole Miss over Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion.“All the schools that he went to, he liked,” his mother, Sarah Campbell said. “But I think Ole Miss has the edge because they are a bigger conference and he has more of an opportunity to play against bigger schools.”Peachtree Ridge High guard Zach Graham and Calvary Christian Academy power forward Kevin Cantinol have both orally committed to the Rebels and are expected to sign. (C-L)

This Is Outstanding

I am not sure how I missed this on tv this weekend, but I just watched it and love it. Not only to see Wisconsin out smart the rule books, but to see Joe Pa get so upset, it is well worth the six minutes to watch this. To sum it up Wisconsin kicks off 3 times in the last 30 seconds of the first half in order to run out the clock. Due to the new clock rules of the clock starting once the ball is kicked, Wisconsin was able to run the clock out by jumping offsides twice and forcing themselves to re-kick three times.

As I stated last week one of the best referees in the country and the top SEC referee stated last week that he feels the rule will be changed for next year. He says that the overwhelming majority of coaches are against the new rule. I am in agreement with them, I think it is pointless and I prefer the old rules and more offensive plays.

Follow the link to watch the end of the first half of the Wisconsin Penn State game, it is well worth the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp5WM94UOBg

Rebs Tigers Not on the Tube

I encourage you all to join me in Baton Rouge.

OXFORD, Miss. – There will be no network television for the Ole Miss-LSU game on Saturday, Nov. 18 in Baton Rouge, the Southeastern Conference announced on Monday. Kickoff for the contest between the Rebels and the Tigers will be at 7 p.m. CST
The SEC said that there will be only two televised games involving league teams next week as Vanderbilt will host Tennessee at 11:30 a.m. on Lincoln Financial Sports and Alabama will host Auburn at 2:30 p.m. on CBS.

Hoops

Ole Miss has wrapped up pre-season play with its win over Delta State tonight. They defeated the Fighting Okra tonight 80-69. The Rebels had 51 at halftime and cooled off in the second half. Bam Doyne led the Rebels with 18 points. Doyne played most of the game as did Todd Abernathy. Clarence Sanders, Eniel Polynice, and Kenny Williams rounded out the rest with the most minutes.

This game appeared to be different from the North Alabama game on Friday night where the Rebels won 108-103. In that game coach Andy Kennedy substituted early and often with everyone on the team. I was at the game on Friday, and it is just hard to tell how this team is going to be. On Friday neither Dwayne Curtis nor Kenny Williams played. Those two are your defense in the paint. Curtis is hurt, and appears to be out for a good amount of time. I still am not sure why Williams did not play on Friday. I have heard everything from a groin injury to suspension. I think we really need Williams to step up this year.

Trey Hampton and Xavier Hansboro combined for 2 points tonight playing 22 minutes with Hampton making only one field goal. I am not sure what Kennedy's game plan was tonight. But it was probably to get the most real game playing time for those players he sees being major contributors.

It should be interesting to see how these team turns out, but with a hurt Dwayne Curtis and an injured Justin Cerasoli, the preseason has not turned out how many had hoped it would. I will have my prediction out before the Valley game on Friday.

It's a W

Ole Miss defeated Northwestern State on Saturday 27-7 in front of an announced crowd of 47,000. First of all, there was no where near 47,000 people at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. It was without a doubt the smallest crowd I have seen since the stadium was expanded. The Rebels scored on their opening drive but the Deamons fired right back as they marched right down the field to tie the game. The first half of the game the Deamons had no trouble with the Rebel defense on many occasions. Joshua Schene added a 52 yard field goal that did not look like it was going to go in as it was a very low kick. It was the longest field goal since former Lou Groza award winner Jonathan Nichols 54 yarder against Vanderbilt in 202.

The Rebels came back in the second half and had control of the rest of the game. The Rebels ended up with 401 yards total offense. Ben Jarvis Green Ellis and Bruce Hall accounted for about 200 of those yards. Bruce Hall contributed a good amount for the second game in a row.

Patrick Willis continues to dominate the field with 11 tackles. Possibly Ole Miss best all time linebacker only has two games left in his Rebel career. Look for him to continue to dominate in his last two games.

The Rebels will take a much needed week off this weak. The Rebels have a long list of players injured with all types of problems. Andrew Wicker and Greg Hardy among others both went out of the Northwestern State game with injuries.

I will finish this post by congratulating David A and Sam H for their teams win over Alabama. I felt like they would cover the spread in the game, but I did not believe they would win. How Mike Shula will make it through this season if they lose to Auburn I do not know. The Alabama nation is fed up with him.

It's Time to Vote

No I am not referring to the Congressional elections coming up on Tuesday.(However if you do live in the State of Tennessee please go vote for Bob Corker and not let Harold Ford Jr. win)

I am sure plenty of you have already received the email about the Greatest College football traditions of all time poll that is going on at ESPN.com. The Grove at Ole Miss and the Twelfth Man at Texas A&M are neck and neck over the two greatest traditions. So if you have two seconds go vote for the Grove here:
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/ballot?event_id=2492

Slow News

It is a slow news week with Ole Miss sports. Not much to report on and nothing is out there that I feel like we need to discuss.

Ole Miss basketball begins season play on Friday with an exhibition against North Alabama. The bad news for the Rebels is that is looks like Dwayne Curtis is going to be out a little while longer than expected with his foot injury. Curtis injured his foot the first day of practice and was originally expected to return around the first week of the season. Hopefully Curtis will be in a little better shape when the Rebels travel to Hartford, Connecticut in a couple of weeks to take on UCONN.

The good thing about this basketball season is that a ton of the games are on tv this year. This is good news for those of us that can not make the mid-week games in Oxford. By my count the Rebels will be on the tube in some form or another for 13 games this year.

-On another note, if anybody knows of a Rebel bus going from New Orleans to Baton Rouge this year for the LSU game let me know. I have checked with several different people who normally go that are not going this year for various reasons.