Growing up, I always looked forward to running to the mailbox to read Sports Illustrated. Well, the famed magazine is reportedly no more after laying off just about their whole staff. The first edition on August 16, 1954, showed Milwaukee Braves third baseman Eddie Matthews in action against New York Giants pitcher Wes Westrum with plate umpire Augie Donatelli. SI started the famous swimsuit edition in 1964 that became their best seller every year. But the other 51 weeks of the year featured iconic sports photos such as the great heavyweight boxing championship fights between Joe Frazier and Muhammed Ali. Our Mississippi sports heroes Charley Conerly, Archie Manning, Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Steve McNair, Brett Favre, Eli Manning and Dak Prescott were just a few who graced the covers of the famous weekly. Two memorable covers are from September 14, 1970, which sported the the “Idol of Mississippi” in Archie Manning, and from October 8, 2014, which featured the State and Ole Miss celebration in “Mississippi Mayhem” as the Rebels downed No 3 Alabama and the Bulldogs upset No. 6 Texas A&M.
The NFL championship games are set for Sunday. The AFC title game will have Kansas City visiting Baltimore while Detroit will travel to San Francisco.
Basketball Recap
Southern Mississippi had a great week as the Eagles won two home Sun Belt Conference games to move into second place in the standings. The Eagles took down Arkansas State in a mid-week contest. USM then came back from 18 points down in the second half to upset Troy in the final seconds, 64-63, on Saturday. The Eagles (11-8, 5-2) will now hit the road as they travel to Coastal Carolina and Marshall this week. The Eagles will not play at home again until February 7. USM since joining the Sun Belt last season is 13-0 at home in conference games. The USM Lady Eagles (9-8, 2-5) downed Georgia State before falling to ULM this past Saturday. The Eagles will travel to Troy on Thursday and South Alabama on Saturday this week.
Mississippi State lost at Kentucky before drilling Vandy on Saturday. The Bulldogs (13-5, 2-3) will host Florida on Wednesday and Auburn on Saturday and will entertain Ole Miss next Tuesday, January 30. The Lady Bulldogs (12-5, 2-3) lost to Tennessee this past week and will host LSU next Monday.
Ole Miss lost at LSU and at No. 13 Auburn this week. The Rebels (15-3, 2-3) will travel to Arkansas on Wednesday and to Texas A&M on Saturday. The Lady Rebels (13-5, 3-2) downed Georgia on Sunday and will play host to Florida and Tennessee this week.
Moss Point native Devin Booker scored a season high 52 points as the Phoenix Suns took down the New Orleans Pelicans, 123-109, in the Crescent City this past week.
Play Ball
Mississippi Gulf Coast will open the junior college baseball season on Friday while Jones will follow on Saturday. The remaining JUCO teams will begin play next Friday.
William Carey, Blue Mountain and Mississippi College open their seasons next Thursday, February 1. Delta State follows on Saturday, February 3, while Belhaven and Millsaps begin play on February 9. Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Mississippi College for Women, Jackson State and Alcorn begin play February 16. Mississippi Valley begins on February 23.
Odds & Ends
McComb native Charvairus Ward of the San Francisco 49ers was selected to his first NFL Pro Bowl. Ward, a defensive back, played at Hinds Community College and later at Middle Tennessee.
Former USM head football coach and former Ole Miss player Jay Hopson will remain on staff as a coach in the defensive secondary at South Alabama even after the departure of Kane Womack.
Longtime Ole Miss offensive coach Derrick Nix will be leaving Oxford to join Hugh Freeze's Auburn staff as offensive coordinator. The former USM player and assistant coach was a fixture in Oxford for 16 years as he worked for the last four Rebel head coaches.
Dale has been writing sports in Mississippi since 1973. Listen to Dale and Marshall Wood on the Brouhaha Sports Show each Tuesday and Friday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. This week’s guest is the Alabama sports writer of the year in Mississippi native Creg Stephenson of AL.com. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome, go to wabo105.com and click listen live. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube and listen to archived shows.
