Rebels ranked No. 25 in new poll
Ole Miss was ranked 25th in the preseason USA Today Sports Coaches Poll that was released early last week.
The SEC led all the conferences with six teams in the Top 25 as Alabama was No. 1, followed by Georgia at No. 5, Texas A&M at No.6, Florida at No. 11, LSU at No. 13 and Ole Miss.
The Rebels announced last week that all the football players, coaches and football staff members were fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
Other interesting college news is of the reports surfaced last Friday that the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 were considering an alliance that would include scheduling games against each other and voting together on issues involving the College Football Playoffs.
The New Orleans Saints played their first pre-season game and fell, 17-14, to the Baltimore Ravens as the Saints turned the ball over six times. The Saints quarterback competition to replace Drew Brees will be interesting the next month as Tyson Hill and Jameis Winston will probably be in a neck and neck battle until the Saints’ home opener against Green Bay on Sept. 11. Hill started the game, completing 8-of-12 for 81 and one interception. The Saints did not score during his playing time. Winston was 7-of-12 for 96 yards, a TD and an interception. Rookie Ian Book played the second half for the Saints. Next Monday the Saints will host the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars also have a quarterback battle as this year’s No. 1 draft choice in Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence is battling Brandon native Gardner Minshew for the starting job.
High school football is back. The private schools (MAIS) kicked off this past week in a shortened slate of games and will be full throttle this week. The MHSAA will host jamboree games later in the week before starting the regular season the following weekend.
In private school results from last week, visiting Class 3-A champion Greenville Christian surprised two-time state 6-A champion Madison Ridgeland by defeating them, 58-32.
Rickey Neaves, executive director of the MHSAA, said last week that his association will not permit schools learning virtually to take part in sports, speech and debate, cheerleading or any other MHSAA-sanctioned activity. Games not played as scheduled will count as forfeits and will not be made up this year.
Anderson’s Walk-off Ends Field of Dream Game
Major League Baseball played their first professional baseball game in the state of Iowa this past week. The game was played next to the filming site of the 1989 movie Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta and James Earl Jones. In a Hollywood-type finish, former East Central Community College baseball star Tim Anderson smacked a two-run homer with one out in the ninth inning in leading the Chicago White Sox over the New York Yankees, 9-8. MLB reported it was the most-watched regular-season game since 2005. Anderson also doubled earlier in the game while former Ole Miss pitcher Lance Lynn was the White Sox starting pitcher. MLB is planning on playing this game annually. Over 7,200 fans were allowed to attend the game, and they paid up to $1,000 a ticket for the pleasure of watching history.
Another Bulldog heading to the “Show”
Windsor, Ontario, is only just a hop and a skip from Detroit’s Comerica Park for Canadian-born and former Mississippi State Bulldog Jacob Robson. The former Bulldog was called up to the Detroit Tigers last Thursday and saw action immediately.
Dale McKee, a Waynesboro resident, has been writing sports in Mississippi since 1973.