Ole Miss came up just short against No. 9 Texas A&M Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, capping off a wild Saturday of football in the Southeastern Conference. That was just one of the 10 things on my radar over the weekend.
1. I'll start with the Rebels and the Aggies, a 41-38 Texas A&M win that wasn't secured until the game's final play. In the aftermath of the loss, frustrated Ole Miss fans are upset at coach Hugh Freeze, want a change at quarterback and are losing perspective.
Allow me to lend it. This time two years ago, the Rebels were in the midst of a 16-game SEC losing streak, on their way to a 2-10 campaign. Apparently the words of realists like me fall on deaf ears. I've said repeatedly this program is in the infancy stages of a total rebuild. I'm not sure what's so difficult to understand about that, but I do know the frustrations that come with it (I'm a Cubs fan, after all; more on that later in this piece).
Perhaps others are serving too much Kool-Aid; I don't know. Here's what I do know. Players make plays and games are won in this league at the line of scrimmage. Ole Miss lost at Auburn last week when the Rebels' offensive line got beat in some key one-on-ones in the fourth quarter. On Saturday in Oxford, Ole Miss couldn't stop Johnny Manziel (welcome to the club, Rebels) and couldn't execute its offense when it had a chance to put the game away with Johnny Football standing on the sideline.
It's not about play-calling or other such nonsense. Texas A&M had timeouts to work with in the final 3:07 had Ole Miss decided to keep the ball on the ground. Further, it now appears Barry Brunetti got banged up in the fourth quarter and may not have been able to go on Ole Miss' final possession. Finally, Bo Wallace's final numbers _ 22-for-36, 301 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, several drops _ didn't exactly stink. The Rebels put the game in his hands, and on second-and-10 from his own 25, Wallace hit Ja-Mes Logan in stride. Logan didn't make the catch. Ja-Mes is a great young man who has made a lot of big plays at Ole Miss, and that's one he'd like to have back, but it doesn't change the fact it was a solid call and a great throw. Logan just dropped it.
When Manziel got it back, he was going against a skeleton crew of a defense. Alabama, with a roster full of future NFL stars, couldn't stop Manziel. A collection of kids and third-teamers weren't stopping him, either.
2. Leftover thoughts from Texas A&M 41, Ole Miss 38
A. Manziel is phenomenal. He rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries and completed 31 of 39 passes for 346 yards and an interception. He's unstoppable, the best college player I've ever seen in person.
B. Ole Miss did a decent job on Mike Evans, holding him to four catches for 46 yards. Charles Sawyer had a nice day.
C. Jaylen Walton and I'Tavius Mathers combined to carry the ball 15 times for 72 yards, a good sign for the future.
D. Laquon Treadwell is special. The freshman from Crete, Ill., caught eight balls for 77 yards and two touchdowns. His future is unlimited.
E. Donte Moncrief caught just one ball for three yards. His NFL stock, one would think, is plummeting. One would think he has to come back next season.
F. Quincy Adeboyejo had a breakout game of sorts, catching three passes for 33 yards.
G. I hate the NCAA's targeting rule. Hate. It.
H. Serderius Bryant led Ole Miss with 12 tackles. Bryant got hurt on one of the key plays of Saturday's game. Texas A&M faced a fourth-and-7 from the Ole Miss 45 late in the fourth quarter. The Aggies got away with a hold on the play, allowing Manziel to scramble for a 13-yard run to the Ole Miss 32. Two plays later, Manziel scored to tie the game at 38-38 with 3:07 left.
I. Thank goodness Bryant is going to be OK. Anytime a player is strapped to a stretcher, it's scary. "Bird" is a good kid, a media favorite. I rarely say a prayer during a football game, but I did late Saturday.
3. Ole Miss will take Jarvis Summers to SEC basketball media days Wednesday in Hoover, Ala. It's a mistake. No one will talk to the Rebels' junior point guard about anything other than his thoughts on suspended teammate Marshall Henderson.
Ole Miss should take Henderson to Hoover. He's smart enough and savvy enough to handle it. Let's get real, by the way; it's October in the Southeast. No one, with the obvious exception of Kentucky fans and media, cares about basketball yet.
Ole Miss officials could have prepared Henderson for the questions that would come in Hoover. The answers could have been rehearsed. The media crush would have been about 1/25th that that was waiting on Manziel in July at SEC football media days. Manziel acquitted himself quite nicely on that morning and rehabilitated his image. The autograph scandal surfaced shortly thereafter, putting Manziel back under a critical microscope, but he handled SEC football media days with aplomb.
Henderson could have done the same. Ole Miss officials aren't saying how long he'll be suspended for his offseason transgressions, but the bet here and elsewhere is it won't be for long. By putting Henderson in a group setting, it gets most of the inevitable questions Henderson will receive upon his return out of the way.
My expectation is Ole Miss will hand Henderson to a media outlet who will underhand one softball after another at him and then limit his media access afterwards. I can't say I blame Ole Miss if that's the strategy and it's certainly the administration's prerogative.
That will work as long as the Rebels win and Henderson stays out of trouble and doesn't resort to some of his obnoxious on-court antics (taunting the Auburn crowd, performing the Gator chomp at the SEC tournament, giving taunting fans the one-finger salute at the NCAA tournament, etc.). If Henderson is a boy scout, that strategy will work just fine.
If the wins aren't as plentiful and Henderson can't help himself, however, the media coverage will almost certainly have a little extra edge to it.
Summers won't have to worry about that on Wednesday, though. He just needs to polish up a couple of answers about Henderson, prepare a breakdown of Saturday's LSU-Ole Miss game and bring a nice book to read. He's in for a quiet, relaxing day at The Wynfrey.
4. Late last week, the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation announced the creation of REBELS25 (Rebels Twenty-Five), a membership program for Rebel fans ages 25 and under.
"We are focused on growth and inclusivity," said Dan O'Dowd, assistant athletics director for development, via a press release. "This program allows us to involve students, young alumni and community members in the mission of the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation, and give them positive interaction with the athletics department and philanthropy. These young people are the future of our membership. We are excited to extend an option to them."
For as low as $25, the REBELS25 program offers qualifying members Rebel level membership benefits, double priority points, ticket promotions and exclusive networking opportunities.
""We want every level of our fan base to remain connected to Rebel sports," O'Dowd said. "By joining REBELS25, this young constituency can effortlessly transition their way into general Ole Miss Athletics Foundation membership."
The program has also established an opportunity for members to become actively involved. REBELS25 Ambassadors is an association that will assist the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation with the recruitment of members and the execution of events. Applications are currently being accepted.
I have to give Ole Miss a lot of credit here. This is the kind of forward-thinking inclusivity the school has lacked in the past. Other schools around the country have had huge success with programs such as this one (Clemson's IPTAY "I Pay Twenty a Year" program comes to mind), and inevitably, some young people who can only give $25 now can one day in the future give a whole lot more.
5. Thoughts from the weekend that was in college football:
A. LSU is the real deal. Zack Mettenberger showed Saturday he can manage a game as well as win one. Jeremy Hill is a bruising downhill runner, and the Tigers have a stable full of guys behind him. On top of that, LSU has a collection of elite receivers and a defense that can take away what an offense does best. Granted, Florida's offense isn't challenging for opposing defenses (that's being nice), but LSU is a handful. Something tells me the Tigers are going to reflect on that September loss in Athens and kick themselves. I think LSU is the best team in the league.
B. Missouri got a huge win at Georgia Saturday, but it came at a huge cost. Without James Franklin, the Tigers might not be able to fully utilize that crew of big, tall, physical wide receivers Georgia couldn't handle on Saturday. Florida is in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday, providing a fascinating matchup of offensively challenging teams.
C. Arkansas threw for 30 yards Saturday. Thirty. I'll stop a minute while you let that soak in. Thirty. That might fly in the Big Ten. It won't work in the SEC.
D. Aaron Murray is a terrific football player, but he can't carry the carcass that Georgia's offense has become. It's a shame his career is going to end on such an unceremonious note.
E. I wonder how many times Mitt Romney looked around in the Grove Saturday afternoon and thought, "If only this was a microcosm of the country " Think Reagan-Mondale, Part II, only a bigger blowout.
F. I'm normally a big fan of ESPN GameDay, but Saturday's show from Seattle was awful. First, Paul Finebaum went over the top ripping Jadeveon Clowney, drawing an angry response from South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner. Then Chris Fowler basically made out with Lane Kiffin, embarrassing himself, the network and the profession in the first interview Kiffin has given since being fired. Throw in more of David Pollack's cliche-filled analysis and it was a show the network won't brag about.
G. Quote of the Weekend: "I do feel badly for Arkansas. That's no fun getting your butt beat at home, homecoming and all that." ? Steve Spurrier, proving he hasn't lost his edge and he was tired of criticism all week, following South Carolina's 52-7 annihilation of Arkansas.
6. Speaking of Finebaum and Tanner, the Gamecocks' former coach raised an interesting point during an interview Saturday with The State newspaper.
Tanner said he felt Finebaum crossed the line this week by referring to Clowney as "the biggest joke in college football" after Clowney sat out last week against Kentucky due to a rib injury.
"It was really a hateful comment," Tanner told The State. "It was inappropriate. It was unprofessional, and it was unnecessary. I don't know how you make any kind of comment about a student-athlete along those lines."
Finebaum, a longtime SEC commentator who recently was hired by ESPN, will be a major part of the SEC Network's programming when the network debuts in August, 2014. At the moment, that thought is not appealing to Tanner.
"My understanding is he will be a part of the network going forward, and there are 13 other ADs in the SEC, and I am not so sure they feel much differently than I feel about the situation," Tanner said. "Analyze, investigate, speculate. I understand that from the media, but to call out a student-athlete in the fashion he did is inappropriate."
Tanner will communicate his frustration with SEC commissioner Mike Slive, he said.
"I will absolutely tell them how I feel, and I think they probably know at this point," Tanner said, adding, "His comments were not on the SEC Network. That network doesn't exist yet."
One can't help but wonder just how that's going to work when the SEC Network does exist. Will it have journalistic freedom? Will it be censored by the league office? Finebaum's presence and his ability to be himself might be the first big editorial test.
7. My thoughts from the weekend that was in the NFL:
A. After the Bears won Thursday, the Packers and Lions won Sunday. The NFC North is going to be fun all the way to the end.
B. Shame on the Houston Texans' fans, especially the ones that booed Matt Schaub and cheered when he was injured during the Texans' loss to the St. Louis Rams Sunday. I'll never understand the cheering of an injury.
C. I admire Adrian Peterson's talent and judge no man for indiscretions that happen in his personal life, but some of the coverage of his reaction to the death of his 2-year-old son (one he never met until he traveled to South Dakota and saw him on life support late last week) seems overboard. Peterson clearly wasn't involved in the child's life. That doesn't make the boy's death any less tragic; if anything, it might make it worse. However, it does make Peterson somewhat of a less sympathetic figure, at least in my eyes.
D. The Philadelphia Eagles beat Tampa Bay, 31-20, to improve to 3-3, good enough for first place in the NFC East.
E. The New York Jets couldn't afford a home loss to previously-winless Pittsburgh, but they got one. Remember that one in December; it could haunt Rex Ryan and the Jets.
F. Kansas City is 6-0. Amazing.
G. Back to the Texans. Should they contact the New York Giants and ask about Eli Manning? Should Cleveland? Should the Giants shop their franchise quarterback?
E. Never lay 27 points in an NFL game. Ever.
F. The Titans gave Seattle a test, but the Seahawks aren't losing at home
G. Which is why the Saints will look back on that loss in Foxborough, Mass., and wonder why they were so conservative late. More importantly, perhaps, is the health of tight end/slot receiver/future multi-millionaire Jimmy Graham.
H. When the inevitable-because-it's-lazy-and-so-is-half-the-media storyline about Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook not getting along/sharing the basketball appropriately breaks out, remember this: Durant, as evidenced Sunday night in Washington, is a huge Redskins fan. Westbrook, despite growing up in California, is a big Cowboys backer. Those two teams don't exactly get along.
8. Monday is the 10-year anniversary of easily the worst sports moment of my life. On Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003, the Chicago Cubs faced the Florida Marlins in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Cubs leading the series, 3-2.
It's funny. I can't remember a lot of things I did last week, but I can remember absolutely everything about that weekend leading up to Game 6. The Cubs blew Game 1 of that series, squandering a 4-0 lead before losing on Mike Lowell's pinch-hit home run in the 11th inning. Chicago cruised to a Game 2 win the following night, as Mark Prior was masterful for seven innings.
I had a full weekend of work at the Mobile Register in front of me. I was to cover Florida at LSU on Saturday and the Chicago Bears at the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon. Our oldest, Campbell, was 2, and our second daughter, Caroline, was seven months old. For one of the few times in my career, we decided to make a family weekend of it.
We made the trip over to New Orleans on Friday morning, took in the Aquarium of the Americas and then took the ferry over to the zoo. It was a full day, so when I suggested I go downstairs to the hotel bar to watch Game 3 of the series, my wife didn't argue. The Cubs won in 11 innings, securing a lead in the series. I was pumped so full of adrenaline that it was 3 a.m. before sleep finally came.
I got up the next morning and made the trip to Baton Rouge, hoping for a blowout. I got one, just not what I expected. The Tigers went on to claim the national title that season, but on that afternoon in Tiger Stadium, Florida throttled them. I went to the Florida locker room area after the game, ran back to the press box and began throwing together four blocks of copy.
Once I was finished transcribing quotes, I pulled up the radio broadcast of Game 4 on my computer. The Cubs loaded in the bases in the first inning off Marlins starter Dontrelle Willis and Aramis Ramirez cleared them with a grand-slam home run. I'm a big proponent of press box etiquette, meaning I despise media who cheer while at work. There's no place for it, yet on this night, as people worked to file game stories, columns and notebooks from the Gators' upset of Nick Saban and LSU, I was cheering wildly at my seat. I just drew a collection of laughs; everyone who knew me was aware that my outburst was Cubs-related.
The Cubs won that night, 8-3, moving to within one win of the World Series. Since that night, the Cubs are 0-9 in postseason play. Eight of those losses have hurt. One was devastating.
On Sunday, I covered the Saints' 20-13 win over the Bears. I got back to my seat in the Superdome press box in plenty of time to keep an eye on the Cubs' potential clincher while I wrote. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning when Lowell hit a two-run homer off Carlos Zambrano. The Marlins added home runs from Ivan Rodriguez and Jeff Conine en route to a 4-0 win that sent the series back to Chicago.
My family slept all the way back to Mobile that night, so as I drove on I-10 in silence, dread came over me. I knew how the series would end. I just knew it.
That Monday afternoon, I took the airwaves in Mobile for my afternoon radio show on WNSP. Alabama had defeated Southern Miss, 17-3, on the previous Saturday. Auburn had won at Arkansas, 10-3. For the several days, however, no matter how hard we tried to talk college football, one caller after another wanted to talk baseball.
By Tuesday afternoon, I was spooked. Callers asked if I had champagne chilled (I did) and if I had any Cubs-related superstitions (definitely). I just wanted the game to start. I watched in the living room of our house on Japonica Avenue, just one door separating me from a sleeping seven-month-old. I paced from the living room into the dining room and back for more than two hours. I downed beer after beer, stepped outside for a cigarette (I didn't and don't smoke, but my nerves were a mess) between innings.
The Cubs scored one run in the first, one in the sixth and one in the seventh while Prior mowed down the Marlins. As the night wore on, I began getting emails from people I hadn't heard from in years. The gist: "I'm so happy for you," or "After all these years, your Cubs are going to do it," or "I wish I could see you when they finish this off."
Mike Mordecai led off the eighth inning for the Marlins and flew out to Cubs left fielder Moises Alou.
"So this is what it feels like," I specifically remember thinking.
Then all hell broke loose. Juan Pierre doubled down third-base line (why Ramirez wasn't playing no-doubles defense is a question I ask to this day), bringing Luis Castillo to the plate. Prior couldn't put Castillo away. Instead, the Marlins' second baseman fought off one two-strike pitch after another. One of those foul balls was hit down the left field line. Alou glided toward the wall by the Cubs' bullpen, timed his leap and jumped. Alou may or may not have been able to catch the ball. We'll never know.
Before he could get to it, a lifelong Cubs fan named Steve Bartman touched it. Alou reacted with visible anger. Prior came unglued. Castillo walked. Shortstop Alex Gonzalez booted a likely double-play ground ball a couple of hitters later. Before the carnage ended, the Marlins had scored eight times, forcing a Game 7.
It's funny. I'm a huge sports fan. I watch everything, but I don't have a lot of emotional attachments. I've never really had a favorite NFL team. I grew up cheering for the NBA's Lakers, but it wasn't passionate. When my brother moved to Oklahoma City, I switched to the Thunder and have developed quite an affection for the team. I have no real emotional attachment to either of my alma maters, etc. But I've been a Cubs fan forever. That night, I was crushed. I'm not overly embarrassed to admit the shock of the loss brought me to tears, albeit briefly. When I finally tried to sleep, I didn't sleep a wink.
I woke up the next day tortured but harboring no false hope. I never once considered the possibility the Cubs would win Game 7.
My radio show the next day was, in retrospect, hilarious. I told my co-host, Taylor Zarzour, I wasn't watching Game 7. Instead, I planned to go to a movie. One caller after another called in, expressed their condolences, and urged me to watch the game. Zarzour, a devout Boston Red Sox fan emotionally engaged in the ALCS between Boston and the New York Yankees, told me I simply had to. "What if they win?" he said. "You'd hate yourself."
Out of loyalty to a franchise I'd cheered for since early childhood, I did. I sat at the bar at Butch Cassidy's on Florida Street in Mobile, ordered some wings and watched without emotion. Florida jumped ahead, 3-0. The Cubs rallied to tie the game at 3-3 and took a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning on Alou's two-run home run. I felt no excitement. When the Marlins scored three times in the top of the sixth to take the lead for good, I felt no disappointment. Florida won, 9-6, advancing to the World Series, where they defeated the New York Yankees in six games.
I got dozens of emails, all saying essentially the same thing. My friend and co-host, Taylor, sent me one that said simply, "Man, I've got no words. I'm sorry." It was if someonee had died. Ten years later, I look back and laugh (a little). That night, it did feel like a funeral.
I spent the next couple of months in a fog. That next March, the newspaper sent me to Phoenix for a week. Alabama was in the NCAA tournament, Mobile's minor-league affiliate trained in nearby Peoria and the Cubs trained in Mesa. The Cubs' general manager, Jim Hendry, played his college baseball at Spring Hill College in Mobile. He was generous with his time, tearing up when I relayed comments from former teammates and lifelong friends.
The interview over, I got around to asking about Game 6. Hendry's body language changed. His shoulders sagged. His eyes left mine, seemingly finding a spot above me and to my right. Interestingly, he told me the game that haunted him was Game 1. Had the Cubs not blown that lead, perhaps they would have won in a sweep, he said. Maybe then, we wouldn't be so hung up on that game. His voice trailed away.
Ten years later, I'm still hung up on that game. I've dealt with it. I've filed it away, but occasionally, I remember that night and wonder what could have been. I suppose I always will.
9. Pearl Jam's 10th album, "Lightning Bolt," will be released internationally Monday and in the United States on Tuesday. The album is now available for streaming on iTunes a week before its official release.
Per Rolling Stone, the album comes after a long break, during which time the members became involved with other projects, but the band's aim for the album was not only to push their creative capabilities, but to challenge music making entirely.
"I say this in the least-competitive way possible, but we're trying to make not just the best Pearl Jam record, but just the best record," singer Eddie Vedder recently told Rolling Stone. "It's about getting to the next level of communication, or just trying to crack a code into some higher plane of playing music."
The rockers teased the album for the past few months, first with a countdown ticker posted on the the band's website leading to the announcement of the album's arrival, then with celebrity interviews, including one with Judd Apatow, in a short documentary by Danny Clinch, leading to music videos for songs off the album.
The band put out a video for power ballad "Sirens" three weeks ago, also directed by Danny Clinch. Pearl Jam kicked off a massive U.S. tour in Pittsburgh on Oct. 11.
Pearl Jam just signed a deal with Fox Sports that will place 48 of their songs throughout the channel's World Series programming this month.
Per Rolling Stone, the baseball championship's coverage and promotions run from Oct. 23-31, and the band's music will serve the dominant soundtrack. All 12 songs from their upcoming album will be used, according to Billboard. Other songs will include "Even Flow," "Animal," "Daughter," "Corduroy" and more. Pearl Jam will also be featured as November's Artist of the Month on Fox Sports properties ? which should be a special thrill for Vedder, a lifelong Cubs fan.
"[Pearl Jam] said, 'What songs would you want?' I said, 'How many can I have?'" Fox Sports Music VP Janine Kerr told Billboard. "So we gave them a wish list and they said 'yes' to all."
As for Pearl Jam's well-documented reluctance to participate in licensing agreements, band manager Kelly Curtis said the World Series was an easy choice.
"For the past many years, we consider licensing requests using the same criteria we do for everything else: Do we like it? Would the fans like it? Does it provide a different forum for fans to hear the music? Is it something we can get behind?" Curtis said. "The band loves baseball, so this one was a no-brainer."
Pearl Jam's World Series deal is unprecedented in its volume; it licenses the largest amount of songs from any participating artist in recent years. Last year's MLB Playoffs and World Series featured Jack White tunes during the National League Championship coverage and 30 tracks from The Who for the World Series soundtrack.
10. Since February, I've had almost daily discussions with my son, Carson, about the release of Skylanders Swap Force. We learned the release date was Oct. 13 months ago, and that day had taken on an almost magical significance for the little man.
"Dad, how many days till my birthday?" he'd ask when I took him to school or picked him up from school or when he came downstairs in the morning or before he closed his eyes at the end of the day.
I'd answer with the correct number. The next question was always the same: "How many days until Swap Force, Dad?"
I'd add nine and tell him that number.
"That's not too many," Carson would say.
On Sunday morning, I walked out of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and to my car, drove to Wal-Mart and purchased the Swap Force starter kit for my Carson. I left it on the kitchen table so he'd see it when he came downstairs in the morning. I was asleep when he saw the package, and he was considerate enough not to wake me up.
A couple of hours later, I got the biggest hug I've gotten in a long time. Carson had saved his birthday money and some chore money and we made a trip to Wal-Mart and to GameStop to buy some Swap Force figures to go with his new game.
If you have a little Skylander in your house, you might be pleased to read this review from VentureBeat.com. Then again, you may not.
"You may have felt like your bank account might finally be recovering from the first two Skylander installments (not to mention Disney Infinity trying to muscle-in on the toy/video game crossover craze). Your reprieve, however, was short-lived; Publisher Activision is bringing Spyro and friends back in Skylanders Swap Force, available Oct. 13 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, and 3DS. This time around, the body-switching Swap Force characters join all of your favorites from Skylanders Spyro's Adventure and Skylanders Giants in a vastly expanded and improved version of this colorful, kid-friendly dungeon-crawler.
While the titular Giants from the previous entry provided some hard-hitting muscle, often at the cost of speed and mobility, the new Swap Force characters emerge as clearly superior to both the regular Skylanders and their hulking cousins. With top and bottom halves that can both be upgraded separately and then swapped (via clever modeling and small but strong magnets), the Swap Force figures give you hundreds of combinations with which to construct your own favorite Skylander.
Skylanders Swap Force also brings a whole host of improvements to the first two games and so much extra content that even the most dedicated players will have a hard time completing it all before the next, inevitable sequel. New movement options that are specific to the Swap Force figures (flying, climbing, digging, and even teleportation, to name a few) provide a wide variety of challenges such as climbing walls, flying through rings, and bouncing between floating islands. The addition of the Portal Master leveling system ? a sort of self-contained achievement system that awards stars, which increase your level and unlock even more rewards ? offers both incentive and an easy way to track your progress through the main game itself and the truckloads of collectibles, bonus levels, and additional gameplay modes."
All I know is this: On Sunday, my main man has never been happier. He is already to Level 7 of Swap Force. He celebrated by downing two-thirds of a flat iron steak, a bowl full of steamed broccoli and a sweet potato topped with toasted marshmallows. I played with him (I'm horrible) and worked on this content item while he sat next to me and worked to defeat Kaos. It was a good day.
The Bartman play -- NLCS Game 6
1. I'll start with the Rebels and the Aggies, a 41-38 Texas A&M win that wasn't secured until the game's final play. In the aftermath of the loss, frustrated Ole Miss fans are upset at coach Hugh Freeze, want a change at quarterback and are losing perspective.
Allow me to lend it. This time two years ago, the Rebels were in the midst of a 16-game SEC losing streak, on their way to a 2-10 campaign. Apparently the words of realists like me fall on deaf ears. I've said repeatedly this program is in the infancy stages of a total rebuild. I'm not sure what's so difficult to understand about that, but I do know the frustrations that come with it (I'm a Cubs fan, after all; more on that later in this piece).
Perhaps others are serving too much Kool-Aid; I don't know. Here's what I do know. Players make plays and games are won in this league at the line of scrimmage. Ole Miss lost at Auburn last week when the Rebels' offensive line got beat in some key one-on-ones in the fourth quarter. On Saturday in Oxford, Ole Miss couldn't stop Johnny Manziel (welcome to the club, Rebels) and couldn't execute its offense when it had a chance to put the game away with Johnny Football standing on the sideline.
It's not about play-calling or other such nonsense. Texas A&M had timeouts to work with in the final 3:07 had Ole Miss decided to keep the ball on the ground. Further, it now appears Barry Brunetti got banged up in the fourth quarter and may not have been able to go on Ole Miss' final possession. Finally, Bo Wallace's final numbers _ 22-for-36, 301 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, several drops _ didn't exactly stink. The Rebels put the game in his hands, and on second-and-10 from his own 25, Wallace hit Ja-Mes Logan in stride. Logan didn't make the catch. Ja-Mes is a great young man who has made a lot of big plays at Ole Miss, and that's one he'd like to have back, but it doesn't change the fact it was a solid call and a great throw. Logan just dropped it.
When Manziel got it back, he was going against a skeleton crew of a defense. Alabama, with a roster full of future NFL stars, couldn't stop Manziel. A collection of kids and third-teamers weren't stopping him, either.
2. Leftover thoughts from Texas A&M 41, Ole Miss 38
A. Manziel is phenomenal. He rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries and completed 31 of 39 passes for 346 yards and an interception. He's unstoppable, the best college player I've ever seen in person.
B. Ole Miss did a decent job on Mike Evans, holding him to four catches for 46 yards. Charles Sawyer had a nice day.
C. Jaylen Walton and I'Tavius Mathers combined to carry the ball 15 times for 72 yards, a good sign for the future.
D. Laquon Treadwell is special. The freshman from Crete, Ill., caught eight balls for 77 yards and two touchdowns. His future is unlimited.
E. Donte Moncrief caught just one ball for three yards. His NFL stock, one would think, is plummeting. One would think he has to come back next season.
F. Quincy Adeboyejo had a breakout game of sorts, catching three passes for 33 yards.
G. I hate the NCAA's targeting rule. Hate. It.
H. Serderius Bryant led Ole Miss with 12 tackles. Bryant got hurt on one of the key plays of Saturday's game. Texas A&M faced a fourth-and-7 from the Ole Miss 45 late in the fourth quarter. The Aggies got away with a hold on the play, allowing Manziel to scramble for a 13-yard run to the Ole Miss 32. Two plays later, Manziel scored to tie the game at 38-38 with 3:07 left.
I. Thank goodness Bryant is going to be OK. Anytime a player is strapped to a stretcher, it's scary. "Bird" is a good kid, a media favorite. I rarely say a prayer during a football game, but I did late Saturday.
3. Ole Miss will take Jarvis Summers to SEC basketball media days Wednesday in Hoover, Ala. It's a mistake. No one will talk to the Rebels' junior point guard about anything other than his thoughts on suspended teammate Marshall Henderson.
Ole Miss should take Henderson to Hoover. He's smart enough and savvy enough to handle it. Let's get real, by the way; it's October in the Southeast. No one, with the obvious exception of Kentucky fans and media, cares about basketball yet.
Ole Miss officials could have prepared Henderson for the questions that would come in Hoover. The answers could have been rehearsed. The media crush would have been about 1/25th that that was waiting on Manziel in July at SEC football media days. Manziel acquitted himself quite nicely on that morning and rehabilitated his image. The autograph scandal surfaced shortly thereafter, putting Manziel back under a critical microscope, but he handled SEC football media days with aplomb.
Henderson could have done the same. Ole Miss officials aren't saying how long he'll be suspended for his offseason transgressions, but the bet here and elsewhere is it won't be for long. By putting Henderson in a group setting, it gets most of the inevitable questions Henderson will receive upon his return out of the way.
My expectation is Ole Miss will hand Henderson to a media outlet who will underhand one softball after another at him and then limit his media access afterwards. I can't say I blame Ole Miss if that's the strategy and it's certainly the administration's prerogative.
That will work as long as the Rebels win and Henderson stays out of trouble and doesn't resort to some of his obnoxious on-court antics (taunting the Auburn crowd, performing the Gator chomp at the SEC tournament, giving taunting fans the one-finger salute at the NCAA tournament, etc.). If Henderson is a boy scout, that strategy will work just fine.
If the wins aren't as plentiful and Henderson can't help himself, however, the media coverage will almost certainly have a little extra edge to it.
Summers won't have to worry about that on Wednesday, though. He just needs to polish up a couple of answers about Henderson, prepare a breakdown of Saturday's LSU-Ole Miss game and bring a nice book to read. He's in for a quiet, relaxing day at The Wynfrey.
4. Late last week, the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation announced the creation of REBELS25 (Rebels Twenty-Five), a membership program for Rebel fans ages 25 and under.
"We are focused on growth and inclusivity," said Dan O'Dowd, assistant athletics director for development, via a press release. "This program allows us to involve students, young alumni and community members in the mission of the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation, and give them positive interaction with the athletics department and philanthropy. These young people are the future of our membership. We are excited to extend an option to them."
For as low as $25, the REBELS25 program offers qualifying members Rebel level membership benefits, double priority points, ticket promotions and exclusive networking opportunities.
""We want every level of our fan base to remain connected to Rebel sports," O'Dowd said. "By joining REBELS25, this young constituency can effortlessly transition their way into general Ole Miss Athletics Foundation membership."
The program has also established an opportunity for members to become actively involved. REBELS25 Ambassadors is an association that will assist the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation with the recruitment of members and the execution of events. Applications are currently being accepted.
I have to give Ole Miss a lot of credit here. This is the kind of forward-thinking inclusivity the school has lacked in the past. Other schools around the country have had huge success with programs such as this one (Clemson's IPTAY "I Pay Twenty a Year" program comes to mind), and inevitably, some young people who can only give $25 now can one day in the future give a whole lot more.
5. Thoughts from the weekend that was in college football:
A. LSU is the real deal. Zack Mettenberger showed Saturday he can manage a game as well as win one. Jeremy Hill is a bruising downhill runner, and the Tigers have a stable full of guys behind him. On top of that, LSU has a collection of elite receivers and a defense that can take away what an offense does best. Granted, Florida's offense isn't challenging for opposing defenses (that's being nice), but LSU is a handful. Something tells me the Tigers are going to reflect on that September loss in Athens and kick themselves. I think LSU is the best team in the league.
B. Missouri got a huge win at Georgia Saturday, but it came at a huge cost. Without James Franklin, the Tigers might not be able to fully utilize that crew of big, tall, physical wide receivers Georgia couldn't handle on Saturday. Florida is in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday, providing a fascinating matchup of offensively challenging teams.
C. Arkansas threw for 30 yards Saturday. Thirty. I'll stop a minute while you let that soak in. Thirty. That might fly in the Big Ten. It won't work in the SEC.
D. Aaron Murray is a terrific football player, but he can't carry the carcass that Georgia's offense has become. It's a shame his career is going to end on such an unceremonious note.
E. I wonder how many times Mitt Romney looked around in the Grove Saturday afternoon and thought, "If only this was a microcosm of the country " Think Reagan-Mondale, Part II, only a bigger blowout.
F. I'm normally a big fan of ESPN GameDay, but Saturday's show from Seattle was awful. First, Paul Finebaum went over the top ripping Jadeveon Clowney, drawing an angry response from South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner. Then Chris Fowler basically made out with Lane Kiffin, embarrassing himself, the network and the profession in the first interview Kiffin has given since being fired. Throw in more of David Pollack's cliche-filled analysis and it was a show the network won't brag about.
G. Quote of the Weekend: "I do feel badly for Arkansas. That's no fun getting your butt beat at home, homecoming and all that." ? Steve Spurrier, proving he hasn't lost his edge and he was tired of criticism all week, following South Carolina's 52-7 annihilation of Arkansas.
6. Speaking of Finebaum and Tanner, the Gamecocks' former coach raised an interesting point during an interview Saturday with The State newspaper.
Tanner said he felt Finebaum crossed the line this week by referring to Clowney as "the biggest joke in college football" after Clowney sat out last week against Kentucky due to a rib injury.
"It was really a hateful comment," Tanner told The State. "It was inappropriate. It was unprofessional, and it was unnecessary. I don't know how you make any kind of comment about a student-athlete along those lines."
Finebaum, a longtime SEC commentator who recently was hired by ESPN, will be a major part of the SEC Network's programming when the network debuts in August, 2014. At the moment, that thought is not appealing to Tanner.
"My understanding is he will be a part of the network going forward, and there are 13 other ADs in the SEC, and I am not so sure they feel much differently than I feel about the situation," Tanner said. "Analyze, investigate, speculate. I understand that from the media, but to call out a student-athlete in the fashion he did is inappropriate."
Tanner will communicate his frustration with SEC commissioner Mike Slive, he said.
"I will absolutely tell them how I feel, and I think they probably know at this point," Tanner said, adding, "His comments were not on the SEC Network. That network doesn't exist yet."
One can't help but wonder just how that's going to work when the SEC Network does exist. Will it have journalistic freedom? Will it be censored by the league office? Finebaum's presence and his ability to be himself might be the first big editorial test.
7. My thoughts from the weekend that was in the NFL:
A. After the Bears won Thursday, the Packers and Lions won Sunday. The NFC North is going to be fun all the way to the end.
B. Shame on the Houston Texans' fans, especially the ones that booed Matt Schaub and cheered when he was injured during the Texans' loss to the St. Louis Rams Sunday. I'll never understand the cheering of an injury.
C. I admire Adrian Peterson's talent and judge no man for indiscretions that happen in his personal life, but some of the coverage of his reaction to the death of his 2-year-old son (one he never met until he traveled to South Dakota and saw him on life support late last week) seems overboard. Peterson clearly wasn't involved in the child's life. That doesn't make the boy's death any less tragic; if anything, it might make it worse. However, it does make Peterson somewhat of a less sympathetic figure, at least in my eyes.
D. The Philadelphia Eagles beat Tampa Bay, 31-20, to improve to 3-3, good enough for first place in the NFC East.
E. The New York Jets couldn't afford a home loss to previously-winless Pittsburgh, but they got one. Remember that one in December; it could haunt Rex Ryan and the Jets.
F. Kansas City is 6-0. Amazing.
G. Back to the Texans. Should they contact the New York Giants and ask about Eli Manning? Should Cleveland? Should the Giants shop their franchise quarterback?
E. Never lay 27 points in an NFL game. Ever.
F. The Titans gave Seattle a test, but the Seahawks aren't losing at home
G. Which is why the Saints will look back on that loss in Foxborough, Mass., and wonder why they were so conservative late. More importantly, perhaps, is the health of tight end/slot receiver/future multi-millionaire Jimmy Graham.
H. When the inevitable-because-it's-lazy-and-so-is-half-the-media storyline about Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook not getting along/sharing the basketball appropriately breaks out, remember this: Durant, as evidenced Sunday night in Washington, is a huge Redskins fan. Westbrook, despite growing up in California, is a big Cowboys backer. Those two teams don't exactly get along.
8. Monday is the 10-year anniversary of easily the worst sports moment of my life. On Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003, the Chicago Cubs faced the Florida Marlins in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Cubs leading the series, 3-2.
It's funny. I can't remember a lot of things I did last week, but I can remember absolutely everything about that weekend leading up to Game 6. The Cubs blew Game 1 of that series, squandering a 4-0 lead before losing on Mike Lowell's pinch-hit home run in the 11th inning. Chicago cruised to a Game 2 win the following night, as Mark Prior was masterful for seven innings.
I had a full weekend of work at the Mobile Register in front of me. I was to cover Florida at LSU on Saturday and the Chicago Bears at the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon. Our oldest, Campbell, was 2, and our second daughter, Caroline, was seven months old. For one of the few times in my career, we decided to make a family weekend of it.
We made the trip over to New Orleans on Friday morning, took in the Aquarium of the Americas and then took the ferry over to the zoo. It was a full day, so when I suggested I go downstairs to the hotel bar to watch Game 3 of the series, my wife didn't argue. The Cubs won in 11 innings, securing a lead in the series. I was pumped so full of adrenaline that it was 3 a.m. before sleep finally came.
I got up the next morning and made the trip to Baton Rouge, hoping for a blowout. I got one, just not what I expected. The Tigers went on to claim the national title that season, but on that afternoon in Tiger Stadium, Florida throttled them. I went to the Florida locker room area after the game, ran back to the press box and began throwing together four blocks of copy.
Once I was finished transcribing quotes, I pulled up the radio broadcast of Game 4 on my computer. The Cubs loaded in the bases in the first inning off Marlins starter Dontrelle Willis and Aramis Ramirez cleared them with a grand-slam home run. I'm a big proponent of press box etiquette, meaning I despise media who cheer while at work. There's no place for it, yet on this night, as people worked to file game stories, columns and notebooks from the Gators' upset of Nick Saban and LSU, I was cheering wildly at my seat. I just drew a collection of laughs; everyone who knew me was aware that my outburst was Cubs-related.
The Cubs won that night, 8-3, moving to within one win of the World Series. Since that night, the Cubs are 0-9 in postseason play. Eight of those losses have hurt. One was devastating.
On Sunday, I covered the Saints' 20-13 win over the Bears. I got back to my seat in the Superdome press box in plenty of time to keep an eye on the Cubs' potential clincher while I wrote. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning when Lowell hit a two-run homer off Carlos Zambrano. The Marlins added home runs from Ivan Rodriguez and Jeff Conine en route to a 4-0 win that sent the series back to Chicago.
My family slept all the way back to Mobile that night, so as I drove on I-10 in silence, dread came over me. I knew how the series would end. I just knew it.
That Monday afternoon, I took the airwaves in Mobile for my afternoon radio show on WNSP. Alabama had defeated Southern Miss, 17-3, on the previous Saturday. Auburn had won at Arkansas, 10-3. For the several days, however, no matter how hard we tried to talk college football, one caller after another wanted to talk baseball.
By Tuesday afternoon, I was spooked. Callers asked if I had champagne chilled (I did) and if I had any Cubs-related superstitions (definitely). I just wanted the game to start. I watched in the living room of our house on Japonica Avenue, just one door separating me from a sleeping seven-month-old. I paced from the living room into the dining room and back for more than two hours. I downed beer after beer, stepped outside for a cigarette (I didn't and don't smoke, but my nerves were a mess) between innings.
The Cubs scored one run in the first, one in the sixth and one in the seventh while Prior mowed down the Marlins. As the night wore on, I began getting emails from people I hadn't heard from in years. The gist: "I'm so happy for you," or "After all these years, your Cubs are going to do it," or "I wish I could see you when they finish this off."
Mike Mordecai led off the eighth inning for the Marlins and flew out to Cubs left fielder Moises Alou.
"So this is what it feels like," I specifically remember thinking.
Then all hell broke loose. Juan Pierre doubled down third-base line (why Ramirez wasn't playing no-doubles defense is a question I ask to this day), bringing Luis Castillo to the plate. Prior couldn't put Castillo away. Instead, the Marlins' second baseman fought off one two-strike pitch after another. One of those foul balls was hit down the left field line. Alou glided toward the wall by the Cubs' bullpen, timed his leap and jumped. Alou may or may not have been able to catch the ball. We'll never know.
Before he could get to it, a lifelong Cubs fan named Steve Bartman touched it. Alou reacted with visible anger. Prior came unglued. Castillo walked. Shortstop Alex Gonzalez booted a likely double-play ground ball a couple of hitters later. Before the carnage ended, the Marlins had scored eight times, forcing a Game 7.
It's funny. I'm a huge sports fan. I watch everything, but I don't have a lot of emotional attachments. I've never really had a favorite NFL team. I grew up cheering for the NBA's Lakers, but it wasn't passionate. When my brother moved to Oklahoma City, I switched to the Thunder and have developed quite an affection for the team. I have no real emotional attachment to either of my alma maters, etc. But I've been a Cubs fan forever. That night, I was crushed. I'm not overly embarrassed to admit the shock of the loss brought me to tears, albeit briefly. When I finally tried to sleep, I didn't sleep a wink.
I woke up the next day tortured but harboring no false hope. I never once considered the possibility the Cubs would win Game 7.
My radio show the next day was, in retrospect, hilarious. I told my co-host, Taylor Zarzour, I wasn't watching Game 7. Instead, I planned to go to a movie. One caller after another called in, expressed their condolences, and urged me to watch the game. Zarzour, a devout Boston Red Sox fan emotionally engaged in the ALCS between Boston and the New York Yankees, told me I simply had to. "What if they win?" he said. "You'd hate yourself."
Out of loyalty to a franchise I'd cheered for since early childhood, I did. I sat at the bar at Butch Cassidy's on Florida Street in Mobile, ordered some wings and watched without emotion. Florida jumped ahead, 3-0. The Cubs rallied to tie the game at 3-3 and took a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning on Alou's two-run home run. I felt no excitement. When the Marlins scored three times in the top of the sixth to take the lead for good, I felt no disappointment. Florida won, 9-6, advancing to the World Series, where they defeated the New York Yankees in six games.
I got dozens of emails, all saying essentially the same thing. My friend and co-host, Taylor, sent me one that said simply, "Man, I've got no words. I'm sorry." It was if someonee had died. Ten years later, I look back and laugh (a little). That night, it did feel like a funeral.
I spent the next couple of months in a fog. That next March, the newspaper sent me to Phoenix for a week. Alabama was in the NCAA tournament, Mobile's minor-league affiliate trained in nearby Peoria and the Cubs trained in Mesa. The Cubs' general manager, Jim Hendry, played his college baseball at Spring Hill College in Mobile. He was generous with his time, tearing up when I relayed comments from former teammates and lifelong friends.
The interview over, I got around to asking about Game 6. Hendry's body language changed. His shoulders sagged. His eyes left mine, seemingly finding a spot above me and to my right. Interestingly, he told me the game that haunted him was Game 1. Had the Cubs not blown that lead, perhaps they would have won in a sweep, he said. Maybe then, we wouldn't be so hung up on that game. His voice trailed away.
Ten years later, I'm still hung up on that game. I've dealt with it. I've filed it away, but occasionally, I remember that night and wonder what could have been. I suppose I always will.
9. Pearl Jam's 10th album, "Lightning Bolt," will be released internationally Monday and in the United States on Tuesday. The album is now available for streaming on iTunes a week before its official release.
Per Rolling Stone, the album comes after a long break, during which time the members became involved with other projects, but the band's aim for the album was not only to push their creative capabilities, but to challenge music making entirely.
"I say this in the least-competitive way possible, but we're trying to make not just the best Pearl Jam record, but just the best record," singer Eddie Vedder recently told Rolling Stone. "It's about getting to the next level of communication, or just trying to crack a code into some higher plane of playing music."
The rockers teased the album for the past few months, first with a countdown ticker posted on the the band's website leading to the announcement of the album's arrival, then with celebrity interviews, including one with Judd Apatow, in a short documentary by Danny Clinch, leading to music videos for songs off the album.
The band put out a video for power ballad "Sirens" three weeks ago, also directed by Danny Clinch. Pearl Jam kicked off a massive U.S. tour in Pittsburgh on Oct. 11.
Pearl Jam just signed a deal with Fox Sports that will place 48 of their songs throughout the channel's World Series programming this month.
Per Rolling Stone, the baseball championship's coverage and promotions run from Oct. 23-31, and the band's music will serve the dominant soundtrack. All 12 songs from their upcoming album will be used, according to Billboard. Other songs will include "Even Flow," "Animal," "Daughter," "Corduroy" and more. Pearl Jam will also be featured as November's Artist of the Month on Fox Sports properties ? which should be a special thrill for Vedder, a lifelong Cubs fan.
"[Pearl Jam] said, 'What songs would you want?' I said, 'How many can I have?'" Fox Sports Music VP Janine Kerr told Billboard. "So we gave them a wish list and they said 'yes' to all."
As for Pearl Jam's well-documented reluctance to participate in licensing agreements, band manager Kelly Curtis said the World Series was an easy choice.
"For the past many years, we consider licensing requests using the same criteria we do for everything else: Do we like it? Would the fans like it? Does it provide a different forum for fans to hear the music? Is it something we can get behind?" Curtis said. "The band loves baseball, so this one was a no-brainer."
Pearl Jam's World Series deal is unprecedented in its volume; it licenses the largest amount of songs from any participating artist in recent years. Last year's MLB Playoffs and World Series featured Jack White tunes during the National League Championship coverage and 30 tracks from The Who for the World Series soundtrack.
10. Since February, I've had almost daily discussions with my son, Carson, about the release of Skylanders Swap Force. We learned the release date was Oct. 13 months ago, and that day had taken on an almost magical significance for the little man.
"Dad, how many days till my birthday?" he'd ask when I took him to school or picked him up from school or when he came downstairs in the morning or before he closed his eyes at the end of the day.
I'd answer with the correct number. The next question was always the same: "How many days until Swap Force, Dad?"
I'd add nine and tell him that number.
"That's not too many," Carson would say.
On Sunday morning, I walked out of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and to my car, drove to Wal-Mart and purchased the Swap Force starter kit for my Carson. I left it on the kitchen table so he'd see it when he came downstairs in the morning. I was asleep when he saw the package, and he was considerate enough not to wake me up.
A couple of hours later, I got the biggest hug I've gotten in a long time. Carson had saved his birthday money and some chore money and we made a trip to Wal-Mart and to GameStop to buy some Swap Force figures to go with his new game.
If you have a little Skylander in your house, you might be pleased to read this review from VentureBeat.com. Then again, you may not.
"You may have felt like your bank account might finally be recovering from the first two Skylander installments (not to mention Disney Infinity trying to muscle-in on the toy/video game crossover craze). Your reprieve, however, was short-lived; Publisher Activision is bringing Spyro and friends back in Skylanders Swap Force, available Oct. 13 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, and 3DS. This time around, the body-switching Swap Force characters join all of your favorites from Skylanders Spyro's Adventure and Skylanders Giants in a vastly expanded and improved version of this colorful, kid-friendly dungeon-crawler.
While the titular Giants from the previous entry provided some hard-hitting muscle, often at the cost of speed and mobility, the new Swap Force characters emerge as clearly superior to both the regular Skylanders and their hulking cousins. With top and bottom halves that can both be upgraded separately and then swapped (via clever modeling and small but strong magnets), the Swap Force figures give you hundreds of combinations with which to construct your own favorite Skylander.
Skylanders Swap Force also brings a whole host of improvements to the first two games and so much extra content that even the most dedicated players will have a hard time completing it all before the next, inevitable sequel. New movement options that are specific to the Swap Force figures (flying, climbing, digging, and even teleportation, to name a few) provide a wide variety of challenges such as climbing walls, flying through rings, and bouncing between floating islands. The addition of the Portal Master leveling system ? a sort of self-contained achievement system that awards stars, which increase your level and unlock even more rewards ? offers both incentive and an easy way to track your progress through the main game itself and the truckloads of collectibles, bonus levels, and additional gameplay modes."
All I know is this: On Sunday, my main man has never been happier. He is already to Level 7 of Swap Force. He celebrated by downing two-thirds of a flat iron steak, a bowl full of steamed broccoli and a sweet potato topped with toasted marshmallows. I played with him (I'm horrible) and worked on this content item while he sat next to me and worked to defeat Kaos. It was a good day.
The Bartman play -- NLCS Game 6
