Rippee Writes: Thursday Scoop
Golf, Baseball, soccer and a good read
Happy Thursday to all. We have a new podcast out with Sports Drink (formerly Armchair All-Americans) draft analyst Rob Paul recapping all things NFL Draft including Elijah Moore’s fit in New York, the five quarterbacks taken in the first round and more. I think Paul is one of the best draft guys out there that you probably don’t know about and enjoyed the conversation. Check it out here or anywhere you get your podcasts. We’ve got a variety of stuff to dive into today.
Let’s go.
Ole Miss survived a Tuesday scare against Arkansas State
Ole Miss won, 15-12. That’s all that matters for them. The Rebels avoided an RPI pitfall, but good lord was the pitching suboptimal. It was mainly the performances of Mitch Murrell and Braden Forsyth in the sixth inning that really let this one get off the rails, and one of those is more surprising than the other. Austin Miller and Jackson Kimbrell threw scoreless innings and Derek Diamond did the same to finish the game off. That’s a nice sign, particularly for Miller and Kimbrell. I don’t make a ton from the game other than that the Rebels might be in trouble if they get into the loser’s bracket of a regional and have to dig deeper into the bullpen. But we already knew that, didn’t we? The guys who are needed on the weekends pitched fine and you hope Kimbrell finds something down the stretch to give Ole Miss at least one left-handed option, though I wouldn’t hold my breath. Beyond that, you know what you have in this bullpen and you know what you’re potentially getting into if you go beyond the top three arms. So it goes.
Greg says you people love the 16 oz prime strip for $10 deal so he will roll with that for a third consecutive week. Check out our grill corner podcast from yesterday. It will make you want to fire up your grill. Also, you get $2 off any fish in the freezer. Thanks for subscribing and enjoy. Go by LBs. They’re the best. Will see about an updated deal later this week.
Ole Miss Soccer lost to Duke in the Sweet 16
The Rebels fell 1-0 to the Blue Devils, ending a historic season as the program reached its second ever Sweet 16. Both came under head coach Matthew Mott. Congrats on a great year.
Magnolia State Golf Update:
The Ole Miss Men’s Golf team is headed to Stillwater, Oklahoma for its regional. The Rebels are postseason bound for the fourth consecutive year. The No.4 national seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys are the host and the event will be played at Karsten Creek Golf Club. The other teams include No. 10 Illinois, No. 15 Auburn, No. 21 SMU, Notre Dame, Alabama, Baylor, Sam Houston, Little Rock, Northwestern, Charleston and Middle Tennesse. The top five teams will advance to the NCAA Championships. The first round begins May 17.
The Women’s team begins its postseason run at the Baton Rouge regional on Monday.
The PGA Tour is in Charlotte this week for the Wells Fargo. There are no Mississippians in the field to my knowledge, but I can now say with 100 percent certainty there will be at least one on Tour next season, thanks to Davis Riley. I bet there will be more too.
The Korn Ferry Tour is in College Grove, Tennessee this week for the Simmons Bank open. The usual five Mississippians are there.
Hattiesburg native and Alabama alum Davis Riley teed off at 6:56 this morning and goes at 12:21 tomorrow. Riley locked up a PGA Tour card last week thanks to his top ten finish in Huntsville. Riley was already headed to the PGA Tour in all likelihood and was just biding his time due to the wraparound season. He’s third in the points standings. Congrats to the 24-year-old on a rapid ascent to golf’s highest level.
Tupelo native and Missouri alum Hayden Buckley went off at 7:18 this morning and is set for a 12:43 tee time tomorrow. He’s made two straight cuts and is 32nd in the points standings thanks to his win in Florida in February. Buckley is trending in the right direction as he looks to slip inside the top 25 and earn a Tour card.
Something must be wrong with Tupelo native and Mississippi State alum Chad Ramey. He’s coming off back-to-back finishes outside the top 10 and has finished in the 20s the last two weeks. I am kidding, of course, but with Ramey’s play the last 18 months, it is almost not a joke. His consistency is just remarkable. He’s missed three cuts in the 29 Korn Ferry events in since the wraparound season started in Januaray 2020, and hasn’t missed a cut since August 23. That’s nuts. Ramey sits 9th in the standings and is well in line to graduate to the PGA Tour. His tee times are 12:43 this afternoon and 7:18 tomorrow morning.
Ole Miss alum Braden Thornberry tees off at 2:11 this afternoon and 8:46 tomorrow morning. Thornberry has missed back-to-back cuts and is 50th in the standings. That’s still good position to make a run through the summer with a stretch of good play.
Ole Miss alum Jonathan Randolph tees off at 1:27 this afternoon and 8:02 tomorrow morning. Randolph is 103 in the points standings and needs to make some noise soon.
SkyBox’s results speak louder than any convincing I can do. Go see these guys now with the NBA playoffs, golf and baseball heating up. This weekend was another profitable one for the best in the business. Check out their Twitter for free plays and then go do yourself a favor and buy a package. Right now, if you buy the four-week NASCAR package and it doesn’t profit, you get your money back. How can you beat that? Go see them and ensure you’re making money.
This week’s good read
I said when I started this thing I’d start posting articles and stories I found fascinating, well-written and worth your time if you’re looking to be entertained for a few minutes. I just kind of forgot along the way, but here’s one: The Wall Street Journal did a terrific piece this week on a Syrian sailor trapped on an abandoned cargo ship for four years before he was finally freed. Apparently, this is somewhat common in that area of the world and is usually due to the ship or its captain being in debt to governments and ports. Anyway, I thought this story was incredibly well done. The photos and detail are astounding.
On the horizon
Mailbag Friday triumphantly returns to its rightful day. Get your questions in now.
Collin and I will also preview the A&M series on the pod with a Sunday megapod to follow too.
Tomorrow’s newsletter will have an A&M scout, an internet rant I held off on today and more.
That is all from me today. Thanks for subscribing. Send to your friends and tell them to sign up. It is free. Back with more tomorrow.