Thursday Scoop
a trio of wins, a social dilemma and a triumphant return
Photo credit: Ole Miss Athletics.
Happy Thursday to you all. I’d like to say thanks again for this early wave of support. The response to this has been incredible. I am not sure what I expected, but the number of subs so far exceeded any expectations I could have set. Tell your friends to join the party.
Let’s dive in.
Things are changing:
I will never dabble into politics here. I find it hard to believe any of you want that. You can log onto the cesspool that is Twitter and scream about Potato Head for your daily fill of outrage. But here’s an update to Ole Miss’ attendance policy in the aftermath of the state reopening. I have no real strong thoughts. I am happy for business owners and I am happy for the many of you who can now watch your favorite teams in person-again. Sports bring people joy. I hope this safely does just that. Be safe and enjoy a slice of normalcy, we’ve all earned it.
Kermit caps Cal
Ole Miss beat a bad Kentucky team 70-62 on Tuesday night. The Rebels are now 14-10 (9-8). This group is a home win over Vanderbilt on Saturday from ten league wins and finishing in the top half of the conference. Sure hasn't felt like it, right? Credit to Kermit and his staff for righting the ship after a brutal January. It, in all likelihood, isn’t going to be enough to get back to the NCAA Tournament — barring a deep run (and likely having to win the whole thing) at the SEC Tournament next week. But this team doesn't suck and there was a time in January where they looked as if they might suck mightily.
I don’t have a ton of hard-hitting analysis about this game, other than that I am surprised Calipari still has (fantastic) hair three months into coaching this group. Woof. His tenure in Lexington is at a crossroads and how he reinvents this team and himself next season to survive will be fascinating to watch.
One last thought on Ole Miss: I often hear the sentiment that the Rebels are “just so damn hard to figure out.” I understand that sentiment on the surface. How do you lose to Georgia twice, beat Missouri twice, Tennessee once and lose to Vandy team without its two leading scorers? Fair question. But I think what you’re trying to say is that this team is wildly inconsistent.No disputing the results, they certainly are. Why? Well, they’re a good, sometimes really good, defensive team that struggles to score the basketball on a consistent basis, meaning their margin for error is so thin on the offensive end, if they have an off night defensively, they’re toast. This is what they’ve been all year but the erratic results have camouflaged how simple their core issues really are.
The team needs a consistent volume scorer in the backcourt. Essentially, what they thought Jarkell Joiner was going to be this year. May I introduce you to McDonald’s All-American Daeshun Ruffin? He’s Oxford bound soon.
Baseball back on track:
I’ll start by saying I am not certain if I like Memphis and Jackson State’s chances to host this season. You can thank this former D1Baseball intern later for this free intel. I don’t make much of this midweek sweep other than that it is a good sign the offense did exactly what it was supposed to do. Jacob Gonzalez had a big Tuesday. Kid is incredibly talented and you’re lucky to be able to watch him for a couple years. That Tim Elko fella we discussed on Tuesday morning homered twice and the pen allowed one unearned run over 14 innings. Good for Ole Miss.
Above all else, they need to get healthy with conference play 16 days away. The injury reporter is far from catastrophic and it’s all minor aliments. Peyton Chatagnier is out another week with a hamstring injury he suffered last Monday in Arlington. Trey LaFluer apparently just got over a minor hamstring tweak himself. All is fine, but being at full strength when Auburn arrives in two weeks will help this team a lot.
Socially Acceptable or Sociopath?
I told you this wouldn’t be all Ole Miss. This bit has been filed away in my brain since my radio days. If you listened then, you’ll know the general public mostly annoys me, but also fascinates me at the same time. Now I have a space to air my grievances. It’s a newsletter Festivus. Here’s the first installment:
Yesterday, I was win a public/professional setting and ventured into the restroom. I don’t get shocked by much anymore, and this didn’t even really offend me, but it certainly got the hamster wheel in my head spinning. As I walk through the door, I begin to hear a voice. Guys rarely gossip in the restroom, outside of the occasional life pep talk in the wee hours of morning in a urine-soaked bar bathroom. I found this strange. As I continue my approach, I realize there’s a gentleman in the stall essentially doing business on the phone while, well, taking care of business. I was miffed. He heard me come in. No shot he didn’t. Seriously, this guy could not have given less of a shit that I was there ( no pun intended) and just continued talking shop while seeing a man about a horse.
Is this normal? Do people do this? I am not even mad, I am impressed. I guess you have to maximize your time. But I don’t like other people hearing me do either piece of this multitask. The best part of this is, in the 90 seconds I was in there, he finished up his business call, got another incoming ring and began talking one of his buddies through a Draft Kings lineup. What a guy! He definitely still has a land line mounted on a wall next to his throne in his master bathroom. Guaranteed. People, man. Fair or foul? I’d like your thoughts.
Mississippians on the Tee:
If you’ve followed me for a while now, you know I will obnoxiously scream to anyone who will listen about the strength of junior, amateur and professional golf in the Magnolia State. It doesn’t get the respect or attention it deserves. So I’ve decided to start a weekly update. I’ll let you know of any Mississippians teeing it up on any major professional tours, as well as collegiate and junior updates when applicable. This is a tough week to introduce this as there are no Mississippians in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Korn Ferry Tour is off this week, but no one has ever accused me of good timing as it relates to most aspects of my life. I’ll start here though:
Ole Miss’ Jackson Suber is on a tear. He won the individual title at LSU Invitational last week, his second in as many starts. Suber was co-medalist at the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate in November. The latest win had 7 of the top 15 amateurs in the country in the field. Quite the start to the spring season. Good on Suber. Keep kicking ass. Rebels are back in action March 14th in Myrtle Beach at the aptly-named General Hackler Championship hosted by Coastal Carolina.
Two Mississippians: Chad Ramey and Davis Riley are in the Top 25 on the Korn Ferry money list and in line to get Tour cards. Buddy, will they have earned it. Due to COVID-19 the Korn Ferry Tour essentially said to last year’s graduating class — the 25 who would have otherwise realized their dream of locking up a PGA Tour — tough luck, you’ll have to do it again. The KFT is now doing a combined two-year season with last year’s standings remaining intact as they begin the 2021 slate. It’s no one’s fault and it’s really tough luck, but here’s to hoping both play well, make more money and snag the card they deserve.
Oh, and not to mention, Tupelo Native Hayden Buckley won the first KFT event of the season as the last man in the field. He showed up to the course at at 6 A.M. on Thursday hoping five guys would drop out, got lucky, got in and won the whole damn thing, more on that in a second.
What’s on the Horizon?
Ready for some news that will make you want to take off your pants? The People’s Holiday is back from the dead. I gave you my word it wouldn’t die. Mailbag Friday is here to stay. Collin and I are recording tonight. Send in your questions by text, DM, replying to this email, wherever. Remember: It’s called the Rippee Writes Podcast, available on Spotify, Apple and other places soon. Everyone celebrates The People’s Holiday. Don’t get left behind.
Ten Feet to Change Your Life: A couple nights ago, I had the pleasure of chatting with an old pal for a couple of hours. His name is Hayden Buckley and he’s now on the precipice of realizing his dream. I have always said to anyone that will listen to me that trying to carve out a sustainable life as a professional golfer might be most mentally (and physically) taxing feats in professional sports. Your livelihood and paycheck are on the line every single time you tee it up. Buckley is the epitome of this. His story — from being rejected by both in-state schools and walking on at Missouri, to playing on three different continents on an unlivable wage — is simply remarkable. I have a long-form piece on this dropping tomorrow. I realize a lot of you aren’t golf fans. I get that, but I believe there is something for you in this story regardless. I encourage you to look at it through the lens of resiliency and the lengths a man will go to chase a dream. I think I told this story fairly, but I am also very happy for my friend. You Should check this out.
That’s all from me today. I’ll remind you that the format of this newsletter and is still a work in progress. The same goes for my podcast. My goal is incremental process: both will be better in six months. But I need your help. What do you like? What do you not like? I have replies turned on to this to interact with you. I want to grow this and make it a great place to laugh and spend your morning/night/whatever.
Your feedback is always wanted. Have a wonderful Thursday and check out tomorrow’s content.
Business on the toilet is not normal, but I've heard it before unfortunately. Keep up the good work man, you're doing a great job.
A year ago I would have said that was not normal, but lately I've learned that some customers/co-workers simply do not care what you are doing and expect you to help them right then and there