The Red Solo Cup

Evolution of the Cup

2009-03-16T11:17:00.002-05:00

With the Cup on the verge of turning a whopping one year old, we have joined the illustrious SBNation.

Behold, The Red Cup Rebellion begins today. Update your bookmarks (that means you, Gonzohog).

Rebels fall in Game 3 of series

2009-03-15T22:53:00.003-05:00

As The Ghost of Jay Cutler has already informed you, the Rebels took the series from Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Rebels again put together a nice offensive performance, and they took the first game of Sunday’s double-header 6-1. Philip Irwin battled hard as he pitched a complete game (7 innings) and only allowed a run. However, game 2 was not as good for the Rebels. Mike Bianco started the third game of the series against Vanderbilt off with a grave error: letting Aaron Barrett pitch. I’m not sure if Mike is watching the same guy pitch that I am, but he is starting a guy in the SEC rotation that has an 11.20 ERA.

The issues of the second game:

First, our starting pitching was atrocious. Secondly, I feel bad for Scott Bittle. He came in to record the final out of the 5^th inning, and he accomplished that. He did not allow a hit in 2.1 innings, but he gets the loss due to an unearned run. That drops him to 1-2 on the season, and it isn’t looking like he will have the same impressive stats as last year. We still have 9 weeks to go, but I am worried that he isn’t the same shut-down pitcher from last year.

We scored 6 runs, and that is satisfactory, especially against Vandy pitching. We have to find a way to string it all together.

All in all, we cannot be disappointed with the Rebels showing in Nashville this weekend. I am very impressed with started the season 2-1.

The Rebels return to action on Tuesday in Jonesboro against Arkansas State. Wednesday, the Jort Nation comes to Oxford when the Memphis Tigers make the drive from the Bluff City.

Rebs take the series against 'Dores

2009-03-15T14:14:00.004-05:00

Brian Walker's Elbow will bring you more this evening when the doubleheader is complete, but the Rebs have topped the 'Dores in game one of their Sunday doubleheader by a score of 6-1.

In other news: After a poorly officiated game which magnificently spread the misery around (like Socialism!) the Mississippi State Bulldogs have won the SEC Men's basketball title. The game was characterized by a bunch of wacky threes, generally sloppy ball, and something like four turnovers in one second (literally). All of that aside though, the win was legitimate. Y'all know I'm no State fan but a punched ticket to the dance is nothing to make fun of. Also, Jarvis Varnado is the best defensive player the SEC has seen since Shaq, hands down.

We're never going to hear the end of this. "LMAO We Я dAnCiN' and Ole PISS ain't BITCH!!! RATTLERATTLE!!"

Friday the 13th? I mean, we just beat Vandy in Nashville

2009-03-13T22:15:00.005-05:00

The Rebels and Commodores got together in Nashville, TN tonight to determine their identities. Really, neither team knows who it is. This is what the teams showed tonight:

Ole Miss:

We've now got a Friday night guy in Drew Pomeranz. He had a solid night tonight going four innings and only giving up two runs. My only concern is the five walks he issued tonight. McKean went three innings and gave up a run. Morgan and Barbeck both worked one inning and only allowed one hit a piece.

So, I'd say our bullpen is solid. We did commit two errors, but I will give the defense a pass due to the awful weather.

As far as our offense is concerned, we are impressive. We got to Mike Minor tonight which is something no team has done this year. He started really strong by only allowing one hit through 19 batters faced, but he lost control and ended up getting the loss. Tyler Hill was impressive in relief, and he had 8k's.

We scored 9 runs on 12 hits, and that production came mostly in bunches. We scored 4 in the 4th, and 3 of those came on a Travis homerun. We scored 3 more in the 6th on a bases loaded, two-out double from Logan Power. This season, Power is batting 1.000 with the bases loaded. CLUTCH

Vanderbilt:

They are a different team from last year. They haven't shown the power they have had in the past without Flaherty and Alvarez in the line-up. The want to play small ball, but they cannot string the hits together.

Their pitching has had a solid season until tonight, but I bet they get it together by the next game.

My thoughts:

Ole Miss showed some guts tonight by getting the first one under the belt against Vandy. I personally think the game tomorrow will be postponed due to weather, and we can expect a double header on Sunday. As someone commented on a earlier, free streaming video is available through the Vanderbilt site. If you feel I left important information out of this post, feel free to comment and add one.

I'm overstepping my boundaries here...

2009-03-13T13:36:00.005-05:00

Though I am not the blogger of choice for anything but baseball (and I'm not even the blogger of choice for that), I stumbled across these stories today on the intra-webs.

We all know how much we loved trouncing Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. The Rebel fans that attended the aforementioned trouncing probably noticed how weird (but really nice) the Texas Tech fans were. Some were dressed as pirates and wore eye patches, and all of this is part of Mike Leach's ploy to get a role in Pirates of the Caribbean 3: The Quest for the Big XII South. Anyway, the Pirate's Guild recently named Mike Leach as the coach "most likely to be run through with a sword and be fed to the sharks."

The guild is trying to send the same message the Texas Tech administration was trying to send a month ago: we don't want you either.

In other news, the never ending search for the 12th game for THIS fall's football season was thought to have found some new life. Chris Low reported earlier this week that some schedule shuffling had freed up September 12th for Colorado, and that would have been a perfect match for Ole Miss. I was initially writing this post to encourage Pete Boone to book the game because of this article I found that shows the QB position for Colorado is still up for grabs and will be until August.

As I sit writing this post, Lowe has made another report...

Colorado not a likely foe for Ole Miss.

Dang't Pete Boone. Dang't.

Could scheduling a 12th game really be that hard?

Houston Nutt Reacts to Middle Eastern Scenes

2009-03-13T10:48:00.002-05:00

As you all know, Houston Nutt will soon be visiting the Middle East to deliver his own special brand of rah-rah to our nation's fighting men and women. In an effort to prepare coach Nutt for this noble trek, the Cup sat down with him to show him the types of scenes he may encounter. What you see below are the images we showed him. Clicking them will allow you to see his reactions as documented by our crack staff of internet wizards.

As you can see, Houston Nutt is a very spiritual, sensitive, and emotional man. Godspeed, Houston.

Rebel Tennis Weekend Preview

2009-03-13T10:02:00.002-05:00

The #3 Ole Miss Men's Tennis Team is on an SEC road-trip this weekend, visiting #23 Alabama today and Auburn on Sunday. Chadwick's team is rested and ready, since their last action, a 6-1 decision over then-#5 Tennessee.

Alabama Crimson Tide
Today, 2:00

The Tide boast a gaudy 11-1 record thus far, but have not played the type of competition Ole Miss has faced. Of Alabama's competition that has even sniffed the top twenty-five, they beat Miami (4-0) and lost to Pepperdine (3-4) at the Malibu Qualifier for ITA Nationals. Since then, Alabama has slain a row of baby kittens, except for their reasonable wins at Indiana (4-3) and Clemson (5-2), neither of which, though, is particularly good. To open up SEC play, they beat Arkansas 6-1 and #44 LSU 5-2. All three of the Tide's doubles teams are ranked in the Top 80, a claim not made by Ole Miss, who generally fields strong doubles. And Junior Syketh Myeni is currently the #66 player in the nation.

The rankings would seem to indicate that the Rebels might struggle at doubles, however, earlier in the season the Rebels dominated the doubles point against Florida, who currently boast 3 teams in the top 60. My gut feeling is that our #2 and #3 teams (Britton/Vorster and Norber/Sauer) just have not been together long enough for the ITA to take notice, especially of Norberg and Sauer, who have been business-like in their winning ways, as of late.

The X factor is the forecast of rain in Tuscaloosa. Ole Miss is, usually, a better team outdoors. The difference, though, is slight, and will unlikely be enough to make up for Alabama's talent gap against the Rebels.

Prediction: All Day Rebs 4-1 with wins at doubles and by Norberg, Britton, and Thiemann.

Auburn Tigers
Sunday, 1:00

The Tigers are currently #20 in the nation, 7-2 overall, and 2-0 in the conference. Their loss against #1 Stanford is certainly understandable.

I'd say more, but it's time to go to the match.

Ole Miss vs. Vandy: Weekend baseball preview

2009-03-13T09:12:00.002-05:00

Basketball season is over for the Rebels. Any of you die hard, face painted, wig wearing, AK's Army generals can come on over to Swayze now. Don't get me wrong, I love basketball, but it just wasn't our year.

This weekend the Rebels load up the Callahan charter buses and head to Nashvegas for a weekend series with Vandy. Just looking at Vandy's overall record(10-4) they seem to be a solid baseball squad yet again. Last season they won 41 games and choked miserably during the Tempe Regional losing to OU twice in a few days.

Ole Miss was 4-1 against Vanderbilt last year sweeping the 'Dores in Oxford and then knocking them out of the SEC tournament. I would hate to say there's any animosity between the two teams, because while Vandy knows the meaning of the word animosity and can probably give you a dozen synonyms, they've never given me a John Cohen type of feel. "NICHOLLS STATE, GET OFF YOUR DAMN BUS AND PLAY US! FINE! WE WIN!"

Vandy has only lost one game at home to powerhouse University of Illinois-Chicago. As a team, they are batting .334 and holding opponents just above the Brashear line at .248. Aaron Westlake is batting .500 with a .550 OBP after 52 PA. Just walk him.

Ole Miss has only played one game on the road, losing to South Alabama in extra innings. I would wager that if they get all three games in, this will be the greatest test our team has faced all season. Kevin Mort is batting over .400 with Logan Power and Matt Smith batting .364 with a combined 5 HRs and 28 RBI.

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday:
Drew Pomeranz: Soph. LHP
Mike Minor: Jr. LHP

A battle of Southpaws with Minor sporting a 2.21 ERA with a 1-0 record. Pomeranz has an almost identical 2.58 ERA with a 1-0 record. Bianco made the right move taking Aaron Barrett out of the Friday position. He had three mediocre starts and didn't seem to be improving. Pomeranz has pitched in big games before, but this is the biggest stage: SEC Friday night baseball.

Saturday:
Phillip Irwin: Jr. RHP
Caleb Cotham: Soph. RHP

Cotham has a microscopic 1.29 ERA with a 3-0 record whilst Irwin has compiled a 1.72 ERA with a 2-0 record. I don't think their ERAs will continue to stay this low in SEC play. They've both had great seasons thus far, but it's just not possible to get out of conference play with an ERA like this. Up until now, Irwin gave us our best chance to win, and I'm going to stick with that opinion until he proves otherwise.

Sunday:
Aaron Barrett: Jr. RHP
Nick Christiani: Sr. RHP

This should be one of Barrett's last chances to make the weekend rotation. He's got an ERA over 9, and surprisingly Bukvich has been more serviceable this season. Christiani has a 3.71 ERA with a 2-0 record. He's struck out 21 in 17 innings while only walking three. The Rebels should be ready to swing. Fans have been clamoring for THE BITTLER to start, but I'd rather have a 99 percentile bullpen with Bittle. If he starts, who comes in at the end of the game? It's a question Bianco wouldn't have a comfortable answer for.

Predictions:
Friday: Vanderbilt 5 Ole Miss 2
Saturday: Ole Miss 6 Vanderbilt 4
Sunday: Vanderbilt 8 Ole Miss 7

Keeping Tabs: What Are Your Favorite Rebels Doing for Spring Break?

2009-03-13T09:04:00.004-05:00

There are a couple of things in which we here at the Cup have always taken great pride - our strong journalistic credibility, non-medically-enhanced manhoods, and multi-continent singing tour are just a few of them. It takes a special kind of trust and work ethic to offer you the absolutely factual look into the real lives of Ole Miss scholar athletes - a term I use with equal seriousness - that has become a hallmark of our little operation. So, we hope you will appreciate the great sacrifices we made to publish for you this annotated list of the spring break plans of some of your favorite Rebels combined by our sources deep inside the athletics department for whom you may mourn in your own way.

Jerrell Powe, in a compromise with Tracy Rocker, is taking his motor scooter down to Panama City Beach for one of those old-fashioned motorcycle parades. Rocker insisted, though, that it be this particular parade - the 14th Annual Mark Mangino - Little Debbie West Florida Obesity Awareness Ride. Said Powe, "I haz an appetite ... for the open road."

Dexter McCluster is in the unfortunate position of having to complete a research project over the break. Not for school, though. McCluster is flying out to Los Angeles to view an advance showing of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in order to gain more information on something called an adamantium skeleton.

Jevan Snead, always the responsible one, has taken a job babysitting a kid for an old friend who is really busy next week.

Greg Hardy is going to wall-paper his room at home with his Sports Illustrated cover picture. And then tear them all down as a sign of his angst. And then wall-paper his room at home with his Sports Illustrated cover picture. And then tear them all down as a sign of his angst. And then wall-paper his room at home with his Sports Illustrated cover picture. And then tear them all down as a sign of his angst. And then wall-paper his room at home with his Sports Illustrated cover picture. And then tear them all down as a sign of his angst. And then wall-paper his room at home with his Sports Illustrated cover picture. And then tear them all down as a sign of his angst. And then wall-paper his room at home with his Sports Illustrated cover picture. And then tear them all down as a sign of his angst. And then have coffee. And shame.

It's Spring Break at Oxford High School, as well, so Coach Houston Nutt has decided to take the wife and daughter Haven on a trip to Fayetteville to visit some old friends and plan ways to sabotage the lives of his former players as part of his grand scheme to ruin the University of Arkansas, leading, inevitably, to the collapse of the Natural State and its annexation by Generalissimo Chuck Norris of the Republic of Texas. Oops! Kinda let the cat out of the bag on that one.

Marshay Green will attempt to recreate the excitement of his most recent football season by telling everyone that he is going to Cancun, but spending most of the break bathing in the cool, brown waters of lovely Galveston, before actually showing up in Cancun at the end of the week and being so hot that he hooks up with fifty Spanish chick and buys MTV.

And, finally, Rebel-to/may-be Jamar Hornsby will be exactly where you guessed - on tour with Dent May and his magnificent ukulele.

RSC SEC Tournament LiveBlog

2009-03-12T11:05:00.002-05:00

RSC SEC Tournament LiveBlog

Kentucky Preview

2009-03-12T08:34:00.007-05:00

Well, it's Mississippi day at the SEC tournament again. The Rebels play the Wildcats, and the Bulldogs play ... the Bulldogs.

Ole Miss won the regular season game against Kentucky, due primarily to holding Jodie Meeks to 2-13 shooting until the game was out of reach. We were unable to keep Patrick Patterson in check, and he made us pay going 8-12 from the field and 8-9 from the charity stripe. The Rebels will have to contain Patterson in order to win today, but I think that's possible.

Malcolm White has emerged as a legitimate player since that game. Against Kentucky, Malcolm was also 8-12. While no one would argue that Malcolm is the player that First-team All-SEC selection Patrick Patterson is, he has been a good presence of late, playing great defense and putting the ball in the hole (though inconsistently). Malcolm scored 20 points against a Mississippi State team that boasts the best interior defender in the country. I think that Malcolm will provide the post presence needed to match up against Patterson in the zone. Of course, they don't really play the same position since Patterson is more of a 4. So a power forward will have to step up as a defender against Patterson. That's why I'm hoping Kennedy puts Murphy on Patterson.

While Patterson has three inches on Holloway, we don't have a player on our team that plays the game harder than Murphy. He will fight for every ball and come down with a load of rebounds regardless of who he's paired against. I can't comprehend why he isn't starting games right now. He leads our team in double doubles and is a force coming off the bench. He's our second best interior defender, and he's a good offensive threat as well (leading our team in field goal percentage by ten percent). I want Murphy Holloway on the court for 30 minutes a game. Not 22.

In the end, I think that Kentucky is a pretty good matchup for us. They have no depth whatsoever and only have two players who are serious scoring threats. If we can contain either of those, we've got a good shot of winning. If Zach Graham can hold Meeks to 2-13 shooting again, it's in the bag. That's a big if though.

Anyone else think this guy got juked out of his shoes?

Prediction:

Ole Miss 75 - Kentucky 78

Baseball Schadenfreude

2009-03-12T07:53:00.003-05:00

So, you think losing to Mercer, South Alabama, and TCU before cancelling a doubleheader due to weather is bad, huh?

Well, yeah... it is.

But, don't worry, we're certainly not the only ones who have had to endure early-season baseball embarrassment. Behold, my quickly compiled list of shitty things that have happened to 2009 SEC baseball programs thus far.

Alabama
Dropped 2 of 3 to Southeast Missouri
Two games against Illinois-Chicago cancelled
Lost to Troy

Arkansas
Lost to Kansas
Two games against Western Illinois cancelled

Auburn
Dropped 2 of 3 to Elon
Game against Florida State cancelled

Florida
Swept by in-state rival Miami
Lost to FAU

LSU
Dropped 2 of 3 to Illinois (during the new Box's opening weekend)

Mississippi State
Lost to Northern Illinois
No contest against Nicholls State
Dropped 3 of 4 to Hawaii

South Carolina
Game against Clemson cancelled

Tennessee
Game against Oregon State cancelled
Lost to Austin Peay
Game against FIU cancelled
Lost to USC upstate

There are plenty of losses I've left out, but they're not so much embarrassing (losing to Coastal Carolina, Long Beach State, Oregon State, and other "baseball schools.") Keep it all in perspective, Rebels. Few SEC teams have gone through this still young season without a few "omgwtf's."

Buk for Sunday?

2009-03-11T22:52:00.002-05:00

Tonight's pitching preformance by Brett Bukvich (0 runs, 2 hits, 6 k) has left this blogger and the rest of the Rebel Nation wondering, "Why isn't Brett Bukvich a weekend starter?" Yes, I'm kidding.

Anyway, I really have decided that we should give Brett a look on Sundays. He couldn't be any worse than Barrett, and the Left, Right, Left weekend rotation would be kind of cool.

The whole deal that started this debate was the 3-0 Rebel victory that was acheived by signature Bianco style of play: pitching and defense. Buk only allowed two hits in six innings, and Barbeck and Goforth combined in three innings only allowed one hit. Goforth struck out the side in the ninth.

Believe it or not, the same team that struggled in Mobile and at home with TCU is now on a six game win streak heading into the weekend stint with Vandy in Nashville. One Man to Beat will no doubt have a weekend preview for you, and I will provide you with game recaps.

By using the comments function, let the debate begin on who should be our Sunday starter. I vote Bukvich for now (let your commenting occur in a vacuum, meaning do not take into account that the six innings pitched by Buk tonight hindering him from starting on Sunday).

Walk it Out

2009-03-11T09:55:00.007-05:00

Last night, David Phillips slapped a solo shot walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to notch one for the good guys against Austin Peay 8-7. The move to insert Phillips in the ninth was a strong one by Bianco. He wanted out of that game that inning, and that was the best way to do it.

I'm confused about why a guy with such power is sitting on the bench while Mike Snyder, batting a whopping 0.125 is batting as much as he is (only two more at bats than Phillips, but still). Let's give Phillips a legitimate shot in the order and see what he can do. I like Mike Snyder as much as the next guy, but maybe this year isn't his year.

At this point in the season, headed into SEC play, I want our order to be as follows:

1. Jordan Henry CF
2. Tim Ferguson 2B
3. Matt Smith 1B
4. Logan Power RF
5. David Phillips DH
6. Kevin Mort SS
7. Zach Miller 3B
8. Taylor Hashman LF
9. Brett Basham C

All nine of those batters are batting over 300. I don't see a glaring weakness in the order. What do you all think?

BTW, if any of you are planning on calling me out for the baseball recruiting article I did almost a year ago that mentioned David Phillips would get lost in the shuffle because of Mike Snyder, please don't. Being wrong makes me cry.

Something Confirmed; Something Unconfirmed

2009-03-10T15:15:00.003-05:00

I have confirmed from publicly released sources that the Ole Miss Men's Tennis Team has moved up to #3 in the country. The full rankings are available at the ITA website.

This is great, right? No this is bullshit.

We remain ranked behind Stanford, simply because they have only dropped one match. However, that one match was to Georgia, who, you might have noticed, we beat. Our schedule has been demonstrably more difficult. And we just came off a crushing defeat of the #5 team in the country. Their only claim to the #2 spot over the Rebels would be their win over USC, to whom we lost. Of course, we had the stomach flu. Anyway, Virginia is the top-ranked team in the country, and that is legitimate. But, Stanford, I have my eye on you.

On the unconfirmed front, I have it on pretty good authority that a member of the Ole Miss Men's Tennis team will be named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. The criteria for the award are pretty straight-forward - be super-smart, good at your sport, and a senior. This means that the recipient is almost certainly fellow blogger Bram ten Berge.

Every year, each SEC school nominates a male and female athlete. One previous from Ole Miss is Calvin Thigpen, the All-American Track Athlete who was elected president of the student body and awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. I say "nominee" because Thigpen - again, Rhodes Scholar - was passed over for Kentucky's Jeff Zurcher because, altogether now, "We are Ole Miss."

Sour grapes aside, if this rock-solid rumor does not turn out to embarrass me, Bram deserves it because he is the man.

Rebs to host Gardner-Webb... Wow.

2009-03-10T15:01:00.004-05:00

The oh-so-wackily elusive 12th opponent on our 2009 football schedule will almost certainly be Gardner-Webb. Who/What exactly is Gardner-Webb? They're a Division II school from Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Their athletic teams are the Runnin' Bulldogs which is a ~~creative~~ stupid twist on the all too popular canine mascot.

Run, Bulldog, Run!

This is, of course, a damned embarrassment. We shouldn't ever play two Division II (do NOT comment with the whole "omg it's FCS now u dumb@$$lmao" bit) teams in one season. Ever. Ever, ever, ever. The blame for this can be placed at the feet of two groups:

Our athletics administration (who's shocked by this one?). This should have been taken care of months, if not years ago.
TCU, UVA, Indiana, and other puss-ass schools who didn't want to schedule the Rebels despite having similar open-dates and scheduling issues. I'm especially tiffed with you, Horned Frogs, with your whole "BCS Buster" persona. If you want to "bust" the BCS you should schedule a team that's worth a damn. Some "people" may scoff at this notion, but those teams were simply viewing a matchup with the Rebs as a probable loss and didn't want that on their schedule.

Anyway, the game is slated for September 12 and should see Nathan Stanley completing a touchdown pass to a wide open Richie Contartesi at least twice.

This just in....

2009-03-10T11:52:00.002-05:00

The new weekend rotation for the Rebel Baseball team will be:

Drew Pomeranz on Friday
Philip Irwin on Saturday
Aaron Barrett on Sunday

The Rebels will take on the Governors of Austin Peay at 6:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Huertas, White Honored by League Coaches

2009-03-10T10:14:00.004-05:00

Terrico White and David Huertas are members of this year's All-SEC Team (second-stringers, but who's counting?), and White was selected as the freshman of the year and one of three unanimous selections to the All-Freshman Team.

The release from the league indicates that each team, except the all-defensive team, had eight players on it - which takes a little of the honor out of being the sixth-man of the year, I suppose. Feel free to offer your dissenting opinions or contradictory observations, but it seems silly to me to expand the all-league teams to eight. This expansion means that five of the first teamers were unanimous selections.

Georgia has all the shame. With just one selection - Trey Thompkins is a member of the freshman team - has not as much reason for optimism as their congratulatory release will likely indicate.

In the SEC Coach of the Year race, Trent Johnson was able to edge out Billy Gilli ... Gilli ... Gilletmejustdiebeforeimissthetournament as SEC Coach of the Year. Upon winning, basically by default, Johnson said, "Someone please remind me why I left Palo Alto to coach in the Sun Belt Conference?"

For their outstanding valor in being so awarded, and because we at the Cup bestow the distinction of "Rebel of the Week" irregularly and have space on the rolls - Huertas and White are, even on Tuesday, proclaimed the preeminent Rebels of the seven-day period beginning Sunday and concluding Saturday.
Justified.

Who Exactly Is This Person?

2009-03-09T15:42:00.003-05:00

Remember how that first year in Oxford was a particularly perilous time for you with regard to responsible decisions while consuming alcohol? Well, Andre Sterling, who the Cup has yet to confirm is actually a member of the Ole Miss Football team, feels your pain.

In his defense, Sterling claimed that he had to drive to pick up Ryan Mallet, who, somewhere, was way more trashed.

A DUI is an awful petty offense for consideration on the All-Perilloux Team. I will be opposing his admission into that august group. But, if this nameless, faceless Hargrave graduate is, in fact, on the team, then his greatest (which is to say, his last and his only) achievement for the Rebels will be the recognition we deserve in the gold standard of intercollegiate delinquent reporting - the Fulmer Cup. Huzzah!

Rebel Roundup: A Slow Monday Afternoon

2009-03-09T13:38:00.003-05:00

Rebs Best the Dawgs and Vols, Few Notice - Ivory Tower, as soon as he steps down from his aptly named feat of engineering, will likely fill you in on how all of this went down. Suffice it to say, we could be a shoe-in for the overall SEC title.

Terrico White Named SEC FotW, Again - Despite the agonizing home loss to the LEGhumpin//BULLFRAUDS, Terrico put in another solid slew of performances to earn his third SEC Freshman of the Week award.

We Swept Vermont - Whoooooooo.... I guess. Thanks for the maple syrup, ice cream, and zany liberals, Vermont. You're really holding your own up there.

SEC Tournament Bracket Announced - My prediction: TOURNAMENT CHAMPS WHOOOOO HFT Y'ALL!!!

Jamar Hornsby Arrested

2009-03-09T08:45:00.003-05:00

Well dammit.

I wanted to give the guy a chance. After hearing all about the Florida credit card scandal and his subsequent dismissal from the Gator squad, I thought that perhaps Hornsby was just a stupid kid who got caught in a bad situation. No, I didn't think him to be malicious or an overt troublemaker, just careless and lacking of foresight.

I don't so much think that anymore.

Jamar, what in the hell were you doing in Starkville? Were you looking to purchase cheese (you can do that online now, dawg)? Were you looking for some of that sticky kush? I just don't get it.

And anyway, regardless of the reason for your visit to the "jewel" of Oktibbeha County, what made you think starting trouble there would end in a fashion other than "very poorly?" Do you think the cops in fucking STARKVILLE will respond nicely to "hey I'm a highly rated newcomer to the Ole Miss Rebel football team who was/is expected to contribute to the team this fall who decided to visit your fair hamlet to beat up a guy and steal some shit?" I mean, wow...

"Innocent until proven guilty" and all of that stuff, yeah, sure whatever. But still. You're on the All-Perriloux team now, Jamar. Enjoy it.

Oh, Cup fans, click that link above for the Clarion Ledger story if you haven't already. Peruse the comments if you've got low enough blood pressure to survive it. State fans are just as obsessed with Ole Miss as ever.

Cupper Throws Down with Catamount

2009-03-08T14:37:00.006-05:00

How much confidence do the Catamount players have in themselves? Enough to where one of them met up with some friends of the Cup and TOTGA to get dranked last night. I won't reveal his name/position, I thought about it, but the guy was actually pretty cool so I don't want to ruin his transfer hopes.

Other than being wowed by the women of Ole Miss, sucking at pitcher pong, drunkenly reiterating how he wants to transfer to Ole Miss, trying to freestyle rap and calling all the girls around us "broads," he was pretty tolerable.

He had plenty to say about the baseball team too.

First, he wanted to be clear how bad he thought Aaron Barrett was for a Friday night SEC starter. They were shocked how easy it was to hit off of him and how poor his stuff was. Those were his quotes, not mine. I still think AB can contribute and is simply trying to adjust from JUCO baseball.

The Catamounts didn't think too highly of our fans. Their back up catcher was told by their coach to go to the bullpen and his response was, "Coach, please don't make me go back out there." The students were hurling dip cans, dip spit, dip, beer cans and insults at whoever was in the Vermont pen. According to Vinny Vermont, when they were in the bullpen they sat as close to the backside of the wall as they could to avoid the projectiles. Good job, right field fans.

Despite the treatment of the student section, the Catamounts loved the ball park and Oxford. Although they had to stay "at the fucking stank ass Super 8 Motel."

Couple of notes about the Vermont team: The reason their short stop sucks so much is because they are using their back up third baseman at the position. The starter broke his wrist the series before their trip to Oxford.

They also do not mind traveling down to get waxed by SEC teams. They think it will do help the program as they prepare to go back to the MEAC "and play those fucking high school level teams."

They were very grateful to have not faced The Bittler too, because apparently when you go up against him "it's ovah."

I can also verify that not all people from Vermont enjoy chugging maple syrup.

Vermont Game 2 Recap

2009-03-07T20:45:00.004-06:00

I didn't think I could see anything more comical on a baseball diamond than last night's attempted pick off at first base. In case you weren't there or too inebriated to remember (like most of my friends) the Catamounts attempted to pick off the runner on first, but there was one problem. No one was covering first base. So, the ball went on down the right field line and we got two free bases out of the deal. It was hilarious.

Then there was today's game. Zach Miller gets caught in a pickle between third and home. The Vermont catch has the ball and is chasing Miller back towards third. Miller gets ready to break back towards home as the catcher sends the ball to the third baseman, unfortunately for Vermont the catcher air mailed the third baseman and the ball went out into left field. He would have air mailed the backup if he had been there too. That play will probably sum up the rest of Vermont's baseball season.

I really do not have much more to say about this series/scrimmage. The final was 15-3 and Vermont had another ungodly amount of errors.

It was nice to see Matt Smith hit a home run. It was then even nicer to see him hit another.

Hopefully the rain holds off and we can play the third game, and Vermont can go back to chugging maple syrup and taking road trips to Canada.

Basketball 2009-2010

2009-03-07T12:30:00.001-06:00

I know this basketball season isn't over; We could still make the NCAA tournament if we... blah blah blah. Anyway, since this season is over...

I know that everyone is excited about next season, and I wanted to talk about the hopes that I place in our players. I'm going to break down all 13 scholarship players (sorry scrubs).

PG:
Chris Warren - We all know everything about Warren. If he can return from his knee injury at 100% (a big if), there is no doubt in my mind that he will steal primary PG duties back from Terrico. Terrico's really good, but Chris is a more complete player (as far as skill set) to man the point. Some of you may have forgotten that Chris was tearing it up at the beginning of the season and well on his way to being named first team All-SEC at point guard. He's a phenomenal player who can be counted on in the clutch.

Will Bogan - We saw him have a good game against Arkansas, but I'm still not convinced that wasn't just an anomaly. Kennedy says that he saw things in that game that told him Will was adjusting to SEC play and starting to actually come into his own. That is to say, Kennedy didn't think it was too big of a fluke. Next year, Bogan's minutes will be very limited, but it will be good to have someone capable of coming off the bench and holding onto a lead.

SG:
David Huertas - Some of you may have simply glanced over my recent post about Dahveed and think I don't want him on the team. That couldn't be further from the truth. As I stated in the article, if we don't have to rely so heavily on him to create, David is a great player. It's no coincidence that he played so exceptionally when Chris Warren was still healthy. With Warren there, David had someone else to draw pressure who was capable of passing off shots to Huertas who hit a lot of open threes before Warren went down. The Chris Warren/David Huertas chemistry was evident from the beginning of the season, and hopefully it will continue to next season. Huertas is our second or third best perimeter defender, and it's great to have a player who is so good offensively and defensively.

Terrico White - Terrico White can walk on water. Some people have said that White has only scratched the surface of his ability. I'm not sure that's the case, since his game is pretty great all around. Still, I would love to see him improve his free throw percentage. For a player who can drain threes with a hand in his face, he sure can't make uncontested, stand-still shots.

Trevor Gaskins - Rumors surfaced during the off-season that Gaskins had developed his shot to the point that Kennedy was considering starting him over Huertas. I don't know if that was the case. I was never too enthusiastic about Gaskins as a freshman due to his inability to handle the ball efficiently, but Gaskins is a pure shooter with great form. I'll describe him as a "barely-under-poverty-level man's David Huertas." While I haven't seen him play in a year, I remember suspect defense from Gaskins which he'll have to improve if he wants to see any significant minutes with the competition he faces

SF:
Eniel Polynice - I think that a lot of our fans have forgotten just how good Polynice was on defense and in shot creation. Granted, much like Terrico, Polynice suffered from the charity stripe, but his on ball defense is unmatched on our team. Polynice shut down a lot of great players as a sophomore, and it's exciting to know that we'll have him for two more years.

Zach Graham - Graham is a player about whom I was very excited last season. He didn't get the minutes that he deserved, and it resulted in a lack of significant progression over the course of the season. This year, he is playing with a partially torn ligament in his knee and shutting down opposing teams' best players. Graham has become what Polynice was last year. Oh, and he can shoot free throws.

PF:
Murphy Holloway - Alright. I know that Murphy is only 6'5" or so, but he plays like he's a lot bigger than that. Holloway leads the SEC in offensive rebounds. I could have put him at the 3, but I think that taking him away from the basket limits his ability to best contribute to the team. Murphy Holloway plays like you wish everyone would play. Reckless abandon, unyielding effort, and spectacular ability with the ball in his hands.

Terrance Henry - Henry has shown the ability to contribute to the team, but he's going to have to bulk up to be a presence down low. It's great to have a player who's 6'9" and can be the main cog in the press, but Henry is obviously disadvantaged by his size. He is unable to fight for rebounds. It's exciting to have a player with his ball skill down low, and I think that his potential thusfar has been relatively untapped due to sheer lack of bulk. If he can gain ten or fifteen pounds in the offseason, he can really contribute a lot to the team next year.

Reggie Buckner - Buckner plays the 3 for his high school and in AAU, but I think it's safe to say that his future is at the 4 spot. At 6'9", he would have to prove himself as a phenomenal ball-handler in order to be utilized at the 3. Buckner is probably the most highly touted basketball recruit in our program's history. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but he's four players away from a five star rating on rivals. Buckner is a force down low and holds the Memphis record for career blocked shots. The short video on ITG (I assume it's still there after they went premium) showcases his ability to block shots, dunk, rebound and handle the ball. I think he's going to be exceptional at Ole Miss.

C:
Malcolm White - Malcolm has used the immense amount of minutes he has seen this season to evolve into the player that many had hoped for. In case you missed it, Malcolm had 18 rebounds against Auburn. Obviously, Malcolm still has a lot to work on in terms of consistency, but since SEC play started, he has been a solid player.

DeAundre Cranston - Cranston is probably out of position at the 5 spot, but he's the second best player we have at the position. Like Murphy, Cranston goes hard after every loose ball. I've been really surprised with how helpful he is to the team. At the beginning of the season, he seemed like a slow and bumbling oaf on the court, but he has really stepped up his game and is a very important part of the team now.

Kevin Cantinol - I think that if we can sign another big man (Demarcus Cousins), Cantinol is the odd man out. I know. A crazy prediction seeing as Cantinol doesn't even see minutes now that we have eight healthy players (not including white guys not named Bogan) on roster. I haven't even really had an opportunity to evaluate Cantinol, but there's no chance that he'll graduate from Ole Miss in my opinion. He's just too mediocre to take a scholarship for five years.

Prediction:

I know that it's early to make a prediction for what will happen over a year from now, but there's just so much hope in next season. If we don't make the NCAA tournament, it will be because half of our guards had their knees chopped off again. I don't think we have any realy chance at a championship or final four appearance, but I also don't think we'll be one and done in the big dance. I'm saying we'll go to the Sweet 16. Coupled with my football prediction (which doesn't come until the summer), it's going to be a prosperous year for "money" sports.

Vermont Game 1 Recap

2009-03-06T23:05:00.004-06:00

I'll go ahead and apologize in advance for yet another TOTGA post. So, Aaron Barrett is not that good. It started out poorly for AB and he never could his act together as the Catamounts touched him for four runs on seven hits in only three innnings. He can't expect to be successful when he can only throw fastballs over the plate. He either needs to fix his offspeed problem, but a better solution is Bianco removing him as the Friday starter.

-Vermont or not, the bullpen did a great job the rest of the game. They held the Catamounts scoreless and only allowed four or five more hits. Speaking of the bullpen...Rory Mckean has to change his warm up song.

-I'm officially on the Bittle for Friday bandwagon. Previously, I was in favor of keeping him in the pen but we desperately need another weekend starter. Pomeranz and Irwin look to be fine as the other two, but AB and Corrigan are not ready yet. Bittle must have some more damage to his arm than originally thought, or Bianco is just being very stubborn.

-Kevin Mort is good? If he can get some momentum from his performance last night we may need to scrap that tag. Not only did he have a great night at the plate, but he looked really good at short. I also thought Zach Miller had a good game at third.

-Jordan Henry got it done at the plate tonight. His average rose from .211 to around .280 after his game last night. While the average may not be like in past years, he is still getting on base and making things happen.

-Ole Miss closed the game with 17 unanswered runs.

-Vermont's defense is pathetic. I couldn't tell if I was watching Oxford Middle or collegiate baseball at times. They had four errors when I stopped paying attention to the scoreboard. The squeeze bunt attempt was comical as well.

-I couldn't figure out their strategy of playing with their outfielders so shallow. The Rebels had a couple of doubles that should have been outs, but because of the Catamounts defensive alignments some of our bench players slugging percentage rose a few points. They may have been trying to keep that runner from second from scoring on a single, but when you are down twelve runs you should probably worry about preventing another extra base hit.