For Whom the Cowbell Tolls

1907: Mississippi A&M Hires a Full Time Coach and Hangs 80 on Someone

2012-05-22T03:00:30Z

For the first several years of Mississippi A&M football, player coaches and part-timers ran the squad. That might be why strange things such as back to back game days have appeared on the schedule along side a large number of losses. In 1907, the school decided to get serious about sports, and the Aggies hired Fred Furman as the first full time head coach and athletic director for the Maroon and White.

Furman faced a daunting task. No one had yet to finish with a winning record during their time in charge of the Aggies football team.

Furman's first year could be described as a roller coaster. The team experienced some major highs, and they felt some major lows. Home fans enjoyed watching the team go 3-0 at Hardy Field, but they had to be disappointed with the struggles the Aggies faced on the road.

The season opened on a Wednesday against Southwestern in Starkville, and the Aggies walked off the field with a 7-0 victory. The next week, on a Thursday, a trip to Sewannee did not go as plan, and the Maroon and White were blanked 35-0. (Looking at the days, one may think A&M played in the MAC.) Two days later, the Aggies got a bit of revenge knocking off Howard on the road 12-5.

What happened the next two weeks nearly defy belief. Union traveled to Starkville and left with an 80-0 beating. To put that in perspective, the Aggies only scored 77 points in their first four seasons. The following week, Mercer traveled to Columbus for a game, and they left with a 75-0 loss. What fun that had to be for the Maroon and White fans.

From that season high, A&M would knock of Drury College 6-0 before dropping decisions to LSU and Tennessee.

However, the season ended on an up note with a Thanksgiving Day victory over Ole Miss, 15-0 in Jackson.

Prisoner of the Moment Watches MSU vs. Arkansas

2012-05-21T23:00:10Z

Mississippi State takes on Arkansas as part of Day 1 of the SEC Baseball Tournament. Prisoner of the moment took a half day from work to watch the game on TV because he's so excited after State swept Kentucky. This is in direct contrast to a week ago when he burned his son's John Cohen instructional hitting DVD.

/ Frazier strikes out to lead off the game - "Oh, no, we can't hit!"

/ Woodruff gives up a run in the 1st inning - "he is awful, we won't be able to overcome this lead!"

/ 4 scoreless innings pitched by Arkansas starter - "he is un-hitable! State can't win this game; we'll be 2 and out in this tournament."

/ Ross Mitchell comes in, gives up 2-run homer - "why did I take off work! I hate this baseball team! I thought we could pitch, but now we can't even do that!" / changes the channel to TBS (Home Improvement is on), heads for the pantry to eat an oatmeal cream pie.

/ flips it back to the game 20 minutes later, score is 3-3 - "what happened!!!" / keeps pressing rewind on the DVR remote, nothing happens.

/ calls cable company - "you have the worst service!" / hangs up.

/ checks twitter to see what happened, Matthew Stevens, Brandon Marcello, Brad Locke, Michael Wardlaw, Gene Swindell, mstate Baseball, Miss State Baseball, Maroon and White Nation, Jim Ellis, Bart Gregory, Bob Carskadon, and Joe Dier have all said the same thing only using slightly different words -- "we're the comeback kids!"

/ top of the 8th, runners on 2nd & 3rd, 2 out; Renfroe gets caught looking - "we always leave guys on base! we NEVER come through! how can we win if we can't hit!"

/ bottom of the 8th, runner at 3rd, 0 out for UPig cleanup hitter - "we're done. it's over. sign us up to play LSU tomorrow." / races for computer, opens Six Pack, writes draft on how bad Cohen needs to go.

/ Holder comes in, State gets out of jam - "I knew we could do it!"

/ Sam Frost delivers a single to drive home Mitch Slauter from 3rd, State takes 4-3 lead. - "Yes! We are soooooo clutch! Frost is the man!" / sets diet Coke down over M-State coaster which had pencil scibblings, 'eat my shorts Sam Frost'.

/ Holder strikes out the side in the 9th - "We're going to win the SEC Tournament!" / does awkward pelvic thrusts in circular motion; wife walks in - "I need an oatmeal cream pie".

*This bunch of gobbely gook was brought to you by the brain of @croomdiaries. Thank you and good day.

Mullen Plays Zeppelin

2012-05-21T18:52:47Z

Learn something new every day. Dan Mullen just sat down and played "Stairway to Heaven" on the baby grand piano here at event.
— Joe Galbraith (@joestate) May 21, 2012

FWTCT Greatest Games Bracket, RD1 : 1980 vs. Bama (Football) VS. 2004 vs. Florida (Football)

2012-05-21T16:01:05Z

So far the matchups have been pretty evenly paired, with the voting neck and neck between games paired up together. However, this matchup may be heavily favored in one direction, as many State fans remember the iconic 1980 game featured in this battle. Who knows what may happen though: the '04 Florida contest beat out some pretty strong contestants in the "play-in" vote to make it to this round, but now they find themself face to face with one of the biggest games in our history. We shall see who comes out the victor.

Mississippi State vs. Alabama (Football) November 1, 1980

"I was there when we beat the bear"

Late in the 1980 football season, coach Paul "Bear" Bryant marched his undefeated and uncontested Alabama Crimson Tide football team into Jackson, Mississippi's Memorial Stadium for a matchup with our own Maroon and White. Alabama was riding a 28 game winning streak, and operating a powerful rushing offense that averaged more than 300 yards per game that season. But it was not to be on this day, as an Emory Bellard - coached MSU team completely shut down the might Tide offense, and held them without a touchdown. But late in the game, Alabama was putting together what looked to be the game winning drive, and they found themselves inside the Bulldog redzone. With less than 20 seconds remaining in the contest, Alabama lined up in the wishbone formation and ran one final play. One play that will forever remain in Bulldog lore (specific play at 4:06 of the video):

Mississippi State---Alabama 1980 Last 2 minutes (via SteelyZan)

Mississippi State vs. Florida (Football) October 23, 2004

"Can you believe it"

Most of us couldn't. In a season and period of MSU football full of dissappointment, Jerious Norwood's heroics on that late October day would be a singular shining moment from an abismal Croom era. Norwood will forever hold a place in most Bulldog fans hearts, especially for slaying the mighty Gators on that day:

Can you believe it (via pyleofkung)

There are your 2 contestants, folks - a real David vs. Goliath contest, if you ask me. Make sure you vote for your favorite game so it gets to move on to our round two. And make sure you vote soon: voting will close for this game this Wednesday at noon, as we prepare for our second round matchups to start on Thursday.

#HailState!

Poll

Which game is the greatest?

Chris Stratton Named SEC Pitcher of the Year

2012-05-21T15:39:06Z

Chris Stratton Named SEC Pitcher of the Year

First the Ferriss Trophy, now this: SEC Pitcher of the Year according to Southeastern Baseball. Congrats to Chris Stratton on such a great year, and for this well-deserved honor.

Strat was the only SEC pitcher with 10 wins this year. He led the league with a 2.16 E.R.A. and was 3rd in innings pitched (95.2).

He is likely to pitch in MSU's second SEC Tournament game, whether it be Wednesday or Thursday.

Also of note: State is #24 according to Baseball America. Arkansas (tomorrow's opponent) is #25.

MSU News and Notes | Monday, May 21, 2012

2012-05-21T11:00:22Z

Lots to discuss with an exciting weekend of baseball this past weekend and lots ahead this week here at FWTCT. Here are your news and notes for Monday, May 21, 2012.

I certainly felt we would compete with the Kentucky Wildcats this weekend, but I never expected THAT. State's pitching staff again proved that it is the best in the SEC as a unit by completely shutting down the Wildcat offense for a total of 7 runs on the weekend. Saturday was about as perfect as you could finish off a sweep, as State ground out runs in all sorts of ways (bloop singles, squeeze plays, etc.) en route to defeating Kentucky 11-3 and completing the weekend brooming. Outstanding work by the whole team, and it was especially nice to see sluggers Daryl Norris and Wes Rea begin to come out of their hitting funks this weekend.

As a result of State's weekend sweep and Ole Miss' complete disaster of a series in Nashville, State obtained the #7 seed in this upcoming week's SEC Tournament, which kicks off Tuesday. The Bulldogs will first take on Arkansas, a team they narrowly lost a series too earlier in the season in Starkville. Arkansas will certainly be a tough task for State, but the way the Bulldogs have played as of late is certainly encouraging if you're a fellow State fan. Want to know what's weird though if we do, in fact, defeat Arkansas? We'll then have to root for Ole Miss. Why in the hell would we ever do that, you ask? Well, in the new 10 team formatted SEC Tourney, we have to root for them so that we can get a bye. The #9 seed Ole Miss, who is matched up with the #4 seed Kentucky in our portion of the bracket, would have to beat the Wildcats so that State plays Thursday instead of Wednesday. Why, you ask? Well, because the higher seed that wins our matchup and the OM-UK matchup gets the Wednesday bye, while the lower seed to advance Tuesday has to face the #1 seeded LSU Tigers Wednesday. A bye Wednesday would also mean State would have Chris Stratton on a full week's rest waiting to go, which is an obvious advantage. Still, first things first State will have to take down a very good Arkansas team on Tuesday if they have any hope of getting a championship (or hosting spot? more on that later).
Freshman Jacob Lindgren was tabbed as the SEC Freshman of the Week for his relief performance in Sunday's 11-3 victory over Kentucky in the series finale. Lindgren was lights out in relief, allowing just one run and three hits in 5 and 1/3 innings relief while fanning a season-high seven Wildcats. Kudos to young Jacob, we will definitely need more performances out of him like that if we are to make a deep tourney run.
Our Greatest Games series continues, and now you can find all the matchups for your viewing and voting pleasure on the right side of our home page. Make sure to vote for all the first round matchups, and voting closes this Wednesday at noon!
Pretty excited to announce to you, our faithful readership, that we will be starting another fun series this Thursday, May 24th. Thursday marks 100 days until the 2012 football season kicks off, and each day from then on till the day we face Jackson State we here at FWTCT will bring you one interesting fact a day about MSU football. Each day's fact will have be in relation to the # of days there are left until the season. Aren't we clever? Well, at least our moms think we are. Look for that series to kick off Thursday with Day 100.
Chris Stratton was named a semi-finalist for the Dick Howser award over the weekend. The award is given yearly by the Collegiate Baseball Writers Association to the most outstanding player in college baseball. Strat is one of 35 finalists. The award is announced on June 15th during the College World Series.
State baseball gained a commitment Friday from Evangelical Christian (Tenn.) Jr. 1B Brett Rooker ($ link). Rooker claimed offers from Tennessee and Southern Miss, among others.
So our basketball program is recruiting a center named Mango Mathing ($ link). This coupled with Sidney's "Hawaiian Punch" officially makes us the fruitest college program out there (PUN DEFINITELY INTENDED).

...and I'm spent. Go out and make it an outstanding Monday, Bulldogs.

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#HailState

FWTCT Greatest Games Bracket, RD1:1999 vs Ole Miss (Football) VS. 2007 vs. Clemson (Baseball)

2012-05-20T14:00:05Z

1999 Egg Bowl vs Ole Miss (Football) November 25, 1999:

Aptly named, "The Kick and the Pick," the 1999 Battle for the Golden Egg proved to be one of the most exciting finishes in Mississippi State football history. When I think back to the '99 season, two things stick out: Great finishes and great defense. MSU started out the season 8-0 before losing close games at Alabama (19-7) and Arkansas (14-9). Despite losing two straight, State entered the game ranked #19 in the country and arch-rival Ole Miss was no slouch either with a 7-3 record and ranked #23. In a rare meeting with both teams ranked in the Top 25, Ole Miss rode Deuce McCallister (36 carries, 136 yds) to a 20-6 lead with 13 minutes left to play. MSU found some life when QB Wayne Madkin found TE Donald Lee for a 5-yard TD pass to cut the Ole Miss lead to 20-13 with 12:49 remaining. The rest, as they say...well, have a look.

I firmly believe that C.J. Sirmones is STILL wide-open at the 15 yard-line.

Madkin moved the chains by tossing the ball to WR Kelvin Love before finding Sirmones on a 38-yard TD pass to tie the game 20-20. That touchdown sent the Scott Field crowd into a state of wild disbelief. After being outplayed for 3 quarters, the Bulldogs had somehow rallied to tie the game. Most fans, coaches, and players thought Ole Miss would run out the remaining 27 seconds on the clock and send the game to overtime, but Ole Miss head coach David Cutcliffe had different plans. On Ole Miss' first play, Romaro Miller threw a deep pass that Robert Bean tipped and kicked to a waiting Eugue Clinton. Clinton took the interception and raced down to the Ole Miss' 27. The wild disbelief in the stadium was replaced by absolute pandemonium. Scott Westerfield drilled the ensuing 44-yard field goal to win it, 23-20.

"This game epitomizes our whole season. They were not going to quit. I kind of felt it when we started getting the ball back and moving it. You started feeling it on the sidelines. I knew that, if we got a chance to win, we would win it."

-Jackie Sherrill post-game comments

2007 Super Regional vs Clemson (Baseball) June 8-9, 2007:

It's impossible for me to take Game 1 and 2 of the 2007 NCAA Baseball Super Regional in Starkville and separate them as different games. That weekend, those two games, was special all-around. There are few things more impressive than a packed-out Dudy-Noble Field, and June 8-9, 2007 was a perfect example of MSU baseball at its best.

Mississippi State grabbed the super regional bid by upsetting #1 seed Florida State in Tallahassee a few days earlier as the #2 seed. Clemson was also a #2 seed and advanced to the super regional by taking down #1 seed Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach.

In front of a super regional record 12,620 fans on Friday (for an 11 a.m. game), MSU battled back on a couple of occasions and finally broke through in the 6th inning when Ed Easley drove in Joseph McCaskill, Moreland homered to center, and Brandon Turner doubled and later scored giving MSU a 6-5 lead. In the seventh, Moreland and Turner continued to swing it well with back-to-back doubles that gave State an 8-5 lead. John Lalor and Aaron Weatherford shut down the Clemson bats to close out the game (8-6 MSU win) and give MSU the edge in the best-of-three series.

Then came Satuday...

I remember a few things: (1) I was still hungover from the Friday game. (2) It was HOT. (3) It felt much more crowded than Friday. No space to move in the right-field corner (4) I don't think some people have left the stadium since yesterday. (5) There is NO WAY we lose this game.

My speculation was correct. There were more fans in attendance. 13,175 to be exact (it felt like more). A new super regional record and the 4th largest in the stadium's history. Did I mention this was another 11 a.m. game? State scored four runs in the 2nd inning, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Jet Butler, to take a 5-2 lead. Clemson threatened in the 4th with two more runs, but a Russ Sneed double in the 5th and an RBI ground out by Diggs put MSU up 7-4. Clemson would add another run, but Aaron Weatherford would shutdown Clemson in the 8th and 9th before giving way to Mitch Moreland. Moreland got D'Alessio (Clemson's leading HR hitter) to fly out and struck out Harbin to win the series for State. Which led to a celebration for the ages...

Poll

Which game is the greatest?

Dawgs Sweep #5 Kentucky with 11-3 Win

2012-05-19T23:35:38Z

Dawgs Sweep #5 Kentucky with 11-3 Win

Wow, can you believe State swept Kentucky? Especially with a spanking in Game 3.

After getting down 2-0, a 5-run 5th inning put MSU on top for good.

State finishes with a winning record in SEC play for the 1st time since '07 - and the most wins since '03. The Dawgs will either play Vandy or UPig on Tuesday around 12:30. Chris Stratton will NOT start.