Sports played major role in Mississippi changing its state flag
Monday’s five things of interest, to me anyway.
Mississippi changes its state flag. Gone is the Confederate battle symbol. Nick Suss of the Clarion-Ledger writes, “Plenty of effort went into this bill passing. It’s important to acknowledge the role sports played in this, though. The NCAA and SEC put pressure on Mississippi, prohibiting postseason events in this state until the flag was changed or taken down. Mississippi’s public universities followed with condemnation after condemnation of the flag and its symbolism.”
Patriots sign free agent Cam Newton. Bill Belichick and Cam Newton. This should be interesting. But then the Patriots made it work with Randy Moss. Jim McBride of the Boston Globe writes, “The Patriots dropped a Sunday night bombshell on the NFL, signing free agent quarterback Cam Newton to a one-year deal, a league source confirmed. The deal, which could be worth up to $7.5 million, means more moves are coming as the Patriots are snug against the salary cap with approximately $650,000 available.”
The Patriots were also fined $1.1 million and stripped of a third-round draft pick for its TV crew filming the Bengals sideline during a Bengals-Browns game last year just before New England played Cincinnati.
Daily COVID-19 freakout. Mike Griffith of Dawg Nation talked to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey about the perilous fate of a 2020 college football season. “It will be open-ended for a while, and we’ll have to deal with that,” Sankey said. “The reality is we are in a time of uncertainty. It’s not forever but it’s a reality.”
Sankey said last week it would be late July before we know if there will be fall football this year.
Meanwhile, LSU’s School of Public Health says Tiger Stadium should be empty this fall. The Reveille reports, “Edward Trapido, a professor of epidemiology at the LSU School of Public Health, said he would not approve the return at this point. ‘Certainly, if it were happening now, no,’ Trapido said. ‘It’s just too big a crowd.’”
Our We Meet Again series features Josh Harrellson. Among the topics addressed by Ben Roberts is how Harrellson got the “Jorts” nickname. “There was a Blue-White football scrimmage that day, and Coach (Billy) Gillispie and I were out there on the sidelines, and I was wearing jean shorts. Where I’m from, that’s just what I did. I thought it was classy,” Harrellson said with a laugh.
World Wide Wes is hired by the Knicks. Rick Bozich of WDRB writes about William Wesley, friend of John Calipari. “The answer is Wesley does not want to be quoted, ever. If you ask to quote him, the conversation will be short. Let’s just say that he is thrilled to get to work at Madison Square Garden and build a legitimate NBA contender. Actually, wink, let’s just say that I said that. Others will tell his story. Guys like Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown and ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith praised his hiring. On the flip side, former NBA stars Stephon Marbury and Rasheed Wallace were quick to criticize the move.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 8:12 AM.
