High School Sports
Heat index on mind of high school football coaches  6/24/2009
The heat index is a number on the mind of more and more high school football coaches. With temperatures and heat indices in the state reaching into the upper 90s and 100s, respectively, in the past two weeks, football coaches around the state are trying to identify the best times and ways to get their players in condition for the start of the season. When state schools and football teams reconvene Aug. 3 for the 2009-10 school year, coaches might have another item to consider.

Passes bring high school football teams closer together  6/24/2009
Each pass brings teams closer to the start of the 2009 high school football season. That’s why more and more teams are trying to get as many repetitions as they can in the next two months before school reconvenes in August. Columbus High School football coach Bubba Davis is going to do his best to make sure his team and others in the area are busy. Davis and the Falcons played host Tuesday to the first of what he hopes are several evenings of 7-on-7 passing competition.

New Hope softball players play in all-star games  6/24/2009
The school colors have been worn for the final time. But New Hope High School graduates Victoria Culpepper, Kristen Harvey, and DeShuni Sanders wouldn’t have closed their careers any other way. The former Lady Trojans closed their high school careers last weekend with a host of other local players at the Mississippi Association of Coaches All-Star games at Newton County High School in Decatur.

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College Sports
Sidney case may be delayed  7/3/2009
It has already taken quite a bit of time for the case regarding Renardo Sidney’s amateur status to develop. Donald Jackson, the attorney for the Mississippi State basketball signee, said something happened this week that could delay the process even further. Jackson recently learned through e-mail the NCAA has transferred all amateurism cases to the eligibility center, which means a new person will handle the case.

MSU's Looney to represent SEC on SAAC committee  7/2/2009
Mississippi State sophomore center D.J. Looney has his bags packed for a trip this month, but it’s not for a vacation. It’s for business. Looney will travel to Denver to meet with members of the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Looney was selected in Junee to represent the Southeastern Conference as a member of the committee.

Stansbury waits for Sidney issue to resolve itself  6/30/2009
Until the NCAA has had a chance to weigh all the facts concerning Mississippi State men’s basketball signee Renardo Sidney’s eligibilty, it will continue to be a “he said, he said” situation and MSU basketball coach Rick Stansbury appears to be staying out of it. Ever since Sidney signed with Mississippi State, there has been a question concerning his amateur status because of dealings with Reebok representatives, first with Sonny Viccaro and later with Chris Rivers.

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Columns
Ridgeland Titans definitely a team to remember  6/30/2009
Remember the Titans? It’s hard to forget the Ridgeland High School version. For the second consecutive year, the Ridgeland Titans won the Dizzy Dean High School World Series. The Titans defeated Kosciusko 6-1 on Monday at New Hope High School’s Trojan Field to repeat as champions. The thing that seems to make Ridgeland click more than anything else is teamwork.

Words were appropriate at Foster's memorial service  6/17/2009
There wasn’t much more one could add to what was expressed Tuesday at a memorial service for Don Foster at the Starkville Sportsplex. Foster, the former sports editor of The Starkville Daily News, was a friend to many people, and I’m fortunate to be one of them. Don died June 8 at his West Point home. Starkville Academy girls basketball coach Glenn Schmidt, Starkville High School baseball coach Danny Carlisle, and former Mississippi State Athletic Director Larry Templeton were the main speakers and couldn’t have done a better job in recalling memories of Don. Their words were heartfelt and sincere.

Hester doesn't seem to get a fair shake  6/15/2009
Politics and coaching don’t mix. Stacy Hester followed that credo in his dealings with parents, administrators, and players. Sometimes it got him into trouble. Players left his program because they didn’t like playing for him. Parents thought Hester to be arrogant or unyielding in how he dealt with them or with their children. But through it all Hester established a standard of excellence. His teams won 551 games and three state titles his 18 years as New Hope High School’s baseball coach.

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Local Sports
Starkville teams bid for South State titles  7/3/2009
STARKVILLE — Starkville’s Dizzy Dean All-Star baseball teams are looking to celebrate more than Independence Day this weekend. The teams hope to add South State championships and a trip to the World Series to the holiday fun. Jim Moorehead’s age group seeks to defend its state championship when it plays in the Freshman 12 South State in Winona at 3:30 p.m. today. Starkville received a bye and will play the winner of the Winona-Grenada game.

Columbus Nationals win South State Tournament opener  7/3/2009
WINONA –– The Columbus Nationals won their opening two games Thursday in the Dizzy Dean 12-year-old South State Tournament. The Nationals beat West Point 14-7 and Ackerman 12-1 to advance to Saturday. The Nationals, coached by Marty Stillman, had seven hits against West Point and eight against Ackerman.

Patterson helps her AAU basketball team reach Nationals  7/2/2009
Kiki Patterson is working toward a dream. There already have been plenty of stops on that road, and there will be plenty more in the next three years. But the length of that journey isn’t going to affect Patterson. Instead, it is going to encourage her to work even harder so she accomplish her goal of earning a scholarship to play basketball at a Division I school. Patterson’s play with Team Memphis Elite, an Amateur Athletic Union team out of Tennessee, is helping her get noticed.

Grantham believes Starkville All-Stars prepared  7/2/2009
STARKVILLE -- Shane Grantham has been given the responsibility of teaching 7-year-old All-Stars more about the game while playing in a competitive situation this weekend. The Starkville 7 Coach-Pitch All-Stars begin the Dizzy Dean State Tournament at Grenada when it plays Water Valley at 1:30 p.m. Friday. Starkville played two practice games and also scrimmaged against Columbus in getting ready and Grantham believes his squad is prepared for tournament action.

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