Notes, quotes and an opinion or three, all in Twitter-form, 140 or fewer characters, starting with predictions on Saturday’s games.
• Ole Miss 42, South Alabama 27: The Rebels have some issues, but the ability to score and score fast shouldn’t be one.
• State 55, Charleston Southern 7: Charleston Southern? They are the Buccaneers, and they will earn this pay day the hard way.
• Kentucky 27, Southern Miss 17: Kentucky has a proven quarterback; USM does not.
• TCU 52, Jackson State 7: The hope is that the Tigers find a QB and don’t lose many front-line players. They need the $550,000, at any rate.
• Alabama 24, FSU 20: So many NFL players, they should play this on Sunday.
• Word out of Tallahassee is that Clinton’s Cam Akers won’t start in his college debut against Alabama. Bet he starts second game.
• RIP, Rollie Massimino. Villanova’s 66-64 1985 upset of Georgetown was one of basketball’s best games ever. #great coach, great man.
• Here’s what it has come to for Johnny Manziel: He tried out last week for the CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He did not get hired …
• … Manziel, however, is on the Tiger-Cats’ “negotiation list.” So is Colin Kaepernick …
• …The guy making that decision for Hamilton is GM Kent Austin, former Ole Miss QB and offensive coordinator under Houston Nutt.
• Do I think Kaepernick has been blackballed in the NFL? Well, yes … pretty obvious, isn’t it?
• Floyd Mayweather made $100 million, Conor McGregor made at least $30 million for their recent fight. No, I did not contribute.
• I’ve got Ole Miss and State both finishing 6-6 and USM 7-5. No, I wouldn’t bet the house on any of that.
• Delta State will play its first home game (Tarleton State) Saturday at Cleveland Central High. New DSU turf is not ready yet.
• State’s Brent Rooker has adjusted well to advanced-Class A ball and is hitting .282 with 18 homers in his first summer as a pro. #rawpower.
• Pitching as in relief, USM’s Kirk McCarty has a 2-2 record, a 2.03 ERA and 26 strikeouts/8 walks over 30 innings in A ball.
• USM’s Dylan Burdeaux is hitting .275 and, like Rooker, has already advanced one level in his first season of pro ball.
• As a new college football season arrives, I am no more ready for TV timeouts than I was last year or the year before …
• … Friendly reminder, they will be called “media” timeouts. #fakenews. They are for TV, period. Sports writers hate them. Sad.
• Feleipe Franks, a red-shirt freshman & former four-star recruit, will start at QB for Florida Saturday against Michigan. Love the name.
• Don’t forget that Cam Akers committed first to Alabama. Rest assured, Crimson Tide defenders have been reminded.
• Nick Saban on Akers: “…we think he’s a fabulous player. … He’s a good person, a very productive player in high school.”
• Kentucky is the first non-Mississippi SEC team to ever play USM in Hattiesburg.
• New Orleans Saints prediction? I’ve got ’em 7-9. After last three years, seems a safe bet. #4 in a row.
• Idea for NFL: Don’t bring the teams out until after the National Anthem. See there. Problem solved.
• See the photo at right. That’s Ole Miss golfer Braden Thornberry with the Haskins Award …
• That’s the trophy that goes to the best college golfer in the USA …
• Here are some of the names on it: Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Brad Faxon, Scott Verplank …
• … Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Luke Donald, Charles Howell III …
• … Graeme McDowell, Hunter Mahan, Justin Thomas, and, of course, Braden Thornberry. #good company
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Translation of Saban quote: Please toss Akers into Saturday’s game. We have some special hospitality for him in my new stadium.