By Staff
Dec. 21, 2001
Frantically fumbling through the files on a Friday….
Sports television junkies have gotten their fill of thrills over the last couple of days.
First Duke and Kentucky went into overtime in a men's college basketball game on Tuesday before the top-ranked Blue Devils pulled out the win.
Then on Wednesday night Marshall and East Carolina put on a show in the GMAC Mobile Bowl.
East Carolina jumped out to a 38-8 halftime lead, before Marshall came back to force overtime in the waning seconds and then take a 64-61 win in overtime.
That game set all kinds of scoring records.
That, my friend, is why it is neat to have all of those "insignificant" bowls throughout the Holidays.
They really can provide some pretty interesting entertainment. Anyway, you have to do something while you are eating turkey with one hand and ham with the other.
Belated Happy Birthday wishes
A former coach that I know celebrated a birthday on Thursday. I won't tell the coach's age because it really doesn't matter anyway.
I've grown fond of several coaches during my career and have become friends with some, but there is only one that I have ever married.
Happy Birthday Barbara. Love ya!.
I Knew it, I Knew it, I knew it
When I wrote my column on Wednesday and mentioned names of some of the area pro athletes I just knew that I would leave out at least one significant name.
That name belongs to Quitman's Antonio McDyess, the outstanding power forward for the Denver Nuggets.
The word is he will be back on the court before long. That will be good to see.
I also got a phone call about a couple of the minor league baseball players from the East Mississippi area.
The ones that come right to the top of my head are Jamie Brown and Tommy Bost of the Cleveland Indians and Paul Phillips of the Kansas City Royals. Brown and Phillips played their high school ball at West Lauderdale and also played for Meridian Community College, while Bost played for Neshoba Central and East Central Community College.
Keep those calls coming, I'm making a list and it's going to be a big one.
Talk about your steals
The University of West Alabama should thank Tausha Evans' family every day.
The fact that Tausha didn't want to go far from home is one of the main reasons that the UWA Lady Tigers landed the outstanding guard, who has stepped up in a big way in her freshman year.
The former Neshoba Central standout, along with senior Thelma Hearn and the rest of the Lady Tigers, have put things together so far and jumped out to a 6-1 record.
Winfield getting it done at SU
Former Meridian Community College and Stringer High School standout Jackie Winfield has put up some awfully big numbers for the Lady Jaguars of Southern University so far this season.
She is playing the point a good bit of the time and has helped SU, which is coached by former MCC head coach Sandy Pugh, to a 6-3 record.
Winfield was recently named Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Week for her efforts
Need something to do next week?
If you have some time off next week, you can certainly spend it watching some basketball.
Beginning on Wednesday, the East Central Community College MPSA Mississippi Classic kicks off featuring several local teams. The event runs through Saturday.
Two other tournaments on a boys only event and the other just for girls Q is set for Dec. 27-29.
The boys tournament is being hosted by Philadelphia High School and features four games a day beginning at 1 p.m., with the last game starting at 4:45 p.m.
Nanih Waiya is hosting a girls event the same days with four games a day scheduled at the same time.
Austin Bishop is the regional sports director of the East Mississippi Group and oversees the direction of four sports departments, including The Meridian Star. E-mail him at abishop@themeridianstar.com