[ED: Sutpens does a bangup job of looking at the rest of the West and seeing just where they stand and just what the Rebels need to do to claim the sole lead in said division and hang onto it. Also, there's a funny screen cap of ANGRY DOUCHE MODE BRIAN WALKER GRRR which, itself, is worthy of bein' frontpag'd. Take it away, Sutpens.]

Attempting to handicap the SEC West with seven conference series played and three to go is, without a doubt, a fool's errand. I pour over the schedules, the records, the numbers, the reality that very likely five West teams will be in Hoover anyway, and think: "Right up my alley." Fool reporting for duty, errands run for tips.  Obviously, there’s a lot more at stake than seeding in Hoover – RPI, hosting a regional and possibly hosting a super. Arkansas, by all accounts, has the inside track for a top 8 national seed, with Ole Miss, once out of the discussion, now something of a long shot.  As a commenter recently said, all the Rebels have to do is close the regular season on a 20-game winning streak. If that’s all we have to do, take heart: we’re halfway there. 

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This photograph and headline "Rebels Down No. 5 South Carolina 5-4" appeared on the Ole Miss website on April 18 following the Rebels’ Sunday victory.  The problem is that Ole Miss was wearing gray yesterday. 

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ED: Brian Walker's Elbow has "work" to deal with so, in his stead, a Sutpens FanPost will serve as your preview. BWE will, however, be in attendance and should be able to deliver a detailed recap late tonight. Thanks again, Sutpens.

Memphis Tigers @ Autozone Park, 6:30 p.m. first pitch. What you need to know follows the jump.

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It’s true. Georgia really does suck.  

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By God, it's good to be back! I knew RCR would be here for me when the time was right. Following last year's baseball team first brought me here and I am now happily immersed in the 2010 edition of Ole Miss baseball. One of the great things about that is that it is a long season, will carry us over until the football players begin their early "voluntary" reports to campus, around the time the College World Series ends.

Last season was a great year for Ole Miss baseball - except for that last, season-ending loss, of course.  So how good is Bianco's squad this year? Honestly, it’s still too early to tell.  I have been dispirited by the team’s Sunday performances of late – both pitching and hitting – but recall that the 2009 team had serious rotation questions both early and late in the season. It is a long season, with plenty of time to right the ship – and we may have witnessed the beginnings of the Sunday solution with David Goforth on the mound as a starter [and winner!] last night.  I am more than cautiously optimistic – I am irrepressibly ebullient – and a comparison of what the 2009 and 2010 teams accomplished through the first 26 games of their respective seasons is heartening.

The Rebels are off to an even better start this year than last - through 26 games in 2009 the Rebs were 18-8, and while we had lost some we should not have [Mercer, S. AL, St. Louis], our overall W-L through 26 games was probably helped by having had 3 games canceled due to weather up to that point. Two of those games would have been against a higher ranked opponent [TCU], which soundly beat the Rebels in the one game of that series that was played. If the weather had been better, the Rebs could easily have been 17-9 or even 16-10 at the same point in the season.

Twenty-six games into the 2010 season, the Rebs are 20-6. While I'd like to think we could have won every game we've played, there is really only one loss on our schedule so far that is inexplicable [I can forgive any one loss so long as Ole Miss takes 2 of 3 in a series] – the first game of the season [La. Monroe] - vs. at least 3 such losses at the same point last year. 

Moreover, through the 1st 26 games actually played last season, 7 of those games were played against opponents who were nationally ranked at the time [avg. rank 13.4] - and the Rebs were only 3-4 in those games. To date this year, Ole Miss has played 9 games vs. nationally ranked opponents [avg. rank 10.0] and the Rebels are 6-3 in those games.

Only one significant difference in the 2009 & 2010 schedules, due to the spate of bad weather last season:  the first 26 games in '09 included 3 complete SEC series, whereas the Rebs' 27th game this year will be the opening game of the 3rd SEC series. Last year Ole Miss went 5-4 in those 9 SEC games; so far this season, Ole Miss is 4-2 in SEC play, with a 3 game home stand against doormat Tennessee about to begin. Even with our recent Sunday pitching woes [which may been solved last night at Trustmark Park], Ole Miss should emerge from the weekend 7-2 or 6-3 in SEC play. 

We’ve got a lot of very good baseball ahead – never too early to make plans for another Super-regional.

Placing too much credence in statistical averages is always an iffy proposition, and it's particularly dicey this early in the season. But nevermind that.

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ED: Promoted from FanPosts.  Thanks, sutpens.  This is a good look at some Rebels in the big leagues.  And I had to take the "stitch head" graphic out because it was messing up the page's formatting.  Sorry.

To succeed in baseball, it takes more than hitting - it takes timely hitting. And of late, few, if any, major leaguers have been hitting any timelier than Ole Miss's own Chris Coghlan (2007) and Seth Smith (2004), now with the Florida Marlins and the Colorado Rockies, respectivly. Right on cue - almost as if they knew that the lull in Ole Miss football action presented by the bye this week would cause this observer's attention to wander back to baseball - Coghlan and Smith have been on fire in August and September. A brief update below the jump.

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"Unsatisfied," proclaims the cover of the 2009 Ole Miss Football Media Guide, its diaphanous lettering rising in the mist over the heads of  Snead, McCluster and Houston Nutt. Certainly, we - our team, our fans – are not satisfied, and  frequently in years past we have been DISsatisfied as well. But I  have wondered, vaguely and inchoately, uneasily even, since first seeing  this publication, if the cover of our media guide should be so, well, explicit: We want more. We demand more. We deserve more??  

Or could my "dis-ease" be  grammatically inspired, arising from the fact that my Random House Unabridged Dictionary gives no definition for "unsatisfied," while defining "dissatisfied" as "not satisfied." Surely our Rebel media meisters did not mean to say "unsatisfactory"? I quickly discard the grammarian theory of the origin of my media guide disquietude; if "unsatisfied" were really not a word at all, the Ghost, I know, would have long since pointed out that fact. That leaves me with my implacable college football superstition –  fear of jinx, self-fulfilling prophecy, call it what you will. I enter the most anticipated Ole Miss football season in my cognizant life internally at war with the cover of our media guide.

 The fact is that in my memory Rebel football fans have never been truly "satisfied." Certainly there have been many, many satisfying moments – as RCR’s recent countdown of the 10 most satisfying moments of the 2008 season so ably bear witness. But satisfying football seasons? On the whole, last year's run was satisfying - and way better than expected - but when we saw how good we had become we could not help but think what might have been in 2008 - but for the alleged goal-line fumble (his knee was down!) that unfairly ended our chances of beating Vandy as time expired; but for Wake; but for those 'Cocks....

 And 2003 was pretty satisfying - but for Mr. Automatic inexplicably missing two chip shots against hated LSU, thereby depriving our  beloved Rebs of their rightful first championship game in Atlanta...

As well documented in these pages, Rebel fans know that Memphis has long been a stumbling block on our road back to a national glory that vanished long before most of this blog's readers were born. Or at  least a wake-up call killing our preseason dreams in their cradles. Repeatedly.   

So about yesterday's  slow-developing beat-down and that lingering quality of un- or dis-satisfaction so many seem to share - 

There may be fewer mullets in evidence at the Liberty Bowl these days among the dwindling horde of Tiger Faithful, as one wag reported, but there were far more Mohawks there yesterday than ever before. My favorite was a  stylish lightning bolt Mohawk cut, evocative of Elvis Presley's signature "TCB" lightning bolt - 

Taking Care of Business, baby. Seeing, post-game, that bolt-cut  crowning the head of a very dissatisfied Tiger Troll was VERY satisfying to this fan, whose Rebels had indeed just taken care of  some much-needed and mostly pleasurable business. [The TCB Tiger Troll would probably be surprised to learn that Memphis’s favorite son Elvis was, in fact, a Mississippian].  

Likewise, as much as we all loathe the Liberty Bowl, I am quite satisfied to be done with it, never to be returning. Of all the stadiums in which I have seen the Rebels play, the Liberty Bowl ranks among the four most fan un-friendly. The other three are, in no particular order, the Cotton Bowl, the Independence Bowl and War Memorial in Little Rock. I think  it is no coincidence that all four are situated among the cattle and hog barns of various state fairgrounds. I don't even need to mention Starkville.

One good thing about the LB is that there is plenty of  parking in close, mostly because what passes for "Tiger Nation" stays away in droves. Walking in 45 minutes before kick-off, I noticed 12 or  so prime parking places hard against the stadium, reserved for "Memphis Tigers Super Duper Exclusive Platinum Donors." These parking spaces were, of course, universally empty. That sight was more than satisfying. These same "Platinum Donor" spaces were still empty, or were empty again, when we Hotty-toddied our way of the stadium after the game. Arrive late, leave early, I guess - if they come at all. Or if there are any Platinum Donors at all. Satisfying. 

Sutpen & Son were sitting squarely behind the uprights in the North end zone, which was a sea of red spilling down both sidelines. The "announced crowd" was 45,000; the real crowd couldn't have been more than 35,000, more than half of which were wearing red. The Memphis "crowd" was mostly tepid, though infuriating on one occasion [not the attempted Wave, that was a joke!] I will get to soon. I am sunburned and hoarse today. I had fun. It was hotter than  the gates of hell in that frying pan, and the facilities are so poor &  were so poorly staffed that it simply wasn't worth the effort it  would've required to help ease the LB operating deficit by buying a few brews.  I’m glad they’re selling beer there now and I had figured beforehand to partake, but it was just too damn hot and too crowded (in the North end zone) to swill beer during the game. Still, I had fun. 

The view from the North end zone was, in a word, splendid. That's because 38 of the Rebels' 45 points were scored right in front of us. FOR us, we all felt like. Thank you, Rebels, not only for kicking their asses, but doing it under our noses. All of Memphis's two touchdowns were scored at the other end, out of  sight [or I’ve just forgotten, because I don’t care].  And, fortunately, the 12" Zenith TV [the "Mini-tron"] affixed to the South end zone scoreboard was far too small to allow us to see replays of  Memphis's few scattered triumphs.

I am a devotee of the kicking game because, as I preach to young Sutpen, it's so damn important and has been overlooked by Ole Miss for so long. Flashback dear Rebel fans no further than 2007 when OM opponents began every possession following a kickoff at about their own 42.  I found the kicking game VERY satisfying Sunday. Eight - count 'em, EIGHT - kickoffs yesterday by our freshman kicker and seven of those came our way, south to north. Boomer managed three touchbacks – Ole Miss had ten all season in 2008. There was no return of the other kicks worth mentioning. Our other kicking specialists, Shene and Sparks, were likewise outstanding.  Would I have preferred that Snead had connected on 67% of his passes for 300+ yards? Sure, but I know he’s a gamer [and perhaps had a touch of the flu?] and will yet shine, shine, shine.  We killed Memphis with him shining only at the end. So relax, Rebel faithful. 

That one infuriating moment  I mentioned was, of course, the Blue & White rabble in the NW corner of the stadium chanting "Overrated" after the Tigers scored their second and last touchdown early in the 4th Quarter to close the gap to 24-14.  Plenty has already been posted about what chanting "overrated" when the chanters’ team is 10, 17, 24, 31 points down says about the quality of the chanters’ team – but I wasn’t thinking about that then. That chant pissed me off, probably because so many of our football seasons over the past 40 years have been un-satisfying, because Memphis has been a stumbling block to the Rebels too many times to recall, because they do play us tough and have erased too many OM leads to think about, because as much as I have loved the pre-season hype this year, I nurse in my heart of hearts a secret fear that maybe, just maybe, we are overrated. And I damn sure don’t want to have that scab picked off by a bunch of mullet-and-mohawk-sporting C-USA  future city college dropouts. I just don’t. Did Ole Miss play like a Top Ten team on Sunday? Certainly not for all 60 minutes. But neither did Oklahoma, Alabama, Virginia Tech or Ohio State.  

Like all truly good teams should, though, the Rebels rose to the occasion [as did the Criminal Tide] and smacked the Tigers down, hard. Three touchdowns in the final six minutes, all on our front porch in the North end zone. The last one, almost an accident and certainly not intended by our coaches with 6 seconds left  to play, was the sweetest. Salt in their gaping wounds. I loved it that Enrique, on the scoring run and the two or three runs before that one, simply would not give up. I loved that the score looked like a total beat-down, even if the game wasn’t quite that lopsided. I looked over to the NW corner where the chants of "overrated" had arisen, to savor, to gloat  – but there wasn’t a single Tiger fan left in that section. Now, that was satisfying. I think the rest will take care of itself.

 A few words of football inspiration passed along to me by a long-time friend of the Rebels, below the jump. Hotty Toddy!

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willie.84

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via thomasm09.edublogs.org

Here's something cool for those hot summer doldrums:   ALABAMA ON NCAA PROBATION....AGAIN!  This report is from ESPN:

"Sixteen athletics teams at Alabama have been penalized for their involvement in improperly obtaining free textbooks for other students, with the football team ordered to vacate an unspecified number of victories between the 2005 and 2007 seasons, the NCAA Committee on Infractions announced Thursday.

Alabama could be forced to vacate as many as 21 football wins that came under the watch of former coach Mike Shula and current coach Nick Saban, sources at the university told ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach. Citing a source, the Birmingham News reported the number of victories to be at least 10.

The football program, which will not lose future scholarships, and the other 15 teams have been put on three years' probation -- the third probation penalty for university athletics in the last decade. Alabama also was ordered to pay a $43,900 fine."

Continue reading the story here: 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4250596

The map of Yocknapatawpha County, as originally conceived by William Faulkner

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This map, which depicts the settings of many of Faulker's Yocknapatawpha novels, was first appended to the end papers of Absalom, Absalom. "Sutpen's Hundred" - a plantation carved from the wilderness by the novel's central character - lies in the upper right quadrant of the map. 

 And below the jump, you'll find a few recent revisions to this fine old map, prompted by weekend events in the real-life counterpart to Yocknapatawpha's  fictional county seat of "Jefferson" . . .

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06.07.08.N 

Dim, from the second at-bat in the 1st inning, as power-hitting Logan Power takes the sign to....bunt. So that's how it's going to be.  Sacrifice Ole Miss's all-time RBI leader to move Rebels' fastest baserunner from scoring position to "even better" scoring position?  Power dutifully squares to bunt as a loud chorus of "Boos" rains down - rightly - on The Coach.  Nevermind that the SEC's leading base-stealer could have taken 3rd on his own. Or that  when Snyder pounded the ball into right, Henry could have strolled home from 2d.  Nevermind that in exactly the same game situation the day before, Power lifted the ball over the left center fence on the first pitch.  Power's bunt is perfect, 1 out.  Snyder's sac fly is the 2d out.  We didn't know it yet, but the Rebels were done. The Coach had just told his team that they couldn't hit Virginia's second-string pitchers, and the team believed him.

Then overcast, downright cloudy, in the top of the 4th when, with Henson at 2d and 1st open, Miller executes a not-so-perfect bunt ...what, again???....straight to the pitcher, who easily tosses out Henson at 3d. Henson's a gamer but he's never been called "fast." Why is Reinstettle windmilling Henson  to 3d in the face of such obvious danger? We've just traded a man on 2d [courtesy of a lead off single followed by a throwing error by the Cavs' pitcher] with no outs for a man on 1st with 1 out.  The plainly rattled UVA pitcher settles down, retires the next two. Go figure.

Baker is still on the mound in the bottom of the 4th and those of us in Section N who can't remember the last time he pitched effectively past the 4th inning are nervous. Storm clouds are brewing. Baker strikes out the lead-off batter on 4 pitches. Then gives up a hard-hit single, followed immediately by the first of what will prove to be six stolen bases. Baker walks the 3rd batter. A long sac fly ties the game. Forgive us if we're already calculating the drive time home by the end of the inning.  

Thunder in the 5th - the crack of Virginia bats, to be more precise. The first 3 batters reach on back-to-back singles and Mort's error. Throw in two more stolen bases. No one is even warming up in the pen, despite the obvious signs [for those in the visitor's [us] dugout who missed them in the 4th] that Baker is done. Bianco sticks with his man and three more runs cross the plate. 

The sun shines on Virginia in the 6th and we are hot, sweltering, in Section N. We like the sno-cones at OU Stadium - even if there aren't enough flavors - but they are impossible to manage while keeping a scorecard. Something is going to have to give. We look longingly at all those coolers in the left field terrace; we think of our own cooler back at the car. I consider the concession stand, remember that I sat resolutely in my seat  for 11.5 innings on Friday before finally yielding to temptation, only to turn my back to the field to ask for a cold drink seconds before Smith ended the game with [what I was told was] a beautiful walk-off homer.

Even so, we perk up with Snyder's lead off walk. My teenaged son uncurls from the fetal position he'd somehow assumed in his chairback during UVA's 5th.  Hope springs eternal!  To be erased on the very next pitch when Smith lines a rocket straight to first, doubling up Snyder, who had taken only the most modest of leads. Snyder tries valiantly to reclaim the bag but there is just no help for it. U3 DP. If there had been any air left in Ole Miss's balloon the twin killing released it., irretrievably. No one to blame, just the way the ball bounces or, in this case, didn't. Michael resumes fetal position. 

There was more, much more [or was it less?], but it hurts too much to record. And you were either there or saw it on the tube, and have read it all anyway.  Suffice to say that those of us who remained to the bitter [and it was bitter] end, obliged the post-game request of our beloved PA announcer to give the newly-crowned "NCAA Oxford Super-regional Champions" a warm hand of applause. We are nothing at Swayze Field if not good losers.

Back in the car, a revived Michael is asking about next year's season tickets.