Football is right around the corner. The Southeastern Conference Football Media Days will be held Monday-Thursday this week in Atlanta. It should be interesting viewing on the SEC Network as Lane Kiffin, Mike Leach, Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher will likely be quite entertaining. Kiffin is up on Monday and Leach on Tuesday. The SWAC Media Days will be on Thursday at the Birmingham-Sheraton. All 12 head coaches including Deion Sanders (JSU), Fred McNair (Alcorn) and Vincent Dancy (Valley) along with two players will be in attendance. The Sun Belt Conference Media Days will be held next week on July 26-27 at the Sheraton in New Orleans. Golden Eagles head coach Will Hall will be on stage on Wednesday, July 27. The Sun Belt now includes new members USM, James Madison, Marshall and Old Dominion.
Australian Cameron Smith won the 150th British Open at St. Andrews on Sunday. It was Smith’s first major title on the PGA Tour. His final round of 64 bested Cameron Young by one stroke. Smith, who tied for third at the Masters in April, also set a British Open record with a 20 under par that surpassed Tiger Woods’ previous 19 set in 2000. Rory McIIroy was in third place. Woods did not make the cut.
The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will induct eight new members on July 30 in Jackson at the Convention Center. The new inductees include Maggie Bowen-Hanna (swimming), Jim Gallagher Jr. (golf), Kermit Davis Sr. (basketball coaching), Bob Tyler (football coaching), David Dellucci (baseball), Barry Lyons (baseball), Eric Moulds (football) and Willis Wright (high school coaching). Contact the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in Jackson for more ticket information.
The Ole Miss 2022 Baseball National Championship Trophy Tour begins next Monday in the Memphis area. The trophy will make 13 stops across Mississippi July 25-August 1. Free national championship posters will be available at each stop. The trophy will make stops in Olive Branch, Greenwood, Philadelphia, Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Brandon and Oxford.
The Major League baseball All-Star game in Los Angeles will be played this week, and Mississippi will have representation in the game. Atlanta Braves and former DeSoto Central star Austin Riley was named to the National League All-Star roster last Saturday. Riley tied an Atlanta Braves record as he hit 27 home runs before the All-Star break, tying Andrew Jones’s record set in 2005. Former East Central Community College shortstop Tim Anderson will be starting for the American League, and Brookhaven native Lance Barksdale will be the first base umpire in the game.
Former Southern Mississippi baseball star Matt Wallner hit a two-run home run in the Futures’ All-Star game played recently. The 6-foot-5, 220-pounder was recently promoted to the Minnesota Twins Triple A club in St. Paul. The 24-year-old Minnesota native smacked 21 home runs in Double A for Wichita.
The Mike Bianco coached Team USA squad won a Bronze Medal in the International Baseball tournament in the Netherlands. Ole Miss had two players on the USA team in shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, who hit .250 with a home run, and Rebel pitcher Hunter Elliott, who appeared in two games with a 1.31 ERA. Tanner Hall of Southern Mississippi won his only pitching start in the tournament.
The Mississippi Braves finished in last place in the first half of their Double AA Southern League season. The Braves have had a 360 turn around and are now leading the second half race by three games with a 14-4 record after going 29-40 in the first half. The team will be on the road until August 2 when they come home to face the Biloxi Shuckers. The Shuckers finished second in the first half at 34-33 but are in the cellar with a 6-12 record this half. They hope to right the ship as they host a nine-game home stand beginning Friday night against Pensacola.
Dale has been writing sports in Mississippi since 1973. Listen to Dale and Marshall Wood on the Brouhaha Sports Show each Tuesday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. This week’s guest is Lindsey Hall of WTOK-TV in Meridian. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome; go to wabo105.com and click listen live. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube and listen to archived shows.
