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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

It’s time again for our prophet crying out in the wilderness, our hope in a hopeless world, the voice of reason in an unreasonable universe …

Fester’s notes and quotes …

36-7. Ding dong, The King (Gator) is Dead…..A doinked Syracuse extra point with 30 seconds left gave Temple coach and Mississippi State (and Callaway High) grad Bobby Wallace a 17-16 win, their first Div. I-A triumph, their first ever Big East win over Syracuse, and their first win overall against Syracuse since 1983. The Cuse has yet to beat a Div. I-A team. With their struggle over Syracuse and shellacking at the hands of the Pigs, Auburn and Tommy ā€œThe Human Resume`ā€ have come into focus pretty quickly…..Florida’s 209 consecutive weeks of being ranked in the AP poll – the nation’s longest active streak – came to a deafening thud in The Swamp Saturday night. Zook is at #26, two AP votes behind Bowling Green. The Gators are 24 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll…..Hip new stat of the week: LSU is 23-1 under Nick Saban when scoring more than 20 points…..Shortly after being the beneficiary of a terrible officiating call, Penn State was again victimized by a terrible call during their overtime loss at Michigan. At press time, no assault charges had been filed against JoePa. Or LaVar Arrington, for that matter…..Pittsburgh outgained Notre Dame 402-185. Notre Dame had 40 rushing yards on 32 totes. Notre Dame outscored Pittsburgh 14-6. Notre Dame is 6-0 with a Saturday night ESPN date at the Air Force Academy. Pick The Flyboys early…..Mississippi State 11, Troy State 8. Enough said…..Way too much media: LSU’s fake FG and an Air Force pass with a 38-3 lead and 12 minutes left were both mentioned as ā€œrunning the score up.ā€ Puhhh-leeeeeze.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.