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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 was a disastrous weekend for Dr. S. in the football prognosticating department. But hey, in baseball, my World Series matchup of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Anaheim Angels is looking great. Out with the hated Yankees. Out with the upstart Snakes.

I picked Florida to whip Ole Miss 42-21. Instead, Ole Miss won 17-14. How was I supposed to know that Florida QB Rex Grossman wouldn’t show up for the second half of the game? (I won’t mention here that Florida is 1-4 in its last 5 trips to Mississippi.) How good are the Rebels? The verdict is still out.

I thought South Carolina would beat Mississippi State 17-13. Instead, the Ass-Kickin’ Chickens wasted the Bulldogs 34-10. This time I gave the State offense and defense too much credit. (Afterward, Jackie Sherrill cried about Lou Holtz running up on the score on him. I guess if a team as bad as USC hung 34 on my squad, I would cry, too.) Next week’s game against Troy State might be the last time the Dogs win. And based on how things are going in StarkVegas this season, beating the Trojans is no sure thing.

I said Hinds would beat Gulf Coast 14-7. Instead, Gulf Coast edged Hinds 14-7. What happened to Hinds’ offense? At 1-2, the Eagles appear to be out of the South Division race. It’s a lousy year for state teams that wear maroon and white.

In other games, Belhaven put together an entertaining 48-6 rout of Bethel; Delta State finally won a game, defeating West Georgia 27-21; Mississippi Valley State splattered former Delta Devils coach Archie “The CrapSlinger” Cooley and his Paul Quinn squad 52-16; Millsaps mauled Maryville 34-21; and Hardin-Simmons humbled Mississippi College 32-21. An in a contest that defies alliteration, Alcorn State sleepwalked past Fort Valley State 10-7.

Them-damn-Saints? Oh, they used to be much worse than that. Now they’re good and then-#$%&!!-Cowboys stink.

Say, did I mention that my Cardinals-Angels World Series pick is looking good?

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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

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.