Sunday, December 15, 2013

Ole Miss Grabs Big Win Over MTSU

While at first glance a win over Middle Tennessee State may not seem like a big deal to many of you, for Ole Miss under Andy Kennedy Saturday's 72-63 win over the Blue Raiders at Tad Smith Coliseum may have been a really good sign for the prospects of this Rebel squad. Ole Miss had lost four straight to MTSU. Aside from that the Sun Belt's (or whatever conference they're in now) Blue Raiders are usually in contention for an NCAA bid. This win may be considered a "quality non-conference win" come March.

The significance of the victory wasn't lost on former Rebel forward Murphy Holloway:
Aside from that, it's interesting that Jarvis Summers is quietly becoming the star of this basketball team. While Marshall Henderson is the reason we buy the tickets and the reason we can't take our eyeballs off the team, not to mention the center of the media's constant attention, it was Summers who poured in 25 points and led Ole Miss to the win. Henderson (15 points) had a nice day to be sure, but Summers is looking more and more like the real star of this team. It's something to keep an eye on.

That said, watching Henderson pull up and drill a fast-break 3-pointer never gets old.

I listened to the game from the parking lot of a mall then Sam's then Wal-Mart patiently (somewhat anyway) waiting on my wife while sitting with a minivan full of kids. It was a drippy dreary afternoon with the stress and hustle typical of a Saturday 11 days before Christmas. The fact that we chose to do our shopping on the same day I ran a marathon and just after my daughter's violin recital made the day all the more exhausting. I listened to David Kellum call the game through the pain of throbbing legs and stress of impatient kids fighting over typical silly kid stuff in the back (seriously, why do kids who can't stand being touched by each other touch each other? "Just stop touching each other!" I may have said 10 times). Kellum was my only source of adult conversation, and preserved my sanity. The drops of rain that fell on the windshield and the traffic filing in and out of the various parking lots really fit the mood. When Ole Miss allowed a 40-30 2nd half lead to evaporate and was suddenly down 50-48 with 10 minutes to play it was almost more pain (literal and mental) than this husband/dad/Ole Miss blogger could take in one day.

Fortunately, MTSU hit just 11 of 21 free throws and Henderson & Co. were able to make some clutch shots down the stretch to give the Rebels the win. I still maintain beating MTSU is significant, but it'll be a few months before we understand how significant.

MTSU fell to 7-3.

Ole Miss is 7-2. Next up is Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday.

The highlights:



In unrelated news, and as mentioned above, I did run a marathon Saturday, keeping my streak of running a marathon per year alive.

It's a relatively short streak. I ran St. Jude's in 2007 (a poor, poor effort in which tears were shed and in which I nearly quit before a bystander shamed me into finishing) and have run at least one per year since. I've run in some fun places over these last six years. Across mountains, through cities, in the desert. I even ran across the Grand Canyon in 2010. I've also run with some great people and strengthened relationships during the streak - my wife and my little brother being at the top of that list. I love running with my wife, and some of mine and my brother's best times together have centered around runs. The streak has been good to me. My hope is to keep it alive well into my old age, but I almost let this year sneak by. It's been such a busy year. Too busy. I let my priorities get out of whack. Running was something I allowed to fall by the wayside. I finally picked it back up over the summer, about 15 pounds heavier than I should be and way out of shape. As I started to feel better about running again in October or November I realized my streak was in peril. I became determined to not let it die. But life continued to interfere. December 14 was pretty late in the game. I couldn't find a race I was willing to travel to or worthy of sacrificing a weekend away from my family. I had nearly decided to just hit the pavement for a solo effort sometime before December 31. I was going to call it "The Jake Memorial Classic" and have a finisher's medal made for myself. Thankfully, the good folks from Stinky Feet Athletics saved me from that dorky fate and put on a last-minute marathon at the Reservoir Saturday for all the people who had their marathon hopes dashed by the ice storms that hit Dallas and Memphis last week. Volunteers set up tents, manned aid stations and pointed the way at turns for the few of us that turned out to chalk up 26.2. I didn't have any time goals. I just wanted to finish. My brother ran it with me and we had a pleasant three hours chatting about life. The fourth hour hurt like hell, but those first three hours were really pleasant.

But I finished. My wife and kids were in the small group awaiting me at the finish line, cheering their hearts out. That never gets old either.

I want to thank David Seago and the other volunteers for putting themselves out Saturday. In a lot of ways, it made my year.

Another year down.