Orley Hood: Remember those who tried

If you love sports — and, of course, you do — this has been a most invigorating summer — Olympic Games, U.S. Open and PGA Championship in golf,  Wimbledon and U.S. Open tennis, Euro 2012 in soccer, on and on.
 
And now pennant races in baseball, the big European soccer leagues  kicking off, the Ryder Cup later on, and tonight the opening of big boy tackle football, South Carolina at Vanderbilt, 6 p.m., ESPN, be there or be square. I would bet the Ol’ Ball Coach ain’t too thrilled to start the season on the road in a conference game, but ESPN has the dough, and them that’s got the dough bakes the bread. So to speak.
 
All of which reminds us to be thankful to the guy from Zenith who invented the TV remote control. He died earlier this year. May he RIP, while we punch up the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat from here to Atlanta to London to Flushing Meadows.
 
It was there yesterday on TV that I saw a sight that zoomed me back to my old sportswriting days, when the papers had a enough dough to allow us to gang cover big events. The arguments in the press box as time grew short in the fourth quarter inevitably ran toward which paper’s columnist got the loser’s locker room and which drew the winner’s.

Orley Hood: Remembering Slew Hester

Sitting here at my breakfast bar, attuned to the Weather Channel late on a Wednesday morning waiting for the promised catastrophe and exhausted from wandering around Hacienda Hood acting like I'm doing things that will actually save hearth and home from total destruction from Isaac, a poor excuse for a hurricane but a rain event of the first order.

So, naturally, on opening week of the U.S. Open thoughts turn to late Hall member Slew Hester, founder of the River Hills Club in Jackson and builder of the National Tennis Center in the New York borough of Queens.

Slew was a big man with a big cigar and a bigger forehand who knew how to
get stuff done and we at the newspaper loved him dearly. He was a great,
great man. Slew shifted the Open from the leafy and tony West Side Tennis
Club to Flushing Meadows (think: Shea Stadium, LaGuardia airport, 1964
World's Fair) in 1978. We sent Bernie Fernandez, Jackson Daily News sports
writer, up to New York to document proceedings from Slew's point of view.

Two things stick with me, one published, one not. The deadline on the
complex was so tight that workers were still moving giant planters into
place even as the first matches were beginning. And when Bernie got back he
told me how Slew did it in an era of continual construction strikes. He did
what any right-thinking red-blooded man of ambition would have done: He went
to the Mob. I don't recall which of the Five Families had dibs on the
construction rackets near LaGuardia, but, Bernie says Slew told him, he
appealed to their patriotic side and the project was completed in record
time.

Oh, and the U.S. Tennis Association, of which Slew was president, named the
main stadium for Queens resident Louis Armstrong. The great Sachmo.

How cool is that....

We're more than a museum

The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is much more than just a showcase of the Magnolia State's amazing sports heritage.

The museum's Trustmark Conference Center offers an ideal setting for seminars, training sessions, trade shows, banquets, family reunions and wedding receptions.

The conference room features 2,325 square feet of space with free use of advanced audiovisual equipment that has PowerPoint capability. Conference room rental includes the use of an adjoining kitchen, secure front door parking and free wireless internet.

The conference center, which can accommodate a crowd of up to 200, rents for $550 on weekdays and $800 on on Fridays and Saturdays.

For smaller crowds, the Hall of Fame also offers the Mezzanine level of the museum for $200 an hour (two-hour minimum).

For really special occasions the entire museum also is available for rental. For more information, call 601 982-8264.

“Revenue from the rental of the Trustmark Conference Center as well as the other museum spaces is a large part of our operating budget,” Rick Cleveland, the museum's executive director, said. “The museum has operated for 16-plus years without any tax money from any level of government. Rental of our excellent facilities is a huge part of how we do that.”

For rental rates click here.

Boo Ferriss remembers Pesky as 'one of the greatest Red Sox'

By Rick Cleveland
Executive Director

Beloved Boston Red Sox infielder Johnny Pesky's death Monday leaves Mississippi Sports Hall of Famer Boo Ferriss and baseball Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr as the only living players off the 1946 Boston Red Sox.

Those '46 Red Sox ran away from the New York York Yankees to win the American League pennant and then lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

Pesky, who was 92 at the time of his death, was the team's shortstop and hit .335, leading the league with 208 hits and scoring 115 runs. He hit second in the lineup, just ahead of the great Ted Williams.

“Johnny was a line-drive hitter who sprayed the ball all over the field,” Ferriss said. “He was a solid shortstop and a great teammate. He was a great encourager to me. He would always give me a lift when I needed it.”

C Spire provides direct line to coaches

Ridgeland-based C Spire Wireless, the only wireless provider in the U.S. that offers consumers and businesses a suite of personalized wireless services, is kicking off its first-ever CIRCLE Blitz College Football Question and Answer series on August 13, directly connecting fans with their favorite coaches.

This unique online forum and Q&A series is taking place on CIRCLE, C Spire’s online community forum. By posting questions on CIRCLE, coaches from the top football programs in the region will be able to respond directly to their fans. Additionally, just by posting a question to CIRCLE, participants will receive giveaways and will be entered into a drawing for prizes ranging from autographed school and team paraphernalia to game tickets.

“What football fan wouldn’t love the opportunity to have an intimate chat with their favorite coach about how they plan to have a winning season and beat their rivals this year,” said Jim Richmond, director of Corporate Communications for C Spire Wireless. “At C Spire, we understand our customers’ passion for football and the teams they support, which is why we’re providing them the opportunity to get personal with their teams’ coaches using our personalized community forum, CIRCLE. The CIRCLE Blitz College Football Q&A Series is just another way we’re personalizing the wireless experience in new and exciting ways for our customers.”

Webb, who died Thursday at the age of 72, was an accomplished teacher, a fine player in his own right and, most importantly, a second father to scores of golfers who proudly called themselves "Robbie's boys."

Webb was a huge, broad-shouldered, balding man with Popeye forearms, a fierce stare that demanded discipline without any vocal support, and a smile as soft as a teddy bear.

Long-time PGA Tour rules official Ben Nelson was one of the first of "Robbie's boys."

"I think we all thought Robbie was teaching us how to play golf," Nelson said. "What we were really getting from him were life lessons. We were learning how to act.

"Most of us improved our golf games because of Robbie. All of us became better people."

Former tour professional Randy Watkins Thursday called Webb "the godfather of Mississippi golf."

Maholm happy to be a Brave

Talk about sudden life change: Ex-Mississippi State baseball standout and Hattiesburg resident Paul Maholm's world has turned up-side down in the last couple days.

Maholm, you should know, has landed sunny-side up.

Two days ago, Maholm was a red-hot pitcher for one of the worst teams in the Major Leagues, the Chicago Cubs. Saturday, he will start for the Atlanta Braves, who are in the middle of a pennant race.

"It's exciting," Maholm said by cell phone. "It's like being called up to the Big Leagues for the first time again. I loved playing in Chicago, but if I could pick another team to play for it would have been the Braves. They were my team growing up.

"They've got a really good team and I'll be throwing to two great catchers, Brian McCann and David Ross, in baseball. Hopefully, I can go out there every fifth day and give the Braves a chance to win."