By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
An old sports joke goes like this.
Want to hear a football joke? The state of Mississippi.
Recent events prove once again the joke works because it’s true. Lifelong Mississippian, Hugh Freeze, a former private school football coach who rode an NFL talent that was dropped into his lap by a major donor all the way to the Ole Miss head coaching job, finally saw his artificial rise through the NCAA coaching ranks come to an abrupt halt last week when it was discovered, amidst a long-running NCAA investigation, that he had a habit of phoning prostitutes when out of town.
Houston Nutt was quoted saying, “I called that play brotha!”
Now, the only school in the SEC looked down upon by Arkansas State is stuck with, at least for the next few years, the moniker Ole Miss-dial.
The joke, of course, stemming fromFreeze’s initial denial of intentionally calling the first number in his phone records known to be to an escort service. Several others were found upon further investigation by the university.
It was also reported that none of the calls were to or from Atlanta, since Freeze has never been to Atlanta.
Former Razorback lineman Sebastian Tretola may be superman. Not only can the 350-pound lineman throw touchdown passes, he can also catch bullets without being harmed.
Unfortunately, bullet catching is not an NFL skill, and his second wee-hours, violent altercation at a bar this offseason was more than the Tennessee Titans were willing to put up with. He was released by the team on Friday.
Good news for Tretola, since the second fight resulted in injury, and he’s a former Razorback, that’s four hole punches. He only needs one more in his ticket to earn a free roster spot with the Cowboys.
For all you boxing fans and investment opportunity seekers, Money Mayweather and Con McGregor are together selling the Brooklyn Bridge for $100 on Aug. 26.
You have to hand it to McGregor. Less than five years ago he was making $8,000 per fight while becoming a fabulous MMA fighter. Now, he has the opportunity to be a horrible boxer for tens of millions of dollars.
The Pittsburgh Penguins sealed their second-straight Stanley Cup when Patric Hornqvist scored off Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne’s back. Hockey just doesn’t get any more exciting than that. Unfortunately.
The good thing about hockey is that no one accuses the NHL of rigging its playoffs for television ratings. More evidence for this came just this past June, when the Stanley Cup finals came down to Pittsburgh and Nashville.
Someone check ESPN. I heard they were talking about the NBA for a change.
