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nothing says the return of autumn like thou-sands of roaring fans energized to watch the Bulldogs play. The Bul-lies will take to the turf of Scott Field at davis-Wade Stadium seven times this season for some cowbell-ringing good times!

Photos by Shelby danielBully Magazine

IN THE GAME

LET ThE gaMES BEgin!

Mississippi State head coach dan Mullen cap-tures the Egg Bowl trophy following the Bulldogs 41-27 triumph over arch-rival Mississip-pi last season. here’s to hoping there will be eggs for breakfast in Starkville once again this year on the Sunday following the 2010 Egg Bowl.

Photos by Shelby danielBully Magazine

IN THE GAME

WE’LL TakE ThiS Egg On OUR FacE!

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10 B U L L Y M A G A Z I N E

Make no mistake about it, Aberdeen native, Missis-

sippi State grad and current Cincinnati Bengal tight end Reggie Kelly is a class act.

A 12-year veteran of the NFL wars, Kelly is cut from the same cloth as Andre Townsend, another NFL star from Aberdeen who played his college football at “The School Up North” and then went on to play seven seasons and in three Super Bowls for the Denver Bron-cos.

A throwback to an era when sports heroes were ad-mired and revered not only for their athletic accomplish-ments, but also because of their conduct off the field, Reginald Kuta Kelly is wide-ly respected not only on his own team, but throughout the NFL as well.

Bengal quarterback Car-son Palmer complimented Kelly’s demeanour and work ethic as only a true team-mate could when he told the Cincinnati Enquirer: “He (Kelly) brings consistency, a work ethic, attitude and a joy – I don’t think I’ve ever gone a day where I didn’t see him smile at least 20 times and my locker is right next to his.”

Palmer, whose very exis-tence depends on protection from his offensive line, says Kelly’s blocking prowess is unmatched.

“We ask him to do so much more than any other tight end in terms of block-ing because he’s probably one of the greatest blockers that you’ll ever see. That’s the grunt work. That work sucks. Putting on shoulder pads and a helmet at his age, banging people day-in and day-out is tough. He doesn’t

want to take a day off.”Palmer also appreciates

the fact that Kelly isn’t the “high-maintenance” type who has to be the “go-to” guy on every play.

“He’s happy as heck if he catches a five-yard route and I love getting him the ball whenever I can,” said Palm-er. “He acts like he really en-joys all the grunt work, being in the trenches and blocking people. I don’t think he re-ally does, but he acts like he does. That’s what you love about him.”

Kelly’s outstanding char-acter, professionalism and leadership qualities haven’t gone unnoticed by his oth-er teammates either, for in 2007 they voted to present him with the Ed Block Cour-age Award, given annually to an active player on each

of the 32 NFL teams who, “in their opinion, serves as a role model of inspiration and who exemplifies com-mitment to the principles of sportsmanship and cour-age.”

The award is named in memory of Ed Block, a highly respected head ath-letic trainer for the Balti-more Colts from 1954-77, and is administered by the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation in Baltimore. The foundation has two ob-jectives: to celebrate players of inspiration in the NFL and to raise awareness for the prevention of child abuse.

Every year in March, the 32 winners gather in Bal-timore at a banquet where they are presented a pew-ter football helmet adorned with the player’s team logo

and engraved with the recip-ient’s name, team and year.

Drafted 42nd overall in the second round of the 1999 draft by the Atlanta Falcons after a sterling four-year career at Mississippi State, Kelly is coming off a near career-ending Achilles tendon rupture suffered in last year’s training camp in a non-contact drill during the taping of the popular HBO show ‘Hard Knocks’.

“It was very unfortunate,” offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski told ESPN.com’s James Walker following the accident. “We lost a very good player who is a true professional, a leader and a gentleman.”

“Losing a year and go-ing through six months of rehab was tough, but I’m very appreciative the Ben-

Former Dawg An NFL Mainstayby Don Rowe, Bully Magazine

aberdeen native and former Mississippi State standout Reggie kelly. Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Bengals.

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 11

gals brought me back for another season,” said Kelly, who spent the season on the injured-reserved list. “Usually when there is an injury as severe as this, teams in the NFL won’t bring a player – especially an older player – back. Instead, they’ll cut him and bring in someone else.”

Kelly said the year off and the rehab process did have a silver lining, though.

“The team wanted me to stay in Cincinnati for my re-hab,” said Kelly, “so I got to stay with my teammates not only on the sideline during the season but throughout the off-season workouts as well. Being with them was a great help to me mentally and the year off rejuvenated by body physically and made all the aches and pains go away. It’s the best I’ve felt in years and I’m ready to go.”

A Bengals starter since signing with the team as an unrestricted free agent in 2003, Kelly tops the squad in most NFL games played (152) and most NFL starts (133). He re-signed with the team this past May, but his role with the organization has taken on a new dimen-sion this season – that of mentor to two players whose goal is to take his job, Jer-maine Gresham and Chase Coffman.

Gresham, coming off a season-ending injury of his own, is widely considered to be the Bengals’ tight end of the future after sitting out his senior year at Okla-homa with a torn meniscus. As a junior with the Sooners, Gresham latched on to 66 passes for 950 yards and 14 touchdowns.

A first-round pick and the 21st player chosen in this year’s draft, Gresham is currently listed first on the depth chart, ahead of Kelly and Coffman who is also coming off an injury-plagued season last year

because of bone spurs in his left ankle. A third-round pick in 2009 from Missouri, Coffman set an NCAA record for receptions by a tight end with 247 for 2,659 yards and 30 touchdowns.

As the returning veteran who had missed only six Bengals’ games the past five years, it would be easy for Kelly to be upset with his changing role on the team but that’s not the case.

“The organization did a good job of getting both Gresham and Coffman in a Bengals’ uniform and I’m ready to do anything I can to help this team win,” said Kelly. “I’m excited about both of them being on the team and I know it’s my re-sponsibility as a team leader to do all I can to make sure they are successful. I’m cool with it and I just want to get back on the field and help out as best I can.”

Kelly’s philosophy centers around the Biblical verse, “…to whom much was given, of him much will be required” and he’ll be the first to admit he didn’t get where he is to-day without a great deal of help along the way.

“When I was the new kid on the block with the Atlanta Falcons at the start of my ca-reer in 1999, I had lots of vet-erans mentor me and show me the ropes. One of them said he wanted to leave the league better than he found it, so I feel it’s shame on any NFL player who doesn’t do the same.”

Not known as a flashy re-ceiver but more of a blue-col-lar type with a workman-like attitude, Kelly’s penchant for the “grunt work” (blocking) is just what Gresham and Coffman need to realize their potential as future NFL stars and his do anything attitude to help the team in that re-spect will make life a little easier for Jonathan Hayes, his position coach who played tight end for Pitts-

burgh and Kansas City.“His (Kelly’s) tenacity and

want to are similar to mine,” Hayes told the Enquirer ear-lier this month. “As a player, I never wanted a coach to say anything to me, good or bad. If he’s saying something to you bad, you’re obviously screwing that thing up, and if he’s saying something good, well you’re supposed to be doing it that way. It’s what you get paid to do.”

Ironically enough, both coach and veteran compiled eerily similar career stats as second round draft picks. Hayes was selected as the 41st player chosen by the Chiefs in 1985, while Kelly went 42nd to Atlanta in ’99. Hayes ended his career with 153 receptions for 1,718 yards and 13 touchdowns and Kelly currently has ex-actly the same number of yards receiving and five touchdowns on 184 catches.

With no illusions his NFL career is nearing an end, the veteran tight end isn’t quite sure what the future holds. With his leadership and mentoring skills, coaching is a possibility, but not neces-sarily on the college or pro level.

“With 12 years in this league, I’ve seen firsthand where our coaches just don’t have a life separate and apart from football,” said Kelly. “It’s 16 to as many as 20 hours a day during the season and many of our coaches don’t even go home at night, they just sleep in their offices.”

In a recent interview with the ‘700 Club’, Kelly said he feels it’s part of God’s plan for us to enjoy life as much as possible.

“I enjoy myself – being a man of God,” said Kelly. “I have fun with my wife. I have fun with my kids and my teammates. And I be-lieve that’s how God wants us to be. I believe He wants us to enjoy each other, have

fun, live this life, but learn the lessons He wants us to learn and glorify Him in the process.”

As a devoted family man, Kelly’s best option following retirement would be on the high school level where he could continue to be a role model for the younger gen-eration.

“That might be something I would be interested in,” said Kelly. “I know I can’t play forever and coaching young people would give me the opportunity to encour-age them to maximize the talents God has given them. Too, it would allow me to continue to be a role model and share my life experi-ences with them.”

Michael abraham CSP Operations DirectorPaul gandy Creative Director

alison Reed Graphic Designer/WriterTyler gallagher Graphic Designer

don Rowe WriterJacob Threadgill Writer

Shelby daniel Photographyansel Prichard Sales (Starkville, Columbus)

Blake Purvis Sales (Starkville)heath Sellers Sales (Starkville, Columbus)

Brittany Jenkins Sales (Starkville)Lauren Brady Sales (Starkville)

abigail yoe Sales (Tupelo)nathan hanson Sales (Starkville, Jackson)

Sally Marie hollister Sales (Jackson)Michael Stevens Sales (Jackson)

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BULLYmagazine

12 B U L L Y M A G A Z I N E

How About

A Little Respect

by Don Rowe, Bully Magazine

Photos by Shelby Daniel

dOn ROWE

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 13

“All I’m askin’ for is a little re-spect” was the main theme of Aretha Franklin’s Grammy Award-winning rhythm and blues hit Re-spect back in 1967. Fast forward 43 years and that same musical rendition could very well be the theme song for the 2010 Mississip-pi State football squad, for it has been pegged in this sea-son’s national college foot-ball pre-season magazines as the team most likely to finish last in the Southeast-ern Conference West Divi-sion. While Alabama, the na-

tion’s defending national champion, is the unanimous choice to capture the West-ern Division crown, sports-writers from six of the seven leading magazines predict that when the 2010 season comes to a close, the Bull-dogs will be dead last in the West. That’s the opinion of writ-ers from The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Athlon, Phil Steele, Yahoo Sports and the Kickoff College Football 2010 magazines, anyway – “opinion” being the operative word. To its credit (or possible discredit), Lindy’s was the only magazine to see it dif-

ferently by giving the Dogs their lone fifth place vote. But Mississippi State wasn’t the only in-state SEC school to be panned in this year’s magazines, for the “School Up North,” as coach Dan Mullen is fond of calling Ole Miss, was picked to fin-ish just one notch ahead of the Bulldogs with six fifth-place votes and one nod for sixth. If there’s one small bit of consolation for Bulldog fans though, it’s that the SEC media folks gathered in Birmingham earlier this summer had State com-ing in fifth, one spot ahead of the Rebels, as did Foot-

ball Time in Tennessee and Dawg Time – two regional pre-season magazines. Without a doubt, the entire state of Mississippi “took it on the chin,” so to speak, and it’s a sure bet that both Mullen and Ole Miss’ coach Houston Nutt plan to use this snub as a motivational tool in an effort to prove the pundits wrong. One thing to remember, however, is the fact pre-season prognostications are just that – predictions made by sportswriters at far off locations which are based on their individual opinion as to how a team will do in the upcoming season. They

are no more than what some pundits claim are “educated guesses,” if you will. Something else to consid-er is that these magazines are rushed to the news-stands in May, sometimes just days after the close of spring practice and far too often, last-minute injuries or suspensions handed to key players over the course of the summer are not taken into account. As a result, more times than not, those personnel losses have a sig-nificant impact on a particu-lar team once the regular season starts. Too, on the flip side, Ole Miss had to improve its

chances of challenging for the Western Division title with the last-minute signing of former Oregon quarter-back Jeremiah Masoli who, if he is as good as advertised, could find himself the starter before too long. Had Masoli come on board earlier this spring, the prognosticators would probably have picked the Rebels much higher than fifth, for one of their big con-cerns was the Rebels’ lack of an experienced quarterback. A quick look at how the magazines see the upcoming season: Alabama was the clear-cut choice as the top team in the West, garnering all seven

first-place votes. Arkansas slipped into second with three second-place votes and three thirds, just ahead of LSU in fourth place, while Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State rounded out the bottom three spots. Over in the East, Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators were the pick of all seven publica-tions, followed by Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Nationally, a compos-ite ranking predicts only two SEC teams to finish in the Top 15 – Alabama and Florida, both of whom were ranked in the Top 5.

Coach Nick Saban’s Crim-son Tide squad was the overwhelming choice of the writers to defend its national title, as only Phil Steele dis-agreed by ranking Alabama third, while the Gators came in fourth overall. Rounding out the na-tional Top 15 were Ohio State, Boise State, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, TCU, Oregon, Virginia Tech, USC, Iowa, Wisconsin, Miami and North Carolina. For those of you who like to keep up with such trivial matters, check back in Jan-uary to see how accurate these magazines’ predic-tions turned out.

by Don Rowe, Bully Magazine

in the not-to-distant past, the job of col-lege athletic direc-tor was, more times than not, held by a former football coach.

after a lengthy career on the sideline, the “good old boy” network usually dictated the head football coach typically ascended to the ad position where his main duties – when not on the golf course or at an alumni meeting – included running the day-to-day business of the de-partment, hiring coaches and filling out schedules for the various collegiate teams.

More recently, however, the days when football coaches automatically moved into the ad’s chair have become a thing of the past.

in this day and age, running a college sports program has become the same as overseeing a multimillion dollar cor-poration. as a result, col-lege athletic directors are now looked upon as chief executive officers with a broad range of respon-sibilities, including man-aging budgets, handling complex licensing and marketing deals, fund-raising and negotiating radio and TV contracts.

as full-time adminis-trators, athletic directors must also possess a va-riety of business skills and be well-versed in fi-nancing, athletic admin-istration, compliance is-sues and media relations, among others.

Because the recent trend on the collegiate level has been to look for ad candidates who come from nontraditional backgrounds or unusual

Sunny Skies Ahead Under Stricklin

by Don Rowe, Bully Magazine

14 B U L L Y M A G A Z I N E

Photo by Shelby Daniel

career paths, the recent hiring of Scott Stricklin to replace the departed greg Byrne as athletic director at Mississippi State was not that much of a sur-prise.

Stricklin, who just turned 40 earlier this year, was not, nor ever has been, a coach. instead, he brings to the MSU table 22 years experience dur-ing which he served at five different major uni-versities in a wide variety of capacities.

Long-time baseball an-nouncer Jim Ellis remem-bers Stricklin as a young, but diligent student media relations contact for the MSU baseball team back in the early ‘90s.

“Scott did an outstand-ing job,” said Ellis. “he was very conscientious and he dealt with people well. There were other students who also did the same thing, but Scott re-ally stood out and i knew then that he would do

well in whatever career path he chose to embark upon.”

Following graduation in 1992, Stricklin was named assistant media relations director at State, but his tenre was short-lived for he caught the eye of au-burn officials who hired him as the associate me-dia relations director. From 1993 to 1998, Strick-lin served as the primary baseball contact and as the secondary football contact. in addition, he also handled publicity for auburn’s nationally-ranked women’s basket-ball team during the 1993-94 season.

Stricklin’s five-year stint at auburn came to and end in 1998 when he became the assistant athletics director at Tu-lane where, as luck would have it, he served as the primary media contact for the green Wave’s un-defeated (12-0) football team.

Moving to the Big 12 conference in 1999,

Stricklin became the assistant ad

for communications and Marketing, but his four-year stint with the Bears ended in 2003 when he came back to the SEc at kentucky where he han-dled day-to-day publicity for the Wildcat basketball team as the associate ad for Media Relations.

Five years later, in the Spring of 2008, he re-turned to his alma mater as the Senior associate athletics director for Ex-ternal affairs where his duties included oversee-ing fundraising and foot-ball and men’s basketball scheduling. in addition, he managed State’s all-sport agreement with adi-das, served as the admin-istrative sports liaison for men’s basketball and softball, and had a vital role in facility planning.

When Byrne accepted the athletic director posi-tion at arizona this past spring, Mississippi State President Mark keenum stayed in-house and named Stricklin as By-rne’s replacement, cul-minating a nation-wide, month-long search.

announcing Stricklin as State’s 16th ad, kee-num said, “Scott emerged

from a field of outstand-ing candidates by sharing his vision about how to capitalize on the momen-tum that surrounds our athletic program today.”

keenum went on to say that Stricklin worked alongside Byrne to create the strategies that have energized MSU fans over the past two years.

“Scott is highly motivat-ed and well prepared to continue to build on that success,” said keenum. “This will be a seamless transition to an individual who knows and loves Mis-sissippi State and who is highly regarded among his SEc peers as well as alumni and friends of our University.

“i look forward to work-ing with Scott to give our athletic programs the re-sources and support nec-essary to win champion-ships.”

Stricklin, ever the dip-lomat, said he had no qualms concerning the search process.

“i respect the way they went about the process,” said Stricklin. “This is too important of a job just to hand somebody. if i wasn’t the right person for the job, i would want Mississippi State to hire whoever that would be.”

Said like a true Bulldog!

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 15

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Jack Cristil Need we say more?

by Don Rowe, Bully Magazine

Photo by Shelby Daniel

According to the White Pages, a go-to source for contact information on the Internet, there is only one person with the name Jack Cristil in the entire United States.

That would make Cristil a rarity of sorts, a one-of-a-kind, if you will. But that is a fact nearly three gen-erations of Mississippi State fans have known for years – there is indeed but one Jack Cristil.

MSU presidents, athlet-ic directors, head football coaches and head basket-ball coaches, not to men-tion literally hundreds of thousands of students, have come and gone through-out the past six decades, but the one constant on the Starkville campus since the Eisenhower administration has been Jack Cristil han-dling the play-by-play radio chores for the Bulldogs.

Known affectionately as the “Voice of the Bulldogs” whose signature line after every triumph is “You can wrap it up in maroon and white,” Cristil will turn 85 this coming December. De-spite his advanced age, how-ever, he shows no signs of slowing down after 57 years behind the mike during which he has called over 600 Mississippi State football games and well over 1,500 basketball contests.

Jacob S. “Jack” Cristil, dubbed one of the “greatest voices of the Southeastern Conference” by the Birming-ham News in 2008 and the dean of the SEC’s broadcast-ers, drew his inspiration as a youngster from legendary broadcasters such as Gra-ham McNamee, Ted Husing and Bill Stern – all pioneers in the early days of radio.

According to Cristil, his immigrant parents bought the family’s first radio in the late ‘20s or the early ‘30s when he was a very young

boy living in Memphis.“I may have been six, sev-

en or eight years old at the time,” said Cristil. “I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but I do remember how magical it was to be sitting in my house in Memphis and listening to men like Mc-Namee, Husing and Stern telling me about a game or a sporting event taking place in another part of the coun-try.

“You have to remember that radio was in its infancy back then and everything was on the AM frequency. There was no 24-hour tele-vision coverage and no In-ternet, so if you wanted to follow a certain sport, the ra-dio became your only way of keeping up with your favor-ite team and the broadcast-ers became your eyes and ears as to what was actually happening. To me, it was an enchanting time and I knew then that’s what I wanted to become when I grew up.”

As a youngster, Cristil also recalls having a rubber ball which he bounced off the walls of his house as he honed his skills “broadcast-ing” imaginary football and baseball games to himself and to anyone else within earshot, something which would come back to haunt him once he reached high school.

“I lived across the street from my football coach and he just about killed me the first day of practice,” said Cristil. “Later on, he said he was just paying me back for all those years of having to put up with all the broad-casting he had to listen to.”

As we all do, Cristil even-tually grew up, but unlike Little Jackie Paper in Peter, Paul and Mary’s hit song Puff, the Magic Dragon, “painted wings and giant rings” did not “make way for other toys.”

After graduation from L.C.

Humes High School in 1943 and a stint in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Cristil took the first step to-ward realizing his life-long dream by enrolling in the University of Minnesota School of Broadcast Journal-ism on the G.I. Bill.

After two years of study (1947-48), Cristil returned to Memphis and found his first broadcasting job as a minor league baseball announcer in Jackson, Tennessee. Dur-ing the next five years, he would hold similar positions with teams in Anniston (Al-abama), Clarksdale (Missis-sippi) and Memphis.

A two-year stint with the Double-A Memphis Chicks was followed by a return to Clarksdale where he handled local high school football and basketball games for the WROX radio station.

In August of 1953, Cristil learned Mississippi State College had an opening for a play-by-play broadcaster and he jumped at the oppor-tunity to land his first college job. According to Cristil, who was still living in Clarksdale at the time, he drove to the Starkville campus for an in-terview with athletic director C.R. “Dudy” Noble.

Cristil’s interview with Noble turned out to be the stuff of legends.

“The first thing he said to me was, ‘Boy, I understand you want to do these foot-ball games,’” said Cristil. “I replied, ‘Yessir, I surely do.’”

At that point, Noble, who posted a 3-4-2 record in his only year as head football coach of the Mississippi A&M Aggies (as the school was then known) in 1922, told Cristil what he wanted to hear.

“We’ve decided to give you an opportunity,” said Noble, but the hiring did come with certain conditions.

“I’ll tell you what I want you to do,” Noble said. “You

tell that radio audience what the score is, who’s got the ball, how much time is left and you cut out the bull.”

Cristil, who already had five years of professional ex-perience under his belt, not to mention years of play-by-play broadcasting imaginary games as a child, was some-what taken aback by Noble’s instructions, but he did take the advice to heart.

“Really, it has turned out to be the best advice I have ever received,” said Cristil. “All the radio listeners want is the score, who has the ball and how much time is left on the clock. “They don’t want any bull.”

A month later, Cristil broadcast his first Missis-sippi State College football game – a 34-6 road win over Memphis State which, ironi-cally enough, was the first Maroon football contest he had seen.

Murray Warmath, who went on to become a leg-endary coach at the Univer-sity of Minnesota, was in his second and final year at the helm and he posted a 5-2-3 record, including three straight wins to open the season. The following year, another soon-to-be coaching legend, Darrell Royal, took over for Warmath and he compiled consecutive 6-4 re-cords before bolting for the University of Washington in 1956. That made three win-ning seasons in Cristil’s first three years on the job, and to this day both Warmath (10-6-3) and Royal (12-8) remain the only two coaches during Cristil’s 57-year ten-ure to finish their careers above .500.

Since Royal’s departure, however, it’s been more fam-ine than feast and Cristil has witnessed just 16 of 54 sea-sons in which the Bulldogs finished over .500, as Wade Walker, Paul Davis, Charley Shira, Bob Tyler, Emery Bel-

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 19

jack cristil

lard, Rockey Felker and Syl-vester Croom all lost more games than they won.

Despite the lean times, the veteran broadcaster with the no-nonsense approach has remained the school’s big-gest booster.

MSU color analyst Jim El-lis said win or lose, Cristil is the consummate profession-al who is State’s foremost goodwill ambassador.

“It doesn’t matter what the score is or who’s ahead or behind, Jack is going to approach his job the same way he always has in a pro-fessional manner which will bring credit to Mississippi State University,” said El-lis. “There’s no whining, no complaining – he just tells it like it is.”

Cristil has been criticized by a few MSU fans for not being more of a “homer,” but that’s not his style as he gives credit where credit is due whether it pertains to State or to the opposing team. In fact, his philosophy of being “fair and balanced” predates that of Fox News.

“My philosophy is that great plays are being made by both teams and the radio audience is entitled to that information,” said Cristil.

As a child, Ellis, like Cris-til, listened to a legend on his radio while growing up in West Point, that legend being none other than Jack Cristil.

“I remember listening to Jack in 1955 when I was maybe six or seven years old,” said Ellis. “My dad and I were listening to the Mississippi State-Kentucky game when State quarter-back Billy Stanton threw a long touchdown pass to Wil-liam Earl Morgan and then held the Wildcats at about the 25-yard line minutes later to win the game 20-14. I’ll never forget how excited Jack was, as were my dad and I.”

Ellis also remembers lis-

tening to Cristil broadcast a State basketball game which featured legendary Bailey Howell.

“A couple of years later, I was listening to my pocket radio while we were at a Christmas parade in West Point and I can recall Bailey Howell pouring in 40 points or so in a big game,” said El-lis. “Jack just made it seem like I was right there in the gym.”

Ellis, Cristil’s football color analyst since 1990 and his basketball analyst since 1983, says his mentor comes from the old school of broad-casting.

“Jack started in the era when there was very little, if any, television coverage,” said Ellis. “Consequently, sports fans followed their teams via the radio and saw the game through their (the broadcaster’s) eyes. That’s what Jack does so well, he paints the picture for the fans and describes exactly what is happening with no hyperbole.

“He’s somebody who knows exactly what he wants to do with the broadcast and he’s going to tell the listen-ers where the ball is, who has the ball, what the score is, how much time is left and how the previous play de-veloped. He just makes the game come alive.”

Although revered through-out the Bulldog Nation, Cris-til is the first to admit that his wife of 33 years, Mavis, had a great deal to do with his success as a broadcaster and as a businessman.

“Mavis kept everything together,” said Cristil, who lost his wife after a long battle with lupus in 1988. “She took care of the kids, she handled all the repairs around the house and she was very supportive of me despite being away from home as much as I was. She never complained and she was the perfect wife.”

She also kept him ground-ed.

“Make no mistake about it, Mavis was my biggest fan but she was also my harsh-est critic,” said Cristil. “She would not hesitate to tell me if I made a mistake or mis-used a word.”

As befitting such an iconic figure, Cristil has reaped a wide variety of awards throughout his career. In 1992, he received the Ronald Reagan Lifetime Achieve-ment Award and in 1997, he was honored with the Chris Schenkel Award for excel-lence in college broadcast-ing. Too, he has won the Mississippi’s Sportscaster of the Year Award a record 21 times, was named the SEC’s Broadcaster of the Year in 1988 and was the first non-coach, non-athlete to be in-ducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

Even though it’s hard to believe, Cristil’s tenure be-hind the Mississippi State microphone calling over 2,000 Mississippi State ath-letic events has only been a part-time position.

From 1955 through 1985, Cristil was an advertising salesman for WELO radio in Tupelo, and he has also served as the play-by-play announcer for Tupelo High School and for Itawamba Junior College. In 1986, he became a sales manager for WTVA in Tupelo.

Hired on at State for $25 per game, Cristil said broad-casting football and basket-ball games was fun, but he knew sooner or later that he would have to get a “real job.”

Asked if he has received a pay scale adjustment for his play-by-play duties at State, Cristil said tongue-in-cheek MSU officials had “doubled” his fee several years ago – a well deserved raise, to be sure.

Famous Cristil

Quips...“The QB and the receiver weren’t on the same page there; but hey, it’s only week eleven.”

“Handoff to Dixon. And Dixon is murdered on the play.”

“They are going to have to send in their second kick-off coverage unit because the first unit is going to tire out with all of these kickoffs.” “Well, if you can’t block ‘em, hold ‘em!

“It’s third down and so long, you will need survey-ing equipment to see how much is needed for a first down.”

“Ole Miss has punted once today for a grand total of 12 yards. They ought to improve on that with this next punt.”

In the 4th Quarter: “For the record both teams have all of their timeouts left. So, that ought to make it fun.”

“Chris Relf can throw it long. He cannot throw it accurately, but he can throw it long.”

“Sonic drive of the game….my drive home to Tupelo, Mississippi. I guarantee you that is my drive of the game.” Then he proceeded to give his home address.

20 B U L L Y M A G A Z I N E

jack cristil

F O O T B a L L P R E V i E W 2 0 1 0

Dawgs’ Days Arrive

BoWL GAMe In SIGHT FoR 2010 BULLDoGS

F O O T B a L L P R E V i E W 2 0 1 0

Dawgs’ Days ArrivePhoto by Shelby Daniel

There is no Anthony Dixon in Starkville this season.

Any conversation about the Mississippi State of-fense and its prognosis for 2010 must begin there. Dix-on rushed for 1,391 yards last season, begging the question of who will fill his shoes? Back, however, is quar-terback Chris Relf. When we last watched Relf he was busy shredding the Ole Miss defense in a triumphant 41-27 Bulldog victory. That’s a good thing. Back, too, is wide receiver Chad Bumphis. Bumphis was one of the most exciting freshmen in the SEC last season. But it’s going to take some yet-to-be-named heroes to emerge for the MSU offense to get where it needs to be in 2010. Fortunately, there appears to be a cast of possibilities for those roles.

QUaRTERBack

Relf showed flashes of brilliance last season, but the Bulldog coaches readily admit there’s still a learn-ing curve for him. Unfortu-nately, the State schedule doesn’t offer much opportu-nity for on-the-job-training in the early going. After the Memphis opener, consecu-tive dates with Auburn, at LSU and Georgia await. A junior, Relf, has proven he can beat teams with his legs. It’s his ability to be a consistent passer that is a concern. Coaches, though, insist he has advanced in the passing game. Though it appears to be Relf’s job to lose, freshman

Tyler Russell awaits in the wings. He owns a big time arm. There’s no doubt that Russell, a true pocket-pass-er, is the Bulldogs future at the position. Expect him to receive the opportunity to mature rapidly this season. Ideally, one would think Mullen will go with a system that employs two QBs. If one or more backs emerge to help counter the loss of Dixon, it will make whoever is playing quarter-back that much better.

RUnning Back

Those 1,391 yards gained by Dixon will likely have to be made up by committee this season. The Bulldogs, though, look like they have

enough horses in the stable to get the job done. Expect to see Vic Ballard and Robert Elliot toting most of the load. Ladarius Perkins is also expected to contribute. Elliot is the most experienced, even though he had just 44 carries last season. Ballard, a junior college transfer, may be the closest to Dixon’s physical build at 215 pounds. He’s a bruiser that can run between the tackles, too. Then there’s Nick Grif-fin, who may or may not redshirt. Griffin is a former Dandy Dozen pick with the tools to become a good SEC running back. The departure of Montrell Conner may cast Griffin into the bright lights of the SEC right away. Sylvester Hemphill and Patrick Hanrahan, along with redshirt freshman Wil-liam Shumpert, will split the fullback duties. The good news for any Mississippi State running back: The offensive line is one of the more experienced units in the SEC.

REcEiVERS Bumphis is the man, hands down. His 32 catch-es from a year ago should be just the beginning for a player with All-America potential. Bumphis is a playmaker with next level stamped all over him. Leon Berry is back, as well, after catching 14 balls in 2009. After that, it will be by

committee. There are plen-ty of young Dawgs in the pound, including Brandon Heavens and Chris Smith. Mississippi State may have to force some of its redshirt and true freshmen into ma-jor roles. Keep an eye on redshirt freshman Ricco Sanders. Marcus Green brings tal-ent and experience at tight end. Green caught 27 passes for 306 yards as a sopho-more last season. Kendrick Cook is back after gaining valuable experience at tight end in 2009, too.

OFFEnSiVE LinE

Experienced. That’s the best way to de-scribe this group. The unit has a combined 84 career starts. Four starters return, along with Tobias Smith, who fought a nagging ankle injury last year. Left tackle Derek Sherrod is the star of the line. At 6-6 and 305 pounds, he earned All-SEC honors in 2009. Also retunring is center J.C. Brignone, left guard Quen-tin Saulsberry and right tackle Addison Lawrence. Senior Phillip Freeman could also see duty at right tackle. The offensive line needs to play better this season. There’s no Anthony Dixon in the backfield. The unit has the potential to be one of the best in the SEC if everything comes to-gether.

Dixon: Who’s gonna fill his shoes?

chad Bumphis

football preview

24 B U L L Y M A G A Z I N E

Dixon: Who’s gonna fill his shoes?

Tyler Russell

chris Relf

Photos Courtesy of MSU

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 25

There’s a new sheriff in town in Manny Diaz.

Maybe sheriff isn’t the right terminology to de-scribe Diaz, since his phi-losophy is a jailbreak style of attack defense. In any event, Diaz, whom Mullen hired from Middle Tennessee State, and his scheme should be a welcome addition to the Bulldogs. He brings with him co-coordinator Chris Wilson from Oklahoma. Diaz’s Middle Tennessee defense finished second in the nation in tackles for loss and sixth in sacks last sea-son. Expect the duo to work some magic with a Bulldog defense that returns eight starters from a season ago. Folks, the Bulldog Blitz is back.

dEFEnSiVE LinE Here’s the teeth of the Mississippi State defense. Six studs on the defensive line drew starting assign-ments last season. Defensive end Pernell McPhee is the star. McPhee led the Dawgs with 12 tackles for loss and five quarterback sacks in 2009. He’ll be the anchor on a defensive front widely con-sidered the strength of the team. He’s big, fast, proven and ready for national rec-ognition. Sophomores Fletcher Cox and Josh Boyd should hold down the tackle spots, while Nick Bell will anchor the other end position opposite McPhee. James Carmon and Devin Jones provide quality depth at the tackle

spots. Shane McCardell and Johnathan McKenzie will spell at the ends.

LinEBackER The linebackers are expe-rienced and good. Chris White should be ca-pable of plugging the void left behind by the depar-ture of Jamar Chaney at middle linebacker. White, a senior, started 12 games at outside linebacker last season, recording 75 tack-les. K.J. Wright re-corded 82 tackles from his outside linebacker post in 2009 and is a candidate for All-SEC honors. Wright en-ters the 2010 season with 22 games under his belt as a starter. White and Wright are the top two returning tacklers for MSU. Sophomore Cameron Lawrence (a converted safety), senior Emmanuel Gatling and redshirt fresh-man Deonte Skinner will compete for playing time at the other linebacker spot.

dEFEnSiVE BackS Cornerback Corey Broom-field, a sophomore, tied for the SEC lead with six inter-ceptions a year ago. Senior Maurice Langston will man the other corner position. Free safety Johnathan Banks recorded four picks as a freshman in 2009. Along with Broomfield, he earned Freshman All-SEC status. Junior safety Charles Mitchell, probably the best athlete on the state defense, is the emotional leader of the secondary.

Bulldog Blitz Is Backfootball preview

26 B U L L Y M A G A Z I N E

Pernell McPhee

dan Mullen

Photos Courtesy of MSU

SPEciaL TEaMS

Special teams play should be good once again this season, as the Bulldogs return all the key com-ponents from 2009. Dan Mullen serves as the spe-cial teams coordinator, so you know there is a heavy emphasis placed here. It showed last season when MSU finished second in the SEC in kickoff return aver-age and doubled their punt return average from 2008.

Sean Brauchle and Der-ek DePasquale are both seasoned place kickers. Brauchle nailed six consec-utive field goals before be-ing injured last season, al-lowing DePasquale to step up and hit 10-of-12 field goals down the stretch.

This area of the kicking game receives an A+ mark.

Heath Hutchins, a se-nior, return to handle the punting duties. He pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 11 times last season.

Senior Aaron Feld will handle all snapping duties for the fourth consecutive year.

Speedsters Leon Berry and Chad Bumphis will handle the kick and punt returns. Berry returned 38 kicks for 1,015 yards in ‘09.

All told, special teams play should once again be a strong suit for Mississippi State.

ThESchEdULE

The early part of the schedule is a sandwich

made up of of two very win-nable games as the bread (Memphis and Alcorn State) and three daunting challenges as the meat (Au-burn, at LSU, Georgia). A 2-2 record after September would have to be consid-ered a good start.

October brings difficult road trips to Houston and Florida, along with home games versus UAB and Kentucky. You have to like Mississippi State’s chances

of entering November at a respectable 5-4 mark.

Then comes a trip to Ala-bama, a home date with Arkansas and visit to Ox-ford to meet arch rival Mis-sissippi. It’s likely that the outcomes of these three games will decide the Bull-dogs bowl fate.

The Bullies need to be 2-2 after September. If they are, they’ll be bowling at year’s end.

2010 SCHEDULESept. 4Sept. 9Sept. 18Sept. 25Oct. 2Oct. 9Oct. 16Oct. 23Oct. 30Nov. 13Nov. 20Nov. 27

MEMPHISAUBURN

LSUGEORGIA

ALCORN STATEHOUSTONFLORIDA

UAB (HC)KENTUCKYALABAMA

ARKANSASMISSISSIPPI

28 B U L L Y M A G A Z I N E

In 2009, southpaw Nick Routt burst onto the MSU base-ball scene, becoming the first pitcher in MSU history to earn

SEC All-Freshman honors. A year later, another promising young Diamond Dog, right-hander Chris Stratton, fol-lowed Routt’s lead with staff-leading numbers and SEC All-Freshman accolades.

While the team has yet to begin its formal fall practice session and the 2011 season-opening competition is still months away, both Routt and Stratton are projected to play key roles when John Cohen’s third Mississippi State dia-mond edition takes the field in 2011.

Next spring’s Diamond Dogs project as an interesting amalgamation of game-savvy veterans and gifted newcom-ers. The MSU staff opens fall drills in September at Dudy Noble Field with 15 returning letter-winners, including five starting position players and 17 of the 26 Diamond Dogs that drew game-opening as-signments during the course of the 2010 campaign.

First baseman Connor Pow-ers, drafted by the San Diego Padres last June after leading the team his senior season with a .379 batting average, 16 home runs and 68 RBI, is the lone starter missing from the MSU infield.

The Bulldogs have plenty of skilled players set to vie for their first playing time at first base. Senior corner in-fielder Jarrod Parks, who sat out the 2010 season after see-ing spot playing time at third base in 2009, could follow Powers at first base. So, too, could junior college transfer Brett Bozeman, a corner in-fielder from Gainesville, Fla., and freshman newcomers Brayden Jones, Daryl Norris, Wes Rea, Jake Smithey and Nolan Thomas.

Sophomore Sam Frost (.248/13 RBI - Hoover, Ala.) drew 32 starts at second base last spring and leads a corps of youthful hopefuls at the

position. He’ll be challenged by freshman middle infield-ers Adam Frazier, Demarcus Henderson, Garrett Pitts and Taylor Stark.

A similar situation could de-velop at shortstop, where se-nior Jonathan Ogden (.207/6 HR/ 28 RBI – Cypress, Texas) opens off-season drills as the likely leader. Ogden joined Powers as the team’s only 56-game starters last year. His competition for the starting job will likely come from the same collection of prep star middle infielders --- Adam Frazier, Demarcus Hender-son, Garrett Pitts and Taylor Stark.

Seniors Nick Vickerson (.328/8 HR/27 RBI – Tusca-loosa, Ala.) and Jarrod Parks (Madison, Miss.) provide the MSU coaching staff with com-pelling options at third base. Parks had virtually wrapped up the starting job at the hot corner last year when an in-jury forced him to sit out the campaign, while Vickerson stepped in and as a 40-game starter enjoyed a solid season afield and at the plate.

Parks is also a contender to take over at first base while Vickerson, who led the Bull-dogs with 10 stolen bases last spring, sports the top batting average (.328) among MSU’s returnees. Newcomers Gar-rett Pitts and Brayden Jones could also challenge for start-ing duties.

The Bulldogs return both of last year’s starting catchers, senior Cody Freeman (.301/3 HR/26 RBI – Collinsville, Miss.), who drew 26 of his 31 starts behind the dish, and senior Wes Thigpen (.225/4 HR/17 RBI – Luling, La.) a 30-game starter in his first season in the MSU program.

A shoulder injury will force Freeman to the sidelines this fall, but Thigpen should get plenty of work along with red-shirt freshman Kolby Byrd (Bogue Chitto, Miss.), junior college transfer Brett Boze-man and highly-touted Mis-sissippi prep signee Hunter

Renfroe.In the outfield, the Bull-

dogs return one of their three primary starters from last season, speedy junior cen-terfielder Jaron Shepherd (.250/34RBI/7SB – Kilgore, Texas). But the Bulldogs return three other players with starting experience. Se-niors Ryan Collins (.271/22 RBI/9SB – Panama City, Fla.) and Trey Johnson (.279/3 RBI – Tyler, Texas) each drew starts at all of the outfielding positions and enter the 2011 campaign with 122 career starts between them. Junior outfielder Brent Brownlee (.257 career), with 20 starts in two seasons, is returning from shoulder injuries that have impeded his career.

As with the other positions, the Bulldog talent pool in-cludes a collection of impres-sive newcomers that figure to factor heavily in MSU’s 2011 plans. Junior college transfer David Bishop and prep stand-outs Cody Abraham and C.T. Bradford will be in the mix to solidify roles in the outfield-ing corps. Bradford is the son of former Mississippi State third baseman Mike Bradford (1982-83).

The Mississippi State pitch-ing staff is poised to make sig-nificant improvement in the coming season. In addition to Freshman All-SEC performers Nick Routt (2009: 5-3/4.13 ERA/87K – Silver Spring, Md.) and Chris Stratton (5-3/5.29/76 K – Tupelo, Miss.), Bulldog pitching coach Butch Thompson returns seven oth-er hurlers with mound experi-ence, six as starting pitchers.

Junior righty Caleb Reed (1-7/6.99/51 K – Cleveland, Miss.) returns seasoned with nearly 85 career innings pitched with a staff-leading 36 career mound appearances as does another junior righty, Devin Jones (2-4,/8.16/29 K – Eupora, Miss.). Right-handers Ben Bracewell (0-2, 5.50/4 Sv - Chelsea, Ala.) and Ken-dall Graveman (2-4/7.02/21 K - Alexander City, Ala.) and

southpaws Chad Girodo (2-3/7.40/28 K - Hartselle, Ala.) and C.C. Watson (2-1/7.62/11 K - Heflin, Ala.) are eager to build on their 2010 debut sea-sons that saw the foursome combine for nearly 130 in-nings.

Also returning are senior outfielder/pitcher Trey John-son (Tyler, Texas) and a pair of redshirt juniors returning from injuries that forced them to the sidelines last spring, right-hander Michael Dixon (Austin, Texas) and lefty Pax-ton Pace (Collinsville, Miss.).

MSU’s class of two dozen fall newcomers also includes its share of talented mounds-men. Righties Andrew Busby, Jordan Faulkner, Corey Luke and Brandon McHenry and lefties Luis Pollorena and Tim Statz all enter the 2010 fall drills seasoned with previous competition on the junior col-lege level, while Victor Diaz, Tanner Gaines, Evan Mitchell and Ross Mitchell are eager to build on their stellar prep ca-reers as freshmen at MSU.

Though Mississippi State’s 2011 baseball schedule is still being finalized, the Bulldogs are expected to play a record 35 home games in the com-ing season. The tentative slate features a season-opening 14-game home stand, beginning Feb. 18-20 with a season-opening tourney-style four-game weekend slate against Akron and Lamar.

State later hosts Georgia State and Iowa in a similar four-game tournament setup at Dudy Noble Field. State hosts SEC foes Alabama, Au-burn, Florida, LSU and de-fending national champ South Carolina. Other non-confer-ence home opponents include Alabama A&M, Alcorn State, Belmont, Eastern Illinois, Mississippi Valley State and Sacred Heart University. State is also scheduled to take on instate rivals Southern Miss and Ole Miss in neutral site contests at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss.

Diamond Dawgs eye improvementFaLL BaSEBaLL

During his i n t r o d u c -tory press conference, Dan Mul-len made it

known that Mississippian’s Brett Favre, Walter Payton, and Jerry Rice all became among the best at their po-sitions in the NFL...without going to college at Missis-sippi State.

Mullen said that wouldn’t happen again, as he is com-mitted to recruiting from the Magnolia State as much as possible.

Mullen’s first class in 2009 featured 21 out of 27 signees from Mississippi and 19 out of 26 from in state in 2010.

The 2011 class will be no different, as 12 of the cur-rent 15 commitments hail from the Mississippi, in-cluding Dandy Dozen pros-pects: linebacker C.J. John-son; cornerback Jermaine Whitehead; safety Darion Arrington; and athlete Zach-ary Jackson.

“The class in Mississippi is talented this year, but it is also top heavy,” said Lo-

gan Lowery, recruiting ana-lyst for Bulldog Blitz on the Rivals.com network. “After you get past your top five to seven recruits in the state, things drop off talent-wise. They are going after those top ones, and they are also trying to fill needs.”

Johnson, from Philadel-phia, and Whitehead, from Greenwood, are the only two prospects currently committed who carry a four-star ranking on the Rivals.com five-star scale. Johnson is the third highest rated player in the state. There is a chance both Johnson and Whitehead play right away.

“Jermaine Whitehead could come in and play right away,” Lowery said. “Cor-nerback is a little easier transition to play as a true freshman than linebacker since the position is a lot less physical. They do have a need at linebacker, losing K.J. Wright and Chris White after this year. They’re going to need a big physical line-backer.”

Arrington has a chance to make an impact early in his

Bulldog career. “They are really excited

about landing D Arrington,” Lowery said. “He is a guy who is already an SEC sized safety right now, who could potentially grow into a line-backer.”

Jackson (6-foot-1, 195 pounds) missed his junior season because of injury, and was under the radar at the beginning of the recruit-ing process. He has since become one the state’s best, culminating with his Dandy Dozen selection. Listed as an athlete on Rivals, Lowery said he expects the staff to try him at as many positions as possible.

On the offensive side of the ball, Lowery said MSU is still trying to develop depth at wide receiver, as well as bring in a few tight ends. At receiver they have two players committed with contrasting styles. At 5-foot-10, Devin Fosselman will be expected to work in the slot. The 6-foot-5 Joe Mor-row gives the Bulldogs some much needed size.

“I know they are really

excited about Joe Morrow because they don’t have a receiver like him on the roster anymore. They had O’Neal Wilder, who left the program to concentrate on track, and that was their big, tall, over-the-middle type receiver.”

With Mackey award watch-list tight end Marcus Green ready to graduate the Bulldogs will bring in Gen-try’s Rufus Warren (6-foot-5, 238 pounds).

South Panola receiver/cornerback Nick Brassell (6 foot, 175 pounds) and Madi-son Central wide receiver Tobais Singleton (6-foot-2 187 pounds) are coveted by the Bulldogs.

“They’re still optimistic about Tobais Singleton,” Lowery said. “I haven’t heard a lot about Brassell lately. Everybody says they are Ole Miss leans, but the fact they aren’t committed to Ole Miss says something. Until they commit else-where, Mississippi State will continue to recruit them.”

by Jacob Threadgill, Bully Magazine

Bulldogs Making Mississippi Statement

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Diamond Dawgs eye improvement

Dear Dr. Boyd,

My son is playing varsity football. He had a concussion last year. I am worried he may have another concussion and have serious damage later in life. What are the guidelines for him playing this year?

On all levels of foot-ball competition there is increasing emphasis on concussion prevention. The college football rulebook has only one rule change this season. The NCAA is following the NFL who imposed the same rule last year to prevent high speed head on collisions. The rule now makes it il-legal for teams receiv-ing a kickoff to form a three man wedge where players align shoulder to shoulder in front of a returner. Sports related con-cussions are occurring more frequently, com-prising almost 10% of all athletic injuries. It is perhaps the most common mismanaged injury in sports and usually results from a blow to the head. Re-cent studies in retired NFL players link mul-tiple concussions with dementia, depression, and even the possible development of ALS

(Lou Gehrig’s disease). When a concussion oc-curs the brain is vio-lently accelerated or decelerated inside the skull. Typical symp-toms include headache, nausea, dizziness, sen-sitivity to light, and poor cognitive function as well as possible loss of consciousness. Un-fortunately it has been termed getting “ding-ed” or “getting your bell rung” which trivializes the serious condition. Players often do not re-port having the injury and continue to play placing themselves at great risk of permanent damage or even death. When a player’s brain impacts the inside of the skull neurons inside the brain are stretched and twisted. Injury may be lasting. Studies have shown that collegiate athletes had a threefold greater risk of sustain-ing a concussion if they

had suffered from three or more concussions in the previous seven years. Players also had a threefold greater risk for subsequent concus-sions in the same sea-son. Assessing whether players are fit to return to play after sustaining a concussion is complex and sometimes diffi-cult. Today, Mississippi State athletes undergo preseason computer-ized testing which can be compared to tests taken after a concus-sion to determine if an athlete’s cognitive func-tion has returned to baseline. High school athletes usually do not have the opportunity for this type of assessment. Typically when an ath-lete is assessed on the sideline after a suspect-ed concussion he or she is tested by answering questions about their symptoms and measur-ing their ability to per-form mental tasks. Also their postural stability (a type of balance test) is checked as research indicates the area of the brain most affected with head injury main-tains balance. Players are also asked to exert themselves with run-ning, jumping, etc… to see if symptoms return.

what you need to know:Disqualifying an athlete from com-petition remains controversial, however the fol-lowing are gen-eral guidelines. (Age and concus-sion history must be taken into ac-count.)

• When symp-toms resolve in the first 15-20 minutes and the player is above age 18, return to play on the same day is allowed.

• Symptoms last-ing longer than 20 minutes and age 18 years or younger disquali-fy the player from participation the same day.

Ask Dr. Boyd

dr. daniel Boyd

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