Johnny Cash Pardoned

November 5th, 2007 by david lay

On May 10, 1965 Johnny Cash performed a concert in Starkville, MS in the Mississippi State Animal Husbandry building, because it was, at the time, the only structure large enough to hold such an event. After his performance and a couple of after-parties (one at the πΚΑ house, another at a residence) he was spotted by police officers “crawling down HWY 82 picking weeds”. He was arrested and spent the night in jail for “trespassing”. Cash wrote the song Starkville City Jail after the incident and seemed to carry a grudge even 30 years later (hard to blame him, I’d say).

Johnny Cash was known as an outlaw type, and his Folsom Prison and San Quentin concerts and live recordings made him extremely popular amongst the criminally inclined population. Despite his reputation as a ‘bad boy’ and his tremendous appeal towards those finding themselves on the wrong side of the law, Cash was only arrested twice in his lifetime – the more famous of which was a drug arrest in the El Paso airport.

Starkville held the first annual Flower Pickin’ Festival this weekend and amongst the festivities, the city posthumously offered an official pardon to Cash in a ceremony on Saturday night. Though this was all ceremonial in nature (Cash died in 2003), I’m glad to see the city of Starkville make this move. I really appreciate that they are taking the initiative to celebrate and honor the Man in Black.

Check out this “Starkville City Jail” tribute on YouTube – including a brief explanation of the incident in Cash’s own words…

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It’s Great to be a Bulldog!

October 29th, 2007 by david lay

5+1= B.O.W.L

On Saturday, Mississippi State defeated the 14th ranked Kentucky Wildcats for our fifth win of the season. That puts us one win away from bowl eligibility – a place we haven’t been in 6 years. With home games left against Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide of Alabama and Ed Orgeron’s Mississippi Rebels and a “neutral” field contest in Little Rock against the Reverend Houston Nutt’s Mighty Hogs of Arkansas, I like our chances. Winning in the SEC is NEVER, EVER a foregone conclusion (just ask South Carolina, and Kentucky) but with 3 chances, and two at home, I think we can do it.

I think that a 6 win Mississippi State team will be gold in the eyes of many bowl executives. Sylvester Croom’s hiring has really given many people a reason to get behind the Bulldogs and I think most bowls will use that as a reason to invite us. The downside is: It looks very probable that 11 out of 12 SEC universities will be bowl eligible, meaning that three or four of them are bound to end up disappointed. If we can win our home games, then I think we would be in for sure with seven wins.

Paps Gets it Done – Smith Doesn’t

If you’re like me, the only thing that compares to seeing your team excel, is seeing your rivals fail. This happened this weekend. Not only did the Mississippi Rebels fail to score a touchdown in route to a 17-3 loss against Tommy Tubberville’s War Eagles/Tigers of Auburn, but a former Rebel was the goat in the fourth and final game of the World Series.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Rockies were down by one run when Clint Hurdle sent in pinch hitter Seth Smith to face to Red Sox closer and former Mississippi State standout Jonathan Papelbon. Smith, a former outfielder and backup quarterback at Mississippi struck out swinging to end the inning, the game, and the World Series. As Smith walked back to the dugout, the celebration surrounded Papelbon.

It’s great to be an MSU Dawg!

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