Once upon a time…

[Rick Cleveland]

Remember the sports section? This dinosaur does, ever so fondly

Newspapers have been moving in this direction for decades, lately at increasing speed. I will say the erosion of the traditional newspaper sports page is something I could have done without.

mississippitoday.org

 

[Duke Humphrey]

I remember as a kid waking up on Sunday running to the store to get a newspaper to see what columnist like you, Rick, had to say about the big Bulldog win the day before, then the game recap story, then the box score. Now you just check Twitter to get that in some cases an hour or so after the final whistle.

 

[EarlDawg]

Forty five years ago, I started using and spending quarters to get the Clarion Ledger out of a newspaper machine and hoped that they weren't already sold out. Good reads and coverage back then. So much has changed.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

I used to cover games freelance for newspapers 20-something years ago and it's changed so much.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Who needs a newspaper if you have access to a couple of sports (among other things) message boards ?

 

[thekimmer]

Human nature does not change. People's habits do change as times and technology changes. One does not have to think very hard to name more than a few things that at some period in history were an indispensable part of daily life but are now a thing of the past. For anyone who lives long enough there inevitably comes a time when they experience such a transformation within their lifetimes. So, it is human nature to look back with nostalgia, grief, and usually disdain for the demise of something that so often evokes memories of our younger days. So it is with the newspaper industry. Its decline is distressing to those of us who experienced it in it's vibrancy and we are left to commiserate about its demise just as our great grandparents no doubt did with the decline of the horse and buggy. Life goes on.

 

[AstroDog]

I only read one paper like the lady in the photo......The Epoch Times. It doesn't have a sports dept. or section, but it does life and politics very well. About the only newspaper in the nation that will report the accurate truth on stories most liberal rags avoid like the plague.

 

[dorndawg]

I only read one paper like the lady in the photo......The Epoch Times. It doesn't have a sports dept. or section, but it does life and politics very well. About the only newspaper in the nation that will report the accurate truth on stories most liberal rags avoid like the plague.

 

[DAWGSANDSAINTS]

Couldn’t wait for the August edition of the football insert in the Sunday paper that the CL use to put out. Had some great articles and capsules on every SEC team and the schedules, stuff on the HS teams as well.
Then the Saturday and Sunday editions of the CL was always good ~ until the unabashed slant toward ole miss became so prominent.

 

[Faustdog]

Remember the sports section? This dinosaur does, ever so fondly

Newspapers have been moving in this direction for decades, lately at increasing speed. I will say the erosion of the traditional newspaper sports page is something I could have done without.

mississippitoday.org

I was talking to a group of guys I play basketball with about this just the other day.

When we were playing in high school, every day at school someone would have that day’s Clarion Ledger. We’d check out the box scores to see how our competition did, see our names printed, talk trash, etc. Was one of my favorite parts of the day.

That just doesn’t exist anymore, and it’s sad. Seriously, try to find a box score for high school basketball.

 

[The Peeper]

Human nature does not change. People's habits do change as times and technology changes. One does not have to think very hard to name more than a few things that at some period in history were an indispensable part of daily life but are now a thing of the past. For anyone who lives long enough there inevitably comes a time when they experience such a transformation within their lifetimes. So, it is human nature to look back with nostalgia, grief, and usually disdain for the demise of something that so often evokes memories of our younger days. So it is with the newspaper industry. Its decline is distressing to those of us who experienced it in it's vibrancy and we are left to commiserate about its demise just as our great grandparents no doubt did with the decline of the horse and buggy. Life goes on.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

The 70s thru the 90s. Then I got tired of the CL hammering MSU. That paper was the source of many a thread here until they disappeared... I guess. I remember going to the library as well. The world chose the internet and its speed over printed paper. I do kind of miss having beat writers that I loved to read because of their style.

 

[fieldcorporal]

until the unabashed slant toward ole miss became so prominent.

I used to go to the cafeteria for breakfast - a real price performer for po' boys, 2 eggs grits toast coffee for $.58 I think. Usually there was a JDN or CL laying around, or I'd spring for a dime to buy one.

I'd get all spun up reading that OM axxhole Carl Walter's column ("Shavin's"). The OM slant was going strong a long time ago.

 

[eckie1]

I’ll never forget the time I outslicked Rick!!***

 

[Rick Cleveland]

I used to go to the cafeteria for breakfast - a real price performer for po' boys, 2 eggs grits toast coffee for $.58 I think. Usually there was a JDN or CL laying around, or I'd spring for a dime to buy one.

I'd get all spun up reading that OM axxhole Carl Walter's column ("Shavin's"). The OM slant was going strong a long time ago.

You know I used to feel the same way growing up in hattiesburg about ol' Carl. But think about it: Ole Miss was winning nine or 10 games and going to a New Year's Day bowl every year...It would have been hard not to write a lot more about somebody winning that big. From experience I can tell you that it's a whole lot more fun to write about teams that are winning than teams that are not. One good example, in 1979, the first year I covered State as a beat, the Bulldogs went 3-8. Coaches didn't want to see you, players didn't want to see you and the fans didn't want to read what you wrote. Then State signs John Bond, and goes starts winning big in 1980. The coaches were smiling and welcoming. The players couldn't wait for interviews and the fans snatched up the newspapers to read. Just human nature, I surmise. My guess is that had State been winning nine or 10 a year in the 50s and 60s, the CL coverage would have seemed slanted in that direction...

 

[fieldcorporal]

You know I used to feel the same way growing up in hattiesburg about ol' Carl. But think about it: Ole Miss was winning nine or 10 games and going to a New Year's Day bowl every year...It would have been hard not to write a lot more about somebody winning that big. From experience I can tell you that it's a whole lot more fun to write about teams that are winning than teams that are not. One good example, in 1979, the first year I covered State as a beat, the Bulldogs went 3-8. Coaches didn't want to see you, players didn't want to see you and the fans didn't want to read what you wrote. Then State signs John Bond, and goes starts winning big in 1980. The coaches were smiling and welcoming. The players couldn't wait for interviews and the fans snatched up the newspapers to read. Just human nature, I surmise. My guess is that had State been winning nine or 10 a year in the 50s and 60s, the CL coverage would have seemed slanted in that direction...

don't come into my perfectly good rant with logic and reason...

 

[fevans]

I only read one paper like the lady in the photo......The Epoch Times. It doesn't have a sports dept. or section, but it does life and politics very well. About the only newspaper in the nation that will report the accurate truth on stories most liberal rags avoid like the plague.

Looks like they are Qanon-adjacent, just like that movie...

The Epoch Times - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

'Sound Of Freedom' Is a Superhero Movie for Dads With Brainworms

'Sound of Freedom': Jim Caviezel child trafficking thriller is a box-office bash, and QAnon believers are celebrating

www.rollingstone.com

Sound of Freedom: the QAnon-adjacent thriller seducing America

Jim Caviezel stars as a hero trying to stop child traffickers in a paranoid new movie turning into a surprise box-office hit

www.theguardian.com

 

[AROB44]

The Epoch Times is a far-right international multi-language newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement.

 

[thatsbaseball]

You know I used to feel the same way growing up in hattiesburg about ol' Carl. But think about it: Ole Miss was winning nine or 10 games and going to a New Year's Day bowl every year...It would have been hard not to write a lot more about somebody winning that big. From experience I can tell you that it's a whole lot more fun to write about teams that are winning than teams that are not. One good example, in 1979, the first year I covered State as a beat, the Bulldogs went 3-8. Coaches didn't want to see you, players didn't want to see you and the fans didn't want to read what you wrote. Then State signs John Bond, and goes starts winning big in 1980. The coaches were smiling and welcoming. The players couldn't wait for interviews and the fans snatched up the newspapers to read. Just human nature, I surmise. My guess is that had State been winning nine or 10 a year in the 50s and 60s, the CL coverage would have seemed slanted in that direction...

And how long would the Hedermans have put up with "ol' Carl" if he hadn't been "kind" to OM ? The bias of that paper in those days was so obvious it was laughable

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

Obviously the internet has taken over. And real Journalism is dead.
Writers now days don't have any basic rules...it's just whatever gets hits.
I miss the days, where I could read the first paragraph and have an idea about what was going on.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

until the unabashed slant toward ole miss became so prominent.

That’s why I quit reading it.

 

[Wesson Bulldog]

Remember the sports section? This dinosaur does, ever so fondly

Newspapers have been moving in this direction for decades, lately at increasing speed. I will say the erosion of the traditional newspaper sports page is something I could have done without.

mississippitoday.org

Hey Rick, always wondered about this. If State and Georgia both go undefeated in 1980, who goes to Sugar Bowl?

 

[Eleven Bravo]

Rick, I have read your articles for many years, and always appreciated your style and your accuracy. Guys like you are slowly falling by the wayside due to the digital age we live in. God bless you, and please keep putting out your excellent content for as long as you want to. I live in Tylertown and got the Hattiesburg American for many years-I also subscribed to the New Orleans Times Picayune as well as the Clarion Ledger/JDN for many years. I also subscribed to the McComb Enterprise Journal (and still do) as I am a big fan of the Emmerichs. Things have changed over the years, unfortunately. Please keep up the good work-I’m a huge fan of yours, and will continue to be. Warmest regards to you, Sir….

 

[M R DAWGS]

Rick, you are one of the best. I always read your articles in the Sunday morning paper when I was in high school and college. I used to get up early, and leave the fraternity house hopefully in time to get a clarion ledger at a gas station so that I could read the sports section. This was in the early 2000’s, and state was horrible. However, I wanted to read what you wrote and your opinion on things. I do miss those days.

 

[DAWGSANDSAINTS]

Sunday paper, a cup or three of
Java after a big football win on Saturday, hopefully a low humidity Sunday morning, sitting on the back porch/deck enjoying reading the the CL and Rick Cleveland and Bobby Cleveland’s outdoor segment.
Times were good back then.

 

[SwampDawg]

Remember the sports section? This dinosaur does, ever so fondly

Newspapers have been moving in this direction for decades, lately at increasing speed. I will say the erosion of the traditional newspaper sports page is something I could have done without.

mississippitoday.org

I remember Carl Walters favorite statement almost every Sunday - "Mississippi State surely won a moral victory yesterday. Alabama was favored by 35 but had to struggle to win by 28." I drank a lot.

 

[blacklistedbully]

Looks like they are Qanon-adjacent, just like that movie...

The Epoch Times - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

'Sound Of Freedom' Is a Superhero Movie for Dads With Brainworms

'Sound of Freedom': Jim Caviezel child trafficking thriller is a box-office bash, and QAnon believers are celebrating

www.rollingstone.com

Sound of Freedom: the QAnon-adjacent thriller seducing America

Jim Caviezel stars as a hero trying to stop child traffickers in a paranoid new movie turning into a surprise box-office hit

www.theguardian.com

And the inevitable intolerant lib who has to piss & moan about one of the few media sources not in-the-tank for their liberal/democrat ideology. Any chance you are one of those former Twitter addicts who left in a loud tizzy after Musk took over and made it an open forum rather than a liberal cesspool?

"Faux News!!", etc.

 

[blacklistedbully]

Human nature does not change. People's habits do change as times and technology changes. One does not have to think very hard to name more than a few things that at some period in history were an indispensable part of daily life but are now a thing of the past. For anyone who lives long enough there inevitably comes a time when they experience such a transformation within their lifetimes. So, it is human nature to look back with nostalgia, grief, and usually disdain for the demise of something that so often evokes memories of our younger days. So it is with the newspaper industry. Its decline is distressing to those of us who experienced it in it's vibrancy and we are left to commiserate about its demise just as our great grandparents no doubt did with the decline of the horse and buggy. Life goes on.

Typewriters. Was very much a thing in my time at State. Any fellow old-timers here remember having to take a typing class in HS?
As far as the CL during my time (1980-83'), I do recall hanging out with friends at The Union between classes reading the CL sports section. Always most into State articles. Recall we also used to follow Darryl Strawberry's career at the Jackson Mets.

 

[skipper.sixpack]

Typewriters. Was very much a thing in my time at State. Any fellow old-timers here remember having to take a typing class in HS?
As far as the CL during my time (1980-83'), I do recall hanging out with friends at The Union between classes reading the CL sports section. Always most into State articles. Recall we also used to follow Darryl Strawberry's career at the Jackson Mets.

In the mid 70’s in Tupelo I took typing under a very sweet lady, Ms Houston,
She would always say “y’all please don’t look at your fingers while you type

 

[Xenomorph]

Remember the sports section? This dinosaur does, ever so fondly

Newspapers have been moving in this direction for decades, lately at increasing speed. I will say the erosion of the traditional newspaper sports page is something I could have done without.

mississippitoday.org

All these newspapers going under and somehow the Clarion-Ledger hangs on like that bi tch aunt who wheels around an oxygen bottle but just won't die.

 

[Dawgzilla2]

Hey Rick, always wondered about this. If State and Georgia both go undefeated in 1980, who goes to Sugar Bowl?

That's easy. The rule back then was the Sugar Bowl would not take whichever team had been there more recently. State would have gone since Georgia played there after the '76 season.

Georgia likely would have played Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl and still been National Champs.

 

[TaleofTwoDogs]

Back in the day, journalism was a profession with ethics. Today, it a means to spread your own bias with a headline.

 

[L4Dawg]

Remember the sports section? This dinosaur does, ever so fondly

Newspapers have been moving in this direction for decades, lately at increasing speed. I will say the erosion of the traditional newspaper sports page is something I could have done without.

mississippitoday.org

Honestly Rick, as pissed as I got at you dudes at the CL, I miss it. I'm a NE MS guy, and as pissed as I got at the Daily Journal guys.. I miss it too. The bias in both places against MSU just got to be too much. I know you guys think there wasn't any bias....but there damn sure was, for YEARS. That was why I eventually CANCELLED BOTH SUBSCRIPTIONS. I still miss both, but I just couldn't pay for both papers to tear down MSU at every opportunity they had. I DO NOT regret EITHER decision. Change my mind.

 

[HumpDawgy]

I miss reading Rick's articles in the paper. I'm glad he is still writing, Much like listening to Jack on the radio, the sports section was an enjoyable requirement for me. 1. Sports page 2. Comics.