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Dan Jones termination a shock to all

3/23/2015

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Everyone has made their opinion on this situation by now. The IHL (Institutions of Higher Learning) has voted 9-2 (with 1 being absent from the vote) to not renew the contract of Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones.

The IHL is the governing body that sees over all public universities in Mississippi. They have a 12 member board that votes on items such as contracts just like any other town has.

Here is a quote of the reason behind the non-extension vote in a statement from the Commissioner of the IHL Dr. Jim Borsig:
"Dr. Jones has provided strong leadership in many facets of the University of Mississippi during his tenure. However, the Board cannot overlook its longstanding concerns regarding the business and financial affairs at UMMC."
In particular, the UMMC (University of Mississippi Medical Center which is in Jackson, MS) just had a fund started by former Ole Miss QB and NFL QB Archie Manning under the name "Manning Family Fund". It was established to raise money for the UMMC. Current New York Giants QB Eli Manning helped establish the fund and regularly raises money for the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital also in Jackson.

Previous Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat - while I didn't think did THAT great of a job (see any Ole Miss athletics post prior to Pete Boone going bye-bye and anything banned while he was there) - is wise in his own rights. When it came to education, Khayat did put Ole Miss on the map in such. He helped made Ole Miss look like a 5-star hotel with all of its plants to add to the already in place charm to make Ole Miss worth coming to and getting the best students over to Oxford.

While he admits he knew at best an understanding as to what the UMMC does, he knows firing Jones is a huge mistake based as to why. Here is his quote in his guest column to The Clarion-Ledger:
Since the Board press release laid the decision on "concerns about the Medical Center" it may be helpful if I provide a little information on that subject. When I appointed — and the IHL Board approved — (Jones') appointment as Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine, he confronted great challenges in the UMMC Hospital. The physical facilities, morale, and the reputation of the Center were in dire need of improvement. Dan immediately selected a management team, a new director of the hospital, and led a change in the culture from acceptance of mediocrity (or worse) to aspirations to become excellent and nationally respected. From the financial difficulties and quality of health care and research he inherited, he and his team changed the culture, balanced the books, became profitable, and sailed through at least two independent audits ordered by the Board.

The truth is that former Commissioner Hank Bounds (now moved to Nebraska) and then Vice Chancellor Jones disagreed about management of the Medical Center. (Bounds), an Education major did not have the background and experience to begin to understand the Medical Center. And to be fair I must tell you that not a single Chancellor, including me, other than Dan Jones ever fully understood the intricacies of the operation of the complex world of medicine. I spent one day a week at UMMC for fourteen years and have, at best, a superficial understanding of the Center. Dr. Jones is the only Chancellor in my lifetime who understands the medical center. And the Medical Center prospered under his leadership.

Perhaps this evil deed — clearly motived by personal and/or political reasons and not on performance — will prompt someone in a leadership position to initiate a move to transform the current dysfunctional and wasteful IHL system and authorize each university to have its own board.

Jones among other things put Ole Miss in the right direction as a University, and sports being the forefront. I dare-say without sports being at the front of the university, the students wouldn't know what to do besides drink on the Square in Oxford.

Jones had a hand in hiring current Ole Miss Athletic Director Ross Bjork and hired Hugh Freeze, the current Ole Miss Football coach. Remember Pete Boone was AD when the hire was made and Boone wished not to make a decision when he (was forced to) retired from the job. 

Bjork has since in turn hired Matt Insell who has just seen their first postseason tournament (and currently still) in the WNIT in the third round. Bjork has since of course done a tremendous job turning around an athletics program that participated in the first "New Year's Six" bowls of the College Football Playoff, has seen Andy Kennedy go to two NCAA Tournaments, the first two since 2002, saw Mike Bianco go to Omaha for the first time since 1972, witnessed OHS alum Sam Kendricks win two NCAA Pole Vaulting titles, and watched the rise in other programs as well such as Ole Miss Women's Soccer.

In turn of the success of the Ole Miss Athletics program, it has seen a rise in popularity and of course that means more air time for Ole Miss in the national spotlight. Going to national tournaments and postseasons will do that. Ole Miss arguably has one of the consistent "Big 3" programs right now in the nation. The Rebels are the only team to have made a "New Year's" Bowl, made it to Omaha, and made the NCAA Tournament. Pretty hard to top.

And all this was started because of Dan Jones (and a little help from the peanut gallery).

It should be worth noting the IHL voted during the same session to renew the contracts of the Chancellors at Southern Mississippi, Delta State, and Jackson State. Interesting enough, the IHL had nice long articles on their website as to what those three had accomplished while saying nothing as to why Dan Jones was basically fired. You can find these articles here:

http://www.mississippi.edu/newsarchive/newsstory.asp?ID=1149

http://www.mississippi.edu/newsarchive/newsstory.asp?ID=1148

http://www.mississippi.edu/newsarchive/newsstory.asp?ID=1147

It's a shame that such a small economical reason at the UMMC is the reason why Jones won't be at Ole Miss come next Fall. But just like Khayat said, personal and politics get in the way - and far too often. Similar to how I felt two years ago when Jamie Perkins was basically fired after he had just won the 5A State Championship in Boys Soccer was for not being a "Yes, man" - it wasn't because of OHS because obviously he did a great job and did what was best for the kids, it was because of outside politics like what this firing appears to be.
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2015 OHS Football Schedule

3/23/2015

 
Here is the schedule for the upcoming 2015 Football Season. Oxford is coming off back-to-back 5A North Half Championship seasons. This will also be head coach Johnny Hill's final season as the Oxford head man. All games have a start time of 7:00 PM.

Updated 5/4/15 at 7:00 AM

Key: Date - Opponent - Place

August 21 - Southaven - Home
August 28 - Starkville (E) - Away
September 4 - Madison Central - Home
September 11 - Lafayette - Away
September 25 - West Point* - Home
October 2 - Saltillo* - Away
October 9 - Lewisburg* (HC) - Home
October 16 - New Hope* - Away
October 23 - Clarksdale* - Home
October 30 - Center Hill* - Away
November 6 - Lake Cormorant* (SN) - Home

(E) - Game on ESPN, * - Region 2-5A Game, (HC) - Homecoming, (SN) - Senior Night

2015 Spring Break Tournament

3/5/2015

 
This schedule is for the upcoming 2015 Oxford Spring Break Tournament. This year's tournament will have 26 Varsity games (18 at Edwin Moak Field, 8 at LHS) and 5 JV games (2 at Edwin Moak Field, 3 at LHS). This year's only Crosstown Classic matchup will be held during this Tournament. The schedule is as follows: (Schedule subject to change)

Day 1, Monday, March 9:

At Oxford Middle School:

10:00 AM - Washington School vs. Oxford
12:30 PM - Washington School vs. Olive Branch
3:00 PM - Grenada vs. Oxford (JV)
5:00 PM - Grenada vs. Arlington (TN)
7:30 PM - Olive Branch vs. Arlington (TN) (NTL*)

At Lafayette High School:

1:00 PM - Clarksdale vs. Perry Central (NTL)
4:00 PM - Lafayette vs. Perry Central (JV)
6:00 PM - Lafayette vs. Perry Central (NTL)

Day 2, Tuesday, March 10:

At Oxford Middle School:

10:00 AM - Clarksdale vs. Marshall Academy
12:30 PM - Clarksdale vs. West Point
3:00 PM - Washington School vs. West Point
5:30 PM - Lafayette vs. Oxford (JV)
7:30 PM - Lafayette vs. Oxford (NTL)

At Lafayette High School:

10:00 AM - South Panola vs. Washington School
12:30 PM - Lafayette vs. Grenada
3:00 PM - Southaven vs. Grenada (JV)
5:00 PM - South Panola vs. Southaven (NTL*)

Day 3, Wednesday, March 11

At Oxford Middle School:

9:30 AM - Horn Lake vs. Houston
12:00 PM - Pontotoc vs. Olive Branch
2:30 PM - Houston vs. South Panola
5:00 PM - Arlington (TN) vs. South Panola
7:30 PM - Arlington (TN) vs. Oxford (NTL*)

At Lafayette High School:

12:30 PM - West Point vs. Houston (JV)
2:30 PM - West Point vs. Horn Lake
5:00 PM - West Point vs. Grenada
7:30 PM - Lafayette vs. Olive Branch (NTL*)

Day 4, Thursday, March 12 (all games at Oxford Middle School)

9:30 AM - Marshall Academy vs. Eupora
12:00 PM - Southaven vs. Eupora
2:30 PM - Marshall Academy vs. Pontotoc
5:00 PM - Southaven vs. Starkville
7:30 PM - Oxford vs. Pontotoc (NTL*)

Keys: (NTL) - No Time Limit, (NTL*) - No Time Limit if agreed upon before the game, (JV) - JV Game

Notes & Rules:
  • All games are under a time limit except those games noted with "(NTL)" (No Time Limit). For all varsity time limit games, no new inning will begin after 1 hour and 50 minutes. For all JV games, no new inning will begin after 1 hour and 15 minutes.
  • No game will end in a tie unless agreed upon by both coaches.
  • Unless playing the host teams, both teams must get the foul balls and both teams must supply baseballs throughout the game.
  • Water Coolers will be provided in each dugout.
  • Teams listed on the left side of this schedule will sit in the 1st base dugout, teams listed on the right sits in the 3rd base dugout.
  • Unless playing a host school where they will always be the home team, a coin flip will determine who is home for the game.
  • Admission is $5 each day. Fans can re-enter using ticket stubs throughout the course of that day.
  • For teams: The hitting facility will be open upon the start of each game. The team on the left will hit during the first 45 minutes of the game prior to the game that team is in. The team on the right will hit after the team on the left. There are to be no cleats, seeds, food, or drinks while inside the hitting facility.

5A Boys Quarterfinals Preview: Oxford vs. Wayne County

3/4/2015

 
Key: CL - Clarion-Ledger, MP - Maxpreps, NR - Not Ranked. Maxpreps uses computer rankings. The Clarion-Ledger and AP uses just a top 10. MP poll will use a top 25. Classification rankings from any poll will use a top 10 for MP, top 5 for AP/CL.

Who's Playing?
: Oxford (26-4 [2-5A Tournament Champion], #9 CL, #3 in 5A [CL]) vs. Wayne County (13-12 [5-5A Runner-Up], NR)
What?: Quarterfinal Round of the MHSAA 5A Boys Basketball Playoffs
Where?: Williams Assembly Center on the campus of Jackson State University
When?: Thursday, March 5th @ 9:00 AM 
How can you keep yourself updated?: @OxChargerSports & @oxfordcitizenjd Twitter accounts

The Lowdown: It was about time I did one for Basketball didn't I? Well, it took long enough to win a playoff game since I have created the site in the summer of 2012.

Oxford boys entered the postseason ranked 9th in the state by the Clarion-Ledger and third in 5A. Wayne County defeated powerful Brookhaven (entered that game at 23-4) Saturday after having defeated Gautier Tuesday night. The War Eagles are the only non-region Champion remaining in the 5A playoffs. That also means they are the only team in the 5A boys playoffs that got to this point the hard way. They had to win the first round and then win the second round on the road against a team that had a week to prepare that game for to reach this point.

Wayne County does not have a listed roster on Maxpreps nor do they have any stats beyond their game scores. That right there is a giveaway how much they had actually cared about this season as they are 13-12 (and entered postseason play at 10-11). They average 52.8 PPG on the year among listed scores. They only went 2-4 in Region 5-5A (easily the worst among the remaining 8 teams) but did beat West Jones in the region tournament who beat them twice in the regular season to clinch a playoff spot.

This team exemplifies "Cinderella" until the clock strikes midnight in this tournament. That might be coming real soon. Oxford has been a buzzsaw to nearly every opponent Oxford has faced. The only teams Oxford has lost to is two powerful teams in the DC area, and New Hope and Saltillo, both on the road by single figures who would return the favor and beat them back (New Hope twice). Oxford stands a threat to make it to the Championship game where 3-time defending 5A State Champion Callaway and Malik Newman would meet Oxford should that happen, but that is two rounds away. Oxford must take care of business against Wayne County.

That really wasn't much of a lowdown was it? Basketball sure is hard to come up with. Oh well, let's get to the keys...

For Oxford to Win, They Must: Pull Down Some Rebounds - Something coach Drew Tyler preaches all the time. Oxford was outrebounded by Clarksdale 38-25 last round, something that just can't happen. They overcame that by shooting the ball much better than Clarksdale did.

Be Able to Shoot 50-plus Percent - Oxford averages 73.8 PPG on offense, mainly because they shoot the ball around 60 times a game. In a game with no shot clock and that's 32 minutes long, that is a shot about every 30-35 seconds. Pretty quick where the opponent is likely shooting almost as many. That's why Oxford must win the rebounding battle, because of the number of shots taken during the game.

For Wayne County to Win, They Must: Shoot Well - Oxford plays good enough defense where their offense can take control. While Oxford gives up 60+ PPG, it is because of the pace of play the Chargers like to play at.

Be Smart On Defense - Oxford runs a variety of plays on offense, and at the pace the Chargers like to run at, they need to be prepared for the unpredictable. Holding Oxford to 40 percent or less from the field - and keeping them off the foul line - and the War Eagles will have a chance to advance to the semifinals, something that was unthinkable during the course of their season the way it was going.

Other Notes: Oxford Boys Basketball is looking for its first semifinal appearance and Big House berth since 2007. Oxford has their most wins in a single-season since 2008 where the Chargers went 30-4.

Directions to Williams Assembly Center @ JSU
: Entering from I-55 to the north of Jackson, stay on I-55. Take Exit 96A onto Pearl St. Continue on Pearl St. following signs towards JSU, avoiding the first Roundabout by staying in the right lane until the Rose St. Roundabout (the second one you come across), continue straight (second exit) across onto Banks St. Stay straight (second exit) at the third Roundabout. On the fourth Roundabout you come across, turn left (third exit) onto S. Prentiss St. The Assembly Center is the first building on the right. Parking is further down.
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