Huertas, White Honored by League Coaches

Terrico White and David Huertas are members of this year's All-SEC Team (second-stringers, but who's counting?), and White was selected as the freshman of the year and one of three unanimous selections to the All-Freshman Team.

The release from the league indicates that each team, except the all-defensive team, had eight players on it - which takes a little of the honor out of being the sixth-man of the year, I suppose. Feel free to offer your dissenting opinions or contradictory observations, but it seems silly to me to expand the all-league teams to eight. This expansion means that five of the first teamers were unanimous selections.

Georgia has all the shame. With just one selection - Trey Thompkins is a member of the freshman team - has not as much reason for optimism as their congratulatory release will likely indicate.

In the SEC Coach of the Year race, Trent Johnson was able to edge out Billy Gilli ... Gilli ... Gilletmejustdiebeforeimissthetournament as SEC Coach of the Year. Upon winning, basically by default, Johnson said, "Someone please remind me why I left Palo Alto to coach in the Sun Belt Conference?"

For their outstanding valor in being so awarded, and because we at the Cup bestow the distinction of "Rebel of the Week" irregularly and have space on the rolls - Huertas and White are, even on Tuesday, proclaimed the preeminent Rebels of the seven-day period beginning Sunday and concluding Saturday.
Justified.

Rebel of the Week: No-brainer Edition!

Our rebel of the week is obviously Jevan Snead. Snead, not to be confused with "Jason Sneed," looks sharp under center and had an excellent performance in the Rebels' losing effort against Wake Forest. If Snead's stats keep pace with these first two games, he should have 2,600+ yards, a 36/6 touchdown to interception ratio, and a passer rating of 159.61.

That, of course, is a big if, but it's fun to dream.

Snead also showed some mobility this last weekend by avoiding several sacks, throwing the ball on the run with great success, and earning a couple of first downs with his feet.

Congratulations Jevan, you're our Rebel of the Week!

Rebel of the Week: Bowlin' Bolden

Alright, all corny names aside, Brandon Bolden showed the Rebel faithful what our future at tailback is going to look like. The kid's quick (but not a blazer), makes good decisions, never shies away from contact, and is harder than hell to bring down. Also, connecting with Jevan on that pass play was pretty damn cool.

All things considered, I'd say Brandon Bolden had the best week of any freshman in the SEC... Wait, what's that you say? You mean the SEC already said so! Well fantastic! Great work Brandon on winning the SEC Freshman of the Week and the coveted Red [REDACTED] Cup Rebel of the Week prize.

Congratulations!

Rebel of the Week, it's back y'all.

Rebel of the Week

I know this is not usually my feature, but, I am taking the reins for just this one little week.

Clearly, the Rebel of the Week is Patrick Trahan. Why? Because he is a Rebel.

OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss officials announced here Friday that a pair of Northwest Community College transfers, Patrick Trahan and Damareo Marr, have been admitted to the University of Mississippi

...

"We're excited to have Patrick and Damareo in the Ole Miss family," said Rebel head coach Houston Nutt. "Not only are they good athletes, they are good people. I'm really impressed with the players and coaches in the Mississippi junior college system."

You may remember the hero treatment given Trahan by ESPN The Magazine a few months ago. I won't judge because, let's be serious, if I've got enough excess time in the day to write free public love letters to Ole Miss football a couple of times a week, then, clearly, my life is pretty easy. In fact, the primary reason I maintain my anonymity on this thing is so you people can't go telling my employer that I'm using his dime to write about Kool-Aid.

So, here's to your Rebel of the Week ... Ole Miss Junior Linebacker Patrick Trahan.

Post Script: Nice to have you too, Damareo.

Rebel of the Week: Brittney Reese

Congratulations are in order for Brittney Reese who qualified for the Olympics by placing first in the US long jump qualifiers. Reese will be the sixth Ole Miss athlete to make it to the Olympics for the States.

Another note of interest regarding the Mississippi native is she has recorded the two longest jumps in the world this season. Good luck to Brittney and Congratulations on being RotW.

Sorry, I had nothing funny to say about this.

Rebel of the Week: Possession Receiver Edition

It's June. I just graduated and my job does not start until August. I am hung over a lot (such as right now) and have gotten exceptionally good at slacking off. I know I haven't been keeping up with regular R.o.t.W. postings but, seriously, it's June. There is not much going on at all in terms of Ole Miss sports right now so dealing out weekly accolades momentarily requires me to dig into the ever fleeting lump of brain cells which hold my dearest Rebel memories.

This week, after reminiscing on Egg Bowls past and seeing the 1997 game on Turner South's "College Flashback Classics" or whatever that silly shit is called, I knew right away who to dedicate this week to. Cory Peterson, the "deceptively fast possession receiver" of the Tuberville era was known for his sure hands and abilities as a kick returner. The greatest memory of Peterson, of course, comes from his performance in the aforementioned Battle for the Golden Egg. Down by a touchdown in the waning final minutes of the game, the Rebels, led by Stewart Patridge, scored a touchdown. Tommy Tuberville, in one of his wiliest moments, told his players that "overtime is for complete pussies" and decided to go for two.

The play was simple. Patridge's first look would be the slot reciever who would be running a five-step/in route. That slot reciever was Peterson. The catch was made and Mississippi State was defeated, 15-14.

Also, there was this badass fight beforehand.


Congratulations, Cory Peterson! You're our Rebel of the Week!



PS- I know that I shamelessly lifted that image from Rivals. Don't waste your time telling me about it.

Rebel of the Week: In 2003 we lost to Memphis and Texas Tech... That's not funny.

This is the 4-2-5 Defense and it, according to this website, is "one of the most popular defenses in the High School and College Game today."  Poor capitalization aside, this defense is indeed a "popular" one as evidenced by a quick Google search ("4-2-5 defense") yielding results involving football teams at Rice, Toledo, and Emporia State (where is that?).  This defense is also responsible for us allowing Memphis and Texas Tech to hang 44 and 49 points on us respectively.  I'm not going to go into football philosophy here or spend paragraphs discussing the intricacies of coverage schemes so suffice it to say that this defense is terrible.

Watch the defense at work below.

So why the Rebel of the Week?  Well it's kinda like when you heard about when that asshole in your High School graduating class died.  You hang your head only for a second, and then smile that he's long gone.

Congratulations, 4-2-5 defense, you motherfucker!  You're the Rebel of the Week!

Rebel of the Week: Nobody

I'm still pretty damn bummed about this baseball season. I've been thinking (drinking) heavily ever since and cannot really come up with a single worthy recipient of my kinda-sorta-not-really-important weekly prize. Sure, Michael "Mark Wright" Guerrero had a slew of clutch hits and HR's over the last week and Basham showed everyone why he is on the SEC all defensive team, but getting beat hurts and all things considered, I feel weird giving out prizes after the regional loss.

How about this, Guerrero and Basham get Honorable Mentions because I'm an asshole like that.

Congratulations!

SEC Story of Character: Scott Bittle

Scott Bittle was born on August 27, 1986 to Joe and Nancy Bittle. He began pitching at the age of eight (ok, I made that up), and everyone knew he was going to be something special. The road throughout high school was not easy, but he lettered two years. During his senior year, he posted a 5-3 record with two saves in twelve appearances, and he had 77 strike outs in 55 innings pitched. His ERA was 2.08, and he was named to the All-District team.

After high school, he moved on to Northeast Texas Community College where he earned a letter. He was All-Conference, and he posted a 6-4 record in 11 appearances with a 4.24 ERA his first season. He had 67 strikeouts and walked only 23 in 58.0 innings pitched that year. However, rotator cuff tendinitis led him to receive a medical redshirt during the 2006 campaign.

In the fall of 2006, he signed on with the Rebels with 3 to play 3. He chose Ole Miss over Texas A&M, TCU, and the College of Charleston.

The 2007 campaign started hot for Scott as he earned 6 saves prior to the start of SEC play. He had saves over No. 21 Evansville (2/18), Memphis (2/20), Belmont (2/27), No. 5 Arkansas (3/2), Austin Peay (3/6), No. 23 UCLA (3/11) and South Alabama (3/20).

However, tragedy struck on the opening weekend of conference action. Will Kline had out-dueled David Price of Vanderbilt until the bitter end. With the game tied at 2, Bittle was brought in only to lose the game for the Rebels. Most of the team thought this was an aberration for a man who had absolutely mowed down opponents prior to this match. Then, it happened again during the Sunday game. The Rebels had a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Shea Robin hit a grounder to greatly missed Short Stop Zack Cozart, but Peyton Farr dropped the ball allowing Robin to reach safely. Jonathan White then hit a chopper over Farr’s head to reach on a single. Matt Meingasner delivered yet another game tying RBI single. White was thrown out on the hit as he attempted to go to third for the second out of the inning (That would be game over, and Bittle would get the save). Brad French then reached on a bunt single, before David Macias ended the game with his single to right to score Meingasner.

For the second time in three games, Bittle had failed. As usual, Mike Bianco is stubborn, and I agree with Mike in this case. Bittle had the skills to pay the bills. I mean, why not stick with a guy that had carried your team all year. The very next Friday night against Alabama, it happened again. With the bases loaded, Bittle entered to relieve Will Kline and get out of the jam. The Rebels were up by 2 and desperately needed some help. Bittle couldn't stand the pressure nor find the strike zone as he walked the first two batters to tie the contest. Then, he allowed a single that gave the game to Bama. Third appearance: Third loss.

Things just did not add up. He was unhittable. Now, he had become batting practice (when he could find the strike zone).

Bittle then found himself pitching an inning against Southern Miss in the annual midweeker in Pearl. He did well, and he had more action with .2 IP in the opening act against Auburn. In the Saturday game, he pitched his way out of a jam in the seventh, despite allowing a hit and a walk. By this time, he should have been abandoned as a closer, but Bianco wanted to try it just one more time. Against LSU on a Friday night, Bittle entered with a 3-3 score to work with. After two singles and a walk, Bittle threw four straight balls to walk Ryan Schimpf. Ok, Mike, it's time for Satterwhite to take over, and Bittle was abandoned. As the season continued, he was a role player, and he had a couple of appearances including the Regional Championship game start against Sam Houston State.

He finished the 2007 campaign with 28 appearances, including 25 relief appearances and three starts. He posted a 2-5 record on the year with seven saves. He struck out 59 and walked only 17 in 42.0 IP while turning in an ERA of 2.79.

Luckily for Scott, Satterwhite being a closer for the 2007 team was a disaster, and that job was open for anyone to take over. Sadly, the 2007 team had too many occasions where the box score read 8.2 innings pitched. But, did he want to come back to face it all again? He was drafted in the 48th round by the Yankees (which is his favorite team).

Scott has courage and heart, and he decided to stick around and give it another try. After some off season work on a change-up (that is detrimental for lefties), he entered 2008 brimming with confidence.

He did well during non-conference play, but we already knew that didn't we? His first SEC test came in the second game against Mississippi State in Starkville. Satterwhite had done a decent job, and Bittle entered to pitch the final four frames to earn the win. This was great for Scott, but he needed to do more to prove himself. He came in the series opener against Vanderbilt in relief for Lance Lynn and pitched a gem as the Rebels held on to win 7-6. So, he had redemption against his first SEC stumbling block. There was only one thing left: LSU.

April 11, 2008. Lance Lynn pitches an absolute gem, but his pitch count was running high. So, Mike puts Scott Bittle in. Bittle earned his 3rd save as he closed out the ninth inning with two strikeouts. Scott mowed LSU down, and he got revenge for the wrong doing that happened a year earlier in Red Stick. After that moment of atonement, he went one to have impressive performances against South Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, and Auburn.

His most impressive outing yet came last Saturday against Kentucky. With the entire season on the line, he lasted 7 innings in relief and only allowed one run. For the largest amount of SEC redemption one can get, he struck out the best hitter in the league in Sawyer Carroll.

That performance made the Rebels season continue. What if Scott had decided to give up on college and sign with the Yankees? What if Scott hadn't had the courage to climb on the mound one more time as a closer? We will never know the answer to those questions.

However, Bittle has been the most dynamic closer in Ole Miss history. He is the only reliever in Ole Miss history to register more than 100 strike outs, and he has 109. He leads the nation in K's per 9IP with a little more than 15. On Monday night, he won the Ferriss Trophy which recognizes the top player in the state of Mississippi. He has also been named one of the semifinalists for the Clemens Award which goes to the top pitcher in college baseball.

Scott, whether you win the Clemens Award or not, you are definitely the best in the business. Thank you for being the highlight of 2008 season!

Scott Bittle: a story of character.

Rebel of the Week: Repeat Edition!

Scott Bittle won the Ferris Trophy today. As we all know, he deserved it for being the best reliever we've ever had AND for giving us an excuse to use really corny comic book references an a seemingly daily basis.

You know what else Scott won? His second consecutive Rebel of the Week prize! Look, I know, it's kinda lame but shit, it's summer and there isn't shit going on. You got any better ideas? We'd like to hear 'em if you do, no joke.

Rebel of the Week: Silly Comic Book Reference Edition (I need to lay off for a week or so)!

Finally, a baseball weekend worthy of a RotW prize winner! This weeks winner is none other than Scott "The Bittler" Bittle for relieving Cody Satterwhite (who, believe-it-or-not, wasn't a complete fuckup on Sunday) in dominating fashion. Bittle struck out 7, walked 1, and only gave up 2 hits while earning the win over the Auburn Tigers in four innings during Sunday afternoon's rubber match. Although not there in person, I was able to tune in on the radio and it sounded like Bittle was just making anyone who stepped into the batters box seem foolish. The kid throws some sick stuff and, in the opinion of many, should be a starter for this squad.

In addition, he (along with two other players who aren't a part of Ron Polk's band of misfits) was recently named a finalist for the Ferris Award given annually to the best college baseball player in the great state of MS. All of this comes after Bittle earned his 99th strikeout, the most ever for an Ole Miss reliever.

Congratulations Scott Bittle! You're the Rebel of the Week!

P.S. - Sorry this was a day late. I was busy graduating and some shit.

Rebel of the Week: Omission Edition!

I've been wanting and waiting for the past few weeks to give the Rebel of the Week Award to the Ole Miss baseball player who pulls us though a weekend series through his tireless effort, teamwork, and dedication to success.

Well, looks like I'll be looking forward to the Auburn series for that one.

Instead, I'm just going to give it to anybody but this big-mouthed doucheface:

Put your tongue back in you son of a bitch.

Cody, I don't know what the deal is, and neither do any of my cohorts. We're just baffled. You've got what it takes to win so just freakin' get it done! Yeah, neato, you throw a bazillion-mile-a-second fastball, whatever. We're sick of that crap. Throw some off speed stuff, drop a curve or two in there. I've seen that slider of yours, it's nifty, but you've got to get more pitches to work with. This isn't Hillcrest Christian School; you can't razzle dazzle K's into the box score anymore. This is the Maw Fukkin' SEC dawg, pick it up.

Congratulations everyone-that-isn't-Cody-Satterwhite, you're the Rebels of the Week!

Rebel(s) of the Week: Title IX Edition!

I was hoping to give this weeks Rebel of the Week award to the player who performed the most admirably in our series sweep of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Oops...

Oh well, so much for that monumental collapse. The underachieving baseball team has turned my eyes to an overachieving achieving existent squad of Rebels who have done nothing but positively promote Ole Miss athletics. These fine athletes (kinda-sorta, like in the "chess is an olympic sport" way) have performed at a nationally respected level over the last few seasons yet do not garner much, if any recognition from the everyday Ole Miss fan. In the last 3 seasons they have had more All-Americans than our football or basketball teams and have appeared in an NCAA championship! Yet, this is not their greatest contribution to our esteemed Ole Miss athletic programs. Not only are these Rebels competitive at the national level, but they also make sure that we are compliant with Title IX! I, of course, am talking about the Ole Miss Rebel Rifle Team!

Thanks for nothing, Nixon

These fine young women shoot glorified BB guns at paper targets day in and day out and probably win some kinda fancy prize or some shit if they do well. Y'know, without Title IX and, subsequently, this rifle team, Ole Miss would not be the internationally respected sharpshooting women producing institution it is (is it?)! Seeing their success on and off the... range... makes me forget that men are naturally better athletes and actually play in profit making sports and that one can't really be a spectator at these turkey shoots (hell, I'm just guessing... even if one can, it's one of those "tree falling in the woods" kind of things).

Ole Miss Rifle squad, for keeping the NCAA off our backs on this one you've earned this weeks Rebel of the Week prize!

Rebel of the Week: Drinkin' and Drivin' edition

Ah, drinking and driving; the only name of a crime that I can think of which consists of two normal, legal things. Yes, we all enjoy a nice Sunday drive, and who seriously doesn't love gettin' tow-up dranked every now and then Tuesday? Yet, these two enjoyable and otherwise normal activities are like oil and water: they just don't mix.

This weekend, former four star recruit/serious underachiever Allen Walker, an outside linebacker, was arrested for DUI. Walker was charged with a DUI and disregarding (see: being drunkenly unaware of) a traffic device. Normally we wouldn't celebrate these kinds of things (DUI is NOT COOL kids) but Allen Walker's shortcomings serve well to remind us that we are, in fact, Ole Miss.

Congratulations Allen! You're our new Rebel of the Week!

P.S. - I'm pretty certain this is what Ivory Tower was attempting to link to. Be patient with him. He's not too keen on the intrawebs.

Rebel of the Week

I apologize. Normally I like to do these things on Friday or Saturday but this weekend was especially busy keeping me virtually void of free time with which to peruse the intrawebs.

As is standard fare with Red/Blue weekend, the Ole Mis Rebels competed (successfully, I may add) in numerous and varied sporting events. The track team had a good showing in the Ole Miss Invitational, The Rebel mens tennis team defeated Mississippi State for the 21st time in a row, the Rebel baseball team took the series from LSU thanks to a dominant performance by Drew Pomeranz, and the Rebels defeated the Rebels in the annual Grove Bowl in front of a record spring game crowd. In addition, if the myriad of sporting events, booze, beautiful weather, beer, frat parties, and crawfish boils weren't enough to get your ass outside for some Rebel festivities, then Manning-Willis Day should have.

Manning-Willis day was more-or-less an opportunity for all of us to say things like:

"ZOMG I saw them play here like 2/5 years ago!!!!1"
-or-
"PWillie is totally my friend cuz he said hi to me in class EVERY. FUCKING. WEDNESDAY! It's good to see him doing so well! I'm gonna write on his wall LOL!"
-or-
"Christ. We're awful without Eli... Hell, we were awful WITH Willis...."

Manning-Willis day saw a large crowd in the Grove, highlights brought to us by NFL Films, and the ceremonial, collectively-thrown first pitch just before the first inning of our series-winning game. As a celebration of our former Rebel greats, the days events got me thinking about which of these men deserves to be named as our *ahem* pristigious Rebel of the Week. Earlier, we did ask for audience participation in the selection process but the decision obviously seemed too difficult to make.

I agree.

Yes, the choice between the Superbowl MVP/bringer-downer-of-all-things-BigTeleven and the Defensive Rookie of the Year/human-with-rhinoceros-genetics is a difficult one to make; which is exactly why I won't at all make it. Instead, I am going to pretend that, through the wonders of science some shit which I don't understand at all, we could create a new, ÜberRebel capable of all things football. He would have the physical tools and presence of a Willis while having the intelligence and commercial acting ability of a Manning. He would be.....ELI WILLIS!!!!

Tremble at my Photoshop skills, mortal!

Congratulations, Imaginary Rebel! You've been named the Rebel of the Week! See you next year at Manning-Willis day!

Audience Participation!

If you had to choose which of these men to whom you would submit yourself in idolatry, who would it be?






This weekend marks the university's zenith of past-glorification - Eli Manning/Patrick Willis Day, known to the rest of us as "The Grove Bowl" or if you're a hippie-loving, "We are ... Ole Miss" saying, Coulour Reuvoult-listening wrist-cutter, the "Red-Blue Game." Though, they haven't really done anything special this week, there is obviously some effort to recognize the contributions of Patrick Willis to football and Eli Manning to ... a well balanced diet? It's well-deserved. Willis led the league in tackles or something. Manning led the league in miraculous catches by David Tyree. Much love to each.

My question is, should RSC honor Manning or Willis (or neither) as Rebel of the Week. Which (if either) deserves deification and immortality at the hands of The Cup? Respond below (or don't ... at your peril!).

Rebel of the Week: Ray Poole

Every Friday here at the Cup we like to recognize a Rebel past or present for his or her contributions to our *ahem* esteemed athletic tradition. This week we are recognizing the late, great Ray Poole. Poole, a letterwinner in baseball, basketball and football, excelled in everything he became involved in.

He was named All-Conference and 3rd team All-American in football, posted a 5-2 record on the mound for the Diamond Rebs, and led the Roundball Rebs in scoring in 1943. He was also an excellent student being a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society and the Ole Miss Hall of Fame. On top of all of this, he was a gentleman and a socialite, exemplified by his being elected Colonel Reb his senior year.

In 1942, Poole's college career was interrupted when he became a US Marine and fought in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Rising to the rank of Lieutenant, Poole was involved in campaigns on Guam, Saipan and Okinawa. While ending his tenure in the armed services, Poole was drafted by the New York Football Giants where he would not only earn All-Pro honors as a defensive end, but also saw action at tight end and kicker amassing a total of 223 points for the Giants.

Poole, along with his brothers Barney and Buster, were the most well known members of the "Pooles of Ole Miss," a family of Ole Miss athletes which garnered nearly 50 varsity letters. Poole Drive on campus is named for the Poole Family. The Cup salutes Ray and the rest of the Poole family for being excellent Rebels on and off the field.

Happy weekend, Rebels.