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about 1 year ago
"Needless to say, the announcement of Sylvester Croom as the new head football coach came as quite a shock to the inhabitants of Starkville, Mississippi, a city mired in racial tension"
Have you ever been to Starkville? Where do you get this statement from? To me (MSU alum and former resident of Starkville) MSU seemed to be the only logical choice to be the first SEC school to hire an African American choice. MSU is by far one of the most progressive schools in the SEC as racial diversity. Mississippi State consistently ranks as one of the most diverse universities in the nation, holding national rankings in total number of undergraduate degrees awarded in nation (#61) and graduate degrees (#53). The only school that ranks higher in the SEC is Florida and if you look at the size of the schools compared to the number of degrees awarded UF has about 6% of graduates being African American while MSU has 16%. Hardly seems like a town mired with racial tension. Mississippi State prides itself on diversity. One example MSU's own Dr. Richard Holmes. Dr. Holmes was PEACEFULLY admitted to Mississippi State in the fall of 1965 (after the summer of civil rights workers and one year after the James Meredith debacle at Ole Miss). He had a successful career as an ER physician and then decided to retire and come back to MSU as a staff physician. MSU's cultural diversity center is named after Dr. Holmes and he is a classic example of the way MSU feels toward African Americans. Now let s talk about Coach Croom. I was a resident of Starkville and a student at MSU when we hired Coach Croom. There was never any public backlash. We were ecstatic to have such a high profile coach to lead our beloved Bulldogs. The color of his skin was NEVER an issue at Starkville. The only talk you heard around campus was how quick do we think Croom can turn our program around from what Sherrill had led us into. All the attention that was devoted to him being African American came from the national media. The only concerns I heard around Starkville and MSU were just hoping that he was hired for his coaching abilities and not the color of his skin. Now I will agree with you on one thing. Coach Croom has not posted the wins needed to be a competitive coach in the SEC. But Croom is a great man with great ideals and great values (which is more than can be said for other SEC coaches past and present) and while he may not have the wins one cannot argue that he has turned the program around as far as discipline and pride. If you disagree with this then just ask Tommy Tuberville. If he does leave or is asked to leave in the next year or so then it will be an amicable parting and will be done with the highest amount of class. Race will not be an issue at MSU. The media and uninformed people like YOU will be the reason that it is brought up and made an issue. In closing how dare you insult my university, my former town, and my coach with such a bigoted post such as this. I believe that you have confused MSU with the other SEC school in the state. MSU does not deserve negative attention such as this on something that we pride ourselves on as much as diversity, which is more than I can say for most of our brethren at other SEC schools.
John Russell O Neal
MSU 05
johnrussell50@hotmail.com
from about 1 year ago
Ben, you can't possibly be this ignorant. I mean honestly, have you ever even been to Starkville? Racial tension? Are you really this stupid? Get your head out of your, well you know. Good God, it's people like you that give the south a bad name. And by the south, I mean the state of Georgia and your beloved Florida too. This whole internet thing, it doesn't require a college degree to get a blog either chief. Dubmass.
about 1 year ago
Wow. I think Mr. O'Neal said it perfectly. You really have no idea what you're talking about. If Croom is fired this season, it will be because MSU has won 3 games or less. It's wins and losses, not black and white. The only way there will be an outcry from civil rights activists is if Croom is fired after posting a decent record, say 5 wins or more. Guess what? He WON'T BE FIRED if he wins 5 games or more!!
about 1 year ago
Who the HELL is Ben Bussard anyway?? Looks like a little pansy frat boy that has his crokies too tight around his head. He needs to get in his Tahoe with his DU stickers, and drive to Starkville to see what it is really like.
about 1 year ago
I have to agree with my good friend and fraternity brother John up there. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, BUSSARD? You are possibly the most ignorant reporter I have ever seen. It is obvious you have never stepped foot in Starkville, MS. I love how you call it "a city mired in racial tension". What are you talking about? It is blatant that you did NOT do your your research when writing this article. And it is pitiful that a response to your article has more facts in it than the article itself. I see you are majoring in Journalism... Good luck with that. Maybe you should write for the National Inquirer or Star. Change your career path my young friend. We don't need any more incompetent writers in this world... we have enough already. SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!
Any comments you have you can email me at derekspooner@gmail.com.
about 1 year ago
your and idiot
about 1 year ago
In the author's misguided attempt at sensationalizing and adding racial overtones to what is purely a performance dilemma--Croom must win and succeed or face being fired--Bussard fails to understand the reality of the situation: when it comes to diversity, Mississippi State is a progressive leader, not an environment "mired in racial tension." Certainly, remnants of the Jim Crow era still persist in Mississippi in the form of segregated private schools and in terms of social segregation. But by and large, the principles of equal treatment and equal opportunity are ubiquitous and flourishing across the South, including Mississippi. Just as both head coach Croom and the public understand, Croom must perform in order to keep his job. And in this respect, he faces the same "dilemma" that would apply to any man in his high-stress position, be they either black or white.
However, if Bussard fails to agree with the idea that Mississippi State is racially progressive, he needs simply to read all of the pertinent statistics provided by Mr. O'Neal. If he wants further evidence, consider this: though schools in the North often pride themselves on racial diversity and inclusion, the SEC actually hired an African-American head football coach before the Ivy League. Yes, until Columbia hired Norries Wilson in 2006, no African-American man had ever been a head coach in the country's most academically-esteemed league. The truth of the matter, therefore, is ironic: it took a school like Mississippi State to teach the Harvards and the Yales of this country an important lesson about equal treatment.
about 1 year ago
"How can you distinguish between firing a coach for poor performance and firing him because of racial biases?"
I'd say if you fire a black coach with a 10-26 record, it's pretty obvious you didn't fire him because he was black.
about 1 year ago
Hey Ben,
Why don't you site a couple of specific moments reflecting Starkville's history of racial tension? Maybe that'll help us all understand where you're coming from with, what seems to me, to be a ridiculous and ignorant comment. Please, enlighten me.
about 1 year ago
Where are your facts to support saying "...a city mired in racial tension?"
about 1 year ago
Not much racial tension that i know of...hmm...maybe you were thinking of Starkville in the 1950's perhaps?
about 1 year ago
in fact we have a motto here at State... "Maroon is all the matters"
next time you try to make such a libelous statement you might want to do a little research.
about 1 year ago
First, as the other comments stated, you have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to Starkville. You should post a comment here and apologize for your absurd statement regarding racial tension in Starkville. People like you are the problem, and the fact that you have a place such as this to make your thoughts public is not a good thing.
Second, if anyone wants to comment about the reason for Croom's firing when he is fired, we have a rather large pile of video tapes of games that they can watch. It would only take a couple of those to see why we made a huge mistake.
from about 1 year ago
While I disagree with some of Mr. Bussard's assertions, I have a far larger issue with one of your own:
"People like you are the problem, and the fact that you have a place such as this to make your thoughts public is not a good thing."
I beg to differ.
Bleacher Report is an Open Source Sports Network a forum where all fans' voices can be heard, including yours. All you have to do is sign up for an account, and you can write your own article about whatever you want...including, if it pleases you, why Mississippi State U is the progressive leader in the SEC and why Croom should indeed be fired. How is that a bad thing?
Come on, don't be an anonymous coward and sign up for an account.
about 1 year ago
Dumbest. Article. Ever.
about 1 year ago
"Needless to say, the announcement of Sylvester Croom as the Bulldogs' new head coach came as quite a shock to the inhabitants of Starkville, Mississippi, a city mired in racial tension."
Dude, you have no freaking clue what you're talking about.
from about 1 year ago
Why doesn't he? Care to elaborate? Or do you just like to insult people?
Just because you remain anoymous doesn't mean you shouldn't explain your points. If you feel that Ben doesn't have the facts right, correct him.
Anybody can hurl an insult but it takes intelligence to actually prove someone wrong.
about 1 year ago
If this article is typical of your "journalistic" ability, then you shouldn't quit your job at McDonald's quite yet. Seriously did you do any research for that "piece" or did you just make stuff up?
Well on the plus side I won't have to worry about taking any toilet paper on my camping trip next weekend. I'll just print several copies of your fairytale and take them instead.
about 1 year ago
"Mired in racial tension?" What the hell are you talking about? I guess because Starkville is located in Mississippi, you assumed it was "mired in racial tension." Good luck on that journalism degree. Last time I checked one actually had to have a source before printing something as a fact. Unbelievable.
about 1 year ago
IF YOU THINK THE INSPIRED RESPONSES MEAN YOUR ARTICLE IS WORTHY OF SUCH YOU ARE AS INCORRECT AS YOUR ARTICLE IS. I WOULD SUGGEST A FOLLOW UP CORRECTING YOUR INACCURACIES AND OBVIOUS LACK OF RESEARCH. JUST USE SOME COMMON SENSE...WOULD A UNIVERSITY IN A "RACIALLY MIRED CITY" EVEN HIRE A MINORITY COACH? STICK THIS ON A POST IT NOTE ON YOUR COMPUTER "THINK BEFORE YOU TYPE".
about 1 year ago
Ben,
i would love to hear your response to the comments above.
about 1 year ago
I am going to assume that you are just another poor sap who gets MSU and Ole Miss confused and that your "racial tension" remark was made due to your confusion.
MSU doesn't wave the confederate battle flag at our games.
MSU doesn't have a plantation owner as our mascot.
MSU students don't yell "The South Will Rise Again" before our games.
MSU doesn't have a fraternity in the news (2 weeks ago) for verbally and physically abusing a black student at a party.
MSU did disregard an order from the governor in the '60s not to play in the NCAA basketball tourney because we would be playing against black players. For the record the team snuck out of the state in the middle of the night.
Please get your facts straight.
about 1 year ago
The quote about a city "mired in racial tension" was intended to be PAST-TENSE. Just as every city in the southeast was at one time incessantly racist, Starkville is no exception. I'm not saying that MSU isn't a diverse university, all that I was insinuating was that the older alumni of the University MAY have racial tendencies. I'm sorry that I didn't go around asking every single student and faculty member what their thoughts were on racism, but it's a pretty basic assumption, from growing up in the south, that there are still "factions" (as quoted in the article) of people down here who are still racially bias. The only point of this article was to get people talking, which I've obviously done, and to raise the question of how long is MSU going to wait before Croom is fired? At any other SEC school, except maybe Vandy, Croom would've already been fired. I was just trying to get people thinking about why the MSU Athletic Department has seemed complacent with consecutive losing seasons. Is it because they do not want to get any heat for firing an African-American coach? I personally feel that if Croom were white, he would already be gone. I'm not stating that as fact-it's just my opinion...just as the rest of the article is: MY OPINION.
about 1 year ago
Your still an idiot.
about 1 year ago
Thank you to the person who isn't brave enough to provide his/her name with their comment.
from about 1 year ago
Seriously! Grow some balls people.
about 1 year ago
My opinion of you Ben is that you have one leg, three fingers on each hand, you're from puerto rico. You drink bathwater and you like men. Now I don't know if any of that is true or not, but hey, it's my opinion.
Croom is getting 4 years at a minimum because we were on probation for two of those years. If he were white it would be no different. What coach is going to come into a probation situation handicapped by scholarship limitations without knowing that they would have time to rebuild?
Being able to post thoughts like yours publicly is one of the reasons that the internet is a problem.
from about 1 year ago
Would you rather only have the government and media elites able to post their thoughts on the internet? Sounds like cyber communism to me...
The beauty of an Open Source Sports Network like Bleacher Report is that YOU TOO can post your thoughts. So you can write an article which disagrees with Ben's article. If you sign up for an account, you can start writing to your heart's content. What's wrong with that?
Removing the barriers to entry of who can write on the internet ultimately leads to debate, which is always a good thing. Learning from one another is the key to making the world a better place.
about 1 year ago
Ben,
Please explain how the hiring of Croom came as "quite a shock" to anybody, and to whom it shocked. If I recall correctly, the SEC leadership was very vocal about wanting to have a black head coach in the VERY near future. I don't think anybody in Starkville, or anywhere else in Mississippi, for that matter, were surprised when MSU hired yet another coach with Alabama ties.
And please don't say, "Well, surely SOMEBODY in Starkville was shocked..." Your statement "the announcement of Sylvester Croom as the Bulldogs' new head coach came as quite a shock to the inhabitants of Starkville, Mississippi, a city mired in racial tension" leads one to believe that the whole town was shocked that MSU hired a black head coach. Not the case by any means.
This piece reeks of someone trying to stir the pot and create a story out of nothing.
about 1 year ago
Ah, the old "the story was just my opinion" excuse. I saw that most of your statements started with the phrase "In my opinion."
Guess what. Journalists don't provide opinions unless they are quoting someone else. That's the idea anyway. Or maybe I'm just being "bias."
about 1 year ago
D-
about 1 year ago
has the article been removed??? nice. you lose.
from about 1 year ago
I personally edited it because I was getting tired of the exorbitant amount of unjustified personal attacks. I'm really sorry that everyone misunderstood what I was trying to say and it's incredibly disappointing that everyone jumped to such rash conclusions before I was even able to defend my position.
about 1 year ago
The South has enough trouble over coming the past, without idiots like this one playing the race card. MSU RALLIED around Sylvester Croom immediately upon his hiring. As far as I know, he has never been discriminated against on our campus. If, however, he cannot succeed as a head football coach, he should no longer hold that position. He has the reputation of being a fine man, NO one - black or white has questioned this. The reason for his continued employment or his being allowed to move on will solely be based on his wins and losses - NOT the color of his skin!
about 1 year ago
Once again you display you're collasol ignorance, Ben. Croom has been given four years, not because he's black and State is scared to fire him. He's been given time because Jackie Sherrill left the program in absolute shambles and the adminstration PROMISED they'd give him time to turn things around. Don't confuse patience with fear.
The sentence "Needless to say, the announcement of Sylvester Croom as the Bulldogs' new head coach came as quite a shock to the inhabitants of Starkville, Mississippi, a city mired in racial tension" was so poorly written that it sounds as if Starkville was mired in racial tension at the time of the hiring, not decades in the past. Also, it was a shock to no one. It was an open secret MSU was going to target a black coach to take over the program. So basically the center piece of your column is based upon a false assumption.
Don't quit your day job,
Travis Swenson
MSU '95
from about 1 year ago
Croom has been given four years, not because he's black and State is scared to fire him.
Thank you for being the first one to semi-understand the direction I was headed.
about 1 year ago
I know you're a Florida fan, and that Ron Zook got fired after 2 1/2 seasons, but pretty much any other rational football program will give any coach four seasons to get through a cycle of recruiting.
And you do a disservice to the credibility of the journalism dept at the University of Georgia by generalizing nonexistant racial tensions into a school that as already mentioned a) admitted it's first black student completely without incident, b) defied a segregationist governor by sneaking out of the state to play a team with black starters in the 1963 NCAA basketball tournament, and c) has the highest percentage of black enrollment in the SEC. You're chasing fool's gold with that completely undocumented insinuation.
And it's moronic to think that the feelings and perceptions held forty years ago by a segment of the population had anything whatsoever to do with a coaching decision made nearly four years ago.
It kills me to think that your thoughts might represent those from other areas of the South, that all of Mississippi is still as backwood dumbass and racist as Hollywood would have you believe. Truth is, we're called the Hospitality State for a reason, and it doesn't matter much to us what color you are. Living in Mississippi is about the same as living anywhere else, and any actual racial tension is about the same as you'd find anywhere else also.
And like I said previously, if a black coach gets fired with a 10-26 record, no sane person will honestly believe that he was fired because of the color of his skin. That's just stupid. Much like your opinion.
And my name is Rob, by the way.
from about 1 year ago
"And it's moronic to think that the feelings and perceptions held forty years ago by a segment of the population had anything whatsoever to do with a coaching decision made nearly four years ago." Do you really believe that 40 years ago, only a "segment" of Mississippi was racially obtuse?
about 1 year ago
Also have to add that "mired in" in no way refers to past tense. It actually refers to present tense. If I'm mired in paperwork at work, it means that right now I am mired in paperwork, not that 10 years ago I was mired in paperwork.
from about 1 year ago
Are you strictly a hair-splitter, or do you have another profession?
about 1 year ago
"I personally edited it because I was getting tired of the exorbitant amount of unjustified personal attacks. I'm really sorry that everyone misunderstood what I was trying to say and it's incredibly disappointing that everyone jumped to such rash conclusions before I was even able to defend my position."
Translation: "I just got my head handed to me. I really didn't think anybody would see my little column, and now I'm taking my ball and going home."
Rash conclusions? Defend your position? Dude, it was all right there for everyone to read. I sounds as if you didn't have much of a position to defend and you punted.
about 1 year ago
Ben,
If we ALL misunderstood your intent - doesn't that reflect on YOUR abilities?!
from about 1 year ago
Reflect my abilities? NO. Reflect a wording mistake? YES.
about 1 year ago
Ben why did you edit the article? Why don't you leave it up as it was? I am seriously enjoying these comments. If you were man enough to write it in the first place why not stand behind it and leave it up there. If you ever aspire to be a serious journalist you need to develop something that we in the real world call GONADS or balls if you wish. Do the sportswriters on ESPN.com take an article down or edit it simply because it does not bode well with the majority of people that read it? Does USA today retract an editorial because some of its readers may not have understood what the writer's true meaning was? If anything leave the article up as it was and write a response to it and let that speak for itself. I'm glad you posted this worthless article and created discussion topics. Ben keep posting these articles and let us keep busting your balls.
from about 1 year ago
That's precisely why I took the article down was because of the fact that this ISN'T ESPN or the USA Today. I thought that this website was for open discussion about sports, not a forum that posts monotonous, cookie-cutter sports articles that I can find anywhere on the Web.
about 1 year ago
The entire article was worded poorly, if that is the case. We all got the same feeling after reading your article. Your ABILITY to convey your opinion is either a) lacking, b) misguided, or c) just plain ignorant.
about 1 year ago
Mississippi has more black, elected officials than any other state in the nation. Do some research. That is a pitiful bit of work. May I suggest Bayview Barber College.
about 1 year ago
"all that I was insinuating was that the older alumni of the University MAY have racial tendencies" sure sounds MILES away from "he announcement of Sylvester Croom as the Bulldogs' new head coach came as quite a shock to the inhabitants of Starkville, Mississippi, a city mired in racial tension"
And please quantify how Starkville was EVER "mired in racial tension." There may be instances years ago, but I'm too lazy to look them up. That's your job as the writer, anyways, if you're going to throw gas on the fire like that. Please cite specific instances of "racial tension", or just don't make that accusation.
That's saying Starkville is guilty until proven innocent.
from about 1 year ago
I never said that MSU or Starkville is or ever was "guilty" of anything. There's nothing to "look up" either. I'm from the South and it doesn't take any research to know that less than a half-century ago, we were drinking from different water fountains; including the state of Mississippi.
about 1 year ago
Ben, I just want to say that I admire you for standing up in the face of adversity and standing by what you believe when it would be so easy for you to just delete your article. Wait...never mind.
about 1 year ago
Your STILL an idiot.
Jeff Jones
Starkville, Ms.
about 1 year ago
Oh yeah, by the way -
Spring Bowlin
Columbus, MS
about 1 year ago
"open discussion about sports"
Is that not what this is? But your trying to edit it!
from about 1 year ago
Well then I shouldn't be blamed for factual inaccuracy when my article was completely opinionated and not intended to be an encyclopedia entry.
about 1 year ago
Ben,
That was 50 years ago! Let us move on! I have attended public school in MS, and never did anyone have to drink from a different fountain. I have never been to a restraunt that didn't serve based on color. It is people like you that keep opening up the healing wounds.
Spring
from about 1 year ago
None of us were around during that time, other than a percentage of MSU Alumni and boosters.
about 1 year ago
Then who are all these people that were shocked when Croom was hired?
S.
from about 1 year ago
Maybe I should have used the word "interested." THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN HEAD COACH IN THE SEC WAS A BIG DEAL! I was just curious as to how MSU will be viewed by the general public once he is fired.
about 1 year ago
What does something that happened "less than half a cetury ago" have to do with Starkville and MSU's opinion of Coach Croom in this present day? Absolutely nothing.
about 1 year ago
"I thought that this website was for open discussion about sports, not a forum that posts monotonous, cookie-cutter sports articles that I can find anywhere on the Web."
If that was truly your intention, a better way to go about it might have been "Do you all think the firing of Sylvester Croom will incite civil rights protests?" and let the discussion develop from there.
What you instead provided was yet another cookie-cutter article, the likes of which we get from New York and California, generalizing about how "Mississippi Is Racist", couched in a shell of a pseudo-sports topic.
Wes McCleese
Clinton, MS
about 1 year ago
Gotta go, Ben. It's been fun though. I hope everyone watches out for all those people in the white hoods while tailgating this fall!!
Go Dawgs!
about 1 year ago
So now you are calling a percentage of MSU Alumni and boosters racists? Keep digging Ben, your hole is getting deeper.
about 1 year ago
"Are you strictly a hair-splitter, or do you have another profession?"
I am strictly a hair-splitter. However, I wonder how making a statement that was supposed to refer to 40 or 50 years ago but actually refers to today is splitting hairs. Are you kidding?
about 1 year ago
I'm down. I hate black people as much as you do, Ben.
Much love,
President George W. Bush
about 1 year ago
Schizophrenic Ben is coaching himself back up now.
about 1 year ago
"Do you really believe that 40 years ago, only a "segment" of Mississippi was racially obtuse?"
Okay, dubmass, you're a journalism major, not a math major, so I'll explain this to you.
A "segment" of a whole is any percentage of that whole that is greater than zero percent and less than 100 percent. It does not imply in any way the magnitude of that percentage. It just states that it is a portion of the whole.
I'll use it in a sentence: "A segment of Ben's readers found his opinion to be poorly conceived and even more poorly written." Now, does that sentence imply whether it was 98% of Ben's readers or 10% of Ben's readers? It clearly implies neither.
Now since you ignored everything else in my response, and focused on one incorrectly perceived mathematical statement, let me say again that the thoughts and feelings held 40 years ago by WHATEVER DAMN PERCENTAGE of Mississippians had nothing whatsoever to do with a coaching decision made nearly FOUR years ago. You know why? Because in 36 years, the vast majority of the racists either realized they were wrong, or they died off. And at Mississippi State, nobody gives a damn what color the coach is as long as said coach produces more W's than L's. And at Mississippi State, we tend to not abide whitebread race-baiting carpetbaggers telling us otherwise.
And by the way, you're chicken for taking down the article.
-Rob
about 1 year ago
When you say somthing even in an open forum such as a sports, political, or any other debate for that matter you are usually expected to back that statement up. If I walked up to your girlfriend and said she is a fat whore who likes it in the ass do you think I would get away easy by saying "oh that is just my opinion..this is an open dicussion about your girlfriend being a whore after all, not an encyclopedia entry!!" Hell no. You would probably try to kick my ass, and even if you didn't attempt that you would want to know where a statement like that came from. You would want a definitive answer to where my assumption that your girlfriend is a whore derived from. Am I not correct?
about 1 year ago
If EVERYONE misinterpretted your article, perhaps, as suggested above, you should learn to write.
about 1 year ago
BTW did anyone by chance copy the original article. Since Ben is to chicken to leave it up I wish that somebody would post it in the ORIGINAL context!
about 1 year ago
I wish I would have copied it, but I didn't expect him to pull it down so soon.
about 1 year ago
"That's precisely why I took the article down was because of the fact that this ISN'T ESPN or the USA Today. "
It seems to me you took it down because it was poorly written, built upon a false premise -- the only reason Croom is still coaching is because of his race -- and you're not emotionally equipped to defend it.
If you want to be a sports columnist, you've got to do a better job conveying your point and having a decent point in the first point. You also have to be able to defend your position.
Travis Swenson
MSU '95