Mississippi Lawyer Blog

College and pro athletes must get bored in the off season because that's when arrests rates climb. In fact, Sporting News put together the Top 5 College Football Arrests of the Offseason . From DUI to armed robbery, these young men didn't show good judgment to say the least. A few were from SEC schools (Alabama, Florida, Auburn) which is a good segue into my predictions sure to go wrong for the SEC East.

1. South Carolina Gamecocks: Slowly but surely the "Old Ballcoach" Steve Spurrier has built the Gamecocks into a nasty team. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey and running back Marcus Lattimore are good enough to make Stephen Garcia a serviceable QB. The Defense is equally nasty and many of those guys will be playing in the NFL very soon. The 'Cocks will meet Alabama in the SEC Title Game and I predict they will win it all.

2. Georgia Bulldogs: Head Coach Mark Richt is on life support. The first two games will determine his longevity. The Dawgs play big school killer Boise State in the Georgia Dome to open the season and then play the Gamecocks at home. If Richt can get past these two games the Dawgs are in good shape to run the table the rest of the way. I see them going 1-1 at best however.

3. Florida Gators: 2 years A.T (After Tebow) and the Gators have a new head coach and new offensive scheme. Gone is Urban Meyer's spread offense. In comes Charlie Weiss' pro style look. New head coach Will Muschamp will have the Gators competing for a national championship, but not this year. The schedule is simply too tough and the Gators are not talented enough. Yet.

4. Tennessee Volunteers: Beware of the Vols. [Cue "Rocky Top"] This team could be the Mississippi State of the SEC East. They have enough talent to pull some upsets (LSU and South Carolina at home) and QB Tyler Bray has the tools to be a great QB.

5. Kentucky Wildcats: John Calipari comes into this season after two straight trips to the Final Four...what? Ohhhh, UK has a football team? I did not know that.

6. Vanderbilt Commodores: Every time I see Vandy listed in the SEC football standings I ask myself one question: why? Get to the Ivy League fellas.

Continue reading "Top 5 College Football Arrests and More SEC Football Predictions" »

College football is just 10 days away! On Thursday night, September 1, the Mississippi State Bulldogs open up on the road against the University of Memphis Tigers.The Bulldogs come into the season with a ton of expectations so the fan base will show up in full force for this game. I predict a blowout win for the Bulldogs but how will the rest of their season be?

With college football you get tailgating. With tailgating you get "over served" your favorite beverage(s). As someone who has represented dozens of people in DUI's over the last 17 years, please designate a driver or take a cab. My fee is a lot more than a cab fare. If you forget this advice and get a DUI please call me. Remember, friends don't let friends plead guilty to DUI's.

Even though I'm just an attorney I do think I have some better than average knowledge about college and pro football. My partner, Merrida Coxwell the managing member at Coxwell & Associates, suggested I do a blog with some some fearless football predictions. So, without further adieu here are my predictions for the SEC:

SEC West

1. Alabama Crimson Tide: The Tide is trying to overcome losing first round picks A.J. Green, Mark Ingram, and Marcell Dareus not to mention two year starting QB Greg McElroy. Don't feel sorry for the Tide (and not many Mississippians do) because they're simply reloading and I think they will win the West. I'm giving them the edge over LSU simply because LSU plays a tougher schedule and has to travel to Alabama to play.

2. LSU Tigers: The only weakness the well-coached Tigers have is at QB with Jordan Jefferson. However, if he can just play average the Tigers may be able to win the West and head to Atlanta for the SEC Championship. I think LSU's schedule is too tough. They play Oregon on a neutral field (Cowboy Stadium), travel to Morgantown to play always tough WVU and then play the typically tough SEC games including Mississippi State and Alabama on the road. They could be a good team and end up with 3 losses.

3. Miss. State Bulldogs: Most experts have Arkansas penciled in here but I'm going with the Bulldogs. Chris Relf, Chad Bumphis and Vic Ballard running Dan Mullen's spread offense should be fun to watch. State has a legit shot at winning the West (hope I don't jinx it for ya Cook!) with both LSU and 'Bama having to come to Starkvegas to play. We'll know early on how State will do when they play Auburn and LSU in weeks 2 and 3 respectively.

4. Arkansas Razorbacks: Arkansas is trying to replace Ryan Mallet and now will have to replace the SEC's best running back, Knile Davis. Arkansas has a tough schedule and could very well lose 4 or 5 games this year.

5. Auburn Tigers: Oh how the mighty have fallen. The 2010 National Champs will be without the services of Cam Newton (NFL #1 overall pick) and Nick Fairly (#13 overall pick). They will also be hard pressed to qualify for a bowl game this year.

6. University of Mississippi Rebels, er, Black Bears: Ole Miss is supposed to be horrible this year and I can't find a reason to dispute this. Ole Miss can't schedule enough small schools to have a winning schedule. Their "bowl game" will be the Egg Bowl against Miss. State. Now, in typical Ole Miss fashion, watch them scrap together 5 wins and beat State in the Egg Bowl to become bowl eligible! Since I was so hard on the Rebs, I decided to use their cheerleaders' pic.

Continue reading "Fall In Mississippi Means College Football and DUI's" »