Five full senses lend sixth to lessons of long ago
The Old Man held a hook in two fingers of his left hand, having lifted it from a bulk box labeled “Mustad, 3/0.”
What are we fighting for?
I didn’t want to write about the brawl. You’ve seen it, I’ve seen it. As Dispatch columnist Slim Smith so eloquently put it, everyone this side of Beijing has seen it.
Motherhood, teaching are callings blessed by God
The little tin lunch box had a plastic handle and a spring clasp to keep it closed.
No La Sasso, no problem: Ole Miss defeats Florida for SEC men’s golf title
When NCAA individual men’s golf champion Michael La Sasso left Ole Miss for the riches of the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour in January, it put a humongous dent in the Rebels’ championship hopes this spring season.
Who says you can’t go home again?
It’s been so long since my byline last appeared in The Commercial Dispatch that I hardly know where to start this.
Stash of souvenirs marks life well lived
The Old Man had been stashing random bits of castoff gear in outbuildings around his place for decades.
Rick Cleveland: Clyde Muse contributed much, including to the sport of T-ball
Many readers surely have seen the news that Clyde Muse, an educator for 67 years and for 42 years the president of Hinds Community College, died last week at the age of 96. Muse has often been referred to as the “Godfather” of Mississippi’s community college system.
Turkey hunting sagas spread continuously on life’s way
We sat beneath a stand of ancient oaks in a mesquite scattering, leaves shifting gently in the south Texas breeze.
Rick Cleveland: Baseball is a game of streaks, and Bianco’s Rebels are on a red-hot one
PEARL — Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco stood off to the side as his team posed for photos with the winners’ trophy vase from Tuesday night’s C Spire College Showdown at Trustmark Park, their reward for a 10-3 victory over nationally ranked in-state rival Southern Miss.
Losers weepers in realm pocket knife proclivity
Memory is a sharp tool sometimes, and carrying a favorite pocket knife as a talisman is a handy way to get cut.
Rick Cleveland’s spring scattershooting: Avery Weed, Trey Johnson and Konnor Griffin
Catching up on several fronts on this lovely spring Thursday…
Telling true tales a vital how-to
When I was in my mid-single digit years, the Old Man used three converted cattle ponds on his place raising catfish to sell.
Warner Alford served Ole Miss many ways, and always with utmost class
Warner Alford died Friday at the age of 87 following a long illness.
Let’s get fooled again
Of all the things the internet has taken from us – childhood, privacy, critical thinking – harmless public pranks are what I miss the most. Sure, there are 2 million YouTube videos featuring all manner of overstimulated, underemployed young men harassing strangers for likes and shares.
O’Connor gets his first dose of an intense baseball rivalry
Mississippi State baseball coach Brian O’Connor was just about to board the team bus for Oxford when we talked by phone Thursday afternoon.
Keep your head up, fish down, competitors away
The Old Man had fished for everything that swims at one time or another, and he’d caught most of it.
Endurance allows enjoyment in wild places’ active pursuit
The morning was clear, the air clean as daylight. There was no humidity. In the Rockies, there seldom is. It was a good day for a listening walk with the Old Men.
We have some great officials, but we need more
A few weeks ago I wrote about fans behaving badly at high school games.
Ducks in the sky bring their own magic with them
The Boy loved hunting and dreamed of travel. The idea of ducks coasting down from far northern latitudes to creek bottom sloughs nearby put the two together, and his imagination sparked into life.
Don’t bottle the sunshine, wear it as it falls
Life surely does run at uneven speeds, the Boy thought.
County to start paying SPD for animal control assistance
July 8, 2025
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