(Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
What’s up, y’all? My name is Brian Scott Rippee and I am thrilled to be your sports editor this year.
I grew up in Jackson and I’ve been around Ole Miss my entire life. I remember sitting on my dad’s shoulders to get a glimpse of the Walk of Champions at two years old just as vividly as I remember when guys like Eli Manning ran out of the the inflatable blue helmet in the north end zone where the locker room used to be. I remember when the South End Zone Club didn’t exist and when the video board in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was about a third of the size it is now. At one point, I could count on one hand how many home football games I’ve missed.
There have been both good and bad times. I was there in 2002 when fans stormed the field after Ole Miss beat a sixth-ranked Florida team led by Rex Grossman. I was also there when division 1-AA Jacksonville State came into Oxford in 2010 and beat the Rebels in overtime. I remember seeing the goal posts come down against Alabama just as I remember being able to hear a pin drop amongst more than 60,000 when Laquon Treadwell was carted off the field against Auburn in 2015.
My point is, I’ve seen a lot. I care about this place very much and am excited for what is to come this year.
If you haven’t been paying attention, it’s an exciting time to be around athletics. The football team is coming off its first Sugar Bowl win in half a century and will open the year on Sept. 5 in Orlando against fourth-ranked Florida State in a game that will likely alter the college football playoff picture. The basketball teams have a brand new $96 million home to play in. The soccer team is coming off its deepest ever run in the NCAA tournament and earned a preseason ranking of 22. The softball team set a school record in wins a year ago and the baseball team just brought in arguably the strongest recruiting class in its history.
Things are pretty good at Ole Miss right now. Don’t believe me? Take a stroll through campus and see all of the different construction projects going on. This place is as alive and busy as I’ve ever seen it.
One of the things I promised myself when I got this job, and what I want to promise you, is that I’ll work as hard as I possibly can to bring the best coverage possible of all sports on campus in a way that is compelling and interesting to you. Sure, it won’t be perfect, and there will be bumps in the road, but it also won’t be for a lack of trying. We want to be to be the student’s source for Ole Miss news.
My assistant editor is Cody Thomason. He’s from Oxford and he’ll do great things as well and will surely save my behind more times than one this year, as will the rest of our staff. They’re great people and are good at what they do. We’ve hired a talented group of writers that are eager to to get to work, and I look forward working with them as well as helping them become better writers.
I’ve worked at The Daily Mississippian for three years now and have enjoyed every minute. I’ve worked with so many talented people in that time. Ole Miss has played a huge rule in who I am today and I love this place.
I am certain that Ole Miss will have some exciting stories to tell this year, and we will do our best to share them with you. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all follow along.
