Hope everyone is enjoying his or her Wednesday… and had a great Memorial Day Weekend! What a blessing it is to live in this country, and honoring all of those who have served us and given of their lives in the name of freedom deserve to be thanked for their duty! As the son of a Marine, I honor all of those who have worn the uniform and stood for what this country is all about!

Christi and I enjoyed a long weekend away visiting friends and family and had a blast in between the constant downpours. If only we could get some of that rain here in Jackson, I know all of us could use it on our lawns (ours is barely making it), and we could finally hear David stop talking about this crazy drought! And start saving some cash on our monthly water bills!

Just a couple of takes for you on the last Wednesday of May… first, we are just two days away from Regional Action kicking off with STATE, Ole Miss and Southern all taking the diamond in post-season play! More to come on this Friday, but it will be truly exciting to see if Ole Miss and Southern meet in a double-elimination game and two intra-state rivals determine their season’s worth against each other! Plus STATE travels to Tallahassee – and call me crazy – but they have the potential to advance. FSU is the only other legitimate team in that opening bracket, and I’m smelling upset for the DAWGS in Florida over the weekend.

And how about Kobe Bryant today, who was saying that he, wants to be traded out of Los Angeles? Very few stories hit a cord on a national level like star-athletes who demand things and then blame management, and it was obvious because as I drove to the station every single talk-radio show in town was talking about the subject. Here is my thought – if you are Kobe Bryant – the best player in the league and you are watching the Spurs, Suns, Mavs and even the Jazz win 50 plus games and compete for a title every year and you have to score 50 plus points a night to keep your team in the hunt for the last playoff spot… then you have a reason to grumble. He’s the best player in the game, on no doubt one of the worst teams in the league. Take him out of that line-up and they win 30 games. Maybe. Kobe is Kobe and you either get the players he needs around him to win a title, or let him go. And Shaq is on his-side in this debate with Dr. Jerry Buss. So it’s universally understood I guess by everyone but the Lakers. Being a Celtic fan, I love it!

And finally… talk about a sad story the last few days out of Hattiesburg, where the former boys basketball coach at Presbyterian Christian High School in Hattiesburg was found dead in the schools gym Tuesday. Mark Bryan's death is under investigation, but all early signs point to a self-inflicted gunshot. Can you imagine walking in on that scene? It’s such a tragic piece of sports news, and one that is really difficult to cover and communicate about. The metro connection to the story is that Bryan had recently accepted a job as an assistant coach at Jackson Prep. All of our thoughts and prayers are with his family, former players and students, and the entire PC High School community.

Keep Walking the Thin Line...

Christian