Crooked Letter Sports

Today's discussion involves The Open Championship, the Atlanta Braves hospital ward, next week's big Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame celebration and the Paris Olympics.

Rick and Tyler are brimming with pride after two Jackson Metro Area prospects went in the Top 12 picks of the Major League Baseball Draft, and the Cleveland boys make picks for this week's Open Championship at Royal Troon.  

Jay Powell was teammates with such Major League stars as Alex Rodriguez, Chipper Jones and Todd Helton, but he says Konnor Griffin of Jackson Prep is the best athlete he has ever been around. Griffin, the Gatorade National Player of the Year, will likely be one of the first names called in Sunday's MLB Draft Draft. Griffin and his dad, who has also had an eventful spring and summer, join the Cleve...

Rick ducks into an abandoned Boston Logan Airport terminal to tell us about the National Federation of High Schools Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Fulton's own "Dot" Ford Burrow, and the boys recount a fun weekend on the coast at the annual Mississippi Press Association, where Rick picked up some hardware of his own. Plus, Tyler rants about stoplights on Hwy. 49 and newly minted Texas Longhor...

A veteran of 15 years in the business of minor league baseball, Tennessee native Chris Harris is experiencing perhaps the most unusual year of his career. We talk Mississippi Braves baseball, Atlanta Braves baseball and the College World Series.

For three rounds and 15 holes of the fourth round, Rory McIlroy made every single short putt he stood over. Then, he didn't. And when McIlroy faltered, Bryson DeChambeau came through with one of the greatest sand saves in U.S. Open history. The Clevelands also discuss the SEC-dominated College World Series, the trials and tribulations of the Atlanta Braves and the NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

The U.S. Open will be played at Pinehurst No. 2 this week. It's a golf course with which Randy Watkins is extremely familiar. Watkins says it will be a test, even for Scottie Scheffler. Today's discussion also covers the College World Series, the bidding war the L.A. Lakers lost to UConn, and Hurston Waldrep's debut with the Atlanta Braves.  

NCAA Super Regionals are this weekend but Mississippi will not be represented for the first time in a while. Both Mississippi State and Southern Miss lost out in the finals of their prospective regionals. The Clevelands discuss all that, plus venerable Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore's parting words to college baseball.  

After one of the busiest baseball weekends of the year, Southern Miss first baseman Matthew Russo – one of the hottest players on one of the hottest teams in college baseball – joins the podcast to discuss the Golden Eagles' Sun Belt Conference championship and upcoming NCAA Regional at Knoxville. There's plenty more to discus, including Davis Riley's PGA Tour victory.

The SEC Tournament is underway in Birmingham. The Sun Belt Tournament has begun in Montgomery. And, closer to home, the MHSAA State Tournament has begun at Trustmark in Pearl. The Cleveland boys have thoughts on all of it, but not before Tyler tells his dad, "See, I told you so."

 College baseball's regular season is in its last week, which means baseball bracketology is a popular activity. State needs to finish strong to become a Regional host. Southern Miss probably has already punched its ticket as a 2- or 3-seed. Ole Miss, playing its best baseball presently, needs victories, period. Meanwhile, the State High School softball tournament is this week in Hattiesburg, and...

We are into the second week of May, which means the college and high school baseball seasons have reached the point where every pitch matters. At present, Mississippi State is a likely 2-seed, Southern Miss is a 3-seed and Ole Miss is on the outside looking in. The Rebels, however, can change that this weekend in when No. 1 ranked Texas A&M comes to Oxford. Also, Tyler gives the lowdown on all the...

It's been a wild ride for Sarah Thomas since she first walked into a high school football officials' meeting. The first woman to officiate a college football game, a college bowl game, an NFL game and a Super Bowl joins the show to talk about her career, the grind of working in pro football and the pressure of being a trailblazer.  

Mississippi State baseball great Jay Powell won Game 7 of the World Series, among many other career highlights and then had his career ended by one of the most gruesome arm injuries in baseball history. Who better to talk about the alarming rate of pitching injuries in MLB  and college baseball than Powell?

His Masters performance reinforces Scheffler's role as golf's No. 1 guy, but watch out for Ludvig Aberg. Plus, Ole Miss baseball team shows that reports of its early demise were greatly exaggerated. And Kiffin shows what many of us have suspected all along: Spring football games are a waste of energy.

Former PGA Tour player and national junior champion Randy Watkins talks Masters favorites and joins in a discussion about the recent NCAA naitonal championship basketball games.  

We've got two compelling Final Fours coming up this weekend and the women's version might be the more interesting of the two. It certainly has more star power. There's also plenty to talk about with college baseball, college baseball recruiting and a good week for Mississippians on the PGA Tour.  

With both the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments in full swing, it feels like the women are stealing the show. Caitlin Clark, Juju Watson and Mississippi's own Madison Booker are quickly becoming household names nationwide. The Cleveland boys weigh in from Breckenridge, where it won't stop snowing.  

The Desoto County town of Lewisburg can lay claim to being the baseball capital of Mississippi. The defending state champion Lewisburg High Patriots, with a roster that includes 13 Division I baseball signees, currently rank No. 10 nationally and play a regional schedule of national powerhouses. Coach Rusty Cagle joins the podcast to discuss his team.  

We're at that time of the sports year when all sports seem to converge. In Mississippi, there are big doings in all three major sports.

Rick and Tyler recount the week that was at the MHSAA and MAIS state basketball championships and take a look ahead to the upcoming college baseball and basketball weekend

The MHSAA and MAIS State Tournaments are in the Jackson metro area this week and the Crooked Letter Cleveland boys are all over it. Every game is an emotion-packed passion play in which dreams are both realized and dashed. And that's not all. This week's discussion includes college basketball, college baseball, and the amazing story of Jackson Prep baseball phenom Konnor Griffin, who could be a mu...

 With their sneakers planted firmly on the NCAA Basketball Tournament bubble, the Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs meet Wednesday night for Round 2 of Egg Bowl basketball. The game is always important, but this one really matters to each team's post-season hopes. Also, the high school basketball championship tournament heats up and college baseball is officially underway.  

Patrick Mahomes was the MVP and the cameras were often on Taylor Swift, but there was plenty of Magnolia State on display at the Super Bowl. Mississippi State alum Chris Jones dominated for the victorious Chiefs on the defensive line. Jackson State's Sonic Boom made a surprise halftime appearance with Usher, and there was more. Also, all hail Patrick Williams, Pro Football Hall of Fame-bound.  

It was a bad weekend to be a Mississippi college basketball fan, and it's a bad week to be an NFL fan, if you hate Taylor Swift, as apparently many do.