Coach34

AlCoDog

All-Conference
Feb 27, 2008
5,865
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I have a random question for you. I thought I picked up on here that you went to MRA, and are a little older than me. Did you go to school with Bevo Gandy? Wasn't he a hell of a football player? Whatever happened to him or am I way off?
 

AlCoDog

All-Conference
Feb 27, 2008
5,865
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I have a random question for you. I thought I picked up on here that you went to MRA, and are a little older than me. Did you go to school with Bevo Gandy? Wasn't he a hell of a football player? Whatever happened to him or am I way off?
 

Coach34

Redshirt
Jul 20, 2012
20,283
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I havent heard in awhile...I was a Sr when Bevo was a Soph...and I'll never forgive him for dropping the fly ball in my last game that cost us a shot at Prep for the South title...

He was a good football player. They won the state title either his Sr year or the year after (1989 or 1990). He could fly, just lacked brains and size. He went on to play at the University of Goodman for two years but I have no idea what happened to him after that.
 

Todd4State

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
17,411
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I went to MC and knew a few people from MRA. I didn't keep up with MRA's team very much, but at the time I was in high school, if you did meet someone from MRA the name Bevo Gandy would always come up if you were talking sports.

You would have thought he was Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Jim Brown, Dick Butkus and Ray Guy rolled into one.
 

AlCoDog

All-Conference
Feb 27, 2008
5,865
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Todd4State said:
I went to MC and knew a few people from MRA. I didn't keep up with MRA's team very much, but at the time I was in high school, if you did meet someone from MRA the name Bevo Gandy would always come up if you were talking sports.

You would have thought he was Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Jim Brown, Dick Butkus and Ray Guy rolled into one.
That is exactly why I was asking. I was in junior high in Jackson when he was in highschool, and his name was like he was a celebrity. I just wondered if he ever played college ball anywhere. I actually think somebody told me he was a navy seal one time.
 

Coach34

Redshirt
Jul 20, 2012
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but his grades and size automatically made him a juco player in football. Solid baseball player. And I do think he ended up in the Navy
 

Faustdog

All-Conference
Jun 4, 2007
3,930
2,139
113
AlCoDog said:
Waco Davis or Tonka Wallace?
Tonka played on some good basketball teams at Brandon Academy / UCS. He was really good in all sports, but I think he had a car wreck before his senior year that messed up his football season. His first game back that year he ran the ball two times for two 80 yard touchdowns.

He didn't play any college that I'm aware of. But from what I hear he's doing well.
 

captaindawg

Redshirt
Feb 23, 2008
906
0
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back in 1988. He was in my hometown visiting a relative and showed up at my school one day after he had a "little to drink". I was trying to get away from him while the administration was trying to first catch him running around the school and then trying not to laugh when they called me to the office the next day when they tried to id him for a police report. Fast forward to 2008, I was talking to a buddy of mine that graduated Prep in 88 and asked him if he knew him. He said that was a name he hadn't heard in a long time. needless to say he had plenty of stories too.
 

Coach34

Redshirt
Jul 20, 2012
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back in the mid-80's when it still had a damn high level of play. Playing against Tony Shell and Walker Jones, and with James Smith (Mississippi TE) just to name a couple.
Our baseball team in the span of 7 years produced Darren Nixon (USM), Tracy Echols (State), Jimmy Gammil (State), Scott Polk (State), and Duane Case (Delta St, D-II AA). We also put about 5-6 more in the juco ranks. And that was just us. JA and Prep had some good players too.

Coaching-wise, I coached 5 years in private, then 8 in public
 

Coach34

Redshirt
Jul 20, 2012
20,283
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for being as good as they were in State uniforms...Richard Lee, Dan Van Cleve, and Eric Dubose werent bad players
 

dawgstudent

Heisman
Apr 15, 2003
39,289
18,525
113
had collegiate players at a rich, white boy school?

I still stand by statement that today, baseball = soccer in these United States. It's a rich sport that takes $$$ to play.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
55,967
24,954
113
dawgstudent said:
I still stand by statement that today, baseball = soccer in these United States. It's a rich sport that takes $$$ to play.
And at the HS and younger levels, more and more of those rich white kids are playing soccer.
 

Coach34

Redshirt
Jul 20, 2012
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but no doubt it is a white boy sport. Black kids just dont grow up playing baseball like they did 30 years ago.

My point was that the Jackson private schools in the 1980's could compete with any public schools their size in football, and would be better than most in baseball. We had a helluva lot of good players.

And I didnt go to a private school because of being rich, it was because I was not going to go to Callaway HS. I'm glad MC and Ridgeland HS got built finally. Those schools, along with Brandon, NW Rankin, Clinton, and Pearl are good schools and have alleviated the need for private schools.
 

Todd4State

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
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You've got to go to play on those Select teams when you are a child, go to the camps in the summer at the colleges, and get private lessons from people like Jeff Hunter and Chris Snopek as well as get the personal training from Paul LaCoste.

If you don't do that, you don't have a prayer of making it.

It's taboo to play in the local Little League. I've heard people talk about "the rec league" like it was a leper colony.

It's crazy.

But as a rich white person, I can live with that. Mainly because I need other rich white heroes.
 

Todd4State

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
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the past two years, I'd have to say that at least some of the larger private schools can still compete with the public schools. Two years ago, Prep may very well have had the best football team in MPSA history, but beating them on the road was maybe even impressive. Especially since Pearl had a playoff team last year.

You could have a heck of a baseball tournament with MC, Ridgeland, Clinton, Northwest Rankin, Pearl, Brandon, Terry, Prep, JA, and Hillcrest Christian.

I remember MC playing Hillcrest a few years ago and winning 9-7 or something like that, so there's no doubt that the private schools can compete the public schools in baseball. I'm kind of looking forward to Prep and Northwest Rankin playing this year.
 

dawgstudent

Heisman
Apr 15, 2003
39,289
18,525
113
Those summer league teams that travel across the South is just like soccer. The only difference with soccer is that the travel is all year long.
 

dawgstudent

Heisman
Apr 15, 2003
39,289
18,525
113
baseball is like soccer. After U-12, if you didn't play select soccer, you were considered worthless. Now, it's even younger for soccer and baseball is the same.
 

Paperdawg

Redshirt
May 1, 2006
203
0
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Company Name: Alfa Mutual Insurance CompanyIs This Your Company? Address: 309a E Government St, Brandon, MS 39042-3238 (Map) Alt Business Name: Alfa Mutual Insurance Company Location Type: Branch Location Est. Annual Sales: Est. # of Employees: Est. Empl. at Loc.: 4 Year Started: State of Incorp: SIC #Code: 6411 Contact's Name: Bevo Gandy Contact's Title: Branch Manager Parent Company: Alfa Mutual Insurance Company NAICS: Insurance Agencies and Brokerages
 

Original48

Redshirt
Aug 9, 2007
3,322
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was drafted out of Delta St. his junior year ('88) and spent some time in the majors catching for the Astros. He also played for the Royals and Braves organizations.
 

DavidBrentDawg

Redshirt
Jan 30, 2009
15
0
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around all of them. Waco is a good friend of mine... He is a navy seal now. Bevo and Waco went to the madison public schools (this was before madison central) before they went to MRA, I think Waco left MRHS during the 10th grade. I graduated in the last MRHS class.
 

AlCoDog

All-Conference
Feb 27, 2008
5,865
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Unless there is a Walker Jones I don't know about, you could not have possibly played against Tony Shell and Walker Jones. I played with Walker in highschool and I graduated in 94'. Tony was like 88'.

I always thought Scott Polk would paly big league ball growing up. We were on all-star teams together back in the ole "rec league" which apparently isn't cool anymore, but I got to play with alot of guys that went on to play D-1 baseball in the "rec-league". Richard Lee, Polk, Michael Waltman were a few.
 

hooptydawg

Redshirt
Nov 1, 2007
296
0
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several years apart?

Edited to answer my own question. Quick research on the interweb indicates that Shell was a freshman in '88 and Walker Jones graduated in '97. So how could someone have played against them both at any level?
 

8dog

All-American
Feb 23, 2008
13,909
5,743
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But if Shell was a freshman in 1988 (I didn't verify), then I guess you could be a 9th grader playing on the HS school team in 1987--play 87,88,89, and 90 and then I think Walker could have been bumped up his freshman year in 90.

So there is a small window to play against both I guess.
 

Coach34

Redshirt
Jul 20, 2012
20,283
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hooptydawg said:
bumped so maybe Coach will address
I obviously didnt play against Jones. JA had another badass on their 85 team other than Shell and I was thinking it was him for some reason.
 

holydawg

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2008
135
0
0
Scooter. He hit a home run once that never got higher than 15 feet off the ground. Hardest hit ball I had ever seen til I started going to Astros games.
 

615dawg

All-Conference
Jun 4, 2007
6,540
3,408
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asides from Prep, MRA and the parochials, here is what's going on.

JA is in decent shape, but they are losing students
East Rankin has grown a lot recently, but has flat lined.
Hillcrest nearly closed this year. They are in serious financial peril. (Built a new elementary school a few years back and the donor did not come through - has really hurt them)
UCS, Mt. Salus, Central Hinds - all are losing students at a faster rate than gaining - mostly at the elementary level.

I had someone at UCS tell me that if I sent a kid there over Northwest or Brandon I was a dubmass.</p>