The long farewell for the MUW Blues

By By Jeff Byrd / sports editor
Dec. 30, 2002
This will be the season of the long goodbye.
On Jan. 16, 2003, the decision to dismantle the athletic program at the Mississippi University for Women will be finalized. New President Claudia Limbert made the recommendation to cut the athletic program after studying the school's financial situation.
The College Board will likely give its okay to mothball the Blues on the 16th.
But for former Choctaw Central guard Randi Williams, the decision to can the Blues, is heartbreaking.
Williams transferred to the "W" after sitting out a year. Before that, she was a member of the Lady Bulldogs at Mississippi State University, just 20 miles to the west.
Well, at least she'll get to play this year, her junior season. Williams is the starting point guard for the Blues and is averaging 27 minutes per game.
Bad fall tidings
Limbert's decision, though, was the proverbial last straw in a string of bad tidings for the Blues.
In October, a tornado ripped through Columbus and the back end of the MUW campus destroying the school's gymnasium. The gym was where the Blues play.
The rest of the campus was left pretty much unscathed. But with no place to play, Coach Glenn Schmidt had to find another place.
This weekend, the final MUW New Year's Classic was played at New Hope High School. Delta State, which has played in every one of MUW's holiday tournaments since 1990, was back. So was West Alabama. Harding University rounded out the field.
The second piece of bad news for the Blues is a winless start. Going into Sunday, the team was 0-9.
Then, Limbert dropped the hammer.
Despite its record, MUW has some good players. Post player Jessica Dunlap, a junior from Aberdeen and freshman forward Rachel Coleman are considered the two top prizes. So is a strong freshman class that includes Jordan twins Nicole and Natalie from Wayne County.
Both of the former Lady War Eagles helped Gina Skelton's team to a 33-2 record last season. Nicole is playing as a reserve this season. But Natalie is out for the year with a torn ACL-ligament in her knee.
For the record, Williams wants to play her senior year, too.
The recruiting sharks have already come out, Schmidt says.
As for herself, Schmidt wants to coach again.
West Alabama head coach Amanda Marks knows the pain associated with a school dropping its program, suddenly. It happened to her in 2001 when Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Ala., decided to drops its athletic program.
Yet Delta State athletic director Dr. Jim Jordan understands Limbert's decision.
Saints are blue, too
Another team saying goodbye to the 2002 season is the New Orleans Saints.
The same, sad, sorry Saints saw the playoffs slip through their butter fingers with Sunday's galling 10-6 loss to Carolina.
At one point, the Saints were 9-4 and a shoe in for the playoffs. Now, they finished 9-7 and are done.
Our Saints reporter Richard Dark said the Saints coach Jim Haslett bristled at the comparsion of last year's 0-4 close out to this year's current slide.
He's right. That's year team quit.
This year's bunch choked.