My column about Woodville native OK Ferguson and the fact that he obviously deserves a posthumous place in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame triggered a call from long-time Vidalian and Natchezian, Logan Sewell. Logan is a close friend of one of this year&8217;s inductees into the Hall of Fame, Dr. Anton Reed, a Brookhaven dentist. Reed became not only the oldest person inducted, at 86, but is the only member of the Hall of Fame whose expertise was in weightlifting. Reed was not only an outstanding lifter himself, but trained other athletes to correctly take advantage of weightlifting back in the days when most athletic coaches felt that weight training made an athlete too muscle-bound and slow. He was way ahead of his time.

I have heard murmurs that Ferguson did not deserve a place in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame because he spent his college career at LSU. By my count, at least a few dozen current members of the Hall of Fame gained most &8212; if not all &8212; of their sports reputation outside of Mississippi. That argument, if made at all, does not hold water

The 2006 roster of football officials in the Southeastern Conference is little changed from the 2005 list. There appear to be no new officials on either the active or supplemental lists from Mississippi. William Carrero from Senatobia remains on the supplemental list. Carrero was badly injured several years ago in an automobile accident, and I understand that he has not yet regained enough mobility to actively officiate. William was a good official (I assigned him to a number of LSU scrimmages) and will be a solid member of a regular crew if he recovers completely.

Those Mississippi officials who remain active members of SEC crews include back judges Stan Murray of Columbus and George Manager of Meridian. Manager first officiated in the SEC in 1985, while Murray&8217;s career started in 1987. I officiated on the field with both men, as well as with side judge Don Shanks, a Madison resident. Shanks is winding up his career this year, and has chosen not to be a member of a regular crew, choosing instead to accept random assignments in order to officiate with as many fellow referees as possible this last time around.

Other SEC football officials who reside in Mississippi are Jimmy Buchanan, a back judge who lives in Ridgeland, along with Thomas Miller, an umpire from Ocean Springs. Buchanan started in the SEC in 2002, and Miller started in 2003. Newcomer Brad Freeman broke into the SEC last year. Warren Wiltshire, also a Ridgeland resident, is entering his second year in the replay booth for the Southeastern Conference. My thanks to Warren for providing me with this season&8217;s crew list and picture rosters.

As fewer of my old colleagues remain active each year, I miss officiating a bit less. There are still a few remaining in the replay booth, but that just isn&8217;t the same.

And, That&8217;s Official

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. You can reach him at

AlanWard39157@aol.com

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