Reily’s ramblings

Everyone believes their children are the most wonderful kids on the planet.

This proud papa is no different. So, I have to tell you a story.

I grew up in a sports family. If there was a game played, we were either playing in it or we really cared about who was playing in it.

That said, I settled into rooting for three teams as I grew up — The Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and New Orleans Saints.

Other than a brief period in the early 80s with the Celtics, life as a sports fan has been tough.

In 2003, I got married.

Thirteen months later, my first child was born, Sarah Parker. Four months after that, the unthinkable happened — the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years. We took pictures of my child with Red Sox garb on as we were sure she had been the lucky charm to put the forlorned franchise over the top.

Then Sam was born. The next basketball season, the Celtics won their first NBA title since 1986.

Wow, we were pretty good at this baby thing. I wasn’t sure if they would grow up to be good citizens, but we could sure spur pro sports franchises to good times.

Finally, Margaret Louise was born this past June. I joked soon after that this had to be the year of the Saints.

Who knew?

Who dat?

Until the final play from victory formation by Drew Brees was completed Sunday night, my almost 8-month-old watched with the rest of the family the Miracle in Miami as the Saints won the first Super Bowl in the team’s history.

And while Brees credited his newborn son as the lucky charm for New Orleans, I know the real story.

Three favorite teams, three kids, three titles.

Seems my work is done.

I know my wife believes that.

In a poll on the MBJ Web site last week about 80 percent of the respondents said Mississippi should shorten the school year to save money for the schools and make money for transportation.

This came after we reported on a story that stated if school began at the end of August, a study by Gulf Coast Business Council Research Foundation finds the state could generate millions in tourism dollars and school districts could save money on utilities.

Currently, most districts begin holding class the first or second week in August. The study looked at starting at the end of August or the first week of September.

While the study does not advocate a position, the study does point out that if school started later and summer was extended, the state could make more than $150 million from in-state and out-of-state tourists. The study also says school districts could save between $1 million and $3 million a year on utilities.

Most other studies believe that children should be goig to school on into the summer, not shortening the school year. Many of those studies believe the only way to improve the American business model is for our children to be more immersed in studies.

So, I guess the question comes down to whether we want to save dollars today or make money in the future.

I’m not sure the study takes that into account.

UPDATE — Then the news comes out last night that Toyota has been hit by more than 100 complaints in the U.S. and Japan about brake problems with the Prius. … Maybe the Toyota spokesperson has something else to say today.

FROM FEB. 2 …

I was reading our intrepid reporter Clay Chandler’s blog about Toyota’s recent troubles, which has focused on how the company will rebound from having to suspend sales of eight of its models, including the Camry, traditionally one of its best sellers.

Clay talked with spokesperson Barbara McDaniel about Toyota’s plans for Blue Springs.

“Totally unrelated” is how McDaniel characterized to Magnolia Marketplace the recall and the question of when the facility in North Mississippi will start production.

Is she serious?

Toyota has already put on hold the opening of the Blue Springs plant near Tupelo because of poor world-wide sales. If this latest snafu causes more folks to steer away from the company, the date of the Blue Springs opening could get pushed further and further away.

Consumer confidence in Toyota is totally related to how quickly the plant in Blue Springs opens.

When I read this week that the Senate Universities and Colleges Committee took no vote on the bill that would have given the state College Board the authority to rename Mississippi University for Women, it made me wonder why the committee exists.

If this committee can’t take some type of action regarding an issue of changing the name of one of our universities, they should all resign their post.

Just make a decision, and don’t use a bunch of political dance steps to get around making a decision.

What a bunch of knotheads.

Outgoing MUW President Claudia Limbert announced in August that a new name — Reneau University — had been chosen for the Columbus campus.

There is a photo of me when I was five or six years old at an art show holding a rock.
The photo actually appeared on the front page of the Commercial Appeal in Memphis.
What’s so special about a kid with a wry grin, cutting his eyes at the camera while holding a rock?
On the rock was painted, “Our Archie, That’s Who!”
I don’t remember exactly when I first started watching the New Orleans Saints, but when I look back at that photo, I know it was a long, long time ago.
And in those days, it seems all we had was hope.
Being a Saints fans in this part of the country is akin to being a Red Sox fan in New England. The difference being the Red Sox have actually won seven World Series titles.
While the Saints are being called America’s team these days, they have always been Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama’s team.
I can remember back when my father would take the family out on Sunday drives through the Delta.
My mom would fix a cooler full of sandwiches and chips and drinks, and we would ride the roads of the flat land and listen to the Saints games on a Drew (Archie’s hometown) radio station.
Those were the days of Archie and Chuck Muncie and Tony Galbreath and Wes Chandler.
Later, it was the Dome Patrol of linebackers Ricky Jackson, Vaughn Jackson, Sam Mills and Pat Swilling.
Yeah, the Saints were bad a lot of times, but there were times when there was real hope.
When Archie was QB, there was the season back in the late ‘70s when the team went 8-8 and just missed out on the playoffs. The team had four or five near misses and could easily have been one of the two or three best teams in te NFC. Manning was also the offensive Player of the Year that season.
While they never went to the Super Bowl, for a wide-eyed Delta boy that lived and died with every snap of the ball, Archie and Saints were a thrill a minute. And we had hope.
So, this week, as the current edition of the Saints make their maiden voyage into the Super Bowl against Archie’s boy, my mind’s eye takes me back to my youth when winning would have been great, but the experience of being a fan with hope was just as good.
Yes there will be a winner and loser this week, and our Saints are underdogs as they have been for their 43-year history.
But, from where I am sitting, that’s not such a bad place. It’s a place we are familiar with. And we have hope.

Contact Mississippi Business Journal editor Ross Reily at ross.reily@msbusiness.com or (601) 364-1018.

Labeling for catfish and seafood products is a no-brainer.
The Mississippi Legislature this year is likely to debate a bill that would require Mississippi restaurants to notify customers of the country of origin of their seafood.
Steve Bosarge of Pascagoula, a commission member and shrimper, said the menu labeling requirement would help shrimpers expand the market for their catch.
It wasn’t so long ago that we were talking about country of origin labeling for catfish not produced in the United States.
We should require restaurants to either have a sign posted stating that the catfish or seafood served there is U.S. farm-raised catfish or, if the restaurant serves imported catfish, it must state on its menu which country the catfish was grown and processed in.
There have been growing concerns over the last couple of years about catfish imported from China, Vietnam and Cambodia. The poor water quality where catfish are grown prompts growers in those countires to use antibiotics in production, but some of those drugs are not approved for use in the United States.
Growers in the United States follow stricter standards than catfish producers in Asia, Whittington said, and U.S. consumers should know what they’re getting when they eat catfish at a restaurant. Grocery stores already are required to label catfish products with country of origin, and we believe that no less should be expected of Mississippi restaurants.
Mississippi catfish growers have taken a huge financial hit from the import of catfish products, according to statistics from U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Any bill for labeling protects not only consumers but producers by forcing restaurants to let customers know where they are getting their product.
The bamboo state?
It appears bamboo fields could start popping up all across Mississippi, beginning this spring.
Just a year or so ago, Ed Johnson at the Delta Economic Development Center was touting bamboo as a possible source of income in the Delta.
In a recent conversation with Johnson, he believes the first plants could be in the ground in 8 to 12 weeks.
There are literally thousands of products that can be made from bamboo and while the United States can’t compete with fart east countries on labor costs, Mississippi can win on fuel and shipping costs.
The main markets for bamboo are:
•  Hard goods – flooring, cabinetry, fencing
• Pulp and paper
• Textiles – clothing, bedding, towels
• Bio-mass – bamboo could make an excellent candidate for fuels due to it’s low moisture content, and low ash/chlorine contents.
• Carbon credit opportunities – moso bamboo is the largest carbon sequestering plant in the world
• Eco-tourism – where folks could tour groves of 75 feet tall grasses?
There is still a lot of work to do. However, what appeared to many to be a pipe dream just 15 months ago looks like it is going to become a reality.

Contact Mississippi Business Journal editor Ross Reily at ross.reily@msbusiness.com or (601) 364-1018.