ATL,ANTA (AP) — Chris Beard has shifted his culinary focus from salads to hot dogs.
The Mississippi coach had recently commented on the abundance and quality of the food served during the NCAA Tournament, saying it reminded him of the salad bars at Brazilian steakhouses.
Speaking Thursday on the eve of the Rebels making only their second appearance in the Sweet 16, Beard was asked about the salad at his latest team meal. But he quickly pivoted to the franks served at a famous Atlanta fast-food joint, the Varsity, which has been around since 1928.
“I think the Varsity hot dog is arguably the best, in my opinion,” said Beard, who grew up in suburban Marietta. “It's Coney Island, it’s the Varsity, and then it’s the old baseball game hot dog. Different than football, different than basketball, different than a concert.”
Beard was just getting warmed up.
“If you go to a baseball game at any level, high school, summer ball, all the way to the major leagues, if the hot dog is served in tin foil, that’s the key,” he said. “Not a big fan of the hot dog where they pull it with the tongues right off the deal, drop it in water. That’s not my deal. If I’m at a baseball game and I see that there’s tin foil involved in a hot dog, that’s where we roll.”
Quite a review, but let's get back to the salad.
Beard, whose team meets Michigan State on Friday night in the South Region semifinals, noted that the Rebels held a team dinner at Morton's, a high-end steakhouse in downtown Atlanta.
“Morton’s had the Caesar salad,” the coach said, “but the food was so amazing after the salad, that myself included, not a lot of us went with the salad. They got the shrimp cocktails on the table and the crab cake -- I guess you call them balls — with a little stick in it.
"It’s hard to get fired up about the salad knowing what’s coming down the line.”
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Mississippi head coach Chris Beard looks out on the court during practice before the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.
Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.
“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.
"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.
Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.
Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.
Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.
At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.
Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.
Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.
After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.
“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”
Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.
Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.
His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.
“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”
Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.
FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
