We had a lot of fun making Pink puns at Hugh Freeze’s expense yesterday, but now-former Ole Miss recruit Mario Mathis’ mother is countering his father’s quotes to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution with a few of her own. To hear her tell it (to the Commercial Appeal), the Rebels didn’t yank Mario’s scholarship out of nowhere, and all dealings in Oxford with the family have been completely on the level:

When Mathis visited Ole Miss recently, it was obvious he was still having difficulty moving. Freeze, in agreement with Mathis and his parents, released the player from his Rebels’ commitment. The scholarship offer stands if Mathis returns to full strength.

“Ole Miss has never been anything but honest with Mario,” Denise Fletcher said. “He’s not guaranteed a scholarship anywhere unless he can play on that leg. You can’t give a scholarship to someone who can’t physically play. It’s ridiculous to think otherwise.”

So that’s two papers in two states with two different stories in two days. Eventually, maybe somebody will get around to talking to Mathis himself. Look for a third story in a third paper in a third state tomorrow!

Mario Mathis is a three-star linebacker from Thomasville, Ga.

If God is a DJ, and life is a dancefloor, then Hugh Freeze’s dance card is full, thankyouverymuch.

For the third time in 24 hours, we find ourselves discussing Ole Miss, which has to be some kind of record: Yesterday morning we marveled at Freeze’s irony-free Twitter stylings; last night we discussed his fruitful attempts to out-Richt Mark Richt with our friends at The Solid Verbal; and this morning we behold a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that has Freeze pulling a scholarship offer from linebacker Mario Mathis because of an ACL injury last year:

Mathis tore his ACL before his junior season but played through the pain because it was improperly diagnosed as a knee strain. Mathis underwent surgery on January 17, and later committed on May 3 [...] Ole Miss was aware of the injury at the time, and coach Hugh Freeze personally accepted the commitment from Mathis over the phone.

Fast forward to this past weekend: Mathis did a light workout for the Ole Miss coaches and was examined by the team trainer (who said the Mathis recovery was on schedule, according to Fletcher). Then they started getting mixed signals from the Ole Miss staff, and knew something was wrong.

Mathis, a three-star prospect out of Thomasville, Ga., also fielded offers from South Florida and Mississippi State during his recruitment. It’s not really a question of “whether” Dan Mullen is going to have a real good time with this, so much as “how many cheeky billboards will this action inspire?” We can see it now. “STATE: WHERE COMMITMENT MEANS COMMITMENT.”

If God is the DJ, then Life is the dance floor; Love is the rhythm, & You are the music -unknown #RebelNation #WinTheDay

— Hugh Freeze (@CoachHughFreeze) July 30, 2012

Get to know Pink, Coach. Her 2006 album “I’m Not Dead” could make for inspirational soundtracking for the Rebels in fall camp.

Hugh Freeze’s Ole Miss Rebels were the butt of the joke at SEC Media Days. (AP)

HOOVER, Ala. — Hugh Freeze and his program have suffered more slights from other coaches this year at SEC Media Days than have any of his peers. Most everybody here expends painful amounts of energy trying to be polite, so “more slights” in this case means “two.” Reminded by some of our fellow media chuckleheads that Dan Mullen called Starkville the best college town in the country and Steve Spurrier openly wished his Gamecocks could play Ole Miss instead of LSU, Freeze tap-danced smoothly past the possibility of bulletin-board material.

On Oxford as a college town, and specifically as a recruiting tool, Freeze had a fine retort prepared: “Have you been there?” And regarding Spurrier’s remarks: ”We will circle that date [the Rebels rotate back onto South Carolina's schedule in 2013] and maybe look forward to changing his perspective of what he thinks about Ole Miss football.” On days like this, we wish they could put three or four of the coaches up onstage at a time, just to jaw at each other.

Lovingly curated bits of light reading to speed you through to the weekend:

• A hit, a palpable Hokie hit. Boston College blog BC Interruption goes logo-trolling, with splendid results.

• Jock exams. Andy Staples takes the NCAA rules test, discovering that “An institution may send an institutional postcard, provided its dimensions do not exceed 4 1/4 by 6 inches, it includes only the institution’s name and logo or an athletics logo on one side when produced and it includes only handwritten information, (e.g., words, illustrations) on the opposite side when provided to the recipients,” and maybe learning a little something about life along the way. [banjo twang]

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Paul Johnson and Jon Barry won the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament. Paul Johnson is clearly as bewildered as we are to learn he excels at the serene sport of golf. (Abell Images)

The Chick-fil-A Bowl’s annual charity golf tournament kicks off this weekend, forcing 16 ACC and SEC skippers to mute their phones (probably), partner up with celebrity alums from their current programs and battle for scholarship dollars in the carefully sculpted wilds of Georgia. The pairings for the main event have been released. We have some thoughts.

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