Month: May 2007

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Still in the Game

CREDIT: Jackson Baker

It would seem that mayoral candidate Herman Morris, whom some have sought to write off, remains a force to be reckoned with.

A generous crowd of attendees turned out for the former MLGW head at a Racquet Club fund-raiser May 24th, where Morris showed off his gracious wife Brenda and his two academically excelling sons. He may have over-promised somewhat, though — calling himself the only potential mayor “with a real first lady.” John Willingham, for one, has a potential “real first lady,” and so, presumably, do many of the 14 or so others in the race.

Even so, Morris has served notice that he’s in the mayor’s race for the long haul, with at least a chance to be regarded down the line as the major alternative to incumbent Mayor Willie Herenton. (That presupposes a foldo from City Council maverick Carol Chumney, though — and that’s not guaranteed to happen.)

Morris’ chief liability would seem to be that he isn’t entirely comfortable while greeting individuals or crowds. As his handlers say, though, there’s time — four months plus — for Morris to grow into the role.

The fund-raiser was the second of two timely events scheduled for challenger Morris last week. The first was a Tuesday night appearance with Willingham in a unique two-candidate mayoral forum sponsored by the East Shelby Republican Club.

The crowd at Pickering Community Center in Germantown (strange place that, for a Memphis mayoral forum!) seemed somewhat predisposed to Willingham, a longtime club member himself. The former commissioner, who is given to verbal prolixity the way Britney Spears is given to nights out, profited from the one-minute-per-answer rule imposed by moderator Stan Peppenhorn.

Another reason for his relatively strong showing was that Willingham, no fool despite his sometime air of eccentricity, knew the subject matters asked about in greater detail — whether they concerned governmental subjects at large or Willingham hobby-horses like the FedExForum “Garage Gate” scandal which he did as much as anyone to uncover.

Morris came off as able and responsive, though his answers were generally delivered in over-broad outline, even in the case of a brief discourse on the utility he once headed.

Sometimes that penchant worked to his advantage, as when he began an answer to a question about prospective new taxes by saying, “We don’t need any.” (Really that’s all his audience wanted to hear, and any explanation as to why that was the case was so much icing on the cake.) Similarly, Morris deftly dispensed with a question about term limits with the line: “Good idea. Three terms too late!”

Quips, Ideas, and Red Flags: The most intriguing new idea came from Willingham, who indicated that it might be “worth it” to look into public financing of an on-campus football stadium for the University of Memphis if the school and the state of Tennessee could provide as much as two-thirds of the funding. Morris seemed more open to a Fairgrounds site at some point down the line.

All in all, though, Morris may have done what he needed to for the long haul of a race that, after all, ends in October. His very reason for being there was to indicate to the attending Republicans that he was amenable to their concerns — a point reinforced as well by the presence of his co-campaign manager, party veteran John Ryder. (The other co-chair is former officeholder Minerva Johnican, a longtime Democrat.)

And though Shelby County Republican chairman Bill Giannini has publicly said there was “no chance” that Morris would get an endorsement from the local GOP, the chairman has also asserted that there was “no chance,” either, that Willingham could get elected — a belief widely held in political circles, even among members of Willingham’s own circle.

An End-Game Strategy: Under the circumstances, Morris needs only to hold on long enough — meanwhile building up name identification, credibility, funding, and support — to become identifiable in the public mind as the logical alternative to incumbent Mayor Herenton, who polls suggest is plumbing the depths of unpopularity right now.

Presupposing that there is no bounceback for Herenton (which cannot be ruled out), Morris’ hopes depend largely on a stall developing in the campaign of Chumney, who was the leader in early mayoral polls but whose go-it-alone reputation may at some point cost her.

In any case, the Willingham-Morris mano a mano — ridiculed in some quarters for not being more inclusive — served its purpose as a friendly intramural sparring match, put on for the edification of Republicans looking for a candidate to get behind. One note of caution for both men: One influential Republican commented afterward that Chumney, who has a following among grass-roots sorts alienated from politics as usual, might get as many GOP votes as “both these guys put together.”

STATE POLITICS

“Tired Blood”: Another legislative week begins with the ever-surprising saga of state senator Ophelia Ford unresolved, and, as things now stand, unlikely to be.

After weeks in which her chronic absenteeism from the ongoing legislative session in Nashville and a mystery illness were the main facts discussed about her, Ford made up for lost time in the last couple of weeks with some conspicuous acts of commission.

There was her odd performance week before last in a subcommittee hearing on the Department of Children’s Services’ handling of investigations into child deaths. Ford, member of a family known for its funeral home business as well as for its total immersion in politics, may have mistakenly chastised the DCS for negligence in the matter of death certificates (not a departmental concern), but it was her manner, seemingly both confused and overbearing, that gave rise to doubts about her sobriety.

When the senator was hospitalized the next day after falling off a bar stool in her Nashville hotel, those doubts were magnified, especially when brother Joe Ford, chairman of the Shelby County Commission, talked of a likely alcohol problem and proposed to journey to the state capital personally in order to get his sister into rehab.

Nor was that all. Next a Nashville cabbie complained of being manhandled by an “intoxicated” Ford, though the driver has declined so far to press charges.

For all that, Senator Ford’s situation seemed to have stabilized as this week got under way. Denying an alcohol problem, she issued a statement attributing her recent problems to clinical “anemia,” which she also described by the popular name “tired blood.” She also insisted that she intended to continue serving in her office, at least until the election year 2010, and meanwhile Commissioner Ford apparently dropped his rehab plans.

One factor in staving off a more drastic resolution is the fact that Ford’s vote could be crucial in determining the outcome of several key issues as the legislature winds down this week and next. Senate Democrats were of no mind to sacrifice one of their own, and Senate Republicans were not pressing the issue.

Kurita resolution advances: Having passed the first major obstacle by getting a favorable vote on her proposal to elect Tennessee’s constitutional officers in her own chamber last week, state Senate Speaker Pro Tem Rosalind Kurita hopes to gain approval by the House this week.

If successful, she would then need to get two-thirds approval in both bodies next year in order to put the proposal, in the form of a constitutional amendment, on the statewide general election ballot in November 2010. The offices affected would be lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, comptroller, and secretary of state.

While visiting Memphis the week before last, Governor Phil Bredesen took a stand against the proposal, contending that in all instances (save, possibly, the office of lieutenant governor) the proposed change would put the affected officials under too much direct pressure from “special interests.”

In any case, Kurita’s success so far was a counter of sorts to the fact that key Senate Democrats still resent her vote in January in favor of Republican Ron Ramsey as Senate Speaker and lieutenant governor.

Down to the Wire: Voters in state House District 89, centered on upper Midtown, go to the polls this Thursday to determine the winner of two special primary elections.

Democrats choose between Kevin Gallagher and Jeanne Richardson, each of whom — to judge by endorsements and turnouts at their events — would seem to command a decent-sized share of the party base.

Two relatively unknown Republicans — Wayne McGinnis and Dave Wicker Jr. — vie for their party’s nomination.

The two winners will compete in a special general election on July 17th. — JB

Categories
News The Fly-By

Q&A: Bert Kelly

Putty isn’t just silly anymore. Last week, the Memphis-based Spinal and Biologics division of Medtronic released Progenix DBM putty, the latest in a series of putties designed to treat broken and fractured bones. The new putty can be used as a bone-graft substitute or as a filler for holes in bone. Once the putty is injected, it is resorbed and replaced by host bone during the healing process. All research and development for the putty was done in Memphis.

— by Cherie Heiberg

Flyer: How does DBM putty work?

Bert Kelly: It’s used to fill voids or gaps that can result from trauma or surgery. You put the putty in the place of the bone that has been removed or damaged, and over time, the putty will interact with your own body to regrow bone in that spot. Eventually, the bone replaces the putty.

What is the putty made of?

Donated human tissue. If you decide to leave your body to science or if you’re willing to donate your tissue, a company that deals with bones will harvest your bones, scan, and test them and make them into different products.

[Our product] comes in a dry form that you have to reconstitute. Then it becomes very malleable depending on where you have a need for it.

What does “DBM” stand for?

Demineralized Bone Matrix. We take all the minerals out of bone to reveal the native growth factor [a protein that causes cells to grow]. It’s like bone grafting.

How so?

The term [bone grafting] was originally used because surgeons would take bone from one area of the body and graft it to another.

[DBM putty] helps avoid that second surgery. That makes it easier on everyone.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Fly on the Wall

Art’s Sake

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a conservative think tank, recently released a study cleverly titled 2007 Tennessee Pork Report: Tennessee Government Gone Hog Wild. Not surprisingly, the organization frowns on public funding of the arts, and knowing that you can’t bash The Nutcracker, TCFPR honchos Drew Johnson and Trent Seibert have wisely compiled a list of dirty art made by dirty artists with public money. Five thousand dollars went to Jeff Hand, a sculptor who stitches pillows that look like Viagra and well endowed teddy bears. University of Memphis alum Nate Eppler, who received numerous critical plaudits and awards when his play Keeping Up with the Joneses premiered at the U of M, was also singled out. Eppler used his 5G to produce his latest play, Mr. Greenjeans, which the report describes as “an intentional misinterpretation of a 1970s Japanese play The Green Stockings … follow[ing] the life of a man who has both the stomach of a cow and a suicidal panty fetish.” Congratulations of some sort are probably in order.

Fun with Headlines

Can you guess which of these actual headlines from local media organizations doesn’t belong here?

“South Memphis Neighborhood Happy the Bullets Stopped Flying”

“Police Standoff Ends”

“Woman Shot in North Memphis”

“Three Teens Wounded in Random Shooting in Memphis”

“Commissioner Plans to Propose [Adult] Nightclub Crackdown.”

Even as the bullets zip around our ears and ankles, Shelby County Commissioners like Mike Ritz are devising newer and better ways to suspend liquor licenses and combat the dangerous proliferation of jiggly female nakedness. The latest surge against the skinful enemy is crucial because if you don’t fight these glitter-smeared boobies in their native clubs today, you’ll be fighting them in your kitchen tomorrow. Better buy a gun, y’all.

Categories
News The Fly-By

The Cheat Sheet

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Organizers hold our city’s first “Zombie Walk” on Beale Street, with volunteers dressed up as the living dead. One of the participants hoped it would become an annual event and told reporters, “Memphis has never seen anything like this.” Actually, it looked pretty much like any Saturday night on Beale Street.

Greg Cravens

An ultrasound confirmed that the Zoo’s panda Ya Ya is indeed about to become a Ma Ma. Pandas rarely give birth in captivity, so if all goes well, the cub would be one of about a dozen pandas ever born in the United States. Meanwhile, the proud papa should be handing out cigars. What? Artificial insemination? Oh. Well, maybe whoever used the syringe — or however the heck they do it (we really don’t want to know) can do the honors.

Undercover police posing as truck drivers arrest 25 pimps and prostitutes at a truck stop on Lamar. “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” say Three 6 Mafia, and we learned it must be even harder for the women, since some of them wanted to charge the “truckers” only $20.

Ophelia Ford tells reporters she is not an alcoholic and then refuses to see her family when they drive to Nashville to help her out. Sigh. We’re pretty certain Ford will be in the news a lot in the next few months and not because of any work she does as a state senator.

More than a few MLGW employees have been making more than $100,000 a year with overtime pay — sometimes even doubling their already generous salaries. It’s just one thing after another at MLGW these days. Isn’t there another utility around here that we can use?

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

Letters to the Editor

The Reagan Mythology

I was amused by Ron Hart’s “Viewpoint” (May 24th issue) concerning the GOP and the mythology of Ronald Reagan. Reagan is now being held up as the paragon of GOP values by right-wingers like Hart. Interesting. I remember clearly in the 1980s how conservatives claimed Reagan wasn’t conservative enough and shills like Richard Viguerie and Paul Weyrich wanted conservatives to form a third party.

Reagan did not cut taxes; he shifted the tax burden. Whatever tax benefits most Americans received from the cuts in the marginal tax rates were more than made up by having to pay more FICA taxes and the closing of tax deductions in the 1986 tax code. According to the Tax Foundation, the average American was paying more taxes in 1989 than in 1981.

Hart writes of Reagan’s “mantra of limited government.” What government agency did Reagan eliminate or privatize? If Hart wants a conservative role model, he needs to look to Margaret Thatcher not Reagan.

As a financial investor, Hart should know that when Democrats are in the White House the economy does better — not worse — than under GOP management. As Carol Vinzant pointed out on Slate.com, since 1900, Democratic presidents have produced a 12.3 percent total return on the S&P 500. The Republicans have only produced an 8 percent return.

Clarence Murphy

Memphis

The Rant

Last week’s “Rant” by Charley Reese (May 24th issue) started out well enough. Indeed, it was refreshing to read the unvarnished truth for once about the operation of this ghastly war. But I was brought up short to discover that Reese’s greatest villains are “pointy-headed intellectuals.”

Since when? Any intellectual worth his university position could have told President Bush, had he or she been asked, that history indicates the Muslim nations are dangerous to interfere with. Literature warns against hubris. The disciplines of theater and psychology reveal the Oedipus complex (surely operative through Bush 43’s attempt to fix Bush 41’s mistakes at the end of the Iran-Iraq war).

The real culprits are the overly-influential profiteers, who recommended war despite being told by our own intelligence community that they risked disaster. It is regrettable that Reese’s otherwise trenchant observation should have foundered on such an obvious prejudice.

Joanne Malin

Memphis

The War at Home

I want to thank the Flyer and writer Mary Cashiola for the article about Rosine Ghawji (“The War at Home,” May 10th issue).

I have known Rosine for more than 35 years, and she is one of the most courageous and loveliest people I have ever known. Rosine not only paid for Dr. Ghawji to attend medical school in the United States in order to become certified to practice here, she has had the sole responsibility for raising her two sons.  

There has been a great deal of misinformation about Rosine, and because of this she is very grateful, as are so many who know her, for your courage in putting her story in the Flyer. Dr. Ghawji and many of his family members are connected to terrorism and have been for many years.

Rosine has raised two outstanding sons who have excelled scholastically, athletically, and socially thanks to her loving care and attention. Judge Donna Fields has ordered Rosine’s children to be Muslim by a court order, and they must go in September to Saudi Arabia with their father and his family. Fields has also given full custody of Rosine’s younger son, who is still a minor, to his father. This judge is an absolute disgrace to the judicial system.

Thank you again for publishing this article and bringing much of the truth to light in Memphis.

Mary Connelly

Memphis

Relief From Gas Prices

Only one more spring and summer before America gets some relief from gas prices. That’s when the Bush-Cheney team and their friends at the oil companies leave the White House. 

We have been told that it’s the lack of new refineries that has driven up the price of gas. After almost six years of complete control of the government, the president and his party couldn’t manage to get the oil companies to build one new refinery? The oil companies are recording record profits every year, and the administration has stood by while the consumer has been ripped off.

Jack Bishop

Cordova

Categories
News The Fly-By

Second Opinion

In Rhodes College’s underground Frazier Jelke science building, couches surround a life-sized triceratops replica. Biology samples preserved in jars line the shelves, and physics equations are painted on the wall. The lounge is a nice study area, but with a new partnership, pre-med students may have time to spend in other places.

Rhodes and George Washington University in Washington, D.C., recently formed a partnership that will allow Rhodes students an incredible opportunity: to be accepted into GW’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences as sophomores. Through the early selection program, students will be able to forgo the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and apply to medical school before completing the four pre-med course requirements, thereby finishing the sequence in four years rather than condensing it into a grueling three.

According to Alan Jaslow, Rhodes’ Director of Health Professions Advising, the new partnership presents a multitude of positives for Rhodes students.

“It’s a great situation for students who want a liberal-arts experience to avoid some of the hurdles pre-med students have throughout the year,” such as the MCAT, he states. “It allows more options and more freedom for the students.”

Megan Tisdale, director of admissions at the GW School of Medicine, says that the institution has similar programs with 11 schools. GW invited Rhodes to join after Rhodes president William Troutt met with GW president Joel Tractenberg. The GW president “was especially interested in the commitment to service at Rhodes College,” Tisdale says, and felt the two schools were an excellent match.

He wasn’t the only one. As Jaslow says, “About 80 percent of our students participate in some form of community service, and GW has a long history in the Washington area of community service.”

Interested students must meet minimum academic requirements and a committee at Rhodes evaluates student applications.

“If we agree that a student is a good candidate and matches well with GW, we’ll pass the student on,” Jaslow explains. “GW’s admissions committee will then evaluate the students. Students should know by the end of their sophomore year if they’ve been accepted.”

Tisdale adds, “Early selection is for applicants with academic distinction and a proven commitment to medicine. These selected students do not have to study for and take the MCAT exam and can use that time and energy to concentrate on their leadership and service activities, as well as academics.” As a result, the students are better prepared for all aspects of studying and practicing medicine.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Richardson, Wicker Win District 89 Primaries

CREDIT: jb

Despite some early hijinks on both sides – chiefly by supporters, not the principals themselves – the special Democratic primary for state House District 89 came to a dignified, mutually respectful close Thursday – with Jeannie Richardson the winner over Kevin Gallagher.

Richardson, an activist long familiar with Nashville’s Capitol Hill through health-care advocacy and other activities, had roughly 65 percent of the party primary vote, which totaled almost 1100 votes. Opponent Gallagher, a youthful veteran of Democratic campaigns and government service, conceded gracefully and pledged his support to Richardson roughly an hour after the polls closed at 7 pm. Thursday.

Richardson will be opposed in the July 17 special general election by Republican Dave Wicker, who defeated Wayne McGinnis in a battle of unknowns in the GOP primary. The two Republicans together polled in the vicinity of 100 votes.

Richardson, who will be heavily favored in the general, had the support of former District 89 representatives Carol Chumney and Beverly Marrero, as well as the district’s interim state rep, Mary Wilder. Gallagher was supported by U.S. congressman Steve Cohen and by numerous local bloggers among other party activists.

–Jackson Baker

Categories
News The Fly-By

Hip To Be Square

CREDIT: Joan Gomez Pons | dreamstime.com

Real estate entrepreneur Leland Speed was once told that “certain sermons are best delivered by a visiting minister.” And so it was that the Jackson, Mississippi, native found himself in a Hernando church last week, talking to a visiting “congregation” about selling good design.

“You’ve got to have a town that’s attractive or no one is going to live there,” he said. “Quality sells today. Commodity … Having linear streets and you think you’re creative because you threw in a cul-de-sac, that’s history. That’s 30-years-ago kind of stuff.”

Until recently, Speed was head of the Mississippi Development Authority, a statewide agency charged with economic development. He is also a consultant with the city of Jackson. And, as members of the Memphis regional branch of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) sat on pews, Speed talked about the economic benefits of citywide curb appeal.

When Speed came back to Mississippi after more than two decades away, “frankly, I wasn’t real happy with the stuff I saw,” he said. “I remembered small, vibrant communities. I came back to find dead communities.”

People kept asking him when he was going to bring their town a factory. But, to Speed, that’s the old way of thinking.

To prove his point, Speed told a tale of two towns. One “won the lottery”: An auto assembly plant relocated there. The other didn’t get anything of the sort but eventually had to declare a moratorium on building permits because it was growing too fast. The town with the factory didn’t.

“What are those two towns? Canton and Oxford,” Speed said. “You can say it was the university, but eight out of 10 university towns do not grow inordinately.”

So what was it? Speed traced Oxford’s growth back to the opening of Square Books.

“What it is is the square. The university is an amenity to the square, not the other way around. People go to the square every day,” he said. “The square is magic.”

And Canton? “Canton is not viewed as an attractive place to live so people don’t live there,” he said.

In a world of PILOTs, tax incentives, NAFTA, and the creative class, urban leaders are beginning to understand that atmosphere can be just as important as industry for an area’s fiscal health.

Speed advised communities to deal with their “cruel realities,” “quit worrying about what you don’t have,” and “focus on what you have.” A city doesn’t have the best school system? It might matter less than you think. Citing the rising number of single people in the United States, Speed said, “Where do single people want to live? Do they want an acre lot? … No.”

In fact, Speed thinks the defining factor is whether a city is cool or not. “The trends are in our direction,” he said. “We need to use our creativity and culture as an asset.”

Unfortunately, he was talking about Mississippi, but I think this applies to Memphis, as well. Memphis has an authenticity that can be leveraged in a world of Wal-Marts and Costcos. But Memphis also needs to prove that it’s a great place to live. Or a cool place to live, as the case may be.

Speed spoke of Pascagoula, a Mississippi town on the Gulf with roughly 11,000 shipyard employees.

“Ten percent of the employees live in Pascagoula,” Speed said. “Twenty-five percent live in Mobile. Mississippi residents are paying taxes to bring jobs to Mobile. How long should taxpayers subsidize that situation?”

The converse is if Marion, Arkansas, had won the Toyota plant that eventually went to Tupelo, Mississippi, some of those workers surely would have lived in Memphis. But some of them also might have lived in DeSoto County.

Cities aren’t just competing for companies anymore; they’re competing for workers. For inhabitants. For those people who make a house — or a city — a home.

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Letter from the Editor: Mayoral Applicants Welcome

Memphis is facing a watershed year. The looming mayoral election hasn’t begun to heat up yet, but the summer promises plenty of political maneuvering and fireworks as candidates jockey for position.

It’s now looking more and more likely that several candidates — each supported by varying constituencies — will be vying to unseat Mayor Willie Herenton. This is no doubt the way Herenton hopes it will play out. The more candidates there are, the more likely it is that the mayor will return for another term.

I have nothing against any of the announced candidates, but I don’t think any of them has thus far shown themselves capable of addressing the current citywide ennui. There is no one yet running who, in the immortal words of George Bush the Elder, has “the vision thing.”

Most candidates are trying to tap into the anger of the electorate, but there is nobody — black or white, Republican or Democrat — who would seem to have the ability to inspire hope and provide a coalescing leadership.

We need someone who can unify us and make us proud to be Memphians again. Our self-esteem as a city is at rock-bottom. Our corrupt and inept politicians have made us a statewide joke. Our crime problem eats at our core like a cancer. But crime isn’t made from whole cloth. It’s woven from the dark threads of poor education, one-parent homes, illegal guns, drugs, poverty, and hopelessness.

A candidate with vision sees the big picture, articulates the problems and their causes — and lays out a way forward. Herenton hasn’t done this, at least not recently. And even if he began to do so today, he’s burned too many bridges, alienated too many of his constituents. After three terms, his relationship with the City Council — and with at least half of the city’s residents — is probably broken beyond repair.

Another four years of “staying the course” with the political status quo could prove disastrous. At this point, change of any kind would be welcome, but real change will require a vision — and a visionary. Applicants welcomed.

Bruce VanWyngarden

brucev@memphisflyer.com

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Be Judicious

That’s our advice to the Shelby County Commission and to other would-be guardians of the public mores a propos past, present, and future excesses of the city’s adult-entertainment industry. We certainly applaud the action of the commission last week in voting to send topless-club entrepreneur Steve Cooper a strong message that his proposed “Italian restaurant” will be held to strict zoning requirements.

These would seemingly preclude the facility’s conversion into yet another “adult” club — this one set smack dab in the middle of suburban Cordova, in close proximity to churches, schools, and other established community venues. The windowless concrete-walled facility, now under construction, bears little resemblance to your usual rustic Italian villa, and suspicions of Cooper’s motives seem entirely justifiable, especially in view of the fact that his son has publicly confided his father’s ultimate intent to convert the building into a topless club.

We are not so certain, however, of the wisdom of another initiative coming before the commission — this one from Mike Ritz, a normally thoughtful member, who has, among other things, advised a moderate approach to the pending establishment of a second Juvenile Court.

A key provision of Ritz’s proposed ordinance would, in effect, end the sale and consumption of alcohol at strip clubs and at other adult-entertainment facilities. Memphis police director Larry Godwin has expressed concern about the proposed measure, and we, too have our doubts. It would seem to us that enough laws already exist to limit excessive behavior at the clubs — it is these, after all, that resulted in the recent series of arrests — and an ordinance as strict as the one proposed could have a dampening effect not only on free expression per se but (let us tell it like it is) on the city’s convention trade.

Tiger Baseball

Memphis-area sports fans are normally well-informed about the progress — or lack of same — of the University of Memphis’ major athletic teams. In the case of the basketball Tigers, we all know that Coach John Calipari’s team got into the Elite Eight of the NCAA tourney this spring and has been picked by several astute observers as the team to beat for the collegiate season to come.

It is needless to say, too, that the football team that has generally done well under Coach Tommy West, going to three consecutive bowl games, had a down season last year and that we (and West) can only hope for better things come fall.

What many of us may not have been paying proper attention to, however, is the fact that the university has a baseball team that is suddenly vying for attention and respect with the Tigers’ pigskin and roundball contingents. Coach Daren Schoenrock’s team survived a late-season slump to win a bid as one of just 64 teams invited to compete in this year’s NCAA baseball tournament.

Despite complaints from the other end of the state (where the Vols failed to get a bid), the Tigers have managed to win the respect of the collegiate baseball world — this at a time when NCAA baseball, as a prime feeder of Major League Baseball, is rapidly achieving enhanced stature in its own right.

It’s nice having something else to growl about.