Month: June 2008

Categories
News

The REAL Grizzlies Draft News: Adriana Lima is Coming

Buried in all the blah-blah-blah about Kevin Love, O.J. Mayo, Mike Miller, etc. etc. was this little nugget: As a throw-in from Minneapolis in the Love for Mayo deal, the Griz also obtained Marco Jaric.

So what? you ask. Here’s what: Marco Jaric is engaged to Brazilian super-model Adriana Lima. Yep, the Victoria’s Secret model, magazine cover girl extraordinaire will be sitting in the crowd watching her man, Marco. That ought spark attendance at FedExForum, though it might make the front row seats NSFW.

Chris Wallace, sign that man to a no-trade contract ASAP. Plus we like the sound of “Marco to Darko.”

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

The Memphis Week That Was

It’s the economy.

The grimmest economic picture in at least 30 years underlies school funding, property taxes, suburban flight, Grizzlies attendance, aerotropolis, stable neighborhoods, and the tenuous position of Memphis as a major-league city.

Mayor Herenton blasted the media for mistreating him and Joseph Lee, but the media should be blasted for obsessing over Herenton and the NBA draft while tip-toeing around a bigger story.

The stats of O. J. Mayo and Kevin Love and Mike Miller, the odds of the Grizzlies getting the first or second pick, the relative merits of the fifth pick and the 28th pick — we were bombarded with this stuff for three weeks on television and in the daily paper, culminating in Thursday’s NBA draft.

Does anyone honestly think 14,000 people are regularly going to show up 41 times this season to watch the Grizzlies? When Peabody Place is getting out of retail and entertainment? When the Redbirds are struggling to sell $7 tickets? When uncompleted Memphis subdivisions are selling for pennies on the dollar? When the very survival of Ford, General Motors, Morgan Keegan, and First Horizon as we have known them is in question? And we’re talking about the injustice of Chris Douglas Roberts going in the second round and not getting a guaranteed contract?

Here are the stats that matter. Oil $140 a barrel. Gasoline, $4 a gallon. FedEx stock $78, down from $119 a year ago. First Horizon $7.50, down from $39. Regions Financial $11, down from $35. Suntrust Banks $37, down from $90. International Paper $23, down from $41. Northwest Airlines $6, down from $24. Pinnacle Airlines $3, down from $20.

General Motors, once the symbol of American industrial might, is $11, down from $43. Its stock market value is $6.5 billion. Some American businessmen are worth more than that.

Those companies have a big Memphis and Tennessee presence, and thousands of their employees have lost their savings and some of them will lose their jobs and we’re supposed to worry about a basketball team?

Reporters and sports executives act like the sports world and the business world are in separate universes. In the 1970s, an NBA player was doing well to make $200,000. The NBA salary structure that pays Pau Gasol $14 million and Brian Cardinal $7 million for a season is as unsustainable as the $40,000 SUV or the third shift at Ford and GM or the $120 round-trip ticket on Northwest. Business cuts jobs and wages and closes plants or cuts services. The NBA and the Grizzlies tweak their marketing campaigns.

Watch the bottom fall out of the sports and entertainment market in 2009. Last season, a Grizzlies crowd of 11,000 was alarming. This season, 11,000 could be encouraging. Watch a couple of the Tunica casinos closely. Watch expensive restaurants close. Watch for some private schools to close. Watch for more malls to close. Watch for a surge in free, neighborhood-based entertainment like the upcoming concert series this fall at the renovated Overton Park Shell. The easiest way to save money is to cut out $40 tickets, unnecessary driving, and $7 drinks.

And watch for city and county government to make hundreds as opposed to scores of layoffs in 2009, when state and federal funds dry up and homeowners get their new property reappraisals that reflect the decline of 25 percent or more in the value of their homes. And if they don’t get a reduction, watch for a stampede to the assessor’s office and the board of adjustment by homeowners and businesses making appeals.

In all the commotion and outrage over Joseph Lee, it seems something is being overlooked. The former president of MLGW could have spared himself a lot of grief by having a conversation with former City Councilman Edmund Ford that went something like this:

“Councilman, you’re behind on your electric bill. You’ve been behind for a while. You’re putting me, the board, and this company in a bad spot. I needed council approval to get this job. I needed your support as chairman, especially. I appreciate that, but you’re testing my patience.

“Here’s the deal. If this bill isn’t paid within a week, I’m going to have a press conference. I’m going to bring your utility bills, and I’m going to explain exactly what I am doing and why I am doing it so there won’t be any misunderstanding or, heaven forbid, charges of wrongdoing.

“This looks fishy. Anyone can see that. So I’m not just going to cover my butt, I’m going to do it before somebody else tries to get me in a jam.

“The choice is yours. Pay up, or I go public. If it makes you look like a deadbeat, that’s your problem. You can join me at the press conference if you want to go that route, but we’re not going to hide anything. See you.”

Federal prosecutors in Memphis did what they had to do in dismissing their case against Lee and Ford. Prosecutors are not supposed to bring a case unless they think they can win it at trial. After Ford was acquitted by a jury — even though the jury watched videotapes of Ford taking payments from Joe Cooper — it was extremely unlikely that a jury would convict Ford and Lee. That doesn’t mean they didn’t think they had a case.

Interesting item in The Wall Street Journal this week. FedEx was named as one of three companies that are “baring their claws” during tough times and aggressively going after greater market share at the expense of their weaker competitors. In other words, the strong shall survive. Maybe in five years we’ll see 2008 as a pivotal year for FedEx, in a good way.

There’s reason for long-term optimism about the Northwest-Delta merger and Memphis International Airport as well. Delta CEO Richard Anderson seemed genuine when speaking about keeping the Memphis hub, albeit in a reduced capacity. He restated his optimism about the merger in national newspapers last week. And, for what it’s worth, he carried his own luggage to his car after speaking at a Memphis Chamber of Commerce event a couple weeks ago.

Categories
News

MATA Watchdog Seeks Fair Fares

Johnnie Mosley says he’s been riding the bus for “a looong time.”

Mosley founded Citizens for Better Service, a MATA watchdog group, in 1993.

“At the time, MATA had a proposal to increase bus fares and decrease routes,” he says. “A group of us riders thought it would be best to form a group to speak for the concerns of bus riders.”

Though they speak out any time MATA proposed to increase fares or cut routes, Mosley says the group also deals with complaints against bus drivers. Though MATA has a complaint line, riders don’t always feel they have been heard when they use it.

“MATA has some good bus drivers, but occasionally drivers won’t even answer a simple question,” Mosley says. “Once my group becomes aware of their complaints, we’ll take their concerns directly to [Will] Hudson.”

With higher gas prices — MATA’s next gas contract will charge them $4.52 a gallon versus the current $2.87 — Mosley is worried that the transit company will once again try to raise fares or cut services. He would like to see them increase services instead.

“There are some areas of town where, if you miss one bus, you may have to wait another hour, an hour and a half for the next one. That’s terrible,” he says. “The more people see buses running in their neighborhoods, the more likely they are to get on one.”

“If push comes to shove and they have to cut routes and increase fares, we want to make sure that it’s fair and equitable,” Mosley says.

To reach Citizens for Better Service, call Mosley at 789-6463. — Mary Cashiola

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Unleash the Kraken

From the beginning of recorded history, seafaring cultures have been terrified of strange, gigantic creatures that live in the deep. Ancient Greek mariners feared Scylla, a vicious, six-headed sea snake that could send an entire fleet of soldiers to their watery graves. For similar reasons, the Vikings avoided the World Serpent, an invulnerable water dragon that guarded the farthest extremes of Midgard. In North America during the late Cretaceous period, Dolichorhynchops, a toothy, 10-foot-long meat eater, swam the shallow oceans that once covered the Great Plains. The difference between these beasties, of course, is that Dolichorhynchops — or Dolly, as the creature is affectionately known to paleontologists — was real. She’s also the star of National Geographic’s Sea Monsters, an epic animated adventure story about life in earth’s prehistoric oceans. It opens Saturday, June 28th, on the Pink Palace’s IMAX screen.

With its 3-D animation, Sea Monsters lets audiences get up close and personal with giant squids, huge flightless seabirds with teeth, and bigger flying reptiles with bigger, freakier teeth. And, of course, there’s Tylosaurus, a massive aquatic predator with dagger-like choppers designed for piercing, slashing, sawing, tearing, and consuming whatever unfortunate creatures cross its path.

If you miss Sea Monsters this weekend, don’t worry. These terrors from the ancient deep will be around to scare and mystify audiences through March 2009.

“Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric adventure” at the Pink Palace’s Imax Theater. Admission is $8 for adults, $7.25 for seniors, and $6.25 for children under 12. For information regarding show times, call 763-IMAX.

Categories
Sports Sports Feature

Feeling a Draft

Is this the most important draft we’ve had?” an excitable — and worried — Grizzlies fan asked me Tuesday morning. With a franchise as troubled on and off the court as the Grizzlies, aren’t they all?

The Memphis Grizzlies off-season begins with Thursday night’s NBA draft, where the Grizzlies pick 5th and 28th. One way or another, it’s imperative for the team to come out of the draft with a core long-range piece for a team that currently might only have two: forward Rudy Gay and point guard Mike Conley. How that goal is accomplished is uncertain given a draft situation that looks much more volatile than normal. As Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace told the Flyer on Monday, “Everything’s in play.” Here are three directions the team might take:

Moving Up: The draft lottery left the Grizzlies with the misfortune of picking fifth in what many consider a two-person draft: Memphis guard Derrick Rose and Kansas State forward Michael Beasley standing apart from lesser prospects. But in the days leading up to the draft, there’s been growing speculation that the Grizzlies might be able to swing a deal with the Miami Heat (picking second) to obtain Beasley.

On Monday, I heard suggestions that a trade for Beasley was being seriously discussed, something seemingly confirmed Tuesday with a column from ESPN.com‘s Chad Ford, which reported close talks between the Grizzlies and the Heat.

In addition to the number-five pick, the Grizzlies have lots of assets the Heat may covet — Mike Miller and point guards Conley and Kyle Lowry chief among them. If the Heat do decide to make Beasley available, the Grizzlies will have to ask how much is too much to obtain a potential star. The latest suggestion is dealing the number-five pick and Conley to move up. That’s an awful lot to give up, but given Beasley’s tremendous upside and the publicity he would generate, it might be worth it.

Staying Put: The most likely scenario has the Grizzlies staying put and selecting a player at number five. If that’s the case, expect Rose, Beasley, and guard O.J. Mayo to be off the board and look for the Grizzlies to choose among three players: UCLA forward Kevin Love, Indiana guard Eric Gordon, and Italian forward Danilo Gallinari.

There is strong sentiment for Gordon among some elements of the organization, but the thought here is that Love is both the more talented all-around prospect and a better fit for team needs. Love’s unusual combination of rebounding prowess and three-point shooting suggests he could be a dynamic presence in the NBA despite subpar athleticism. The biggest questions about Love could be whether he has the stamina and conditioning to hold up under the long grind of an NBA season and whether his Shane Battier-like persona is too good to be true.

Gordon, on the other hand, projects to be a more prolific scorer, but nothing about his physical make-up (undersized) or college production (one-dimensional) suggests he’ll be the all-around talent typical of star NBA guards. There are scouts who disagree with this assessment, including ones for the Grizzlies.

And don’t rule out Gallinari. The versatile 6′-10″ forward has excelled against much older competition in Europe and may well be the best prospect of the trio, but he also happens to play the same position as the Grizzlies’ best player, Rudy Gay.

Down or Out: If a deal can’t be worked out for Beasley, don’t be surprised if the Grizzlies move down or out of the draft. There is some thought in the team’s front office that Rose and Beasley may be the only future all-stars in this draft. If the team isn’t entirely sold on its options at number five, they could decide to explore offers involving later picks and/or established players. Wallace seemed to be preparing the public for this possibility Monday in an interview with the Flyer and later at a “chalk talk” event for season ticketholders. If such a move didn’t bring back a young player with as much chance of being a core piece as the options at number five, the feeling here is that trading out of the pick would be a bad decision.

For more detailed coverage of the draft, see “Beyond the Arc” at memphisflyer.com/grizblog.

Categories
News The Fly-By

What They Said

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

About our online poll, “Should We Allow Cars On Main Street?”:

“No way. It’s bad enough that we allow cars on the roads and highways. If you’re going to let people drive on Main Street, you may as well open up the sidewalks, too.” — autoegocrat

About “Memphis Newspaper Guild Files NLRB Charges Against Commercial Appeal”:

“After many dedicated years at the CA, I was one of the unfortunate ones that was escorted out like a common criminal. With the exception of a few people left, classified advertising has been outsourced to NY. Maybe being escorted out was a blessing in disguise.” — asian

About “Restore School Funding!” by MCS school board member Jeff Warren:

“As I teacher I have already received a letter about possible job cuts, our new textbooks have been canceled, and that is probably the tip of the iceberg. If this is political posturing to prove some point, don’t do it with MY STUDENTS. If the City Council wants more accountability, that’s fine but not at the expense of MY STUDENTS.” — Dianne

Comment of the Week:

About “Mayor Coaxes Council to Support ‘Dramatic School Reform'” by Jackson Baker:

“I can’t see the mirrors through all this smoke.”
— tomguleff

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

Gorgeous George

There are very few comedians who can really tickle my funny bone, and, sadly, more and more of them are dying. I always had an affinity for the “borscht belt” comedians. Maybe that’s because I had the glorious chance in my youth to spend time at places like the Concord and Grossinger’s in upstate New York.

Few people remember anymore how many of the comedic greats got their start in the Catskills. Woody Allen, Milton Berle, Lenny Bruce, Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield, Henny Youngman, Buddy Hackett, Shelley Berman, and Jonathan Winters (the list goes on and on) all got going in what was affectionately called the “Jewish Alps.”

Forgive me a moment of ethnic hubris, but to this day, many of the most talented comics of our time come from that same cultural heritage: Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Al Franken, and Lewis Black, to name just a few.

But to my affinity for comedians who are “members of the Tribe,” I have made exceptions — most notably for Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, and yes, George Carlin, who, sadly, left us for good this week.

I had the great good fortune to see Carlin perform a few years ago in Tunica. The guy was absolutely amazing, regaling the audience with nearly two hours of seemingly extemporaneous shtick (how do those guys remember all that?) and showcasing his irreverence and lack of respect for any and every one of society’s most revered principles and institutions.

There was no such thing as a sacred cow to Carlin, and the proof of that was that God and religion were two of his favorite targets. To him, God was the “invisible man in the sky,” which may have been why Carlin professed to worship the sun (because, he said, he could actually see it) and to pray to Joe Pesci (because, he said, Pesci looked like a guy who could get things done).

He famously abridged the Ten Commandments into two (“Thou shalt always be honest and faithful to the provider of thy nookie” and “Thou shalt try real hard not to kill anyone, unless, of course, they pray to a different invisible man from the one you pray to”) and added a third commandment of his own: “Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself.”

Carlin’s disdain for government and politicians was famous. He boasted that he had never voted, so that no one could blame him for whatever the elected ones would inevitably foist upon the American public. He preached the evils of corporate control and derided the environmental movement. (If the earth, he said, had endured millions of years of floods, ice, and plague, it could survive a few million plastic bags and soft drink cans.)

He was a great believer (as am I) in the Menckenian principle that “no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public,” even though his own popularity would seem to belie that principle.

Carlin was, above all, a wordsmith, possessor of a talent I admire almost as much as I do that of somebody who can tie a knot in a cherry stem with their tongue. His riff on the idea of “stuff” is priceless. He was able at once to ridicule our obsession with conspicuous consumption and to demonstrate, quite seriously, that our society has become one in which we are what we own.

Of course, Carlin’s ultimate act of simultaneous tribute to — and deconstruction of — the English language came in the form of his famous “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” riff, which resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court case upholding the government’s right to control profanity on the public airwaves and which he developed into a free-standing monologue.

He took on a variety of personae in his early career, when he frequently appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show (not coincidentally, also the showcase for many borscht belt comics) and lampooned some of his favorite characters, including “Al Sleet,” the “hippy dippy weatherman,” a dope-smoking, addle-brained takeoff on all weathermen, whose most famous prognostication was: “The forecast for tonight is darkness, followed by increasing light towards morning” — perhaps the last time any weatherman, real or fictional, got it right.

Sadly, the world will become a little darker without George Carlin, who got it right, too, to shed his light on it.

Marty Aussenberg, who writes the “Gadfly” column for memphisflyer.com, is a Memphis attorney.

Categories
Living Spaces Real Estate

East Memphis Makeover

Lest you think condominiums in Memphis are synonymous with downtown, there are actually a number of high-profile developments across the city and county.

One such complex is the Monarch, located at 5400 Park Avenue. Many Memphians are familiar with the place, if not its new name and fresh face. For years, it was the Park Palace apartments, known for its street-side fountains and great location near Estate Drive.

In 2005, Bristol Development Group, out of Franklin, Tennessee, purchased the property and began an extensive conversion of the apartments into condo units. What has emerged from the makeover are luxury condos in the heart of East Memphis.

The Monarch’s units have been outfitted with new appliances, new vanities, new paint, and new flooring. Walls have been removed to open up floor plans; kitchens breath now, and sunlight floods interiors.

The details — and the amenities — are exceptional. The Monarch has appointed its units with premium materials, such as granite countertops, hardwood floors, new tile for bathrooms, and stainless-steel kitchen appliances. There’s a laundry room and washer and dryer in every unit, so no need to walk down the hall to clean your clothes.

The condos retain many original architectural holdovers, however. All units feature crown molding and nine-foot ceilings. Depending on the floor plan, some also have cabinetry that has been refurbished and put back into duty. Overall, the style is more urban and contemporary, but it’s still true to the original building.

One-bedroom units are 800 to just under 1,000 square feet, with prices starting in the $130,000s. For prices starting in the $230,000s, you can get two bedrooms and around 1,300 square feet.

Well-maintained exteriors include lush landscaping, covered parking, an outdoor heated swimming pool, tennis courts, and a poolside patio with rocking chairs, places to sun, and gas grills.

The Monarch has two towers, totaling 110 units, and it’s 75 percent sold. Among the big selling points: location — on Park near the Poplar corridor and I-240 — and security. There is gated access from the street and electronic-pass entry into the building. It’s ideal for lock-it-and-leave-it residents.

During a tour, I saw plenty of socializing. The complex offers many kinds of community space: a library, Courtesy Crye-Leike Realtors

computer station with Internet access, business center, 24-hour fitness center, den with flat-screen TV, fireplace, piano, hotel-type suite for guests, banquet room, and catering kitchen.

Residents I talked to were friendly. I saw some people putting puzzles together and others exercising in the fitness center. Croquet and horseshoe games indicated other outdoor activities. Potlucks are held on Thursdays. There’s even a concierge desk, and wake-up calls are offered.

Though it’s close to railroad tracks, the Monarch’s solid steel and concrete construction makes it virtually soundproof. No lie: A train passed while I was in the banquet room, and I didn’t hear it until I stepped outside. ■

Kitchens at the Monarch have been updated using premium materials

For more information on the Monarch, call Crye-Leike Realtors at 766-9004.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Put the Pedal to the Mettle

CREDIT: by Justin Fox Burks

About a month ago, I decided to bike to work. I’d like to say that my ecological conscience made me want to mend my carbon-emitting ways, but that wasn’t my primary reason.

Really, I just got sick of the cost.

I never would have thought that at 22, my friends and I would reminisce about how much less things cost when we were young — four years ago.

At first I balked at the $60 to $120 price range for a bicycle, until I realized that the cost was equivalent to two tanks of gas. The next day, I rode my new six-speed to work.

At the beginning, I wasn’t overjoyed. I’ve never been athletic, and I worried I looked stupid on my bike. Some guy yelled at me, “Hey, cheesegrater!” and I’m still not sure what that means. I was sweaty when I got to work, and at the end of the day, the last thing I wanted to do was exercise.

But after about a week, things changed. The ride home became my favorite part of the day. In fact, I hadn’t realized how much I disliked driving until I began biking. When biking, jaywalking pedestrians don’t affect me. I never get stuck behind someone turning left.

Now I feel the wind in my hair and the sun on my skin during my commute. And the most unexpected benefit:
When I get to work, I’m not tired. I don’t pour a cup of coffee the minute I walk in.

For the first time, I’m alert and cheerful at 9 a.m. I feel good while I’m cycling, and the feeling stays with me the whole day. Oddly, I don’t think of my rides as — shudder — exercise but as my alone time with the city and nature.

I had several concerns when I began biking. How much longer will it take me to get to work? Well, I found that my bike ride took a mere extra five minutes — and I’m no Lance Armstrong.

Then I worried that it would get me sweaty just as I got to work. This one turned out to be partially true. My first week, I sweated a lot. The next week, I sweated less. Now, I barely sweat. When I get to work, I freshen up with a mini-deodorant stick. And you can always bring a change of clothes in your backpack.

Finally, is it safe? Safer than you might think. While there were 770 biking fatalities in America in 2006, there were 38,588 auto fatalities. It’s also safer than walking: Only 0.5 percent of cycling injuries are critical as opposed to 3 percent of pedestrian injuries.

Making the switch has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’m happier, I have more energy, and I feel really proud of the physical and ecological improvements I’ve made. If helping the environment and your bank account hasn’t been enough of a catalyst for you, helping your heart and mind should be.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

High Time

For several years now, the newspapers, broadcast media, and Internet criers of this community have been plugging away virtually full-time with news of sensational trials involving corrupt politicians — usually but not always (as we have learned of late) resolved with findings of “guilty.”

Especially revealing in this regard is the government’s dropping of the case Tuesday against Edmund Ford and Joseph Lee.

One of the most compelling analyses ever done on the nature of crime and punishment had to do with the legendary Salem witch trials of colonial America. It awaited some first-rate ex- post-facto sleuthing by historians to find out that, stripped of all the otherworldly aspects of those ghastly tribunals, the motive that really animated them had to do with class, pure and simple. Social class. Economic class. Haves vs. have-nots. It is a fact that those prosecutions were presided over by members of the established hierarchy of old-family Salem, by members of a threatened mercantile class, to be exact. And who were the persecuted ones? The “witches,” as it were? They were the daughters of upstart tradesmen from the “wrong” side of town, from a class that appeared on the verge of displacing the local aristocracy, politically if not commercially.

We are not suggesting (nor did the historians who performed the study) that the charges against those unfortunate sacrificial maidens were trumped up in a calculated manner. It seems more likely that they found what they wanted to find — in that infamous case, “evidence” of supernatural skullduggery of the most tenuous kind. Justice in the European Middle Ages was even more irrational — or more dependable as to ultimate outcome. Those charged with dealing with the devil were submitted to trial by immersion in water. Those who floated were considered guilty (having been assisted by Lucifer, you see) and were summarily executed; those who drowned had demonstrated their innocence. In either case, the accused were safely gotten rid of.

Our point in all this is to suggest that, questions of guilt or innocence aside, most of the prosecutions for corruption we have seen so far have been bread-and-circus affairs, diversions in which the accused (that stupendous overachiever John Ford excepted) have been petty criminals baited with government-provided cookie jars and smacked down once their grasping hands were trapped inside.

Meanwhile, someone may have made off with an estimated $50 million in undeserved profits from the commissioning and executing of our city’s newest jewel, the FedExForum. This is the real deal, if so — high-finance crime — and we are gratified to learn that the FBI is apparently looking into it. The feds also have their eye on some potential big-money malfeasance involving associates of ranking city officials. And it’s an open secret that other notables of our town’s higher social and commercial strata are now having their deeds or misdeeds looked into.

A thought: Is it possibly a pending change of political power in this “Year of Change” that has created this revised sense of law-enforcement priorities?

Whatever the case, it’s high time, in more senses than one.