Dear Michael Heisley:
I don’t know if you know it, but you’re having a good day. Your basketball franchise hasn’t had much in the way of good fortune over the years — wayward draft-lottery results, career-ending injuries to players on long-term contracts, Stu Jackson. But today you received a rare gift when John Calipari left his coaching post at the University of Memphis.
Blake Fontenay, who for the last several years has served as an editorial writer and subsequently a business writer for The Commercial Appeal, has accepted a position as assistant in Nashville to newly appointed state constitutional officers Secretary of State Tre Hargett, Treasurer David Lillard, and Comptroller Justin Wilson.
Fontenay had been scheduled as of next week to provide the CA‘s coverage of the Shelby County Commission, succeeding Alex Doniach, who will pursue other duties at the paper.
Memphis’ loss will be Nashville’s gain in yet another sense. Fontenay was the chief writer and director of the annual Gridiron Shows, which entertained (and scathed) politicians while raising money for journalism scholarships.
–Jackson Baker
“We already live in the Wild West,” says restaurant-nightclub owner Todd Adams, concerning proposed legislation that would allow handgun owners with carry permits to pack heat in places where beer and liquor is served by the drink.
Adams, who runs Newby’s, a watering hole on the Highland Strip, is a life-long sportsman and outspoken firearms enthusiast, so he’s sympathetic to gun owners who have to lock their guns in their cars before coming in to wet their whistle. “People leave their handgun in their car and then the car is broken into. I know of this happening more than a handful of times, and it’s scary thinking the petty criminal now has a handgun,” he says. But after considering the pros and cons, Adams — who’s been known to e-mail news reports to his friends whenever gun rights seem threatened — thinks mixing guns with booze is a bad idea.
When Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper this week opined that July 1 is an absolute drop-dead date for keeping or amending the state’s current system of judicial commissions to stock Tennessee’s appellate courts, that intensified a debate which has seen calls for direct election of such judges. Memphis lawyer and GOP eminence John Ryder, in a Viewpoint written for the Flyer, opposes this solution, which is backed by several of his party-mates in the legislature. Go here.
Dear Bianca,
For about a year, I’ve been in a long-distance relationship with a woman in Missouri. We met here in Memphis, but she moved shortly after the relationship began. For the first several months, I’d visit as often as I could. The romance and sex were great!
But the last time I went to see her, she told me she was too tired for sex. It hurt my feelings, since I hadn’t seen her in weeks. I’d understand if we lived together and saw one another every single day, but that’s not the case. Do you think she’s losing interest in me? Could she be seeing someone else?
–Long Distance Lover
Dear Long Distance,
In the beginning, a long-distance relationship is fun and exciting. You don’t see your lover everyday, and when you do, it’s all the more special. But over time, you still tend to fall into the trappings of any relationship — namely, being comfortable. For a woman, being comfortable can mean not having to “do it” when she doesn’t feel like it.
Women like sex, but usually not nearly as much as men. However, other forms of intimacy — like holding hands and cuddling — are often of great importance to women. So, if your girlfriend is still interested in those things, I wouldn’t worry right away. She really could have been too tired that night. These things happen.
But if she continues to reject you sexually on subsequent visits, it’s time to ask her how she feels about you. You need to make sure she’s still interested. But don’t accuse her of cheating unless you have solid proof. Even if she has lost interest, false accusations could cause further problems.
Got a problem? E-mail Bianca.
… In 2002, Kentucky found itself on NCAA probation in football. Yet UK went out and hired a new football coach (Rich Brooks) without even checking to see whether that coach had a history of NCAA violations in his past (he did).
Then, in 2007, Kentucky was seeking to fill its men’s basketball head coaching position. Which only happens to be one of the most high-profile jobs in all of American sports.
In filling this vital public relations-oriented job, UK’s background check failed to identify that it was offering the position to a prickly introvert (Billy Gillispie) prone to extreme mood swings.
Given the past performance, Dr. Todd, you’ll forgive me for being skeptical that the background check UK will run on John Calipari will actually ask the questions that need to be raised …
Read it all here.
“The support I get in this town. People [in the media] must have been hard, because I’m getting hugged when I walk down the street, go to lunch, or walk in the gym, because they know I’m trying to do right. And then the mean people, who just try to make this an issue … I’m going to do what’s right and fair. I don’t care what’s said or written, because I don’t hear it or read it. I meet with people who I care about, and that’s what I did this week.”
— John Calipari, January 13, 2005
You learn a lot about a person in his darkest hours. And we learned plenty about John Calipari four years ago, as he managed an off-the-court crisis centered around one of his players, Jeremy Hunt. This week, perhaps we learned just as much in Calipari’s finest hour, as he packs his bags for arguably the most famous job in his profession. Whatever “the mean people” might say about Calipari, he makes decisions that are his alone.
Get ready, Memphis basketball fans, for a two-year lesson on what’s come to be known as Tiger Nation. With Calipari on his way to Kentucky — leaving nine 20-win seasons, including four 30-win campaigns in his wake — the U of M athletic department and its myriad supporters will soon answer several suddenly pressing questions.
* Which is bigger: the Tiger program or John Calipari? (A coach who outgrows his own program would make for a good Aesop’s Fable.)
* Can a program, its facilities, and track record attract recruits, or do they come solely for the coach?
* Will Tiger Nation fill 17,000-seat FedExForum for a team that loses a dozen games? What if that team loses 20 games?
* Can there be a “next Calipari” with the Tigers locked in Conference USA?
These questions will be answered over the next two seasons (the 2009-10 campaign is now a transitional one in every sense). The biggest variable under the U of M’s control, of course, is just who it picks to succeed the most successful coach in the program’s history.
Calipari did what any sentient basketball coach would do. There are four programs in the country that make for a short conversation when it comes to job offers: UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky. The history, resources, and limitless support from alumni, boosters, businesses, and student bodies (yes, that counts) make those four schools nirvana for college basketball coaches. Had Calipari refused the offer, we could suspect Fred Smith had transferred ownership of FedEx to him, and Graceland had turned over the key to Elvis’ bedroom. It’s a job Calipari had to take.
Now, the challenge for the U of M is to build on what Calipari established in his near-decade at the helm. The finest talent in the country will come to Memphis if the allure of national television and NCAA tournament runs remain constant. (They may come for only a season, but such is the landscape of big-time college hoops as it’s been drawn by the NBA’s draft restrictions. Unless you’re North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA, or Kansas, you’d better learn to compete for “one-and-done” players.) Calipari won’t be taking FedExForum with him, nor the Finch Center. Players aiming to develop — and yes, land an NBA contract — won’t find better facilities. But the Memphis program will miss Calipari’s unofficial title of “broker to the pros.” Unless, of course, the same skill can be cultivated by his successor.
Most important — particularly over the uneasy days that will come before Memphis names a successor — tears should be saved for larger crises than John Calipari’s departure. It should be remembered that Memphis saved Calipari as much as the coach saved the Tiger program. Calipari had become essentially an outsider in the college ranks after a brief stint as coach of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets. Listing in the aftermath of Tic Price’s two-year misdirection, the command of the Tiger ship was given entirely to Calipari, and he made the most of it, by every measure. A high-profile coach found a once-high-profile program, and they desperately needed each other. If the “next Tic Price” can be avoided, the Memphis program can continue its climb toward a national championship.
During his stay here last weekend for the South Regional, North Carolina coach Roy Williams mentioned a recruiting trip he made to Memphis in the mid-Eighties, during his days as an assistant under Dean Smith. The recruit he was after? Elliot Perry. It says much about college basketball in Memphis — and more than a little about then Tiger coach Larry Finch — that Perry said no to Carolina so he could play in his hometown, for the Tigers. There was, you’ll remember, a Tiger basketball program before John Calipari.
In 1926, one of the highest-paid performers in vaudeville appeared on stage in Memphis. He certainly hadn’t made his name as a singer or dancer, and he couldn’t play a note, but it was standing-room-only when the Sultan of Swat — yes, Babe Ruth himself — stepped into the lights at the Pantages Theater downtown and chatted about his amazing career with the New York Yankees …
More at Vance Lauderdale’s blog.
Memphis Madness continues … and our bracket — in which we had Justin Timberlake and A C Wharton meeting in the Championships — is broken.
Sleeper agent Ginnifer Goodwin kicked Timberlake to the curb with a close, close loss (50.9 percent to 49.1 percent).
Other results of our non-so-sweet 16? Al Green and his church took care of The Killer with a solid three to one margin.
In the match-up between weatherman Dave Brown and defense attorney Leslie Ballin, it was Dave Brown all the way.
Flyer senior editor John Branston continued his run of media personalities, adding CA columnist Geoff Calkins to his list of victims. (It also includes blogger Paul Ryburn; Flyer political columnist Jackson Baker withdrew from Round One while voting was still going on, declaring support for his colleague.)
A C Wharton, as expected, defeated the FBI’s My Harrison and Judge Joe Brown, who stayed around much longer than we expected him to, was solidly sent away by FedEx Founder Fred Smith.
And the Neelys grilled up the Zoo’s Chuck Brady.
One contest still seems up in the air, however. In the last round, Tigers basketball coach John Calipari defeated congressman Steve Cohen. But if Calipari decides to relocate, say to Kentucky, he forfeits his bracket status, leaving Cohen to move on.
Voting begins Thursday.
There have been some epic heavyweight bouts in the history of college basketball. Alcindor vs. Hayes in 1968 filled the Astrodome in Houston. Sampson vs. Ewing in 1982 introduced college basketball to cable television. Ewing beat Olajuwon for the 1984 national championship.
The latest titanic clash took place Sunday at FedExForum in Memphis with a berth in the 2009 Final Four at stake. Tyler Hansbrough’s North Carolina Tar Heels beat Blake Griffin’s Oklahoma Sooners, 72-60, to punch North Carolina the last ticket to next week’s Final Four in Detroit. (Presuming Griffin is honored with this year’s Naismith Award, the game was the first meeting between Naismith winners in a regional final since the award was first presented in 1969.) The Tar Heels will take on Villanova next Saturday in one national semifinal, while Connecticut squares off with Michigan State in the other. North Carolina — on its way to a record 18th Final Four — is the only returnee from 2008.
As for the Hansbrough-Griffin showdown, it had more depth in pregame analysis than it did once the ball was tipped. Griffin (23 points, 16 rebounds) won the box score, as Hansbrough was limited to eight points and six rebounds, but his Sooners never closed within eight points of the top-seeded Tar Heels after North Carolina raced out to a 13-2 start. That rarest of teams in modern college basketball, North Carolina starts five upper classmen and, according to Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel, “brings pros off the bench.”
Tar Heel coach Roy Williams used a troika of big men to guard Griffin after Hansbrough picked up two early fouls. Deon Thompson and a pair of freshmen — Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller — relied on teammates for double-teaming clamps that limited Griffin to 12 field-goal attempts (he made nine). Unlike in its victory Friday night over Syracuse, though, Oklahoma got little scoring support from the outside, missing 19 of 21 three-point attempts. (After making six treys against the Orange, Sooner guard Tony Crocker missed all five of his attempts from beyond the arc Sunday.)
“We held a team that averages 90 points to 72,” said Capel after the game. “We just didn’t make shots. [North Carolina] is known for being more efficient in the second half [when the Heels shot 62 percent], but it came down to our inability to make shots. I do think we were a little bit tight. Sometimes you can want something so much, and try so hard. We had a couple of wide-open shots, and we just missed. Then in the second half, we just could not get stops.”
North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson — owner of college basketball’s most famous big toe — led his team with 19 points in 36 minutes of playing time. He was named MVP of the South Regional. Senior guard Danny Green scored 12 points in the game’s first 14 minutes and finished with 18. The Heels managed to win by 12 points despite both Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington failing to reach double figures. Which said much about the kind of team Williams has constructed.
“It’s the way I recruit, it’s the way we try and run this program,” emphasized Williams after the game. “We aim to have more than one guy as the star. You have to have good balance inside and outside. Most of our guys know they’re not going to get 30 shots, but they also know they have a great chance to win.” Williams, already a Hall of Famer, is on his way to his seventh Final Four (his third at the helm of North Carolina). Williams admitted to spitting in the Mississippi River Sunday morning, a superstition he acts upon whenever playing in St. Louis, New Orleans, or Memphis.
On the subject of his most famous player, Williams wanted to clarify a contribution that may have been overlooked. “Tyler Hansbrough took four shots today,” he said, “but he was a beast defensively in the second half. Blake has got to get extra attention, so that’s what we gave him.” Hansbrough and Griffin joined Lawson on the all-regional team, along with Green and Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn.
“This has been a hard year,” said Williams, noting the rash of injuries that hit his team. “There were drills we’d run for eight minutes, and I’d think about stopping at six, because I hadn’t hurt anyone yet. But it’s always sweet when you’re playing on the last weekend of the season.”