Month: November 2009

Memphis Athletes of the Decade: Number 2 — Pau Gasol

Post author By Frank Murtaugh
Post date November 9, 2009

Pau Gasol was never going to win a popularity contest, at least not in Memphis. He arrived with a strange name, a strange game (a seven-footer with touch!), and an accent to boot. So in many respects, Pau Gasol embodied the arrival of big-league sports in the Bluff City, a foreign concept to generations accustomed to football and basketball B-leagues that didn’t make the sports section beyond the Mid-South. While he didn’t start the very first game in Memphis Grizzlies history (he scored four points off the bench on November 1, 2001), Gasol started 79 games as a 21-year-old rookie, and led Memphis in scoring average for each of his six full seasons here.

My introduction to Spain’s preeminent hoops export came in the form of an interview for a profile in the Grizzlies’ inaugural-season game-day program. I expected a wide-eyed, eager athlete trying to find his way with English, let alone his back-to-the-basket skills. Instead I found a confident — cocky, even — young man playing where he expected to play, in the world’s greatest basketball league. “You have to be confident,” he said, “if you’re going to be able to do things on the court. I’m very ambitious. I want to be one of the best, ever.” He took particular umbrage with the label most European players have been tagged with upon their arrival in the NBA. “You cannot be soft and play in the NBA,” he stressed. “There are more and more [Europeans] playing in the NBA, and we’re doing what we have to do.”

Gasol went on to lead the Grizzlies in scoring (17.6 ppg), total rebounds (730) and blocked shots (169). Despite Memphis winning only 23 games, Gasol was named the league’s Rookie of the Year (the first European to earn such honors). Among the players he topped for the trophy: San Antonio’s Tony Parker, Golden State’s Jason Richardson, and Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko.

Gasol averaged 19.0 points and 8.8 rebounds in 2002-03, the season Hubie Brown took over as coach. The following season remains the Grizzlies’ finest to date: 50 wins and the franchise’s first playoff berth (where they lost to San Antonio in the first round). Gasol topped the team in scoring in 34 games. Lacking the flash of point guard Jason Williams or the off-the-court charms of swingman Shane Battier, Gasol was merely an efficient difference-maker at both ends of the court. Ironically, this was the only season as a Grizzly that Gasol did not shoot higher than 50 percent from the field (48.2). He paced the team in scoring in the playoffs, too (18.5 ppg), but was unable to thwart a sweep at the hands of the Spurs.

Gasol was the centerpiece for playoff teams again in 2005 and 2006, but found himself twice more on the wrong end of series sweeps. He averaged a career-high 20.4 ppg in 2005-06 and earned the first All-Star nod in Grizzlies history. Playing for a Western Conference squad that featured fellow-Europeans Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker, Gasol failed to score but grabbed 12 rebounds in 14 minutes of action. The shaggy beard Gasol sported during the 2005-06 campaign added a dose of personality to his game. But despite becoming the hairy face of the franchise, he never gained unqualified devotion from Grizzly fans. An 0-12 playoff record will do that to a star.

Despite missing 23 games with a broken foot, Gasol led the 2006-07 Grizzlies in scoring (20.8) and rebounding (9.8). But the club fell off the playoff wagon rather violently, losing 60 games. With the team on its way to another 60-loss season, Gasol was shipped to the Los Angeles Lakers on February 1, 2008. (Along with a pair of future draft picks, the trade brought the rights to Gasol’s younger brother, Marc, to Memphis.) Gasol left the Grizzlies as the franchise’s career leader in points (8,966), rebounds (4,096), blocks (877), and games (476).

In less than two full seasons as Kobe Bryant’s new sidekick, Gasol has played twice in the Finals (earning a championship ring last June), played in a second All-Star Game, and earned third-team All-NBA honors. Whether or not his path leads to the Hall of Fame, though, Gasol will always be the first big-league star Memphis could call its own. Worthy of Athlete of the Decade honors. Almost.

[The countdown is almost complete. After Stubby Clapp (5), Danny Wimprine (4), Chris Douglas-Roberts (3), and Pau Gasol (2), only one slot remains to be identified. Memphis’ Athlete of the Decade will be profiled here in December.]

Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

On the Scene at the Harvest Celebration

Post author By Pamela Denney
Post date November 9, 2009

Hundreds of supporters gathered at downtown’s Central Station Sunday evening for Harvest Celebration, the Memphis Farmers Market annual fund-raiser. It was quite the culinary event: tasting stations from 20 of the city’s leading restaurants, lots of wine (thank you, Star Distributors and A.S. Barboro), and a unique auction for fun food stuff like pick-your-own strawberries, a party patio at Hunt Phelan, cooking classes with Tsunami chef Ben Smith, and backyard composters.

Politics Politics Beat Blog

It’s For Real This Time: Avery Is an Active Candidate for Interim County Mayor on Monday

Post author By Jackson Baker
Post date November 8, 2009

CREDIT: JB

JB
Acting county mayor Joyce Avery: “I’m going for it.”

Acting Shelby County Mayor Joyce Avery, who admits to thinking it was “disrespectful” for fellow commissioner — and fellow Republican — Mike Ritz to have moved for an early decision by the commission on a fulltime interim mayor, now intends, after a period of indecision, to have her name put in nomination for the job on Monday.

And she says her name will be placed in nomination by another GOP colleague, George Flinn, who had previously indicated that he himself would be an active candidate for interim mayor — a position that will be held by somebody until the election of a permanent mayor in the regular countywide election cycle next August.

As for Flinn’s own ambitions, they would apparently be shelved — at least until the late rounds of what could be extended balloting by commission members on Monday.

“He said he’ll see how it goes,” Avery said on Sunday, taking a break from a reception in her honor at her Arlington home. In any case, “George is going to nominate me. And he has never said anything to me that he hasn’t followed through on.”

Avery had told the Flyer last week that she would be a candidate for interim mayor but later amended that to say that she would only be available as a fallback possibility in case of a deadlock between other candidates. That reticence is over with now.

”I’ve really been praying about this,” Avery said on Sunday. “I’ve had so much feedback, from both Republicans and Democrats who have encouraged me to seek the office. I’m going for it tomorrow.” She noted that she was “the first sitting county commissioner to be invited on The Med board” and said that primary goal would be to “really push funding for The Med.”

Avery, who had been serving as the current commission chair, is currently eligible to be acting mayor for up to 45 days from the date of her temporary accession on Monday, October 26, the day A C Wharton resigned as county mayor to take over the job of city mayor that he was elected to last month.

That means she could have easily served as acting mayor until the second week of December before an interim mayor had to be named according to the terms of the county charter.

Avery doesn’t pretend to understand the reasons for a rush to name someone earlier. “I had barely sat in my chair for an hour before Ritz brought forth a resolution,” she says.

But, while considering the rush to judgment “disrespectful,” she says she asked both Ritz and another GOP commissioner, Wyatt Bunker, for their support in case the candidate both are supporting at this point, Democratic commissioner Joe Ford, doesn’t make it.

With Flinn’s apparent withdrawal from the nominating process (though not necessarily from late-ballot consideration), the likely active nominees on Monday are Ford, fellow Democratic commissioner J.W. Gibson, former Collierville mayor Linda Kerley, and now Avery.

Flinn’s change of status would also change the numbers from a partisan point of view. Active nominees on the commission are precluded from voting, as is Avery as acting mayor. On a body now constituted, at full strength, of eight Democrats and five Republican, that means six Democrats and four Republicans will be eligible to vote.

If Flinn should be nominated, the numbers of those eligible would be six Democrats and three Republicans. Flinn’s participation in the voting could be considerable indeed.

Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Chicken Soup in a Bread Bowl at Panera

Post author By Stacey Greenberg
Post date November 8, 2009

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

Two of my favorite things are homemade bread and homemade soup — especially when it is cold outside. I don’t know how to make either, but luckily Panera Bread excels at both. They have five different soups, plus seasonal specialties, every day. Best of all, you can have the soup served in a warm-from-the-oven sourdough bread bowl. (Just the thought of it warms me up!)

Daily Photo Special Sections

this is it — michael jackson

Post author By
Post date November 8, 2009

Special Sections

Old Signs from the TROPICAL FREEZE! Wow!

Post author By Vance Lauderdale
Post date November 8, 2009

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I consider the Tropical Freeze — the distinctive tropical-themed ice cream joint at Poplar and White Station — sort of the “holy grail” of Memphis roadside attractions. Mainly because so little of the place seems to have survived. I’ve posted some grainy photos from high school yearbooks, but that’s it. I’ve never seen a decent color photo of the Tropical Freeze, one of the most colorful places in town.

And then a few days ago, a reader who identified himself only as skipchip, sent me this message:
The owner of the Tropical Freeze, Eleanora Waddell, died January 15, 2007 in Memphis. Several items from the shop were recently stored in Memphis. I have photos of some of the menu boards.

I immediately wrote back and asked for photos of the signs, and here you go (more images below). Notice that he also has a few decorative panels as well, with brightly painted palm tree designs.

Looking over the menus, the selection at the Tropical Freeze wasn’t really very unusual, but you’ll notice they did offer such oddities as “Tropical Sundaes” (just 35 cents), a Papaya Juice Pina Colada (25 cents), and even an ice cream flavor they called (what else?) “Tropical Freeze” ( a whole pint for just 30 cents).

Also, their “Tropical Shakes” were “made with our own Tropical Freeze — a delightful blend — of island-grown products.” What’s more, they were “nature’s most healthful, non-fattening and refreshing flavors.”

Many, many thanks for sharing all these pictures, Chip. If you want to sell any of these to the Lauderdale Library, well, you know how to reach me. (See more photos on the next page.)

Tags Tropical Freeze, White Station

Sports

Best Low-Calorie Beer: None of ‘Em

Post author By John Branston
Post date November 8, 2009

All the burping and beer breath, none of the taste. So much for the new super-low-calorie beers.

The best beers for athletes, according to an unscientific survey of athletes I know, are these:

News

The Iverson Drama Ramps Up a Notch

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date November 8, 2009

The torturous saga of Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies took another turn Saturday night, as team management gave Iverson permission to go home to Atlanta to deal with some “personal business.”

What this means, no one seems to know. Chris Herrington is on the road, but will no doubt have something to say about it on Beyond the Arc when he returns to Memphis later today.

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