Best Local Athlete
1. Penny Hardaway
2. Marc Gasol
3. Mike Conley
Former Memphis Tiger and NBA star Anfernee Deon “Penny” Hardaway is the new head coach of Tiger basketball at the University of Memphis — and Memphians’ choice for Best Local Athlete. And judging by the explosion of Tiger-blue T-shirts sporting a blown-up image of a one-cent coin seen around town after Penny got the head coach position, Memphians are all pretty proud of their Penny.
Best Podcast
1. Memphis Type History
2. The Outsiders Podcast — tie — Roundtable of Hooligans — tie — Surf Memphis
3. Dr. Heckle
Caitlin Horton and Rebecca Phillips host Memphis Type History, a podcast about the Memphis behind the blues and barbecue everyone knows. The general focus of the show is on distinctive or historic signs, but the enlightening conversations can include Sputnik Monroe, fault lines, Machine Gun Kelly (the gangster, not the rapper), zines, and the birth of liquor-by-the-glass sales in Memphis.
Best Local Radio Show
1. Drake in the Morning
2. Ron Olson and Karen Perrin
3. Gary Parrish Show
Best Radio Personality
1. Drake Hall
2. Ron Olson
3. Stan Bell
Working Memphis wakes up with Drake. Radio is the media that has long connected and defined Memphis and our intimate bond with music. The undisputed king of the Memphis airwaves is Drake Hall, who follows in the footsteps of Dewey Phillips and Rufus Thomas as immortal Memphis radio personalities.
Best Newspaper Columnist
1. Geoff Calkins, Daily Memphian
2. Michael Donahue, Memphis Flyer
3. Bruce VanWyngarden, Memphis Flyer
Best Sports Radio Show
1. Geoff Calkins
2. Gary Parrish
3. Chris Vernon
Geoff Calkins has his finger on the pulse of Memphis’ sports. He’s the narrator for the Grizzlies’ ups and down, and the highest profile hire at the new Daily Memphian.
Best Radio Station
1. WEVL-FM 89.9
2. 98.1 The Max Maximum Rocks
3. WRVR-FM 104.5 The River
WEVL could exist in nowhere else but Memphis. Not only has this city produced some of the world’s greatest musicians, but it also has some of the world’s most intense music geeks. You can hear them strut their stuff every day on WEVL, independent, commercial free, and powered by the contributions of the listeners.
Best Sports Team
1. Memphis Grizzlies
2. Memphis Tigers Football
3. Memphis Tigers Men’s Basketball
Nothing has come to symbolize the hopes and dreams of Memphians like the NBA’s Grizzlies. They have become more than a basketball team, something like an avatar of civic identity.
Best TV News Anchor
1. Joe Birch
2. Kontji Anthony
3. Joyce Peterson — tie — Mearl Purvis
2018 is Joe Birch’s 40th year with WMC-5. The CBU graduate started out as a production assistant, got himself an anchor chair in 1983, and now he’s the face of the most popular newscast in the Mid-South — and, most importantly, the favorite of Memphis Flyer readers.
Best TV Sportscaster
BOM 1. Jarvis Greer
2. Pete Pranica
3. Doc Holliday
Jarvis Greer started at WMC the year after Joe Birch. Now, Memphis athletes from the Griz to the Tigers to high schoolers live to hear him call their name for a great play on his nightly newscasts. Jarvis is as Memphis as it gets.
Best TV Weatherperson
1. Ron Childers
2. Brittney Bryant
3. Joey Sulipeck
When skies darken and the wind gets ominously still, the Bluff City turns to WMC’s Ron Childers to tell us where the tornado’s going to hit. This indefatigable weather man is there to hold our collective hand until the mean old supercell leaves the viewing area. Thanks, Ron!
