TV sportscaster Bob Costas, doing a promo on AOL for his HBO program On the Record, took note this week of big sports news being made in (and on behalf of) the Bluff City. After beginning with a reference to the passing of television legend Milton Berle, Costas segued into this: Meanwhile, what a week its been for Memphis, Tennessee. On Monday, the city of Graceland gets named as host of the upcoming heavyweight showdown between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. Then, that same night, the citys new NBA team, the Grizzlies, with Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Pau Gasol, goes into Portland and rallies from 25 down to knock off the red-hot Trailblazers. Also, led by freshman phenom DajuanWagner, the Memphis Tigers reached the final of the NIT here at Madison Square Garden. In New York. So, whether Elvis is alive or not, Memphis still has Mike, Lennox, Pau, and Dajuan…
And that, of course, was before the U of M Tigers beat South Carolina for the NIT basketball title.