5) Memphis 45,
Tulane 6 (November 29) — There may have only been 15,012 fans at the Liberty
Bowl on this overcast Saturday after Thanksgiving, but two of them — Sofia
Murtaugh (age 9) and Elena Murtaugh (6) — were attending their very first
college football game. With more than 200 rushing yards, the Tigers left no
doubt on the field in earning their 6th win of the season, qualifying for a bowl
game (the fifth postseason contest for the Tigers in eight years under coach
Tommy West). I insisted on a review from my daughters after the game. “The field
was pretty,” said Sofia, “but not as pretty as a baseball field.” As for Elena’s
inaugural gridiron adventure: “I liked the way we scored lots more points than
they did.” Well put. And the hot chocolate was great.
4) Grizzlies 109,
Rockets 97 (December 8) — A sagging economy and lukewarm local interest screamed
in the form of 10,000 empty seats on this Monday night at FedExForum. But the
home team played some positively Bull-market basketball. With Rudy Gay benched
at the start of the game for having been late to shootaround that morning, the
Griz still raced out to a 10-0 lead over the Southwest Division-leading Rockets,
and they never looked back. (Didn’t hurt that Houston’s Tracy McGrady and Ron
Artest were out of uniform with injuries.) Channeling his inner James Worthy,
Memphis rookie O.J. Mayo scored 10 points in the first nine minutes, on his way
to 18 for the game. And Mr. Gay came off the bench to score a game-high 20. With
Shane Battier and Joey Dorsey on the Rocket bench, it felt like Old Friends
Night at the big barn on Beale.
3) Memphis 6,
Omaha 5 (July 13) – Josh Phelps will likely join Ernie Young and Kevin Witt in
the Memphis baseball history books as a one-year slugger who couldn’t quite land
a coveted big-league job, but took advantage of Triple-A pitching during his
five months as a Redbird. Phelps was the hero of this Sunday matinee, drilling a
three-run homer in the bottom of the 12th inning, after Memphis fell behind the
Royals in the top of the frame. It was the most dramatic of the team-leading 31
dingers Phelps hit in 2008. Alas, even in Memphis this slugger was but the
second-most famous Phelps of the summer.
2) Memphis 77,
Tulsa 51 (March 15) — Memphis fans are getting dangerously close to taking the
Conference USA tournament championship for granted. And that’s a shame. The
Tiger program went 19 years between tourney titles, having last won a Metro
championship in 1987 before taking the C-USA title in 2006 at FedExForum. Just
as they did in 2007, the Tigers went undefeated in conference play on their way
to the 2008 championship game, again at FedExForum but this time against the
overmatched Golden Hurricane of Tulsa. Tipping off at 10:30 am for a national
television audience, the Tigers ate their Wheaties and won the game by halftime
with a 42-13 lead. This was Derrick Rose’s last FedExForum appearance as a
Tiger, and a rare spotlight moment for John Calipari’s “glue guy,” Antonio
Anderson. After leading Memphis with 19 points, Anderson was named the tourney’s
MVP.
1) Tennessee 66,
Memphis 62 (February 23) — With apologies to Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, this
was the biggest showdown in Memphis sports history. Any matchup involving a
top-ranked Tiger basketball team and the number-two squad in the country would
likely have earned that status. But for the second-ranked team to be none other
than the Tennessee Volunteers (the highest such ranking that program had ever
achieved) made this Saturday night at FedExForum nothing short of epic. I hid my
credential outside the arena two hours before tip-off and asked an invigorated
scalper what he was asking for a single ticket. He laughed at the notion that
such information would be volunteered before I stepped forward and established
my demand. (This was Economics 101, in sneakers and a ball cap.) When I
suggested $50, well, he laughed again. The home team missed a few last-minute
opportunities after UT grabbed the lead, and fell by a score of 66-62. The
Tigers’ five-week reign as number-one in the country came to an end. If there
was any solace, it came a few nights later when Tennessee fell at Vanderbilt.
Five weeks beats three days, right?
