Opinions have
been given a bad rap. Their human-body equivalent is nothing
short of disrespectful. Where, after all, would bartenders, movie critics,
and Sunday-morning television be without an opinion — wise, ridiculous, or
somewhere in between — to share with the world?
I’ve got a few opinions to share this week, on topics you may have
researched a little yourself. (Not that research has anything to do with
having an opinion.)
shafted in the Oden/Durant sweepstakes is going to take years to heal. (And
be warned Memphis fans: it’s going to get worse the more success Portland
and Seattle have in the seasons ahead.) Outgoing team president Jerry West
has gone on the record as saying the Grizzlies need a “superstar.” Talented
All-Star that Gasol is, as long as he remains the face of this franchise, a
collective malaise is going to drag the operation down, even if it manages
to scratch and claw its way back into playoff contention. Something dramatic
has to happen — to the team we see on the floor — before the opening tip of
the 2007-08 season.
If Seattle winds up with Kevin Durant (as they likely will), perhaps the
Sonics will put Rashard Lewis on the trading block. If a package that
included Gasol AND the fourth pick in next month’s draft would bring Kevin
Garnett — and a contract extension — to Memphis, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
Whatever might be available this summer, it’s time the Grizzlies utilize
their most attractive trade commodity and start getting over the
disappointment of May 22nd.
a great idea. But I don’t want a dime of my taxes paying for it.
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium is a relic. It’s a relic I happen to have some
affection for, having attended my share of memorable games there, from the
Showboats to the Tigers, from the Southern Heritage Classic to our
postseason bowl game. But it’s cracking, the seats are uncomfortable, the
concourses are too narrow, and its location — the fabled Mid-South
Fairgrounds — stinks. If a new stadium is to be built, it should be
somewhere, anywhere on the U of M campus. Paying for it, of course, is the
tricky part.
I have to believe that deep-pocketed U of M alumni and boosters like
outspoken Bank of Bartlett president Harold Byrd would be willing to put
their money where their mouths (and hearts) are and fund a large portion of
the project. With help from the university itself — yep, a slight increase
in tuition would be necessary for all the students who would benefit from
the facility — and the good folks behind Fred Jones at the Southern Heritage
Classic and Steve Ehrhart at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Football Classic, a
stadium could rise with all the modern comforts football fans (and football
sponors!) desire. The Tigers have some winning to do before they can fill a
60,000-seat stadium without Ole Miss or Tennessee on the other sideline. But
the dream of an on-campus stadium is worth chasing. (As soon as Memphis’
school system and crime problems are given the financial boost they each
require, I’ll be ready to send some tax dollars the stadium’s way.)
19th. Say what you will about the entertainment value of the main event (it
was a lousy dance, not worthy of the term “fight”), Taylor-Spinks pulled the
same unique trick Lewis-Tyson did in 2002 and Tarver-Johnson did in 2005.
The fight drew a diverse crowd to a Memphis sporting event. There were too
many empty seats in the lower bowl of FedExForum (a visible reason promoters
should drop the prices), but it was a crowd as black as it was white. Better
yet, it was an engaged crowd. Fight fans tend to pay better attention to
what they’ve paid to see than do NBA fans or college football fans. They pay
much better attention than any baseball fan you’ll find at AutoZone Park.
With the lights of HBO shining, these are special nights for Memphis. We
need more of them.
if the power 27-year-old Rick Ankiel has shown in Memphis translates to the
big leagues. And time to see if 20-year-old Colby Rasmus (hitting over .300
at Double-A Springfield) can play centerfield every day at AutoZone Park.
The Cardinals are in free-fall and Jim Edmonds and Juan Encarnacion will not
be manning the outfield at Busch Stadium two years from now. Time for the
young (Rasmus) and not-so-young (Ankiel) to grow up, and fast.
long enough to reflect on the thousands of lives lost — American and Iraqi —
in the ongoing war in the Middle East. And I think we should use whatever
platform available to us — large or small, local or national — to find an
end to the horror. An opinion I hope you share.
