Thursday, May 04, 2006

The Grizzlies Media Day, Rick Reilly on the show today

I hope you caught the show yesterday, as I explained what happened with Bonzi Wells last year, and why he was barred from the arena. In the midst of a conversation I was having with someone with knowledge of the situation, it came up. I realized that this covered up extremely well, and it also explained why Bonzi could no longer be here.

Let me say this about the Bonzi deal... He is killing it in the playoffs, but never forget that he is in a contract year. It is a mantra of the show to never trust the guy that plays out of his mind in a contract year. This means he has that ability and only really shows it, or plays at that extremely high level, when motivated by a contract. Besides that, after I gave you the story of him becoming violent last year, it is clear to see that he could no longer be a part of this team, nor those (Stro, Jason) who supported him.

Yesterday you heard the Jerry West audio in its entirety. At the end, it was me and Madani with him and we got some great stuff (the Bonzi deal), etc. There were more than a few interesting things from the interview.

This is what I took from it (my opinion by reading between the lines)

We need to change style of play (surprise, surprise) I was saying they were boring in November.
People blamed fans, mascots, business, concessions, etc. My old blog post reveal what the problem was.... The product (the game) was not entertaining. Period. Funny how people are jumping on that now, and I got ripped for it because they were winning.

West says he supports the coach, yet cannot help himself from talking about not playing young players and a boring style of play. These are short digs at Fratello.

He says he is daring, yet reluctant to start over. One question that I wish I had asked.... "You say that there is a disconnect and that fans do not like this (the current state), yet you say the fans would not accept starting over. What do you think the fans would accept?" Oh well, I will ask next year.

We will TRY to get better. Stars win in this league, and we need someone that everyone follows.

West does not comment on the Bonzi deal, except to say he is happy for him, because he is the one that brought him, and in the end, the one that moved him. He puts it on Fratello.

I am sure we will talk about the rest on the show.

One of my favorite sportswriters, Rick Reilly from Sports Illustrated, on the show today.

The first hour of the show is the Grizzlies Power Hour with Eric Hasseltine.

Bert Sugar and Phillip Rivers regular segments, as well as "Ask Sandy" still to come either today or tomorrow. Jim Drukenmiller called in to "Ask Sandy" last week. What a moment.

The Mattoid (hilarious Sweedish musician) in studio Friday. I cannot wait.

I will try to put audio on here when I figure it out.

Bruce Pearl interviewed Rod Barnes, this would be a great hire.

How does Jamison not cut off the baseline for LeBron?

I got the new Bruce Springsteen (The Seeger Sessions). It is all covers, and it is unreal. Tell me if the new Pearl Jam is good if you have it.

Thanks for listening, tell a friend, thanks for reading the blog.

We are close to a Cardinals deal and the new signal (don't ask) is in the FCC's hands and should be up within two weeks (for real this time, it has been more frustrating and ridiculous than anyone could have expected). A quick explanation... imagine someone builds you a house, it is all done, and you are ready to move in and its all wrong. You make the builder go back and fix everything and make it right, and then you wait while they work to get it perfect. This is what happened with our towers and signal. The signal is great on the new transmitter, I have heard it and everyone is thrilled now, even though it was supposed to be done forever ago.

Thanks for being understanding and sticking with me.

Verno