Starting on College Football

With the first game coming on Thursday night, here come the bold predictions...

Ten or so things to look for in the SEC this year...

Tennessee beats Cal in the first game by at least double-digits

Kenny Irons becomes the 5th Auburn RB to lead the league in rushing since 2000

Mitch Mustain is the starting Arkansas QB by week 3 @ Vandy

In a shocker, Florida loses one of its first 2 games (both vs. CUSA, Southern Miss and UCF)

Be surprised if Ole Miss wins 4 games

Ole Miss/ Miss State may be the "job on the line" game

Vanderbilt will not be as bad as people think without Cutler (win at least 5 and compete for bowl)

The season surprisingly becomes a really good year for QB's, and the future at Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia all look really good with Freshmen that get to play.

Miss State is better than Ole Miss.

Gary and I will be millionaires as a reflection from our super-trooper duper picks, parlays, and locks

I realize that some of these are far-fetched, but if I am wrong I will just act like I never said it

Recognize

Verno

Parrish The Thoughts... copyright pending.

I figure if I have a catchy name for the blog, I will get more readers. Thanks Gary.

Nice debut on national TV for DeAngelo against the Dolphins. 98 yd kick return and he looked warped speed. Another note on this game... I think I have watched the Titans and other crappy teams too much in the preseason, because both the Dolphins and the Panthers defenses looked much faster and better than almost everyone I have seen so far. So what happens when you put a total meathead with zero comprehension of broadcasting on the sidelines or in the booth and give him a headset? You get Tony Siragusa on Fox. Possibly the worst decision I have ever seen made by a network. He talks when he is not supposed to, he burps, he eats, and has never said an intelligent thing. This is like the Lions sticking with Matt Millen. How is he back? How? At least every single game he is on I know I will get the wonderful incite about how hot it is on the field. When is he not hot? He weighs 500 lbs. It is always hot when you are insanely obese.

I am pretty sure I am gonna go see that movie with Marky Mark in it about football, Invincible. I have heard good things, but though I have seen Mark Wahlberg in movies, and I know he is responsible for Entourage, I will never get him punching the heavy bag in a old warehouse out of my head. Come on, come on, comeon, comeon, it's such a good vibration.

I had no idea how awesome Dwight Howard was until I watched him on Team USA. Orlando has been like witness protection.

My Madden addiction is so unhealthy. I should have never bought it.

This weekend, in between Franchise mode, I will put together all of the college football prep. I know, you can hardly wait.

Has anyone ever been more inconsistent at anything than Jason Marquis is at pitching?

I am starting to think that Delina will not win Rock Star Supernova and I think it may be Lucas now. Yes, Storm Large is hot, but she won't win.

Keep it thuggy.

Verno

When permanently means nothing

Tiger basketball player Jeremy Hunt was reinstated today. You may remember that Jeremy was suspended for a domestic dispute with an ex, then reinstated, then permanently dismissed from the Tiger program for getting in a fight on Beale Street and breaking his hand (which he lied and said he did in a shooting drill). That Jeremy Hunt.

The whole Jeremy Hunt situation was a P.R. nightmare for the University. They botched it. They hired a firm for a ton of money to say they botched it.

What is more comical than the whole reinstatement is the reaction you will hear from the media in this town. The media that if it was any other school would have a totally different opinion.

I love hearing that "he's a great kid." How do you know? Because he is nice to you? You are supposed to be nice to people. I know if it was my daughter that he hit, I would cringe to hear about what a great kid he is. Yet you will hear media members say that, as if they really know. How many great kids pin down girls and beat them up? There may be some, but I have never known them. What if that was your daughter? How would you feel now? What is your answer to that? It bothers you to think of it that way, doesn't it? It challenges your thinking.

I love hearing "he did was he was supposed to do, he graduated, and he has been a model citizen." Seriously, how low are our standards? You should graduate when you get a free education and tutors to boot, you are supposed to stay out of trouble, and you should be a model citizen.

I love hearing "hopefully he learned his lesson." What lesson? That if you are good at basketball permanently can mean nothing if you act right for a while? If you can help Memphis win, chances come in packs of at least three. If you cannot, ask Simplice Njoya how many you get.

The spin is gonna be classic. Cal and the media in his pocket will say that those of us against the reinstatement hate Memphis, don't care about kids, don't understand what Jeremy would do without basketball, and don't know the kid well enough. They will say it does not bother them at all. We will hear how he served his time and has learned, etc. On the subject of not caring about kids... Keena Young had a Uhaul packed with his stuff to come to Memphis in a package deal with Kendrick Perkins and when Kendrick did not come, Keena was told to un-pack his bags and stay home. What did he do wrong? Don't we care about kids here?

I am totally in favor of second chances. Jeremy got his. He was told that he had one chance, and when he screwed up again the university sent out a message saying that he was gone forever and would no longer embarrass the Tigers. Kids make mistakes and everyone has to learn from them. The best life lesson that Jeremy can learn is for permanent to mean permanent. Reinstating him sends the message that permanent can mean nothing... If your good at basketball. This isn't just the wrong word being used, that they should not have said "permanent" as many will say.

The mistake is that they should have meant permanent.

Verno

DJ Quits Live on the Air

If you heard the show today, you may have heard the greatest resignation ever. Here is the link. It happened this past weekend on a station in Mobile. I wish we could hire her to do updates.

http://www.urbaninsite.com/replay/iquitthisbitch.mp3

Verno

Kicking it around--- Fantasy Football-- 730 ESPN

I would guess that the majority of you that are reading this have or will play fantasy football. If I put something together to produce a league sponsored by the station where we would play for prizes the station provides, how many of you would be interested? Live draft would be @ the studio on a date to be determined. The first people to email will get in when it's all put together.

Email me soon if interested... verno@730espn.com

Anthony Randolph

I admit that I do not follow recruiting, but I am very aware that many fans do. That being said, Anthony Randolph was one of the big-time recruits that the Memphis Tigers were after is not coming to Memphis.
Parrish said this today on the show. Gary has talked people close to Randolph and they told him, and the Memphis staff, that the Tigers are out. The kid is from Texas and it was gonna be a long shot to sign him from what Gary says. The kid narrowed his list and Memphis is not in it anymore. According to the people Gary talked to the list now includes Texas, Kansas, Georgetown, Cincinnati, and LSU.
Also, Gary said that two assistants (not Tigers) have told him that they thought the next move was for Calipari to hire Tiger recruit Derrick Rose's (Reggie) brother as an assistant.
I hope this is true because evidently he got kicked out of a huge AAU tournament for saying he was gonna shoot the ref. Talk about getting some calls next year at the Forum! That's Ballin.

Verno the Journalist

Antonio Burks update...

I talked to Burks today. As you know, he was scheduled to join me yesterday and did not. He expressed to me that he would perfer to not answer many of the questions that I would ask until he signed somewhere and determined his future.

There are 4 teams that he has talked with. They include Indiana, Sacramento (they would have to drop a PG for this to happen), Dallas, and Miami. If Larry Brown was still in New York, he believed that New York would be where he would have ended up. This makes sense only on the level that Brown and Calipari and extremely tight.

If the NBA does not work out, he has 2 offers from Europe. I believe that one of them was an Italian team. This much is certain, he told me that should he decide to play overseas, he would make more in one year than he did in 2 with the Grizzlies.

Verno the Reporter

these baby pandas are great looking creatures

Talladega Nights, Antonio Burks, etc.

I loved Talladega Nights. I had high expectations for this movie and I was not disappointed in the least. Will Ferrell co-wrote the movie, so you know the deal going in. What is the funniest dialogue we can come up with and deliver without laughing? It is much like Anchorman in that I will probably laugh at a ton of different jokes the next time I see it. There is no way that you could catch them all. If you are not a cyborg, you will laugh.

I get a lot of calls and emails about Antonio Burks. It is understandable considering he was a great player at Memphis, he's a homegrown kid, and was a Grizzly. Antonio is not playing for the Grizzlies. Now the question I get a lot is to ask if I have heard anything about what will happen to him. I will tell you that I have talked to people and Sacramento has interest in Burks. They would have to make a roster move, but it is a possibility. It makes some sense considering Eric Musselman is with the Kings now. Burks would be best served to get out of Memphis anyway, personally and professionally.

Tiger Woods is golf.

Did the Cardinals really win? Thank goodness Ben Sheets pulled his pectoral.

I saw that David Wright got a 6 year, 55 mil contract. If someone signs a great player I look at it in Arod terms, which is totally backwards. Is Wright worth half of Arod's deal? Of course he is, good deal.

I was glad to see NFL on NBC. I love the new crew for this. I love Costas, Collinsworth, Madden, Michaels. I bet Bettis will be good because he is likeable, and I cannot stand Sterling Sharpe. All in all, its a good crew.

Congrats to Matt Cain on the career high 12 K's.

Jeter over Big Papi for MVP? Discuss amongst yourself.

Verno