Philanthropy (The Picks)

Verno's pay the memphis canidates debt parlay of the year
Kentucky -22
Cincinatti -14
Troy -13
Ball State -16

Verno's lock of the quarter century (infinity times infinity stars)
Cowboys -13 over the Rams and their white running back

Gary Parrish's Mississippi schools not as good as they think they are parlay of the year
Georgia -15
S Carolina -13.5

Gary's if you can only beat Memphis by 50, how are you gonna beat Lafayette by 3 td's game of the year
La Lafayette +21.5

Bert Sugars Picks (says he is very confident)
Penn State -3
Louisville -8.5
Cal +6
Texas -14.5
UCLA +2.5

How totally unacceptable, and audio from the week

29 unanswered points in the second half? Losing to Arkansas State after being up by 25 at the half? What a freaking joke. Memphis football is in a bad way and there is no more being somewhat nice about it. There is absolutely no excuse for what has happened with this program. They got waxed by UCF, and they cannot hold a 25 pt. halftime lead against Arkansas State. They cannot beat D1 opponents anymore for goodness sakes. What can you even say anymore? I don't know if Duke Calhoun can throw the ball at all, but I would put him at QB. He is the best player on that team, and I would just put the ball in his hands. That is what you would do if you were a high school team and, at this point, that is what Memphis is... a high school team. Actually, Memphis has less future NFL players than a lot of high school teams.

Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt joined us on the show this week and talked about the win last weekend against Bama, what has changed for him at Georgia, why he is 23-3 in SEC road games, and why he adopted two kids from the Ukraine. He was fantastic, check it if you missed it.

I have also loaded up the Chris Wallace weekly segment, and the Keith Easterwood weekly segment. Wallace and I talked a lot about European basketball, and Easterwood talked about Memphis not even contacting his son and other local prep football players, and the fact that SEC and many other schools have. He says, "I am the only one recruiting him to Memphis." And we wonder why Memphis is in such bad shape?


Grizzlies Media Day is today and we will have the audio from it on the show today. Also, Bert Sugar and Jimmy Denunzio on the show. Thanks for listening.

John Saunders and new Grizzlies player Casey Jacobsen audio

John Saunders is the host of the Sports Reporters and the ABC College Football studio show. Saunders was on the show today and talked about the studio show, college football and the polls, the reason the Sports Reporters has still remained relevant and successful, and what Lupica is really like.

New Grizzly Casey Jacobsen was incredibly refreshing in his interview. He talked about his career up to this point, playing overseas (being the German Finals MVP), Coach Iavaroni and signing with Memphis, and the team that the Grizzlies have compiled. We have an honest, great talker on our hands with this guy. Both of the interviews are below if you missed them.

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace and Georgia HC Mark Richt are on the show Wednesday.

New Grizzly Casey Jacobsen on the show today, Mike Conley workout video

Casey Jacobsen will be on the show today at 3:40. I was sent the following video from yardbarker (where Mike Conley hosts his blog). It is a video of the drills that Conley does while working with former Memphis assistant Ed Schilling. Conley has some serious handles.

My weekend in Tuscaloosa (The Visual History)

Alabama loses to Georgia 26-23 in OT

The day started out with us taking an Escalade stretch limo to Tuscaloosa from where were staying in Birmingham. There is nothing like having a limo pick you up from a Ramada. My buddy from WJOX, Lance Taylor, set the whole thing up. My wife and I rode in this limo to T-town with Lance and a group of guys ranging from big-time boosters to out-of-towners. Our first stop was Bob Baumhower's "Wings". Lance and Ian Fitzsimmons do a pregame show there every time there is a game in town. There is Bama memorabilia and tributes all over the place.

Here are some of the pics from that place...

It was great to see basketball coach Mark Gottfried at the bar
This is the place where the most boring radio show in the history of western civilization takes place

Lance and Ian hosted the show while a big group of us watched all of the games that were going on. They were hosting a show touted as "the longest running pregame show in the state of Alabama." Take that Mobile.

After we left Wings, we went to a place next to the stadium named Gallettes. This was the most crowded place in America on Saturday. As we made our way through this fire hazard, we were handed Yellow Hammer's. We were told that we had to try it while we were there. I wanted to find a sauna so that I could cool off. Yes, that is my wife.We left Gallettes because I had a meeting with the Bear. He was kind of mad that I was a little late. After my meeting with the Bear, we walked across the street to check out the Gameday bus.
As we walked to the stadium, I stopped to pay tribute to Gene Stallings. I love Gene Stallings. He was the first football coach that I ever knew personally. When I was a little kid, my family went to church with Gene in St. Louis (he was coaching the Cardinals) and my sister was friends with his daughter. Our tickets were unreal. We were at the 45 yd line, about 50 rows from the field. I am pretty sure that Alabama has the best pregame in America. The videos, the band, the pageantry... it was spectacular.

The game was great. It was insanely loud when John Parker Wilson ran the TD in to tie the game at 20. I did not get any pictures of OT because I was standing there in complete disbelief. It was sad to see the fans throw all of the crap that they did on the Georgia players. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth after what was an incredible SEC game. I left the stadium so that I could go cry with the Bear. In the end, it was a great experience. The stadium is not as cool as Knoxville, the tailgating is better in Oxford, it is not as loud and crazy as LSU, but being in Tuscaloosa on Saturday is like watching the Muslims going to Mecca. They kill everyone in the tradition department. Alabama has so much tradition that I think any football fan would enjoy the trip. If you are a big college football fan, you need to check it out at least once.

Philanthropy (The Picks)

Verno's Shirley Raines Can't Stop this Parlay
Kansas -32 over Fl. International House of Pancakes
Florida -22.5 over Ole Miss
G Tech -3.5 over Virginia
Wake -3 over Maryland

School from the ACC week 3 playing a service academy GAME OF THE YEAR (INFINITY STARS)
Boston College -27.5 over Army

Verno's season record -- (6-2) (2-0 in infinity stars game of years)

Gary's Local teams suck parlay
Florida -22.5 over Ole Miss
Kentucky +7 over Arkansas
Ark St +24.5 over UT
UCF -7 over Memphis

Gary's don't support the troops in this game of the year
Duke +10 over navy

Bert Sugar's Picks:
Illinois -2.5 over Indiana
Troy -10.5 over La Laff.
Wake -3 over Maryland
G Tech -4 over Virginia
Wisconsin -7.5 over Iowa

I am going to be in Tuscaloosa this weekend for the Bama/ Georgia game and will have a complete visual history of the trip at the first of the week. Thanks for listening.

Grizzlies HC Marc Iavaroni (More Audio)...

Grizzlies HC Marc Iavaroni called into the show on Thursday and we talked about the league meetings he just attended, having a portion of training camp in Spain, and all things Grizzlies. You can check it out below. Central Florida coach George O'Leary is on the show on Friday, as well as Bert Sugar and the Friday regulars.

Audio from this week (Zook, Brooks, Wallace)

Here is some of the audio from this week if you missed the show. Illinois HC Ron Zook joined us talking about his team, Florida winning the National Championship last year, andthe difference in recruiting and coaching in the Big Ten and the SEC. Kentucky HC Rich Brooks talked about the win against Louisville, why he did not go for 2 at the end of the game, being on the hot seat in the SEC, and Andre Woodson. I have also loaded up the Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace weekly segment. Would he still take Oden over Durant now? Were there red flags about Oden?

Mike Tirico will take Dan Patrick's spot

Tirico will be doing the noon-2 spot. Stephen A. Smith will be on from 2-3.

Kentucky HC Rich Brooks and Illinois HC Ron Zook

on the show today. check it.

Please disregard my philanthropy picks

ha. guess i should have told you it was reverse week.

Check out TrueHoop (Chris Wallace Story)

Big thanks to Zach for the heads-up, and to Henry Abbott for the love. ESPN.COM's True Hoop has this post today... Chris Wallace: Treating Memphis Right. Wallace evidently got together with a group of guys that started a Grizzlies blog. For him to do that is both incredibly rare, and stunningly refreshing. I have thoroughly enjoyed the weekly segment that he has been doing on the show, and his willingness and effort to connect to the fans is now getting national attention. Props to Wallace and the fans that invited him, and thanks to Henry for the love.

A new blog has been started by these Grizzlies fans, and there is a rundown of their meeting with Chris Wallace. The blog is http://3shadesofblue.blogspot.com/. Great story.

Philanthropy (The Picks) ...updated with audio

Verno's Free Wade Wilson Parlay
Kansas -24 over Toledo
UCLA -14 over Utah
Minnesota-7.5 over Florida Atlantic

Verno's Lock of the Century forever Infinity Stars Pick
Boston College +7 over G. Tech

Gary Parrish BAB Parlay
BYU -7 over Tulsa
Alabama or Arkansas 3 pt line (take either one, feel bet)
Boston College +7

Bert Sugar Picks
Wake -19.5 over Army
USC -9.5 over Nebraska
La Tech +33.5 over Cal
Ark St -3 over SMU
BYU -6.5 over Tulsa

Below you will find the audio of the Philanthropy segment and Jimmy Denunzio (World's Greatest handicapper) audio

Shady Brady and Bill Bellicheat

There is a new sports parody song out about the Patriots situation by a guy named Ryan Parker and it is a true masterpiece. Bravo, Ryan.

Demarcus Ware and Spencer Tillman audio

On Thursday, Cowboys DE Demarcus Ware and CBS college football analyst Spencer Tillman were both on the show. Demarcus talked about his life, Wade Phillips, the Dolphins game this weekend, etc. Tillman talked about how the CBS studio show works, and the games coming up this weekend. The audio is below if you missed either of the interviews. Today we will have Bert Sugar, the Philanthropy segment, Jimmy Denunzio, and David Cutcliffe. Check it.

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace in studio @ 5 pm

check it. Our weekly segment with Chris Wallace update: the audio is below. We talked about Darko's outburst, what Jerry West's role with the team is now, what is going on from day to day, the salary cap, etc.

You probably should not call out Keith Easterwood

The Memphis Edge is the Commercial Appeal's blog. The blog had a post the other day that called Keith Easterwood (regular on the show as our local bball insider) a "supposed insider." Obviously, this was of interest to me because Keith is a friend and comes on my show as an insider. Keith has been a huge help to me, a huge help to Gary Parrish, and consistently knows more about what is going on with local basketball than anyone on the radio. Anyway, here is the exact quote... "In surfing various message boards, supposed insiders have forwarded the idea that this development is linked to the Sept. 2 incident on Beale Street and other various off-court issues from past years. That assertion is laughable." We had to know that Keith would come out swinging after reading this, and he did. Here is how it went down...

p.s. read the post below for Wilco tickets

Free Concert Tickets (Wilco)

TCB concerts is bringing Wilco to Snowden Grove amphitheatre tomorrow night. If you are a fan of Wilco, and can make it to the concert, the first two people to email me and tell me that they want tickets will each get a pair. Thanks for coming to the site and listening to the show. Email me at verno@730espn.com for the tix. Check out www.tcbconcerts.com. I got a lot of emails when I gave you a chance to win the White Stripes tickets on the blog asking if it was a joke. This is not a joke. Wilco, tomorrow night, Snowden Grove Amphitheatre. Again, thanks for being bored enough at work to check the site.

You should all be millionaires

Week 1 of Philanthropy 4-0

There are people that claim that they pick games for a living. I pick games to make a living for you. I am 4-0 because I care about my listeners. My motives are pure. By the end of this season, none of you should still have a job. We are all going to retire. I swear, the mentally handicapped must make these lines. It is so simple.

Today on the show we will rundown all of the college and NFL games from the weekend. I got up from the couch twice this weekend. I also plan on saying the smartest thing ever uttered by human tongue.

The Picks (Philanthropy) with audio

We give you picks with no charge as our form of philanthropy. We care about you. You are welcome.

Bert Sugar's Picks
Temple -3.5 over Buffalo
Kentucky -10.5 over Kent St
Northwestern -10 over Nevada
East Carolina -5.5 over UNC
Oklahoma -10.5 over Miami

Verno's Joey Dorsey Make it Rain Parlay
Boston College -13 over NC State
West Virginia -24 over Marshall
Kentucky -12 over Kent St.

Infinity Stars Lock of the Century --Missouri -6 over Ole Miss

Gary Parrish's Rick Ankiel HGH Performance Enhanced Parlay
Hawaii -28 over La Tech
Georgia -3.5 over S. Carolina
Houston Texans -3 over KC

Here is the Jimmy Denunzio (The Worlds Greatest Handicapper) audio...
I have also added the Chan Gailey interview if you missed it, the four questions portion at the end of the interview is one of the most memorable and shocking moments in show history

So much for the perfect sports story...

I wanted to vomit when I saw the news about Rick Ankiel last night. This was my favorite sports story in a long, long time... and what a story it was. We get so wrapped up in a story so amazing and pure, only to be crushed by the news that this story is not all it seemed. The Ankiel story has embodied everything with love about sports. In the midst of bad stories and disappointments associated with baseball, we had this incredible tale of redemption and perseverance. I am just sick. I know that you cannot always believe in fairy tales, but I wanted to believe and feel great about this fairy tale. The innocence and purity of the story is gone. What a shame.

Today on the show we are loaded with guests. Comedian and author Alan Donnes will be in studio the first hour. Bert Sugar will be with his picks, Parrish is in Oklahoma and will join us from there, Eric Moulds of the Titans will be on the show, and we have the return of the Philanthropy segment and Jimmy Denunzio (The World's Greatest Handicapper). I will have the audio up tonight. Thanks for still coming to the site though I have been gone. I'll probably put up some pics from the wedding for you to see and I am back updating the site regularly. Thanks for listening and if you have not picked up the current issue of RSVP Magazine, go grab one, there is a nice article about the show.