Philanthropy (The Picks)

Verno's No Crybabies Parlay of the Year!

Fresno State -13 over N Mex State

Central Mich -3 over Miami Ohio

N Texas -2.5 over International House of Pancakes

Oregon State over Oregon (pick em)

Verno's Lock of the Century (infinity times infinity + googooplex stars game)

Tenn +7.5 over LSU

Gary's AM Parlay

Army +14

Missouri +3

Bert Sugars Picks (against spread)

LSU

V Tech

Central Mich

Cal

Central Florida

Sandra Knispel crashes the Southern Revival

There was a southern revival known as the Houston Nutt press conference in Oxford on Wednesday. At the end of the presser, a female reporter with a Brittish accent asked Houston Nutt if it ever struck him as odd that he is the highest earner at an institution of higher learning yet he had little to do with academics. It was the funniest thing ever. You can here her question and the news story she did for NPR HERE. The press conference, the hooting and hollering, and the crazy celebration and applause came to a screaching hault as Sandra dropped the reality bomb. Sandra was on the show today and you will be able to check out the interview with her in the morning on the http://www.730espn.com/ archives page. Mark Turgeon, Texas A&M bball coach was also on the show and you will find that interview there also.

Many of you are wondering what our favorite brave reporter with the Brittish accent looks like. Now you can but a face with a name. Our favorite press conference question of the year goes to Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Sandra Knispel...

Bravo Sandra, Bravo.

The Great Paulus

As you know, my favorite college basketball player is Greg Paulus. From the first time I saw the guy play, he's been the guy. I love how everybody hates the guy. I love how everyone always discredits any accomplishment he has. As we learned, Paulus played all of last season with a broken foot. Repeat-- a broken foot. Who does that? I love guys that will do anything to win because we are devoid of that type of athlete is sports. Paulus eats chairs. Paulus will dive in your popcorn and take a bite, and you are sitting in the seventh row. Paulus is immune to pain. If you are reading this, you probably hate him. Go ahead, keep hatin. You may hate Duke, but if you don't appreciate The Great Paulus, you are not a sports fan. The Great Paulus is a killer. Oh yeah, and he dropped 18 on Wisconsin last night and lead the team in scoring. You can have your "talented" guy, I'll take Paulus. I may lose, but your nose will be broken and you will be totally demoralized. With so many wusses in sports, Paulus is the breath of fresh air.

Houston Nutt should be the coach at Ole Miss

I talked about it on the show today. The minute that I heard that Arkansas was no longer going to be the home for Houston Nutt, I said that Ole Miss should get on the phone immediately. At this point, it seems as if the two have talked and that it will come down to money. Pay the man Pete Boone. Houston Nutt is a perfect fit and a great hire by Ole Miss if they can make it happen. I understand that Arkansas is doing this mostly because of off-the-field crap, and I get it, but in the end it will be a mistake. Watch and see.

Ole Miss fan blames me for Orgeron firing...

This email claims that Coach O being fired is all my fault....


Thank you for running off a great coach. From the beginning you ridiculed him and spread your cancer to the point where he was ultimately fired. Coach O was a great human being who cared more for his players than you will ever know, and what most people don't know is that his number 1 priority with those guys was to get an education should their football careers not pan out. No one worked harder than this man, and given next year he would have had his winning season.

Instead, part of our fanbase and most uninformed football fans have taken your opinion to be the gospel. They wrote him off as an incompetent cussing cajun beast of a man with an uncontrollable temper and it's because you drove that point home. You inspired the likes of ESPN's Reece Davis to mock him even when showing highlights of our team's victories. Most importantly, you convinced our old money alumni that he was not polished enough and was lacking the people skills to continue, and they ultimately pulled the plug. Tell me this, how many other D-1 coaches have you written songs about mocking them for things that in no way pertain to their coaching abilities? Friday afternoon after we had just lost to Mississippi State their entire band proceeded to play your song as a stadium full of State fans rejoiced in unison - hours later he would be fired.

Call me crazy. He has not yet produced a winning season, I know. But ask any coach, player, or AD from our neighboring D-1 schools and they were absolutely terrified of him because they knew he would succeed. It is heartbreaking to know that our moneymen did not have the patience to give him another year because they were so convinced that he was a loose cannon and a roughneck. His wife and kids were so well received in Oxford, and they were crushed to know that their stay would be short-lived. Shame on you for ruining the lives of those 5 people. I would absolutely love to get a response from you.

Sincerely,

Brandon

Orgeron fired at Ole Miss

I was just watching College Gameday and they just said that Bruce Feldman is reporting that Orgeron has been fired. Feldman is the guy that wrote the book about Orgeron and Ole Miss, so it seems logical that he would be the one to break the news.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. He leaves a lot of talent behind and that is a really good job to take over right now. A big thanks to the man that gave me my 15 minutes. One last time...

Turkey Day Picks

These are teams that I like (against the number) over the next couple of days. Have a great holiday weekend. Stop reading my blog and go talk to your family.

The numbers are changing (and will change a little more) but I like the following teams to cover...

Packers

Patriots

Boise St.

Arkansas (upset watch)

Texans/ Browns over
Oklahoma St.

C. Michigan

KC/ Oak under

Central Florida

You should probably just pick the opposite of all of these.

Grab a Memphis Business Journal on Friday

The newest issue of the Memphis Business Journal hits stands on Friday, and the profile in the issue is about me and the show. Pick one up and check it.

Today is the last show of the week. I will post the picks later on. Today we will close it out with Hasseltine, Herrington, Gary and the Haters segment, Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace, and bologna. I will post some updates during our time off the air.

I got a call from my buddy Tim asking me if I had seen the youtube video of Tracy Morgan on a local El Paso station. Hilarious. This is it...

Tigers win the 2K Classic in MSG

Memphis beat UCONN on Friday night. It has become clear that while the team is loaded with talent, there is one player that will decide the fate of the Tigers against top level opponents.
Gary wrote about it on his blog, with the accompanying stats... Click here for the story.
Gary also mentioned the Dyson dunk (no foul by Dorsey), and the second time Dyson tried to posterize Joey. Both plays are included in the ESPN highlight package.

On a side note, I was looking through the video section and came upon the game. It is edited down to a 16 minute version but still has commentary. This is fantastic. If you missed the game and wanted to see more than just the highlights, ESPN has this nifty little feature. Maybe they have had this stuff a long time and I have just never noticed. I knew they had highlight packages, but not 16 min game videos. Either way, it's great. It takes a sec to get goin. Check this...

Philanthropy (the picks)

Verno's Scarecrow No Brainer Parlay of the Year!
Patriots -15.5 over Bills
Cowboys -10.5 over Redskins
Packers -10 over Panthers

Verno's infinity x infinity stars lock of the millenium Turkey pick
the turkey is Vandy TENN -11 over Vandy


Verno's underdog of the week
Chicago Bears +6 over Seahawks

Gary's Gary and Geoff are awesome parlay of the year
Georgia -7.5 over Kentucky
Georgia Tech -9.5 over UNC
Air Force -11 over San Diego
Army +15.5 over Tulsa

Gary's Locks of the Year for this week are...
UAB +11 over Memphis
LSU -19 over Ole Miss

Bert Sugar's Picks
Notre Dame -6 over Duke
West Virginia -6.5 over Cincy
Clemson -7 over BC
Wake -6 over NC State
Iowa St +26 over Kansas

Geoff Calkins and Gary Parrish are coming to 730 ESPN to create the greatest morning sports talk show ever

As you probably know by now, Geoff and Gary will be hosts of the new morning show on 730 ESPN. The show will start in Jan '08 and will be on from 7-9 AM Monday- Friday. I could not be more happy about this development. Geoff is the most recognizable name in the sports media in Memphis, and I think all of you know the relationship that I have with Gary. I love the guy and what he has brought to my show, and he and Geoff will be fantastic. Their show will feature a spectacular cast of guests. It will instantly be the best sports radio morning show that Memphis has ever had. I have no words to describe how excited I am about this coming together. I have two of my best media friends as a part of this station. I will still have Gary as a part of the show for the segments that we have established, and Geoff will be a part of the show in the afternoons also. Landing both of these nationally respected voices to the station and the show is a real coup. Thank you to all of you that have supported my show and 730 ESPN, you are the reason that this happened. Geoff and Gary will have the show that I, and everyone else under the age of 55 listens to in Memphis. Thank you for supporting the station and our sponsors. We have now taken the station to the next level. We will now own morning and afternoon drive time for sports talk listeners in Memphis. This might be the last time I ever post this legendary pic, sorry Geoff...

Rudy gets himself another poster, The Nightmares of Yi Jianlian

Atta boy Scola, play your role...


The Grizzlies play the Bucks tonight. Your next Yi... again.

Big news on the horizon...

Keep your eyes and ears open the next couple of days. Big news regarding 730 ESPN is on the horizon. The game will be changed... signifigantly.

New SI Cover with Tigers and Vols

A short essay on radio

Recently it seems as if I have gotten into a lot of discussions with people about the business of radio. Did you hear so-and-so got fired? Did you hear about the changes that so-and-so is making? These kind of discussions. The next question is always "why would they do that?" I always give the same answer... money. Radio "talent" and many people that work in this industry simply don't get it. No station in their right mind would ever make a change that would cost them a lot of money. If you are in radio and you are not attached to money, you will always be (and should be) worried about your job. Any person in the industry should ask themselves "what would it cost to fire me?" and "Am I simply an expense?"
I got fired one time when I was making 2 g's a month. Why? Because though I may have felt like I was talented and I worked hard, in the end, firing me meant 2 g's was added back to the bottom line. They gained 2 g's and lost nothing in return except my "talent." If you are not attached to money and if you do not generate money, you are an expense. Many that work in radio are so arrogant about their "talent" that it is truly amazing. I honestly wonder how some people have made it so long being so clueless. If you are so talented, sponsors should be beating down the door to be a part of your show or shift. Sales people should have it easy. Surely people with money see that talent too.
How much money would it cost a station to get rid of so-and-so, or make so-and-so change? How many sponsors would drop? The next time you hear about some radio station making a change and you wonder why, the answers lie in the questions above. People are either attached to money, or they are an expense... no matter how much "talent" they have.

Derrick Rose on the cover of ESPN The Magazine

You can't beat that in terms of publicity. The Mag loves Memphis and their shot at the national championship, and Rose is on the cover of the magazine throughout the region. I was jacked to read the long article about Rose and Memphis and was completely disappointed. The article is basically about how Rose being from Chicago shined a light on the city and now players in the city are getting more looks. It's boring. Really boring. Booo. Well, at least the kid is on the cover.

Philanthropy (The Picks)

Verno's Common Opponent Logic Parlay of the Year LATE MONEY UPDATE: all picks are reverse plays... HA!
ECU -7 over Marshall (WRONG TEAM FAVORED REVERSE PLAY)
S Miss -16 over Memphis (LATE MONEY UPDATE: WRONG TEAM FAVORED REVERSE PLAY)
Arizona St -6.5 over UCLA
MTSU -13.5 over La Laff (WRONG TEAM FAVORED REVERSE PLAY)

Gary Parrish Writers Guild of America Parlay of the Year
Wisconsin +3 over Michigan
Georgia Tech -13.5 over Duke
Ohio St -15 over Illinois LATE MONEY UPDATE: REVERSE PLAY, WRONG TEAM FAVORED
Arizona St -6.5 over UCLA (LMU: REVERSE PLAY)

Bert Sugar Picks
Kentucky -3 over Vandy
Arizona St -6.5 over UCLA
Michigan -3 over Wisconsin
Boston College -6.5 over Maryland
Missouri -19 over Texas AM

Jimmy Denunzio Picks (against lines)
Tennessee/ Jax UNDER
Bills
Cowboys
Washington
Cincy

Angelo Dundee on the Wednesday show

HOF Boxing trainer Angelo Dundee will be on the show on Wednesday. Dundee trained a record-breaking fifteen world champions (including Ali, Leonard, Foreman, etc.) and countless top contenders. The guy is a bonafide sports legend.

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace will be on for his weekly spot.

If you have missed Eric Dickerson, Chris Jericho, or some of the other recent interviews, they are at www.730espn.com in the archives page.

A few thoughts (from my brain)

Can you rush for 491 yds. on playstation? Evidently you can in real life against Memphis. 491? Were Tommy Frazier and Lawrence Phillips playing for East Carolina?

Darren McFadden = The next Adrian Peterson. McFadden went for over 3 bills against South Carolina. Was that a Heisman saving performance? Was that a Houston Nutt job saving performance? Yes, I saw Peterson and McFadden this weekend and it is still a mistake to take a RB in the first half of the first round.

The picks were crap. I know.

Kansas is highly ranked and undefeated. Kansas beat the crap out of Nebraska. Now, the following story has nothing to do with either of those (I don't think). You are never gonna believe what Kansas fans chant when their team kicks off. Suffice to say the Athletic Dept does not approve. Here is the story from the KU campus station...

ht: wizardofodds.blogspot.com

Philanthropy (The Picks)

Verno's Underdog Parlay of the Year!
South Carolina +5 over Arkansas
Wisconsin +15.5 over Ohio St
Vandy +14.5 over Florida
Alabama +7.5 over LSU

Verno's ACC (All Cold Cash) 2 teamer of the YEAR!
Clemson -16 over Dukie
Wake Forest pick over Virginia

Gary's Owen Wilson Parlay of the YEAR
Ohio -9 over Temple
Washington St +15.5 over Cal
ECU -6 over Memphis
Navy or Notre Dame (line is 3, feel bet)

Bert Sugar's Picks
Michigan -4 over Mich St
Wisconsin +15.5 over Ohio St
Wake pick over Virginia
Texas -3 over OkieSt
Oregon -7 over Arizona State

Possibly the funniest email we have recieved...

Verno,
I enjoyed the interview with Tommy Tubberville earlier in the week----you know ---- the one where he spent the better part of ten minutes talking about academic integrity. I've got some new ides for a weekly series like that:

Diet tips with Mark Mangino

Discipline tips with Phillip Fulmer

Defensive schemes with Hal MummyOffensive game Planning with Mike Shula

The next NASA flight with Brad Lester

The Arts and table etiquette with Ed Orgeron

How to win friends and influence Cajuns with Nick Saban and Paul Finebaum

Tips on dealing with the NCAA with Jackie Sherrill

The offensive passing game with Houston Nutt

Winning with base defense with Joe Lee Dunn

The intricacies of the 2 - 3 Zone with Nolan Richardson

The possibilities are endless! I look forward to the series.

Lee

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace weekly segment

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace joined us before opening night to talk about the team, celebrity gawking and Danny Bonaduce, Kobe, loving blowout games, etc. CLICK HERE.

Rick Kamla, Rich Eisen, Tommy Tuberville

Here is some of the audio from the show this week

Rick Kamla from NBA TV gives us a full season preview and his thoughts on the Grizzlies

Rich Eisen from the NFL Network talks about the NFL and his new book Total Access

Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville (never dissapoints) talks about the season, losing the LSU game on the last play, why there is so much parity in the SEC and nationally, Brandon Cox, his name being constantly thrown around for jobs, etc.

Still to come this week on the show... HOF'er Eric Dickerson