What I look like during bowl season

Best of The Chris Vernon Show (2007) starts Wednesday

Today, and the next few days leading into the new year, we will be running some of the most memorable moments from the show from the past year. Here are some of the interviews and bits that you will hear from the past year...

Bobby Bowden
Criss Angel
Dog The Bounty Hunter
Kevin James
Daughtry (in Memphis, day of show at the Forum)
Craig Brewer (in studio, day of worldwide release of Black Snake Moan)
Ingram Hill (in studio, day of worldwide release of Cold in California)
George Foreman
UFC President Dana White
Joe Rogan
Jimmy Denunzio best of's
Sonny Vacarro
Joel McHale from The Soup
Roser eats 33 chicken wings
Roser quest for 40 push-ups
Jim Palmer

There will be other bits and interviews included in the shows. If there is something that you remember that you want to hear again, email me at verno@730espn.com and I will let Roser know when he is putting the shows together.

I will have a full post about '07 as we end the year. This was great year for the show and the station. Thank you so much for listening to the show and supporting our sponsors. I hope you are having a great Holiday season. Geoff and Gary starts Jan 2nd 7-9am. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the shows this week.

Philanthropy (The Picks) w/ audio

It is time for the bowl game picks for this year...
retards must have made these lines. this is ridiculous how easy this is. if you do not bet parlays it is because you are a scared little baby and you are poor. happy holidays, these picks as always are free of charge-- philanthropy (AUDIO OF SEGMENT)

Verno's Bowl Game Wrong Team Favored Parlay of the Year
Nevada +3 over N Mex
Air Force +3.5 over Cal
Auburn +2.5 over Clemson

Verno's Your Coach is Gone Parlay of the year
Cincy -11 over S Miss
Oklahoma -7 over WVU
BYU/ UCLA under 46.5

Verno's Reputation on the Line infinity stars Mortal Lock of the millenium
Florida -10.5 over Mich

Gary's Bet against CUSA Parlay of the Century
Florida Atlantic -3 over Memphis
Cincy -11 over S. Miss
Boise -11 over ECU

Gary's Lock of all Locks ever forver and ever
Florida Atlantic -3 over Memphis

Bert Sugars Picks (against line)
Florida Atlantic
Cincy
BYU
Boise St.
Central Michigan

Bonus Pick--- easy money on Sunday--- Tampa -6 over San Fran

JIMMY DENUNZIO SEGMENT AUDIO IF YOU MISSED IT

Have a Merry Christmas -- you should all be millionaires when this is all said and done

Friday Show...

Fox NFL Studio host Curt Menefee
Bert Sugar with bowl picks
Indiana bball coach Kelvin Sampson
Philanthropy Segment
Jimmy Denunzio

Last Haters segment of the year today

We will be in search of the greatest Hater. The prize this week will include 2 lower level tickets to the Tigers/ GTown game on Saturday, and the segment will be an extended version.

Wednesday show will include...

Cincy bball coach Mick Cronin (before tonights Memphis game) and new Duke football coach David Cutciffe. Kevin Stallings from Vandy will be moved to tomorrow.

Regarding Kinsey being waived...

Tarence Kinsey was waived by the Grizzlies and there are understandably many people questioning this decision. I like Tarence Kinsey just fine. He is a really nice guy. I think Kinsey will play in the NBA. With that being said, I do not believe Kinsey will ever be in the 8-man rotation of a really good NBA team. That is how you have to think about these things. The scouts did a really good job of identifying this guy, and he played well. He got minutes and produced for what was the worst team in the world. I don't think the guy was given a fair shake by the new regime, but Iavaroni didn't like the guy enough to put him in the rotation. Only time will tell if Kinsey will make the Grizz regret this.

I broke the story about the Grizzlies plans to sign D-Leaguer Jeremy Richardson in the coming days. They are trying to catch lightning in a bottle. He will sign a non-guaranteed deal and they will have until about a week into Jan. to decide if they want to keep him or waive him. Here's hoping they catch one in Richardson. There have been guys plucked from the minors that have become contributors to good teams. Why not try to find a guy that could be a 8-man rotation guy on a good team?

Chris Wallace believes in the idea of finding guys in the minors. Between his time in Miami and Boston, they were able to find Voshon Leonard, Ike Austin, Adrian Griffin, Bruce Bowen, Mark Blount, Mikki Moore, Damon Jones, etc. Pretty good list of guys from the minors that made some money playing in the league.

There are 5 guys on this team that I would keep moving forward. Rudy, Lowry, Conley, Navarro, and Darko. Other than that, they can move whoever they want as far as I am concerned.

Will Richardson be good? I don't know, but it is worth a shot. Kinsey will never in the regular rotation of a really good team, and that is what the Grizzlies are trying to become. Why not see if another guy could be?

It is interesting to me that Grizzlies fans do seem to feel somewhat passionately about this move. Kinsey certainly had his fans. Richardson could be lightning in a bottle or he could get cut in 2 weeks. Either way, I am fine with it because I don't think we will ever look up and think that the Grizzlies really blew it by letting Kinsey sign with another team... whether he was given a fair shake here or not.

In the end, this is an incredibly minor (and probably insignificant) move for a team that needs a lot of changes before they become good again.

Kinsey waived by Grizzlies

more about this development on the show... and who they are signing to replace him. Nice job be Marlon Morgan on the story.

CVERNON.COM EXCLUSIVE UPDATE...

The player is Jeremy Richardson (so I am told).

On the show today...

Washington State (#6 in nation) bball coach Tony Bennett, and Cincy bball coach Mick Cronin.

Later in the week...
Vandy HC Kevin Stalllings
Fox NFL Studio host Curt Menefee
Wake Forest Football coach Jim Grobe

Scheduled to join us on the Monday show

Ohio State coach Thad Matta
Grizzlies departing President Andy Dolich

also scheduled for this week are Washington State basketball coach Tony Bennett and Wake Forest football coach Jim Grobe.

Thank you Andy Pettitte

I would never condone what baseball players did when they took PED's, but just being honest about it goes a long way nowadays. I understand why a player would do it, everyone understands why a player would do it. I appreciate that Pettitte didn't try to insult our intelligence like so many other players have. Now does Clemen's come clean also? Here is what Pettitte said about the accusations...

"If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize," Pettitte said Saturday in a statement released by his agent. "I accept responsibility for those two days."

"In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow," Pettitte said in the statement released to The Associated Press by agent Randy Hendricks.
"I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped.
"This is it -- two days out of my life; two days out of my entire career, when I was injured and on the disabled list," he said. "I wasn't looking for an edge. I was looking to heal."

Makes sense to me. Every other player should react with the same honesty that Pettitte has. His explanation makes sense and we live in a forgiving nation. People can take cheaters, what they can't take is the obvious lying about cheating.

Oh, those creative listeners I have...

When is the media going to apologize to the Texans?

Am I rubbing this in because I thought Mario Williams was the correct pick in last years draft? Yep. USA Today bagged on the Texans by posting the stats of Reggie Bush and Mario Williams every Monday in the paper last year. Where are the stats now? Mario Williams had 3.5 sacks in a massive performance last night and he now stands at second in the league in sacks.

Reggie Bush sold tickets, Vince Young sold tickets. They both sold jerseys. The Texans were killed over and over again for the pick of Williams. The pick has turned out to be the best one that they could have made. Every great team has a great pass rush, and that is what the Texans wanted to build... a great team. I find it really interesting that I specifically remember certain dumb sports talk hosts and TV commentators killing the Texans and saying that they were idiots for the pick. What are they saying now? Surprisingly nothing.

Given the oppurtunity to take the great pass rusher or the great back, you always take the great pass rusher... if you need both. And you never, ever, ever, take a RB high in the draft. It is way to much money for the most fragile position in the sport.

Bravo to the Texans for the pick, and bravo to the clowns that panned it. How are those Vince Young and Reggie Bush picks looking now?

Andy Dolich announces his resignation

Andy Dolich, the President of Business Operations for the Grizzlies, has announced his resignation effective December 31st. I hate this announcement. Andy has been an incredibly accessible and valuable resource for the Grizzlies in Memphis. He has been on the show as much as any non-regular guest that we have. I am at 730 ESPN in part because of Andy. There were people that I leaned on for advice in making a big career move, and Andy was there the whole way to talk me through it. I have an incredible amount of respect for Andy and I hate to see him leave the Grizzlies. I don't envy anyone that will takeover his position with the team. Your boss wants to get rid of the team, the team in not living up to expectations on the court, the team got the shaft in the draft (which was totally devastating business wise), and people simply are not crazy about spending their money with the Grizz right now.

Andy has been a tremendous ambassador for the team since it came to Memphis. A lot of names has changed, but he has always been here from the start. Behind the scenes, he has been a friend, a mentor, and a huge asset to the show. I wish him the best of luck in the future, and I will really miss him.

So good luck to Andy Dolich, we will miss you at The Chris Vernon Show.

The man that should win the Heisman...

He could do it for any team in the nation. Take him off his team and they would not make a bowl game. The best SEC running back in a long, long time is Darren McFadden. He won't win it, but he should.

Roser's quest for 40 (The Video)

My producer, Jon Roser, made the bold claim that he could do 40 push-ups on Wednesday. We took him to task and told him to prove it, only to get to 39 and come up short. Well, on Thursday, we went double-or-nothing on the 17 dollar bet Harry and I had won on Wed.
Here is how it played out in the studio...

Shane Battier and Phillip Rivers audio from Tuesday show

Shane Battier talked to us about singing Neil Diamond karaoke, the Houston Rockets season so far, if Van Gundy and Fratello are exactly alike, the Grizzlies this year compared to last year, if the NBA can work in Memphis, etc. Click Here for the interview if you missed it.

San Diego Chargers QB Phillip Rivers was on the show to talk about the Chargers season, Norv Turner, what Brady Quinn is going through now, expectations this year, Chris Chambers, the game against the Titans in Nashville this weekend, etc. Click Here for the interview if you missed it.

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace will join us for his weekly segment today. He was at the Garden last night for the USC/ Memphis game.

Shane Battier on the show today (5 oclock hour)

We must talk to him about the disturbing youtube video that you may have seen...
Shane Battier singing Neil Diamond...

Of course West Virginia and Mizzou lost...

How else could this thing shake out, right? The Missouri game is not over yet, but they are gonna lose. Mizzou losing does not surprise me in the least, but I cannot believe WVU lost that game to Pitt. That is just ridiculous. Pat White had gotten hurt, but he did not look great when he was in the game anyway. But where was Steve Slaton? 9 rushes for 11 yards? Stunning. Equally stunning was how blatant the refs were in trying to help WVU win.

With both of the top 2 teams losing, this is chaos. We will now have weeks of debate on what two teams are most deserving to play for the title. The debate is so incredibly open to different opinions that this, not multiple unbeaten deserving teams, is the worst thing that could ever happen to the BCS.

I think, at some point in the season, 50 teams had a chance to distinguish themselves and prove that they deserve to play for the national championship, and no team ever did. That is why this ends in chaos. It is the imperfect storm.

One thing is sure... get ready to be inundated with a billion unoriginal "we need a playoff" articles and diatribes in the sports media. How boring and repetitive. It will be the same, "they need to decide it on the field, how come we can't have one if D2 does it?" Wahh, Wahh, Wahh. I don't care if there is a playoff or not. I like the idea of 1 playing 4 and 2 playing 3, and just having one extra game.

The system is not changing, but this year it is gonna be chaos to end the season. College football has been chaotic all season long, why would it change now? My first inclination is to put Ohio St and LSU in the BCS National Championship and LSU will kill them. Let the arguments begin...

With the SEC Championship just a few hours away...

The guys at Rocky Top Talk have put together a tremendous Vols video. Phil Fulmer as the Fiddler on the Roof. Priceless.