Verno's Blog

2011-12-09T19:37:00.001-06:00

New Memphis coach Justin Fuente on the show (The Audio)

2011-12-08T19:31:00.000-06:00

Memphis introduced Justin Fuente as their new football coach today. He joined us on the show this afternoon. Seemed like my kind of guy. Listen here...

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My favorite YouTube video of 2011

2011-12-08T00:25:00.000-06:00

The perfect Christmas Gift (The All Heart. Grit, Grind Hoodie)

2011-12-07T09:44:00.001-06:00

In honor of the Grizzlies starting back up right after Christmas, we bring to you the "All Heart. Grit, Grind" Hoodie. We are going to have a limited amount to start out and will see how they do, so don't wait to order if you know you want one. They will ONLY BE AVAILABLE ONLINE. They will start shipping out on Friday and if you want to make sure you have it for Christmas, please order by December 18th. The perfect Christmas gift...

ORDER HERE

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (Championships, Week 14)

2011-12-01T20:16:00.000-06:00

Our station is going to become 730 Yahoo! Sports

2011-12-01T08:30:00.001-06:00

The station has signed a deal with Yahoo! Sports Radio and will become 730 Yahoo! Sports on Monday. When left with no programming after Entercom stole our Fox Sports affiliation away, we became #VernoRadio and ran my show on a loop - that entire story is HERE. The level of support from listeners and sponsors was crazy, and what was supposed to be a survival tactic actually ended up working. More people were getting to hear the show than ever before, we got local and national publicity, and small business owners both locally and nationally were sending words of encouragement and offering any assistance that we would need.

As you may know, within the last year what was once Sporting News radio has become Yahoo! Sports Radio. When given the opportunity to become a Yahoo! affiliate it was a no-brainer. We need that programming and that affiliation if we can get it. Yahoo! is one of the most powerful brands in sports now and I'm extremely happy for the show to be affiliated with the brand. I am incredibly appreciative of everyone that loves getting to hear the show whenever they want to, but for the sake of the station and stability we had to do this. My show will still be on the air each day from 3-6 CST and our podcast of the show is available on iTunes every night.

This is the best thing that could happen for us. Your support of the show and the sponsors has enabled us to keep the show going without giving in, or giving up.

Losing Fox and having to come up with something could have been totally devastating, but instead people rallied like never before behind the show and made #VernoRadio a success, and made Yahoo! want to be affiliated with the station. I can never thank you enough. So next week we will become 730 Yahoo! Sports and will be a Yahoo! Sports affiliate until Entercom comes in and tries to steal that too (haha). #VernoRadio.

The Grizzlies salary cap situation (Post-Lockout)

2011-11-28T21:31:00.001-06:00

The Grizzlies have 9 guys locked in and under contract
I will list the player, followed by their actual cap number for the upcoming season...

Zach Randolph $15,200,000
Rudy Gay         $15,032,144
Mike Conley     $ 6,611,571
OJ Mayo           $ 5,632,637
Tony Allen         $ 3,150,000
Xavier Henry     $ 2,171,640
Darrell Arthur    $ 2,027,119
Sam Young       $ 1,184,750
Greivis Vasquez $ 1,113,600

So a total of 9 players at $52,123,461

There are 4 other players to consider that are not part of these numbers...

Ish Smith - has a non-guaranteed $788,872 - and I do not believe the Grizzlies will keep him.

Hamed Haddadi - has been extended the qualifying offer - of $2 million. I think the most likely thing to happen with Haddadi is that they offer him a few years at less than that (like 2 years for $3 million or something like that). If there is someone on the market they want and they need that money, they may just pull the offer completely (like they once did with Warrick).

Josh Selby - taken late in the draft so the $ will not be very significant. I think they pay him more than the minimum and try to sign him for multiple years rather than have him for 1. Like what they did with Sam Young, just for less money.

Marc Gasol - this is of course the most important player to talk about. The Grizzlies are not going to lose Gasol. He is a restricted FA, and they are willing to pay to keep him. My opinion is that it is going to cost about $11-12 million per year (going rate for young bigs) to keep him and they are willing to pay it.

So let's say Gasol gets $11 million in first year, and Selby gets $600,000...

That would mean the salary cap # goes to $63.7 million - and you would have 11 players on roster
Now, let's add in Haddadi at $2 million - now you are at $65.7 million and have 12 players on roster

The only number we have to worry about is the luxury tax - Heisley has proven he will spend up to it, but he is not going over that number. A good guess for the luxury tax is $70-71 million.

Some Grizzlies have bonuses (for All-Star game appearances and such) and if they are hit, those will count against the cap - so there has to be some wiggle room under the tax.

SIDE NOTE - They don't have the money or the ability to sign multi-year deals to keep Shane Battier. I wish they did.

That does not leave a bunch of money to add players to the roster, and you have to have at least 13 players. Being that the team has a window to really compete at the highest level, I think they may actually spend the remaining few million bucks all on one player, or just get rid of Haddadi and his salary and get 2 guys with about $5 million. At this point they would rather have one more good contributor and a short roster than just filling out the end of the bench with warm bodies.

They want to find at least one big guy that can play minutes behind Gasol. Some names to consider would be Josh McRoberts (who they tried to trade for last year), Jeff Foster, Joel Pryzbilla, or Dan Gadzuric. They are all big and could log minutes at center, and they are all unrestricted FA's.

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (Thanksgiving Edition, Week 13)

2011-11-23T10:44:00.002-06:00

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 12 Video)

2011-11-17T15:31:00.000-06:00

Josh Pastner on the show (The Audio)

2011-11-15T21:01:00.000-06:00

Memphis coach Josh Pastner joined us on the show after the Tigers won their home opener over Belmont in impressive fashion. Here is the audio if you missed it...

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Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 11 Video)

2011-11-10T09:54:00.000-06:00

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 10 Video)

2011-11-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

That happened (David Freese)

2011-10-28T09:13:00.000-05:00

And to top it off, Joe Buck calls the HR just like his father did in the '91 World Series. Impossibly great moment.

Greatest HS football announcer ever

2011-10-27T21:16:00.000-05:00

This guy should be calling college and NFL games and he should have been doing it yesterday. I'd watch this guy call anything. I cannot get enough of these touchdown calls. You cannot watch it without trying to imitate him afterward, it's impossible. We have to find out who this is. The game is in Georgia so it should not be too hard to figure it out. Anyone in the Atlanta area know? Touch-DOWN!

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 9 Video)

2011-10-27T10:48:00.000-05:00

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 8 Video)

2011-10-20T12:04:00.000-05:00

#VernoRadio and the future

2011-10-18T09:24:00.003-05:00

Yesterday there was an article on TheBigLead.com about #VernoRadio and my situation. You can read the article HERE. I was surprised that our situation has gotten some national attention. One of the common threads of the articles written about what has happened lately is this question of how long I can hang on doing what we are doing. When I first presented what was going on I was flooded with words of encouragement and support, but now I feel like people are reading about it and are feeling sorry for me. Don't feel sorry for me. We have to rally and there is no time for a pity party. In 2005 we started 730 AM with 250 watts and a trailer in West Memphis, and there were people lined up telling me that I would never make it work. We had zero listeners and one advertiser (The Smile Center). That's when I needed people to feel sorry for me. If it didn't work I had very few connections in radio, and there was no place to go in the market for a guy with no established audience and very little money attached to the show. It has never been easy, but I've been fighting for 6 years at this station. Listeners have rallied, local businesses have rallied, and the level of support now is like never before. I need you in my corner, not feeling bad for me. Don't bet against me now. #VernoRadio

#VernoRadio launches

2011-10-16T23:46:00.001-05:00

If you missed the story behind #VernoRadio, it is two posts below (Go listen to it and come back to this). The station may become affiliated with another brand down the road, but for now if you turn on 730 AM in Memphis, you will hear the show. Since I explained the story on the air last week, I have heard from small business owners all over the country. It is truly amazing how the internet makes the world a small place. Guys just like me that have thought of throwing in the towel on their business at some point. Guys just like me that have wondered if it's worth it when you are up against something so much bigger. I have been totally stunned at the level of support from so many people that I've never even met. To all of you that have sent an email, called me, used the hashtag #VernoRadio on twitter, etc - I will never be able to thank you enough. Keep helping us get the word out, and please support our sponsors. #VernoRadio starts today, and you can listen to the show whenever you want. P.S. - I'm fully aware that this is crazy.

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 7 Video)

2011-10-16T23:09:00.003-05:00

Sorry I was late posting this here this week. Remember, the videos come out every Thursday morning at outkickthecoverage.com and you can always see them there.

#VernoRadio

2011-10-12T21:53:00.002-05:00

I started the show by explaining what is going on with the show, my station, and my radio career. I have never felt like I did when #VernoRadio became the #1 trending topic in Memphis for several hours on Twitter today. The support was so overwhelming and I can never thank you all enough. If you missed the show and want to know what this is all about, here is the audio --->

#VernoRadio

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Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 6 Video)

2011-10-06T13:44:00.000-05:00

Former VP Dick Cheney on the show (The Audio)

2011-10-03T20:04:00.001-05:00

Who would have thought that Dick Cheney would ever come on The Chris Vernon Show? Well, it happened. We talked to the former VP about getting into politics, what he is really like, his new book, etc. Hopefully no matter how you feel politically you can appreciate that he was willing to come on our show, we certainly did. A portion of the interview was featured on The Huffington Post HERE. Here is the interview....
Dick Cheney on The Chris Vernon Show

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Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 5 Video)

2011-09-29T09:24:00.002-05:00

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 4 Video)

2011-09-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 3 Video)

2011-09-15T12:16:00.001-05:00

"Tiger Steve" ain't no joke

2011-09-13T20:44:00.005-05:00

After we got done with the R.C. Johnson interview we took some calls to see what people thought. "Tiger Steve" went all-in on R.C. ---- Here is the Audio --- http://mp3twit.com/jeD

R.C. Johnson on the show (The Audio)

2011-09-13T20:25:00.001-05:00

Memphis Athletic Director R.C. Johnson joined us on the show to talk about the state of Memphis football. Should he be fired? Who should be held responsible? Is the state of the football program killing any chance Memphis would have of getting into a BCS league? All those questions and more...

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Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Week 2 Video)

2011-09-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

Another week, another million to make. It's soooooooooo eaaaaaaaasy for Vinnie V. Watch and learn. Remember, videos always debut on http://outkickthecoverage.com/ on Thursday mornings.

Philanthropy w/ Vinnie Verno (The Video Debut)

2011-09-01T22:46:00.000-05:00

Vinnie Verno is producing videos for http://outkickthecoverage.com/ this season. Make sure you set that site as a favorite to see the videos when they are released. Here is the video we produced for Week 1...

Luke Walton on the show (The Audio)

2011-08-29T20:50:00.000-05:00

New Memphis basketball asst. coach Luke Walton joined us on the show to talk about how he ended up with the job, the NBA lockout, what he thinks of the Tigers so far, etc. Here it is...

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Dan Mullen on the show (The Audio)

2011-08-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

Miss. St. coach Dan Mullen joined us on the show to talk about the upcoming season, changing a culture, offensive innovation, what drives him, the opening game vs. Memphis, etc. Here it is...

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Houston Nutt on the show (The Audio)

2011-08-29T20:41:00.001-05:00

Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt was on the show today. We talked about how the defense is going to be better, his new QB, the BYU game this week, and why he should let me give the speech in the locker room before the first game. Here it is...

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Lightning beats 730 Fox Sports

2011-08-26T12:14:00.002-05:00

Lightning destroyed the station. Just crushed it. The station is being rebuilt and I am told will be back up and running tomorrow (Saturday). I sincerely appreciate the messages from those of you that have missed the show. The only silver lining in all of this is that we get all new equipment. Other than that, this has been torture.

Lute Olson on the show (The Audio)

2011-08-23T15:12:00.001-05:00

Lute Olson has had quite the impact on the entire Memphis basketball staff. Josh Pastner, Jack Murphy, Damon Stoudamire, and now Luke Walton all have the Arizona connection. Coach Olson joined us on the show to talk about these guys, and what he thinks about what is going on with Memphis basketball. Here it is...

Lute Olson on The Chris Vernon Show (8-23-11)

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Damon Stoudamire in the studio (The Audio)

2011-08-17T20:21:00.000-05:00

Memphis asst. basketball coach Damon Stoudamire joined us in the studio today to talk about his new job as a college coach, what he has experienced so far, his playing and coaching days with the Grizzlies, etc. Here it is...

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Our trip to the National Sports Collectors Convention (Chicago) *w/ Videos

2011-08-08T18:54:00.001-05:00

Last year we went to Baltimore for the National Sports Collectors Convention. I had once read a column that Bill Simmons wrote about him going to the convention for the first time, and decided I had to see it. After Roser and I got done with our trip last year we decided it needed to be an annual trip. This year the convention was in Chicago. We went to a White Sox/ Yankees game one night, sat in the bleachers in Wrigley for a Cubs/Reds day game, and spent the time inside the convention center. This year we took another one of our buddies, Mark McCleskey, with us on the trip. I knew that I probably wouldn't feel like loading every pic and writing about what we bought, so this year I brought a video camera. Here is what we found.

2 Hours of Tony Allen (The Audio)

2011-07-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

Tony Allen co-hosted the show with me Friday. It seems silly for me to try to attempt to describe what we talked about or what happened. Tony set the all-time record for shout-outs. It's 2 hours, and it's Tony Allen talking, so you will probably want to check this out...

Tony Allen co-hosts The Chris Vernon Show (The Audio) -

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Craig Brewer in the studio (The Audio)

2011-06-30T19:21:00.000-05:00

Craig Brewer, Director of "Hustle and Flow" and "Blake Snake Moan", joined us in studio today. We talked about his new movie "Footloose", his Tarzan project, the movie business, tv, etc. He was tremendous. Listen to this if you missed it...

Craig Brewer on The Chris Vernon Show (6-30-11)

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Josh Selby in the studio (The Audio)

2011-06-24T20:40:00.000-05:00

Josh Selby was selected 49th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies last night. Today, he joined us in the studio to talk about his year at Kansas, his peers getting drafted ahead of him, what he likes, etc. I loved this pick and think it has a chance to be a massive steal.

Josh Selby on The Chris Vernon Show -

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Larry Porter in studio (The Audio)

2011-06-24T20:39:00.000-05:00

After watching a listening to a ton of boring Larry Porter interviews (and conducting one or two myself) we decided that we absolutely had to get the Memphis coach in the studio. I needed to sit down across from him and find out what he was really like. I had gotten the feeling that there is no way that he was the way that I thought he came off in interviews. Most of all I wanted to learn about him, and I think we achieved that. I spent a hour after the show sitting and talking to him in the studio about all kinds of stuff, and I found him to be intensely likable and much different than my perception. If you missed it, listen to this and I think you will like him too.

Larry Porter on The Chris Vernon Show

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Memphis coach Josh Pastner on the show

2011-06-10T20:19:00.000-05:00

Today Coach Pastner came on the show to talk about staff changes and other news surrounding the Tigers basketball program. The stories of the new strength coach, errrrr Life Changer, were impossibly funny and we may get to see a masked man on the bench after all. The photo is of the new coach... seriously. Here is the interview if you missed it...
Josh Pastner on The Chris Vernon Show

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The most important wrestling moment of my youth

2011-05-24T10:03:00.001-05:00

When the "Macho Man" Randy Savage died last week we talked a lot about wrestling, and how much these guys meant to my childhood. There is one moment from my youth that stands out more than any other. Andre The Giant had made an appearance on Piper's Pit with Bobby The Brain and challenged Hulk Hogan (and ripped off his shirt and chain). That was a memorable moment, but paled in comparison to the day they met with the President, Jack Tunney, and signed the contract. I still cannot fathom this level of betrayal...

I don't think that I've ever been more inspired in my life. It still gets me every time.
"You tore the heart and soul out of all the little Hulksters!"
"We're gonna get your attention, man!"
"You speak to me in English when you talk to me!!!"
"It's signed in blood!!!!!"

Makes me wanna run through a brick wall to this day. Nothing mattered more to me than this, nothing.

The Grizzlies Playoff Run (The Video)

2011-05-23T08:15:00.000-05:00

I recently recieved an email from a listener named Jonathan that said the show we did the day after Game 7 had inspired him to make a video about the Grizzlies playoff run. The result is spectacular...

All Heart. Grit, Grind (The Pics, Part 3)

2011-05-16T20:03:00.001-05:00

This whole shirt ordeal has been unbelievable. The idea that people are wearing these all over the nation now, that everyone from Bill Simmons to the lead singer of MGMT wear the shirt? It has all been overwhelming. Thank you so much to all of you that bought the shirts and told people where they could find them. Here is the latest installment of pics that have been sent in. Rome, Saudi Arabia, etc. Enjoy...

I'm a model

2011-05-16T19:49:00.001-05:00

Proud to be part of Michael Cardwell's "This is Memphis" project. You can check it out at http://www.thisismemphis.com/ This should open the door to the modeling career I've always dreamed of having. Think I'll tryout for Project Runway. Wait, what's that? I'm gross? Stop hatin.

Grizzlies Owner Michael Heisley in studio (The Audio)

2011-05-06T19:59:00.001-05:00

Michael Heisley joined us in the studio for the entire first hour of the show. Today we talked about the playoffs, how he bought the Grizzlies, the details of how the Grizzlies ended up in Memphis, the Brian Davis/ Christian Laettner fiasco, etc. The stories were incredibly interesting. If you missed it...
Michael Heisley on The Chris Vernon Show 5-6-11

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Charles Barkley on the show (The Audio)

2011-05-05T19:59:00.001-05:00

Charles Barkley joined us on the show to talk about why he believes in the Grizzlies, the playoffs, breaking drivers, Memphis, etc. It was a real thrill to have him on the show. Here it is...

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All Heart. Grit, Grind (The Pics, Part 2)

2011-05-04T22:45:00.004-05:00

More pics have been coming in of people wearing the Grit, Grind shirt in various places. Here are some of them. If you own the shirt, take a pic wearing it somewhere and send it to us.

Guest spot on The Dan Patrick Show

2011-05-04T22:12:00.003-05:00

Big thanks to all the guys at The Dan Patrick Show for having me on. I was on the show on Wednesday morning to talk about the Grizzlies and the series vs. Oklahoma City. Here it is if you missed it...

Chris Vernon on The Dan Patrick Show 5/4/11

The Zach Randolph Shirt

2011-05-03T20:21:00.004-05:00

When we came out with the Tony Allen shirt, one of the first things that Tony said to me is that I needed to do a ZBo shirt. Zach then would ask me after almost every game when I was gonna make him a shirt. With a big assist from Zach and his tremendous agent Raymond Brothers, we have made it happen. The man deserves a shirt, the man gets a shirt. It is now available in our store (link above), and will be available for purchase before games outside FedEx Forum (starting Saturday). The logo is full color, so it costs a little more ($20). The slogan comes from his postgame comments after Game 6 of Spurs series. For our second act, I give you the Zach Randolph shirt...

The Grizzlies Motivational Video

2011-05-01T20:10:00.000-05:00

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace (with the help of Andy Shiffman) put together this motivational video that was shown to the team in the locker room prior to their first round series. Guess it worked.

MGMT lead singer WEARING THE GRIT/GRIND SHIRT

2011-04-30T10:19:00.003-05:00

Andrew VanWyngarden is the lead singer of MGMT. He is a Memphian. The band has gotten huge (like 20-40 million hits on their YouTube videos huge). Last night MGMT played at Beale St. Musicfest and look at what he was wearing on stage. CHECK MATE.

Are you serious Darrell Arthur???

2011-04-26T08:27:00.000-05:00

All Heart. Grit, Grind (The Pics)

2011-04-24T20:45:00.003-05:00

Here is a sample of the first batch of pictures that have been sent in. If you have the shirt, take a picture wearing it and send it to us. The more creative the better. So far we have gotten pics taken everywhere from the Napa Valley to the hospital maternity wing. Thank you. Keep em comin.

I see what you did there TNT

2011-04-17T21:02:00.000-05:00

The Tony Allen shirts have now been mentioned by ESPN, Wall St. Journal, GQ, CBS, Yahoo!, etc. And then, there I am watching Game 1 of the playoffs and this pops up on my screen. All Heart. Grit, Grind indeed.

Look who is in the Wall St. Journal

2011-04-14T14:07:00.000-05:00

Some guy on the subway in New York City was reading about Tony Allen, and got himself a dose of the show. Watch your back Wall Street. The article is great and my favorite part is my quotes, no really, how amazing are those quotes? In all seriousness, big thanks for Scott Caciolla for writing this article and including me (and the shirts)...

The Most Unlikely Impact Player

Tony Allen in the studio (The Audio)

2011-04-04T19:34:00.000-05:00

You don't have the shirt yet? You can order the shirt here...

The Chris Vernon Show Store

The man we honor with the shirts, Tony Allen himself, came into the studio today to talk about everything. Here is the audio if you missed it...

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2011-04-01T20:04:00.001-05:00

if you want to order the shirt and have it delivered to you...

The Chris Vernon Show Store

Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley rockin the shirt...

Thank you! (and the Fox 13 story)

2011-04-01T10:28:00.001-05:00

Thank you to all of you that have ordered Tony Allen shirts. There will be shirts literally all over the nation soon. I never did any of this thinking about profit. When a shirt got sold in San Francisco, or Dallas, my thought was not "wow, I just made money" it was "wow, some guy in California is gonna be walking around town in a Tony Allen shirt". Tony, his agent Michael Higgins, and the Grizzlies have been great to me through all of this. I know it is how the world works, but it has made me pretty uncomfortable for so many people to call and email and tweet about going into business, or "meeting about opportunities."

I did it because I thought Tony Allen deserved a shirt. To be honest, I think that is why it worked. It was all fan-driven and organic. The shirts have brought crazy media attention to the show, and crazy attention to Tony Allen. That is because of you. Thank you.

The FOX 13 story on Tony Allen popularity in Memphis, the shirts, and "Salmon + Mash Potatoes" -->

Memphis Grizzlies Fans Catch Tony Allen Fever: MyFoxMEMPHIS.com

Ordering the shirt

2011-03-31T17:33:00.001-05:00

IF YOU WANT THE GRIT/ GRIND SHIRT, THEY WILL NOW BE DELIVERED VIA FEDEX AND YOU CAN ORDER THEM HERE AT OUR STORE...
WE WILL HOPE TO HAVE THEM BEFORE GAMES OUTSIDE IF YOU LIVE IN MEMPHIS

THE CHRIS VERNON SHOW STORE

Michael Heisley in studio (The Audio)

2011-03-30T22:25:00.000-05:00

The owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, Michael Heisley, joined us in the studio for the 3rd hour of the show today. Rather than argue about things we may disagree on, I wanted to use today to learn more about him as a person, and I think we did. I got a lot of great response from people that said they think a little differently about him now. I think you will enjoy this if you missed it. It took up the entire hour.

Grizzlies Owner Michael Heisley on the show (The Audio)

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Looks like I'm in the T-Shirt business

2011-03-30T19:26:00.005-05:00

My intent was not to be in the T-Shirt business, but I have no choice. I will deliver what the people demand! Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the response. Having Bill Simmons tweet out the shirt to over 1.3 million followers was the breaking point. You want Tony Allen T-Shirts, you will get Tony Allen T-Shirts!

I have some available to ship. Don't return them or complain (haha). If you live in Memphis you can still buy them from me - we will hope to be outside before games. The price is obviously higher here if you want it shipped.
SHIRTS WILL BE SHIPPED BY SATURDAY

UPDATE: THERE WILL BE A NEW STORE UP TODAY WITH THE SHIRTS AVAILABLE TO BUY - JUST HOLD OFF UNTIL TONIGHT AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO BUY ONE.

ALL ORDERS ALREADY SUBMITTED WILL BE FILLED AS STATED

The Tony Allen T-Shirt (wooooooooooooo)

2011-03-30T09:07:00.001-05:00

I will deliver what the people demand. The people demand a Tony Allen T-Shirt. You may have heard him mention it on twitter, or you may have seen one of the few that are already on the streets. Lots of people are already asking me about them, so I might as well acknowledge it. I am trying to find the best way to get these to the people that want them. I am really not interested in shipping and returns and all of the junk that comes along with selling online. So... I will attempt to find the best way to sell these without having to mess with potential problems. I may put them in some stores and businesses, I may just carry a bag around with them, I may have you come up to the office if you want one, or I may stand out by the Forum before games. I really don't know how I am going to get them to you. I just wanted to make them, and for people to wear them. The shirt has the image above on the front and a small show logo on the back collar. The greatest $15 you ever spent. I obviously thought this through before I spent a bunch of money on them (haha). If you want one, I will get you one,

Jimmy Hart live in studio (The Audio)

2011-03-25T15:34:00.001-05:00

"The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart joined us in our studio on Thursday for over an hour. I could attempt to explain what we talked about, but it would take forever and I have better things to do. Just listen to it. If you don't enjoy this interview you love communism.

Jimmy Hart live on The Chris Vernon Show (The Audio) ---->

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Bruce Pearl Rally

2011-03-23T08:54:00.002-05:00

Feris Bueller's Day Off as Indie Film

2011-03-22T08:22:00.001-05:00

The trip to Tulsa

2011-03-17T16:02:00.004-05:00

Early this morning I picked up Roser and we headed to Tulsa for the Tigers game in the NCAA Tournament. We left at about 6:15 a.m. and arrived in Tulsa right before the Memphis open practice at 12:40 p.m.. If I recall correctly we got on 40 west, drove forever, got off at some exit, drove a little more, and then we were in Tulsa. It was a really easy trip.

We only stopped twice and one of the stops was in the great town of Sallisaw, Oklahoma. We stopped there because we needed to stop for gas and because I saw a billboard that said "INDIAN STORE - NEXT RIGHT". First we stopped at the gas station to fill up and grab a drink. We went inside and encountered one of the most hilarious convenient stores ever. The old lady working at the counter had a near death coughing spell that sounded like it could only come from a person that had smoked 300 cigarettes a day for the last 45 years. She didn't die, but she did bring me to the edge of vomiting. I can honestly say I have never seen a gas station with a sign that says "Jean Shorts on SALE", but I have now. Here they are...

We left the gas station and headed across the street to The Indian Store...

This was kind of a letdown. It just didn't feel very authentic to me. I wanted real Indian swag and it was drums, teddy bears with head dresses, some bead stuff, and some t-shirts with wolves on them. I wanted to buy a spear or something like that. No dice.

We got to Tulsa in time for the Memphis open practice where we saw several Memphis media members, along with Pat Forde, Craig Sager, and some others. Memphis looked really loose and confident to me. Who knows if it will mean anything but they seemed like they were having fun and hardly overwhelmed. Joe Jackson was hitting everything when I was watching him shoot. I thought the arena, The BOK Center, was awesome. Very impressive considering there is not an NBA team that plays there. The practice...

A huge thank you to Lexus of Memphis for hooking us up with a new RX 450 Hybrid to drive down to Tulsa. It is insanely comfortable, it has every bell and whistle imaginable, and rides as smoothly as any car I have ever been in. I fully endorse this vehicle. I learned the hard way that with a car so nice it is extremely easy to lose track of how fast you are going (the blue lights in Arkansas reminded me though). 83 in a 70. The trooper was nice to us, but still gave me the ticket. This is the car, go buy one...

Memphis vs. Arizona

2011-03-14T12:57:00.000-05:00

The killer crossover of Josh Pastner vs. his former school.

Memphis is dancing

2011-03-13T10:22:00.001-05:00

I didn't believe that Memphis could go down to El Paso and win the CUSA tournament. To beat UTEP, in El Paso, at 9:30 in the morning just seemed too much to ask of this team. I was wrong. The expectations were extremely high for Memphis going into the season, and then when we saw them play. Everyone had to adjust what they thought the team was capable of. Most believed that the team was still capable of being the class of CUSA, and after a 4th place finish were disappointed in how the season had played out.

Most projections did not have Memphis making the NCAA tournament field unless they won the CUSA tournament. With a tournament bid on the line, and down big to UTEP, Memphis fought back and capped off a huge run with two Joe Jackson free throws to seal their fate. Dancing.

Time will pass and we will remember the clutch Joe Jackson free throws forever, but it was how the game really ended that interested me most. The game really ended with UTEP having a chance to win when Christian Polk (who had been fantastic all day) took a shot that came up short. Several years ago I read an article in Sports Illustrated where Jeff Van Gundy said (and I am paraphrasing) "You are down by 1 and you have the ball. You draw up the play. Your guy gets the ball and he is open. He takes the shot. The ball is in the air.... good coach, bad coach, good coach, bad coach, good coach, bad coach,"

I have always remembered that quote when thinking about how we talk about coaches. I could not help but think of that quote after the game in regards to the Polk shot to win it. If the shot drops in... Josh Pastner is bad coach? His team becomes a disappointment and we are probably watching an NIT game hosted at FedEx Forum. If the shot misses...Josh Pastner is a good coach? His team is part of the Big Dance and they won the 3 games they absolutely had to.

It does all seem sort of silly. Pastner is no better or worse of a coach if that Polk shot drops in and UTEP is dancing instead of Memphis. Who knows if Josh is going to be one of the great college basketball coaches? I would love to think that he will be because, like any normal human, I root for good things to happen to good people. Here is what we do know - when it mattered most Josh Pastner had his team playing the best basketball we have seen them play all season. He has taken the criticism and now he gets the praise.

The Memphis season was filled with the feeling that the team was not going to live up to expectations. There is no question that not being involved in the NCAA tournament would have been a disappointing. But nobody (not the fans, not the players, not Josh) has to worry about that. A big congrats to Josh Pastner and the team.

Memphis is dancing after all.

Tony Allen guarding Kevin Durant

2011-03-09T12:18:00.000-06:00

The New York Times wrote a great piece called "Allen and the Plight of the Undervalued Defender." You can read the article HERE. The video above was part of the article.

We need an intern

2011-03-08T09:54:00.000-06:00

The Chris Vernon Show needs an intern. I was an intern. Roser was an intern. Nearly every person I know in radio was an intern at one point. You won't get paid but you will get good experience and if you are good you may get a job out of it. Almost all of our interns that really wanted to be in the media have ended up in the media. Intern Kevin is gone and took a job in Chicago. He was tremendous and we miss him already. If you think you may want to intern for the show, send me an email explaining why we should consider you. We preferably need somebody that is good on the web, has a good sense of humor, and knows the show. Email me at chris@cvernon.com if you are interested.

Priceless (Memphis Pom)

2011-03-08T09:41:00.002-06:00

Z-BO!

2011-03-07T08:36:00.000-06:00

Josh Pastner on the show (The Audio)

2011-03-04T17:34:00.000-06:00

Memphis basketball coach Josh Pastner joined us on the show on Friday to talk about literally everything. Over 35 minutes on him and the Tiger basketball team. Here it is if you missed it...

Josh Pastner on The Chris Vernon Show (3-4-11)

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The Grizzlies + Playoff Beards

2011-03-03T19:30:00.000-06:00

The Grizzlies are growing out playoff beards. The deal was struck amongst the team prior to the San Antonio game. As I understand it, you were allowed to shave before the Spurs game if you chose to and will not be allowed to shave your beard until the Grizzlies have officially clinched a playoff spot. Given that the race is so tight in the Western Conference we are talking about these beards growing for easily over a month. Every player on the roster is in on this. All of the coaches are in on this. Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace is in on this. All told, over 30 members of the Grizzlies team and staff are growing beards. You better believe the rest of the league and fans are gonna be talking about the way this team looks, and make no mistake, in a few weeks they will look hilarious. I love it.

Trash talk lessons

2011-03-02T21:36:00.000-06:00

Take a second and learn from the master... Jumpin Jeff Farmer.

109-93

2011-03-01T21:24:00.002-06:00

OK, I don't think of "Cadence" anymore

2011-03-01T13:47:00.003-06:00

Last week I put up a post about how when I think of Charlie Sheen I think of the movie "Cadence". Oh, how quickly things change in a week. Too much?

ABC 24 News Story on Battier that features the show

2011-02-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

Shane Battier live in studio (The Audio)

2011-02-25T19:43:00.001-06:00

Shane Battier came back to Memphis, and joined us in our studio on Friday. If you missed this, you really should listen to it. If you heard it, you should listen again. He was great. 30 minutes - tons of questions about everything - Shane Battier in studio...

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One of my finest moments (Hasheem Thabeet)

2011-02-24T20:48:00.000-06:00

The blog from the night of the 2009 NBA Draft

Goodbye Hasheem. I wish the Grizzlies front office would have listened to me.

Breakin out the old Battier swag

2011-02-24T19:57:00.000-06:00

Get on my level - and didn't even include the little Russian doll of Battier, cause I didn't want to embarrass you.

CHRISVERNON.COM BREAKING NEWS

2011-02-24T14:01:00.000-06:00

The Grizzlies have completed a trade with the Houston Rockets for Shane Battier. The Grizzlies will give up Thabeet and a protected 1st Rd pick.

The Grizzlies are close to finalizing a deal with the Indiana Pacers that would send OJ Mayo to the Pacers in return for Josh McRoberts and their first round pick.

Grizzlies and the trade deadline

2011-02-23T23:19:00.000-06:00

Here is what I have gathered...

I will be surprised if the Grizzlies do not move Thabeet. There are multiple teams willing to take him on, so the Grizzlies will hopefully just take the best deal. A deal with Houston with Thabeet and Shane Battier being the major pieces has been talked about seriously. I'm told Houston wanted more than just Thabeet to get the deal done. The deal may not be totally dead but by one source said that it had looked like it was going to happen at one point and may not now.

I was told that the offers for OJ Mayo are bad, really bad. Heisley loves Mayo, and it will be hard to convince him on trading OJ, even if there is really good return available. Maybe something will come up close to the deadline but I was told that teams were offering "laughable" return for Mayo at this point.

When I hear the name Charlie Sheen...

2011-02-23T09:32:00.000-06:00

Over the past few weeks you may have heard about Charlie Sheen, and his troubles (or fun), roughly a trillion times. I don't watch the TV show he is on, and have seen very few movies that he has been in. Am I the only person that thinks of the movie "Cadence" when I hear the name Charlie Sheen? I don't know if there is anyone more famous that I identify with something so obscure. I know I should think of Wall Street, or Major League, but I don't. Charlie Sheen is the absolute master of looking like he has no idea what is going on. I have no idea how he was not given the Oscar for this scene alone. When I watch this you can hear me screamin - "Now that's acting!" I'd bet I watched this scene 1000 times when I was a kid...

Tell me it's a nightmare

2011-02-23T08:42:00.000-06:00

1. Got out of bed

2. Grab my coffee

3. Opened up my laptop

4. Check twitter to see if anything is going on this morning

5. First tweet I see is from Cardinals beat writer and it reads as follows - "Wainwright going back to St. Louis to have ligament examined in right elbow. Mozeliak believes it's "significant injury."
6. Check the other Cardinals news feeds - each one with worse news - including the Cardinals official feed that says "At this time things don't look good, will have more info after he sees doctors"
7. Sat in chair, pinching myself, praying that I am still asleep and this is all just a nightmare

The Tony Allen Effect

2011-02-22T09:00:00.000-06:00

     I've been a big proponent of Tony Allen playing more minutes for the Grizzlies since the beginning of the season. I'm confident my listeners and Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace grew tired of me exclaiming "This dude can guard Kobe in the Finals but can't play for the Grizzlies?!!" Well, Lionel Hollins finally warmed up to Tony and started playing him, and he has reaped the rewards of his decision.   But how much?

    Here are some of the numbers that I gave out on the show on Monday -
I wanted to find some measure of the effect Tony Allen has on the offensive and defensive ends of the court (in regards to team performance). Some explaining - Offensive and Defensive efficiency is simply how many pts the team scores, or gives up, per 100 possessions. The Grizzlies are currently 19th in Off. Eff. and 10th in Def. Eff. in the NBA.

I went to find what the Grizzlies do when Allen plays 25+ minutes (a lot), and what the team does when Allen plays 0-10 minutes (a little).

     When Tony Allen plays (0-10) minutes...
The Grizzlies are 8-11 in 19 games
They have an Off. Eff. of 102.5 (23rd in the league)
They have a Def. Eff. of 104.5 (16th in the league)

     When Tony Allen plays (25+) minutes
The Grizzlies are 8-2 in 10 games
They have an Off. Eff, of 106.1 (10th in the league)
They have a Def. Eff. of 100.3 (6th in the league)

The sample sizes are obviously small, but I was surprised to find that not only are the Grizzlies better defensively (which I expected), but they are better offensively, when Allen plays big minutes. There is no doubt that Allen will be playing big minutes while Rudy is out - will he still have a huge effect on both ends? I guess we will see.

Buzz Bissinger was on the show

2011-02-22T08:15:00.002-06:00

Last Friday Buzz Bissinger joined us on the show to talk about his latest column on The Daily Beast (find the column HERE) Here was our conversation about him writing that white people have a hard time rooting for black athletes in the NBA...

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Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! (The HS dunk)

2011-02-21T21:10:00.001-06:00

Steven Kaspar plays for ECS and he is going to play basketball in the Patriot League at Bucknell next year. In the Div II A West Regional Championship he had the dunk of his life (:23 sec mark)...

My favorite part of the video is when the kid that gets dunked on tries to run away from the scene. Like, "Gee, what happened over there? I was way over here." Come on man, the video caught you jogging away. Congrats Steven, you will never forget that moment and that kid you maimed will have nightmares about it forever.

So I finally own chrisvernon.com

2011-02-21T19:41:00.000-06:00

      Several years ago, when I was going to start a website, the closest thing I could get to chrisvernon.com was cvernon.com. I wanted chrisvernon.com badly. My web guy looked up who owned the site and it just so happened that the guy that owned chrisvernon.com was...you guessed it, Chris Vernon. Chris Vernon that lived in Cleveland, Tn. I could not believe that of all the places he could live that he happened to live a few hours down the road from me. I considered just driving down the road and challenging him to a Chris Vernon duel, or nicely suggesting that he change his name.
      We tried to make an offer for the site but Cleveland Chris wanted to keep the site, which he used for pictures of his family on vacation. Long story short, last week Cleveland Chris emailed me out of nowhere to say he no longer had use for the site and wanted to offer it to me.
      I asked him how much he wanted for the site. He said $1 million. So, of course I told him that he had himself a deal. Since I had started the twitter account I had kind of ditched the blog outside of posting something every once in a while.  Anyway, I now own chrisvernon.com and I guess I have to get this blog going again.
Welcome back.

The Chris Vernon TV Show (Episode 2: Golden Radio Voices)

2011-01-10T08:57:00.000-06:00

Josh Pastner on the show (The Audio)

2011-01-03T21:30:00.000-06:00

Memphis coach Josh Pastner joined us on the show on Monday to talk about everything. Were the Tigers and the recruiting class overrated? Are the players responding to him? Is it fair to expect this team to make the NCAA tourney? if you missed it... here is the audio.

Josh Pastner on the show (1-3-11)

Vinnie Verno Bowl Philanthropy

2010-12-30T21:53:00.000-06:00

South Carolina -3 over Florida St
Bama -10 over Michigan St
Stanford -3.5 over V Tech
Wisconsin +3 over TCU
UConn +17 over Oklahoma

Vinnie Verno Bowl Picks (Dec. 30th games)

2010-12-29T20:01:00.001-06:00

SMU -7 over Army
Kansas St +1 over Syracuse
UNC pk over Tenn
Nebraska -14 over Washington

T Boone cash *first of the bowl picks

2010-12-29T19:43:00.003-06:00

Okla. St. -4 over Arizona

Vinnie Verno comin in with bowl picks soon

2010-12-26T20:40:00.000-06:00

NFL week 16 was to throw Vegas off before the Bowl picks. Vinnie could not tell you, would have ruined the plan. Billions of dollars were coming in on every Vinne pick as soon as he was releasing them. Now they are off our tail, time to go for the kill.
Bowl Picks will be posted this week

Season Record 56-44-1 (56%)

Philanthropy (The Picks)

2010-12-26T11:43:00.000-06:00

Chargers -8
49ers/ Chiefs under 39.5
Titans +5
Packers -3

Do the Lionel Hollins (The Song)

2010-12-23T17:54:00.000-06:00

Lionel Hollins response to our song...

DO THE LIONEL HOLLINS by The Chris Vernon Show

Lionel Are You Down? (The Audio)

2010-12-22T17:36:00.000-06:00

After the Grizzlies game against the Nets - Grizz coach Lionel Hollins (out of nowhere at presser) said- "Great to see you Chris Vernon, I like a man that comes when a man's down"
Our homage to Lionel...

LIONEL ARE YOU DOWN (Audio) by The Chris Vernon Show

Zach Randolph on the show (The Audio)

2010-12-20T21:59:00.001-06:00

Zach joined us on the show on Monday to talk about Christmas, Prada cologne, NBA 2k11, the team, the contract extension he has not gotten, etc. Check it.