Here we go Cardinals, Here we go!

I swear, when the fake Cowboys get dropped by the Cardinals, Katie bar the door. If they don't, I may not show up to work on Monday. Come on Arizona, I need this.

Phillip Rivers and George Foreman on the show

Phillip Rivers returned to the show today to talk about the playoffs, losing to the Steelers, Jay Cutler, Norv Turner, and who will win the Super Bowl.

George Foreman was on the show to talk about his new product he is pitching, his life now, and his career. Both interviews were in the 5 oclock hour of the show today.

Also, yesterday Clyde Drexler was on and he was great. All of these interviews are available in the podcast of the shows at www.730foxsports.com at the bottom, in the splashcast player. All of the segments are labeled so you can choose whatever you want to hear again, or whatever you missed.

Rudy Gay getting ready for the dunk contest (video)

Rudy got together with the Sklar brothers to try to decide what he should do in the dunk contest...

Filling in with Parrish

I will be filling in again with Gary Parrish on the Geoff and Gary show while Geoff Calkins is in Tampa covering the Super Bowl. So check out the show at 11. Gary and I are scheduled to be joined by Marisa Miller (Maxim's hottest woman in the world) in the last segment of the 11 oclock hour. You may remember that Miller is now a Tennessee fan (covered in this post from last year).

The truth about the Lionel Hollins hire

I thought hiring Lionel was the wrong decision, but I hope the guy becomes the NBA coach of the year and is fantastic. Some have killed the hire, and some have defended, or even praised the hire. I like the guy, like to see him getting his chance, and believe he could turn out to be good.

But here is the truth...
-Nobody in the media, including those that love Hollins and Heisley, would have put Lionel in a top 5 list of guys they think the Grizzlies should hire when they fire Iavaroni. Nobody. They can defend the hire now, but everyone knows his name would not have been mentioned if someone called into a show and asked who the Grizzlies should hire. Maybe all the fans and media would have been wrong to not include him (time will tell), but his name would never have been mentioned. So nobody would have mentioned him a week ago, yet now it is a good hire?

-Nobody with a brain believes that Lionel was hired because the Grizzlies think he was the best man for the job. Again, he might turn out to be the best man for the job- but nobody thinks that is the reason they are hiring him. This is my real concern.

- What is done is done, and I hope the guy is great. Primarily because I think he is a good guy and I like to see good things happen to good people. But nobody can deny that he would not have been on any media or fan top 5 as to who the team should hire, and nobody can deny that he was not hired because the team believes that he is the best man for the job.

The Lionel Hollins era begins tonight. Let's hope he's a great hire, even if I don't agree with it.

Memphis Business Quarterly feature on the show

I did an interview that is featured in Memphis Business Quarterly for their issue that comes out this month. They wanted to ask me about everything that goes along with my job, and specifically the sales angle of the show. If you ever wanted to know how my deal at the station is structured, and how it all works, then check it out. Thanks to Greg Akers (who wrote the article). If you want to pick the magazine up at the store, it is the newest issue and has investor Robert Compton on the cover.

The Chris Vernon Show in Memphis Business Quarterly (Winter '09 issue)

Lionel Hollins presser, Heisley speaks

The Grizzlies held their press conference today to announce Lionel Hollins as the head coach. The press conference had some decent moments, but the real fun was after the event was over. Michael Heisley held court with a small group of us, and fielded any question we wanted to throw at him. As far as I know, I have the only audio of the exchange (which lasted over 20 minutes), and I will play it on the show tomorrow. Their is a ton of really good stuff to sift through in the audio.

Grizzlies coaching situation, Mic Check channel

I am in Knoxville getting ready for the Memphis/Tennessee game and I have not been able to put anything up about the Ivy firing/ Hollins hiring, but if you want to check out the show from yesterday--- go to www.730foxsports.com and scroll to the bottom. The entire show is loaded in the splashcast player (including Kevin James coming on the show). The show was primarily about the Grizzlies coaching situation and the Tigers/ Vols game.

Also, I wanted to mention that the guys at ABC 24/ CW 30 have set up a channel for the TV bit, Mic Check with Chris Vernon. You can check out the most current bit, and scroll through ones from the past. Here is the link...
MIC CHECK Channel.

Clyde Drexler, Kevin James, Knoxville

All-time NBA great Clyde Drexler will be on the show Thursday in the first hour.

Kevin James (star of #1 movie in America, Paul Blart: Mall Cop) will be on the show on Friday.

The Memphis/ Tennessee game is this weekend.
Friday we will be doing the show live in Knoxville at Rays ESG, a great sports bar in town. If you are going to be in Knoxville the day before the game, come check us out at this place. Parrish will be out there with me.

If you are here to try to find audio of something that was on the show (the Chris Wallace bit, etc.) you can find the show broken into segments each day after the show is over.
The Chris Vernon Show podcast can be found at the bottom of www.730foxsports.com

"The Dribbler" has his defenders (and I predicted all of this)

There are times when I really think I might be a prophet. At the beginning of November, I wrote an article entitled "What is Mike Conley Jr?". You can find it HERE.
Now today I read an article in the CA about how "The Dribbler" being awful is the Grizzlies fault. Surprise, surprise. Like I said in November, with guys like Conley it is never really their fault if they dissapoint. cvernon.com= predicting the future since 2005.

The show now has a podcast

If you missed any of the show and want to check it out, the show is now always available at http://www.730foxsports.com/. Scroll to the bottom of the page where the splashcast player is and you can surf around from there (to whatever segment you missed or want to check out). Our show, and the Geoff and Gary show are loaded each day. Check it.

Miss St. coach Dan Mullen, Romo, Denunzio (The Audio)

Monday we were joined by the new HC at Miss. St. and we tried to get to know him. We talked to him about his road to becoming the coach of the Bullies, what he looks for in QB's, Urban Meyer, etc. He was good, I thought he was an interesting guy.

Dan Mullen on the show (monday)

Bill Romanowski joined us for his weekly bit and we talked about him trying to get the Broncos job, the playoffs, etc. Romo was in rare form when we got to talking about the Cardinals and the other playoff games.

Romo on the show (monday)

Also, here is the Jimmy Denunzio bit from Friday where he picked the playoff games if you missed it...

Jimmy Denunzio from Friday

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace (The Audio)

Wallace was in the studio today for the weekly segment, where he broke the news that the Grizzlies had traded for Shaun Livingston only to waive him. He explained the logic behind that deal, the Steve Francis deal, and the Darius Miles deal. We also took some of your calls. If you missed it, or want to hear it again, it is loaded at the link below...

Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace on The Chris Vernon Show 1-7-09

Also, I mentioned on the show today that Chris Herrington was going to post an article about what is wrong with Rudy Gay. This is the best analysis of a Grizzlies subject done this season by anyone in the media. Check it out if you get a chance...
http://cmimemphis.com/grizblog/ (scroll to the post: What's wrong with Rudy?) Herrington will in studio tomorrow for his regular slot at 5.

Grizzlies interested in Joe Alexander?

I got a call earlier today saying that the Grizzlies could be making a trade for Joe Alexander. I have not been able to confirm that the team is going to be making this move, but it is an interesting idea. Alexander was the #8 pick in the draft and is lodged behind Richard Jefferson, Charlie Bell, Luc M Bawhatever, etc. He is cheap, has a chance to perform better than his contract, has a lot of talent, and could be used as a wing player for the Grizz. Stay tuned. I liked Alexander a lot in college, have not seen him in a NBA uni.

Geoff and Gary Show comes back tomorrow

The Geoff and Gary Show (with Geoff Calkins and Gary Parrish) is back on 730 Fox Sports and will be on for the first time tomorrow (Monday) starting at 11am. The show will be on from 11a-1p, Monday through Friday. As I have stated before, I am thrilled that they are back.
2009 begins for our show at 3.

Philanthropy (The Picks) *Bowl Game Edition

Philanthropy record at the end of the season stands at 57-34 (63%). Here are the bowl games we are rollin with...
I think it is the first time all year that we have taken 5 favorites, but I going with these 5 defenses to take it home for us. I thought when the bowl games were announced that we could get 4 BCS game blowouts, and I am sticking with that first impression.

USC -8 over Penn St
Alabama -9 over Utah
UConn -5 over Buffalo
Texas -8 over Ohio St
Florida -3 over Oklahoma

Weeping and gnashing of teeth

44-6 with the season on the line?

Time for feelings through art...

Philanthropy (The Picks) *Christmas edition

Christmas came early last weekend as I dropped another 4-1 on that Vegas head. Christmas comes late this week. Philanthropy record stands at 56-30 (65%) for the season ats. Here are the picks...

Patriots/ Bills over 42
Saints/ Panthers over 52
Redskins/ 49ers under 37
Rams/ Falcons under 44.5
Texans/ Bears under 47

Update: These picks are trash

The Greatest Listener contest, Bowden, Goodman (The Audio)

The Greatest Chris Vernon Show listener of 2008 contest was more competitive than we could have ever imagined. Big thanks to all of you that have been extremely dedicated to the show in '08. We attempted to ensure that the winner would be an incredibly dedicated individual. Many of the female listeners of the show were the ones that lasted the longest, and in fact the winner of the contest was a female... Jasmine. She finished everyone off by answering the near impossible question that had ended many a quest to be crowned champion. We will attempt to get a picture of Jasmine. Congratulations to Jasmine, and thanks to all of you that listened this year. If you missed the contest and want to see if you would have won, the audio is below.

The Greatest Chris Vernon Show listener contest 2008.

Terry Bowden joined us on the show to talk about the Auburn job, if Turner Gill didn't get the job because of race, preparing a team for a bowl game, etc.

Terry Bowden on The Chris Vernon Show 12-22-08

Jeff Goodman was on for his weekly segment on Monday and discussed everything college basketball. Jeff Goodman on The Chris Vernon Show 12-22-08

How soon we forget

I thought Pau Gasol should have been booed instead of celebrated in his return to the FedEx Forum and I must tell you that I am more than a bit puzzled that I virtually stand alone in the media with that opinion. In fact, this morning in the paper Geoff Calkins wrote the following...

So Heisley was one of those cheering Gasol during the introductions. There were boos, too. Which was both ridiculous and predictable.
Booing Gasol is like booing class. Like booing intelligence and sportsmanship.
"I will always have great memories of Memphis," said Gasol.
Why would anyone ever boo that guy?

Wow, booing class and intelligence? I am stunned at how absurd this has gotten over the course of time. Let's go to the paper to find out what was written when Pau wanted to be traded...
Calkins wrote...
"As much as anyone else, Gasol is responsible for the Grizzlies' hideous year. He broke his foot playing for Spain in the World Championships. The Grizzlies -- who are paying him more than $12 million this season -- never uttered a critical word. 'You have to understand, Pau loves his country,' West said. 'That's part of what makes him the great player he is.' Pretty darn gracious, eh? But, then, when haven't the Grizzlies been supportive of Gasol?
They hung with him while he learned the league his rookie year. They shipped Jason Williams and Bonzi Wells out because they were too hard on their sensitive star. Then they paid Gasol the maximum allowed by the NBA, a six-year, $86-million contract extension that symbolized their faith in him. 'We believe in Pau Gasol,' said West. And he repays them with this. In the most difficult season the Grizzlies have had in Memphis, at a time when the franchise needs Gasol's leadership more than ever, the only thing he wants to lead is the parade out of town."

So when the team needed him more than ever, he turned his back on the organization and wanted out? Do I have that right? Sounds like a guy that deserves a tribute! What a freaking joke. And now today it is why would anyone boo Pau Gasol? I feel like I am in an alternate dimension in this town sometimes. How soon we forget. Archives can be a great refresher huh?
The whole event and ridicule of the real sports fans that rightfully booed this bum is shameful and proves that if you are nice to the media, they will always have your back. Even if you turn your back on the team when they need you most (Calkins words, not mine), they will encourage a celebration of your time here. Pathetic and transparent.