University of Memphis men’s basketball coach John Calipari has hired St. John’s assistant coach Jose ‘Chuck’ Martin as a replacement for the departed Tony Barbee.
A graduate of Monmouth College, Martin spent the past two seasons on the staff at St. John’s. He previously worked as an assistant at Drexel, Massachusetts–where he worked under Calipari protege James ‘Bruiser’ Flint–and Manhattan.
A Bronx native, Martin also worked as an assistant at a pair of New York prep powers, St. Raymond’s and LaSalle Academy.
At St. Raymond’s, he worked with future St. John’s and NBA star Ron Artest.
Martin attended Champlain (Vt.) Junior College, where as a point guard he averaged 7.1 points per game over two seasons, before moving on to Monmouth.
Martin and his wife, Lee, have three children.

GRIZZLIES WORLD HEADQUARTERS –- Former Grizzlies television analyst Michael Cage happily endorses and supports Sean Tuohy as his successor on the tube.

Cage won’t return to work a third season while the Griz will announce soon that Tuohy shifts from radio to television. Tuohy will partner with TV play-by-play guy Pete Pranica.

The shakeup on this side of the Grizzlies’ business operations was unexpected, according to Cage. The West Memphis product and longtime NBA center leaves with a bittersweet taste in his mouth.

“We couldn’t work out a compromise,” Cage said.
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1. You know things have gotten desperate with the Titans and the Raiders when they do what they did on Monday, signing washed-out veteran quarterbacks like Kerry Collins and Jeff George respectively.

The Titans really had no choice. After Steve McNair left, they gave the starting job to Billy Volek and he has been average, throwing for just 277 yards in three exhibitions and barely completing 50 percent of his passes. Volek may be one of those guys who’s a lifelong backup QB. Rookie Vince Young is far from being ready.

I wonder the way Matt Leinart has stepped right in with Arizona and throwing with unbelievable accuracy if the Titans don’t have a twinge of doubt about drafting Young. Young was not the choice of Titans’ coach Jeff Fisher. Young was the choice of Titans’ owner Bud Adams. What will happen now is the Titans will have a lousy year, because they have no quarterback and Fisher will get fired because Adams took the wrong QB.

And the Raiders getting Collins is no answer. He was 7-21 in Oakland as a starter the last two years. He threw for 20 TDs, but was sacked 39 times and intercepted 12.

I covered the Saints back in ’97 and ’98 as a writer in Mobile, and one of those years with Collins as their QB under Mike Ditka. Even then, Collins was average.

And as for George, the guy hasn’t been in the NFL in five seasons. You probably can’t even find him on one of the old Madden NFL video games.
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Former World No. 1 Jim Courier will provide blogs from the U.S. Open during the run of the tournament.

Quite the first day at the Agassi Open, I mean US Open. I interviewed Andre for USA Network’s coverage seconds prior to his walk-on to Ashe Stadium and I’ve never seen him more nervous. Typically he is a focused bundle of energy pre-match but I saw fear, not excitement, on his face. It was a great relief to see him quickly get over the possibility that it could possibly be the last match of his Grand Slam career and hit the ball cleanly from the start. Andrei Pavel played a tremendous match and I had to walk over into the TV booth from the outdoor deck I watched the match from and look over Johnny Mac and Ted’s shoulder to check the stats out to verify what my eyes were telling me…this was quarterfinal quality in the very first round. So much for the gradual run-up! The 2 Andre(i)’s matched winner for winner for over 3:30 action packed hours and it was a very special night. Of course it’s NY so we had all kinds of stars in the stands; Phil Collins, The Donald, Tony Bennett, Terrence Howard (how good was he in Hustle and Flow? Scary good), Giselle and the 50 most important people in Andre Agassi’s life, including his wife, kids, brother and father.

I stayed to watch the match until the end. Typically I go home during the Men’s late match to rest up for the next day, having started on the air at 11am, but there is no chance I will miss any of AA’s matches at this tournament. I feel like I’m back on the Davis Cup team with him, living and dying with each point. It’s not the kosher thing for a broadcaster to cheer openly for a player but who’s kidding who? I’m no broadcaster…I’m just a player having fun talking tennis and sharing my stories with you, the viewer at home, so I’m not too concerned. Hey, you can always make the Open more enjoyable and hit mute if you like. It’s what I did for years when I was playing this tournament!

It’s 2am and I am still up. Fired up…Andre lit up the Open tonight and at the newly renamed Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. What a night. Connors, Evert, Navritilova, Venus, Mac all here tonight to celebrate Billie’s achievements on and more importantly off the course. A true pioneer. Richly deserved. Tennis had a lot to be proud of tonight. What a way to start it all off…