I get tired of Memphis-area volleyball coaches telling me that the volleyball played by teams in DeSoto County - more specifically at Olive Branch and Southaven - just isn’t as good as that of our Tennessee teams. They tell me that Mississippi volleyball doesn’t compare to Tennessee’s in terms of overall quality, and therefore, teams south of the Tennessee state line don’t deserve to be ranked in The CA’s volleyball top five.

That’s why I want to give some props to Collierville coach Lisa Lewis and Southaven coach Allison Burchyett for scheduling a home-and-home series this season. As evidenced by their 1-1 split (both teams won, 3-0, on their home floor), Tennessee and Mississippi perhaps aren’t so distant when it comes to the quality of high-school volleyball.

Lewis said every year she’d now like to schedule Olive Branch and Southaven because they represent the best Mississippi has to offer, and that makes a lot of sense. Here’s hoping more Memphis-area coaches follow suit rather than bad-mouthing their counterparts to the south.

I fished today with the pro-staffers from Vicious Fishing on a beautiful private lake just outside Birmingham, Ala.

I picked up some really good information on a wide variety of topics, including:
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The title says it all doesn’t it. But is Shirley Raines right? That’s the great topic that is flooding Tigers related message boards, talk radio, and in meeting rooms around the Memphis metro area. I would be kind if I only said that it has “raised the ire” of the Tigers faithful. Because some of us Memphis folks are much more upset than that. In fact, I’m so upset that I repeated several things that I feel are important enough to really hammer it home.

The city’s stadium feasibility study was released on Tuesday and Raines almost immediately released an email statement which killed any plans for an on-campus stadium. I just find that odd to say the least. It reminded me of the information disseminated about Oswald within hours of the Kennedy assasination that it makes you wonder. But let’s look at what I feel are the two most important paragraphs of the two documents shall we.

Study said:
“Based on a review of a sampling of open-ended survey comments, it appears that there is a strong desire by many donors and season ticket holders for a new stadium to be located on the Unviersity of Memphis campus. While this potential stadium development option was not the subject of this report, further consideration should be given to exploring the feasibility of an on-campus stadium that could also accomodate the AutoZone Liberty Bowl and the Southern Heritage Classic, among other events. Any decisions regarding a renovated or new Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium should be made in the context of the potential feasiblity of a new on-campus stadium so that long-term decisions can be made that benefit all stadium stakeholders.”
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THE BIG STORY

This season is likely over for Arkansas tight end Ben Cleveland.

He will likely redshirt this season because of nerve damage in his neck. Rick Cleveland, Ben’s father, said Tuesday that he’s been told by doctors that his son will need anywhere from six months to one year for the nerve damage to fully heal. The problem has caused Ben Cleveland to lose strength in his left arm.

Cleveland’s father said he was told by a doctor on Monday that it would be “crazy” for the former Springdale High star to return to the football field this season and risk further injury.

“The doctors said that he’s got 10-12 inches of damaged nerve (and) that the damaged nerves will grow back in anywhere between an inch to two inches a month,” Rick Cleveland said. “So based on those statistics, you would have to say that at most a year, the minimum six months for it to heal.”

A look at the league: Read the rest of this entry »

The clamor for an on-campus football stadium at the University of Memphis may gather some momentum after this weekend.

The Tigers play their Conference USA opener against Central Florida at the Orlando-based school’s new Bright House Networks Stadium. The U of M fans who make the trip will witness firsthand the atmosphere an on-campus facility generates.

UCF opened the 45,000-seat stadium last weekend against nationally ranked Texas and nearly christened the facility with an upset victory. Knights coach George O’Leary, the former Georgia Tech boss, spoke glowingly about the stadium’s impact. Its opening leaves Memphis, Tulane and UAB as the only programs in the 12-team league without an on-campus home.

If the Knights parlay the move to the on-campus stadium into a promotion to a Bowl Championship Series conference in the near future, the grassroots movement to put a facility on the U of M’s campus will gather additional momentum.

A few years ago, before Louisville left C-USA to join the Big East, I remember a U of M official walking into Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, the then-new on-campus facility, during a light practice before a Tigers-Cardinals game and proclaiming: `Oh, no, they’ve passed us by.’ Will similar words be uttered Saturday in Orlando?