Memphis has been chosen as one of four schools whose Midnight Madness will be broadcast on ESPNU. It’s the second time in three years that one of the Worldwide Leader’s networks will be in Memphis to capture the official start of college basketball practice.

Memphis Madness is next Friday, Oct. 12. at FedExForum and is open to the public. Doors will open at 7 p.m., with the festivities running running from 8 p.m. until roughly 9:30 p.m. Players will be available for autographs for a time between 7 and 8 p.m. ESPNU’s broadcast of Memphis Madness will be shown tape delayed from 11 p.m. until midnight. The network will also be at Georgetown, Southern Illinois and Davidson next Friday.

In addition to being the ceremonial celebration of the college basketball season, Memphis Madness will be a huge night for recruiting. If things break right for the Tigers, as many as six or seven potential/probable McDonald’s All-Americans will be in the house that night, including St. George’s guard Elliot Williams, who will be on his official visit to Memphis. Look for a story next week detailing which players will be there as the schedules gets firmed up over the next few days.

I just spoke with the folks from FLW Outdoors, and they said there are plenty of slots open for next week’s FLW Series bass tournament on Pickwick Lake.

The tournament is set for Oct. 10-13 from McFarland Park in Florence, Ala.

Entry fee is $3,500 for the pro division and $700 for co-anglers (non-boaters).

If you want to throw your hat in the ring, call (270) 252-1000.

Snuck over at lunch to watch the Grizzlies’ open scrimmage at FedExForum. A few thoughts:

** Damon Stoudamire looks like he’s regained that step he lost with that leg problem/operation.

** Mike Conley might get lit up defensively but he’s going to cause some major problems in the league.

** Griz announcer Pete Pranica told me he thought the most fun guy to watch this year will be Juan Carlos Navarro.

** Pau Gasol and Darko Milicic, playing on opposite teams, were doing some pretty good bumping under the glass.

** First play, Gasol, from the high post, fed Conley and cut to the basket. Conley drove and then wrapped a pass around a defender back to Gasol for the jam.

** Casey Jacobsen can flat shoot it. In fact, when he shoots it, it IS flat, but it knows where it’s going.

** Rudy Gay was settling for jumpers. Didn’t drive much. But (and this is hard to describe) he seemed to be carrying himself like he knew what he was doing. No more wide-eyed rookie.

The trip to Spain should be a bonding time. We’ll see what they look like when they get back.

With the water temperature already down to 74 degrees, it won’t be long before the crappie are biting again on Reelfoot Lake.

But if you’re planning a trip to Reelfoot, you should be extra careful.

The lake is still very low, and your chances of hitting one of those infamous Reelfoot stumps are even higher than usual. The boat ramps are very shallow, and a lot of people have been getting their boats hung on stumps.

According to longtime Reelfoot guide Jackie Van Cleave, who works out of Blue Bank Resort, the lake is still plenty fishable. You just have to take it slow and keep an eye out for stumps hiding just below the surface.

I couldn’t be prouder of the Tigers as I was last night. Look at the things that worked against them going into the game. They were playing their third game in 11 days. That’s harder to do than you think. They lost the previous two games in fashions that would lead one to think they would lose the third. They lost a teammate within 48 hours of kickoff. Grief is a very difficult thing to cope with while you have to concentrate. I lost a friend two years ago and I know I struggled to focus on the easiest of tasks. To play a football game would have been out of the question for me, especially at that level. Then on top of all that they were on a national stage where the spotlight on them was even brighter. ESPN2 broadcasted the game and Sportscenter lead with a game between an 1-3 and an 0-4 team because of the tragedy. Their cameras of ESPN, local TV stations and national news networks were on the Tigers a lot leading up to game and the kids had to deal with that. Imagine grieving and having a camera stuck in your face. Then ask yourself if you would be able to do your job. I would guess that many of us would falter but they didn’t. They played and they won. And that is enough. Now I’m going to make a couple of comments about the game but it is really all secondary.
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THE BIG STORY

Auburn running back Brad Lester is eligible for the first time this season, but Tigers’ coach Tommy Tuberville said the junior running back will have to take a number in Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt.

“He’ll have a role to play,” Tuberville said during his weekly Tuesday press conference. “This is the first game of the season for him. First games are tough because you’re usually not in playing shape, even though he has been practicing a lot.”

Sophomore Ben Tate and redshirt freshman Mario Fannin, will get the first snaps against Vanderbilt.

“(Lester) will play some depending on how he does, and how he handles the situation will determine how much,” Tuberville said. “He’ll earn more and more playing time. The other two guys have put a lot into the first five games.”

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