The Tigers must be just as ready to start playing real games as I am to start seeing them. It was clear Friday during the drill portion of practice that their enthusiasm wasn’t quite there. But once the live/scrimmage stuff started, they came alive and looked pretty good. By this point, it’s pretty clear that day after day of doing drills has worn on them. It’s worn on me, too. Fortunately, Saturday morning is pretty much the last real practice before UT-Martin on Monday. On Sunday night, the team will meet down at FedExForum and do a walkthrough and some shooting, starting their pregame routine.

Joey Dorsey didn’t practice again on Friday. His MRI came back fine; he has a Grade I AC joint sprain in his right shoulder, which is typically a 7-to-10 day injury. Saturday will be one week, so being ready to play Monday was always right on the borderline. It won’t necessarily be a bad thing for the Tigers if Joey sits out. I suspect Memphis will be able to get by UT-Martin and Maine/Richmond without him, and it will be a good opportunity for Shawn Taggart to play more. The biggest thing Memphis will have to prove at some point this season is that they can play without Dorsey. All you have to do is look at Dorsey’s non-performances in the last two Elite Eight games to see why. Taggart, though he still has a lot to learn, has been pretty good the past few days. We’ll see if he’s ready.

*** Pau Gasol didn’t practice for a second straight day because of back spasms. Griz coach Marc Iavaroni said the condition was nothing serious and Gasol will play Saturday against the Indiana Pacers.

*** Rookie Mike Conley continues to make strides in practice. Still, there seems to be no immediate plans to work Conley into the rotation barring injury or foul trouble with starting point guard Damon Stoudamire and backup Kyle Lowry.

“I just don’t like playing three points guards,” Iavaroni said.

*** It is very possible that the Griz will alternate centers, meaning Darko Milicic or Stromile Swift could start depending on matchups. Milicic got the call on opening night and did a solid job of banging and rebounding with the San Antonio Spur’s frontline.

“But Stro’s earned rotation minutes,” Iavaroni said. “He can play with Darko and Pau.”

*** The inactive players for Saturday have yet to be determined. Brian Cardinal and Tarence Kinsey sat out the opener but practiced well the past two days.

THE BIG STORY

Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs reiterated his support for head football coach Tommy Tuberville Thursday, but didn’t promise a new contract was imminent.

Jacobs said that the school had already made a dramatic “lifetime” commitment to Tuberville after the undefeated 2004 season.

Jacobs said new Auburn President Jay Gogue wants to meet head coaches from every Auburn team after their seasons are over. Jacobs said discussions in those meetings might include contracts, facilities and other issues.

Tuberville signed a seven-year contract worth at least $18 million after the 2004 season. The contract included a sizable buyout clause that is now worth $6 million.

Tuberville will make roughly $2.6 million this year and about $2.8 million in 2008, making him among the highest-paid coaches in the nation.

“He made a lifetime commitment to Auburn and we did the same,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs said former university president Ed Richardson wanted the contract to include generous pay with a buyout that guaranteed security for both Tuberville and the university.

“That’s the way Dr. Richardson did it,” Jacobs said. “(The contract) makes sure he gets raises every year, and the buyout is a win-win for both sides.”

Still, speculation is swirling that Texas A&M will fire embattled head coach Dennis Franchione and make a push for Tuberville, who served as a defensive coordinator at A&M in 1994.

A Web site urging officials to “renew” Tuberville’s contract had gathered roughly 1,000 signatures by Thursday.

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

I’ve had a couple of calls from fall fishermen who want to know why we’ve replaced the weekly Fishing Reports with the Avery Outdoors Migration Reports the past couple of weeks.

Trust me, we’re not ignoring the fishermen - and I know the fish are still biting because I caught quite a few of ‘em just the other day.

We just don’t have enough space to run migration reports AND fishing reports in our Friday sports section, so we’re giving these few fall and winter months to the duck hunters.

For those of you who are still starved for some fishing info, here’s a few fishing reports, Memphis Edge style:
Read the rest of this entry »

I agreed recently to be a voter in this year’s AP college basketball poll, which will be released today. To preview that poll, I wrote a column for today’s paper explaining why I voted Memphis No. 1. It didn’t make it into the paper, but here’s the entire preseason top 25 ballot I turned in:

1. Memphis
2. North Carolina
3. UCLA
4. Kansas
5. Georgetown
6. Michigan State
7. Tennessee
8. Louisville
9. Gonzaga
10. Duke
11. Washington State
12. Marquette
13. Oregon
14. Indiana
15. Texas
16. Arizona
17. Southern Cal
18. Kentucky
19. Villanova
20. Arkansas
21. Kansas State
22. Southern Illinois
23. Texas A&M
24. Vanderbilt
25. Clemson