The Tiger football team was chased from the Murphy Athletic Complex on the Park Avenue Campus Tuesday because heavy rains Monday rendered the four practice fields unplayable.

Unplayable is becoming unacceptable for a program trying to take the next step and compete for Conference USA championships, potential BCS bowl berths and, ultimately, inclusion in a BCS conference.

Memphis, which is in the process of raising $3 million for a new football weight room, might want to increase that fund-raising effort and include about a million more for an outdoor artificial practice field. It’s overdue.

Tuesday’s trip to CBHS marked the third time the Tigers have had to use the high school’s field to practice. The Liberty Bowl, the alternative when the Murphy Athletic fields are wet, was `closed’ Tuesday because of extensive cleaning of the facility’s artificial surface. The Liberty Bowl won’t be available to the Tigers this week as the cleaning process continues through Thursday.

CBHS was gracious enough to allow the Tigers to work out ahead of the Purple Wave’s practice. A similar arrangement may be followed Wednesday if the Murphy fields remain too wet.

The change of venue isn’t unique. The Tigers encountered similar problems with their fields during the spring, when 14 of the 15 allotted practices were relocated to the Liberty Bowl.

An indoor practice field is in the long-range fund-raising plans for the football program, but an uncovered artificial surface needs to be in the short-range plans.

I’ll just reprise the lede of my story for tomorrow’s paper, since I think it gives pretty good context to the importance today of C.J. Henry’s surprise commitment to Memphis:’

Here’s how good of a recruiting day it was for the University of Memphis basketball program.

C.J. Henry, who will continue to play baseball during the summer, will be officially listed as a walk-on because the Yankees are contractually bound to pay for his college tuition.

Folks, I have no idea what C.J. Henry is going to do for this team, this year. He hasn’t played competitively in three years. But I know he was once good enough to play for Kansas. I know he’s a point guard, a position where the Tigers would like a little more depth (possibly allowing Tyreke Evans, Antonio Anderson, etc., to play off the ball).

And most of all, I know that when the brother of the top player in the country calls you and says he wants to come - and you don’t even have to give him a scholarship - you don’t turn it down.

I think Henry will also add a layer of maturity. He’s a 22-year old adult. He’s been on his own. He’s been a professional athlete. And though I don’t know C.J. well — today was the first time I’ve spoken with him — the Henry family is as good as it gets. I’ve gotten to know the Henrys a little bit because I’ve written about them so many times over the past couple years, and Carl Henry and Xavier Henry are class people all the way.

In other developments today, Memphis officially released the coaching staff additions this afternoon after I wrote about them this morning. The one staff addition that will draw some attention is Lamont Peterson. I wrote a lot about Peterson earlier this summer as part of my feature story on Tyreke Evans. Peterson has been Evans’ personal trainer for a few years (he’s trained a bunch of big-time players in Philly) and is a bone fide member of “Team Tyreke.” I wrote my story today the way I wrote it because I knew that once word of Peterson’s hiring came out, a few people would start throwing arrows at Memphis and claiming that it was a “package deal.”

I don’t think that logic necessarily applies in this case. For one thing, the Tigers were long considered the favorite for Evans, and he committed a week before there was an opening on Memphis’ coaching staff. Second, if it were important for Evans to be close to Peterson, he could have simply chosen to stay home and go to Villanova, which was his second choice. Third, the job Peterson is taking with Memphis amounts to basically a low-paying internship without benefits.

What teams or individuals do you think we need to watch out for this fall?
Does your high school have the best team in town?

We would like to hear from you.

In today’s paper and online we previewed some of our top local girls soccer teams. Tomorrow we plan to preview the top cross country teams and Thursday we hope to preview the top local volleyball teams.

In soccer, we mentioned Collierville, Houston and Germantown as the top AAA clubs. All three schools have a history of fielding quality soccer programs and all three have won state titles — Collierville in 2005, Houston in 1996, 1998 and 2004 and Germantown in 1994, 1999 and 2001.

Which team in Region 7-AAA will emerge as the team to beat? Look for Brighton, Bolton and Arlington to be in the fight.

In Division 2-AA, St. Agnes, the five-time defending region champion, was mentioned as the favorite. It should be a good race with St. Agnes, ECS, Briarcrest and Hutchison battling for the three playoff spots. Can St. Agnes win another title to go with its 2006 state trophy?

In Division 2-A, St. George’s and Harding should once again meet in the state title game. St. George’s won the 2007 championship, 4-1, over Harding.

As I wrote earlier, let us know what you think.

THE BIG STORY

What does the SEC’s 15-year, $2.25 billion deal with ESPN (starting next football season) include?

A whole bunch such as:

As part of the agreement:
o ESPN and ESPN2 will continue to offer premier SEC games, including Saturday night and two primetime Thursday football games, triple the basketball offerings with three nights (two new) of men’s basketball and present SEC Championships in women’s basketball, baseball, softball and gymnastics.

o ESPN Regional Television will become the new over-the-air syndication home for SEC football and basketball games. In addition, ESPN and the SEC will work together to offer multi-sport packages (including football, men’s and women’s basketball, Olympic sports and conference championships) of SEC content for regional cable syndication.

o ESPNU will now offer exclusive SEC telecasts, including football and basketball and selected conference championships. In addition, the network will present a weekly, hour-long program on SEC sports throughout the academic year as well as sport-by-sport previews, reviews and specials.

o The semifinals and championship of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament will be televised nationally for the first time on ESPN on ABC.

o All SEC championship games except football will be aired on either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN on ABC, ESPNU or ESPN Classic.

o The agreement will also showcase the academic successes of SEC student-athletes by including twice-annual programs dedicated to academic accomplishments of SEC student-athletes; an annual Campus Connection (students take part in the production) telecast at each SEC institution; a weekly segment on an SEC show featuring academics; and an online SEC Academic Network utilizing ESPN360.com technology.

o Extensive coverage of women’s basketball and Olympic sports will be offered nationally through ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU and regionally through ESPN Regional Television, including both regular-season and conference championships.

o Comprehensive multimedia rights are also an integral part of the agreement as live SEC action, including football and basketball, will be offered via simulcasts on ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV and extensive content rights have been granted to ESPN.com.

o ESPN International, ESPN GamePlan, ESPN FULL COURT, ESPN Classic and ESPN Deportes will also feature the SEC.

o Each SEC institution retains the right to continue a local multi-media rights package.

Elsewhere in the SEC:
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