Why the Crusade?

Ever since Willie Herenton came out and said that he wants to build a new stadium a few months ago, a crusade to build a new on campus stadium for the University of Memphis football team has been launched. Conceivably, this stadium would hold around 40,000 people, which is about right for Memphis, which can't really fill their current stadium with their fan base. The University of Memphis, unless it turns into a dominant football power, will never fill the Liberty Bowl, at least with their own fans alone. It has been proven over time that only when the SEC schools come in can the Liberty Bowl be filled.

So on the surface, it would be a good idea to build a stadium on campus. It would improve the on campus life (theoretically) and would better suit the football team's needs, both for seating capacity and quality of facilities.

But there's a problem. The Liberty Bowl would have to stay. There are two events a year that would require the use of the Liberty Bowl--the Autozone Liberty Bowl and the Southern Heritage Classic. If you've listened to Harold Graeter talk, it's pretty clear that they will still use the Liberty Bowl for the bowl game. So in that case, you would have two football stadiums about three miles apart, one of which would only host two events a year.

U of M President Dr. Shirley Raines put out a statement earlier in the week and said very matter-of-factly that the University has no plans to build an on campus stadium. She says that the University has more pressing issues that it needs to pay for than a stadium.

So I ask--why is everyone so furious with Dr. Raines? No matter what the report on the new stadium says, to have two venues within a couple of miles of each other is ridiculous. Don't we already have that with FedEx Forum and the Pyramid? And we all know what a monumental waste of the city's money that the Pyramid was. It doesn't matter whether the report says that an on campus stadium should be built or not--the Liberty Bowl is going to remain. And for a University whose athletic department already loses money, it just doesn't make any sense to build a new stadium.

If the University is not going to pay for it, then to me, there are only two more options. One, the city helps pay for it, or two, private investors pay for it.

As to option #2, this entire post is moot if private investors pay for it. If they can buy their own stadium, more power to them.

As for option #1, I know i don't want my taxes raised to help pay for a new stadium. And I don't think Memphians as a whole would be too wild about it either. This is not Chapel Hill, North Carolina or College Station, Texas. There are other interests in this town besides the University of Memphis. Why should the city's taxes go towards a stadium when there is a perfectly suitable one two miles down the road? This is not at all like the FedEx Forum situation, where the NBA team had to have a better arena to play in Memphis.

So what is to be gained right now from building a new stadium? The existing one is perfectly suitable (at least for now), there would be numerous logistical problems by building an on campus stadium (namely, where it would go and what you would do with the railroad tracks running all along the south edge of the Main Campus), and the money simply isn't there. Unless there are private investors, I say no new stadium until the Liberty Bowl isn't suitable anymore.

I Don't Understand the NCAA

Today, the NCAA ruled Jerrell Powe academically ineligible for the third straight year, but let him into school at Ole Miss, saying that if he handles the work load and makes the grades, he can reapply for reinstatement next year.

I don't understand this. By most accounts, Powe has jumped through hoops trying to become eligible to play at Ole Miss. He has spent the last two years trying to get eligible, and finally it looked like he was. What I don't understand is that the NCAA said that he was eligible to get into school, but not to play football. Isn't it usually the other way around? In my mind, it makes more sense to admit him to school to play football, and then see if he can do the work while playing. If he can't, he's back where he started next year and is off the field again. To admit him to school and let him go to class and not let him play football doesn't make much sense to me.

Dave Woloshin, not surprisingly, jumped in on the side of the NCAA and painted the NCAA as a noble organization that's looking out for the best interests of Powe. Maybe because he doesn't want a 6'2, 330 pound run-stopper on the field on Saturday afternoon. I'm just saying.

I don't really know why the NCAA did it this way, and doesn't want Powe on the field playing football. What I do know is that I feel bad for the kid. He's spent his entire life with a learning disability, his last two years trying to become eligible to play football. If he can get in school, then he can play football. A sad chapter in a sad couple of years.

New blog

So, instead of both posting on this site, Peter and I have decided to start a new blog. And it shall be called These Enormous Children. And Peter and Will looked upon it. And they saw that it was good.

A Major Announcement

We here at Goodness are pleased to announce that Peter Edmiston and I will both be posting from here on out. Eventually, we are going to change the title of the blog, but for now, keep on reading, and we will certainly let you know when we make the name change official.

Power Rankings, Week of 8/20

1. The White Stripes: I think I'm in love with Meg White.
2. This guy: This may be the single greatest performance in the history of everything.
3. Celtic Crossing Irish Breakfast: One of the great things about working at a radio station is that people just randomly bring you food...i.e. this morning.
4. Stop Yelling At Me: In case you missed the Hills, which I have--every episode.
5. Psych: The most consistently entertaining show on television. James Roday is a genius.
6. Gray-haired, jorted Gene Shalit: If only you could have seen it. Oh, the people that come in for Elvis week.

Random Thoughts and Links

--This is the funniest article that I've ever read.
--Michael Vick is pleading guilty to federal dogfighting charges. I don't understand why anyone would do this. Really. How, and why, would anyone get into dogfighting? I just don't get it. On the other hand, this is the biggest public outcry against an individual I've ever encountered. Bigger than Mike Tyson's rape conviction, bigger than Leonard Little killing someone while drunk, bigger than Kobe Bryant's rape allegations. I honestly think that more than half of the country would support his execution.
--Heidi Fleiss and Jenna Jameson have thrown their support behind Hillary Clinton for the upcoming presidential campaign. I'm sure that Hillary will be pleased to have two women her husband has likely screwed on her side.
--My friend Peter referred to someone over the weekend as "The Nostradamus of Gay Sex." I wish I could remember who, and in what context, that he used this phrase.
--I think the ladies over at Stop Yelling at Me and Go Fug Yourself should have lunch at Flying Fish on Sunday afternoon and bring their laptops. I have never seen more dudes in capri pants than I saw yesterday. It was like the Rafael Nadal school of fashion let out their class. I actually saw a guy who looked like Gene Shalit:

Only this guy had gray hair and Daisy Duke jean shorts on. I kid you not.

Growing Old, Pt. 2

So it's confirmed, I'm old.

I played my second basketball game in three days, this time with four people...You know what, I'll get to the basketball game later. Let's start with my hands. My hands hurt up until today. My hands! Whose hands hurt? It's not like I did the finger treadmill from that Bud Light commercial or anything.

Anyway, we played with four last night against five, and we almost won. However, the consequence of that is that I almost passed out with 3 minutes left in the game. I hurt today, but my muscles are more numb than sore.


I was reading an article on the Top Five Fictional Mayors of all time. Mayor McCheese was #4. I've always had great issue with the treatment of Mayor McCheese in the McDonald's realm. Why does the clown get all the credit? Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mayor McCheese is actually, MAYOR McCheese. He isn't City Councilman McCheese, or Alderman McCheese, or Volunteer Fire Chief McCheese. He is Mayor McCheese. Shouldn't he be in charge? Why does Ronald McDonald get all the credit? He's creepy. And so is Grimace, who is nothing more than a big, purple, bumbling cone. Mayor McCheese is the Mayor of McDonaldland, that's all I'm saying. He should get the credit. Theoretically, he was voted there by the citizens of said McDonaldland, and thus should formulate policy. I like Mayor McCheese.

Why I loved this Summer

In addition to the trip to Ireland, the White Stripes concert, and now two Ryan Adams shows, one of the great things this summer has been Flight of the Conchords on HBO.

If you don't think that is funny, I'm not sure I like you. With the absolute dearth of good shows during the summer other than Monk, Psych, and Burn Notice (wow, I like USA a lot), it's nice to have a watchable show while I'm waiting for The Office to start again. By the way, do you remember when USA used to run reruns of La Femme Nikita and Silk Stalkings all the time? By the way, in my opinion, there are only about 12 good channels on basic cable. I 'm not talking about HBO, I'm talking cable. They are as follows:
--USA
--TNT
--TBS
--ESPN
--The History Channel
--Comedy Central
--A & E
--Fox Soccer Channel
--Encore
--If I didn't say VH1 and MTV, Christy would disown me
--Bravo
--BBC America
--The Food Network

I can't believe that USA is my favorite channel. I DVR more shows on USA than any other channel. And for a network that used to feature La Femme Nikita prominently, that's hard to believe.

What the hell?

I was watching Court TV for like two minutes this morning, and they were talking about the Phil Spector trial. How long has Phil Spector been on trial? Is it just me, or has he been in custody since I graduated from high school in 1997?
I mean, the guy produced some great songs--"You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'," "Instant Karma," "Imagine"...but look at the guy! He looks like Tim Burton's dad. I'm going to put my money on guilty. Guilty of looking like an Edgar Allan Poe character.