Premium

Calkins: For Memphis football, it’s a hole new ballgame!

By , Daily Memphian Updated: September 01, 2024 7:53 AM CT | Published: August 31, 2024 10:41 PM CT
Geoff Calkins
Daily Memphian

Geoff Calkins

Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. He is host of "The Geoff Calkins Show" from 9-11 a.m. M-F on 92.9 FM. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by the Associated Press sports editors, but still figures his best columns are about the people who make Memphis what it is.

To enter Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium these days, you have to walk past some trucks. They are big trucks. Impressive trucks! Utterly entrancing to a 3-year-old boy.

So not long before kickoff Saturday, 3-year-old Grayson Burgess stared at the magnificence before him. His parents were taking him to a football game. But he got big trucks, to boot!

“What do we call this stadium?” asked Donna Johnson, his grandmother.

Grayson pondered, then brightened.

“The Liberty Bowl!” he said. 

“No, but what do I call it now, as a joke?” she prodded.

Grayson didn’t hesitate.

“The Liberty Hole!” he exclaimed.

Topics

Memphis Football University of Memphis football Subscriber Only Memphis vs. North Alabama Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Liberty Bowl Liberty Hole

Thank you for supporting local journalism.

Subscribers to The Daily Memphian help fund our not-for-profit newsroom of nearly 40 local journalists plus more than 20 freelancers, all of whom work around the clock to cover the issues impacting our community. Subscriptions - and donations - also help fund our community access programs which provide free access to K-12 schools, community organizations, and more. Thank you for making our work possible.

Geoff Calkins on demand

Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Geoff Calkins' stories as they’re published.

Enter your e-mail address

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Comments

Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here