Columnist
Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. 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.
There are 1128 articles by Geoff Calkins :
After the Memphis Tigers smashed Ole Miss Saturday, Penny Hardaway called this the “most satisfying” nonconference season of his coaching career. Who are we to disagree?
He may not be Santa, but Thermon Knighten runs the jolliest packing and shipping store this side of the North Pole. Not only that, he does weddings. At The UPS Store. How jolly is that?
Grant Wells, a teacher, joined hundreds of others in support of Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins Tuesday night. His explanation for the entire fiasco? “This is Memphis stuff,” he said.
Some 22,500 people will be running through Downtown Memphis on Saturday. How did it happen? That’s a story worth telling all your friends. Hope ahead: St. Jude kicks off Marathon Weekend in Downtown MemphisRelated content:
The basketball Tigers are ranked. The football Tigers are ranked at the same time. When has that happened during a Grizzlies playoff season? Never. These are heady times.
If Memphis doesn’t find the money to make needed repairs, Geoff Calkins says, there could be an empty ballpark at B.B. King Boulevard and Union Avenue before long.
Ron Olson celebrated 50 years in Memphis radio at the beginning of November. How has he done it? By making us laugh.
Twenty-two years ago, Derek Clenin blocked an extra point to lift MUS over CBHS. Clenin died Oct. 8. Now, the quarterback of that CBHS team, Carter Giovannetti, plans to run the St. Jude Marathon in his friend and rival’s name.
Gene Brady, 89, died in a single-car wreck last week. Maybe you didn’t know him. But if you’re lucky, you’ve known people like him. We could use more of them today.
“This certainly isn’t the most anticipated season of the Penny Hardaway era. But it’s the most pivotal. What lies ahead for Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers? It all begins tonight.”
If you’re voting Tuesday, don’t be surprised if you’re checked in by a high school student. More than 250 have signed up to work the polls this week. So be on your best behavior, people.
After a season of misery, Memphis fans got everything they wanted in Saturday’s home opener. Including the return of Ja Morant, the debut of Yuki Kawamura — and an unexpected hero in a Hufflepuff shirt.
FedEx exec Richard Smith says this is a critical moment for Downtown Memphis — and the Grizzlies, FedExForum and Beale Street may be the key.
Richard Smith was as surprised as anyone when Fred Smith, his father, decided the family would give $50 million to help renovate the stadium. Here’s Smith on crime, Ja Morant, conference realignment and how that gift came to be.
“Could not be any better,” said Richard Shadyac Jr., the president and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness arm of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “And next year, we’ll take it to the next level.”
Rick Spell, who owns three Memphis restaurants, had a recent meeting with the police. And he came away impressed.
Was it prudent for Memphis to say no to the Pac-12? Possibly. Was it deflating? Unquestionably.
“The future of the Grizzlies might be caught up in the ongoing fight over the gun referendum. For Memphis, it’s a dangerous game to play.”
If given the chance, Memphis should jump to the Pac-12. It isn’t even a close call.
“Ryan Silverfield called the win over Florida State ‘monumental.’ It was certainly that. Indeed, there is an argument that it was the most important win in program history.”
The North Carolina men’s basketball team and the South Carolina women’s basketball team are coming to Memphis. for a nationally televised doubleheader to benefit St. Jude. And just wait until you hear what St. Jude is hoping to do next. Tigers basketball to host North Carolina, South Carolina in games benefiting St. JudeRelated content:
Scott said Hardaway would absolutely, unequivocally be back “based on every piece of information I have right now, today.” Tomorrow, the information could be different. Memphis AD: Hardaway will ‘absolutely, unequivocally' stay Tigers' coachRelated content:
“Penny Hardaway has fired Rick Stansbury and three other staffers just weeks before a new season begins. The continuing chaos is not ideal.”
Memphis crushed North Alabama in their first game at the Liberty Hole, also known as Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The place looked really strange. But in a good way.
The comedian, DJ, video producer and ‘poet laureate of Alabama football' is new to Memphis-Shelby County Schools. But he’s not as new to Memphis as you might think.