Geoff Calkins
Calkins: The Grizzlies want to stay in Memphis. Let’s make it easy for them.
The Grizzlies lease negotiations are nerve-wracking. What is a Memphian to think?
Geoff Calkins
Columnist
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.
There are 1043 articles by Geoff Calkins :
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August 2025
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Geoff Calkins Calkins: Memphians will be finishing Liza’s Run again. A few weeks ago, that was no sure thing.
A month ago, it seemed as if the event was ending. But a group of women emerged to make certain that Memphians will once again be finishing Liza Fletcher’s run.
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Geoff CalkinsCalkins: Why does he give expensive gifts to strangers? A Memphis mystery to melt your heart.
“I understand that it’s unusual,” Mike Perkowski said. “Some people might think, ‘What’s this weirdo doing?’ Or they think there has to be a catch.”
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Geoff CalkinsCalkins: On Fred Smith’s 81st birthday, the city he loved said goodbye
Memphis threw a celebration at FedExForum that was worthy of Fred Smith’s life. Of course, Smith himself might not have liked all the fuss. He would have told us to get back to work.
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Geoff CalkinsCalkins: Why Fred Smith saved the Memphis golf tournament. (Hint: It wasn’t about the golf.)
“This will be the first FedEx St. Jude Championship since the death of Fred Smith. Why did Smith embrace the tournament the way he did? It wasn’t about the golf.”
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GolfCalkins: Mongolian girl wins caddie scholarship. (It’s a golf story you won’t believe.)
Grace Amgalan came to Memphis from Mongolia because her little brother was a patient at St. Jude. What happened next is a story about golf, community — and what can happen when we lift up those who come to our shores.
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July 2025
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BusinessCalkins: Hey, xAI did a good thing! (And MSCS was smart enough not to get in the way.)
“Whatever you think of the members of this particular school board, even they couldn’t screw this one up.”
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Geoff CalkinsCalkins: Paul Sax is about to stop teaching tennis. But that’s not all we can learn.
After 42 years of teaching tennis, Paul Sax is retiring. But he still has lessons to teach us about a well-led life.
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SportsCalkins: If the Big 12 couldn’t see what’s changed at Memphis, they weren’t looking very hard
“Memphis once again put together a lucrative offer that has been rejected by Big 12. Is that for embarrassment? Or cause for hope?”
Related content:
Memphis makes $200 million proposal to join Big 12, per report
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Geoff CalkinsCalkins: Why Mister Hats is hanging up its hat forever
Another iconic Memphis store bites the dust. Why is this happening? And how should we feel about it?
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Spirit of MemphisCalkins: Memphis Rox reopens with ‘climb for Mond’
Two weeks after Jarmond Johnson was shot and killed at Memphis Rox, the gym reopened with a joyful, mournful — and ultimately hopeful — ceremonial climb.
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Geoff Calkins Calkins: He’s the pastor who survived the Harvest plane crash. A story of gratitude and grief.
Kennon Vaughan has been told that the insurance company’s survivability expert concluded there was a zero percent chance anyone could have survived the plane crash. But he did. Here’s how he makes sense of his story.
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Geoff Calkins Calkins: Jarmond Johnson died ‘a hero.’ Memphis Rox will soon reopen to spread his light.
Jarmond Johnson died a hero, according to officials at Memphis Rox. The celebrated climbing gym is preparing to reopen with a memorial climb in his name.
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Geoff CalkinsCalkins: Shane Young is leaving Memphis. But Memphis Inner City Rugby is changing lives for good.
Shane Young came to Memphis for the mountains. Hey, everyone makes mistakes. But he leaves a thriving MIRC.
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June 2025
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Geoff CalkinsCalkins: It’s the end of an era in Memphis. Here’s Sister Trudy to explain.
One hundred and forty-one years ago, the first Sisters of Charity of Nazareth arrived in Memphis. On Monday, the last one left town. But Sister Trudy Foster left behind a legacy — and some words to live by.
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Memphis Tigers Basketball Calkins: Stage four lung cancer can’t keep Joye Lee-McNelis from coaching (and winning!) 1,000th game
It may be the best story of this basketball postseason. And one of the hardest stories, too. The former Memphis women’s basketball coach went to astonishing lengths to be with her Southern Miss team through it all.
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SportsCalkins: Nobody can replace Fred Smith. (But he told us how to handle this, too.)
It’s impossible to imagine Memphis without Fred Smith. So what happens next?
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Geoff CalkinsCalkins: Ja Morant stuck up for Memphis. Now, how about you?
Ja Morant took on ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and his misperceptions of Memphis. But Smith isn’t the only one talking trash.
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Geoff CalkinsCalkins: Hope House is a Memphis success story. Why are its leaders so worried now?
When you hear about the country’s “social safety net,” this is it: Hope House. Multiplied by thousands of small, committed organizations in cities across America. Federal funding cuts have Hope House’s leaders worried about Memphis.
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Memphis GrizzliesCalkins: Why Santi Aldama asked a local kid to sing ‘Feliz Navidad.’ (It was for a good cause.)
Henry Douglas, age 8, decided to sing songs to generate contributions to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. So who should make a request? Santi Aldama, from Spain.
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May 2025
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Geoff Calkins Calkins: Everyone loved Reggie Barnes — which is how he reshaped Memphis sports
Archie Manning said Reggie Barnes “had a gift for bringing people together.” For the better part of five decades, Barnes — who died Monday — used that gift to promote Memphis sports.
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Spirit of MemphisCalkins: Jes Shea’s van exploded — with her in it. Here’s what she’s learned.
Jes Shea leaned down to light the cookstove in her Sprinter van. Then the world went “BOOM.”
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Memphis GrizzliesAsk the Memphian: Why is the Memphis NBA team named the Grizzlies? (There’s more to it than you think.)
You know the Memphis NBA team is named the Grizzlies because they moved from Vancouver. But why did the Vancouver team have that name?
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MusicCalkins: Incredibly, the Central High jazz band did it. They won the whole thing.
The Central High jazz band did it. They defeated bands from across the country — and around the world — to win the Essentially Ellington contest in New York. And, yes, there were many tears.
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Memphis Tigers BasketballCalkins: An event to honor the John Calipari era in Memphis? It’s just time.
“John Calipari is game to return to Memphis this fall to play an exhibition game to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital? That sounds like an fine idea. It’s just time.”
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Calipari’s Razorbacks working to schedule exhibition game in Memphis
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