Don Wade
Reporter
Don Wade has been a Memphis journalist since 1998 and he has won awards for both his sports and news/feature writing. He is originally from Kansas City and is married with three sons.
276 articles by Don Wade :
-
September 2018
-
There is more than one way to win a championship ring. The Memphis Redbirds’ pursuit of a second consecutive Pacific Coast League title featured a game-winning hit from a pitcher, a walk-off suicide squeeze bunt and two home runs in the championship-clinching game from a player who earlier had been demoted to Double-A Springfield. -
Amateur sports the way it ought to be
The college basketball player might have become a college coach. She had the aptitude for it. Not to mention the will. -
Sam Mitchell: Memphis Tigers assistant teaching lessons of life and basketball
His right foot is in a big black boot, but Sam Mitchell is at his desk, at work inside the new gleaming University of Memphis basketball practice facility. It is deep into the summer before the first season of the Penny Hardaway Era, the restoration project already in go-mode with rising ticket sales, legitimate, local, Top-150 recruits on the first roster and the hope, if not the promise, of more elite players in the pipeline and on the way. -
Memphis Redbirds finish ‘magical’ season with resounding victory in Triple-A title game
The Memphis Redbirds were leading the Durham Bulls 8-0 in the fifth inning of the Gildan Triple-A National Championship Game Tuesday night when NBC Sports Network took a moment to interview John Mozeliak, the St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations. -
Memphis Springboard
Father and son were both still in uniform. Dad had just managed the Memphis Redbirds to their second straight Pacific Coast League championship. His uniform was damp with champagne. -
New AAF Entry Dubbed the Memphis Express
They are no longer a football team without a name. -
Parsons declares himself of sound body and mind at midway point of his 4-year deal
Chandler Parsons’ most recent trip out of the country was not to Cancun, Mexico. Remember that hot-take social media moment, Parsons and his crew sporting “Chancun” caps for their All-Star break vacation and Grizzlies fans losing their minds? -
Tulane treating Memphis game as start of new season
When the University of Memphis plays at Tulane Friday night, the Tigers will face a team with a 1-3 record coming off a 49-6 drubbing by Ohio State. And that lone victory? Over Southland Conference member Nicholls. -
Rookie Earned Respect: Dillon Brooks Grew Up Fast
The best moment of your rookie season and the worst? This is the question before the Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks and he goes straight to his personal tire fire. -
Stubby Clapp to Toronto Rumors Escalate
John Gibbons knew he would not be returning to Toronto as the Blue Jays manager and it didn’t take long for him to go to work on endorsing a successor. -
Preparations underway for WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
The first FedEx St. Jude Invitational, a World Golf Championships event, is still almost 10 months away. But at TPC Southwind near the tournament office, a backhoe stands on a hill ready to be put to work.
-
-
October 2018
-
Talking the Talk: The sports betting terms you need to understand if you’re getting in on the action
Truck racing. Mixed martial arts. College lacrosse. Rodeo. College hockey. Bull riding. And pro bowling. -
Tunica sportsbooks open for wagers; football drives the action
Behind the counter at the Horseshoe Casino’s sportsbook in Tunica, employees wearing black-and-white striped shirts are taking wagers. The ghost of disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy apparently is not even a memory, bad karma having been cast out on these winds of change. -
New season, same truth: Jeremiah Martin vital to Tigers
The peak and the valley arrived on a Thursday night in late February at FedExForum. -
Firm foundation? With healthy Mike Conley, Grizzlies say yes
On Oct. 19 at FedExForum, the Memphis Grizzlies will tip off a new season against the Atlanta Hawks. At that moment, with ball and anticipation in the air, last season’s 22-60 debacle officially moves off-stage. -
Hardaway wants an active, selfish Kyvon Davenport
Forward Kyvon Davenport was never better than in the Memphis Tigers’ first-round 79-77 victory over USF in the American Athletic Conference Tournament last March. Career-high 29 points, nine rebounds, 10-for-13 from the floor, 4-for-7 from 3-point range. -
UConn brings nation's worst defense to Memphis
For most of the first half, Connecticut kept last weekend’s game with undefeated Cincinnati competitive. The Huskies trailed by a touchdown late in the first half and were driving. An apparent touchdown turned out to be merely a close call when the receiver was ruled to have touched the sideline. -
Any preseason a bonus for Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff
When the Memphis Grizzlies open the regular season on Oct. 17 at Indiana, they will have played just five preseason games and the Pacers will have played only four. -
UCF Knights less than likable
The UCF Knights might have become America’s latest college football darlings (see State, Boise, and the Jan. 1, 2007 overtime victory against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.) -
Points Aplenty: UCF scoring in bunches at "warp speed"
In 2017, UCF had the most prolific offense in the land – leading the nation with 48.2 points per game. After that undefeated season, head coach Scott Frost was off to Nebraska. Josh Heupel, who had been offensive coordinator for the high-flying Missouri attack the previous two seasons, replaced Frost. -
Henderson's big day isn't enough for Tigers to hold on against UCF
By the end of the first quarter, Memphis running back Darrell Henderson had rushed 12 times for 115 yards and a touchdown. Whatever the team’s fate Saturday against No. 10 UCF, there was not going to be any chance that second-guessers could point to the nation’s leading rusher not getting the ball enough. -
Learning Curve: Like all rookies, Jaren Jackson Jr. has one
Orlando Magic guard D.J. Augustin was cruising toward the basket for a right-handed layup. That’s when from the left corner 6-foot-11 Jaren Jackson Jr. flew to the other side of the rim and blocked Augustin’s shot. -
Stubby Clapp's name continues to surface as major league teams fill vacancies
Memphis Redbirds manager Stubby Clapp’s name emerged Tuesday afternoon as a possibility for major league positions with two organizations, including the parent St. Louis Cardinals. -
Redbirds' favorite son, Stubby Clapp, on verge of return to majors
Stubby Clapp and the boys were still in the Memphis Redbirds’ clubhouse, spraying champagne like a bunch of kids with squirt guns at summer camp. Clapp had just led the team to a second straight Pacific Coast League title amid massive roster turnover that had robbed him of his starting rotation and the heart of his lineup. -
University of Memphis and QB Brady White focus on finishing
In the aftermath of the 31-30 loss to UCF last Saturday, Memphis quarterback Brady White went straight to the aggravating bottom line: “We should have won that game, no doubt.”
-
Email Editions
Sign up for our morning and evening editions, plus breaking news.
Most Read Stories
-
1.
Calkins: Penny Hardaway beats Tennessee (and then does something really surprising)
-
2.
Calkins: Penny Hardaway takes the high road. So how about it, Rick Barnes?
-
3.
HOW 'BAUGH' IT?
-
4.
Calkins: For Ryan Silverfield, it's a Memphis dream come true
-
5.
DJ Jeffries: When Quinones and Wiseman return, Memphis basketball will be 'scary'