Mike Bullard's Bullseye

I Must Know the Future

Ok, I am either a genius or I have unbelievable precognitive powers, because I can already tell you who be the winner will be in each of the Memphis' wins this year... MEMPHIS...

To prove my point, I will run down the schedule.

• vs. Ole Miss - Fact: Ole Miss is a bad team. Question: Are they bad enough? I say yes. Memphis wins. (1-0)

• at Arkansas State - The Tigers will eat the Indians unless they change thier mascot before kickoff. (2-0)

• vs. Jacksonville State - Why is this game scheduled. (3-0)

• at Central Florida - The Tigers could easily start the season 4-0, but what are the odds? (3-1)

• vs. Marshall - It's nice to play Marshall, but who cares. (4-1)

• vs. MTSU - Keep the beatings in-state. (5-1)

• at Rice - What is their mascot? Is it rice? The Rice Rice... We can't possibly lose to the Rice Rice... (6-1)

• at Tulane - I can't believe how easy this schedule looks... Ok, Memphis is going to lose a game somewhere... Might as well be here... (6-2)

• vs. East Carolina - Memphis is happy they are bowl eligible.. They coast a bit, Tommy is not happy. (6-3)

• at Southern Miss - More Black than Blue. (6-4)

• vs. UAB - Is this the year Memphis breaks the UAB curse? No. (6-5)

• vs. SMU - Expect a lopsided victory here. (7-5)

There you have it. As I said before, Memphis will be the winner in each of it's wins this year.. I dare you to prove me wrong....

MEMPHIS SPORT Cleans Up the Most

Well, the ballots have been counted and the awards have been given out. After the dust settled, I have to admit we were all a little shocked. The 2007 Most Memphis Awards insert will be distributed in today's Commercial Appeal, and Memphis Sport Magazine has placed in five separate categories, and unless someone can dispute me (which is highly likely -- I have done no research) Memphis Sport has placed in more award categories than any other Memphis business. In any case, this is truly an unexpected and phenomenal achievement for a publication only a year old.

We finished second only to Memphis Magazine for Most Meritorious Magazine. Our Editorial Director, Randy Malone, took home the award for Most Bookmarkable Blog for his Memphis Sport Blog. The Memphis legend, Jack Eaton placed third to Geoff Calkins and Wendy Thomas in two categories, Most Insightful Columnist and Most Entertaining Columnist for his Jack's Back column. And our website garnered a nod for Most Well Developed Website.

We can't thank everyone enough for voting for us and we look forward to taking it notch higher next year. Thanks and keep reading.

Grizzlies: unBEARable

Playing around on the wonderful wide web of the internet last night, I happened upon this jewel of a cartoon. Don't email your complaints or praise to me, I had nothing to do with it. For more info check out THE HYPE.

Ankiel Makes it Big, Then Heads to the Majors

Rick Ankiel will be featured on the cover of a comic book being distributed at Autozone Park Friday night alongside cultural icons The Incredible Hulk, Spiderman and Iron Man. Imortalized on the comic page, Ankiel has finally made it big time. But Rick won't be in Memphis to sign copies of his debut in the Marvel Universe. He has been called up to the majors. The St. Louis Cardinals purchased the contract of Ankiel from the Redbirds on Thursday. Ankiel has not made an appearance in the majors since 2004. Good luck to you, Rick. Maybe after the season is over, you can return and sign my comic book.

I am the Champion

OK... I don't claim to be the best poker player out there, but I do understand how to play the game.

As I arrived at the Media Poker Tournament at Southland Gaming and Racing Wednesday night, I was filled with confidence, but then again I always have confidence and I never win anything. This night would be different. I lost the first round to an identical hand with a higher kicker, but I came back in round two and never lost again. After beating everyone at our table, I proceded to take on the winners from the other tables in a head-to-head playoff-style finish.

In the semifinal match, I went all-in on the first hand, and won with a pair of aces. Way too lucky for me, I thought, but my luck hadn't run out yet. I folded my first hand of the final, and then went all in with a King and a Queen. I hit a pair of Queens on the river to all but assure me of the top prize... $750 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Everyone had a great time playing poker on some of the most high tech poker tables I have ever seen. I will probably never win again, but I will brag about this one for a long time, especially in the wake of my horrible last place finish in the March Madness Bracket contest.

For right now, at least, I am the champion.

Derrick Rose to attend Memphis State

Ok. So I never intended this blog to become a 'Memphis gets no respect' blog, but as I open my Sunday paper, I couldn't help but notice that Parade magazine has named thier All-Satr Basketball Team for 2007, and of course, Derrick Rose is on the first team. Then I looked at the blurb about him. It appears that he will attending 'Memphis State' next year. So I guess I will say it again. No respect.

Tigers Wrapup

I said before that the Tigers get no respect. I know. I know. I can hear everyone whining about the incredible number 2 seed that the selection committe gave us.

Keep in mind that the NCAA selection committee did Memphis no favors in their selection of Memphis as a number 2 seed. They were the highest seed in the tournament to take on a top ten team in the second round. THE SECOND ROUND. No number 2 seed should have had to play a top ten team in the second round. No number 3 or 4 seeds had to play a top ten in the second round.

The selection committee was as unsure of the Tigers as was everyone else in the country, so they tested them early. As a result the Tigers had a hard road to the Final Four. Had they made it all the way to the Finals, they would have played 5 of their six games against top ten teams.

So it wasn't in the cards for the Tigers to win this year. But you can lay the blame in many different places. one of those beng the selection committee.

It's all about respect

OK... so I get my latest issue of The Sporting News today and it's a "Selection Sunday Preview." Seventeen mascots appear on the cover and not one of them is the U of M Tiger. Memphis is the highest ranked team left off the cover. But included are some non-top 25 teams like Virginia Tech and Kansas State. NO RESPECT.

To Gasol or not to Gasol

Pau Gasol.

What can you say about the giant that leads this sad group of Grizzlies right now. Well, unlike most of the fans in Memphis, I am not ready to kick him out the door. You may not want to believe it, but Gasol is this franchise right now. The main reason the Grizz are in the cellar of the NBA is because of his summer injury. The is no doubt in my mind we would hav ewon more games had Pau been in the lineup in the first part of the season.

He just wants to win, and I can't blame him for that. I truly think this whole trade thing has been blown out of proportion. The trade deadline will come and go and Pau will still be a Grizzly. Partly because the Grizzlies want to keep him and partly because no one wants to trade with Jerry West. He is so good at the trade game that everyone feels like they are coming out on the losing end of any trade.

So I think Pau will live out his contract in Memphis, and we will begin to grow a great team over the next three years. We have salary cap room and will have a lottery pick this year. If things don't get better with a Pau, a lottery pick and a ton of salary cap room, then lets talk about shipping Pau out of town.

Quarter Billion Dollar Man

David Beckham signs with the LA Galaxy for 250 million over five years.

OK - I love sports as much as the next guy, but paying any athlete 250 million dollars over five years is insane. For Pete's sake, they are playing a game. For almost a million dollars a week. That is ridiculous.

But let's try to keep this in perspective. After all, major league soccer (MLS) is the most popular sport in this country. The fans in the US just can't get enough of it. Everywhere you go you see t-shirts for teams like the Chicago Fire and "America's Team," FC Dallas (this is not a typo -- Dallas' MLS team is called FC Dallas). So, of course, Beckham should be paid more than the superstars of the NBA, and the NFL. He is in a much more popular sport.

Hey, tickets are on sale now. The cheap seats are under $500 for the whole season. As soon as they sell about 100,000 tickets they can pay for his salary. Uh oh, the Home Depot Center (LA Galaxy's home stadium) only holds 27,000.

Enough with the sarcasm. It's too absurd to kep this going. The bottom line... David Beckham will either be the savior of professional soccer in this country or the end of it all together. My vote is the latter.