In a move that vaguely reminds us of an episode of the X-Files, state Senator Steve Cohen recently issued a press release announcing that he has asked Governor Sundquist to retroactively declare Saturday, November 9, 1996, "The University of Memphis Tiger Football Day" in acknowledgement of the Tigers’ against-all-odds win over the University of Tennessee. That sounds like a swell idea to us. We were even thinking about throwing a big old party to celebrate the day and inviting everybody in the city. Unfortunately, with November 9th being just 11 days ago, we don’t think we’ll have time to put anything together.
But that’s not the only suggestion Cohen has for the governor. He’s also asking that the Tigers be officially dubbed the "Champions of I-40," pending the outcome of the U.T.-Vanderbilt game. Again, another splendid idea. We’ve even come up with a slogan to go along with the title: "Memphis: I-40 stops here."
Wrong Place,
Wrong Time
One company found itself at the wrong place at the wrong time in last Wednesday’s Commercial Appeal. When a front-page story on an airliner crash in India was continued on another page, that landed the headline, "Crash," right next to an ad for — who else? — Valujet.
Lynn Carthane: Football Fan
Channel 24 news anchor Lynn Carthane seemed a bit peeved by the fact that this week’s Monday Night Football delayed the broadcast of the 10 o’clock news by over an hour. How could we tell? It was probably the comment she made right after the sports report that tipped us off. Quipped Carthane, "I just wish they could finish the stupid game early."
Insider Trading
Reports that Peaches Simpkins, deputy to Governor Sundquist, had been calling health-care providers on behalf of Women’s Health Partners Inc. was front-page news last week. The Nashville Scene, the weekly alternative in the capital city, investigated long-distance phone calls made from Simpkins to health-care providers across the state. Among the institutions Simpkins called were Methodist and Baptist Hospitals in Memphis. While the Simpkins story was featured prominently in The Commercial Appeal and The Knoxville News-Sentinel, neither of the two daily papers in Nashville covered it. Irby Simpkins, Peaches’ husband, is the publisher of the afternoon paper, The Nashville Banner.
Communication Breakdown
Dilapidated? Perhaps. Or maybe aliens are attempting to speak to us in forgotten tongues out on Summer Avenue. If so, we’re hoping they have the technology that will allow us to travel back and celebrate "The University of Memphis Tiger Football Day." Do you think that comes with a three-day weekend?