Calendar wallpaper for April has been added to GoTigersGo.com. There are nine different Memphis calendars to choose from featuring schedules from Baseball, Softball, Men's Basketball, Track and Field, Men's Golf, Women's Golf, Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis and Football.
Fans can access the calendar wallpaper by clicking on the "Wallpaper" link on the left side bar or by clicking here.
This past weekend we had our outdoor opener at Rhodes College. I think we did pretty well overall. We had at least five people qualify for Regionals including freshman jumper Aaron Whetstone in the triple jump. I am already pretty confident in us doing well in the conference this year with the team's overall performances. I was put to the test by freshman Richard Lowe who came out and surprised me in the 400 meter hurdles running a 53.9 which is my PR time I ran at conference last year. This only opened my eyes to let me know that I was going to have to really put in work to hold my title as "top dog" on the team. But I am still proud of him for pulling this off because now I know that I have a legit successor. In the 110 meter hurdles I didn't do so well. In fact I did not even finish the race because of issues with limited warm-up which was caused by miscommunication by the coach and myself. Though my performances this past weekend were pretty bad I am not really worried because of the fact that I've never had a good meet on that track since I've been running for the U of M. I expect to pick it up next weekend at SEMO and hopefully can lead the rest of the team to having another good meet.
Tiger fans, show your pride with official Memphis desktop wallpaper. Now fans can display a different wallpaper each month of their faviorite sport with our new calendar wallpaper. Each month a new calendar wallpaper will be added for all in-season sports displaying the team's scheduled events for the month. Additional sport specific wallpaper can also be found on all of the sports home pages. New Men's Basketball, Football, Baseball and Golf, wallpaper has been added.
Fans can access the calendar wallpaper by clicking on the "Wallpaper" link on the left side bar or by clicking here.
It sure was great to wake up this morning and know that baseball is in first place in Conference USA! Memphis has won five straight and swept UAB over the weekend and are now tied with Rice at 3-0 in Conference and are above .500 for the first time this year.
Yesterday was one of those games that was slow and dragged on....except for the last inning. After watching two teams walk 18 batters and the game slow to a crawl, the Tigers found themselves down 6-3 with nobody on and one out. But Memphis was able to find a way to score four runs capped off by KK Chalmers 2-run single to win it.
I hope to see you in Jackson, TN tomorrow when we play our first game at Pringles Park. The Tigers will face Austin Peay at 6:30.
It's a great time to be a Tiger and a lot of people are checking in to learn about U of M Athletics at www.GoTigersGo.com. We just received our monthly traffic report for February and we topped 1 million hits that month. That was a 111-percent increase from last February! Since 1999, we have only hit 1 million page views two other times - in November of 2003 and in September of 2004.
We also had over 175,000 unique visitors to the site in February. A unique visitor is counted only one time per month, no matter how many times they go to our site, so that is pretty impressive.
We currently rank 30th out of 220 schools around the country that are with CSTV's web company in web traffic, and we also now rank fifth out of those schools in online store revenue, just behind Kansas, North Carolina, USC and Notre Dame. Way to support your Tigers!
What a beautiful day! The basketball team starts play in the NCAA tournament tonight in Little Rock and the baseball team opens Conference play at Nat Buring.
You've got time to do the double-header if you're in town. Baseball faces off against the Blazers at 6:30 and the men won't start until around 9:00. It should be around 70 degrees at first-pitch and hopefully with the warmer weather, the Tiger offense will continue to heat up after an 18 run outburst on Tuesday night. A good start in the conference is imperative for this young Tiger team.
Baseball also plays at 2:00 tomorrow and 1:00 on Sunday. If you can't make it out, shoot me an email during the broadcast at MEMPHISRADIO@HOTMAIL.COM
A lot has happened since I last spoke with you. The baseball team got it's first shut-out in two years last week at Arkansas State in front of a very quiet record crowd, then lost two of three to SEMO over the weekend.
The basketball team cruised through the Conference USA Tournament and earned the number one seed in the south regional which we were all expecting. Have fun if you're getting to go over to Little Rock this weekend.
Then, baseball erupted for an 18-9 win over Samford last night. Great to see this young line-up finally explode. Most of them are learning a new hitting system and it's not always easy to adjust to. But, once they catch on, they'll be tough to get out.
Looks like another cold day for a game. Last night was great, 73 degrees at first pitch. I'm ready for it to stay warm.
Well, as usual I had a lazy spring break. It's always important for me to take advantage of breaks since I am so busy all the time. Practice Monday went well. I was hitting my times pretty consistently and for some reason I was still leaving up more hurdles than usual. Anyone who has seen me run knows that I usually don't leave any hurdles standing! Some of my teammates were picking fun at me saying that I PR'd in the number of hurdles still standing after a run. Hopefully that practice was not just a fluke and I am able to continue running the way I did. I guess I'll just test it out this weekend at Rhodes.....
Back on the road with Baseball today. Sitting on the bus right now getting ready to roll out to Jonesboro to face Arkansas State. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum of our win at Georgia. ASU is pretty good this year, they're 8-4 and handed Mississippi their first loss of the season. Brach Davis gets his first start of the year for the Tigers. Should be a good crowd at Tomlinson Stadium.
My long journey is over and I'm back. Ben Grisham and I arrived in Memphis last night around 11:00 after driving from Athens where the Tigers beat Georgia to salvage a game in the series with the Bulldogs.
It was a long tiring trip, but it's still one of my favorite weeks, I got to call six games in five days in three cities. I was really happy for coach Rock that he was able to get a win at Georgia, it holds a special place in his heart. He was an assistant for two years there and helped lead them to the 2001 College World Series. His good friend Dave Perno is now the Bulldog coach.
Back on the road tomorrow to Jonesboro to face Arkansas State.
Well I made it to Athens. Following the Lady Tiger loss, I dashed to the Orlando airport, caught a plane to Atlanta and then drove over to Athens arriving at 10:00. Felt great to finally get some rest. Being on the road is tiring, but still wouldn't trade my job for anything. I'm in the lobby of the Holiday Inn, Athens writing today's /sports/2015/4/9/GEN_2014010184.aspx. We'll be leaving for Foley Field in about 15 minutes to get ready to open our series with Georgia. I always look forward to playing the marquee teams since the Tigers have beaten 9 ranked teams in the Schoenrock era. It will be fun watching some of the freshman playing in a hostile environment with a big crowd for the first time.
I made it to Florida for the CUSA Tournament. After yesterday's double-header with Creighton, I hit the road to Atlanta arriving at 2:30 Eastern time. I got checked in a 4:00am and flew out at 7:20. Got to the team hotel and ate breakfast and hopped on the bus for UCF Arena. The team has finished their first warm-up and has headed to the locker room. Survive and advance as always during the conference tournament.
Our pregame begins at 10:45 am, Memphis time, on 91.7 FM.
Well I hate to say it, but this weekend didn't seem to go as I planned. I ended up pulling across the finish line in second place. Though I expected much more of myself, I still feel as though I did well. The weather change from Memphis to Houston really had a big effect on my warm-up session; causing me to be more loose than I am use to being. The looseness had a major effect on my block starts, causing me to be the last out in both the prelims and in the finals. Even with the bad block starts I was able to pull up and beat everyone but the one guy who beat me. It was kind of weird because this kid has been trying to beat me for the last three years now and I guess he finally got what he wanted. I think I was expected to be the victor in the race and was sorry to have disappointed the audience, but my opponent gave me a good race and there is no reason to cry about it.
The next few days will be my annual dash between baseball and women's basketball. I'll start Wednesday with the baseball double-header with Creighton beginning at Noon. Following that game, I'm on the road to Atlanta so I can catch a 7:20 flight to Orlando to do tomorrow's CUSA tournament opener between the Lady Tigers and Tulsa. If the Lady Tigers are eliminated before Sunday, I'm back on the plane to Atlanta, then a short drive over to Athens to catch up with baseball and their series with Georgia. I'll be hopping around, but it's one of my favorite weeks of the year. I could end up doing six games in five days in three different cities.
Yesterday I received the news that Blair Savage had announced that she was stepping down after this weekends Conference USA Tournament. I know the wins and losses didn't add up to what she wanted, but I always appreciated the fact that she always was there for her post-game interview and told it like it was. Trust me, I've worked with coaches before that won't give you the time of day when they lose, but are everyone's best friend when they win. Here's hoping the team can make a run this weekend and end on a high note.
I saw two disappointing losses to start the weekend, but two good wins to finish it. Friday night I got to see a great pitchers dual through six innings between the Tigers Scott McGreggor and Ohio's Chris Rigo. It was 2-1 Memphis through six, but unfortunately, Ohio edged the Tigers 5-4 to win the first game of the series.
Saturday, the Lady Tigers had a chance to finish .500 in the conference and hosted 12th place UCF, but the Knights went on an 9-0 run to close the first half with an 8 point lead and never trailed again beating us 81-69. It just seemed it the intensity that we had on Thursday night wasn't there. But, 7-9 in league play is a vast improvement over the 1-15 record we've had the last two years. We'll face Tulsa this Thursday at 11:00am Memphis time down at UCF Arena.
Looking back on my freshman year, I definitely thought that it would take forever to get to my senior year, but it came with a blink of an eye! It took a while for me to really grasp the fact that my last home game is this weekend. It hit me, and I thought wow, I will never play in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse ever again after this game and it is sad. I have come to feel so comfortable in the fieldhouse. The small environment of the fieldhouse makes it feel like home and I wouldn't have it any other way. The crowd and fans are so close and it's a good feeling knowing we have support right there. It makes me enjoy playing in the fieldhouse so much more. All the people that have continually come to support us thru thick and I want to say a big thank you, as you have such a big impact on our success. Thank you.
The team this season has grown and developed so much and we have really proven a lot of people wrong. We have an amazing fight and have really come to learn how to play well with each other. We have fought thru a lot of adversity, but we have overcome it all together!. It's going to be difficult to leave the team, coaches and managers because we are like a little family and many of the relationships I have developed can never be replaced. It's a very overwhelming experience for me to know that I will never play with this team ever again, because no one team can ever be the same. In my case, this could possibly be one of my last games and I definitely have a lot of mixed emotions and am sad to know that my college career here in America is coming to an end.
My time here at Memphis has literally been some of the toughest years of my life, both physically and mentally, but it has made me stronger and the things that I have been through will carry me through life and the real world. I truly treasure my time here in Memphis and in the United States, even though it has been very tough at times. I have seen the world, played basketball at an intense and amazing level that I would not have be able to experience many other places, and I would never change my decision to come here.
I have had the time of my life, met some amazing people and have had the opportunity of a lifetime to be in America, receiving an education and competing as a basketball athlete. It will be a very emotional time for me entering my last game here in for The University of Memphis as a Lady Tiger for the last time, but I will be strong and take it all in and I will never forget my experiences here and will always be grateful.
I want to thank my family, my boyfriend Efrem, and my friends for always being there for me through the thick and thin. I would not have been able to do it without you all.
Cyah Everyone
Your New Zealand Lady Tiger
Aroha Jennings