The Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee • 37

m4w- i in rr-ri" ww hN 8mdpiiiuj irwrwM Urty nhptem fe-'-MxrsVWNi I 1 -L 1 '4 I 5 iv 'wr4 i V- C- 1 I 1 4 1 ili Sunday October 7 2001 SECTION The Commercial Appeal Rookies of all kinds learn lessons at NBA 101 session there wasn't going to be a big Then they saw the line Stretching under one overpass under a second overpass nearly to the center was like Pattee said 'i Roughly 6000 fans came to watch the show Some were lined up as early as 5 am The Grizzlies sold roughly 12000 individual game tickets Saturday compared to ready? 337 on the first day of individual ticket sales last year "This is better than we ex- See GRIZZLIES D7 Part Om of David Wifiams's Pursuit of the Grizzles series A1 Ronald Tilery's cokann and NBA notes and quotes Dt in laughter under the stands "The rookies fall for Lowe says And so the education continues The rookies are learning what it's like to be in the NBA Memphis is learning what ids like to have the NBA In town classroom was The Pyramid and it was well oversubscribed Dustin Neff and Sara Pattee woke up early and drove over from Marion Ark Neff having grown up in Memphis said he was A minute to showtime The Grizzlies are lining up to run out on the court Sidney Lowe grabs Will Solomon the rookie point guard going to lead he says going to run out there Solomon nods ready? Lowe says Then he slaps Solomon on the butt Solomon sprints out on die floor in front of die assembled fans Alone Utterly alone The rest of the team is convulsed By Jim Weber Hm Grizzlies' Sham Battier hoists lOyear old Chris Carr on Ms shoulders after Can knocked Battier out of a free-throw game on Saturday GEOFF CALKINS On Sports puts away old rival I his was the perfect test TWenty-two seconds left The Memphis Tigers ahead by five But they still had to get off a punt to win the tiling right' a punt' lust reading the word can give Memphis fans the shakes 1 The Tigers foiled to get off three punts against sippi State They had three more blocked Saturday night So Memphis fans covered their eyes Southern Miss fens hollered that kick block that Gene Frederic snapped the balL Memphis punter James Gaither stepped into it and sent it spiraling into the sky Even before it landed a huge cheer went up from the Memphis side But wait! Southern Missis Kenneth Johnson collected tiie ban at the 10 and started up the sidelines He sidestepped a couple tacklers and headed toward a yawning hole When out of nowhefe Gaither die tortured punter slammed him to tiie ground when I said Memphis coach Tbmmy West weren't going to throw it 90 AndsoitwasoveLlhegame and the losing streak toa Memphis 22 Southern Miss 17 And if there have been big-See CALKINS D6 By Nikki Boertman 11m University of Memphis's Marais Smith yanks down Southern Mississippft Kenneth Mmon short of the goal One After a letdown last week the Tigers' defense did anything but against the Eagles in a 22-17 victory: 'Jyl of ends seven-year drpugHMgKinst Eagles of defense a nationally ranked unit last season responded to coach Tommy challenge to play like he knew it could was tickled to death our defense responded tiie way it West said week I put die pressure on myself or 1 guess them when I said be really shocked if you didn't see a Memphis Tiger defense out there Well ing that stretch it was a significant win that led to a boisterous locker room celebration was the Super Bowl for West said game is practically the Super Bowl for this team When you win one you're not supposed ta or one people say you're not supposed to ift awesome awesome because IVe seen the other side I've seen crushed always found a way to lose one of these things Now this team has twice found a way to win a game at the end and against a good team I be prouder of a football team or a See D6 INSIDE Afieldgoal with 18 seconds left gives Auburn a 16-14 win over Mississippi State: The loss sends the BuldogstoO-3in the conference D3 The Rebels come away from their first trip to Jonesboro with a 35-17 win Eli Manning completes 20f-29 passes for 269 yards D3 that had the Tigers beaming Led by a defense that intercepted four passes held USM to 60 yards rushing scored one touchdown and set up two other scores tiie Tigers (3-2 1-1 in C-USA) posted their most significant league victory since a win last season over East Caroli-na The performance came one week after tiie defense allowed in the closing three minutes two long runs to Louisville one for a touchdown and another that led to a short TD to dash any hopes for a late Tiger rally But the A streak that had die University of Memphis footbaU team disappointed deflated and discouraged ended Saturday night at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium But was it the one that lasted -seven years or the one that lasted seven days? The of 22-17 Conference USA victory over' Southern Miss before 2858 ended tbe seven-year losing streak against the Golden Eagles one of the most successful pro grams But it may have been the defense's about-face after last weekk late collapse at Louisville you i 1 For a program that scored a touchdown on Southern Miss (3-1 1-1) in three years and had been outscored 89-11 dur I 1 For Bonds a day of rest after long historic night snatch win from grasp Rea McGwire's mark of 70 set three years aga At 4 hours 27 minutes it was baseball's longest nine-inning game surpassing the record of 4:22 set by the New Ybrk Yankees and Baltimore in 1997 and matched last season by Milwaukee and die Chicago Cubs The game itself did not end until after 2 a CDX and was followed by a ceremony honoring Bonds for his achievement The festivities which included Hall iff Famer Willie Mays went on until nearly 3 ajn Bonds said he had spoken briefly to former teammate Bobby Bonilla on Saturday morning about his achievement but he was too tired to contemplate iL See BONDS D9 Rom Our Press Senices SAN FRANCISCO After homering twice Friday night to set a singleseason record Barry Bonds got a rest Except for a brief appearance in the ninth Inning mx a pinrh hittpr thg newly christened home run king was out of the San Francisco Giants' lineup in Saturday 6-2 loss to die Los Angeles Dodgers "People were hooting on me for not playing Bany but he was worn out8 San Francisco manager Dusty Baker said "He was emotionally and physically The Giants were eliminated from playoff contention with Friday II-10 loss to the Dodgers despite home runs Na 71 ana 72 by Bonos to break St Louis slugger Mark designed screen play But instead of booming the ensuing kickoff deep Tennessee kicker Alex Walls was ordered to squib kith Georgia tight end Randy McMichael returned the kick 7 yards and die Bulldogs had the ball at their own 41-yard -p line with 42 seconds left and one tinwouL "I was surprised they didnT kick it in the end zone but well take said Greene a vedshirt freshman who See BULLDOGS D4 KNOXVILLE Tennessee on Neyland Drive" lasted 39 seconds on Saturday A Southeastern Conference football comeback victory turned into an unthinkable loss as Georgia quarteiback David Greene flipped a 6-yard touchdown pass to fullback Yenon Haynes with five seconds left to give the un-nnked Bulldogs a 26-24 decision over the previousty-unbeaten Na 6 fcls The (day came after a Neyland Stadium crowd of 107592 roared with disbelief when Tennessee took a 24-20 lead with 44 seconds left It happened on quarterback Casey Clausens 62-yard scoring pass to running back Davis Stephens on a well- By WSds PayntsAP Verron Haynes found himself wide open on Georgia's winning touchdown fat a 26-24 upset over Tennessee Satur day in Knoxville.