THE BIG STORY
Florida senior offensive lineman Phil Trautwein, a preseason first-team All-Southeastern Conference left tackle and team captain, suffered a stress fracture in his foot. He’ll miss the season opener Saturday against Western Kentucky and possibly more time.

Trautwein had been bothered with a minor ankle sprain that he rested a couple of weeks ago. He had played through the injury. Trautwein, a fourth-year senior, has a medical redshirt year available, and stress fractures take more than two months to heal. His foot is in a cast.
“We’ll know more here the next couple of days, the length of it,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said following Wednesday’s practice. “But that’s what they tell me. He’s in a cast.”

“It’s a big loss, a huge loss,” Meyer said, “but the good thing is it’s an area where there’s a little bit of depth, a little bit of competition.”

With Trautwein out, junior Jason Watkins will move back to left tackle, Carlton Medder will move out to right tackle from right guard and freshman Maurkice Pouncey will start at right guard. Pouncey is the first true-freshman offensive lineman to start a season opener at Florida since Reggie Green started at left tackle in 1992.

A look at the league: (more…)

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The next election for the Ninth Congressional District seat isn’t until next year, but already the race between incumbent Steve Cohen and challenger Nikki Tinker is taking on the tone of a good soap opera.

For those who haven’t been following this little saga, a group of ministers has been criticizing Cohen for his support of a hate crimes bill, on the premise that the bill could restrict ministers from speaking out against homosexuality from the pulpit. Except the bill specifically says it wouldn’t restrict speech.

Tinker has remained strangely quiet as members of the Memphis Baptist Ministerial Association have torn into Cohen, with a campaign spokesman saying Tinker’s not quite ready to start talking about issues yet.

Meanwhile, Pinnacle Airlines, the company that employs Tinker, gave a free airplane ride to some members of the ministers’ congregations in June, after Tinker had announced her candidacy for the seat.

Not a ride to any place in particular, mind you. Apparently just a flight over the skies of Memphis.

Flying in circles. What a perfect metaphor for the whole hate crimes bill debate.

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Atlanta’s sometimes called the City Too Busy to Hate. But it’s apparently also the City Not Too Busy to Try to Regulate Young People’s Fashions.

According to a story in our newspaper Wednesday, the Atlanta City Council is considering a law that would ban baggy pants that reveal boxer shorts or thongs beneath. (The story wasn’t clear about the possible ramifications of wearing baggy pants with nothing underneath.)

Now, I’m certainly not advocating that Memphis consider a measure like this, which would distract from so many other more important issues. But I’ve just gotta say it: This is a wedgie issue if ever there was one.

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You read John Beifuss’ story today about the movie that’s going to be filmed in Memphis in October, right? Well, there’s a chance part of it might be filmed in The Commercial Appeal newsroom.  So we were all talking about who we’d like to meet if the opportunity arose. Of course, the guys were all about Kate Beckinsale, and [...]Continue Reading »

That’s how much will be spent on the Iraq war - money that could have been spent here at home. Say, rebuilding the parts of America destroyed by Katrina, which made landfall in New Orleans two years ago yesterday. The never-tiring Mid-South Peace and Justice Center again focused attention on this foolhardy war at a rally Tuesday [...]Continue Reading »

So there I was sitting at a table in a packed ballroom at The Racquet Club watching University of Memphis football coach Tommy West honored at an appreciation dinner.

There were proclamations from state representatives, a short speech from Mayor Willie Herenton, classic stories from former teammates and coaches and several special gifts, including a custom-made putter.

As the evening came to a close, a person sitting at the same table leaned over and said: “It’s hard to believe (Memphis) went 2-10 last season.”

The outpouring of support was genuine and a sign that West’s inclusion on several `Coaches on the Hot Seat’ lists is a bit off base, especially at a school devoid of the intense spotlight that shines on BCS programs.

West is appreciated for what he has done for the Tiger football program during his career. Before last season’s struggles, Memphis had been to three straight bowls — the only time in history the school has been to consecutive bowls.

That’s what created an atmosphere Tuesday night normally reserved for a post-league championship party. One of the event’s organizers, Don DeWeese, said he could have sold an additional 100 tickets, but had to cap the crowd at 260.

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Believe it or not, officials from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission are asking people to be on the lookout for jackrabbits. If you see one anywhere in Arkansas, they want to hear from you.

Jackrabbits are native to Arkansas, but they’re fairly scarce. They stand out from cottontails and swamp rabbits because they are considerably larger and can jump as high as 3 feet and as far as 9 feet.
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