Sports Media

Tigers blown out by conference rival South Florida

By Josh Rivera

In a desperate game to remain above .500 in the overall standings, the Memphis Tigers were blown out by the South Florida Bulls 68-47.

The Tigers (13-14, 4-10 American Athletic Conference), showed an immense amount of hustle and their effort is what stood out the most, despite the 21-point loss.
Aerial Wilson, who finished the game with six points and five rebounds, understands that effort is a mental aspect of the game, and that they need to take full advantage of runs in order to comeback in large deficits.

“For the past couple games, it’s been a bad habit of us to come out slow in the first half,” Wilson said. “We know that we can go out on a run and that it could be a close game just like that. We got it back within ten, and if we just kept on pushing than it really would have been a game, so I think it’s really mental for us.”

They only have two games left in their season and they are second to last in the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers hope to finish strong to have some momentum leading into the conference tournament which will be held in Uncasville, Connecticut.

“It has been hard, but we are going to keep on fighting,” Wilson said. “I think we have a good idea of what we need to do. We just need to bring in our focus for these next few games.”

When it came to the loss on Saturday, it seemed like the Bulls came prepared and just wanted the game more in the first half due to their rough nosed style of play and their gritty defense. USF’s 39 points to Memphis’s 22 in the first half was capitalized by their great shooting at 48.4% from the field.

Every possession on both sides of the court was a dogfight. Bodies were flying around the court, and it was evident that this game could be ugly. It immensely helped the Bulls while the intense style of play was actually Memphis’s weakness.

The Tigers’ consistant sloppy offense led to the all the fast-breaks USF was able to get away with. Their bench also stepped up leading both teams with 17 points to Memphis’s 2.

South Florida stood out however, with seven steals and consistently tipping passes from Memphis. In the half, Sydni Harvey led the Bulls with 12 points, shooting 67% from the field while also contributing with two assists.

At the first half, Memphis could just not buy a basket as they only shot 25% from the field. Their lazy passing and the Bull’s interior defense resulted in Memphis only making 9 out of their 35 shots.

The Bull’s momentum carried on for them in the second half as they dominated in the paint offensively and defensively. They scored 20 in the interior to Memphis’s 6 and the Tigers’ 9 turnovers gave the Bulls 4 easy points.

Every time the Tigers went on a small run in the second half to try to comeback in the game, the Bulls easily retaliated with intense defense and solid ball movement. In the second half, South Florida led both teams with 9 assists and made it priority to not let the Tigers come close to the lead.

At one point early in the third quarter, Memphis had a run that brought them within ten but even then, USF’s head coach Jose Fernandez relied on his team’s defense to weather that offensive storm. He said it was the defense that made the difference and made the most impact right behind their ball movement.

“It had to be on the defensive end. I think for us, we fouled too many times,” Fernandez said. “I think the ball movement stood out. They came out, pressured us and played some man-to-man (defense). We got easy baskets in transition and that’s where it started.”

In the fourth quarter, the Bulls ran away with the game. Memphis shot a rough 1-14 from the field, and USF took advantage of that by passing the ball around more resulting in 4 assists in the final quarter. The last five minutes was bland as the game was already decided. Memphis hung their heads to the locker room in a crushing blowout to their conference rivals.

Memphis’s Assistant Coach Jessica Bogia said they have to capitalize on their runs better than they have been. During their run that brought them within 10 in the third quarter, she said they should have ridden that momentum, instead of worrying about what USF would do next.

“Obviously in that (third quarter) stretch we got the inside game, we limited our turnovers, we were able to push in transition, we rebounded better and found Madison Griggs on the trail three,” Bogia said. “That’s who we are as an identity of our team and we have to expand upon that per 40 minutes, not just for a three-minute spurt.”

Next Saturday, the Tigers have their final home game against the third-ranked Central Florida Knights and the tip-off is at 3pm.

The Road for Jessica Benson

By : Josh Rivera

Many people that are in the sports journalism field are in it for the passion, the love for competition, and the drive to create the best narratives in their respective sport. It is not an easy path to go down, and the tests can sometimes feel unbearable. Tough skin is required but the payoff of knowing you were meant for the business is what makes the long hours of pursuing that dream, worth it.

Jessica Benson’s life is everything aforementioned. As a kid, her vacations with her family were spent attending March Madness tournaments. That early exposure for sports was just the first seed that would one day blossom into a career that many say they want to chase, but few get to reach.

“When I grew up, my dad would just put me in a press box,” Benson said. “He would say, ‘don’t get in trouble’. I would get so nervous about his teams … and even though I wasn’t a fan, I wanted my dad’s teams to win.”

Even at a young age, she fell in love with the atmosphere. She would watch the game from the press box and love the energy in the arenas.

She graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Broadcast and Digital Journalism and from that point, her journey began. One of the best opportunities anyone in this industry can have are internships. Hands-on experience is better than any curriculum a class can offer and to help cover the 2012 Olympics in London with NBC was quite literally the opportunity of a lifetime.

Before coming to Memphis, she worked as the Sports Director at KNDU-TV in the Tri-Cities, Washington area. KNDU-TV broadcasts to Richland, Pasco and Kennewick, Washington and in her time there she covered high school sports. Also, in her time there, she helped contribute to SWX, another regional sports network in the Pacific Northwest.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, she was raised in Denver and Seattle and now calls Memphis home. She now is the weekend sports anchor and sports reporter for Local 24 News and CW 30 News. She covers the University of Memphis, the Memphis Grizzlies, the SEC and other local sports teams in the city.

Memphis embraces anyone who will embrace us back. This city doesn’t get a lot of love but when it does, it tends to love back harder. For Jessica who has not lived anywhere in the area prior to moving, she loves knowing that she is embraced here and will always have a fanbase that supports her.

Otis Sanford, a journalism professor at the University of Memphis and column writer for the Commercial Appeal, believes Jessica’s talent surpasses the sports realm and can be carried over into something possibly bigger.

“Not only is Jessica knowledgeable about sports, she has a great personality for television,” Sanford said. “She speaks the sports language well without clichés and trite phrases. I believe Jessica can cover things other than sports. She is also a good interviewer. I see her becoming a national sports reporter someday.”

When her days aren’t filled with attending practices or being live on television giving viewers the reports of the day, she also loves watching musicals at the Orpheum. For a time, she even thought about pursuing a career in theatre before committing to sports journalism. During high school, she attended the Yale Conservatory of Drama for a summer where she quickly realized she couldn’t talk about sports with the people there and decided to quit theatre.

Of course, for some people, that career would be more fitting for a woman to do as opposed to what she is doing now. But because of her willingness to not let that get to her head, she has allowed herself to be the role model for any young girl that considers wanting to be another Jessica when she grows up.

But it isn’t just children that admire her. Jen Hannah, the Memphis Athletic Communications contact for Women’s basketball and softball also draws inspiration from the tenacity and drive the Jessica emulates in her day to day life.

“Jessica is the type of person that isn’t going to let being a female in a male dominant world get in her way,” Hannah said. “She’s a very amiable, knowledgeable, spunky, and engaging person. She’s constantly breaking the glass ceiling and know she will go places. I wish I was as brave as she appears to be.”

In the 1970’s female reporters were not allowed to conduct interviews in the locker room pre and post-game, giving their male counterparts an advantage in writing their stories. It wasn’t until 1978 when Melissa Ludtke, reporter for Sports Illustrated, sued the New York Yankees for prohibiting her to enter the locker room to interview players during the 1977 World Series.  Winning the case, Ludtke was took one of the largest steps in terms of women in the sports journalism field.

Today reporters like Jessica now benefit from those steps taken and expects to take the next steps necessary for tomorrow’s female reporters to be more prepared than she ever was.

A Writer Without a Narrative

How the Coronavirus has affected the sports world

By: Josh Rivera

Sports is the gateway for billions of people across the globe to use as an escape from the drama and the muck of the world around us. It seems like the biggest headlines each day are topics that can stress any person like politics and economics, especially in these times.

For us, asking the question “how about the game last night?” holds more weight that many would consider. That is because it gives many of us something fresh to talk about that isn’t work, family, or religion related. Also, it is something there is great passion in. Fanbases are like brotherhoods, and when a team wins a championship, the entire city wins with it.

We are constantly being pushed in life that as we get older, it is time to get our responsibilities in check and that adult life is spent working. That may be true but where is the fun in that?

As children, most of our earliest memories were spent dribbling a ball in the driveway or playing football with our neighborhood friends. Most nights we came in the house all smelly and sweaty but with anticipation of playing again tomorrow. Many tomorrows continued and that bled into school competition where we wanted a release from all the classes and drama as young adults, so we gravitated towards sports, the one link we had from our childhood.

Before you knew it, we graduated and suddenly were faced with a decision that would affect the rest of our lives. We didn’t want to give up the one thing we loved the most growing up, so we pursued it and decided to create narratives and still be integrated in the game one way or another.

But what is life without sports, without a narrative, without a headline, without something to look forward to each night that isn’t dinner? That is the empty world we are living in today.

Life continues to go on for many but what is life for the writers whose whole topics are gone? That is like a taking away food from a chef, they have to get creative for something to fulfill themselves. Suddenly there are no games to cover anymore and we are desperate for anything, which is literally why there was a televised HORSE game. Although there are no more games to cover, the landscape has changed and somehow people in the sports media world have to focus their attention on other tasks.

For Brooke Pryor, an ESPN NFL Nation Steelers reporter, her job is derived from attending games and practices. A UNC graduate, it is her duty to create narratives and luckily in these times while the NFL is off-season, she has free-agency to report on.

In her time working from home in Pittsburgh, she has spent most of her time writing features and profile stories. Those stem from the personal connections she has built over her time as a professional journalist.

She says that part of the personal connection is her ability and efforts to try to make whoever she is speaking to, laugh at least once. From there she establishes that human connection and can advance to pursue a professional relationship to create better stories in the future. Her goal as a writer, she says, is to use that personal connection she has and lend it to the reader to make them feel like they also know the person in question as well.

“That is what I think is so great about sports.” Pryor said. “You can feel all of these things through the prism of something that in the grand scheme of the world is not that important.”

In these times, it seems sports is the one thing we do need. The only headlines now are what the President said the day before, how many have died to this point and how much we miss our old lives. If there was ever a time, we needed an escape, a reason to be entertained, something that wasn’t produced from Hollywood, it would be now.

Just like Hollywood, Tammy Degroff, head of the athletic communications at the University of Memphis, feels that the times we are currently in is like a scene from a movie. Her busy schedule, which consisted of only three days off in the entire month of March has now become an empty calendar with almost too much of nothing to do.

Working from home, like millions of Americans are, she has spent her time doing summer work in the spring. From finishing record books to writing biographies, the thought of many businesses moving to permanent work from home could be a possibility.

“This is going to become pretty normal.” Degroff said.

As the Associate Director for Men’s Basketball for the Memphis Tigers, Phil Stukenborg is consumed in the sports world. From setting up interviews for head coach Penny Hardaway, to being with the team on the road, life is not the same without a season. That is the life he lives now.

“If you are in this business, you are kind of used to having sports on in the background.” Stukenborg said. “You always had something else to look at and for this, not even in the US but in the world, there’s nothing to watch.”

The world is in some ways standing still for us. Some of us see these athletes as untouchable. When something happens, like Kobe Bryant’s recent passing, it hits us hard because we remember how relatable we really are. No longer are they figures on our televisions; they are people who inhale the same air we do.

We separate each other by status, by ambitions, by things that truly aren’t of importance when we breathe our last breath. We hail up people with these talents as if they are gods among us. However, they also struggle with anxiety, relationships, and even money at times. Life becomes more than fame and fortune. Life becomes a journey and we all are in the same chapter of the book of history.

So, when the virus hits NBA and NFL stars it makes sense that leagues stop. It makes sense that we huddle around our brothers and sisters and put it on hold for the greater good. The games will always continue, but our lives have a final buzzer.

What “The Last Dance” Means To Me

By Josh Rivera

For the first time in what seemed to be months, I finally had something sports related to watch on television. I grew up watching Jordan highlights and reading the stories on his legendary career, but I have never grown up with the honor of getting to see him play live.

It seems that he is the consensus best player to ever lace them up, but for me who hails LeBron James in that spot, I am just not convinced. I have witnessed all that LeBron has faced up to this point and what he has turned his brand and game into, even 17 years later and to me nobody is to that level. But as a student of the game, I knew I needed some more context and perspective on what Jordan meant and was to the league all those years ago.

The main point of the documentary is highlighting the last run of their sixth championship in 1998, the year I was born. I have studied the NBA’s history, so I already knew about Jerry Krause and that he played a part in the end of the Bull’s dynasty, but I never knew how.

Watching the first two episodes gave me a refreshing feeling about basketball and how much in love I still am with the game. Even though I put LeBron at the top, Jordan is a close second. The sheer tenacity of not only his game, but his lifestyle. He did not bode well with losing. It was his kryptonite and it was a dagger to his character.

If he lost in practice, he would take it personal. According to Jalen Rose, he would even place bets with the security guard outside their locker room on who would win the minigames on the jumbotron during each timeout. There was a rumor he would even get the stat keepers to tell him so he would still win.

It was that mindset that propelled his teams to greatness. But this show taught me that you can have all-time talent and still manage to have issues. Sometimes the perfect roster can still be broken up as a result of management, not attrition.

The phrase “bigger than basketball” pops up in my head as a result of this show. Chicago had two of some of the greatest players in NBA history. Six championships were brought to Chicago in the 90s and perhaps eight if Jordan hadn’t left to pursue baseball. Even through all that, it was halted by Krause who thought it was a good idea to not pay Pippen, time to move on from him and eventually decided it was time to give the Bulls one more year before it was time to rebuild.

All this built up in Jordan’s head who was being paid handsomely and also just wanted to win. That’s all he cared about. Pippen didn’t feel appreciated, Rodman just wanted attention and Krause just wanted some credit. This was the ticking time bomb of a team that could have gone the distance.

Why would you just rebuild from the most dominant team of the 1990s with a few more years of contention? Jerry knows and this documentary will eventually fill us in on the whole story.