What makes a good weekend? Great games.

written by:stacia_doss.
This weekend I ventured to a little place called Sikeston, Missouri. The nearest Target was about 30 miles away, along with any sign of a Wal-Mart (Supercenter), or any other "large store" many of us have grown accustomed to. My destination was Lambert's, "Home of the throwed rolls."



(Above) Memphis guard, Joe Jackson

After I met my Memphis pals there after the two hour drive and about an hour wait, I cuffed my hands like a football player to catch a couple of good, hot rolls...and I wasn't half bad! But enough about the arrival...what excited me was the drive and what happened before and during it.

MEMPHIS TIGERS BASKETBALL! I watched the Tigers defeat East Carolina in the C-USA tournament Friday night with a trampling score of 76-56. But Saturday's duel against UTEP in the deep southern city of  El Paso, Texas, was what made my drive to Sikeston most memorable.

I could not pull myself from the television at the beginning of the game, but I had to hit the road. It was no big surprise that after scanning my radio mulitiple times, I could not find one single station broadcasting the Memphis v. UTEP game, but I didn't give up. Thanks to CBS Interactive Sports, I downloaded a free application to my Blackberry that constantly updated the score for me! The Miners seemed to have kept cool and confident the whole game. The Tigers were somewhat underdogs because of their number of young players against UTEP's experienced seniors. However, my hope (and theirs) never faltered.

The Miners led the Tigers practically the entire game, and at one point, Memphis was down by 13 points. But with just about 15 seconds or less left on the clock, the Tigers closed the gap and broke a 66-65 deficit with a great play from Joe Jackson with game-winning free throws with  only 7.8 seconds left on the clock. I screamed and shouted with excitement in my car.

Now that is what you call a good weekend!

Memphis will open the NCAA tournament to face Arizona on Friday in Tulsa, Okla. Good luck to my Alma Mater!