Producer Spike Lee speaks motivation in Memphis

article by:stacia_doss
Spike Lee, the well-known director/producer, spoke to students and guests at The University of Memphis Wednesday night. His overall message to the audience centered around the importance of education and achieving dreams.

While re-canting on his years at Moorehouse College in Atlanta, GA, he said he was unsure of what he would major in when he first started college.

"I didn't declare my major until the summer after my sophomore year when I was all out of electives,"he joked.

Lee said that after a summer of creating short films about various scenes in his hometown of New York City, he returned to school in the fall and knew film was his passion. He then declared it his major.

He stressed to students how important it is to follow a career that will make them happy, not just for material gains, regardless of what others say.

"When I did my first film in college, I showed it to my classmates and they liked it," he said." It was an amazing feeling doing it on a whim when no one but my immediate family thought I could do it."

Lee also discussed how he learned, firsthand, that persistence can lead to success.

He said he did not achieve his success immediately, but it came with patience and learning to perfect his craft with time.

"Keep trying.Who knows? The 101st 'no' could be a 'yes'."

November brings unanticipated victories for Memphis

written by:stacia_doss.
The city of Memphis' top basketball teams once yielded pretty low expectations for wins from some residents--but the past month has brought the unexpected from both the Grizzlies and Tigers.

After the Memphis Tigers suffered the loss of Coach John Calipari to the University of Kentucky last spring, it seemed like at least three-fourths of the blues city had the blues. Many wrote the team off as having little to no chance of being as good as it was under Calipari's leadership, but things changed.

The Memphis Grizzlies started the NBA preseason with some players the team hoped would help gain more wins--like veteran guard Allen Iverson and rookies Hasheem Thabeet and DeMarre Carroll. But as time went on the team was less than victorious, with only one home win, and back to back losses on the road--and Iverson decided he did not want to be a part of the team.

Both Memphis team fans were disappointed and losing hope, if hope was existent.

Coach Josh Pastner recruited the best he could for the 09-10 season, leaving the team with a couple of new recruits, a few veterans, and even some walk-ons. There was no doubt that this was a team transformed from its previous season. The team didn't even rank in the top 25 power teams of the NCAA, but the team said differently.

On November 17, the Tigers competed against the No.1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Numerous mistakes were made by Memphis, yet the game was at a constant neck and neck score. At the end of the game, a 55-57 score with Kansas leading, the Tigers went for a long three and lost the game. It was a loss, or was it?

Memphis guard Elliot Williams said "The message we sent is that nobody is going to run over us." I guess surprised Memphians and NCAA fans as a whole could say the same. Pastner has already recruited some of the top players in the nation for the '10-'11 season...time will tell what else is in store.

Since releasing Iverson from his contact, the Grizzlies team has improved, winning four of its last five games. The team also added former Indiana Pacer-Jamaal Tinsley to its roster during the month of November. Will the victories continue with the recent team alterations?

Memphis Grizzlies gain first win of Season-[recap]

article by:stacia_doss.
With a 115-107 final score,the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Toronto Raptors Friday night at the FedEx Forum, making the team 1-1 for the regular season.

After a struggle with scoring Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons, the team was able to end victorious as Zach Randolph led the team with with 30 points and seven rebounds.

Chris Bosh led the Raptors during the course of the game with 37 points and 12 rebounds.

The Grizzlies led in the first and second quarters,but trailed the Raptors 79-76 in the third.

The Memphis team will hit the road to play the Denver Nuggets on November 1, while the Raptors head back to Toronto to face the Orlando Magic.

Ready to be a backpack Journalist?

written by:stacia_doss.

Today's journalists aren't what they used to be. To be successful in the area of print/broadcast, it is recommended for one to be well rounded in the profession in more areas than just writing. In short, he or she needs to be prepared to not only write, but also record video, audio, and even take photographs on their own.

I am a senior internet journalism major and I'm not so sure if I, myself, am prepared. I hadn't heard of this whole "backpack journalist" concept probably until the end of my sophomore/ beginning of my junior year and I'm starting to wonder...can I handle it?

The above photo is a small bit of what is supposed to be in my backpack.

The fairly new concentration of "internet journalism" at my college is not the most popular among students. However, I decided upon choosing it just for that reason. I sought to expand and enhance my skills in areas other than just writing. With graduation being less than seven months away, I am questioning whether or not I will be prepared when the May date comes around.

Update: Memphis NCAA violations Confirmed

article by:stacia_doss.
The NCAA today confirmed violations were made by the University of Memphis basketball team during the 07-08 season. The team is now forced to forfeit its historical record of 38 wins.

As mentioned a few months ago, the University of Memphis basketball team was under investigation for what was quoted as 'major violations'. These violations speculated around falsifying a player's SAT score, rumored to be now-NBA star Derrick Rose, as well as providing travel expenses to a family member of Rose's.

Now confirmed, Derrick Rose was indeed the team member with the false SAT score and the money was provided to his brother. The President of the University, Shirley Raines issued this statement: "We know the rules..we did our due diligence. We did everything we could to determine the student-athlete was eligible and that the rules were being followed."

Former coach, John Calipari, has received no punishment, regardless of the fact that he was the Tigers' head coach during the previous season.

In addition to being stripped of the historical '07-08 season, the team will remain on probation for three years. A representative from the school announced that it will appeal the penalty, named 'unfair' by the University's President Raines.

Update on Vick

Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick signed a 1-year contract today with the Philadelphia Eagles.

He found a home team after all...we'll see how the season goes from here!

Fresh faces for Franchises

written by:stacia_doss.
CNN-Money.com published an article yesterday focusing on the changing logos of several companies. Some of those included Pepsi, Tropicana, Apple Computer company, and BP gas, just to name a few.

The goal of pointing out the makeovers of these companies was to find out whether or not they helped or harmed them,profit-wise.The risk-taking of these corporations in changing their logos were key to their success or failure,especially with the current state of the economy.

Fortune magazine reviewed whether or not these changes were profitable. The results, decided by a panel of experts,were generally at a median. Of twelve company logos reviewed, there was no general consensus of a majority of them being good or majority being bad.Check out the findings here.