Thanks for the memories

The Tigers win the Motor City Bowl, beating Akron 38-31. The game was not as close as the score appears. And who cares, years from now nobody remembers the score, just who won the game.

And it was Memphis.

The only bad thing about yesterday's game is saying goodbye. There's the departure of Maurice Avery, Marcus West, Stephen Gostkowski and many more. Oh, let's add DeAngelo Williams to that list as well, a kid who has re-written record books and will be playing on Sunday, despite the lack of respect some media-types give him.

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Conference USA is 2-2 in postseason with Memphis beating Akron and Southern Miss winning the New Orleans Bowl over Arkansas State. UTEP lost the GMAC Bowl to Toledo and Houston was thumped by Kansas in the Ft. Worth Bowl.

Tulsa has a chance to give CUSA it's third postseason win this Saturday here in Memphis at the Liberty Bowl against Fresno State.

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There's also a little ol' basketball game tonight... no. 8 Gonzaga is in town to face the no. 4 Tigers at 6 pm at FedEx Forum.

Say what you want about coach John Calipari, the guy knows how to motivate a team. Take this quote from this morning's The Commercial Appeal concering Zags All-American Adam Morrisson :

"It's Morrison against us," he said. "The problem -- and I've tried to tell this to Rodney (Carney) -- is that we have seven or eight guys who can all score about the same. So Rodney can't get into a head-to-head where Morrison scores, so now he has to shoot it. Because Morrison is taking 25 shots, and Rodney, in all likelihood, will not unless he has it going like he did last game. But the reality of it is that Rodney can't be saying, 'Well, he did it to me, so I'm going to do it to him.' We can't play that way and beat them."

Carney had no problems teaching Duke's J.J. Reddick a thing or two about defense when the two squared off last month at Madison Square Garden.

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"Turn out the lights, the party'over
They say that all good things must end"

Okay, I'm no Dandy Don Merideth, but you get the idea. Monday Night Football is not gone... it's just gone from ABC. That's where last night's final telecast of MNF became historical. Critics claim MNF is not what it used to be. What? The NFL is better than ever, so it's not the game. I believe Al Michaels and John Madden to be two of the best in the business. That's what I'll miss.

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The rumor from Dallas over the weekend was coach Bill Parcells was considering retiring at season's end. Who can blame him. He doesn't need the money and he surely doesn't need the headache of fans who expected miracles overnight, but he didn't deliver. How quickly these same fans forget the three-straight 5-11 seasons they endured before Parcells came to town.

None of this matters because Parcell's says he ain't going anywhere. As a matter of fact he challenged anyone to step forward and admit who their source was that claimed he might retire. My only regret is I wasn't at this press conference.

And now Bill, even if you were secretly thinking about telling the lone star state goodbye so you could enjoy life, you're stuck now. So we'll see you next year.

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Who cares about a 4-11 Tennessee Titans team facing a playoff-bound and 11-4 Jacksonville team? Obviously the coaches do!

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Atlanta Falcons' coach Jim Mora has apologized for an outburst on their flagship radio station after losing in overtime to Tampa Bay Saturday, 27-24.

Radio analyst Dave Archer asked Mora why he punted on 4th-and-2 in OT, instead of going for the first down. Mora answered the question, then through the headset down and walked off. End of interview.

Should he have done it? No. Embarrassing? Yes. But should we question his emotional state? Come on!

This is football, not some damn Lifetime TV movie of the week. Mora had just coached his team to leave everything on the field. Frustration overrode professionalism. So the coach was correct to apologize. The question was fair to ask. Let's move on.

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Former Major League pitcher Jeff Reardon has been charged with armed robbery of a jewelry store.

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Indiana Pacers prez Larry Bird feels "betrayed" by Ron Artest in his demand for a trade. Someone needs to tell Artest to give Terrell Owens a call.

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See you on the radio.