Memphis courting basketball overload

HE WILL HEAD FOR FEDEXFORUM around 11 this morning. He will be back at his house around 10:30 tonight. In between, he will see two complete basketball games, from opening tip to final horn. He will hear two national anthems. He will relax through two halftimes. He will watch two different dance teams.

“No, it’s not too much,” said Dick Eiseman, 88. “Can there be too much basketball?”

This is the question of the year, isn’t it? By Memorial Day, we should know for sure.

The Tigers and Grizzlies play a doubleheader at Fedexforum today. The Tigers take on SMU at noon. The Grizzlies take on the Sacramento Kings at 7.

But college -pro doubleheaders are nothing new in this city. The Tigers and Grizzlies tend to have one every year. What’s new is what has come before and what will come after, a relentless schedule of basketball that has kept Fedexforum hopping — or is it bouncing? — like never before.

“It’s a lot of basketball,” said Clay Bailey, who should know. Bailey covers every Grizzlies and Tigers game as a stringer for The Associated Press. Let’s take a look at his recent schedule, starting with Tuesday, Jan. 10:

Jan. 10: Grizzlies vs. Thunder.

Jan: 11: Tigers vs. Southern Miss. Jan 12: Grizzlies vs. Knicks. Jan. 14: Grizzlies vs. Hornets.

Jan. 16: Grizzlies vs. Bulls. That’s five basketball games in seven nights, including three in a row. And that’s in addition to Bailey’s day job at the CA, which is covering everything that happens in Bartlett.

“It’s interesting,” he said. “These days, you kind of wave at your wife on the way out there door.”

Or you don’t have a wife. That’s the strategy employed by Eric Granger, vice president of arena operations. His mother does not necessarily approve.

“She tells me it’s because of my schedule,” he said. “She may have a point.”

Granger was at all those games, along with Bailey. He’ll be at both games today.

“It’s been a little crazy,” he said, “but it beats the alternative.”

Which is true, of course. It wasn’t so long ago that the NBA lockout was killing off games. Beale Street suffered. So did the the ushers and concession workers and everyone else.

When the lockout ended, the NBA stuffed as many games as possible into the calendar. Hence, the current deluge. “The idea behind Fedexforum was for it to be the community’s front porch, to bring people downtown,” said John Pugliese, senior director of

marketing communications for the Grizzlies. “Days like this are the pinnacle. It’s great for everyone.”

And yet even Pugliese admits that, at some point, basketball fatigue can set in. You can love the Tigers and love the Grizzlies and still think five games in seven nights is a little much.

You have to shower at some point, right? You have to shop for groceries and go to work?

“This is a basketball town,” said Pugliese. “I think people want to see them all. But when we’re talking about four games in six days, no question, that’s a tough commitment anywhere.”

So it takes a toll. It has to take a toll. Maybe you decide to go to the Tigers over the Grizzlies one week. Or maybe it’s the other way around.

The good news is that both teams are compelling, if in part because of their challenges. Can the Grizzlies survive and flourish despite the injury to Zach Randolph? Can the Tigers survive and flourish despite the injury to Adonis Thomas? Will the Grizzlies make it back to the playoffs? Will the Tigers make it back to the NCAA Tournament?

“I’m more confident in the Grizzlies right now,” said Eiseman. “If they can hang on until Randolph gets back, I think they can do big things.”

But days like today matter. So 88year- old Eiseman will be there for both games.

And what does his wife, Ina, think of the enterprise?

“I know that if it’s on the calendar,” she said, “he’s going to be gone.”

Which raises an interesting possibility. The couple will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in June. What happens if the Grizzlies are still playing into June?

“I’ll have to get her a ticket ,” said Eiseman, “so she can go.”

To reach Geoff Calkins, call (901) 5292364 or e-mail calkins@commercialappeal.com. Visit his blog at geoffcalkinsblog.com.