November 9, 1991: The Great American Pyramid opens in Memphis, Tennessee. The sports arena's design was somewhat appropriate, as Memphis was named for a city in ancient Egypt. At 321 feet high, it is the tallest building ever built to house sporting events in North America. For comparison's sake, AT&T Stadium outside Dallas, so big that it's been nicknamed The Death Star, is 320 feet at its peak, not quite breaking the record.
The Mid-South Coliseum had hosted college and pro basketball games, minor-league hockey games, and concerts starting in 1964, but did not have the modern amenities that sports teams now demand, making it unlikely that the city could attract an NBA team.
But since the American Basketball Association team known as the Memphis Pros in the 1970-71 and 1971-72 seasons, the Memphis Tams in 1972-73 and 1973-74, and the Memphis Sounds in 1974-75 folded, the Blues City had been without a major league sports team -- unless you count the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The 1987 announcement of expansion teams for the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons included Charlotte, Miami and Orlando, all Southern teams, and Northern team Minnesota, but not Memphis.
The Pyramid was built on the bank of the Mississippi River, just north of the Hernando de Soto Bridge, which carries U.S. Route 40 over the River, to West Memphis, Arkansas. Built in 1973 and also known as the M Bridge, because its cantilevered shape makes it look like an M for Memphis, the de Soto is sometimes called "the New Bridge." "The Old Bridge" opened in 1949, is officially known as the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, nicknamed the M&A, and carries Interstate 55. The M&A is "the Mississippi River Bridge" mentioned in Chuck Berry's song "Memphis," turned into hit covers by Lonnie Mack (instrumental) and Johnny Rivers (vocal).
The biggest team to move into the Pyramid at its opening was the men's basketball team at Memphis State University, which was renamed the University of Memphis in 1994. The NBA's 1993 announcement of expansion teams for the 1995-96 season put teams in Canada: The Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies. But the Grizzlies failed in Vancouver, and were moved to Memphis for the 2001-02 season.
In 1993, the Pyramid hosted the men's and women's basketball tournaments for the Great Midwest Conference. It hosted the Southeastern Conference's men's tournament in 1994 and 1997, Conference USA's men's tournament in 1996 and 2000, CUSA's women's tournament in 2003, NCAA men's tournament games in 1995, 1997 and 2001; and the Memphis Pharaohs of the Arena Football League in 1995 and 1996. In 2002, Lennox Lewis knocked Mike Tyson out there.
The Grizzlies are one seriously messed-up franchise. Their failure in Vancouver can be explained by playing at the same time as a hockey team in Canada. (In contrast, soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps play the other time of the year, and are doing well.) But while the Pyramid was designed to lure an NBA team to Memphis, it was considered unsuitable for 81 games a year. So a new arena was built in 2004, the FedEx Forum. The University of Memphis also moved from the Pyramid to the Forum.
Still, despite being the only major league team in town, the Grizzlies have not done well, either at the box office or on the court. Only once have they ever made the Conference Finals, in 2013, and they got swept. But they won't move, because they're all Memphis has got at the major league level. Like Nashville, their baseball team is Class AAA. And the NFL, the NHL and MLS have chosen Nashville over Memphis. It does seem to make sense, as Nashville is the larger city, with (according to the 2020 Census) 689,000 people to Memphis' 633,000, and a metropolitan area with 2.1 million people to Memphis' 1.3 million.
The Pyramid went dark after the Grizzlies and the Tigers left. In 2005, a plan was put forward to convert it into a retail complex, headed by a Bass Pro Shops store, but it took until 2010 to get it approved and for construction to start. Until then, it was unusable, an embarrassing "white elephant" for one of America's greatest cities.
Finally, the complex opened in 2015. There's also restaurants, a bowling alley, and an aquarium. It gets 3 million visitors a year.
UPDATE: The Grizzlies don't yet have a team Hall of Fame. They have retired 3 numbers: 9, for 2010-17 guard Tony Allen; 33, for 2008-19 center Marc Gasol; and 50, for 2009-17 forward Zach Randolph. They have also honored 1995-2005 broadcaster Don Poier with a banner; and announced that they will retire 11 for 2007-19 guard Mike Conley Jr. when he retires as a player.
Carter has also played for the Grizzlies, 2014-17. Gasol's brother, forward Pau Gasol, played for them 2001-08. Guard Allen Iverson played 3 games for them in 2009. Hubie Brown was their head coach, 2002-04. And Jerry West was their general manager, 2002-07. All have been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. None were involved with them in Vancouver.
Thus far, Zach Randolph is the only Grizzlies figure elected to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
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November 9, 1991 was a Friday. Actor Anthony Ramos was born.
Baseball season was over. These were among the college football games played:
* Number 1 Florida State beat South Carolina, 38-10 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.
* Number 2 Miami beat West Virginia, 27-3 at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami. The next week, they played Number 1 Florida State, one of their major rivals. Oddly, I don't remember it being promoted as "The Game of the Century." Miami won, as Florida State missed a field goal on the last play of the game. The same thing happened between the teams the next year. The games became known as "Wide Right I" and "Wide Right II," respectively, and each one cost the Seminoles a shot at the National Championship. Each time, the Hurricanes kept theirs.
Not yet members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Florida State accepted a berth in the Cotton Bowl. Miami accepted a berth in the Orange Bowl game, on their home field.
* Number 3 Washington beat USC, 14-3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Washington won the Pacific-10 Conference title, and received the accompanying berth in the Rose Bowl.
* Number 4 Michigan beat Northwestern, 59-14 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Michigan won the Big Ten Conference title, and received the accompanying berth in the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Washington.
Both Washington and Miami were 12-0. The National Championship vote couldn't have been much closer: The Associated Press (AP), the poll of college football writers, gave Miami the title by 4 votes; while United Press International (UPI), the poll of college football coaches, gave Washington the title by 9 votes. This split poll was one of the pushes forward the idea of a Playoff needed.
* Number 5 Notre Dame were upset by Number 13 Tennessee, 35-34 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Despite losing again to Penn State the next week, the Fighting Irish were invited to the Sugar Bowl, where they beat Florida.
* Number 6 Florida beat Number 23 Georgia, 45-13 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, the neutral site for their rivalry, "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." Florida went on to win the Southeastern Conference title, and accepted the accompanying bid to the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to Notre Dame.
* Number 7 University of California beat Oregon State, 27-14 at Parker Stadium (now Reser Stadium) in Corvallis, Oregon. Cal had already blown the Pac-10 title by losing to Washington, but they did go to the Florida Citrus Bowl, where they beat Clemson.
It was a typically wretched season for Oregon State, as they went 0-10, but they ended it in the best way possible, going to Eugene and upsetting arch-rival University of Oregon. They weren't much better, going in at 3-7. Cliché Alert: In this game, you can throw out
the records.
* Number 8 Alabama beat Louisiana State University (LSU), 20-17 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Crimson Tide had already blown the SEC title by getting embarrassed by Florida, 35-10, but that would be their only loss. They beat Colorado in the Blockbuster Bowl.
* Number 9 Penn State beat Maryland, 47-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Penn State went to the Fiesta Bowl, where they beat Tennessee.
* Number 10 Iowa beat Number 25 Indiana, 38-21 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes had already blown the Big 10 title by getting embarrassed by Michigan, 43-24, but that would be their only loss. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl, where they played Brigham Young University (BYU) to a 13-13 tie.
* Number 11 Nebraska beat Kansas, 59-23 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Nebraska won the Big 8 Conference title, and received the accompanying berth in the Orange Bowl. But, at least for a little longer, Miami had Nebraska's number, and it was not 1.
* Number 12 Texas A&M beat Texas Christian University (TCU), 44-7 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. A&M won the Southwest Conference title, and accepted the accompanying bid to the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Florida State.
* Number 18 North Carolina State were upset by Number 24 Virginia, 42-10 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina.
* Number 22 UCLA were upset by Stanford, 28-10 at Stanford Stadium outside San Francisco in Palo Alto, California.
* Air Force beat Army, 25-0 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado; while Navy lost to Tulane, 34-7 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* And New Jersey's team, Rutgers, lost to the University of Pittsburgh, 22-17 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.
There were 10 games in the NBA, none of them, of course, in Memphis:
* The New York Knicks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 118-113 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Detroit Pistons, 110-100 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Washington Bullets, 127-119 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. Chris Mullin led all scorers on the day with 38 points.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Miami Heat, 97-93 at The Omni in Atlanta. Dominique Wilkins scored 34 points.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Dallas Mavericks, 111-95 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Orlando Magic, 107-76 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns, 96-95 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)
* The Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 101-84 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Karl Malone scored 31 points.
* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Sacramento Kings, 84-80 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Indiana Pacers, 118-111 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There were 7 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders lost to the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the Cow Palace outside San Francisco in Daly City, California.
* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Boston Bruins, 4-0 at the Boston Garden.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-2 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Calgary Flames beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of
Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The Hartford Whalers beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-3 at the St. Louis Arena.
* The Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 4-4 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, beat Perth Amboy, 26-6 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.
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