Bring It On

Allie Prescott, the man once charged with getting people to envision an $80 million baseball stadium thriving in downtown Memphis, now has a new vision.Prescott sees Memphis as a destination for Southeastern Conference championships. Picture the SEC men's or women's basketball tournaments played at FedExForum. Or the baseball tournament at AutoZone Park.How about women's soccer at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex? Or even the golf championships at the Tournament Players Club at Southwind?If there's a championship event to be played, and Memphis has the facilities, then why not host it? That's the approach Prescott plans to take in Birmingham June 14 when he meets with SEC commissioner Mike Slive.Prescott is the managing consultant for the Memphis Sports Development Corporation, which seeks out sporting events for the city."I'm going to ask about all of them," Prescott said. "Then, I'll take the sport and match it with our facilities and the type of crowds they draw."What I want to do is just go and tell him that Memphis is in the game. We want to be players on a regional and national scale. We've got some great facilities, and we've got a great city here and we love your conference."The two biggest events on Prescott's wish list are the men's basketball and baseball tournaments. Memphis has hosted two SEC men's basketball tournaments, the last in 1997 at The Pyramid. Future sites are booked through 2012.Next year will be the second straight year FedExForum will host the Conference USA men's basketball tournament. Prescott, a University of Memphis alum, said he's not looking to bump that event in favor of the SEC tourney."I want to do everything I possibly can to help (the UofM),'' he said. "I just have to wear both hats equally and do what's best for the city of Memphis."The baseball tournament has been held in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover the last eight years. The final year of that current contract is 2006.Prescott has already received the blessing of Redbirds president Dave Chase to pursue the event for AutoZone Park, which has roughly 4,000 more seats than Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Last week's championship game between Ole Miss and Mississippi State was played in front of a sellout crowd of 12,290."Generally, our position has always been if a major baseball event comes to Memphis, we want to be a part of it," Chase said. "I think that the SEC would be one of those caliber events that we would definitely want to see at AutoZone Park if we could make it work."SEC athletic directors have talked of moving the tournament away from Hoover every few years."It's not like we have to get something done this summer," Slive said. "We're just starting talks."The biggest stumbling block would be a potential scheduling conflict with the Redbirds. The Pacific Coast League does not grant requests for teams to be on the road for certain dates.Two years ago, the Redbirds were able to work around hosting Spring Fling high school baseball games.But the SEC tournament, with its five-day format, would present a bigger challenge should the Redbirds be home for all five days.Chase said it may be possible for the Redbirds to flip-flop a series with an opponent. But he would probably not be willing to do what Oklahoma did last week when it hosted the Big 12 tournament. The RedHawks moved two of their games to Tulsa, costing them two home dates.Prescott said his meeting with Slive is simply to explore the necessary steps that it takes to host SEC championship events."We want to get some options out there for Memphis," Prescott said. "If we've got a facility and there's an event happening on an annual basis that makes sense for Memphis and doesn't have a permanent home, that's what I'm going to look at."I'm starting close to home with Conference USA and the SEC. Then, we'll branch out. We want to dream big for Memphis. We want to go after the best."Prescott said that includes going after NCAA tournaments, as well.He is hopeful UofM baseball coach Daron Schoenrock, who just completed his first season with the Tigers, is capable of turning that program around to the point where it can one day bid to host an NCAA regional at AutoZone Park."This is an exciting challenge for me," Prescott said. "I'm looking forward to it."

**From Commercial Appeal**