Memphis Reverses Calipari Decision; An Old-School Umpire Dispute; Fun At The US Open

Not all of the interesting sports stories of the week are splashed across the headlines. That’s why we have “3 Stories You Should Know” — a discussion of the news you might have missed.

This week, Bill Littlefield is joined by Will Leitch of Sports On Earth and Andrea Kremer of HBO's Real Sports and the NFL Network.

1.Memphis Decides Not To Honor Former Coach John Calipari

On Friday, Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The University of Memphis, where Calipari coached from 2000 to 2009, initially planned to honor Calipari with a dinner. But on Thursday night, Memphis president M. David Rudd announced a change of plan. Bill Littlefield applauds the decision. 

BL: He used ineligible players, then he left the program for a better job, just as the NCAA was about to sanction Memphis, and then he took his recruits with him to Kentucky. So, John Calipari, headed to the Hall of Fame because he is in fact famous. He's also the embodiment of college basketball’s hypocrisy, and I say three cheers for the Memphis fans who haven’t forgotten that. I’m glad they pressured the president to back down.

2. Votto Brings Back An Old Baseball Tradition

A throwback night at the ballpark: Reds first baseman Joey Votto got into an old-fashioned shouting match with an umpire on Wednesday night. Will Leitch felt a touch of nostalgia.

WL: It felt like this weird throwback that was charming in a way because, you know, now, in the age of replay, yelling at the umpire seems like kind of getting upset at the copy machine. The manager goes to the top step up of the dugout, looks up, calls his video guy and then trots out and says, "We want a formal review." That's no fun! I miss when we yelled at umpires! Votto was out of line but very-entertainingly-in-throwback out of line, I thought.

3. An Exception To 'No Cheering In The Press Box'

The US Open is underway in New York, and that offered a rare opportunity for Andrea Kremer.

AK: I grew up loving sports. It's been my passion my entire life. But then you grow up and you work in the business and you realize — no cheering in the press box. And what you realize is that, hey, you have to be an objective journalist. But this week I got to dispense with that very briefly. At the US Open I got to see the player who is my favorite in all of the sport: the absolutely magical Roger Federer. It was just so wonderful to see him, and it was really rare for me to just go back and enjoy sports from a fan's point of view.