The 901: Has omicron peaked in Shelby County? Hardaway goes on epic tirade following loss to SMU

Good Friday morning Memphis, where there's a serious chill in the air and Tigers Coach Penny Hardaway lashed out at the media in a post-game, profanity-laden tirade Thursday after the team lost to Southern Methodist University.

But, first, we're focusing on whether omicron has peaked in Shelby County.

Memphis-area hospitalizations remain at some of the highest levels of the pandemic, but there is a silver lining, doctors and public officials said. Hospitalizations have plateaued in recent days, a sign Shelby County could be past the worst of the omicron wave, our Corinne Kennedy reports in this story for subscribers.

Data from the Shelby County Health Department on new COVID-19 cases by specimen collection date also shows a peak in cases at the start of the year, which precipitated a steep decline in the 7-day average of new cases over the past three weeks.

New cases started shooting up dramatically around Halloween, but have been on a sharp decline since New Year’s Day.

(Not a subscriber? You can get a digital subscription and get all of the premium stories about the impact of COVID0-19 and other subscriber stories. You can get the best deals here.)

Senate Ethics Committee recommends expulsion of Sen. Katrina Robinson

The Senate Ethics Committee determined Thursday that state Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, violated the Senate code of ethics and recommended her expulsion due to her conviction on federal fraud charges, Melissa Brown from our sister newsroom, The Tennessean, reports in this story.

Robinson will now face a full Senate vote based on the committee's recommendation.

The senator is awaiting a March sentencing date for two federal fraud charges related to mismanagement of federal funds in connection to her leadership of a nursing school. Robinson's criminal trial focused on events that occurred prior to her 2018 election to the state Senate.

Hardaway unloads on media following loss to SMU

Coach Penny Hardaway got a little hot under the collar after the Memphis basketball team’s loss to SMU, its third straight. The Tigers’ fourth-year coach was already in a foul mood at FedExForum. Memphis (9-8, 3-4 AAC) has lost eight of its last 12 games and slid down both the AAC standings and the NCAA’s NET rankings, reports our Tigers' beat writer, Jason Munz.

“One of the worst games of the year,” Hardaway said to open the postgame press conference. “I’ve got to stay at the drawing board. Man, just keep fighting. That’s all I can do. That’s all I know.”

Things went from bad to worse when one of the members of the media asked the native Memphian whether he has ever lost faith in his ability to get the job done at his alma mater.

“I think the one thing I can say to this media, because this media gets kind of (expletive) up sometimes when it comes to me, (is) we don’t have our full roster,” he began. “Y’all know we don’t have our full roster. So, stop asking me stupid, (expletive) questions about if I feel like I can do something.”

How high can Ja Morant's all-star vote total and brand value rise?

Ja Morant, behind Steph Curry in the fan voting for all-star guards, has increased his lead over third-place guard Luka Doncic, our Evan Barnes reports in this story.

Columnist Mark Giannotto, meanwhile, asks how much is Ja Morant growing star power worth to Memphis in this column for subscribers.

An excerpt from Mark's column:

Meet Grizzlies' beat writer Damichael Cole

The CA's Damichael Cole started the Grizzlies beat about a month ago. And he has taken readers along for the ride as the Grizzlies have become one of the hottest teams in the NBA and Ja Morant's star has grown ever brighter.

Cole is a Memphis native, a graduate of Overton High School who grew up in the city's Parkway Village area. He graduated three years ago from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and most recently worked as a sports reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer before joining The CA. You can read more about Damichael's background in his introductory column here.

I asked Damichael to answer several questions to help you get to know him even better:

What are you looking for when you are covering a Grizzlies game?

I'm looking for the game within the game. Each basketball game is different, and something happens within that 48 minutes to justify that. Whether it's Steven Adams carrying an opposing player away from a scuffle or Ja Morant rising up for a two-handed block, there is something to take from each game that goes beyond just the score.

You took on the Grizzlies’ beat just as the team has gone on an historic winning streak. Coincidence?

Coincidence yes, but a nice one! The Grizzlies were without Ja Morant when I was moving back to Memphis. They went 10-2 during that stretch and after losing the first two games when Morant returned, they reeled off an 11-game winning streak. I covered one loss right before the winning streak, and I've been on the beat since then.

When you are not covering the Grizzlies, what do you do for fun in Memphis?

I'm usually spending time with my family or going out with friends. If I'm with my friends, we usually go out to eat, have game nights or go to one of the malls. With family it's more of just spending time together and making memories. I have family and friends spread across Memphis and North Mississippi.

OK, you are a native Memphian so you should be used to these questions: Chings or Wing Guru?

Chings over Wing Guru. If it was just wings, Wing Guru wins every time, but what makes Chings special is of the wing places, it has the best chicken tenders and the seasoned fries are near the top.

If you've got one Memphis tour you can do before the latest COVID variant shuts down the city, are you doing Stax or Graceland? And, of course, wet or dry ribs?

Stax over Graceland. To this day, I've never been to Graceland. I want to go, but it wasn't offered as a field trip option many times for kids in the former Memphis City Schools system (and now Shelby County Schools). Most of us have been to Stax through field trips, but a lot of people I went to school with (in the Overton class of 2015) have not been to Graceland. Dry ribs over wet ribs. Wet ribs can mask flaws. Dry ribs don't.

Mark Russell is executive editor of The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at mark.russell@commercialappeal.com, 901/288-4509. You can also follow him on Twitter: @MarkRussell44

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Coach Hardaway goes on epic rant after loss to SMU