MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Beale Street had never hosted this kind of celebration before. Thats because the Memphis Grizzlies?never had a high-priced free agent say yes. Chandler Parsons ended that drought for the Grizzlies, agreeing to come to Memphis on a four-year maximum deal worth more than $94 million.The franchise wanted its fans to share in the joy of Parsons arrival, so they turned his introductory news conference into a festival, lining up food trucks outside FedEx Forum and inviting the public into the plaza to welcome Parsons.This is the guy weve been seeking for a number of years, Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said as Parsons sat by his side and smiled, sporting a skinny-fitting plum suit and dark blue loafers with no socks. He fits the description for that perimeter star to a T that weve been searching so aggressively for for so many years.?Why did Parsons choose Memphis? What will be different from his injury-marred, disappointing, two-season stint with the Dallas Mavericks? How will the part-time model fit with the Grizzlies gritty culture? During a conversation with ESPN.com, Parsons talked about his official introduction to Memphis -- while chowing down a burger and fries.ESPN: Should it be Grit, Grind n Glamour now that youre with the Grizzlies?Parsons: No, I dont think so. Grit n Grind is something that this core group of guys with Marc [Gasol], Mike [Conley], Z-Bo [Zach Randolph] and Tony [Allen]?have established here. Its something special. Its in their DNA, and its in their culture and in this community. Maybe not by looking at me -- I kind of have the pretty-boy tag -- but thats not me. I compete, I play hard, Im tough. Thats kind of how I got my niche in the league, doing all the dirty things. Playing under Kevin McHale, I was taught from my rookie year to take charges, dive on the floor.As my career has progressed, Ive changed a little bit, but thats who I am as well. I think you add a guy like me whos hungry and willing to take the big shot and really be the versatile forward that this teams been missing. I think my game really complements their game and vice versa. Grit n Grind or not, I think were going to mesh very, very well together, and I think those guys are a perfect group of players to play with me.ESPN: Theyve established a very tough, physical identity. What do you think you can bring to Memphis that the Grizzlies havent had?Parsons: I think I can just bring that forward who can ... make big plays and score and, like I said, can take the big shot and play off those other four guys. Im very unselfish. Im very versatile. I think I can make those guys better, as well as they can make me better. I can stretch the floor and shoot when we go big with the two big guys inside, and I can get out and run and play the 4 when we go small. I think I just help them with more of a versatile look.ESPN: You had max offers and meetings with the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies in the first 24 hours of free agency. You committed to Memphis on the spot after that meeting. Why Memphis over Portland?Parsons: It was a very, very tough decision. I have nothing but respect for Portland and what theyre doing, and I think they have a tremendous future. This really just came down to a gut feeling of mine. I felt extremely comfortable with the management and coach [David] Fizdale. We hit it off right away. We had a past relationship with him being my coach in the Rookie-Sophomore game, and I actually randomly saw him in Orlando with my parents and stopped and talked to him for like 30 minutes when he was still with Miami.Just looking at his body of work with what hes done with wings in the league and his vision for me, it just felt right. It basically came down to me being comfortable and trusting the coaching staff. They made unbelievable points about how my usage rate has been down my entire career. The way hes going to use me in this offense, I think I can really flourish and be the best player I can be.ESPN: You felt the same way going to Dallas, and that role never really materialized like you envisioned. Why do you think it didnt happen in Dallas and why will it be different in Memphis?Parsons: I was only there two years. The first year was about getting my feet wet. We had good scorers with Monta [Ellis] and Dirk [Nowitzki]?doing their thing, and I kind of just tried to fill a role and do anything I can. Obviously, I was sidelined with unfortunate injuries, which was completely out of my control. But I never really had the opportunity, the keys to the offense. I loved playing for coach [Rick] Carlisle. He was very, very good for me, and we have a special relationship that will continue even though Im not playing there, and learning from a guy like Dirk was great.But this just seems like a new, fresh start for me. I have a young head coach that is a huge fan of my game and is just simply looking at numbers and seeing that my usage rate hasnt been up. If you look at guys whose [production] compares to mine, comparing usage rate numbers, mines extremely low. I think [Fizdale] is going to obviously bump that up, and with the personnel thats on the roster right now for Memphis, its a perfect fit. Well be able to play off each other very well. Coach Fizdales system, the way he coached guys like LeBron [James]?and [Dwyane] Wade and Joe Johnson in Atlanta, thats how I want to be coached. Thats how he sees me.ESPN: Are you disappointed that the Mavericks -- and especially Mark Cuban, considering your relationship -- didnt really make much of an effort to keep you?Parsons: It was more shocking. It is a business and I understand that aspect of it. I think the fans of Dallas were great, but they dont really understand the whole story of everything. If they did, they wouldnt have negative feelings towards me. Everything I did in Dallas was for the team and for the organization and for the city. Whether thats recruiting DeAndre Jordan, putting my absolute heart into that, although it didnt work, that was to make our franchise better and to help us win games. Getting hurt two times, thats just bad luck. Its kind of sickening when you see fans write something about your injuries or my knees, like thats in my control.I obviously wish things went a little bit differently in Dallas and that I was healthy and able to play in the playoffs, but like I said, everything Ive done for them, whether it was coming off the bench or getting hurt or recruiting, that was all for [the fans]. I have no bad feelings toward them. I obviously thought I was going to be in Dallas a lot longer than I was, but its a business and Mark has to make decisions. He makes mostly all of them, so this was on him.ESPN: People look at you and see you as a Hollywood kind of guy, a guy who enjoys the nightlife and being around celebrities and that sort of thing. What made Memphis a fit?Parsons: This is a perfect example of how people can be misunderstood and misjudged. This decision was clearly based on basketball and fit and me being comfortable. I think its kind of strange when players get knocked for having off-the-court marketing deals. I enjoy that kind of stuff, but at the same time, I understand that I dont have any of that without basketball. Me making this decision to come to Memphis should show everybody that basketball is obviously my No. 1 priority. I think we have something special here and were going to win here. All the other stuff comes after that. Hollywood or pretty boy, whatever, I just made a decision to come to the grit n grind city of Memphis for a reason. Thats to play basketball and win.ESPN: You had a lot of conversations with Mike Conley during the free-agency process. You were in the position to be recruited instead of doing the recruiting. What did he tell you that might have helped sell you on Memphis?Parsons: First of all, that he was coming back to Memphis, that that was a done deal. That was a big point for me. I wanted him here, for me to know before going into the meeting [with the Grizzlies]. He was just honest. He told me about the city, told me about the culture, told me about how unbelievable the fans are here. Its just a match. Hes one of those guys thats just such an unselfish, hard-nosed, tough player that Ive always respected my whole career. Im just glad Ive got a chance now to have him as the leader of this team.ESPN: Grizzlies fans are excited because youre the biggest free agent who has picked Memphis. Theyve got the hashtag #Chose901. Can you get other guys next summer and in the years down the road to join you here?Parsons: This season is going to tell a lot. Obviously, we have to compete and we have to win. Its got to be a good situation for free agents to come here. Just because I have a reputation for being a recruiter doesnt mean that guys are automatically going to come here, but if we win at a high level, then I think it puts Memphis in that destination spot. Although guys might like the bright lights and big cities, youre in the NBA to play basketball and compete for championships. I think we have a really, really good core here. We have an unbelievable coaching staff. Now we just have to put it all together. Wholesale Nike Shoes China . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Cheap Nike Shoes Womens . The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynchs famous "beast quake" touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game. http://www.shoesnikecheap.com/ . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Nike Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Nike Shoes Cheap Sale . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. TROON, Scotland -- Heres an updated weather forecast for the next four days at the 145th Open Championship: It might rain. It might not be the kind of light, fluffy rain that feels refreshing on a lazy afternoon, either. It might be hard, heavy droplets pounding down from the heavens that force everyone to run for cover. Or it might not even feel like its barreling down from the sky, instead swept up by the wind and forming the type of sideways rain that so often permeates this golf tournament. It might do this for an extended period of time every day. It might keep going, too, day and night, through the end of the weekend, until a rain-soaked, waterlogged champion is eventually awarded the Claret Jug.Or it might not.The reality is that predicting the weather here remains a bigger mystery than trying to extricate oneself from the Coffin Bunker. Its more inconsistent than a 20-handicappers putting stroke (and sometimes uglier). It might be nasty all morning then warm and sunny all afternoon. It might rain for five minutes, then turn to sun, then to wind. Wash, rinse, repeat. In perhaps the most quizzical scenario, it might be totally calm on the first tee and completely bonkers on the ninth green. At the same time.That was the case last year, when much of Saturdays round at the Old Course was suspended due to overly windy conditions on the far end of the course, while thousands of spectators spent the day reveling in sunshine and a light breeze throughout the town of St. Andrews. With all due respect to Bob Dylan, there were more questions than answers blowin in the wind.Royal Troon sports similar physical characteristics to St Andrews, in that the outward nine holes all face to the east, meaning players make the turn at the furthest part of the property from the clubhouse, then literally turn around and head inwardly west, into what is the prevailing wind.As for the official weather outlook, heres the beginning of the forecast for each of the four tournament days:Thursday: Fine and mainly dry with some sunshine throughout the day...(Well, that doesnt sound too bad.)Friday: Mostly cloudy with rain at times ...(A bit vague, but we can work with this.)Saturday: Details remain uncertain at present...(Hey, nothing like a little honesty.)Sunday: Like SSaturday, details remain uncertain.dddddddddddd.(OK, lets call it brutal honesty.)What we do know -- or at least, what we think we know -- is that this weeks weather wont be the worst in recent Open Championship memory.The worst Open weather Ive ever played in was 2002 at Muirfield, Colin Montgomerie said this week, echoing the sentiment of anyone else in that field. That was horrific.The third round that year was contested in pouring rain, heavy wind and chilled temperatures. The lasting image of that day was Tiger Woods, in the thick of his prime, posting his lone birdie on the 17th hole then dramatically raising his arms and taking a sarcastic bow on his way to shooting an 81.I regret scoring 74 on the second day, because that put me out late in the awful weather, Monty said with a smile. But that was the worst ever. I had lost circulation by the fifth hole. I had sent in for -- I was with Callaway -- you know these big, big mitts in July. Whats going on? It was crazy.For those who werent around 14 years ago, the tournament which provided the worst conditions that youll remember was a major, but not this one.Just three years ago, the second round of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club was plagued by a furious storm that never halted play.Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano refused to hit the tee shot on 18, because there was standing water on the teebox, let alone the greens, Jordan Spieth remembered. But they werent blowing the horn. We couldnt even see the fairway, it was raining so hard. But we played through it.Even Shane Lowry, from the not-so-warm-and-sunny country of Ireland, agreed with this assessment. I was one of the first groups out on Friday morning, and it was just brutal weather, he said. That was probably the worst rain and the worst wind I played.That might not happen this week. There might not be any sideways rain or enough wind to barely keep the flagsticks in the holes. We might not witness any world-class players shooting 81, then bowing sarcastically to the crowd. The weather might not be as ugly as possible.Then again, it might. Hey, its still early. And as they say, details remain uncertain. ' ' '