Before I get started: 98 e-mails in the Inbox this morning. Gonna take me a while to get through them, so if you e-mailed me, apologies if it takes me a day or so to catch up.
Yesterday exemplified why I love life Downtown. Started the afternoon at the Silly Goose, where I ran into Mikey reading the paper at the bar. After a beer I said, “I wonder if there are window seats open at the Saucer,” and we walked over there. Found two seats facing Second, and enjoyed the beautiful 76-degree weather. Soon the rest of the trivia team showed up, and grabbed seats on the couches and chairs around the pool table.
There was a couple sitting to my right who had just moved here from California and were living in Germantown. They wanted to know about Memphis, and they didn’t realize what they were jumping into. Mikey told them about the Ques Brothers BBQ team and extended invitations to our booth. One of our other team leaders showed up and told them all about what’s involved in being on a BBQ Fest team. I gave them the address to my blog and told them about The Raising of the Goat this weekend at Silky’s, the St. Pat’s parade on Beale, and the crawfish boil at Orleans on Front this Sunday. Then I recommended Silly Goose and Bardog as other good places to check out in the Downtown core. Some of the Calhoun’s regulars came up to play trivia, and they told our new friends all about Calhoun’s, the best sports bar Downtown. Mikey told them about Downtown Olympics that took place last October. One of the Blue Suede Brigade members came by the window and gave our friends a map of Downtown. By the time they left they’d met at least 20 people.
Time flew by, and I looked at my watch. It was 6:45, almost time for trivia to start. Usually we go inside and sit on one of the rails that face the bar. “I don’t want to go inside, do you?” I asked a few people. No one seemed to want to. We were having too much fun enjoying the perfect weather and talking to our new friends. So we remained seated around the pool table and sent runners in to see the questions on the screen. The Calhoun’s crew did the same thing. The place was more packed than I’ve seen a trivia night at the Saucer in a long time. As best as I can remember, only the 2007 and 2008 NBA draft lottery nights drew such huge crowds on Tuesdays.
Even though we didn’t win at trivia (we’ve been on a bad losing streak lately), it was a great night, and reminded me how much I enjoy being Downtown and telling new people about my neighborhood. I think I’m going to start sitting in the window more at the Saucer. Seems like I meet more people there than at the bar, probably because the bar is mostly where other regulars sit. I met my former BFFs Jenny and Michelle at that same spot at the window last summer, now that I think about it.
Update to come on the C-USA tournament scheduling shortly…