A few days ago I posted that Mudbugs in March will happen this Saturday in Court Square. It struck me as unfortunate that it’s the same day as River City Brewers Festival, but the two events have found a way to work together. Your brew fest ticket gets you free admission to Mudbugs in March (it just gets you in the park, you still have to pay for the crawfish). With the crawfish fest’s hours of 2:30 to 6:30, it’s very possible to go after the afternoon session, which ends at 4, or before the evening session which starts at 6. Kudos to the organizers of both festivals for working together! That’s how we do it Downtown!
The Flyer’s Hungry Memphis blog has a good article about the Jack Daniel’s Master Taster’s Dinner which happens at the Peabody this Thursday. By they way, Hungry Memphis has tweeted a lot of fun facts about the dinner too. Follow the blog at @HungryFlyer.
Josh Pastner has received a 1-year extension to his contract. That will keep him here through the 2016-17 season. Some people have criticized his coaching this year, and in some cases I have to agree, but I think this is a good move by the University. He won more games in his first 3 years than any previous U of M head coach, and he got us to two NCAA tournaments. And he did it without being a douche like his predecessor. Yeah I know, no wins over Top 25 yet, but those will come. Women’s coach McFerrin got a year extension too.
If you go to Kooky Canuck a lot and have a smartphone, you need to download the stiQRd app. This is a loyalty program for restaurants and businesses, based on QR codes that you scan. Kooky Canuck is the latest business to join the stiQRd family. If you go 10 times and scan their code, you’ll receive a $10 gift card for the restaurant.
Getting more and more excited about BBQ Fest. It’s only 7 weeks away. My vacation for that entire week has been approved. I really like what our team did with the bartending situation. Previously, team members would cover the bar at all times, which sucked because it means some people got stuck behind the bar during the two biggest party nights of the festival, Thursday and Friday. This year we’re hiring bartenders so all team members can enjoy themselves. That is definitely a decision I support! Our friends Squeal Street BBQ had the same idea, recruiting a couple of the Saucer’s best. I tend to hang out in my own team’s booth most of the time, but that move pretty much guarantees I’ll wander over to Squeal Street for a few visits.
Planning a BBQ team is not all fun and games though. Team members have to be careful about the guests they invite. If you have someone who has a known history of overimbibing at all-you-can-drink type events and then driving home, that person is a huge liability if you invite them in and serve them alcohol. Our team captain is an attorney so we know this well, but I just want to mention it for the benefit of other teams. Actually, people who plan other types of parties should be aware of this too (it’s not the season, but for some reason Halloween parties come to mind).
Got several responses for places to house our sponsors, and have passed them on to our WordPress guy who works in Memphis for further investigation. Thank you to those who responded!
Plans for tonight: Poker at the Blind Bear at 8. Two more weeks of league play to accumulate points for the final table, where an iPad will be awarded. Looking at the standings, all I need to do is show up this week and next – you get one point just for showing up, more points for a top-three finish – and I should be safely in the finals. Even if you can’t catch up on points, there’s still plenty of reason to come out and play, because $50 Bear Bucks are awarded to each week’s winner. I’ll pre-game with a few beers at the Saucer before heading over.