Former Memphis Tiger Antonio Anderson will host a celebrity basketball game this Saturday, August 4, at 12 noon at Streets Ministries, 430 Vance. In this post, Anderson describes what he’s been through since he left the University. While I’m sad to hear that a medical condition brought an end to his playing days, I’m very excited to learn that he’s turning toward a career in coaching. Antonio was a team leader who displayed a very high basketball IQ, so coaching is perfect for him. This game is to support his new nonprofit, the Antonio Anderson and Friends Skills Academy. He said in his post that Joey Dorsey and Chris Douglas-Roberts will be there. The @memphisroar Twitter account lists Willie Kemp, Shawn Taggart, Jared Sandridge, Penny Hardaway, and Elliot Perry for the game as well.
This morning I saw a very good Memphis Chamber article about 10 young professionals cooking up success in Memphis. It is exciting to see this city take so many steps forward.
Need a job? The Memphis Public Library posted a huge number of jobs on their site. It looks like this is a weekly thing, so you may want to bookmark the site and check back next week.
The Nielsens indicate that the Summer Olympics opening ceremony was the most watched opening ceremony in Olympic history. Unfortunately it was also the worst opening ceremony in Olympic history.
Jamie has decided on the grand prize for the current poker league at the Blind Bear. Last time it was an iPad, but this time Jamie is going to do something different. The prize will be $500 in gift cards – a $100 card for the Blind Bear plus four more $100 cards for nearby restaurants. Great way to support local businesses. The idea came from Puckett, who I believe is currently near or at the top of point standings. You earn 1 point for showing up and additional points for 1st-3rd place over a 12-week period. At the end, the top nine point earners get invited to the final table, winner takes the grand prize. There are still 3 weeks left in the current league, and a lot of people are hovering around ninth place, so if you’ve played a couple of times you still have a shot at getting a seat at the final table. Jamie says there may be opportunities for bonus points the last three weeks. Poker happens every Tuesday at the Bear at 8 PM.
Last night a few friends and I decided to go to Aldo’s Pizza Pies, but we made a huge mistake – we fooled around at the Blind Bear until 5:25, 25 minutes after Aldo’s opened. “It’s Sunday. Surely the bar won’t be full,” we reasoned. We were WRONG! Every seat at the bar was taken. We did manage to get some seats at the window though.
My friends left for karaoke at the Double J, and I decided I was more interested in eating a pie than watching a shitshow. I ordered the Bring Out the Gump, with garlic and oil, sundried tomato pesto, grilled shrimp, mozzarella, red onion and basil. I ate a couple of slices at the bar, then took the rest home. On my way out the door I handed my friend Beth a slice. One person who was with Beth earlier in the day was too much of a lightweight to make it to Aldo’s, and missed out on the chance for a slice of my pizza. Oh well.
While there, we saw someone order the vodka pie, and were very intrigued by the orange-tinted sauce on the pizza. It looked vaguely familiar, and after a few minutes my friend Katie Mac nailed it – “doesn’t that look like the sauce Bardog uses for their Penne Alla Vodka?” As someone who has taken the penne home many times as Paul’s Drunkass Food, I tend to agree. I will have to go back to Aldo’s this week and do some “research” on the vodka pizza to determine if Katie is indeed right about the sauce.
If you’re looking for a good place to watch the Olympics, I noticed that the Flying Saucer had 4 different channels of it on yesterday. Management was very good about responding to requests to change channels when particular sports came on. If you don’t mind cigarette smoke, Max’s Sports Bar’s 10+ TVs are always a good place for Olympic watching too.
It’s Pint Nite at the Saucer, so I’ll be there after work getting some beers done for my next plate. I doubt I’ll make the 7:30 poker game at the Goose, but you never know.