Just wondering if any other Downtowners do this… every month, I make myself a calendar of times when Downtown will be busy. Grizzlies games, concerts, festivals, and the like. It’s not only to remind myself of events I might want to attend, but so I will know when my favorite bars might be crowded. So tonight, I look at the calendar and see “Grizzlies 7:00” and know that 6:00-7:00 might not be the best time to hang out at the Flying Saucer and other bars that get packed before games.
I’ll say this though… “bar too crowded with Grizzlies fans” is about as high-class as high-class problems get. Well, I guess “too many people wanting to buy me free drinks” would be an even higher-class problem, but the Grizzlies crowd would be right there in the top two or three.
Seriously, though… welcome back to the Grizzlies, and I hope not only for a win, but for Coach Joerger to collect a lot of data that will help him for the regular season. If you are attending tonight’s game, it’s a good idea to arrive early. The NBA has mandated hand-wanding for security purposes at all its arenas for the preseason. Game is at 7:00. We play the Bulls, featuring Derrick Rose who is known for his skills in shooting, ball-handling, and getting others to take standardized tests for him.
One of my favorite sports writers, CBS’s Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelCBS), tweeted the following link: Dog pees on reporter on live TV
If you missed coverage from the 37 other local media outlets this morning, discount airline Frontier is coming to Memphis. The company is based out of Denver and will offer four round-trip flights there a week. From there you can connect to Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland. Promotional fares will be as low as $69. Beer blog Fuzzy Brew (@FuzzyBrew) tweeted that this will make craft-beer trips out west a lot more affordable.
Speaking of craft beer, some bad news: The agency that approves new craft beer recipes and labels is shut down due to the impasse in Congress. If you didn’t get your craft beer approved by mid-August, you’re in limbo until the offices are back open. This is costing some startup breweries many thousands of dollars a month that they can’t afford. Thankfully no Memphis breweries (that I’m aware of) are affected.
Here’s a “guess who said this” for people who hang out in the same bars I do. A local Memphian was at the Saucer last night telling two British tourists about America. He mentioned the diversity of women’s sports in America, “like lingerie football.”
I’ll end this post with a Grizzlies pro tip: If you don’t feel like dealing with parking and traffic around the FedExForum, head half a mile south to G.E. Patterson Avenue and have a pre-game snack or drink at the Double J. There’s plenty of free parking around, and Double J has a limo that will shuttle you to and from the arena for free.
Plan for tonight: I’ll probably lead off at the Saucer for one quick beer before the Grizzlies crowd arrives. After that I’ll hit the Silly Goose for the remainder of happy hour. I hear that Blind Bear trivia could be interesting this week, so I’ll get there by the 8 PM start time, although I’m more interested in drinking the Cadillac of beers, PBR, than I am playing.