Keep an eye on the weather Sunday night. Yesterday afternoon when the National Weather Service announced a Winter Storm Watch, they did not have Shelby County under it. As of this morning, we are now part of the watch. This map shows Memphis in the “significant ice accumulation” category, as of the latest forecast around 8 am Saturday. Better check whatever weather resource you prefer Monday morning before you drive in to work. My way to check the weather is to follow @memphisweather1 on Twitter. I also like the TDOT Smartmap to check road conditions. When you first load the smartmap it centers on Nashville, but you can drag Memphis to the center and then use the + key to zoom in. I like to check the “Traffic Congestion” and “Incident” boxes. If there’s an accident on my route to work, I turn on the cameras to see how bad the traffic delay is.
Local beer dinner alert: The Flyer’s Hungry Memphis blog posted a list of Mardi Gras events. Only one on the list is Downtown but it’s a good one: Local Gastropub is hosting a beer dinner with Wiseacre beers brewed locally over on Broad Avenue. It will be a 4-course meal for $35, reception at 6:30 and dinner at 7. Wiseacre beers will be paired with food you might find in New Orleans. Click the link to see the complete menu.
Doubleheader at FedExForum today: Tigers vs. Louisville at 1 and Grizzlies vs. Cleveland at 8. The MBJ reports that you better be ready to spend some cash if you want to go to the Louisville game and don’t already have a ticket. The Louisville game will be broadcast nationally on CBS. I have one bar opening to report: The Silly Goose will open early for people pre-gaming Tigers-Louisville.
Also in the MBJ: An excellent guest article by Grizzlies season ticket holder Thomas Whitehead on his experience with the Let’s Move Down app.
Around this time of year I make a prediction for the NCAA tournament, and my track record has been pretty good. So here’s this year’s prediction: The Tigers enter the NCAA tournament as a 9 seed, beat the 8 seed in overtime, then go on to play 1 seed Wichita State in the round of 32. Wichita State is a team much like the Tigers were prior to this year: Great win-loss record, but in a nothing conference full of cupcakes. I predict the Tigers will beat Wichita State to make it to the Sweet 16 for the first time under Josh Pastner.
As for the American Conference tournament, I’m not going to make a prediction on it but one note: In the tournament quarterfinals, the 3 seed plays the 6 seed and the 4 seed plays the 5 seed. There are five good teams in Conference USA. Therefore, the Tigers need to aim for the 3 seed in the tournament so that we don’t have to play a good team until the semis.
Oh, by the way, you remember Mike’s f’n run because f’n Cal won? In 2012, my friend Mike said he would run down South Main in a Speedo and a tiger hat while sipping ranch dressing out of a straw if Kentucky won the national championship. He carried out his bet and turned it into a fundraiser for Wounded Warriors. He said he’d never make that type of bet again, but Thursday night he went and ran his mouth: He said he will repeat his run if Arkansas wins the SEC tournament.
In other Memphis sports news, the Tigers baseball team is off to an 8-1 start, their best since 1994.
Remember this the next time you visit Aldo’s Pizza Pies: An engineer explains why you should always order the larger pizza
Keep an eye on the world news. Russia may take military action against Ukraine, against President Obama’s warning. I don’t think Russian president Vladimir Putin is Kim Il-Sung/Jong-Il/Jong-Un crazy, but he’s maybe about 70% of that. Which is still pretty damn crazy. And he has his hands on nuclear weapons. Not good.
I led off at the Flying Saucer last night and could definitely tell the farm & gin show was in town. Lots of camo clothing, overalls, trucker hats, flannel, work pants, boots. Don’t get me wrong, though; those are some GOOD people. I kept hearing how they treated the servers well and tipped generously. I wish all convention attendees conducted themselves with as much class as the ginners.
Starting off at Bardog at 11 as usual today. From there I will figure out where to watch the Tigers-Louisville game. I need to get by the Saucer at some point this afternoon in hopes of giving an update to one of my BBQ teammates. Tonight I will make a rare Saturday night appearance at the Silly Goose for a friend’s birthday party. Got an hour to kill before Bardog. so I guess I’ll put my WWE Network membership to good use and watch the little spinning “Loading…” icon for the next 60 minutes.