One of the great things about being Downtown is that there’s so much opportunity to learn new things from friends. Yesterday I was in Bardog for brunch and my friend Jason came in. “My favorite sport is probably one you have never heard of. It’s foot golf. It’s a combination of soccer and golf. You try and kick the soccer ball in the hole. Obviously the holes are bigger than on golf courses.” Yesterday was the finals of the foot golf world championships, and Team USA, organized by the American FootGolf League, defeated Argentina to win the 2016 world championship.
If you want to play foot golf locally, Jason told me that Riverside Golf Course has added foot golf. It’s available Saturdays and Sundays after 1, and you can play 18 holes for $15/$12 under 17. There are ball rentals too if you need them. The cups are 21 inches in diameter.
Yesterday afternoon after a few bar visits, I decided it was time for a huarache from Maciel’s Tortas and Tacos. I didn’t order anything but the huarache, having learned that one by itself is enough to fill me up. The owner said, “Paul, have you seen our expanded menu? Let me give you a seafood taco to try.” He put a second box in my bag along with the box containing my huarache. Here’s what I found:
Yummy shrimp cooked in spices with a big slice of avocado in a tortilla. This was every bit as good as I imagined it would be. I’ve posted a photo of a huarache before but in case you missed it, here’s the one I ate yesterday:
Some people will shy away from the huaraches, saying “I’ve never heard of that before; it’s not on Taco Bell’s menu so I don’t know what it is, and I’m afraid to try it.” Don’t make that mistake. They’re the best thing on the menu, with the chorizo huarache being my favorite.
Weatherbug tells me it is 23 degrees outside as I type this. The Moody Ques have a practice judging at 10:30 this morning, and this is really putting our new cooker to the ultimate test. If it can hold temp when the weather is below freezing, we have nothing to worry about if it’s rainy and 52 at BBQ Fest. The cooks told me they are bringing our old cooker Bevo back for one of the spring regionals, and Bevo will serve as a backup to our new cooker at BBQ Fest.
We have a shared folder on iCloud where the cooks have put photos they have taken this weekend. Sometime this week I will get them up on the Moody Ques website and do a post. Obviously I will be careful not to reveal any secrets that the judges pass on to the team.
No one won Powerball last night, so the jackpot will hit the 10-digit mark – surpassing one billion dollars – by Wednesday’s drawing. The thing is, most people don’t know what to do with that kind of money, and I’ve heard that many lottery winners go broke within 5 years. Thank goodness when I was involved in MPACT Memphis a decade ago, I met a very talented and respected wealth manager. If I win the lottery, I am handing the money to him and telling him, “Nobody touches this without your approval. If I propose to do anything with the money and you tell me it is a bad idea, I will listen.”
Of course, I would give myself a generous monthly allowance, I would buy a new car, and I would start looking around for a penthouse apartment in the Downtown core. I might also think about renting crash pads near Overton Square and Cooper-Young as well. Probably I would start spending a couple of months in the most beautiful city in the United States and the one I called home for six months in 2000, San Diego. I might consider being an investor in a bar if the next Aldo/Daniel/Max came along (my wealth manager would be heavily involved in those meetings though). Of course, my mother would get a check. I’d drop a million on St. Jude. I’d arrange a meeting with the people who run Hospitality HUB to discuss what we can do to make Memphis the leading city in the U.S. in terms of services and temporary housing offered to the homeless. I’d contact the people who run the farmers market and ask if they have a wish list.
I’d spend a lot of time in bars. 
Yes, I would still drink PBR.
I’d quit my job and write this blog full-time. However, I would quit my job the right way, giving two weeks notice and offering to be available for questions via phone or email after that.
I would offer to become the BBQ team’s permanent sponsor at $10,000 per year, offering $20,000 the first year so we can acquire, own and store assets, rather than renting assets or buying assets and then throwing them away at the end of the festival. I wouldn’t have any requests in return for the money, other than “make sure hot girls get in the booth.” Plus maybe a request that at least some of the kegs are PBR.
I’d probably become a regular at the poker rooms in Tunica. I wouldn’t fly to Las Vegas to gamble, but I’d pay for a trip out there with a friend of mine who is an expert on that city. I’d see how many Congressmen I would need to bribe to legalize online poker for real money. If real money poker became legal, I would be smart about it and play at tables with buy-ins that match my skill. I would not go to the high-roller room and sit down with Phil Ivey for $100,000/$200,000 blinds. That would be a way to go broke fast.
(Edited to add: I thought of a few more things.
I would make as large a donation as legally allowed to the Bernie Sanders campaign. I wouldn’t have any expectation in return for the money; my only message would be “Go get ’em, Bern.”
No I would not spend any money on hookers.
I’d contact the Church Health Center and ask if they have a wish list.
I’d visit New York, San Francisco, and Seattle, three places I have never been to. Of course in New York I would stay in Manhattan. I have my friends Robo and Shobo there to show me around.
I’d visit Chicago for the first time in 19 years. I would go sometime between June and August because I can’t stand cold weather. I have several friends there to show me around. A visit to Honky Tonk BBQ would be on the list, of course.
I’d visit Montreal for the first time in 14 years. Once again, between June and August.
I would not take a skiing vacation because I hate cold weather.
I might drop some cash on programs teaching inner-city kids to code.
I’d buy four season tickets for the Grizzlies to be shared by my friend group and me. Do they sell season tickets for the seats where you get free food and beer for the first three quarters? Because if they do, those are the ones we’re getting.
I’d be a willing investor in an Indian restaurant for Downtown. That is something we are missing down here and really need.
Same for a pho restaurant.
I’d be a willing investor in a shuttle connecting Downtown, Overton Square and Cooper-Young, but only if it ran until 3:30 AM seven days a week.)
All right, enough about the lottery for now. It’s time to jump in the shower and get ready for Sunday Fun Day. D-RANKS with B-RAD at the Blind Bear is first up. Since the cooks will be out later today and I need to get a full report on what happened at the practice judging, I will keep the Fireball to a bare minimum. Back tomorrow with more news.