Yesterday at AutoZone Park, a dugout-clearing brawl broke out between the Memphis Redbirds and the New Orleans Zephyrs. A Redbirds batter had to duck to avoid a pitch that appeared to be aimed at his head. The batter dropped his bat and charged the mound, and within seconds the dugouts were empty. It took several minutes to restore order.
Sad to hear of the passing of Coach Pat Summitt. Although Tennessee is not usually a school for which I cheer, I always admired and respected Coach Summitt and what she did for the women’s basketball program at UT. If you don’t know what Coach Summitt looked like, just look up “class” in the dictionary and I bet you will find her picture. Here’s the 1974 letter in which 22-year-old Summitt was offered the job.
The Mud Island River Park has announced its annual fireworks extravaganza for July 4.
Iceland scored a huge upset over England in the European soccer cup thingy yesterday. This tweet says it all:
Just to put this in perspective:
England’s manager makes $4.6 mil a year. Iceland’s is a part-time dentist.
— Luke Kerr-Dineen (@LukeKerrDineen) June 27, 2016
Guard Tony Wroten is back with the Grizzlies. The team claimed him off waivers yesterday.
Thrillist has a list of historic landmarks to visit around Memphis, places that have retained their character over the decades. Several are Downtown and I agree, these are must-visits. I get asked this kind of thing all the time and am going to bookmark this post.
ServiceMaster plans a different look for Second Street as they remodel the Peabody Place Mall into their HQ. In particular, the skybridge over the street will be removed.
A 175-unit apartment complex called Patterson Flats is planned for 250 East G.E. Patterson. If I am counting the street blocks right, that would be east of Third. It is a very promising sign to see development in that area of Downtown, an area that has been neglected as the rest of Downtown has come back to life. I will say it once again: I would like to see Abel Street and Allen Street wiped completely off the Memphis map. I can’t say with certainty that nothing good goes on there, but I have seen many Downtown panhandlers walk to that neighborhood to buy drugs over the years.
Here’s an article about the British version of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson. Like Trump, he is known for lying and bad hair. He was the driving force behind Brexit and he may become the next Prime Minister. If Trump becomes president and Johnson PM, then it is time to build a spaceship and just pray that Saturn’s moon Titan turns out to be habitable.
By the way, never have I seen political journalists use the word “mendacious” so much in an election cycle, but with Boris over there, and Hillary and Trump over here, I’m not surprised. Great word, by the way; I’ve been using it myself in conversation for a year now.
The Crosstown Concourse apartments in the old Sears building on North Cleveland are now available for rent.
There’s dollar King Cotton hot dogs at tonight’s Redbirds game vs. New Orleans, and fans will get a Papa John’s coupon as they exit the park. Gates at 6, first pitch 7:05. Maybe another brawl will break out.
Hot rods return to Beale tonight. They will be on display beginning at 6 PM.
The Avengers will be shown for free at Beale Street Landing tonight at 8:30.
The anniversary comedy show marking one year of comedy at the Brass Door is downstairs tonight in The Cavern at 8 PM.
That’s it for now. More news is coming in so I may do a second post after work. I’ll be drinking happy hour PBR at the Blind Bear today starting about 5:30.