The Grizzlies clinched with last night’s loss on the road. No, they didn’t clinch a playoff spot. They clinched the second-worst record in the NBA for 2017-18, meaning they will have the second most ping-pong balls in the draft lottery. The Grizzlies will have a 19.9% chance at the first pick and a 55% chance of picking in the top three, with the pick being fifth in the worst case scenario. Tankathon has a lottery simulator that is fun.
Want to work for the Grizzlies? They have a Video Archivist position open.
Memphis Brewfest, one of the city’s largest beer festivals, will be held on the field of the Liberty Bowl this Saturday, April 14 from 4:00 to 7:45 PM. Complete list of participating breweries
A Paranormal Evening with Alice Cooper comes to the Orpheum October 19. Cooper’s theatrical brand of hard rock draws from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 AM.
In other Orpheum news, two legends of comedy, Steve Martin and Martin Short, are coming September 29. Tickets on sale this Friday at 10.
Baseball! Who’s in from Downtown? Just in time for the start of the season, Jennifer Biggs of the Commercial Appeal has five foods to try at AutoZone Park. The Redbirds have their Opening Day at home tonight. Gates open at 6:00. First pitch is 7:05 but fans are encouraged to be in seats by 6:40 for a presentation honoring the championship-winning 2017 club. Penny Hardaway will throw out the first pitch. First 1500 fans will receive a championship pennant with the name of every player and coach who helped win the 2017 PCL title. Select beers throughout the stadium for only $2, and there will be $1 hot dogs courtesy of Polk’s Meat Products.
The Kaleidoscope Food Festival returns to Wiseacre Saturday, April 21 from 3 to 7 PM. This will feature food from multicultural chefs in the Binghampton area. There will be dance performances and storytelling as well. Kids and dogs welcome.
WWE Smackdown Live returns to FedExForum on Tuesday, June 12. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday at 10 AM. There will be a Superstar Shake-Up between Raw and Smackdown next week, so until after that it is not clear who will appear on the show.
Belle Tavern will have all three of its Rabbit Hole Bourbons – the bourbon, rye, and PX sherry cask – half off all this week through Sunday. Rabbit Hole is only available in 9 states.
Volunteer Odyssey has open volunteer positions for the Tambourine Bash on April 19 benefiting Music Export Memphis’ ambassador program. This program provides tour grants for Memphis musicians to spread the good news of Memphis on the road. The Tambourine Jam will be at Old Dominick Distillery.
A bill allowing liquor stores to open on Sunday has passed the Tennessee House 55-35. It would also allow grocery stores to sell wine on Sunday. However, an amendment to the bill would ban liquor sales on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The bill now goes to the Tennessee Senate.
For those of you who weren’t paying attention to the news yesterday, FBI agents raided the home, office, and hotel room of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen. They took away boxes of communications between Cohen and his clients, including Trump. Now, normally such communications would be inadmissible in court, due to attorney-client privilege. However, that privilege does not apply when the attorney and client were conspiring to commit a crime. Furthermore, the judge who issued the warrant had to find probable cause that conspiracy to commit a crime existed. Long story short, Cohen is in deep doo-doo.
Oh, one other thing… although Special Counsel Mueller referred the evidence, this is being handled by the public corruption unit of the Southern District of New York. In other words, Cohen will be hit with state charges. Presidents cannot pardon convictions at the state level. So Cohen is almost certain to go to prison. The only way out would be for him to turn state’s evidence and testify against Trump. Even though there were no indictments or convictions, yesterday was a pretty terrible day for The Donald.
That’s it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.