President George H.W. Bush has passed away at age 94. Rest in peace Mr. President.
It’s the first Saturday in December, always one of the busiest days in Downtown Memphis. Going on today we have
- The St. Jude Marathon and all the other races. Start times were pushed back due to weather, so expect street closures to last a little bit later than originally planned.
- Les Miserables at the Orpheum, 2:00 and 8:00 performances
- Various college football conference championships will be on TV today (see below), as will the Mermphis-Texas Tech men’s basketball game (broadcast from Miami, 1:30 PM, ESPNU/WatchESPN). Expect the local bars to be packed all day long.
- The annual Stumbling Santa pub crawl, with 1200 Santas starting off at Second and Peabody Place (Flying Saucer) and stumbling to various bars to participate. Begins at 7 PM. Bring an unwrapped toy if you want to participate.
As for the football games what have a possible effect on the playoffs, they are
- Big 12 championship, Texas vs. Oklahoma, 11 AM, ABC; Oklahoma has a good chance of playoff inclusion with a win
- AAC championship, Memphis vs. UCF, 2:30 PM, ABC; of course we want Memphis to win this. UCF has a very tiny chance of playoff inclusion with a win
- SEC championship, Alabama vs. Georgia, 3:00 PM, CBS; Bama a lock for the playoffs with a win, Georgia most likely in with a win; Bama possibly still in with a loss
- ACC championship, Clemson vs. Pitt, 7:00 PM, ABC; Clemson a lock with a win, possibly still in with a loss
- Big 10 championship, Northwestern vs. Ohio State, 7:00 PM, FOX; Ohio State has a good chance of playoff inclusion with a win
A couple of logistical notes: First of all, those of you with tickets to the afternoon Les Mis performance who are driving in from other parts of town need to allow extra time to get down here and park. Most but nor all of the runners will have finished.
Also, having the Tigers basketball game, Tigers football, and the SEC championship all on simultaneously is going to create headaches for bars that only have two TVs. I’ll say this: If you don’t have Tigers football on one of the TVs, you’re doin’ it wrong.
That’s it for now. Y’all have fun today, whatever you do.