Welcome to my blog, where I tell you what’s happening Downtown and in Memphis and around the world of interest to Memphians. Except, much of today’s post will be spent telling you what’s not happening.
Yesterday morning, we learned that Penny’s Tigers had lost the chance to dance. The American Athletic Conference tournament, offering an automatic bid to March Madness, was canceled along with all other major conference basketball tournaments.
Then in the afternoon, we learned that everybody had lost their chance to dance. The NCAA canceled all tournaments for winter and spring sports. So, no March Madness, no national collegiate basketball champions, no bracket challenges.
Among the spring NCAA sports is baseball, so no regionals, no super regionals, no College World Series in June.
We won’t get the Grizzlies back until at least April 10. NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that the suspension of the NBA season will be at least 30 days and it’s possible the season is over. One possible silver lining for Memphis here: Zion Williamson won’t have time to put in a large enough body of work to steal the Rookie of the Year award from Ja Morant.
The USL has suspended play for at least 30 days as well, so no Memphis 901 FC games for a while. The soccer club has a statement in support of the league’s decision on their website.
Minor League Baseball will delay the start of its season as well, so no Redbirds games until at least mid- to late April. The Redbirds have a statement in support of MiLB’s decision on their website.
I wonder what bars will show on their TVs since practically all sporting events for the next month are canceled? Maybe Max can show The Weather Channel on all 12 TVs and rebrand the place Max’s Weather Bar temporarily.
Bend over and cough!
Many Memphis restaurants are adopting strict cleanliness/health policies and posting them to social media, letting their customers know they are doing everything possible to minimize the risk of infection. Some of these practices include
- Wiping down menus after each customer visit
- Removing condiment bottles from each table, and instead offering single-serving packets of condiments upon request
- Enforcing rigorous hand-washing procedures for employees
- Requiring the use of gloves, as shown above
- Wiping down surfaces with disinfectants frequently
- Not allowing anyone who is sick to work
I have a suggestion for restaurant and bar managers: Have your employees check each public restroom once an hour to make sure there is hand soap. Not being able to wash with soap has been mildly irritating in the past. Now, it could be deadly.
The Beale Street St. Patrick’s Day parade, scheduled for this Saturday, has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 11 at 2 PM due to the coronavirus threat. That’s the day before Easter. Maybe they’ll have a bunny?
Cher has postponed her Here We Go Again Tour due to the coronavirus. So Monday’s show at FedExForum is off. That was discussed at Silly Goose happy hour yesterday and people asked, “Who’s Sonny?”
Memphis Brewfest has been postponed until Saturday, July 18. It will still be at the Liberty Bowl. To compensate attendees for the change, they will offer a 7 oz. sampling cup instead of the usual 5 oz. They’ll bring in five additional breweries. Attendees will receive a discount code to an additional future event of their choice. The VIP section will be in the Memphis Tigers football team locker room.
Calvary Episcopal Church announced yesterday that they are closing their Calvary Waffle Shop and Lenten Preaching Series for the season due to the coronavirus threat. The shop and series was expected to run until March 3.
Cordelia’s Market has announced the temporary suspension of their sampling program to keep everyone safe. Also, temporarily at their hot bar, employees will serve the food instead of letting customers serve themselves. The hot bar will be open 11 AM-2 PM, with hot-and-ready pre-packaged meals cooked from scratch in their rotisserie warmer during normal dinner hours.
The Metal Museum will continue to be open normal hours but has canceled the following events:
- March 15: Reception and Gallery Talk for Tributaries: Sophie Glenn (postponed)
- March 19: Stephen Saracino visiting artist lecture
- March 20-22: Stephen Saracino master class
- March 29: Reception and Gallery Talk for Tradition of Excellence (postponed)
- April 1-5: Forging on the River conference 2020
All other Metal Museum talks, classes, and events will proceed as scheduled.
A second local case of coronavirus has been identified. The Daily Memphian reports that both local cases traveled to New Orleans together for Mardi Gras.
A lot of people are hearing about the cancellation of their favorite events, and they’re getting on social media and saying, “Man, this is bullshit. People are overreacting. Let life go on as normal, and if a few people die, maybe it was their time.” I have to admit, at the beginning of this week, when the first rumors of cancellations came in, I thought “overreaction” as well. However, my opinion as of today can be summed up in one sentence: We must listen to the experts. If a doctor says an event should not be held, we should listen. If a doctor advises precautions, we should take them.
Geez. I’m 20 paragraphs into today’s post and I have not yet told you about one thing that’s actually happening.
Here’s a pic of the vegan southwestern chili River Time Market & Deli on Court Square is now offering:
South Main Sounds at 550 S. Main hosts Season 6, Episode 4 of their Songwriter Night this evening. Sandee Lollis, Richard Wilson, and Mallory Everett will perform. A fourth songwriter, Ashlee K. Thomas, was scheduled to perform but is sick and had to cancel. If you like what you hear from Mallory Everett, she’ll be at The Vault nearby later in the evening.
The Downtown Memphis Commission has put together a couple of good guides to things to do down here. The first is a Late Lunch Eaters Guide. Most places consider 11 to 2 the lunch hour. Where to go when you can’t get out to lunch until 2 PM or later?
The DMC also has 20 ways for you to stay fit in Downtown Memphis, with everything from ballroom dancing to spin classes to yoga and much more.
The monthly Downtown Neighborhood Association will happen Tuesday, March 24 at Dinstuhl’s at 147 S. Main. The chocolate and candy store, a Memphis icon for more than 100 years, returned to Downtown Memphis for the first time since the 1970s. Meeting will be 6:00-7:30 PM. The location is in between Lenny’s and the Majestic Grille near the intersection of Main and Peabody Place.
Viking River Cruises will start docking at Beale Street Landing in 2022. That is, if the coronavirus doesn’t completely kill off the cruise industry before then.
The Memphis airport has an Airfield Maintenance Electrician position open.
Tour de Toast Memphis, an event celebrating bubbles, will come to Fourth Bluff, 22 N. Front, Saturday, June 13 from 3 to 8 PM. This thoroughly-curated event will pair champagnes with a menu by specialty food trucks on site. There will be libations, live music, and art. Note that this event has a “Spring Chic” dress code, and if you don’t adhere to it you get no admission and no refund. Tickets
Well, I screwed up in my role as Director of Public Relations this week for the BBQ team. I sent out an email, bolding words here and there to highlight important topics. What I didn’t realize is, that made my email look like a marketing email to spam filters, some of which flagged it. If you got two emails from me this week, sorry. I had no choice but to un-bold and re-send.
We will see what today’s news brings. There’s not much left to cancel, so there should be less to talk about than the past two days. Back tomorrow with more.