Monday update

Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers failed to score a bid to the NCAA tournament, but they are in a strong position to go out there and prove they’re the 69th best basketball team in the country. The Tigers received a number 1 seed to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and will play number 4 seed Dayton Saturday at 11 on ESPN.

Arkansas got a 3 seed as expected and is in a bracket with other top seeds 1 Baylor, 2 Ohio State, and Purdue.

Memphis’ conference rivals Houston and Wichita State got invited to the Big Dance. Houston is a 2 seed in a bracket with 1 Illinois, 3 good ole West Virginny, and 4 Oklahoma State. Wichita State is an 11 seed and faces Drake in a play-in game Thursday.

The tournament is a little different this year in that the round of 64 will be played Friday-Saturday (rather than Thursday-Friday) and the round of 32 will be played Sunday-Monday.

I hate to sound like a Tennessee football fan and go, “NEXT YEEEAAAAARRRRR… I TELL YOU WHUT BOY, THATSSS GONNN BEEE AAAAARRRRRR YEEEAAAARRRRR” with respect to Tiger basketball, but this has been kind of a weird year with COVID canceling so many games and in particular moving the Houston regular-season game. But 2021-22, Penny’s got no excuses. If Memphis doesn’t dance in March ’22, then we may have to wonder if the “Penny can’t coach” haters have a point.

My suggestion to Penny would be to hire a hypnotist who can erase every minute of AAU ball they ever played from these kids’ minds. That’s where the sloppiness comes from. If the hypnotist can put a “You are a 90% free-throw shooter” suggestion in there too, that’d be nice.

For those of you wondering if the health department is out harassing restaurants still… the answer is yes. They were out at one of my favorite places Saturday, telling them that a seating arrangement that had received their approval for 4 months was no longer acceptable. Trying to keep up with the changing regulations is like shooting at a moving target in an arcade. I really don’t understand why we need any regulations beyond FEET ON THE FLOOR, MASK ON THE FACE at this point. Granny can go get vaccinated now. And we can travel 25 miles to the east or south and sit at a bar where there are no regulations at all.

Normally I don’t post a lot of announcements from outside the Downtown area, but these are good people and I’m happy to see them making a comeback. From the Hi-Tone:

After a wild ass year, we’re still here! We’re doing something really cool too. Brunch that starts at 5 and goes til midnight. Every Sunday. 💥 Live DJ and no cover. The food is killer. All safety measures are being met above and beyond. It would be our pleasure to serve you and thank you for the continued support.
You can also order brunch to go by calling in at 901-490-0335 or we offer Ubereats/Doordash etc.

Now THAT’s the latest brunch I’ve ever heard of… Sunday brunch that lasts one minute into Monday… maybe an hour into Monday, if the health department relaxes its stupid restriction on closing time this week.

Grind City Brewing Co. will do a Tap Takeover at Carolina Watershed this Friday at 6. On tap will be

  • Tiger Tail
  • Viva Las Lager
  • Godhopper
  • I’m in Love with the Coco
  • … and surprise tappings

Glaze’s Crawfish is bringing one of his awesome springtime boils to Momma’s this Saturday. Boxes of crawfish include corn, taters, and sausage. The first batch will roll off around noon. Come enjoy some mudbugs, Momma’s spacious patio, some cold beers, and the NCAA tournament on TV.

From Sunrise Memphis:

Today is International Eat an Animal for PETA Day. Now, that’s an idea I can get behind. Of course, it’s also the Ides of March, the 2065th anniversary of Brutus’ murder of Caesar.

A woman is in critical condition after being shot at Union and Riverside yesterday evening. Wonder if it’s connected to the cruising that happens Downtown on Sunday evenings. Wonder if the woman was an innocent bystander out for a nighttime walk or run, or one of the participants in the shooting.

Why do the local Walgreens locations only have COVID vaccine appointments in the mornings? For someone who works 9-1, that doesn’t do any good! Why can’t they have mornings some days, and afternoons some days!

Could be an interesting day: The state is expected to release results into the investigation of wasted COVID vaccine by the Shelby County Health Department.

Former Vice-President Al Gore called the proposed Byhalia oil pipeline “a reckless, racist rip-off” at a rally in Memphis yesterday.

Downtown Walgreens has six-packs of half-liter Mountain Dew for the first time in four weeks. All is right with my world this morning. Almost time to head to work. Back tomorrow with more news.