As Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle would say, “It’s true. It’s true.” For weeks I’d been hearing rumors that the Family Dollar on Main just south of Monroe was closing, and yesterday they hung the sign on the door. Based on what I’ve heard around the neighborhood, the closing was a done deal even if DGX hadn’t moved in down the street, but DGX’s arrival may have sped things up a bit.
Family Dollar is dead. Long live DGX!
Do we have any speculation as to what will go into that building once Family Dollar has moved out and the exterminator has been through with a thorough treatment? That is a prime location, across the street from One Commerce Square and between two great Downtown restaurants, Ben-Yay’s and Maciel’s Tortas and Tacos.
Let’s move on to results from Day 1 of the round of 64 in the NCAA men’s tournament… the biggest upset was #15 Oral Roberts over #2 Ohio State, 75-72. Why this is great news: Arkansas is the #3 seed in that quadrant of the bracket. That means Arkansas is the favorite in every game it plays until the Elite Eight. If the Hogs get there, they presumptively will have a money matchup with former Southwest Conference rival and #1 seed the Baylor Bears.
#3 Arkansas took care of its business yesterday. After a first-half scare, the Razorbacks defeated #14 Colgate, 85-68. The Hogs play #6 Texas Tech in another matchup of former SWC rivals tomorrow. FiveThirtyEight’s interactive bracket now has Arkansas at a 12% probability of making the Final Four and a 2% chance of capturing its second national title.
Other upsets yesterday:
- #9 Wisconsin 85, #8 North Carolina 62
- #13 North Texas 78, #4 Purdue 69 (OT)
- #10 Rutgers 60, #7 Clemson 56
- #11 Syracuse 78, #6 San Diego State 62
- And of course, the result that should not come as a surprise to anyone…
#12 Oregon State 70, #5 Tennessee 56. The overrated Vols disappoint their hick fans yet again. The real losers, though, were the NCAA tournament committee members. The Vols should have been a 9 or 10 seed.
It must be so embarrassing to be a Vols fan. But then there’s always “NEEEEXXXTTT YEEEAAAARRRRR” I suppose.
I didn’t fill out a bracket this year, but my upset picks for today, Day 2 of the Round of 64, would be #12 UCLA over #5 BYU and #9 Missouri over #8 Oklahoma.
And now for some AWESOME, FANTASTIC NEWS: The state of Tennessee has opened COVID-19 vaccination to all adults. It seems like just days ago Biden made the promise to allow all Americans to get vaccinated starting May 1, and we beat that deadline by more than 6 weeks. Simply put, we are kicking some ass. The acceleration of the vaccine effort gives me hope that after 4 weeks under Health Directive 19, maybe there won’t be a Health Directive 20.
I want to make this point again: How come there is no vaccine location in the 38103 zip code? Many of us down here don’t own cars so we can’t drive out to the Pipkin Building or one of the Walmarts. I understand that the pharmacy at Downtown Walgreens being temporarily closed might have something to do with that, but can we get one of those pop-up sites for a day?
WREG has a report on the Save the Mud Island Amphitheater meeting held Thursday night at Carolina Watershed. Participants sought feedback on how to best use the $4 million allocated by the city to restore the amphitheater as a popular concert venue.
Spring arrives this morning at 4:37 AM CDT.
Jerred Price, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, posted to Nextdoor that Riverside Drive has been permanently reopened, thanks to city COO Doug McGowen, City Council members Michalyn Easter Thomas, Ed Ford, and JB Smiley, and city engineering. The thoroughfare had been closed on the weekends, which contributed to Downtown’s interior streets becoming clogged with people out cruising.
Opening Riverside is a step in the right direction. However, it is not a substitute for an increased police presence to eliminate the crime surge that has happened Downtown since the pandemic hit.
In the NIT, #1 seed Memphis plays #4 seed Dayton at 11 this morning. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Winner faces #2 seed Boise State, which advanced with a win over SMU Thursday.
Couple of places you can get crawfish today. Glaze’s Crawfish is doing a boil at Momma’s, the Aldo-owned bar at Crump and Kentucky. First batch comes off about noon. Momma’s is 21 and up but well-behaved pets are allowed on the patio.
Carolina Watershed will have a post-St. Patrick’s Day party today 2-11 PM. Crawfish boil, drink specials. Music by Kota 2-6 PM. DJ Mo 7-11 PM.
Not sure if Max’s Sports Bar is doing a boil today. Glaze who usually does their crawfish will be at Momma’s, and there’s nothing about it on Max’s Facebook page, so my guess is no. With the NCAA tournament on, Max doesn’t need crawfish to draw a full house today.
If you’re up for a trip to Crosstown Brewing Co., they’ll host Pints for Pangolins today. WTF is a pangolin, you ask?
D’Cruze N, Singh B, Mookerjee A, Harrington LA, Macdonald DW (2018), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A pangolin is a scaled mammal resembling an anteater. Apparently, these things are under threat of human exploitation and we care about saving them. Proceeds raised will be donated to conservation efforts. There will be pangolin merchandise, artwork, and the opportunity to learn more about them from Memphis Zoo keepers.
Vintage plays Momma’s patio tonight at 7.
Grape plays The Vault tonight at 7.
The Broom Closet on South Main will host a Wicca 101 – Curious? event today at 2. This 2-hour overview will cover magick, altar tools, and paganism. They’ll cast a circle and answer as many questions as they can. Masks are required, space is limited, and their Facebook event listing indicates this is a free event.
The Grizzlies host Golden State tonight at 7.
With the ridiculously stupid 2-hour limit on food and beverage service eliminated, tonight I begin my return to being a night owl. Last call will happen at Blind Bear a little before 1 AM and I plan on being there! For the next four weeks, I’m going to deprioritize going out during the day as I learn how to do nights again. I bet I could count on the fingers of both hands the number of times I’ve been out past 9:30 since the pandemic started.
Earnestine & Hazel’s is not quite in my plans yet. If I can’t experience E&H standing, mingling, dancing, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder at Nate’s bar with friends I haven’t met yet, I don’t want to be there. Hopefully soon though.
Time to publish this post and get busy. I have a lot to do on Medium this weekend. Going to see if I can nail a 4th Top Writer status in one of their topics. Back tomorrow with more news.