Let’s talk for a minute about the Memphis Tigers’ chances of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament; meaning, they get in even if they don’t win the AAC tournament in March.
Coming into today’s showdown at Houston, the Tigers’ record is 13-8. Teams have gotten at-large bids into the tournament with records as bad as 18-14 in recent years. But, those 18-14 teams
- Had top-5 strength of schedules
- Had quality wins against highly ranked teams
- Did not have any “bad” losses to lousy teams
The Tigers’ strength of schedule is not great and they have several bad losses. If they finish the season with 14 losses, they can forget the NCAA tournament and probably won’t even make the NIT. Realistically, they need to limit their losses to 10 if they want an NCAA at-large bid. That means they can eat a loss in the AAC tournament plus one other.
And it can’t be today’s game at Houston. This is Memphis’ chance to get a road win against a team that is likely a top-four seed in the Big Dance. The committee won’t be able to deny that’s a quality win. Bracketology-wise, the Tigers will move from “not even in the conversation” to “on the bubble” with a win today. Probably Penny’s team would land on the “first four out” line with a win, and then they’d have the rest of the season to do work to move to the right side of the bubble.
I may have been critical of Penny at times this season – particularly, his negligence educating his team on the benefits of getting vaccinated – but I am one hundred percent Team Penny today. I want a Memphis win. I want a blowout Memphis win. I want to watch the Tyler Harris Show. I want Duren to be a monster at the rim. I want DeAndre Williams to be the baddest version of himself.
Oooh… it’s National Lost Penny Day though… hope that’s not a bad omen for the Tigers.
You can catch the Tigers vs. the Cougars on ABC at 2:30 this afternoon.
Hmmm… with my Bardog brunch buddies in New York for a Billy Joel concert, today would be an ideal day to do something different. I haven’t watched a Tigers basketball game at Max’s Sports Bar yet this season. Maybe today should be the day.
By the way – I heard from a part-time employee that Max’s Sports Bar is gearing up to do crawfish on Saturdays – not today, but soon.
There was a report of a man armed with a gun at Huey’s in the 10:00 hour last night.
Today is the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre party at the Blind Bear, starting at 8. 93 years ago this weekend, the Chicago Outfit headed by Al Capone murdered 7 members of Bugs Moran’s North Side gang in an attempt to solidify control of Chicago’s illicit liquor business. The Bear will celebrate with
- Prizes for best gangster and flapper outfits
- Photographer Jamie Harmon will be there to take your pic to hang in the dining room and your mug shot to hang near the front door
My mug shot
- The Amurica photo booth will be parked outside so you can climb in and take fun pictures (tips appreciated)
- FreeWorld will return to the Bear – the FULL BAND, not a Kaleido subset of the band
- Set dinner menu that includes a bottle of champagne – $45 for 1 person or $90 for 2 people
The Grizzlies are on the road at Charlotte tonight for a 6:00 game. Local TV coverage on Bally Sports Southeast.
Ja Morant was drafted onto Team KD Thursday night for the NBA All-Star game. Here’s a look at the teams:
Team KD
- Starters: Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young, Andrew Wiggins (team captain Kevin Durant will not be able to play)
- Reserves: Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, Dejounte Murray, Khris Middleton, LeMelo Ball, Rudy Gobert
Team LeBron
- Starters: LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Jokic
- Reserves: Luka Doncic, Darius Garland, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, Fred VanVleet, James Harden.
I’ll be rooting for Ja Morant and Team KD, of course, but it looks like LeBron drafted a much stronger team. Makes me think, ten years from now when these guys’ playing days are over, I’d much rather have LeBron in my front office than Kevin Durant.
Wonder how Team KD will work it with two starting point guards? Make Trae Young the primary ball handler while Ja plays off the ball?
Prediction: Team LeBron 182, Team KD 165 (All-Star Games are rarely defensive masterpieces)
Elite Total Wellness is seeking a Medical Assistant for their office on South Front Street. Must be a team player with a willingness to learn new things. Tina would be an awesome person to work for!
Little Italy Downtown is looking for part-time and full-time help. They need someone who can perform basic tasks like food prep, taking customer orders, and cleaning with little supervision. Experience is a plus, but if you’re willing to learn, they’re willing to train. They’re closed Monday and Tuesday and there are no late nights – they close at 9 (giving you plenty of opportunity to walk across the street to Max’s for a beer). Fill out an application and meet the owner (Ricky) and the manager (Jeff) 2-4 PM Thursday or Friday. Generous pay and daily tips.
The Washington Post has a statistical analysis of Super Bowl squares. Basically, if your square is any combination of 0, 7, and 3, you’re in line to make that money; any other number and you’re screwed. The square with the highest expected value is 0/0; if you have that square it’s time to abandon team loyalty and root for whichever team is playing defense.
I was in the Blind Bear for lunch yesterday and a local author was showing off copies of her new book: Have You Ever Been This Girl by Deon Smith. It’s the story of three women’s ups and downs and is available in paperback or on Kindle.
I mentioned that there’s a onesie bar crawl today, but I can’t recommend it much because it’s organized by out-of-towners. Well, good news: There’s now a Onesie Day by locals, for locals, on the Downtown calendar. It’ll be Sunday, February 20 at Atomic Rose. Start off at 11 with a chef-prepared brunch in your pajamas. At 12:30 Bella DuBalle will host a delightfully diverse drag show, followed at 2 by bingo with Pattie O’ Furniture with great prizes for the winners.
Mayor Jimbo from Mempho sent out his weekly newsletter yesterday and raised the possibility of selling MLGW in order to take power lines underground. Nine days after the ice storm, there are still thousands without power, and this is hardly the first time in recent history such a thing has happened. Jimbo makes it clear he’s not advocating for such a move yet, but the idea at least needs to be explored.
Deion Sanders’ Jackson State team will play the 2022 Southern Heritage Classic after all.
Professional Bull Riders are in Memphis at FedExForum tonight.
As I posted earlier in the week, poker has returned to the Blind Bear Thursday nights at 7:30. One hand I played exemplified everything I love about poker. The blinds were 400/800 and I had about 8000 in my chip stack. Action was folded around to the man to my right, who bet 2000. I looked down and saw
Ace-King
“Big Slick,” the best unpaired starting hand. in Texas Hold’em. I sure as hell was not folding that. But with 3200 already in the pot, I didn’t have enough chips to play the flop, turn, and river properly. In that case, the best move is all-in. I moved in with my 8000 chips, my opponent called, and he flipped his cards over.
His hand: Ace – Queen
“Big Chick,” the second-best unpaired starting hand. His call was a great one – he just happened to run into one of the very few hands that has A-Q dominated.
The flop: 3- Queen – 6
Ouch! One of the three cards in the deck that could have helped him showed up. He took the lead with a pair of Queens.
The turn: King
I improved to a pair of Kings, taking the lead. I’m about a 91%-9% favorite to win the hand.
The river: Queen
My opponent hits his trip Queens and I’m out of the game. But at least I went out in style! That hand was poker at its finest and made me realize how much I missed it. I’m not saying I’m gonna play every Thursday – particularly if the Grizzlies or Tigers are on TV – but that was fun!
Plans for today: Yeah the more I think about it, a trip to Max’s Sports Bar feels like the right move. I’ll have to deal with falling temperatures, north wind, and flying monkeys, but it feels like I’m overdue for a visit. I’ll bring Perjorie T. Roll to bring the Tigers good luck and to ward off evil. Back tomorrow with more news.