Monday update

Apologies for not making a post yesterday… the main reason was that I was not quite sure what to make of the NCAA’s allegations against Penny Hardaway and the Memphis men’s basketball program. My guess is, what Penny’s really guilty of is upsetting the natural order of things. In the eyes of the powers-that-be, elite-level, 5-star recruits are supposed to go to Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Michigan State, or UCLA. If once in a while, a top recruit falls through the cracks and one of those schools doesn’t get him, it’s acceptable as long as he goes to a Power Five school with a storied reputation – an Ohio State or a Texas or a Florida.

But a school that isn’t even in the Power Five, led by a guy with only 4 years of experience as a coach at the college level? And that guy goes out and gets James Wiseman, Precious Achiuwa, Jalen Duren, and Emoni Bates in the span of just a few years? Totally unacceptable.

If the NCAA doesn’t layeth the smacketh down on Penny and his program, the powers-that-be probably believe, what’s to stop a coach at Tulane or Marshall or Troy from getting uppity and going after 5-stars too? How dare they take food off the table of great men like Cal and Bill Self and Tom Izzo!

So the NCAA is telling Penny, to use a catchphrase from The Rock for the second paragraph in a row, know your role and shut your mouth.

And Penny’s having none of it.

In other news, the Grizzlies have a big game tonight. They host Golden State at FedExForum at 7 in a game that will be nationally televised on NBAtv.  With 9 games left in the regular season, Memphis holds a 4-game lead over Golden State for second place in the Western Conference. A win would bump that lead to a nearly insurmountable 5 games with only 8 left. Let’s go Grizzlies!

One more piece of sports news: Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin had the honor of throwing the first pitch in Ole Miss’ baseball team’s game against the Tennessee Vols. He threw a golf ball rather than a baseball. It was a nod to Tennessee’s losing effort to Ole Miss in the 2021 football season, where horrible Vol fans responded by raining debris down onto the field, including golf balls and mustard bottles.

I had a yummy brunch yesterday!

This is the Blind Bear’s salmon hash, blackened salmon over a bed of the Bear’s breakfast fries, topped with a sunny side up egg and a balsamic reduction. So tasty!

By the way, I couldn’t find a way to get the troll in the picture without getting balsamic on her, but trust me, she was there!

Three teens have been charged in a shooting that killed a 15-year-old boy and injured a 16-year-old girl earlier in March near Riverside and Beale. The boy and girl were not believed to be the intended targets.

The CA reports that CIMAS, the restaurant inside Hyatt Centric, has a new menu to help you start early on your way to Broadway shows at the Orpheum. The dishes are tailored to each show – for example, fish for the recently-concluded Cats run because street cats would eat fish.

From ABC 24: After 5 years of work, Equality Trailblazers monument opens in Downtown Memphis

A man was arrested for a car break-in Downtown Saturday night, WREG reports.

Today is a holiday I’m sure many will celebrate, Weed Appreciation Day.

Saturday is opening day for the Memphis Farmers Market. The market operates every Saturday from April to October in the pavilion behind the Power House movie theater at Front and G.E. Patterson. This is an especially good farmers market because, besides fresh produce and flowers, you’ll also find

  • Meats
  • Seafood
  • Hot sauces
  • Dog treats
  • Breads
  • Pottery
  • Bird houses
  • Cheese dip
  • Pastries
  • Live music
  • Food trucks
  • Coffee
  • and lots more

MATA has begun testing of a heated, air-conditioned light rail trolley car on the Madison Avenue line.

That’s all the news. Back tomorrow!