Greetings! It’s Tuesday happy hour as I type this and I’m sitting at the bar with my favorite Grizzlies Granny, Luanne. She just dropped off some awesome news.
Anita Ward will perform her hit disco single “Ring My Bell” at tonight’s Grizzlies game and the Grizzlies Grannies and Grandpas dance team will perform.
I can’t tell you how many times I danced to “Ring My Bell” at Sunday Disco Inferno night at Six-1-Six in the ’90s. In six-inch platform shoes. And then I’d get up and teach my College Algebra class at the University of Memphis Monday morning at 9:10 AM.
Sometimes I’d see my students out at Six-1-Six on those Sundays. “Professor Paul, what are you doing here?” they’d ask.
“What am I doing here?” I’d reply. “What are you doing here? You have a math test to take tomorrow. I don’t.”
The Stumbling Santa pub crawl returns to Downtown Memphis for its 19th year the evening of Saturday, December 2. Every year, hundreds of people get dressed up as Santa – or Mrs. Claus, an elf, a reindeer, a Christmas tree, you get the idea – and stumble from bar to bar on and around Beale Street.
The meeting place, as always, is the Flying Saucer at 7 that night. The pub crawl is a toy collection drive for Porter-Leath, so please bring a new, unwrapped toy to be given to a child in need. Every year Stumbling Santa raises a bus-load of toys in just one night.
The first Saturday of December is always a HUGE day Downtown, and it stays that way ALL DAY LONG. Things get started early that morning with the St. Jude Marathon. Many streets will be blocked off and you’re advised to avoid travel by car in the area between midnight and noon, if possible. If you have to drive, St. Jude and MPD will publish a list of which routes in and out of Downtown will be open.
The Memphis Tigers will be out of town, playing that afternoon at Ole Miss, but with a 1:00 PM tip time, the Downtown bars are going to be packed. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2, so bars won’t need any special package subscription to be able to pick it up.
The bars will remain packed for the American Conference and SEC football championship games, both of which will be broadcast nationally at 3 that afternoon.
The bars will remain packed for the Memphis Grizzlies game at Phoenix which will come on at 8 that night.
On top of all that, Leanne Morgan will be on tour at the Orpheum with shows at 4:00 and 7:00 that day.
And Memphis Symphony Orchestra will be at the Cannon Center that night.
My point is, if you plan to do anything Downtown that day – especially anything involving a car – allow extra time and be prepared to deal with crowds. Expect parking garages to upcharge and Lyft/Uber to surge charge.
Today is National Abet and Aid Punsters Day. Jack, please let me know if I can be of assistance.
It’s also National Harvey Wallbanger Day.
The annual Memphis holiday parade will happen Saturday, December 9 at 2 PM on Beale Street. The parade used to be another event that happened the first Saturday of December. Smart decision by Beale Street management to move it back a week.
Let’s have a look at college football games of interest to Memphians Saturday:
- 3 Michigan at 10 Penn State, 11:00 AM, FOX
- 8 Alabama at Kentucky, 11:00 AM, ESPN
- Tulsa at 23 Tulane, 11:00 AM, ESPN2
- Vanderbilt at South Carolina, 11:00 AM, SEC Network
- Arizona at Colorado, 1:00 PM, Pac-12 Network
- Memphis at Charlotte, 1:00 PM, ESPN+
- 18 Utah at 5 Washington, 2:30 PM, FOX
- 13 Tennessee at 14 Missouri, 2:30 PM, CBS
- Auburn at Arkansas, 3:00 PM, SEC Network
- Arkansas State at South Alabama, 4:00 PM, ESPN+
- 9 Ole Miss at 2 Georgia, 6:00 PM, ESPN
- Florida at 19 LSU, 6:30 PM, SEC Network
- Mississippi State at Texas A&M, 6:30 PM, SEC Network
Action News 5’s 5 Star Story this week is about the COGIC convocation.
Bella is the most popular dog name in Tennessee.
That’ll do it for this morning. Back tomorrow with more news.