Daily thoughts of a Downtown Memphis resident
I just learned that the Blind Bear is doing a $10 blue plate special tomorrow, Friday, December 28, and since it’s time-sensitive I wanted to go ahead and get it posted
The special will be chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes and country gravy, and fried okra. The Bear is at 119 S. Main and serves lunch 11 AM to 3 PM on weekdays, with happy hour 3 to 7 PM and drinks served all the way to 3 AM.
Yesterday I again decided to make it an early day at Bardog, catching up with day bartender Bloom and hearing what her kids got for Christmas. While sitting at the bar my phone rang once again.
It was my friend Rahul. “Paul, I demand a retraction and an apology,” he said. “You put on your blog that me and Tony are going to the Drag & Dinner show at Rizzo’s at 8 PM Sunday. That’s not true. I demand a retraction.”
Rahul continued, “Me and Tony aren’t going, but our lady friends Hula Girl and Marie Antoinette are. Marie Antoinette is going to bring a paper fan to cool herself off. Hula Girl is going to wear a grass skirt and has hair extensions she bought out of the vending machine at Wolfchase Galleria.” My. They sound lovely.
While I was at Bardog, I confirmed that they will open at their normal time of 8 AM on New Year’s Day. Most bars generally open at their normal time that day, but a few that blow it out big with a party on New Year’s Eve will wait until the evening to open on the 1st. I consider New Year’s Eve to be Amateur Night and will not be out. I’ll get to bed early and get a good night’s sleep so I can be at Bardog at 8 when the professionals celebrate the New Year.
Comedy is coming to the Crosstown Brewery taproom this Friday at 7:30. The Comma Comedians will perform, featuring a variety of local and out of town acts, in a free show. As an added bonus, my friends from the New Wing Order food truck will be selling their delicious wings, tacos, fries, and other goodies on site.
Ghost River wraps up its holiday movie night series tonight at the taproom with It’s a Wonderful Life tonight at 7. Two Girls and a Whip will be there with assorted cupcakes to sweeten your movie watching experience. If you want to grab dinner before you have dessert, the Asian Cajun food truck will be on site.
This is awesome: You can help Lyft provide ride credit for St. Jude families. Raising your ride cost to the next nearest dollar will provide funds to transport patient families for free. I will gladly do that next time I take a Lyft.
Well, that’s all the news I can find. It’s a slow time of the year. Welcome to all the Missouri and Oklahoma State fans coming into town for Monday’s game. Back tomorrow with more news.
I spent a fun Christmas Eve with wonderful friends yesterday. A little before 6 my friends Jessica, Josh, Jennifer, Katie Mac and I made the trek over to Texas de Brazil for Christmas Eve dinner.
TdB is not only known for its meats, but is also known for having the best salad bar in town. Here’s a look at my plate:
Okay… I’m going to stop right here for a minute. I feel that it is important to give one’s self a performance evaluation from time to time, to assess strengths and weaknesses. That is the path to continued improvement. Let’s have a look at the strengths and weaknesses from my trip to the salad bar.
STRENGTH: You’ll notice that I didn’t bring any actual salad back from my trip to the salad bar. Salad takes up valuable space on a plate that could be reserved for other items. I was a good steward of my plate’s real estate by passing the salad.
STRENGTH: Although I didn’t get salad, I did load up on one of the items that was supposed to be a topping for the salad: bacon. Look at all that delicious bacon on my plate. Well done, me.
STRENGTH: I got a cup of lobster bisque. My rule is “dip everything in lobster bisque.” Bacon, steak, cheese, you name it.
STRENGTH: Cheese. Those two mozzarella balls and that slice of provolone were welcome additions to my plate.
WEAKNESS: I wasted space on my plate on items that could have made room for more bacon. If I wanted a California roll I should have gone to South Main Sushi. And those haricots verts (green beans), while tasty indeed, are not as tasty as bacon. I’ll give the pepperoncini pepper a pass because I like spicy food and my troll likes foods that are the same color as her hair. But really, this plate should have been about 50% covered in bacon.
WEAKNESS: I only got one bowl of lobster bisque. I should have got two and maybe even three. I’ll say it once again – when you’re in an all-you-can-eat dining setting you can’t be concerned with what other people think of you. We had a table for 8 but a couple of people weren’t feeling well so we only had 5. I would have had plenty of room to spread out.
I was going to give myself a B- for my salad bar effort, but what the heck, it is Christmas, I’ll curve it up to a B. This was not a bad plate at all. However, if I am to one day become the LeBron James of the Texas de Brazil salad bar, I have got to work relentlessly on correcting those weaknesses.
Before we move on, while we’re on the subject of performance evaluations, here’s a guide on how to give your cats their annual performance review.
Once you’re done with your salad bar plate, you get a fresh plate for meat, and a button, green on one side, red on the other.
Gauchos (servers) come around and offer you cuts of various meats. A green button tells them, “Yes, I want meat.” A red button tells them, “No thanks, I’m good for now.”
I didn’t get photos of all of my meats – a plate full of medium-rare cuts can be kind of gross to look at – but here’s one I took.
Pictured here are a sausage, a filet, and a bacon-wrapped jalapeno pepper. Jessica told us the jalapenos are the must-get item carried around by the gauchos, and I can’t disagree. I also had a bacon-wrapped filet, garlic sirloin, the house cut Picanha, and a lamb chop. I got full before the flank steak came around, but I’ll share a tip a friend gave me yesterday: Ask for a side of goat cheese from the kitchen to eat with your flank steak. The two flavors are said to be amazing together.
Garlic mashed potatoes are served to every table as a side. There are sides of fried bananas too.
Christmas Eve dinner at Texas de Brazil comes with complimentary dessert, and after we finished our meat our server brought the tray around. My troll and I decided we wanted the Bananas Foster cake.
A good dinner and good friends is a Christmas Eve well spent. I enjoyed the company.
On to the news…
Yesterday during the day, I decided to observe Christmas Eve as Jesus would if he were still on Earth today. In other words, I went to a bar for some day drinking.
So about 10:45 I was sitting at Bardog, a PBR parked in front of me, when my phone rang. “Who calls anyone any more?” I thought. We live in the age of text messages, Facebook Messenger, and Snapchat. Nevertheless, I answered.
“Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul!” said two very excited male voices talking over each other. After a couple of seconds I recognized the voices as my friends Rahul and Tony.
“Slow down, guys, I can’t hear what you’re saying when both of you talk at once. One of you talk. What’s going on?” I replied.
“We need your help! Christmas comes on the 30th this year,” said one of them.
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Christmas always falls on the 25th of December.”
“For us, Christmas comes on the 30th,” said Rahul and Tony. “Go look on Facebook.”
I pulled up my Facebook app and found that Rizzo’s had just added a new event on Sunday, December 30 at 8 PM: Drag & Dinner. Goldie D and Friends will put on a show while you enjoy a plate of deliciousness from Chef Michael Patrick. Goldie & friends performed last December at Rizzo’s and it was said to be quite the show. Cost is $30 and you must call 901-304-6985.
“Paul, you’re friends with the chef there, right?” said Rahul and Tony anxiously. “Do you think you can get us front row seats?”
“Yeah I’ll get right on that,” I told them, and hung up.
Here are Downtown bar opening times today that I’m aware of.
Glad to hear that arrests have been made following multiple thefts in Harbor Town.
Things you can’t unsee:
Too flattering? pic.twitter.com/1qxj6o6IB5
— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) December 24, 2018
Surfing Twitter last night, I saw a post about doggos. Finally it all made sense to me: Puppies grow up to be dogs. Puppers grow up to be doggos.
Merry Christmas to all my readers. Back tomorrow with more news.
Choose901 had an excellent post that is worth bookmarking. It’s a list of restaurants of every ethnicity in the Memphis area.
What was Coach Norvell thinking, going for a two-point conversion when the Tigers were up 34-30 with about a minute and a half to go? What good was 36 going to do for Memphis as opposed to 35? There were a lot of people asking what was going on with the two-point conversion, when Wake ran the ball back to midfield and then Memphis kicked it off rather than Wake taking possession when they had it. This Wikipedia page clarifies it.
Last night I was discussing my recent Court Square food truck rodeo adventures on Thursdays with a friend. I told him, “I’ve tried just about every type of food at the food truck rodeo at this point… except BBQ. I can’t see getting BBQ from a truck when there are so many good restaurants close by, and besides I’m on a team.”
“There’s one you should try, though,” my friend said. “Smurfey’s is really good. Get their BBQ nachos. I’ve heard their potato is really good too, topped with pork shoulder with that good bark on it.” I should mention this friend knows a thing or two about BBQ, being one of the cooks on my team, so I will take his recommendation seriously and thought I would pass it on to my readers. I will walk up there and give Smurfey’s a look on Thursday.
THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN:
NY should rename 5th Ave “Barack Obama Ave” so that Trump Tower will have to use that as its address forever.- Josh Goodman
— 🇺🇸🌊JoeInWV 🌊🇺🇸 (@wvjoe911) December 22, 2018
Short post today but around Christmas there’s not much news. Back tomorrow (or the next time I have something to report) with more.
The Memphis Tigers are on national TV this morning, playing the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the Birmingham Bowl. The game will be on ESPN and kickoff is shortly after 11 AM.
There’s a special Timeout for Fitness ticket for the January 4 Grizzlies game. It includes not only a ticket to the 7 PM game that night vs. the Brooklyn Nets, but a Pilates mat class on the main court the morning of Saturday, January 5. Grizzlies marketing department: That “7:00:00 PM CST ( Meet at 08:40 AM at the FedExForum Grand Lobby )” copy is confusing and needs to be fixed. Also, the “how can we make your ticket purchasing experience better?” pop-up when I stay on the page too long without purchasing tickets is annoying.
Whether you purchase the Pilates ticket or not, if you’re one of the first 5000 fans in the arena that night, you get a free Grizzlies fanny pack. They should have done that promotion before Christmas; it would have made a perfect Dirty Santa gift.
Tim Van Horn wins the “You Are So Memphis” tweet of the week.
Remember to turn your phone sideways when capturing those fights at the family get-togethers. Plays back in HD when the news runs the accompanying arrest story. @localMemphis @cw30memphis @FOX13Memphis @3onyourside @wmcactionnews5 @CNN @foxnews @msnbc
— Tim Van Horn (@MyTimVanHorn) December 21, 2018
I’m looking forward to dinner with wonderful friends at Texas de Brazil on Christmas Eve! If you go there on the 24th you get free dessert. Select nonalcoholic beverages are also fee that day. That’ll lower the tab from stratospheric to merely astronomical, but it is so worth it. MEAT!
Wednesday night’s food drive/showing of Elf at the Orpheum produced 4625 pounds of food. That’s enough to provide 3800 meals to families during the holidays.
The American Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament returns to FedExForum March 14-17 and tickets are now on sale.
All right. I’ll save the rest of the news for tomorrow because I need to get to the bar and get a good seat for the Birmingham Bowl. Go Tigers!
As your #1 source of news and information about The Edge District, I can see I am going to have my work cut out for me in the coming year as that neighborhood really takes off. Yesterday the Memphis Business Journal had an exclusive that Memphis Made Brewing Co. is looking at opening a second location, and it will be in The Edge, in a building at 435 Madison. They haven’t signed a lease yet but have signed a letter of intent. The new brewery would be the northern anchor for The Ravine, the urban park that will run through The Edge from Union to Madison.
Yesterday I had a discussion with a friend on Facebook on whether another brewery is needed in The Edge. I believe it absolutely is. The addition of a brewery, as well as the new cidery going in two blocks away on Union, will make The Edge a destination neighborhood – with Sun Studio, it always has been for tourists, but now it will be for locals as well. The new brewery and cidery will also make The Edge more walkable. Assuming the new Memphis Made location will have a taproom, it will be the only brewery in The Edge to bring in food trucks. It will be the closest brewery to my home and I look forward to walking down Madison for a pint of Fireside or Junt.
Continuing my conversation with my Facebook friend, I told him that I see The Edge at a tipping point as the next up-and-coming neighborhood. I see it being in its development approximately where Cooper-Young was in 1992; where South Main was in 2000; where the Broad Avenue Arts District was in 2010. I expect to spend significant time writing about The Edge in this blog in 2019.
Hey, I wonder if Bijou and Biscuit got adopted?
The Daily Memphian covers what is being done to ensure that The Ravine will live up to expectations.Funding is in place for phase 1 of the project, but what if there is a downturn in the economy similar to the Great Recession of 2008 and the philanthropy is not there to fund Phase 2? Brett Roler of the DMC stresses that by the end of Phase I, expected to be complete by May 2019, The Ravine will be a fully functional urban park.
If any breweries in The Edge have outdoor festivals in 2019, they shouldn’t plan on booking the band Zigadoo Moneyclips. The lead singer is going to federal prison for 2 years and 9 months on fraud charges.
If you’re tired of food that goes moo, or oink, or cluck, check out this Catherine & Mary’s entree. If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.
Tired of Christmas shopping? Buy something for yourself… like this new Duck dish 🎁 Come have dinner with us this weekend!
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Duck | parsnip, cabbage, sunchoke, pomegranate, sorghum pic.twitter.com/7SPmLhOfeb— Catherine & Mary’s (@catherine_marys) December 20, 2018
The Hospitality Hub sent out some statistics about the people they served in 2018.
This is a wonderful organization that offers a hand up in life. You will be doing a lot more to help the homeless by volunteering at the Hub or donating to them that you will be if you give money to a person on the street.
Drew and Ellie Holcomb’s Neighborly Christmas comes to the Orpheum tonight.
This is very cool: Among the many things to which your Memphis library card entitles you is a digital subscription to the New York Times.
Christmas opening news: PBjaRni, a bartender at Max’s Sports Bar, posted that the bar will open on 3 Christmas Day.
Statistics site FiveThirtyEight has ranked the most absurd college football bowls. Absurdity criteria included length of name, bad teams, high scoring, frequent sponsorship changes, and sponsor industry. There were also opportunities to earn bonus points. Least absurd for 2018 were the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, the Capital One Orange Bowl, the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and the Hyundai Sun Bowl. Most absurd: The Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl.
The Peanut Shoppe on Main has announced they will be open today, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday for your holiday shopping needs. It is unusual for them to open on Sunday. Best place in Memphis to buy nuts, chocolates, candy and popcorn for your loved ones!
The Memphis Animal Shelter is looking to hire a support services specialist.
The folks at the Orpheum have realized their movie series is too popular to restrict it just to the summer. From now on there will be movies on the big screen all year. Movies including SIngin’ in the Rain and Space Jam will be coming in 2019.
Happy New Year, YOGA! Your Inner Yogi at 10 N. Second is hosting a Yoga and Visualization class on Sunday, December 30 to help you set your intentions for the new year. This class will not be about making New Year’s resolutions, which rarely stick. You will create a story board using photos keywords, and quotes to help you set out what you want your 2019 to look like. The class is 4-6 PM and the cost is $25.
Looking to volunteer over the holidays? Volunteer Odyssey has an opportunity with Room in the Inn – Memphis. This organization, which started in Nashville, helps direct the homeless to church congregations that can provide warm places to sleep during the cold winter months. They need volunteers from 4:15 to 6:00 PM to greet the homeless guests, provide coffee and conversation, and keep them company while Room in the Inn lines up a place for them to stay for the night. After the guests depart volunteers clean and prepare the space for the next day. This is a family-friendly volunteer opportunity.
All right, that’ll do it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.
Yum Yum, Get Sum! That’s the motto of the Rice Burner dim sum food truck where I got lunch in Court Square today. My intention was to go to the Flying Sobies food truck for another fried Cornish hen. However, the Rice Burner food truck caught my eye, with its sign that Down South Rice is back.
Down South Rice is fried rice with smoked chicken, smoked Polish sausage, and smoked ham. I love some fried rice with big chunks of ham in it. I went to the window and placed my order.
I’m eating the rice as I type this, and man, it is tasty! You can find the Rice Burner truck at the Court Square food truck rodeo every Thursday from 11:00 to 1:30.
Memphis 901 FC, the city’s new professional soccer team, has released its 2019 schedule. There will be 17 home games at AutoZone Park, and between March 9 and October 19, there will be sports (soccer or baseball) at AutoZone Park 26 Saturdays. That’s half the Saturdays of the year!
The City of Memphis has released its Memphis 3.0 plan, a master plan for the city as it enters its third century. The plan focuses on “build up, not out” and advises building around anchors in particular neighborhoods. Downtown, the Medical District, and the university district are seen as city-wide anchors. Development in these areas is advised to focus on vertical, multi-use buildings.
The Memphis Tigers tweeted an announcement for their fans yesterday. For those not going to Birmingham and who have tickets to the 2 PM men’s basketball game vs. Tennessee State, they are going to open FedExForum at 11 and show the Birmingham Bowl on the screen. Must have a ticket to the 2 PM game to come in.
I see the Negative Nancys are already out after the Tigers were tied with Little Rock at one point in last night’s game (they recovered to win 99-89). “Penny can’t coach the college level,” people protested. “He can recruit, but he can’t coach.” For heaven’s sakes, he’s coached 11, maybe 12 games and has never been an assistant coach at the college level. Give him a couple of seasons to figure things out. Penny has boosted ticket sales, stolen the #1 class of 2019 prospect from Kentucky, and let’s face it, his Tigers have a better record than they would at this point if Tubby were coaching.
My friend Rahul posted this and tagged his boo Tony: Fanny packs are making a comeback and now account for 25% of the accessory industry. My God. We as a society have truly lost our minds. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rahul buys Tony and himself matching fanny packs for Christmas.
RAWK’n Grub, now located in the gas station at 630 N. Highland, is having an ugly sweater party now through Christmas Eve. Wear your ugly sweater up there and get a free order of their famous Blue Suede Shoestring Fries, no purchase necessary.
Wine for Wishes, benefiting Make-A-Wish Mid-South, returns to the Cadre Building February 9. Wine tasting, catering by Kelly English, silent auction.
The local media has picked up on the “Yo Mama” comment City Council chair Berlin Boyd made to a protester during Tuesday’s meeting. The Commercial Appeal interviewed the protester’s mama to get her opinion of what Boyd said.
Yo mama’s City Councilman is so rude…
HOW RUDE IS HE?
That’s it, I’m outta here. Back tomorrow with more news.
Yesterday was such a newsy day that I nearly wore out my phone battery trying to keep up on Twitter. We had the death of sitcom star and film director Penny Marshall. We had a judge again delay the sentencing of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, saying he may have to consider prison even though Special Counsel Mueller recommended no time served. The judge asked DOJ officials if they’d ever considered charging Flynn with treason. We heard that the Grizzlies planned to acquire Austin Rivers off waivers, only to then have the story backtracked and say that four to five teams are interested in Rivers.
The big local news, though, was that the City Council, now down to 10 members, had another meeting. Not only did they not fill the 3 open seats, but there was a debate as to what constitutes a majority vote: 6 out of 10 currently serving Council members, or 7 out of 13 as if all the seats were full. As a citizen who has been sitting back hearing/reading about this entire process in the news, I want to offer some feedback.
To the 5 white Council members – You’re opposing a candidate who is seemingly well-qualified, and who is African-American, as a bloc. In 2018, do you not realize how racist that looks? Can’t some of you try to work across the aisle and reach a compromise?
To the 4 black Council members – The candidate you support has been endorsed by Rickey Peete, a convicted felon who has a track record of attempting to sell out his constituents for personal gain. Do you not realize how bad that looks?
To Council Chair Berlin Boyd – Last night I read on Facebook that you responded to a protester in the Council chamber with “yo mama.” I know the process is frustrating, but that response shows a lack of respect for the office you hold. Have some dignity, man.
It saddens me that in this day and age, race plays such a factor in determining in whether a candidate is qualified. This process has turned into a three-ring circus and it’s embarrassing. I’m surprised the national media hasn’t picked up on this story.
Basketball returns to FedExForum tonight as the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball teams hosts the Little Rock Trojans at 7 PM.
Holiday movie Elf will be on the big screen tonight at the Orpheum at 7 PM. Bring a canned good donation to the Mid-South Food Bank (3 items per person suggested) to get in free. Prior to the movie there will be a visit from Santa.
If you can’t make it to the Orpheum tonight, you’ll have a chance to see Elf tomorrow night as well. The movie will be shown at the Ghost River taproom at 7 PM tomorrow. Two Girls and a Whip will be there to sweeten things with their cupcakes. They like to keep it casual on movie night, so pajamas, sweats, hoodies, and fluffy socks are welcome. Come back on December 27 for a showing of It’s a Wonderful Life.
Ghost River will be opening its taproom early this Saturday for a Birmingham Bowl watch party. Memphis vs. Wake Forest will be on 3 TVs with sound. Get a dollar off pints during the game if you have Memphis gear on.
The Redbirds are said to have a new manager, and he has ties to the area. Ben Johnson, a native of Germantown, is reported by multiple sources to be the next manager of the Memphis Redbirds, although a deal has not been signed yet. Johnson spent 2018 as a coach for the Triple-A Durham Bulls, the team the Redbirds beat in the national championship game.
There will be a holiday market at Firepit Friday this Friday at River Garden in Mississippi River Park on N. Riverside Drive. About a dozen vendors will be out at the park selling their wares. There will also be craft beer served by the Tapbox, food by El Mero Taco, music by DJ Zetta, s’mores, and artisanal cocktails.
Just City has a page where you can buy a book for a kid in juvenile detention.
That’s all for now. Back tomorrow with more news.
The circus is back in town! Well, not really, but the City Council meets today. Close enough. One of the issues they are said to be considering is whether to allow sports betting on Beale Street. They should. Otherwise they might as well take a big pile of tax revenue dollars, put them in front of a fan aimed at Tunica, and turn the fan on High.
The Memphis Symphony Orchestra is bringing magic Downtown. Catch The Magic of Memphis at the Cannon Center Saturday or Sunday. Illusionist Lyn Dillies will perform feats of magic on stage, set to Christmas music performed by the Symphony.
St. Jude is raising its minimum wage for all employees to $15 an hour. Cheers to the children’s hospital for setting a good example and ensuring that all who work there will earn a livable wage.
Memphis Made Brewing Co. is having another board game night at its taproom 7-10 Thursday, and this time the featured game is a classic: Monopoly.
Downtown Yoga is offering a break from holiday shopping, cooking and traffic on Christmas Eve. That day they will have a Holiday Restorative Yoga class from 2 to 3:30 PM to help relieve the stress of the season. YOGA!
Cordelia’s Market over on Mud Island posted photos of some yummy looking buffalo blue cheese rotisserie chickens that they have.
FedExForum posted a time-lapse video of what it looks like when you have a Grizzlies game, a Tigers game, another Grizzlies game, and graduations over the course of a weekend.
Ever wonder what it looks like behind-the-scenes at FedExForum on a weekend when we’ve got multiple games & a graduation??
Take a look ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/HJ8ShtiqsD
— FedExForum (@FedExForum) December 17, 2018
I tip my hat to the staff who worked hard all weekend changing the floors and equipment out. You da real MVP!
Sage, the new soul food restaurant with an Asian touch at 94 S. Main, is doing a “reverse happy hour” with drink specials from 7 to 9 PM on Fridays.
Aldo’s Pizza Pies Downtown has posted its photos from Pizza with Santa last Saturday.
Got a great pie recipe? It could win you tickets to the hit musical Waitress at the Orpheum. Waitress features the story of an expert pie-maker. Submit your recipe by Friday, December 21. If you are chosen as one of the finalists, you’ll get to bake your pie for the judges on January 2. Winner receives 4 tickets to Waitress and your recipe will be included in the first 50 copies of the Waitress cookbook.
There will be a Memphis Detective Day Downtown on February 23. It’s like a real-life version of the board game Clue. Cost is $46 for teams of up to six adults.
Paula & Raiford’s Disco will be open New Year’s Eve, Monday night, December 31 for another year of disco.
The owners of the Sheraton across from the Convention Center are suing the city of Memphis over approval of funding for the construction of the new Loews convention center hotel.
There was a Stolen whiskey/rum brand ambassador at Blind Bear yesterday, and she bought me a Stolen whiskey and Coke which was really good.
My troll commented, “Paul, you should order a drink that’s the same color as my hair.” No, Perjorie, I am not ordering an appletini.
Stolen is having a special poker night at the Blind Bear this Thursday. (Click to see the image below in a larger size)
That’ll do it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.
The huge turnout at Saturday’s Tigers vs. Tennessee game was fantastic for the city of Memphis and for Tigers basketball, but it did have one drawback: Long lines at the restroom. One fan decided that the line was roo long to wait in – when you gotta go, you gotta go, you know? He was found defecating on a floor behind an concession stand, his private parts exposed. His makeshift bathroom earned him a trip to 201 on an indecent exposure charge.
24 hours of Memphis basketball: 3 losses, 1 trade fell through because of mistaken identity and a man shit on the floor behind a concession stand #MAF
— Eli Savoie (@Eli560) December 16, 2018
Bad behavior didn’t cease at the conclusion of the game either.
Beale Street is so live right now. Just saw a Tennessee fan get detained while trying to fight like 5 different people at a bar.
Swung at like 3 security guards, called them soft. Put those handcuffs on him and his first words were, “What did I do?”
— Gene Henley (@genehenley3) December 15, 2018
That is so very typical of Tennessee fans.You know, yesterday I was watching football, and I thought to myself, I don’t really have an NFL team but if I did, it would probably be the Saints because I respect what a great fan culture they have. For the same reason, I hate the Tennessee Vols. It’s not because of the school itself, or Knoxville, but rather they have the most obnoxious fan culture in college sports.
Three Downtown restaurants got mentioned in this week’s Memphis Flyer cover story, a roundup of the best soups in the city. The Blind Bear (now open for lunch at 11 AM every day) and Huey’s got recognized for their potato soups. Maciel’s got a mention for its chicken & chipotle soup.
Lime, the scooter company that came to Memphis not long ago, is chasing funding to staunch losses. Lime is one of two scooter companies operating here, the other being Bird.
AutoZone Park is getting $600,000 in improvements to prepare for Memphis 901 FC’s shared occupancy of the park with the Memphis Redbirds.There will be dedicated locker rooms for the soccer teams, some improvements to the baseball clubhouses, and expansion of offices on the third floor as the ball park increases staff.
River Garden at Mississippi River Park has stayed active its first month, and a hawk and a bobcat have taken up residence. Carol Coletta, president of the Memphis River Parks Partnership, has said that construction on Tom Lee Park will begin on June 1, as soon as the Memphis in May events end. Wonder if the construction will be done by May 2020, or if Music Fest, BBQ Fest, and 901 Fest will be moved to another location that year?
That’s the news for today. Back tomorrow with more.