{"id":25568,"date":"2022-02-12T07:23:18","date_gmt":"2022-02-12T13:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/?p=25568"},"modified":"2022-02-12T07:23:18","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T13:23:18","slug":"t-i-g-e-r-s-tigers-saturday-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/12\/t-i-g-e-r-s-tigers-saturday-update\/","title":{"rendered":"T. I. G. E. R. S. TIGERS. Saturday update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Let&#8217;s talk for a minute about the Memphis Tigers&#8217; chances of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament; meaning, they get in even if they don&#8217;t win the AAC tournament in March.<\/p>\n<p>Coming into today&#8217;s showdown at Houston, the Tigers&#8217; 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<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Had top-5 strength of schedules<\/li>\n<li>Had quality wins against highly ranked teams<\/li>\n<li>Did not have any &#8220;bad&#8221; losses to lousy teams<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Tigers&#8217; 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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>And it can&#8217;t be today&#8217;s game at Houston. This is Memphis&#8217; chance to get a road win against a team that is likely a top-four seed in the Big Dance. The committee won&#8217;t be able to deny that&#8217;s a quality win. Bracketology-wise, the Tigers will move from &#8220;not even in the conversation&#8221; to &#8220;on the bubble&#8221; with a win today. Probably Penny&#8217;s team would land on the &#8220;first four out&#8221; line with a win, and then they&#8217;d have the rest of the season to do work to move to the right side of the bubble.<\/p>\n<p>I may have been critical of Penny at times this season &#8211; particularly, his negligence educating his team on the benefits of getting vaccinated &#8211; 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.<\/p>\n<p>Oooh&#8230; it&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.checkiday.com\/c15d12aa20b1b4526515aa29ef3ad64b\/national-lost-penny-day\">National Lost Penny Day<\/a> though&#8230; hope that&#8217;s not a bad omen for the Tigers.<\/p>\n<p>You can catch the Tigers vs. the Cougars on ABC at 2:30 this afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Hmmm&#8230; 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&#8217;t watched a Tigers basketball game at Max&#8217;s Sports Bar yet this season. Maybe today should be the day.<\/p>\n<p>By the way &#8211; I heard from a part-time employee that Max&#8217;s Sports Bar is gearing up to do crawfish on Saturdays &#8211; not today, but soon.<\/p>\n<p>There was a report of a man armed with a gun at Huey&#8217;s in the 10:00 hour last night.<\/p>\n<p>Today is the Saint <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/429389952247004?ref=newsfeed\">Valentine&#8217;s Day Massacre<\/a> 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&#8217;s North Side gang in an attempt to solidify control of Chicago&#8217;s illicit liquor business. The Bear will celebrate with<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Prizes for best gangster and flapper outfits<\/li>\n<li>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<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mugshot.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-25492\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mugshot.jpeg?resize=389%2C500\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mugshot.jpeg?resize=389%2C500 389w, http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mugshot.jpeg?resize=233%2C300 233w, http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mugshot.jpeg?resize=1200%2C1544 1200w, http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mugshot.jpeg?w=1680 1680w, http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/mugshot.jpeg?w=2520 2520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 389px) 85vw, 389px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>My mug shot<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Amurica photo booth will be parked outside so you can climb in and take fun pictures (tips appreciated)<\/li>\n<li>FreeWorld will return to the Bear &#8211; the FULL BAND, not a Kaleido subset of the band<\/li>\n<li>Set dinner menu that includes a bottle of champagne &#8211; $45 for 1 person or $90 for 2 people<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Grizzlies are on the road at Charlotte tonight for a 6:00 game. Local TV coverage on Bally Sports Southeast.<\/p>\n<p>Ja Morant was drafted onto Team KD Thursday night for the NBA All-Star game. Here&#8217;s a look at the teams:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Team KD<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Starters: Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young, Andrew Wiggins (team captain Kevin Durant will not be able to play)<\/li>\n<li>Reserves: Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, Dejounte Murray, Khris Middleton, LeMelo Ball, Rudy Gobert<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Team LeBron<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Starters: LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Jokic<\/li>\n<li>Reserves: Luka Doncic, Darius Garland, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, Fred VanVleet, James Harden.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I&#8217;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&#8217; playing days are over, I&#8217;d much rather have LeBron in my front office than Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n<p>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?<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Team LeBron 182, Team KD 165 (All-Star Games are rarely defensive masterpieces)<\/p>\n<p>Elite Total Wellness is seeking a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jobs\/job-opening\/493515102341877\/?source=share\">Medical Assistant<\/a> 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!<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;re willing to learn, they&#8217;re willing to train. They&#8217;re closed Monday and Tuesday and there are no late nights &#8211; they close at 9 (giving you plenty of opportunity to walk across the street to Max&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Post has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/sports\/2022\/02\/07\/best-super-bowl-squares\/\">statistical analysis of Super Bowl squares<\/a>. Basically, if your square is any combination of 0, 7, and 3, you&#8217;re in line to make that money; any other number and you&#8217;re screwed. The square with the highest expected value is 0\/0; if you have that square it&#8217;s time to abandon team loyalty and root for whichever team is playing defense.<\/p>\n<p>I was in the Blind Bear for lunch yesterday and a local author was showing off copies of her new book: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Have-Ever-Been-This-Girl\/dp\/B08TZ7HL44\/\">Have You Ever Been This Girl<\/a> by Deon Smith. It&#8217;s the story of three women&#8217;s ups and downs and is available in paperback or on Kindle.<\/p>\n<p>I mentioned that there&#8217;s a onesie bar crawl today, but I can&#8217;t recommend it much because it&#8217;s organized by out-of-towners. Well, good news: There&#8217;s now a Onesie Day by locals, for locals, on the Downtown calendar. It&#8217;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&#8217; Furniture with great prizes for the winners.<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Jimbo from Mempho sent out his weekly newsletter yesterday and raised the possibility of <a href=\"https:\/\/dailymemphian.com\/section\/metrocity-of-memphis\/article\/27021\/memphis-mayor-talks-selling-mlgw-or-possible-rate-hikes\">selling MLGW in order to take power lines underground<\/a>. 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&#8217;s not advocating for such a move yet, but the idea at least needs to be explored.<\/p>\n<p>Deion Sanders&#8217; Jackson State team <a href=\"https:\/\/dailymemphian.com\/section\/sports\/article\/27009\/jackson-state-to-play-in-southern-heritage-classic\">will play the 2022 Southern Heritage Classic after all<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fedexforum.com\/events\/professional-bull-riders-pendleton-whisky-velocity-tour-220212\">Professional Bull Riders<\/a> are in Memphis at FedExForum tonight.<\/p>\n<p>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<\/p>\n<p>Ace-King<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Big Slick,&#8221; the best unpaired starting hand. in Texas Hold&#8217;em. I sure as hell was not folding that. But with 3200 already in the pot, I didn&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>His hand: Ace &#8211; Queen<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Big Chick,&#8221; the second-best unpaired starting hand. His call was a great one &#8211; he just happened to run into one of the very few hands that has A-Q dominated.<\/p>\n<p>The flop: 3- Queen &#8211; 6<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The turn: King<\/p>\n<p>I improved to a pair of Kings, taking the lead. I&#8217;m about a 91%-9% favorite to win the hand.<\/p>\n<p>The river: Queen<\/p>\n<p>My opponent hits his trip Queens and I&#8217;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&#8217;m not saying I&#8217;m gonna play every Thursday &#8211; particularly if the Grizzlies or Tigers are on TV &#8211; but that was fun!<\/p>\n<p>Plans for today: Yeah the more I think about it, a trip to Max&#8217;s Sports Bar feels like the right move. I&#8217;ll have to deal with falling temperatures, north wind, and flying monkeys, but it feels like I&#8217;m overdue for a visit. I&#8217;ll bring Perjorie T. Roll to bring the Tigers good luck and to ward off evil. Back tomorrow with more news.<\/p>\n<p><script type='text\/javascript' src='https:\/\/storage.ko-fi.com\/cdn\/widget\/Widget_2.js'><\/script><script type='text\/javascript'>kofiwidget2.init('Tip Jar', '#29abe0', 'B0B57GDFG');kofiwidget2.draw();<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let&#8217;s talk for a minute about the Memphis Tigers&#8217; chances of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament; meaning, they get in even if they don&#8217;t win the AAC tournament in March. Coming into today&#8217;s showdown at Houston, the Tigers&#8217; record is 13-8. Teams have gotten at-large bids into the tournament with records as &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/12\/t-i-g-e-r-s-tigers-saturday-update\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;T. I. G. E. R. S. TIGERS. Saturday update&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25568"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25568"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25569,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25568\/revisions\/25569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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