CK's, C-USA News

Memphis-area late night dining options has taken another hit. First, Downtown's Cockadoos shut its doors a couple of weeks back. And it was announced yesterday that 10 of the 12 CK's locations have shut down. The two remaining locations are at Poplar and Evergreen and Shelby Drive near Millbranch. With the closures, where is the best place to get late night breakfast fare? IHOP, Denny's, Waffle House? Any local options out there?

The road to the Conference USA championship and football and men's basketball got a little easier for the Memphis Tigers today. The NCAA has banned Central Florida from post-season play for the upcoming academic year. The ban is just one of several penalties handed to UCF today. UCF was picked by most pre-season publications to win the C-USA East Division in football and the Knights would have most likely been a top 4 C-USA basketball team.

Speaking of sports, Living Social is has a special offer for Fanatics. You can get a $20 Fanatics credit for $10. You can learn more about Fanatics by clicking the Grizzlies ad near the top of the page. This is great offer for all sports fans just in time for football season.

Overton Square Upgrades, Grey Goose Tasting, Memphis Football Rivalry Renewed.

More upgrades are on the way for Overton Square. Local Gastropub is adding what appears to be a double-decker patio at its new location in the former Yosemite Sam's on the corner of Cooper and Madison. And national chain Bar Louie announced it will open its first Memphis location on the opposite corner of Madison and Cooper in the space that used to be the home to Vortex. Local businesses would be preferred, but the new addition of Bar Louie will add more flavor to the square. Franchise owners are encouraged create an atmosphere reflective of the local culture.

Cafe Society will be hosting a Grey Goose cocktail tasting Wednesday, July 25th at 6:30PM. For $25 (plus tax and tip), you will get 5-6 cocktails. Small plates will also be available for $5. Seats are limited, so call  722-2177 soon to snag your reservation.

The University of Memphis has announced it will renew its football rivalry with Mississippi beginning in 2014. The four game series will feature two games at the Liberty Bowl and two in Oxford, with the 2014 game being played at Ole Miss. It's good to see the new athletic directors at both schools could work together to get the rivalry going again. Memphis athletic director Tom Bowen said "this is just the start" of the new Memphis scheduling philosophy and that there is "more to be announced". Future out of conference games for Memphis includes series with Arkansas State, Duke, Miami, Middle Tennessee State, Missouri and Tennessee-Martin. Both schools also announced that they are working to renew the men's basketball series as well.

Best of Memphis, Early Voting, New Grizzlies Guard, Fino's Groupon

The Memphis Flyer's 2012 Best of Memphis voting begins today. Vote for your favorite places to eat, drink and shop. The results will be published in the fall.

Early voting begins Friday for local, state and federal elections. Visit ShelbyVote.com to learn more about where to vote early and to see an updated ballot.

According to several media outlets, the Memphis Grizzlies have agreed to terms with former Toronto Raptors guard Jerryd Bayless. He should be a cost-effective, solid pick-up who will replace O.J. Mayo on the Grizzlies roster.

Midtowners should enjoy today's Groupon offer. $7 for $14 worth of food at Fino's on the Hill. Get one before they run out.

New Grizzlies Owner?

ESPN is reporting an announcement could come as early as this week from NBA that Michael Heisley will be selling the Memphis Grizzlies to Robert Pera. Pera is a 34-year old billionaire and part owner of Ubiquiti Networks. The price tag is in the $350 million dollar range.

Its good to see a new owner is in place. It should squash all of the rumors of Heisley moving the Grizzlies. Pera will most likely keep the team at FedExForum. The Grizzlies lease with the Downtown arena runs through 2021 and has several expensive clauses that may prevent the team from leaving early. But don't be surprised if rumors start popping up about cities like San Jose and Seattle making a push for Pera to relocate the team.
 

Breaking: Dave Chappelle Performing In Memphis...Next Week

Tickets for comedian Dave Chappelle's stand up show at the Orpheum next Tuesday (June 12, 2012) go on sale tomorrow. Apparently, Chappelle likes to set up shows with little notice. And its working well, because most of his shows are sell outs.


Tickets are $50 and will be available at the Orpheum box office (203 S. Main Street), Orpheum-memphis.com, livenation.com or by phone at (901) 525-3000.

New Grisanti Restaurant, Memphis In The Rankings, Golf

Ronnie Grisanti will return to the restaurant scene at the end of June when he opens Ronnie Grisanti's Italian Restaurant in the Sheffield Antiques Mall in Collierville. Grisanti's most recent project was located inside Stella Marris (still not sure what he was thinking there).

Memphis recently earned a #6 ranking in the 10 Happiest Cities to Working list compiled by Forbes. The Bluff City came in just behind the #5 Washington, DC. San Jose was ranked #1.

In other rankings, Travel & Leisure readers ranked Memphis #14 in a ranking of "America's Best Burger Cities". Coming in at #1 was Providence, Rhode Island. Anytime burger rankings come out, I feel the need to throw out Top 5 ranking. Here's my latest for the Top 5 places to grab a burger in Memphis.

1. Belmont Grill
2. Earnestine & Hazel's
3. Sweet Grass Next Door
4. Huey's
5. Tops BBQ

The FedEx St. Jude Classic returns to Memphis this week at TPC Southwind. If you get out to the tournament on Sunday, try and wear seersucker.

Grizzlies, Wine Race, Fox 13

The NBA has announced that the first game of the Grizzlies-Clippers playoff series will be on Sunday. The location is still up in the air. If Memphis wins tonight against the Orlando Magic, the game will be at FedExForum. If the Grizzlies should lose, the game will be in Los Angeles. The game time is TBD.

If the Grizzlies host the first game, one of the better Sunday Fundays in recent Memphis history could be in the works. The game by itself would be a good reason, but add in the Beale Street Wine Race and you can see why many people may be calling in sick on Monday. The event kicks off at 1pm and it will feature a parade, the Queen of the Vine contest (typically a must see), wine stomping and the Great Wine Race.

Did anyone see the much hyped announcement this morning on Good Morning Memphis on Fox 13? The big news was the addition of Ernie Freeman and Joey Sulipeck to the morning show. Sadly, the announcement appeared to be filled with technical errors and a lack of general excitement by the new members of the morning team.

Liberty Bowl, New Memphis Brewery

It might be a little early to be making your New Year's Eve plans, but here's an early option to consider for your festivities. The 2012 Liberty Bowl will be held on New Year's Eve again this year. Kickoff will be at 2:30 and the game will be televised by ESPN.  The game will feature teams from the Big East, Conference USA or the SEC. The painful discussion of the bowl tie-ins will come at a later date.

A new microbrewery will be opening this fall near Downtown Memphis. High Cotton Brewing Company is scheduled to open in September on Monroe Avenue. The initial plan will be to brew beers and distribute them to local bars and restaurants with the possibility of a taproom in the future. Along with the Eat Local theme, the idea of Drink Local in Memphis might be picking up steam.

Patio Parties, Chiwawa, Grizzlies

Bleu is hosting a series of throwback Thursday night patio parties that will feature decade appropriate music, food and drinks. There will be a new decade each week, beginning with this week's 70's-themed party with DJ Rod. You don't have to dress to the era, but it might be cooler if you did. The festivities will kick off at 6pm. Future themes include the 50's (May 3), the 60's (May 10), the 20's (May 17) and the 40's (May 24).

For the past 30 years or so, Midtowners often wondered when a new business would open up in the old Chicago Pizza Factory of Madison. Now the wondering can end. Chiwawa will open later this year. After a few renovations, the restaurant will feature locally sourced hot dogs and authentic Mexican cuisine. Not sure on the concept, but its good to see someone taking advantage of the space and adding another great addition to the Overton Square/Madison Ave area.

Grizzlies playoff tickets went on sale yesterday. Most of the good seats were gobbled up, but there are seats remaining. If the Clippers lose to the Knicks tonight, the Grizzlies can lock up home court advantage for the first round with a over the Magic tomorrow night. Bottom line...Go Knicks! Go Grizzlies!

Central BBQ Downtown, Crawfish Festival, Outdoor Music

Downtown residents will now have easy access to one of the better bbq restaurants in Memphis. Central BBQ will open it's third Memphis location at 147 Butler near the Civil Rights Museum. This should be a great addition to Dowtown and South Main and should be open in the next couple of months.


The Overton Square Crawfish Festival is this Saturday, April 7 from noon until 6pm. Admission is free and there will be live music. Crawfish and beverages will be available for purchase. There will also be a 5-mile Crawfish Cruise bike around Midtown starting at 10am.

Organizers of Live at the Garden and the Levitt Shell both recently announced their upcoming concert lineups. The Live at the Garden series will include five concerts this year, beginning with Chicago on June 16. Other shows include: Seal (July 27), Duran Duran (August 17), Lynyrd Skynyrd (August 31) and Bonnie Raitt (October 5). Season tickets are on sale now. Individual show tickets will be available on April 23.

The free concert series at the Levitt Shell begins on May 17 with The Stooges Brass Band. The free shows will continue Thursday through Sunday until July 1. Checkout the full Levitt Shell lineup.

Free Ice Cream, Mas Las Delicias, Memphis Dawgs, Dancing Jimmy's

Ben & Jerry's location at 5007 Black Road in East Memphis is giving away free cones today. It might be a good way to beat the unseasonably warm weather we are having. Donations are also being accepted with proceeds going to Le Bonheur.

Las Delicias is opening a third Mexican restaurant location later this year in a space on Quince that used to be the home to Thyme Bistro and Jarrett's. Who can't be happy that there will be yet another location to sample some of Las Delicias' guacamole? The location should also be a nice compliment to Neil's relocation to the same strip mall in East Memphis.

Keeping thing's out east, we now head over to Cordova. Memphis Dawgs has announced that they will open a test location in the Wolfchase Galleria food court. The trial period should last about 30 days. As of earlier today, they were waiting on code approval from city/county officials. Hopefully they will find a way to keep the hot dog cart in various locations along with the Wolfchase addition.

Another club/bar is opening on Beale Street. Dancing Jimmy's will take over the building that used to house Pat O'Brien's. The east side of Beale is in need of more quality entertainment spots and, if done right, this will be a nice addition to the area.

Pink Slime, Peabody Rooftop Parties, Basketball

It's good to see that Kroger has announced that it will no longer sell beef with "pink slime" additives. The "slime"...err, "lean beef trimmings" are a widely used ingredient made from leftover beef trimmings that’s treated with an ammonia-based disinfectant. Sounds healthy.

On a better note, the Peabody Hotel has announced their 2012 Rooftop Party lineup. The season opens up with FreeSol on April 19th. Spring is usually the best season to go to the Thursday evening parties. The weather isn't overwhelmingly hot and everyone is in a festive mood.

Now that the Tigers basketball season is complete and that Will Barton has announced he is heading to the NBA, we can focus on the Grizzlies. It's looking like another play-off run is in the works. Now the team just needs to make sure that Gilbert Arenas can leave his guns at home.

Tigers Dancin' Again, Patio Season

With the their convincing win over Marshall in the Conference USA Championship Game, the Memphis Tigers secured yet another bid to the "Big Dance." The West region #8 seeded Tigers open up tournament play against #9 St. Louis in Columbus, OH on Friday at 5:50pm CST on TBS. It's pretty safe to say that every bar in Memphis will be carrying the game. Recommended viewing spots: Bayou, Next Door and Max's.

A couple of side notes about the tournament.

- How is Memphis only an 8 seed? Based on their season, especially the way the peaked toward the end, they should have been a 6 or 7 seed.

- C-USA added a second team to the fun this season. Southern Miss is a 9 seed in the East region. UCF and Marshall also qualified for the N.I.T.

The great weather we have been having so far this year has opened up patio season a little early. Where is your favorite patio to relax, people watch and enjoy a beverage? Here's our top 5:

1. Bayou
2. Bosco's
3. Local
4. Celtic Crossing
5. Brookhaven

Free Pancakes, Vito's, Music Fest

It's not too late to get free pancakes today at IHOP. The restaurant chain is giving away free pancakes today until 10pm to help support Children's Miracle Network which is a partner with Le Bonheur. Free pancakes will be giving in exchange for donations.

Vito's is participating in today's Groupon offer for the Memphis area. If you haven't had a chance, check out Vito's - good Italian food with convenient delivery to parts of East Memphis and Midtown.

The 2012 Beale Street Music Festival line up was announced today. This year's group of artists is strong as always. Here's who we are looking forward to seeing May 4-6 at Tom Lee Park: My Morning Jacket, Primus, Jane's Addiction, Al Green, The Cult, Cold War Kids, Robert Randolph and the Family Band and The Old 97's. Tickets are available now.

Margarita Day, Lent

The 2012 holiday calendar may not be the best for those who are cutting out alcohol. Yesterday many people celebrated Mardi Gras with an adult beverage. Lent begins today with Christians giving up favorites such as sweets, social media and drinking. Those who gave up drinking will have their first test when they find out today is National Margarita Day. Good luck to the newly non-drinking guys and gals. In honor of the holiday, here are our Top 5 Places To Grab A Margarita In Memphis.

1. El Mezcal
2. Los Compadres
3. Salsa
4. El Porton
5. Happy Mexican

Speaking of Lent, what is everyone giving up this year?

Winter Weather, Anti-Valentine's Day, Roburt Sallie

Just a note to take caution when driving home this evening. Roads may be icy with the combination of rain, sleet, snow, etc we have had today.

People were talking this weekend about the more bars having Anti-Valentine's Day-themed events for single people. The most chatter was about people going to Alchemy. What are some good spots for couples and singles for Valentine's Day in Memphis?

On a completely random note, former Memphis Tiger basketball player Roburt Sallie was kicked off of his professional team in Spain for failing a drug test. The drug in question was a penis enlarging supplement. The jokes are running wild on Twitter about this. There's no doubt that he will never be able to avoid this topic in the future.

Grizzlies Win, Dirty Dova Fun, It's Cold Outside

Nice win by the Memphis Grizzlies over the Indiana Pacers last night. It was my first opportunity this season to see the Grizzlies in person. They looked ok, but it is obvious that Zach Randolph is dearly missed.

After the game, we made one of our few excursions to Cordova to check out Stella Marris. The Italian restaurant (Ronnie Grisanti is the Chef) and "lounge" is quite an eye catcher and the crowd wasn't too bad for a Friday night. Apparently Saturday nights are the time to go. Staffers claimed there were almost 750 people at the club last Saturday night. The only sketchy part of the club the requirement to have two forms of identification to get in. The practice has been implemented to prevent underage patrons from entering, but I had less requirements when visiting the DMV. Check out more info and pics on the Stella Marris Facebook Page.

Finally, winter weather has arrived in the Mid-South. There is a slight chance of snow on Monday morning, but Memphis usually avoids the snow quantities needed for a fun Snow Day. Ways to avoid the cold? Stay inside and cuddle up with your special someone on the pre-Valentine's Day weekend. Or you can go to FedEx Forum to watch the Tigers play UAB. Stay warm!

Tigers to Big East, Daniel Tosh, Aldo's Pizza Pies

Hi everyone! Yes, it's been a while since our last post. Holidays and just being busy have put blogging to the back burner, but more posts are in the works.

The Memphis Tigers will officially be in the Big East starting with the 2013-14 academic year. This is a huge move for the Tigers, especially on the financial side. The TV contracts and other payouts should be much higher than the amount the Tigers were receiving from Conference USA. Football should improve (can it get any worse?), but don't expect the level of competition to change that much. Most of the football playing schools are former C-USA members, so you will still see home games against Houston, SMU, UCF, USF as well as Louisville and Cincinnati. Having Boise State on the schedule will a challenge and a definite ticket seller. Memphis basketball fans may see a championship team fall to the middle of the pack with level of competition that will be flowing through FedEx Forum.

If there is one more thing that R.C. Johnson can do before he steps down in June, it would be to secure long standing rivalries with UAB and Southern Miss. Like the Memphis-Louisville series ending after the first Big East raid of Conference USA, it would be sad to see these rivalries end.

Daniel Tosh is coming to Memphis on Sunday, April 8 at the Orpheum. This show should be awesome. The show is on Easter Sunday, so everyone should be jacked up on Peeps and other sources of sugar. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (February 10) at 10am.

It looks like Aldo's Pizza Pies is still planning on opening on Main Street. It was originally supposed to open a couple of years back, but the opening has been delayed several times. Aldo Dean has focused his energy on Bardog and The Slider Inn. A solid downtown pizza spot can't open soon enough.

Visit The Slider Inn when you have a chance. The food is fantastic and they need support outside of patio season.

New Memphis Coach, Alchemy

Who is going to be the next head coach for the Memphis Tigers? Yesterday, several media outlets hinted that Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain accepted the job. Today, it appears that McElwain did indeed accept the offer, but later backed off. Next up, TCU co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Justin Fuente. Both would be solid hires with strong resumes.

A new favorite spot for Midtowners is Alchemy. Located in the Cooper Young area, Alchemy has a trendy feel that you may find in a larger city. Some have compared it to something you would find in New York, but Atlanta may be more on par. The bartenders pour mean drinks, they have a great wine list, the food (all small plates) has consistently exceeded expectations and it is a great location for people watching. The mac and cheese is highly recommended.

Memphis Lagniappe's Fabled College Football Playoff Predictions Week of 12/5/2011 - FINAL

Now in its 6th season, Memphis Lagniappe's Fabled College Football Playoff Predictions are published weekly to show a possible college football playoff format. Similar to the NCAA basketball tournament, 11 conference champions receive automatic bids. 5 additional spots are available for at large bids.

Round 1 games would be hosted by the higher ranked seeds. Rounds 2 - 4 would incorporate the bowl system with host cities/bowls bidding to host the games. The "Big 4" BCS bowls would be permanent playoff hosts on a round-rotating basis (Championship, semi-finals and 1 round 2 game).

For the week of December 5, 2011:

1. LSU (SEC Champion)
2. Alabama (At Large SEC)
3. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Champion)
4. Stanford (At Large PAC 12)
5. Oregon (PAC 12 Champion)
6. Arkansas (At Large SEC)
7. Boise State (At Large Mountain West)
8. Kansas State (At Large Big 12)
9. Wisconsin (Big 10 Champion)
10. TCU (Mountain West Champion)
11. Clemson (ACC Champion)
12. Southern Miss (C-USA Champion)
13. West Virginia (Big East Champion)
14. Arkansas State (Sun Belt Champion)
15. Northern Illinois (MAC Champion)
16. Louisiana Tech (WAC Champion)

Dropped out: Virginia Tech (#5, ACC Champion), Houston (#6, C-USA Champion), Michigan State (#10, Big 10 Champion), Oklahoma (#11, At Large Big 12)

Number Of Teams by Conference:
SEC (3), Big 12 (2), Mountain West (2), PAC 12 (2), ACC (1), Big 10 (1), Big East (1), C-USA (1), MAC (1), Sun Belt (1), WAC (1), Independent (0)

Match ups round by round assuming higher seeds win.

Round 1
(16) Louisiana Tech at (1) LSU
(9) Wisconsin at (8) Kansas State
(12) Southern Miss at (5) Oregon
(13) West Virginia at (4) Stanford
(11) Clemson at (6) Arkansas
(14) Arkansas State at (3) Oklahoma State
(10) TCU at (7) Boise State
(15) Northern Illinois at (2) Alabama

Round 2
(8) Kansas State vs (1) LSU
(5) Oregon vs (4) Stanford
(6) Arkansas vs (3) Oklahoma State
(7) Boise State vs (2) Alabama

Round 3
(4) Stanford vs (1) LSU
(3) Oklahoma State vs (2) Alabama

Championship Game
(2) Alabama vs (1) LSU