Month: February 2015

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tulsa 74, Tigers 72 (OT)

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Calvin Godfrey’s night began with a salute all his own, the Tigers’ lone senior marching to the center of the court at FedExForum for a standing ovation from the largest crowd (15,784) to watch the U of M this season. Godfrey’s night ended, alas, with the reserve forward hunched over, a solitary figure on the Tiger bench, his head buried in his jersey. Another dispiriting night in the lives of the 2014-15 Memphis Tigers.

When Nick King’s three-point attempt — from well beyond the top of the arc — bounced awry at the end of overtime, the Tigers fell to 17-12 and suffered their sixth loss at home, the program’s most since the winter of 2004-05. For the second time in three nights, Memphis battled a first-place team from the American Athletic Conference, though without star forward Austin Nichols for virtually the entire second half. When Tiger guard Avery Woodson buried a trey to give the U of M a 39-34 lead just 46 seconds into the second half, Nichols was on the floor under the Tulsa basket, writhing in pain after falling awkwardly to the floor with an opposing player, re-injuring his right ankle. (Memphis coach Josh Pastner said after the game that Nichols will likely be sidelined through the AAC tournament in mid-March.)

Calvin Godfrey

Nichols’s supporting cast played valiantly without him. Junior forward Trahson Burrell converted a short field goal following a rebound with 23 seconds left in regulation play to tie the game at 66 and force overtime. Behind the shooting of Rashad Ray (18 points and four three-pointers), the Golden Hurricane erased a nine-point deficit over the game’s final seven minutes before Burrell’s put-back. Burrell and Shaq Goodwin, it should be noted, missed free throws inside the final three minutes that could have been the difference. Overall, the Tigers made but 13 of 24 foul shots.

Shaquille Harrison keyed Tulsa’s overtime play with a three pointer and driving layup to give the visitors a 74-69 lead with 35 seconds left. Tiger point guard Kedren Johnson buried a three-pointer with 18 seconds showing on the clock and Tulsa was unable to get the ball in bounds, which set up the final play and King’s heave to end the night.

“He was wide open at the top of the key,” said Burrell after the loss, which drops Memphis to 9-7 in AAC play. “We’re gonna live and die with a shot like that. Especially by Nick, because he’s a good shooter. We wish it had gone in. But everybody’s satisfied with that shot. These are the worst games to lose, by a last-second shot.”

“My heart dropped when I saw Austin go down,” added Burrell. “We love him. Everybody knows he’s a big part of our team. We’ll just pray for a speedy recovery.”

Harrison led Tulsa with 23 points, while Goodwin paced the Tigers with 17 in 44 minutes on the floor. The Tigers outrebounded the Golden Hurricane, 41-29, and grabbed 18 offensive boards, but they were outscored in the paint, 38-30, and allowed 16 points off turnovers, including four in the span of 10 seconds late in the second half that shaved a 60-51 Memphis lead to just five points.

“I can’t be mad at our effort,” said Goodwin. “We had a look at the end to win it. You gotta live with those results. We could have shot a whole lot better from the free throw line. That’s on us as players. Regardless, we had a chance to win. Just came up a little short.”

On a night the 1984-85 Tigers were honored as part of the 30th anniversary of their Final Four run, the current Tigers found themselves on the wrong side of momentum once again when the game hung in the balance. (Just as the current Tigers missed their big guy in Nichols, Keith Lee was conspicuously absent among his former teammates when they were saluted at halftime.) “We played our butts off,” said Pastner in assessing his team’s performance. “I feel awful that we couldn’t come away with a win. Especially the last home game. In the past, there have been times when it’s snowballed on us. But we’ve found ways to keep fighting. It’s obviously tough when Austin goes down. I know injuries are part of the game, so it’s not an excuse. Austin is so unselfish, so positive. So it’s a double-whammy. It kills you. His great attitude, plus his play.”

Johnson scored 13 points and was one of three Tigers with eight rebounds (also Burrell and King). Burrell scored 12 off the bench.

“The law of averages hasn’t worked out for us this year,” said Pastner, “but it will. I love this group. We’ve gotta find a way to dig in and get a win on Thursday and a win on Sunday.”

The coach acknowledged six home losses were never part of the plan, and emphasized that better days are ahead. “It’s been one of those years,” he said. “Playing with a new group of guys. We probably over-scheduled at the start of the year. We’ve gotten so much better, though. It’s just one of those years.”

NOTE: The March 5th issue of the Flyer will include a cover story on the 1984-85 Tigers. The paper hits the streets on Wednesday, March 4th.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Q & A with Crosstown Brewing Company

CREDIT: Bianca Phillips

Memphians who braved the heavy rain last Saturday for the groundbreaking of Crosstown Concourse got their first taste of beer from Will Goodwin and Clark Ortkiese.

The two behind the proposed Crosstown Brewing Company served samples of a nut brown ale and an IPA at the event. And they’re hoping to be serving more beer in the Crosstown neighborhood in about year or more when they establish their brewery either inside Crosstown Concourse (the new name for Sears Crosstown) or somewhere else in the neighborhood.

They’re currently in talks with the Crosstown Development Team about available space. And while the location remains up in the air, the two friends are determined to move forward with their plans to establish the city’s fifth craft brewery. — Bianca Phillips

Bianca Phillips

Will Goodwin and Clark Ortkiese

Flyer: What inspired you to open a brewery?

Ortkiese: I live in [the] Evergreen [Historic District], so if you’re standing in my backyard, you’re looking up at the [Crosstown Concourse] tower. Will and I have been home-brewing together in my backyard, and when we’re sitting there looking at the tower, we’ve been like, Man, we should really put a brewery in there.

How long have you two been brewing?

Goodwin: Combined, we’ve got about 11 years of brewing behind us. We’re both certified judges with the Beer Judge Certification Program. That gives us an expertise on beer styles. We’re both active members of the Memphis Home Brewers Association. Clark is the president, and I’m the vice-president.

Ortkiese: We’re immersed in beer culture. That’s our lives. That’s all we talk about. We eat, sleep, and drink it. It’s all the books we read. It’s all the magazines we read. It’s what we text each other about. It’s all day, every day — beer, beer, beer.

Goodwin: We entered a Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout in the Tennessee State Fair last year and came away with the gold.

Is that something you might brew at Crosstown Brewing Company?

Goodwin: That would be a candidate for some kind of special release. Because of the process and the time associated with a beer like that, it wouldn’t be a mainstream beer.

Would your brewery be more focused on classic or experimental beers?

Ortkiese: I’d think we’ll have a little bit of both. There are some people who want to drink the same thing over and over again. And there are a lot of people who never want to drink the same thing twice, and there’s plenty of room to make both of those groups happy.

What’s the projected opening date?
Goodwin: There’s a lot of permitting that has to be done, so our hands are tied on the timing. Brewing equipment is notoriously slow to be shipped. So we’re looking at middle-to-late 2016. It could push later than that.

Will you have a taproom?

Goodwin: We’ll be a production brewery first and foremost. We have plans to have a canning line and maybe do some large format bottles and, of course, kegs for the restaurants and bars in town. We’ll have a taproom, but we will have limited hours.

What will a brewery bring to the Crosstown neighborhood?

Ortkiese: It’s really a neighborhood that could use a little identity and something to get behind, and nothing brings people together like sharing a beer.

Goodwin: Think about “Untapped” at the Tennessee Brewery last year. That was really something that people could get behind and rally together and really enjoy each other in a unique space. We think Crosstown has a lot of similar characteristics. People can rally behind revitalizing this community and this neighborhood.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Next Day Notes: Clippers 97, Grizzlies 79

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Larry Kuzniewski

Tony Allen’s defense has been one of the few bright spots of the Grizzlies’ play since the break.

Last night’s Grizzlies loss to the Clippers at home was one of the most dreadful, sleepwalked, unengaging, frustrating games I’ve ever had to sit through in person. As has happened many times this season, the Griz came out and looked like they were attempting to not lose rather than to win and unlike most of the other times they’ve tried it, last night, the Clippers came to play.

Don’t read this as my not wanting to credit the Clippers for anything that happened last night. After the Griz came from behind to beat them in L.A. on Monday, I’m sure they had last night’s game circled on their calendars, waiting for a chance to redeem themselves. They played excellent defense throughout—especially in the second half—and without Blake Griffin, their offense has opened up a great deal for DeAndre Jordan, who has actually learned how to play basketball at some point in the last two seasons. The Clippers are a good (though clearly flawed, especially at the wings) team, but last night wasn’t frustrating because of what they were doing.

It was frustrating because the Grizzlies look like they’re still on the All-Star Break, half of them out of shape and the other half unable to get back into any sort of rhythm matching what they had before. If this is what it’s going to be like every year there’s a “new and improved” longer All-Star break, then I’m not sure I think it’s such a good idea anymore. Marc Gasol has regressed to the old, passive Marc Gasol, not taking shots, not attacking the basket, taking crappy-looking fadeaways and trying to turn every post-up into that little flip-hook as he runs across the front of the rim. I get that Zach Randolph has been playing out of his mind lately, but the fact of the matter is that Zach got going the way he did because Gasol was drawing so much attention from defenses. If Gasol is going to revert to passing and start adding in Dirk shots that he almost never hits, the Grizzlies are going to have to start dealing with teams triple-teaming Randolph in the paint again. It happened a lot last night.

Gasol isn’t the only one who looks off right now. Mike Conley was starting to struggle through the end of January and the beginning of February, but now he’s not “struggling” so much as “melting down.” Conley shot 2–11 from the field last night, with only 2 assists and 3 rebounds to show for 25 minutes of play. Before the break, Conley’s struggles (and the fact that he was only playing 25–28 minutes a game) were masked by the great midrange game of Beno Udrih, but now, not only does Udrih look like he’s put on some weight, but he also can’t hit the broad side of the barn from spots where he was shooting close to 60% two weeks ago.

[jump]

Larry Kuzniewski

Jeff Green still helps, but he struggled last night against the Clippers.

Meanwhile, the new guy is having trouble integrating, too: Jeff Green, after having a run of really good games, has started to look lost, settling for pull-up jumpers (which, let’s be honest, he should never shoot) and overthinking what play to make. Green’s struggles can be chalked up to still not being comfortable on the team, but that doesn’t mean they’re not (1) happening and (2) negatively affecting the offense.

If the defense of the Tony Allen/Nick Calathes/Kosta Koufos trio—of whom even Koufos had kind of a rough night last night, struggling to do anything when matched up with Jordan, who is playing at an extremely high level right now—hadn’t been as good as it is lately, the Grizzlies would not have won a game yet since the break. They stole wins in Portland and in Los Angeles, but couldn’t get it done in Sacramento, and last night was everything that they struggled with in those games, multiplied and magnified to an excruciating point.

I’d feel better about it if there weren’t a road game at Minnesota looming tonight, because the last time the Griz played in Minneapolis, they played down to what they thought was the worst team in the West, and found themselves down ten points and playing catch-up the whole night. The Griz need to find some source of motivation for this one—pride in themselves, revenge for the loss the Wolves hung on them last time up, fear of falling apart down the stretch of what has been a very special season to this point, whatever, it doesn’t matter—and avoid falling into a 3-game losing streak.

Things could, of course, be worse. The playoffs are still a ways off. The Griz have a moderate lead over the Rockets for the 3rd seed and only trail the Warriors by 4.5 games for the first overall seed in the West. There’s plenty of reason to think that this rust is just because of the unusually long All-Star break, and that the losses to the Kings and Clippers have rattled loose at least some small measure of the on-court complacency we’ve seen from the Griz the last four games. If they can watch the film of last night’s game and get mad about it, they can start to play their way back into world-beating shape. But it’s not going to happen without a change, a change in attitude and approach from what they’ve been doing since Sunday night in Portland.

Either way, the sooner the Griz get a win to wash away whatever residue was left behind by last night’s loss, the better.

Larry Kuzniewski

Z-Bo tried to carry the team last night, but could only do so much.

Tweet of the Night

Not really related to much of anything that happened last night, but Chris Paul always has something to say:

Up Next

A stretch that could get really ugly if the Grizzlies want to let it. Tonight, the Griz are in Minnesota for a SEGABABA against the Timberwolves, who seem to enjoy having Kevin Garnett around. Tuesday night they’re home against the Jazz, who they’ve already dropped a home game to, and then Wednesday they’re on the road at Houston to take on the Rockets. None of these are easy games, even when the team is playing well, even though the Wolves and Jazz are hardly world-beaters. It’s going to be really important that the Griz buckle down over this weekend and get some kind of momentum heading into a really tough March.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Beyond the Arc Podcast, Episode 004: Whither First Place?

This week on the show, Kevin and Phil talk about:

  • The Grizzlies have a shot at getting to the first seed in the West if Golden State slips up, but do they want to get there? Is that really their goal?
  • Big road wins over the Blazers and Clippers, and a hiccup at Sacramento
  • A preview of the next week’s worth of games (Clippers, Timberwolves, Jazz, and Rockets)

The Beyond the Arc podcast is now on iTunes, so you can subscribe there! It’d be great if you could rate and review the show while you’re there. Next week the show should be on Stitcher and some other places.

You can download the show here or listen below:



Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

LBOE’s Expanded Menu, Memphis on TV

CREDIT: Travel Channel

• LBOE’s has expanded its menu. Some of the new burgers started as customer requests that then became favorites. 

They are: 

The Tiger — Blackened seasoning, crumbled blue cheese, onion petals and Tiger sauce.

The Grizz — Double Patty, double hardwood smoked bacon, double cheese (yellow & white American), bbq sauce, shredded lettuce, tomato and dill pickles

Mac-N-Cheeseburger — Homemade​ Macaroni and Cheese and hardwood smoked bacon

Californian — Fresh Jalapenos, guacamole, tomato and arugula 

LBOE is also now offering bunless burgers served over spinach and romaine. 

Travel Channel

Booze Traveler

• The season finale of the Travel Channel’s Booze Traveler features Tennessee. 

Host Jack Maxwell unwinds a great history lesson involving George Washington, moonshine, baseball, and bluegrass. 

In the Memphis section, Willie Beardon drinks a Walk Me Down with Maxwell. It’s a hoot! 

Categories
News News Blog

Paul Morris to Resign from DMC

Paul Morris said Friday he will step down from his post as president of the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC). 

“I love my job running DMC, but I’ve decided this is the year to move on,” Morris said. “Later this year I’ll be joining the family business, Jack Morris Auto Glass. I look forward to finishing strong this year at DMC and then running and growing a small business.”

Morris has been instrumental in implementing the Main to Main project (including the Big River Crossing), projects that have re-vitalized the South Main neighborhood, and has led the effort to manage Beale Street for the city of Memphis for the last year.

Categories
Style Sessions We Recommend

Inspiring Women of Style – What our T-shirts might say.

Earlier this year, I spoke at the New Year Inspirational Media Brunch organized by fellow blogger Tamera Sutton. I presented this photo of me, gazing optimistically, with a quote by Nelson Mandela.

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

The words cover me like a suit of armor.  Hopeful words that could fight my fears. I flourished in those words and also realized they were meant to be shared and help others flourish. Words can be powerful and often imprinted on T-shirts to test their power. With all the graphic tees out there, I still wanted to design a few myself.

Design
/1/

With the help of some inspiring women in Memphis, here are three other quotes as three imaginary t-shirt designs that personally keep them motivated.

[jump]

/2/

Alexandra Nicole – Stylist, Makeup Artist, Boutique Owner.

“I always say that. IF you do not live or accomplish your dreams then life is just mundane and without purpose.”

———————-

/3/

Augusta Campbell, Fashion Editor of Memphis Magazine.
She shares a quote from the fashion icon Coco Chanel.

———————-
/4/

 Melissa Sweazy – Filmmaker, Writer, and Photographer.

“I like this quote from Anne Lamott. Boiling down a larger quote on having confidence in your writing to this that applies to everyone – “Don’t look at your feet to see if you are doing it right. Just dance.”

———————-

What would your T-shirt say?

Credits: Photo of Sophorn by Dirk Olsen. T-shirt mockups, designs by Sophorn. Last image used as design background via Simon & Me; shirt by Simon & Me. 

Categories
News News Blog

Dress Colors Revealed

The Dress

It’s likely that by now someone has asked you if the dress is black and blue or white and gold.

If not, here’s the short version of what’s up. Someone posted a picture of a dress on Tumblr yesterday (left) and asked the internet to help discern whether the dress was blue and black or if it was white and gold. And, as it does in very serious matter like this, the internet exploded.

Fortunately, Memphis is home of the Southern College of Optometry [SCO], which is the home of Dr. Patricia Cisarik. She has both a Doctor of Optometry and a Ph.D. in Physiological Optics and Vision Science, teaches optics at SCO, and is considered a “color expert.” 

Cisarik

She says color constancy is at play here. The key word in the question of “what colors are the dress?” is “colors.”

“Color is a percept, or an interpretation based on the information the brain receives,” Cisarik said. “Because human brains are built similarly, if we receive the same visual information, for the most part our interpretations of the information are similar (but not exact).

“So, when viewing a patch of grass on a bright sunny day, those of us without a congenital color vision anomaly or an acquired problem affecting the normal perceptual process would say that the grass looks ‘green’. But, does each person perceive that green exactly the same?”

Examples of changes via color constancy.

She said several factors influence the colors we see — everything from the wavelengths of objects (like the dress) and the things around those objects, to lighting, and even medications taken by the viewer.

But it really comes down to personal interpretation, she said.

“Finally, to understand, without actually seeing the dress in person and without having read a description of the dress, why some individuals initially interpret the colors of the dress in the picture as ‘white and gold,’ while other individuals initially interpret the colors of the dress in the picture as ‘blue and black’ is not likely to be discoverable with any technology available today (to my knowledge). If all other conditions are the same between the two viewers, then the initial colors perceived are likely to be largely influenced by what he/she (unconsciously) expects to see.”

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

MSO Conductor Mei-Ann Chen to Step Down Following the 2015-2016 Concert Season

CREDIT: Photo by Justin Fox Burks

Photo by Justin Fox Burks

Mei-Ann Chen

Mei-Ann Chen, who has served as Conductor and Music Director for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra since 2010, will step down when her contract expires at the end of the 2015-2016 concert season.  

According to a press release issued Fri., Feb 27,  officials from the MSO are currently in discussions about her future role with the symphony as Conductor Laureate.

With her dramatic, dance-like conducting style, Chen is often credited with revitalizing the orchestra, although it’s probably more fair to say that she brought her rising star-power to an already innovative orchestra, in the process of revitalizing itself through a variety of artist-led, community building initiatives.  

“Mei-Ann is one of the most in-demand guest conductors for orchestras, and we respect her decision to step away at this time to pursue her many opportunities around the world,” MSO Board Chair Gayle S. Rose was quoted as saying. 

Although it has enjoyed a period of exceptional artistic achievement, he MSO has fallen on hard times and is working to determine the new way forward.

MSO President and CEO Roland Valliere says the 2015-2016 will be dedicated to Chen. 

Categories
Music Music Blog

Mark Edgar Stuart’s Record Release Party

This Sunday, March 1, Lafayette’s Music Room will host the official release party for local singer-songwriter Mark Edgar Stuart’s latest album, Trinity My Dear.

The past few years have seen Stuart transform himself from a trusted sideman with numerous well-known Memphis acts – most notably, The Pawtuckets, Jack Oblivian, and John Paul Keith – to the celebrated frontman of his own project.  The moment of ignition came in March of 2013, when Stuart unveiled his debut recording, Blues for Lou.  The album was heavily lauded by both critics and fans, myself included.  

Now Stuart is back with his sophomore effort, Trinity My Dear – a highly personal and touching collection of songs which Stuart says was inspired by “life, love, and disappointment.”  The album is truly fantastic, and so too should be Stuart’s appearance at Lafayette’s on Sunday.  

We’ll have a full interview/feature on Stuart in the print edition of next week’s Flyer, but in the meantime, take this advice:  go to the show.  You’ll thank us later.

And just in case you need further convincing, here’s a great clip which very few folks have seen of Stuart performing (mostly) the new material in the lobby of local ad-agency Red Deluxe:

Mark Edgar Stuart’s Record Release Party

Mark Edgar Stuart Record Release Party
w/ Delta Joe Sanders
Sunday, March 1, 7:30 p.m.
Lafayette’s Music Room
Free admission