Month: December 2018

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News News Blog

Council Members Walk Out on Vote for District 1 Seat

Four Memphis City Council members walked out of the body’s Tuesday meeting after the council voted to open the floor back up to all six candidates vying for the vacant District 1 seat.

Resuming its November 20th meeting, the council began its 108th round of voting, deciding between the top two vote-getters from the previous meeting: Rhonda Logan, executive director of the Raleigh Community Development Corp., and Lonnie Treadaway, sales manager for Flinn Broadcasting Corp.

After one round of voting, the council appeared to be following a pattern similar to the November 20th meeting. Council members Ford Canale, Kemp Conrad, and Chairman Berlin Boyd passed, while Councilmen Worth Morgan, Frank Colvett, and Reid Hedgepeth voted for Treadaway, and Council members Joe Brown, Jamita Swearengen, Patrice Robinson, and Martavious Jones supported Logan.

Two rounds in, Conrad made a motion to open the process back up to all candidates, but that idea was shot down by Robinson and Jones, who both said that would be “unfair” and inconsistent with the council’s rules.

“We have a candidate here that the community has asked for,” Robinson said. “The community deserves to have the candidate they want no the one that we want.”

Jones encouraged his colleagues to be “fair and consistent” in how the council appoints new members, saying that when Canale was appointed to the council in May, the process was simpler. “We didn’t even ask questions of Mr. Canale or any of the other candidates.”

“So for us to apply different standards here is unfair and inconsistent,” Jones said. “We are not in a position to vet who the people want.”

Looking blindly at the candidates on paper, “taking names and faces away,” Jones said “there is no way that anybody would not vote for Ms. Logan.”

The motion to open up the floor to the other four candidates again passed, prompting Jones, Swearengen, Robinson, and Brown to simultaneously pack their belongings and leave the council chambers. Members of the audience cheered and applauded, as the meeting was forced to suspend due to there no longer being a quorum present. Seven members are needed for a quorum.

Outside of the chambers, Jones said the council’s vote to open the floor back up “goes against all the rules that we set forth as a rule-making body.”

“Instead of participating in what we feel is a sham process, we just chose to walk out,” Jones said. “You have a person that has been entrenched in this community practically for all her life. Let’s take race and gender out of it and look at these candidates on paper.

“How could any of my colleagues support someone who just eight months ago was living in an entirely different state and think that person is the best to represent District 1? It’s an insult to all of the voters.”

Jones attributed the council’s inability to reach a decision to the disproportionate representation of African Americans on the council. In a 65 percent African-American city, Jones said there should be at least eight or nine African American council members.

“Our current structure allows for us to have a very thin 7-6 majority,” Jones said. “I don’t know how much this is being motivated by race.”

“At the very least,” Jones said the seat should be filled by someone who has lived in and is invested in the community rather than someone “who decided to relocate just to be an opportunist.”

“If any of my colleagues could articulate why on paper Treadaway is the better candidate than Ms. Logan in a clear, concise manner, it may change my mind,” Jones said.

As of press time, the four council members had not returned in order for the meeting to resume. This means the council’s meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 4th has not yet been called to order.

After meeting with the council attorney Allen Wade, the remaining six council members returned to the chambers. Morgan made a motion to ask attorneys for the city and Memphis Light, Gas, and Water to take the issue to Chancery Court in order to compel the four council members who walked out to attend a subsequent meeting and tend to other council business. Legal action could be taken later this week, Boyd said.

In the meantime, the council will have a standing meeting every day beginning Wednesday until there is a quorum. The standing meetings could extend into the weekend, Boyd said.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Locally-made Delta Sunshine beer hits Memphis

Nate Carter, Todd Paden and Allison ‘Sunny’ Higi of Delta Sunshine Brewery.

Meet Delta Sunshine — a new line of locally brewed beers, which recently hit the Memphis restaurant/bar scene.

“We just launched here in Memphis and we’re getting ready to go in some other markets soon,” says Todd Paden, founder and president of Delta Sunshine Brewing Co. The beer is designed for craft beer drinkers as well as “people who might not necessarily be a craft beer drinker all the time. It’s a beer that’s locally made that meets what they’re looking for in terms of a great, well-made, sessionable beer.”

For now, the beer, which is being sold through Athens Distributing Co., will be served on draft in restaurants and bars. “We wanted these beers to complement what restaurants do. (They) have some good body and flavor going on. And won’t take away from the great food that these people are creating in restaurants around town.”

Later, they will go into retail, but “it’s on down the road quite a ways.”

Paden’s family is from the Mississippi Delta, hence the name “Delta Sunshine,” he says. “The sunshine — the sunrises and sunsets — are some of the best in the world.”

The first three beers they’ve introduced are Hwy 61, Toll Booth Amber, and Room 414 Pale Ale.

Hwy. 61 is for beer drinkers who “want a nice, easy, clean, pilsner/lager beer.”

Toll Booth Amber is “more of a malt-based beer. We used five malts and three hops in it. So, what that creates is a nice coffee/based, bread, biscuity-type aroma when you’re smelling it. And it finishes nice and clean based on the hops that we used.”

Room 414 Pale Ale is “for the beer drinkers that like a hoppier beer. The hops that we chose build and have a nice floral aroma.”

It “finishes clean,” And it’s a hoppy beer that people can “enjoy more than one.”

Where did “Room 414” come from? “That’s the room that Robert Johnson recorded his first album in in Texas.”

The Delta blues figure as much as “sunshine” in their beer. Delta Sunshine Brewing will promote, support, and embrace blues artists from the Mississippi Delta. The brewery is committed to supporting groups that provide support and education to children in the Mississippi Delta area.

For now, Delta Sunshine beers are being brewed at City Brewery, the “old Coors, Schlitz plant on Raines Road.”

Brewers, he says, “can come in and use their equipment, basically. It’s state of the art. The best equipment you could possibly work with.”

Allison “Sunny” Higi, their brewmaster, “has her degree in biochemistry from Purdue. She was a scientist first.”

Paden grew up in the bar/restaurant business. His dad, Bill Paden, opened the original High Cotton on Cooper, South of Union. “My partner, Nate Carter, and I have spent every day since college in some kind of food service sales. We know restaurants really well and are able to go in and work with staff and talk to the customers.”

Delta Sunshine beer now is available at Central BBQ – Downtown, Local on the Square and Local on Main, The Green Beetle, Bardog Tavern, Aldo’s Pizza Pies, Slider Inn, Venice Kitchen, B. B. King’s Blues Club & Grill, Raffe’s Deli, Lucchesi’s Beer Garden, Young Avenue Deli, Amerigo Italian Restaurant, and The Casual Pint.

Categories
News News Blog

Projects On Deck for Former MCA Property, Cooper-Young

CREDIT: Google Maps

Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board

Two new projects would transform a familiar Midtown corner and connect a now-disconnected Midtown street.

Officials with both projects will seek approval by the Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board on Thursday, Jan. 10th.

Poplar Art Lofts
Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board

Memphis College of Art will close in 2020. Earlier this year, school officials began selling its many buildings, apartments, and studios.

Poplar Art Lofts LLC said its partners intend to buy the property at the corner of Poplar and Tucker (just across the street form Overton Park) demolish the buildings there, and build a new, six-story, $18 million apartment building.

Google Maps

“My clients intend to purchase the property, demolish the existing structures, and construct a six-story, 120-unit residential building with all the modern conveniences and appurtenances desired in today’s market,” reads a letter of intent from Cory Brady, of Integrated Land Solutions.

The letter said the design is for a “podium-style” building, which look much like those like the Madison@McLean project and The Citizen at Union and McLean.

Amenties at the proposed Poplar Art Lofts would include a pool, fitness room, executive business center, and a rooftop terrace.

Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board

Cooper Station
 Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board

Elzey Partners is planning to build a planned development on the site of the former Christie Cut Stone facility on Elzey in Cooper-Young.

That development would include 18 detached, single-family homes with minimum lot sizes of 3,200 square feet. Developers said the project would be “very similar” to the one just west, a section of newer homes locals call “New Elzey.” Each lot would have a garage or carport with access from an alleyway behind the homes.

Google Maps

Where Elzey ends on the ‘New Elzey’ side (looking east).

Google Maps

Where Elzey ends on the other side (looking west).

The Cooper Station project would connect the “New Elzey” section with Elzey. It is now split by a wall and an empty field. Elzey would be extended through and the homes would line a median to be built in the middle of a the newly built section of the street.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

This Week At The Cinema: Movie Trivia, Jookin, and White Christmas.

Memphis Majic

Tuesday night at Malco Ridgeway, a Memphis Hometowner documentary gets an encore performance. Memphis Majic, directed by Eddie Bailey, tells the story of jookin, the Memphis street dance that took over the world. If you missed it at Indie Memphis, now is your chance to rectify that situation! Tickets are available now at the indie Memphis website.

This Week At The Cinema: Movie Trivia, Jookin, and White Christmas.

Across town at Crosstown Arts is Indie Memphis’ Annual Holiday Film Trivia Contest. For the first time, I will be co-hosting with the event’s longtime master of questions, Commercial Appeal film critic John Beifuss. There will be prizes for the winning teams, complimentary food and beverages, and other surprises. So, come out and test your knowledge of film past and present! Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with trivia smackdown commencing at 7 p.m.

Here’s a little hint for all you trivia heads out there:

This Week At The Cinema: Movie Trivia, Jookin, and White Christmas. (4)

On Wednesday, December 5th, the Memphis premiere of an acclaimed Japanese anime feature. Mirai is a family story about a boy who is jealous of his new baby sister, until a little time travel intervenes. Director Mamoru Hosoda’s seventh film has been wildly successful in Japan, and will probably be on the short list for animation Oscars in America this year. The film premieres at the Paradiso and Malco Collierville at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

This Week At The Cinema: Movie Trivia, Jookin, and White Christmas. (2)

Then on Sunday, Dec. 9th, Turner Classic Movies presents the holiday classic White Christmas. The 1954 film was directed by Casablanca helmer Michael Curtiz, and stars Bing Crosby revisiting his Irving Berlin-penned Christmas song from Holiday Inn, which won the Best Song Oscar in 1942. Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, and Vera Ellen round out the cast. The Crosby version of the title song is the best-selling single of all time, with an estimated 50 million units moved worldwide. Here’s a little taste from YouTube, which does not do justice to Paramount’s 70 mm VistaVision image.

This Week At The Cinema: Movie Trivia, Jookin, and White Christmas. (3)

See you at the movies! 

Categories
News News Blog

Explore Bike Share Cranks 25K Rides in Six Months

CREDIT: Explore Bike Share

Explore Bike Share

More than 25,500 bike trips have been taken on Explore Bike Share (EBS) bikes since the city-wide system launched here nearly six months ago, according to new figures from the group.

EBS also shared heat maps (see below) to show where most of those rides were taken. Downtown is easily the top neighborhood for EBS rides. But riders also explored Midtown and West Memphis on many rides, according to the map.

Explore Bike Share

“You can clearly see paths of travel between communities across the city and high usage within many neighborhoods, even along the Greenline into Shelby Farms and the Big River Trail in Arkansas,” Trey Moore, EBS executive director said in a statement. “Explore Bike Share is for transportation, recreation, and of course exploration, so it’s incredibly inspiring to see such robust interconnectivity.”

Here are the system’s top six most popular stations:
1. Big River Crossing
2. Overton Park
3. Beale St. Landing
4. Court Square
5. Loflin Yard
6. Crosstown Concourse

Altogether, the 25,522 rides taken on EBS bikes between May 23rd and November 28th have taken riders 81,445 miles and burned about 3.2 million calories, according to EBS.

EBS plans to expand to the University of Memphis campus and the University District next year.

Explore Bike Share

Midtown and Overton Park

Explore Bike Share

South end of Downtown and Big River Crossing

Explore Bike Share

Downtown Core.

Explore Bike Share

North end of Downtown

Explore Bike Share

Downtown and West Memphis

Categories
News News Blog

Cohen, 96 Other House Members Urge Hearing on XPO Working Conditions


After employees at XPO Logistics’ warehouses, including one here in Memphis, reported claims of discriminatory and unsafe working conditions, Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen joined 96 other House members Tuesday in requesting a House Committee to hold a hearing on the allegations.

In a letter, dated December 4th, the members urged the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to investigate the many allegations of “disturbing treatment” of employees at XPO’s warehouses around the country.

This comes after XPO’s Verizon warehouse in Memphis received national attention in October. Employees alleged multiple instances of “chronic pregnancy discrimination,” including refusals to allow pregnant employees to take on less strenuous tasks, leading to several miscarriages was reported in The New York Times.

Prior to those claims, employees at the same warehouse reported sexual harassment and unsafe, hazardous working conditions, including extreme heat. In the last year, more than a dozen XPO employees have filed Equal Employment Opportunity claims against the company relating to unsafe conditions.

Now the group of House members are asking that the Committee on Education and the Workforce “to bring forth transparency for the public by looking into, investigating, and calling for, if deemed necessary, relevant stakeholders to testify before the Committee.”

“We strongly urge the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to investigate this matter swiftly, hold a hearing on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, take all necessary actions to provide XPO an opportunity for transparency to the American public, and ensure that XPO Logistics remains in full compliance with federal regulatory standards,” the letter reads.

In response to the claims of pregnancy discrimination, the House members asked that the committee consider the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which mandates employees provide reasonable accommodation to pregnant workers, unless it would pose an undue hardship on the business.

“Hundreds and thousands of workers could be at risk at XPO Logistics facilities if the aforementioned allegations are accurate,” the letter reads. “While the current issues raised may be local and isolated, further investigation and oversight should be executed to ensure that hundreds and thousands of workers, nationwide, are not at further risk.”

Cohen said he has met with XPO employees, as well as the company’s senior management, and there are still “differences of opinion.”

“There are still some differences of opinion in this matter and the best way to resolve them would be to let both sides testify in a public hearing,” Cohen said. “The Education and Workforce Committee’s oversight of the company and its practices would shed light on the company’s practices and should, I hope, lead to nationally relevant reforms for American workers.”

Categories
Theater Theater Feature

Never Land: “For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday” Opens at POTS

“We’re orphans,” a mature Wendy wails to her siblings, who aren’t getting any younger. Their dad has just died, finally. They were all there to share the  passage, and assure him he’d given them each other to lean on. But there’s nobody “standing sentry” between the children and death now, and that’s the premise from which this story unwinds. Sort of. It’s a little unclear, since dad’s prankster ghost, and his ghost dog, wander aimlessly in and out of scenes like the invisible dead people in one of Bill Keane’s Family Circus cartoons.

Sarah Ruhl’s short play For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday isn’t the stuff holiday classics are made of. Playhouse on the Square’s seasoned cast finds the show’s poignant moments, and hardcore local theater fans may get a little verklempt to see Memphis favorites Ann Marie Hall and Emily Peckham fly in the show’s last movement. But there’s an awful lot of runway before takeoff. There’s a lot of content about death, aging, more death, political squabbles, and nagging reminders that time flies, which is the last thing anybody wants to think about when they’re watching iffy theater. But for all of the brave cast’s best efforts, For Peter Pan … seldom soars and it’s anything but uplifting. And for clocking in at under 90-minutes, this brief encounter is also an endurance test. 

Ruhl is always surprising. She subverts expectations and breaks rules. The grim-spirited one-act, For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday, finds Ruhl in an autobiographical mood, and uncommonly prosaic. Her play takes us from the theater where we’re watching the play in real time, to a hospital room in the 1990’s as five children watch their dad die a less-than-easy death, to an Irish wake, and finally to Neverland, where adults act out disjointed bits of the Peter Pan story like children improvising on a playground.

Playhouse on the Square has produced Peter Pan 27 times over its 49 years of existence. If the company has a signature piece, it’s the musical adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s famous story — a dark fantasy of pirates, fairies, and a developmentally arrested narcissist with superpowers and a history of luring young girls and boys off to Neverland. The century-old story has always been popular, but a brightened version burrowed its way into the psyche of the “Forever Young” generation when Broadway actress Mary Martin flew into homes across America by way of live TV broadcasts on NBC. For Peter Pan… was written as a birthday gift for Ruhl’s actress mother who played the crowing leader of lost boys when she was a teenager, and who met Martin during the older actress’s high-flying heyday. It’s a faintly Jungian interpretation of the post-Martin Pan that shows up in the play’s unsatisfying final movement.

Never Land: ‘For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday’ Opens at POTS (2)


For Peter Pan… asks several versions of the ultimate question: What happens when we die? But the play and its characters seem more concerned with the penultimate question: When do you consider yourself a grownup? Most of us, of a certain age, are familiar with the phenomenon of living with minds as nimble, silly, and ready for adventure as they ever were, housed in bodies that creak just thinking about exercise. This is the kind of bittersweet prank on humanity Tennessee Williams regularly twisted up into literate, deeply surreal tragicomedy. But Ruhl,  a writer who does literate and surreal as well as anybody, can’t quite seem to land this one. Without the aid of pulleys and wires (and the best local actors you can find) it might never get airborne in the first place.

For Peter Pan… is a bit like Thornton Wilder’s Our Town crashed into Luigi Pirandello’s famous meta-rehearsal, Six Characters in Search of an Author. Much of the show’s content revolves around the relationship between creations and their creators. The pivotal central characters rehearse their adult roles, while searching for a plan. There’s so much possibility here, but almost none of it’s been fleshed out.

To be fair, I don’t think #AARPAN (as the cast has taken to hashtagging it) was ready to be reviewed on the night of its preview performance at Playhouse on the Square. Then again, I’m not sure slickness or polish will have anything to do with whether or not For Peter Pan… finds an audience. Director Tony Isbell has assembled a first-rate cast and the show will improve with repetition. But like a kid who won’t mature, this story also lacks is a plan. And like those same kids, that’s only charming for a short time.

Like Isbell, most of the actors in this ensemble have shown both an incredible commitment to the local theater community, and a strong independent spirit. Whether they’re working in the spotlight, or just offstage, Hall, Sam Weakly, Gordon Ginsberg, Mark Pergolizzi, and Emily Peckham all have a history of taking risks. The good that happens in this show is a direct result of their vulnerability, generosity, etc.

Audiences will no doubt connect with For Peter Pan‘s most humane moments. That’s no guarantee that anybody will leave the theater crowing. 

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Black Atticus (Featuring Saniyah X)

Music Video Monday’s been trying to tell you he’s no good for you. But did you listen?

You did not listen. Let’s hope the person or persons Black Atticus’ “Tell You” is directed towards were more receptive to the message. Four34 Creative helmed this video for the pairing of Knoxvillain Atticus and Memphis’ Saniyah X, staring  Ryan Andrews, Carlton “STARR” Releford, Jude Carl Vincent, and Olivia Riggins.

You can hear Black Atticus’ newest mixtape here, and find Saniya X on Instagram as @saniyahx. Now watch this video, and get some self-respect.

Music Video Monday: Black Atticus (Featuring Saniyah X)

If you’re looking to get your video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

Categories
Music Music Blog

Guitar Great Calvin Newborn Passes Away Suddenly

CREDIT: Christian Patterson

Christian Patterson

Calvin Newborn

Calvin Edwin Newborn, phenomenal jazz and blues guitarist, son of bandleader Phineas Newborn, Sr. and Mama Rose Newborn, brother of pianist Phineas Newborn, Jr., passed away at his home in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday, December 1st, from respiratory failure. He was 85. The Whiteville, Tenn. native lived and played in Memphis for much of his life, when not on the road, but moved to Jacksonville in 1999.

The Newborn family band, led by drummer Phineas, Sr., was renowned in the Mid-South and beyond in the 1940s and 50s, and gave the brothers, Phineas, Jr. and Calvin, their first experience on stage. Beyond that and early work on his brother’s solo albums, Calvin went on to work with many legendary artists: Earl Hines, Lionel Hampton, Jimmy Forrest, Wild Bill Davis, Al Grey, Freddie Roach, Booker Little, George Coleman, Frank Strozier, Louis Smith, Sun Ra, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Hank Crawford, and David “Fathead” Newman.

For many years, he could be heard regularly in Memphis, often with Herman Green’s Green Machine. He was a teacher and mentor to countless local musicians. 

The back cover of the album New Born: a musical giant has moved on.

His daughter, Jadene King, spoke to the Flyer Sunday about his recent life in Florida. “It’s been an extremely tough time because it was not expected,” she noted. “He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from the years and years and years of smoking and drinking, and just living the jazz life, but he’d been sober and clean for over 35 years, and he was doing very, very well. Just in the end of October, the beginning of November, his oxygen levels just weren’t what they needed to be, but it wasn’t anything that impacted him. He just went from not having oxygen to wearing a little Inogen [portable oxygen] machine. And then toward the end of the month, that stopped giving him the levels that needed, and here we are.”

Calvin Newborn

Now, she faces the daunting task of honoring his memory. “I’m trying to go through a million pictures to try and get the program printed. ‘Cos I really want it to be something that’s like a tribute,” she said. “I want it to be like a keepsake for everyone. So I’m gonna take a lot of time, to make sure I can list every award daddy’s received — oh my God! —and which ones I really need to highlight. And then all of these millions of pictures of his life, trying to figure out which ones are the best. I know in the past, when I’ve had to do anything on daddy, I would usually go to daddy. He was an amazing historian, and his mind was extremely sharp and keen up to the day he left, so I have never had to research or do anything, I just asked daddy. And he was a living, breathing book, on his and my uncle Phineas’ life. But I will do my best. I’ll probably have to pull out As Quiet As It’s Kept!, his book, and then Robert Gordon did a book, Memphis Rent Party, where he did a really good job of pulling in information about daddy.”

Listen to this performance of “A Frame for the Blues” as played by Calvin Newborn, Herman Green, Tony Thomas, and Tom Lonardo, at the Levitt Shell in 2010:

Guitar Great Calvin Newborn Passes Away Suddenly

The following services are scheduled in Jacksonville, Florida:
Wake: Friday, Dec. 7, 5-7 pm, Phillips Mortuary (4815 Avenue B);
Memorial Service: The Citadel Church (1057 Arlington Road), Saturday, Dec. 8, 11 am.
Florist: Spencer’s Designer Florist

Look for the Memphis Flyer‘s special tribute to Calvin Newborn’s life in two weeks.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Highs and Lows

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Last summer, many people — some of them experts — predicted the Memphis Tigers would repeat as American Athletic Conference West Division champions but lose to UCF in the league’s title game. By that measure, the Tigers’ 2018 season has been as predictable as Alabama and Clemson making the College Football Playoff. By other measures, though, this Tiger team will be as memorable as any that played before. A few lasting impressions:

• Memphis-UCF is no rivalry. The Knights have now beaten the Tigers 13 times in a row. That’s a big dog treating a little dog like a chew toy. UCF has owned Memphis in seasons of misery (2009-12) and in seasons of success (the Knights are responsible for half of the Tigers’ eight defeats the last two years). And we were reminded in last Saturday’s championship game that UCF’s Josh Heupel is a better halftime coach than the Tigers’ Mike Norvell. Memphis led their regular-season meeting at halftime, 30-17, but didn’t score after the break. Memphis led last weekend at halftime, 38-21, but scored only three points after the break. Those first halves were cruel teases. UCF is the standard that Norvell, his staff, and players must aim to reach. Don’t call it a rivalry yet.
Larry Kuzniewski

Patrick Taylor

• I’m not convinced UCF needed any help from officials to beat the Tigers last Saturday. Touchdowns on five straight Knight possessions in the second half made for a thorough drubbing. But the officiating was, at best, cloudy. Flags picked up (that would have benefited the Tigers). Flags thrown for borderline infractions (that penalized the Tigers). To the critics and conspiracy theorists, I’d say . . . speak louder. Holding — offensive or defensive — can be called on virtually every snap of a football game. It’s as common as touch fouls in basketball (which occur on every single drive to the basket if a team is actually defending). This makes for an easy method to sway a game in one team’s favor should an officiating crew be tasked with doing so. The AAC had much to gain from a UCF win, namely a lengthy undefeated streak for the country to analyze (now 25 games) and another berth for the Knights in a New Year’s Six bowl game. Did the officials discuss this in their pregame meeting? I doubt it. But their shoddy performance begs the question. So keep asking the question.

• For the first 85 years of Memphis Tiger football (1912-96), the program produced precisely one 1,000-yard season from a running back: Dave Casinelli’s 1,016 yards in 1963. Since 1997, Gerard Arnold, DeAngelo Williams, and Curtis Steele added a total of six such four-figure seasons. But here in 2018, the University of Memphis has two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season. Whatever you take from the 2018 Tigers, absorb this, for it will not likely be seen again. Darrell Henderson will enter the Birmingham Bowl with 1,909 yards (and a Tiger-record 25 touchdowns). With 56 yards against Wake Forest, Henderson will break Williams’s single season record of 1,964. (Williams carried the ball 310 times in his 2005 record-setting campaign. Henderson has 214 carries to date.) And when Henderson hasn’t been sprinting past linebackers and safeties, Patrick Taylor has, to the tune of 1,012 yards (and 16 total touchdowns) on 178 carries. It’s a good time to salute the Tiger offensive line that has blasted cartoonish holes for this duo: (from left to right) Trevon Tate, Dylan Parham, Drew Kyser, Dustin Woodard (first-team All-AAC), and Roger Joseph. Football is a pass-happy game these days. Until you combine the talent Memphis compiled this season in its backfield and offensive line.

• An ugly detail of the 2018 Tiger season: Memphis has beaten only one team that finished its regular season with more wins than losses (Houston). And this won’t change even with a win in the Birmingham Bowl (Wake Forest is 6-6). The Tigers will suit up some extraordinary players on December 22nd, but as a group, does this team want its legacy win to be the upset of Houston (minus its star quarterback) at the Liberty Bowl? These Tigers desperately need a win in their bowl game, the more thorough the better. For all the program’s recent success — and bowl games have become customary here — Memphis has lost its last three postseason games. I’m not sure any previous Tiger team has needed a bowl victory more.