“I can’t believe someone actually had the gall to steal my entire candy bowl I left out for trick-or-treaters, even with my Ring camera being right there,” Evan Savage wrote on Nextdoor. “Be wary of the tricksters, the ghouls are out tonight :/”
Posted to Nextdoor by Shea Gabrielleschi
Same thing happened to Shea Gabrielleschi’s candy bowl.
Pilfered the Packages
Posted to Nextdoor by Katherine Ryan
Similarly, Katherine Ryan posted Ring-camera footage of a porch pirate pilfering packages.
How they Saw It
Tennessee House Republicans (@tnhousegop) tweeted Saturday, “The General Assembly has outlawed Covid-19 mandates in Tennessee. Last night, we chose FREEDOM over MANDATES. It’s a great day to be a Tennessean.”
For some years, Carol Chumney, the former state legislator, City Council member, and, perhaps most memorably, city mayoral candidate, has been reminding all and sundry that she was compiling a book that would, in the parlance, tell all.
Talk of that sort is common among members of the public class, but the awkward fact is that this is not New York or Washington. Memphis is a smaller market.
This is not even Nashville, with its key location at the nexus of state government and its ready point of reference to state figures who go on to make national reputations.
These have been facts of life that have rendered publishing ambitions of the sort advanced by Chumney for conversation rather than completion. (Exceptions acknowledged for memoirs and studies relating to the undeniable and profound importance of Memphis as a roots locale of the several streams of popular music that have changed the world.)
Yet there are stories of the public sphere here, Chumney’s being a case in point, that need a larger telling, and the new age of social-media opportunities is making it possible to give them proper scope.
Chumney has done it! — telling her tale in a self-published 608-page volume available from Amazon in hardback ($31.95), paperback, and an instantly accessible Kindle edition. Entitled The Arena: One Woman’s Story, it reviews with admirable specificity her own life and times (with equal emphasis on both of those terms). Chumney believes, with considerable included evidence, that she has stood for genuine advances in democracy and in the transparency of public business and in the responsibility of public figures to further such advances.
She also sees herself as the exponent of the long imminent, but still incompletely achieved, shattering of the “glass ceiling” that, until our own semi-woke times, has prevented women from achieving their full potential in public life. She does her share of taking and telling names in this narrative — involving the whole roll call of important contemporaries. A great deal of her focus is on her races for office, including the one for Memphis mayor in 2007 in which she came within 7 points of unseating longtime mayoral incumbent Willie Herenton, and might have done so had there not been a third candidate in the race, lawyer and NAACP eminence Herman Morris.
Nor does she overlook the warp and woof of public policy, which she examines at great length — ranging from her genuinely groundbreaking efforts in child-care reform as a legislator to abuses and oversights in city government that she made her focus on as a municipal figure. Much, of course, is ex parte, but all of it is revealing. Chumney soldiers on, currently on the issue of voting reform.
Coach Penny Hardaway (left) and
Jalen Duren (Photo: Lawrence Kuzniewski)
Buckets of Abundance
A roster thick with nationally acclaimed talent fuels the Memphis Tigers in year four of the Coach Hardaway Era.
By Frank Murtaugh
The cross-generational parallel is impossible to ignore. In 1990, a slender, ultra-quick, do-everything high school basketball player with national accolades chose to play his college ball in Memphis. Thirty-one years later, a slender, ultra-quick, do-everything high school basketball player with national accolades has chosen to play his college ball in Memphis. When the 2021-22 Memphis Tigers tip-off their season at FedExForum on November 9th (against Tennessee Tech), the 2020 Gatorade National Player of the Year (Emoni Bates) will be coached by the 1990 Parade National Player of the Year (Penny Hardaway). And that’s merely the headline act in what has become a star-studded Tiger roster — and coaching staff — for year four of the Coach Penny Era.
Freshman Emoni Bates was the Gatorade National Player of the Year as a high school sophomore. (Photo: Lawrence Kuzniewski)
“There’s a lot more pressure on [Bates], at 17, than there was on me,” notes Hardaway in reflecting on his own first season as a Tiger. “As far as the game, he’s more of a Kevin Durant-style player. He does some things like I did. He has a high IQ. He understands the game, is very coachable, and just wants to win. We both just want to do whatever it takes to win.”
As though Bates couldn’t fill a marquee on his own, the Tigers will feature another top-five recruit in Jalen Duren, a 6’11” interior force, that rarest of jewels in modern, positionless basketball: a center. The American Athletic Conference’s preseason Rookie of the Year (as named by the league’s coaches), Duren has a wingspan of nearly seven and a half feet and averaged 14.5 points and 9.3 rebounds last winter for Montverde Academy in Florida. Best of all for Tiger fans with memories going back a dozen years, Duren chose to play for Memphis over John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats.
Hardaway embraces the challenge of doling out playing time with a loaded roster, internal competition being the greatest stimulant toward maximizing potential. “It’s really going to be chemistry over talent,” says Hardaway, “when it comes to our starting five. It will be the top nine or 10 guys [in our rotation]. We don’t have time to be playing around. The guys who are able, for a larger majority of the game, to be effective in the things we’re trying to do. It may not be the most talented [player]. It could be the guy who understands his role and stars in his role by doing all the little things.”
The Tigers Get Ready
You can be forgiven for flashbacks to this time two years ago. Hardaway’s second Tiger team suited up the nation’s top recruiting class, headlined by a pair of five-star studs: James Wiseman and Precious Achiuwa. The 2019-20 season went south fast, though, when the NCAA ruled Wiseman ineligible for having received funds from Hardaway in 2017 to cover his family’s move to Memphis (where he played for Hardaway at East High School). Among the seven members of that recruiting class, precisely two remain on the Tiger roster: guard Lester Quinones and center Malcolm Dandridge (another East alum). Wiseman is now a member of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and Achiuwa, the 2019-20 AAC Player of the Year, plays for the Toronto Raptors.
Presuming — hoping? — the Tigers’ heralded class remains whole for at least the 2021-22 campaign, Hardaway will be armed with a team so deep, his only problem may be minutes-management. In addition to Bates and Duren, two four-star recruits — 6’8” forward Josh Minott and 6’11” center Sam Onu — will compete for those precious minutes. On a team of high-flying players, Minott won the team’s dunk contest at Memphis Madness on October 13th. Then there’s Johnathan Lawson, a skilled wing from Houston High School who, along with his older brother Chandler (a junior transfer from Oregon), will make it four Lawson brothers to have suited up in blue and gray at FedExForum. If you’re counting, that’s six players so far — with 200 player-minutes per game — and we haven’t introduced the Tiger veterans.
Leading those veterans — 2020 National Invitation Tournament champions, remember — will be junior guard Landers Nolley II, along with Duren, a member of the AAC’s preseason all-conference first team. In his first season with Memphis after transferring from Virginia Tech, Nolley led the Tigers in points (13.1) and minutes (27.4) per game on his way to earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the NIT. Another 2020 transfer, forward DeAndre Williams from Evansville, infused the Tigers with new energy at both ends of the floor upon gaining eligibility last December. (The Tigers started the season 4-3 and then went 16-5 with Williams in the rotation.) He was a stat-stuffer as a junior — 11.7 points per game, 5.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.2 steals — but may actually see his allotment of minutes (26.1 per game) reduced this season.
This brings us to eight players expected to make an impact on the court for Hardaway, a typical rotation number for a college-hoops team. If each player received precisely the same playing time in such a rotation, he’d spend 25 minutes per game on the floor. But the abundance of talent at Hardaway’s disposal leaves what amounts to another starting five (four veterans and yet another freshman among the country’s top 150) plus two.
The aforementioned Quinones has started 51 of 54 games over his two seasons as a Tiger and averaged 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds a year ago (the latter figure stellar for a guard). He’ll be challenged for playing time — and possibly a starting spot — by Earl Timberlake, a sophomore transfer from the University of Miami. Timberlake struggled with injuries as a Hurricane last season but averaged 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in seven games.
Senior guard Tyler Harris — a transfer from Iowa State — will look familiar to Tiger fans because he played his first two college seasons for Memphis. Tennessee’s 2018 Mr. Basketball at Cordova High School, Harris is 159 points shy of 1,000 for his college career. Freshman John Camden, like Harris, will provide a three-point threat off Hardaway’s bench, while Dandridge (6’9” and 250 pounds) will spell Duren and/or Onu inside. And don’t discount Hardaway’s son, Jayden. The coach hasn’t been timid about describing his junior swingman as the team’s most improved player.
Senior guard Alex Lomax will play his 12th season for Penny Hardaway in search of his first NCAA tournament appearance. (Photo: Lawrence Kuzniewski)
Finally, there’s Alex Lomax, the lone four-year senior on the Tigers’ roster. A two-time Tennessee Mr. Basketball at East High School, Lomax will be playing his 12th season for Hardaway, having first suited up for the coach as a 5th-grader. (He will appropriately become the first college player to spend four years under Hardaway’s watch.) Lomax hasn’t just been shaped as a player — and young man — by Hardaway. “A-Lo” has been molded into a do-what’s-needed, defense-first guard as comfortable off the ball as he is starting the offensive attack at point guard. Lomax’s senior season may be both rewarding and challenging. He’s yet to play in the NCAA tournament, but he may find it hard to match the 22 minutes of playing time he’s averaged over his first three seasons as a Tiger. Lomax led Memphis with 4.2 assists per game coming off the bench last season.
“For A-Lo, it’s the leadership role,” stresses Hardaway. “Understanding everything we’re trying to do, on both sides of the ball. Every day. And holding other guys accountable for understanding the same things. The more guys we have on the same page, the better we’re going to be. He knows what we want, what we need.”
Fifteen players expecting to make an impact with only 200 minutes per game for Hardaway to distribute. Abundance is healthy, right? The Tigers will start the season ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll. AAC coaches picked them to finish second behind Houston (a 2021 Final Four team). And speaking of coaches, Hardaway has a Hall of Famer (Larry Brown) and an NBA champion as a player (Rasheed Wallace) on his staff to help steer this team to a finish as memorable as the preseason projections suggest. Neither Brown nor Wallace came to Memphis to finish second in the AAC. They came here to teach the game of basketball, and Penny Hardaway has packed the classroom with students.
“I don’t really have expectations, with [so many] freshmen playing,” emphasizes Hardaway. “I just want to see how they respond to the teaching.”
All Heart in Hoop City
We ask four questions about the next season for Hoop City’s hungriest team.
By Sharon Brown and Aimee Stiegemeyer
After overcoming all odds and outperforming expectations while facing adversity, the Memphis Grizzlies have written a fascinating story about their ability to overachieve. Coming off their first playoff berth since 2017, the young guns are still hungrier than ever.
The loss to the Utah Jazz in the first round last season served as a motivation for this young team, which will face a tough uphill struggle in the Western Conference. The Grizzlies have four questions to be answered heading into the 2021-22 season, and the Flyer’s special Grizzlies correspondents Sharon Brown and Aimee Stiegemeyer will examine them.
Averaging 28.3 points through the Grizzlies’ first seven games, guard Ja Morant appears bound for his first All-Star Game. (Photo: Lawrence Kuzniewski)
What do you feel are the most pressing questions for the Memphis Grizzlies heading into the upcoming season? Sharon Brown: There was a general belief among the players following their playoff series against the Jazz that they’d return to the postseason. The organization does not have a win-now mentality, but the players are confident that they can compete with any team in the league and will not back down from a challenge.
The most pressing questions for me right now are: Can they live up to expectations, whether they will take a step back and finish at the bottom of the league, and will they be able to stay healthy?
Aimee Stiegemeyer: We are heading into year three of a complete roster rebuild, and over that time, the Grizzlies have become a team that has consistently exceeded the expectations placed upon them. Now that they have one playoff series under their belt, they are going to be hungry for more.
The ceiling for this team keeps getting higher every year and ultimately the limit for a squad led by Ja Morant is nothing less than an NBA championship — it’s not a matter of if at this point, it’s a matter of when.
All that being said — for me the most pressing questions for the Grizzlies to answer this season will be whether or not last season’s success was just a fluke, and if not, can they continue playing at the level they were on last year? Will this be the year the young core makes the leap from up-and-coming team to keep an eye on and moves on to being a Real Problem for other teams around the league?
What should fans be most excited about as the new season begins? SB: The Memphis Grizzlies have never had a player as talented as Temetrius Jamel Morant, better known by his nickname, Ja. With his jaw-dropping, “WTF?!”-inducing, and “how did he do that?”-inspiring plays, he should be on everyone’s watch list every game. Morant definitely is must-see TV.
With his ability to slide through defenses with ease and linger in the air while contemplating his next play, Morant is a legit threat on the offensive end. What happens next will almost certainly cause you to stand up and leave your seat!
Fans should be enthusiastic about the season just because of Morant, but his teammates can also be entertaining to watch as well. Will he become an All-Star, or will he become a serious MVP candidate?
AS: The continued evolution and growth of Morant, the return of Jaren Jackson Jr., and a healthy Brandon Clarke.
Morant is everything that the team needed Mike Conley to be and more. Full stop. Memphis has never had a player of his caliber, and if we are ever going to raise a championship banner in the Grindhouse, it will come on the shoulders of Morant with Jackson Jr.
Both Jackson Jr. and Clarke struggled during the 2020-21 season to return to true form after injuries. If healthy, expect to see Jackson Jr. looking like he did during the Bubble in 2020, and Clarke to look more like he did in his rookie year.
Another exciting thing for fans is the safer return of live basketball. FedExForum announced that they would be requiring proof of Covid-19 vaccination to attend Grizzlies and Tigers games this season, which is fantastic news.
In Jaren Jackson Jr.’s fourth season, what should be expected of him? SB: For the Grizzlies, having Jackson Jr. in good health is beneficial on both ends of the court.
Some people have negative opinions of Jackson Jr. since he has a history of injuries, but he was named the most likely to have a breakout season in the annual NBA general managers preseason survey.
In addition to having elite-level attributes, his ability to stay on the court is critical for the team to have a high chance of winning. With that considered, he must avoid getting himself into foul trouble.
However, Taylor Jenkins must better position Jackson for him to be successful on offense. There should be specific set plays designated for him on offense to get him going. My expectation is for him to have a breakout year to complement Morant to be the one-two punch the Grizzlies front office envisioned. He put in the effort during the off-season to improve his game.
AS: With the departure of Jonas Valanciunas this summer, there is no question he’s going to have some big shoes to fill offensively.
Jackson Jr. needs to be more aggressive on collecting rebounds, and he needs to do it while staying out of foul trouble, which is easier said than done.
But if he is going to eventually take on the role of starting center, he’s going to have to avoid getting benched with too many fouls during crunch time.
Rebounding and avoiding foul trouble are probably the two most important areas of growth for him this season, but becoming an above-average shooter from behind the three-point line would be a welcome bonus.
In his second season, Desmond Bane has moved into the Grizzlies’ starting lineup and almost doubled his scoring average from 2020-21. (Photo: Lawrence Kuzniewski)
Which player on the squad, excluding Ja Morant and Jackson Jr., will have a breakout season for Memphis? SB: My pick is Desmond Bane. During his first season, the only thing he was known for was his ability to catch and shoot from beyond the arc. According to my observations, his confidence can be traced back to Game 1 of the playoffs against the Utah Jazz, when he exchanged words with Georges Niang after scoring a three-pointer at the buzzer.
As the Grizzlies’ point guard in Summer League, Bane acquired greater confidence in his abilities. He was both producing his own shots at the rim and creating shots for his teammates. That same confidence has carried over into the new season.
Bane, along with De’Anthony Melton, will have more time on the court since Grayson Allen was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in the off-season.
AS: I’m going to have to pick two because they appear to be improving in tandem — Desmond Bane and De’Anthony Melton. The season is only a few games old, but Bane and Melton’s respective elevation into the starting lineup has thus far allowed them to thrive in a way they weren’t able to off the bench.
Melton has earned his Mr. Do Something nickname by consistently coming up big for the Grizzlies when they need it most; Bane has shown talent and drive that is above and beyond what is to be expected from a player with only one year in the league.
Welcome to November. The temperatures are dropping like autumn leaves, Mariah Carey is singing to department store shoppers, and many Memphians will be heading indoors for the gatherings that make up the holiday season. So it makes sense that the Tennessee General Assembly, in another special session, last weekend voted to roll back a number of Covid restrictions across the state. The state usurping the power of local government seems like a textbook example of “government overreach” to me, but I don’t want to get hung up on pointing out instances of hypocrisy. I have my word count to think of.
To appease businesses like Ford Motor Co., after spending $728,000 on a special legislative session to debate an incentive package for Ford (a stunning display of fiscal responsibility), the bill has a number of exemptions. So what was a relatively clear-cut way of dealing with matters of public health is now a convoluted method rife with exemptions and special caveats. Time will tell what happens when the anti-mandate mandate goes up against the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate.
State Senator Jeff Yarbro said, “We’re putting every business in Tennessee in the middle of a fight where they have to choose between violating federal law or state law.” Setting aside the rampant hypocrisy on display, this is hardly a practical choice.
According to a 2021 study by WalletHub, Tennessee is the 14th-most dependent state on federal aid. That’s down a few notches from 2020, when the conservative news site The Center Square reported, “Federal grants-in-aid to Tennessee comprise 37.7 percent of the state’s general fund budget, the 11th-highest rate among the 50 states, according to a new study from the Tax Foundation.”
Maybe we should cool it on the “we don’t need no stinkin’ Feds” rhetoric. How long can we thumb our collective nose at the federal government before they cut off much-needed funds to our state? It’s as though our elected leaders are pushing for a soft secession, testing the waters before they declare the Volunteer State a sovereign entity. But aren’t these the same folks who think it’s base tyranny to have to show a vaccine record card to attend a concert? How will they react when they have to flash their passport just to cross a border and go fishing in Arkansas?
Look, these are not serious people. The Republican supermajority is out of touch with reality, pandering to a radical minority who have decided empathy is a weakness and minority rule is a healthy system of government. Consider this — last week’s Covid-edition special session was all about the freedom to not do anything. It wasn’t a special session about reducing gun violence, funding the healthcare system, or anything else people on both sides of the aisle can agree we so desperately need. So, yes, I think I’m being generous when I say they’re frivolous people, obsessed with hanging onto power and privilege. How else can I describe them?
They’re like a band on a reunion tour playing the greatest hits. When you shell out the big bucks to see The Rolling Stones, you expect to get some satisfaction. You want to hear “Paint It Black” and “Honky Tonk Women.” With these Tennessee Republicans, the hits are “Small Government (State Trumps Local Somehow),” “Gimme Tax Breaks,” “Sympathy for the White Man,” “Can’t You Hear Me Reloading (Permitless Carry),” and “Jumpin’ Caravan at the Border.”
It’s the same old set list, year after year, and nothing ever gets done. But that’s the point — they don’t need to deliver on any promises because they’ve set themselves up as the last bastion protecting simple, God-fearing Tennesseans from lawlessness, sex-crazed liberals, and science. They conjure nonexistent bogeymen to frighten voters, and smugly pat themselves on the back when they succeed in keeping these imaginary monsters at bay. At re-election time, they play the hits, ask if you still have your job (not how well it pays, though, of course), if you still have your guns or if they were confiscated by a globalist.
I don’t want to secede from the United States, nor do I want some chucklehead who represents Sweet Lips, Tennessee, to have more power over my life than, say, the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission. I would wager that few of my fellow Tennesseans disagree with me on these points.
So let’s raise our expectations and ask a little more from our public servants.
CIMAS interior at the Hyatt Centric Beale (Credit: Diamond PR)
Have a hankerin’ for some wild game? Then hop on over to the Hyatt Centric’s CIMAS restaurant tomorrow night at 6 p.m. for the launch of its new Supper Club series.
The series of dinners will take place several times per year in seasonal formats. The first dinner – Wild Game & Wild Cider – is centered around the “fall season and prime Tennessee sporting season,” and will be hosted by James Beard award nominee James Rigano and Angry Orchard cider maker Ryan James Burketts.
Wild Game & Wild Cider will unfold over seven courses of game plates, including tuna crudo and spice and slow-roasted Hudson Valley duck breast, paired with limited vintage, small batch bottles of cider. The event is open to both the public and hotel guests. Seats are $110 a person. Find out more about reserving a spot here.
Explore Bike Share (EBS) began exploring how to integrate electric bikes to its fleet more than two years ago. Now, 300 electric bikes idle in brand-new docking stations that make for a more user-friendly check-out.
The new bikes, like the previous acoustic (non-electric) bike-share bikes, are from B Cycle, a subsidiary of Trek. The electric bikes look similar to the original models, too, with the step-through frame, curved bat-wing handlebars, adjustable seat, front basket, kickstand, and throttle bell. But it’s the battery and motor that set the electric bike miles apart from its lo-fi cousin.
E-bike riders may be surprised when they pedal off for the first time. The motor kicks in and with hardly any leg power at all, the bike is off, almost on its own. The first-time feel of this power yields a result so routine it has a name, the e-bike smile.
We caught up with Anton Mack, executive director of EBS, to find out why they went electric, what that means for Memphis riders, and to learn what will happen to the non-electric bikes. — Toby Sells
Memphis Flyer: What tipped the scales from conversation to action on the e-bike conversion?
Anton Mack: There were a number of things that really made the difference for us, and most of that has to do with Memphis. Being in a city where it can get pretty hot and humid, we knew that a bike that could make the ride more pleasant would make the difference. I believe we’re the 22nd-largest geographic city in the country. We’ve got a lot of miles to cover. We knew that our riders would need to to be able to ride longer.
It was really those things, combined with the fact that we believe that our community really needs an accessible bike that will work for everybody. Once we took a few of those test bikes and let people ride, we realized that we were giving greater opportunities to different people.
MF: Some folks worried the bike system was in trouble once the electric scooters hits the streets. Was that part of the conversation at all?
AM: I don’t know that it was, in that sense. It was more so in the sense that e-bikes were getting so popular around the country, around the world. We knew people would be interested in them.
My thought was that people were going to get excited about the scooters because they were a new thing, even though they were only a month or so behind the [bike share system]. But when I walked home from the [Hyatt Centric] Sunday, people were whizzing everywhere on our e-bikes and it was exciting.
MF: Does the electric function of it give the bikes a greater practicality?
AM: The first thing we noticed is people starting riding them is that ride duration has more than doubled.
MF: What is the top speed of the bikes?
AM: 17 miles per hour.
MF: What is the total range on a full charge?
AM: The range will be about 30 to 32 miles.
MF: EBS is trying to buy more bikes, right?
AM: We’re about launch a fund-raiser to fill the gap to raise the additional funding. Our sponsorship from Central Station and [Shelby County] is already going towards that support and we’re hoping to have a few more stations so we can increase the number of stations.
MF: How much money do you need to fill the gap?
AM: We would love to raise as much as $300,000.
MF: What is happening with the non-electric bikes these are replacing?
AM: Several of them have been set aside for the University of Memphis. They’ve been talking about launching a program. [The bikes] were purchased initially with them in mind.
The other portion of them we really want to use in a new program. We’re calling it Breaking Barriers. We’re also looking for funding for that program. It will allow us to take some bikes into communities where folks have-not been able to afford the bike rental. We’re going to work with some neighborhood organizations that will help us identify the right constituents. The hope is to make them available for free.
The iconic Mr. Peanut at The Peanut Shoppe (Credit: Rida AbuZaineh)
Yes, the peanut roaster with the giant Mr. Peanut astride it is moving to The Peanut Shoppe’s new location at 121 South Main.
“It’s a four-minute walk from the shop to the south end of the West side of Main Street,” says owner Rida AbuZaineh. “It used to be the Center for Southern Folklore. It’s next door to Maggie Moo’s ice cream. It’s in Pembroke Place.”
And, he says, “I’m excited, but I’m running out of time.”
His last day at the old location at 24 South Main will be December 31st. He hopes to be in the new shop in January. “The sooner the better,” he says.
The Peanut Shoppe opened in 1948. AbuZaineh says he heard it originally opened on Madison, before moving to Main Street in 1951, but he’s not sure. The AbuZaineh and Lauck families became owners and partners of the establishment on January 8th, 1993.
AbuZaineh says they weren’t told the 24 South Main Street building was going to be sold until a few months ago. It will be turned into apartments and condos, he says.
AbuZaineh thinks the new location will be better. “It’s more congested there,” AbuZaineh says, adding there is a new hotel planned for across the street, the post office is next door, and there is a bank nearby. “There’s more foot traffic in that area.”
His new location is similar to his current location. “This one is a rectangular shape but so narrow,” he says. “The width is the difference. The [new store] width is three times the width of this narrow store. The Belz family who own the building are so kind and helpful to work with us and support us.”
Asked what will go to the new store, AbuZaineh says, “The roaster and the glass roaster. All has to move. I’ll add more counters and cabinet tops.”
Mr. Peanut at The Peanut Shoppe (Credit: Rida AbuZaineh)
And, he says, “I’ll have more space behind the counter to maneuver around. Over here it’s very tight. Especially at Christmas time. There’s only one counter to do all my gift-packaging.”
As for that roaster, AbuZaineh says, “The Peanut Shoppe is the roaster. The roaster is The Peanut Shoppe. Without it, The Peanut Shoppe is nothing. They think it was made in 1928. It’s a unique piece — a smaller version of the standard size. It’s operated by gas.”
The Mr. Peanut statue, known as “The Rider,” which sits on the roaster, is made of Fiberglass and papier mache, AbuZaineh says. “The estimation is it was made when they started to make them around 1947.”
AbuZaineh attached a sign years ago that says, “Hi, there. I’m Mr. Peanut. I was born in 1947 and my roaster was born in 1928. Please do not hurt us. We are fragile.”
Mr. Peanut on the roaster at The Peanut Shoppe (Credit: Rida AbuZaineh)
So far, AbuZaineh hasn’t sold the enormous “Peanuts” sign on the front of the building. He hopes somebody will buy it so it won’t go for scrap.
Meanwhile, it’s business as usual for AbuZaineh, who was popping fresh corn for a customer as he talked. He’s had “lots of mental and physical support and financial support from the good people down there in Memphis. I’m not going to deny it. I’m so grateful to them. How to repay these people, I don’t know. I’ve been serving this community forever. This is another boost for me to continue with my service.”
Desmond Bane (left) and Tyus Jones (Credit: Larry Kuzniewski)
This was the best performance by the Grizzlies’ bench all season, led by Tyus Jones (17 points), Xavier Tillman (12 points), and Kyle Anderson (nine points) as the Grizzlies’ bench exploded for 43 points.
Tillman was pleased with the second unit’s big night performance. He said, “It was huge. Especially since the Miami game. It felt like the bench was nonexistent, there were times in that game when they went on an even bigger run with us in there. For us to bounce back in today’s game and actually go on runs ourselves and set the tone was huge.”
Tillman also praised Jones for his work on the floor. He added, “Even when his shots aren’t falling he knows where everyone is supposed to be. He knows what the defense is going to do on a specific play, so he’s able to put guys in the right position. Tonight was special because we talk about being ready to shoot at all times, and today he showed that for sure.”
Along with his season-high in points, Jones also had eight rebounds, five assists, two steals, and shot 5 of 7 from beyond the arc to round out his performance as the Grizzlies defeated the Nuggets 106-97. The 25-year-old back-up guard made the most of his extended minutes.
Having Jones and Morant share the court for so long was a gamble that paid off handsomely for Memphis.
It became clear during Taylor Jenkins’ postgame news conference why he decided to give Jones and Ja Morant more playing time together. He elaborated as follows: “I think it’s a combination of things. It’s something I definitely want to try. I want to see what those two guys can do together. It’s having more creators on the floor. It puts Ja in different positions, puts Tyus in different positions.
Jenkins added, “Obviously, he shot the heck out of the ball tonight, that being Tyus. Also, just getting a feel for the game. I wanted to explore lineups with them together. He was playing great, giving us a boost on the offensive end, did some good things competitive on the ball defensively with a hot hand. He had a great game and it paid off for us.”
Jones appreciates having more time on the court with Morant. He said, “Me and 12 [Morant] talk about that all the time. I’m glad it happened tonight. We love it because it allows us to play fast and, having two point guards on the court who pride themselves on having a high basketball IQ, we try to make it easier for everyone else. It allows me to take some pressure off Ja and giving him different looks on that side of the floor. We love it and it worked for us tonight.”
For the past three years, Morant said he and Jones had discussed the possibility of playing together more often. He explained, “I definitely love it. I feel like we play with a way better pace — I don’t have to be on the ball. With Tyus being such a good creator on the floor for everybody and also himself allowed me to just sit back so pretty much just getting stops, getting out and run, having another ball handler out there to be able to go into actions if teams try to take me away.”
According to Morant, he and Jones are pass first point guards of the same pedigree. Morant added, “We both got a little switch we can turn off; tonight showed he’s capable of scoring the ball as well and as long as he continues to shoot it and force the defense to lock in on him more and it opens it up for everybody else. That’s how I look at it when I attack the game. As of late he’s been doing the same thing, shooting the ball really well — so you got to keep him aggressive and comfortable when he’s out there.”
Tidbits
With his first assist of the game, Morant surpassed the 1,000-assist mark for his career. The third year guard is in good company.
Only Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Damon Stoudamire, and Trae Young have scored more than 2,500 points and dished out more than 1,000 assists faster than Ja Morant (137 games).
While on the subject of Morant, his early-season MVP performances continue to astound the NBA basketball world.
The 22-year-old finished the game with a near triple double of 26 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.
The bar at the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)
On entering the newly rebuilt and redesigned Hog and Hominy the other night, co-owner Michael Hudman told his wife how the restaurant has an “old Art Deco diner feel.”
From the silver metal lettered sign out front to the fluted light fixtures in the dining room and just the general vibe, the new Hog and Hominy indeed has a diner feel — a diner that serves Neapolitan-inspired pizzas instead of patty melts.
The new Hog and Hominy opens to the public Friday, November 5th.
After a fire January 9th, 2020, the new Hog and Hominy, one of the many restaurants owned by Hudman and Andrew Ticer, was rebuilt. It’s about twice as large, says general manager Evan Potts. They expanded the restaurant as far as it would go in all directions, he says. Now, entering the restaurant on the right front instead of on the left side, diners will see the bar in a separate but open area on the right and the dining room on the left.
The new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)
J. D. Caldwell with Carlton Edwards Architects was lead architect. Natalie Lieberman of Collect + Curate did the interior design.
Ticer loved the fact they had a “blank slate” to work with. They were able to “reimagine” the restaurant without being confined to the former “three bedroom house” they originally had with the pre-fire structure. They were able to “think out of the box.”
Nick Talarico instructs the staff at the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)Front patio at the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)Front patio at the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)Interior of the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)Interior of the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Justin Solberg is chef de cuisine at the restaurant. The fare will include “Neapolitan-inspired pizza,” Potts says. “We like to have that wood fire crust that has that little bit of toothsome-ness to it. The chew, if you will. And super thin in the middle to showcase what we put on top.”
There will be new pizzas as well as old favorites, including the Thunderbird and Red Eye.
Meet the Hog and Hominy kitchen and staff (from left): Trevor Anderson, Evan Potts, Michael Hudman, Ryan Jenniges, Ryan Dunn, Justin Solberg, Andrew Ticer, Zach Hart, Jamie Lawrence, and Ronnie Roberson. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The pizzas will be the entrees. They also will serve snacks and small plates — “Little things to share for the table.”
And, Potts says, “We do a lot of fun takes on traditional Italian fare. We like to twist it. Like taking the idea of eggplant parmesan and substituting pork belly. Italian ideas and twisting them and putting the little Southern spin on it like we do.”
They will continue to serve their craft cocktails, which Hog and Hominy is known for. For instance, Potts says, “The same old fashioned where we make the orange bitters in house.”
They also got their own barrel of Maker’s Mark whiskey from Empire Distributors to make their old fashioned cocktails.
Hog and Hominy also does its own take on the dirty martini, but instead of the usual olive juice, they make their own brine using shishito peppers, which gives it more of a “vegetable flavor,” Potts says. “You’ll still have the salty flavor, but it adds a whole other depth of flavor to it.”
Hog and Hominy is at 707 West Brookhaven Circle; (901) 207-7396
The rules for Music Video Monday state that all the music videos we feature have to be from either a Memphis musical artist or a Memphis filmmaker — preferably both. But once a year, I bend the rules — which I can do, because I wrote the rules — to bring you the winners of the Indie Memphis Film Festival music video competition.
The Hometowner Audience Award went to “Buzzsaw Kick” by Idi x Tico,which was the subject of last week’s Music Video Monday.
The winner of the Audience Award for national music videos was “Fire” by Fimone. I can’t embed it here, but you can watch it on Fimone’s YouTube channel.
The winner of the jury award for National Music Video (which really should be called the International category) was “Hideaway” by the French artists NÎM. This spectacular visual was created by Studio V7, Gaïa Maniquant-Rogozyk & Pablo Chazel. You’ll believe that whales can fly!
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
