Tag: March Madness

Categories
Cover Feature News Sports

Madness!

AAC Player of the Year PJ Haggerty (Photos: Wes Hale)

The Memphis Tigers are back in the NCAA tournament. This is progress. Even better would be a pair of wins and the program’s first trip to the Sweet 16 in well over a decade. But let’s think ambitiously. With six wins needed to cut down the nets as national champion, here are six factors that could make this March memorable for Memphis.

Forget history, especially the previous six seasons. With the exception of forward Nicholas Jourdain, Penny Hardaway’s first six years as Tiger coach mean absolutely nothing to the current roster. The Wiseman Affair. The Lost Postseason of 2020. The Missed Timeout against FAU in the 2023 NCAA tournament. And (blech) the Nosedive of 2024. Sure, this is Tiger basketball history, but it cannot so much as enter the brainwaves of the last man on the Memphis bench.

In his seventh season at the helm, Penny Hardaway led the Tigers to a 16-2 league record and earned AAC Coach of the Year honors.

Following the Tigers’ season-opening win over Missouri way back in November, PJ Haggerty (new to the program from Tulsa) emphasized the good chemistry he felt with his new teammates, actually emphasizing “no beef,” no tension between players just establishing their roles. Guard Tyrese Hunter (new to the program from Texas and this season a first-team All-AAC selection) said this Memphis team has “no ego,” that he and his teammates have “blinders on” for a shared mission.

Point guard Tyrese Hunter suffered an injury to his left foot in the AAC semifinals. His status for the NCAA tournament is unclear.

Read between those lines and you recognize the after-effects of a 2023-24 season where egos were indeed a variable, where a beef or two seemed to compromise any mission, let alone that of a deep NCAA tournament run. Three weeks after that opening win, the Tigers beat both Connecticut (the two-time defending national champions) and Michigan State in Maui to more than clean the slate for a new team, a new campaign. The slogan for the 2024-25 Memphis Tigers should be … This is now. What can today bring?

When asked about his current team and a strength that can help it succeed in tournament play, the 2025 AAC Coach of the Year doesn’t hesitate: “Our unity. We all have the same goal. It hasn’t been that way around here in past years. It’s been kind of selfish. Some people have been so good, they felt they could do it on their own. With this group, our biggest attribute is our unity. We’re together as one.”

Stars must star. While the players must keep those blinders on, we can turn to history for some guidance in what to expect when the Madness tips off. And every Final Four run the Memphis Tigers have made has featured a Leading Man: Larry Finch in 1973, Keith Lee in 1985, and Chris Douglas-Roberts or Derrick Rose (take your pick) in 2008. A sophomore sensation by the name of Hardaway took the Tigers to the Elite Eight in 1992. You get the idea.

PJ Haggerty is this team’s alpha, and he will need to seize that role — maybe even inflate it — for the Tigers to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years. The AAC Player of the Year is already just the seventh Memphis player to score 700 points in a season. (He needs 22 to break Dajuan Wagner’s program record of 762.) Haggerty scored 13 points in six minutes to fuel a second-half comeback at UAB on March 2nd that essentially clinched the AAC title for the Tigers. He poured in 42 in the AAC tournament quarterfinals, a win over Wichita State in which his teammates combined to score 41.

“He’s a dreamer,” says Hardaway. “He sat home and watched the NCAA tournament when he was young, like we all have. To have this situation now — ranked the number-one shooting guard in the country, conference player of the year — he’s still dreaming. He may have hoped for all this to happen, but now that it’s actually here, he’s excited.”

Dainja! Dainja!! FedExForum announcer Geoff Mack found his muse with the arrival of Dain Dainja. The Tigers’ big man with soft hands (a transfer from Illinois) has often raised the arena’s energy level with a gentle hook shot or follow-up slam. And when that energy peaks, Mack will bellow into his microphone, “DAINJA! … DAINJA!!” It’s the happiest reaction to something, yes, dangerous we’ll witness near a basketball court.

Dain Dainja tops the Tigers in rebounding and earned first-team All-AAC recognition.

Hardaway inserted Dainja into the Tigers’ starting lineup for their showdown with UAB on January 26th, a game that would determine first place in the American Athletic Conference. Dainja hit 10 of 12 shots and pulled down eight rebounds in only 25 minutes of what proved to be an easy (100-77) Memphis victory. Memphis has only lost one game since. 

How critical is Dainja to a deep run for the Tigers? He and Moussa Cisse are the only “bigs” Hardaway has in his rotation, the closest players — in body and style — to an old-fashioned center. They will be needed to protect the rim on the defensive side and provide interior threats (particularly Dainja) when the Tigers have the ball. Pay attention to fouls for either of these players. And expect Hardaway to leave them on the floor even if they accumulate four. “Going small” might be a strategy, but not when it’s forced.

Dainja vanished in a game at Wichita State on February 16th (four points and a single rebound in 20 minutes of playing time), and the Tigers lost in overtime to a very beatable Shockers team. A week later at FedExForum, Dainja (Dainja!) scored 22 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, and blocked four shots in a 19-point victory over FAU. “It shows me that he cares,” said Hardaway after Dainja’s resurrection against the Owls. “These guys care. They want to come back and do better [after an off game]. He knew he let himself down [against Wichita State]. He has so much pride and he came back hungrier.”

As for the now of it all, Dainja — yet another first-team All-AAC honoree — actually mentioned “getting old” after the Tigers beat Temple last month. (He’s 22.) His basketball life is about winning. The busier Dainja finds himself this postseason, the more danger Memphis opponents will experience.

Clean the glass. There’s one unifying thread when you examine the Tigers’ five losses this season: more rebounds by their opponent. If you consider every rebound an extra chance to score, Temple had 24 more opportunities (49-25) in the Owls’ seven-point win in January. That ugly loss at Wichita State? The Shockers pulled down 54 rebounds to the Tigers’ 45.

Memphis is not a big team. Dainja, Cisse, and Jourdain will be trusted with much of the rebounding responsibility, but smaller players — Haggerty and Colby Rogers, to name two starters — must earn a few extra possessions for the Tigers to win the close games to come. And beware foul trouble for the 6’9” Dainja or the 6’11” Cisse. Losing either for an extended stretch would force Hardaway to play “small ball,” and against the wrong opponent, that can go sideways fast.

“Once Dain gets going,” notes Hardaway, “you have to double-team him. And we can tee up threes; we love that advantage. He’s bought into the role we have for him. He knew Moussa was coming and didn’t know how much time he would get. We need him to score, so we make him comfortable.” If the Tigers are to advance this month, they need Dainja to rebound, too.

Unheralded hero. Or two. The margin between victory and defeat in the NCAA tournament is miniscule. Three years ago, in the second round, the Tigers led the top-ranked team in the country (Gonzaga) at halftime, only to stumble in the second half. Two years ago, had an official granted the Tigers the late-game timeout players requested during a scramble, it may have been Memphis (and not FAU) that advanced to the Final Four.

Remember that win over Connecticut last November? The Tigers found themselves going to overtime against the second-ranked team in the country, but with Haggerty having fouled out. Into the spotlight strides another PJ, last name Carter. The UTSA transfer proceeded to make six consecutive free throws and drain a three-pointer to all but personally deliver a season-changing upset to his new team. 

Haggerty and Dainja must have a productive supporting cast for Memphis to advance in the Big Dance. Will Carter be the one to grab some national attention off the bench? Maybe it will be Rogers, at times a long-distance threat (and others virtually invisible). If the current Tigers have a “glue guy,” it’s Jourdain, the lone veteran, now wrapping up his second season under Hardaway. The senior has started every game this season after starting 25 upon his arrival from Temple for the 2023-24 campaign. Jourdain had a pair of late put-backs at UAB that helped seal the Tigers’ biggest win in conference play. His averages of 6.4 points per game and 5.6 rebounds are mere whispers of his value. Depth is an overrated factor for a 40-minute basketball game, but a surprise performance is always welcome. One or two can shift that precious margin for victory in the right direction.

Embrace the unlikely. Hardaway is associated with the number 1, and for obvious reasons. But the retired jersey number below his name that has hung from the rafters above the Tigers’ court for 30 years now is … 25. Could such a celebrated-but-forgotten pair of digits be an omen for a 2025 tournament run under Coach Hardaway’s watch?

Consider that these Tigers won the first AAC regular-season crown in program history. This was not predicted back in November. (UAB was picked to win.) These Tigers climbed to a ranking of 14th in the AP poll, the highest Memphis has been ranked after Valentine’s Day since 2009 (John Calipari’s last season as head coach). This was not predicted back in November, as the Tigers began the season outside the Top 25. These Tigers have nabbed a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. Also not predicted, and how significant, you ask? Memphis has reached the Sweet 16 ten times since seeding began in 1979, but never seeded lower than sixth.

As for the crucible of NCAA tournament play, consider the Tigers’ record this season away from FedExForum: 16-3. Not only have they won an ocean away from home (Maui), but they’ve won at Clemson, at Virginia, at Tulane, and at UAB, smaller arenas packed with crowds loudly rooting against their success. This Memphis team may encounter an opponent with more talent, maybe more luck. But it’s hard to imagine the Tigers being intimidated by what’s to come with all the madness. 

“They want to be champions,” emphasizes Hardaway. “They’ve come together and bonded. They’ve set out on a mission, and they’re not letting anything distract them. We’ve had a couple of bad games in conference, but these guys are locked in. They’re together. That’s why we’re so resilient.” 

Seeded 5th in the West Region, Memphis (29-5) opens play on Friday in Seattle against Colorado State (25-9).

Categories
At Large Opinion

March Madness

It’s all madness. (Photo: Evgeniya Leonova | Dreamstime.com)

Every year I play in an online pool to predict the outcome of the NCAA basketball tournament, aka March Madness. It’s made up of longtime friends who are scattered all over the country and who communicate for the most part via social media. It’s become a rite of spring for a lot of us, with good-natured smack talk being the main attraction. 

We use a CBS Sports platform, and for some of us the hardest part is remembering our password every 12 months. Well, that and trying to guess who’s going to take that pivotal first-round game between, say, Siena and Northeast Idaho. And for me, there’s also the dilemma of predicting how far the Memphis Tigers will go — a delicate balancing act that pits my hometown rooting interest against years of painful experience. A Penny (Hardaway) for my thoughts. 

The tournament is a particularly timely distraction this year. That’s because the daily news is just delivering one plop-load of angst after another. I went online Sunday morning and read the following headlines: “Arlington Cemetery Website Scrubs Links About Black and Female Veterans”; “Trump’s FCC Chief Orders Investigation into NPR and PBS Sponsorships”; “Trump Signs Order to Gut Staff at Voice of America and Other U.S.-funded Media Organizations”; “Trump’s NIH Cuts Threaten Scientific and Medical Research at U.S. Universities.”

So yeah, just let me ponder that crucial West Bracket matchup between Maryland and Grand Canyon for a while. Maryland’s pretty good, but Grand Canyon is deep, heh, and it’s tough to beat a national park. Or it used to be until they got defunded. Sorry, I’m just trying not to go crazy thinking about the frightening idiocracy that’s now dismantling our government piece by piece. 

This administration’s credo appears to be “Knowledge Is the Enemy of the People.” Or maybe it’s “They Can’t Handle the Truth.” In many areas of the world, Voice of America is the only news that isn’t controlled by autocratic governments. NPR and PBS news services have long been considered the gold standard for fact-based, in-depth reporting. The U.S. government shouldn’t be in the business of suppressing its own media. The First Amendment still means something. Or at least, it did until a month ago, when this administration decided that it would begin hand-selecting the reporters allowed in the press pool to ask questions of the president. 

If knowledge is power, then power is being taken away from us at an alarming pace. And, let’s be blunt, we’re all being put in danger by the reductions in funding and personnel at agencies that provide air traffic control, weather prognostication and warnings, and medical and scientific research. Not to mention the emotional stress being imposed on millions of Americans who depend on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and their 401(k) funds. 

It’s important to understand that all of these decisions are being made by executive orders that are mostly being carried out by an unsupervised, unrestrained, and unelected creep with billions of dollars in conflicts of interest between his own businesses and federal subsidies. It’s unconstitutional, and none of it is being opposed by Congress, which is constitutionally designated to restrain the excesses of the executive branch.

It goes without saying that the Republicans in Washington are all in the tank for Trump, but the fact that the Democrats are so numbingly compliant is really troubling. They appear to be as vested in accommodating this autocratic insanity as the Vichy French collaborators were in World War II. It makes you wonder just how much kompromat Putin has. Is everyone in Washington compromised except Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Liz Cheney? Where is the damn anger?

I’m no James Carville, but I play one in this column and I have a message for the Democratic Party: Get your shit together. My suggestion would be to set up a daily evening press conference in which a rotating cast of the party’s stalwarts (not Schumer, Jeffries, or Pelosi) addresses the news of the day, takes on the latest lunacy enacted by the White House, explains the real-life consequences of it for everyday Americans, and yes, expresses the outrage that millions of us are feeling right now. It’s time for the opposing party to get in the game — and take some shots. 

Categories
News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Kyle, Candy Champ, Glo and Joe

Posted to X by @Julio_Rosas11

Memphis on the internet.

Kyle, Kyle, Kyle

“Leftist agitators disrupted the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter event hosting Kyle Rittenhouse last night at the University of Memphis,” reads a story from Turning Points USA the day after Rittenhouse was booed from the stage and chased away from campus by protestors.

MEMernet celebrity Allan Creasy asked Memphians on X and Facebook for their most Memphis insult for Rittenhouse. They didn’t disappoint.

“Kyle says mane but spells it main,” wrote Forrest Quay Roberts.

“Kyle Rittenhouse walked into the Rendezvous and ordered the shrimp,” wrote Jonathan Green.

“Kyle thinks Chili’s has the best ribs,” wrote Danny Bader. “He also eats ribs with a fork.”

“I 100 percent know his favorite Grizzly was Chandler Parsons,” wrote Henry A Wallace.

Candy Champ

Posted to X by Jessica Benson

“This kid eating an insane amount of cotton candy has been the best performance we’ve seen in five games in Memphis this weekend,” tweeted Jessica Benson, a Grind City Media host on the March Madness games played at FedExForum last weekend.

Glo and Joe

Posted to Instagram by GloRilla

Memphis rapper GloRilla met President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House last week. In a brief Instagram selfie video with Biden, GloRilla says, “Yeah, Joe!” The president responded, “Not yeah, Joe. Yeah, you!”

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

My Dog Is So Bright …

If I get fired from my day job, it will be because I was looking up “dog sunglasses” on my computer. I’ve looked at our electronic devices usage policy, and I didn’t see anything specifically prohibiting using my lunch break to find my poodle some eye protection, but you know how corporations are. Picky, picky, picky.

Now that I think about it, it might be because I always forget the company blocks access to Pandora. I don’t know why I can’t remember that. I like a little music in my office, and, as much as I love public radio, sometimes I need music with words. So I try to pull up Pandora and get this red and black warning that I am perilously close to the third rail of internet surfing and if I do it again, corporate minions will show up at my office to haul me out. I think about this when I remember I can’t stream my big band station. Oh, sure. I could listen to Benny Goodman on YouTube. YouTube isn’t blocked. Go figure that one out, and let me know what you come up with.

Sometimes I daydream that on the 13th time I forget that site is blocked, air raid sirens will start screaming, and men in tactical gear wielding frothing German Shepherds and Tasers will show up at my office. Then I’ll be put in a small room with nothing but a metal table and two chairs and a one-way mirror.

Interesting tidbit. When writing that last sentence, I couldn’t remember if I meant a “one-way mirror” or “two-way mirror.” Turns out THEY ARE THE SAME THING. It’s like flammable and inflammable meaning the same thing. I don’t understand the need to make English our official language. I’m a native speaker, and it makes me drink. When all native speakers can explain why one-way and two-way mean the same thing, we can discuss a national language.

Now that I think about it, it might not be the dog sunglasses (I went with the bright yellow, by the way). It might be how the other day I called everyone into my office to see the video of a rooster wearing turquoise pants running around the chicken yard. That’s right. The rooster was wearing pants. Bright turquoise pants. I had no idea how much my life needed a video of a rooster in britches. Just trust me. You need that rooster in your life, too.

Ebay is also blocked on our corporate network. Amazon is not. Maybe that one was a “pick your battles” decision. We are not prohibited from looking up the score from last night’s game, but we are prohibited from clicking any links to any sites discussing said game. My job requires me to be familiar with approximately 16,923 government ordinances, requirements, and statutes. I am not blocked from any government website, but I did try to order an informational poster from the one.gov website and was kindly reminded if I tried that crap again, the Stormtroopers would show up with thumbscrews and a pink slip. One becomes unsure how one is to comply with statutes requiring the posting of certain information if one cannot obtain the method of delivery for said required information. Working for corporations is often like unknowingly starring in a Samuel Beckett play.

Americans don’t take vacations. We spend our weekends checking our work email accounts. But I keep reading about how much time we waste at work on the internet. Doesn’t it all wash? I lose my vacation every year, but spend 20 minutes a day clearing my brain by looking at dog-shaming websites and trying to find a really good casserole recipe. I’m not saying I’m owed it. I’m saying six of one, half dozen of the other. Like how there’s only so much T-ball an adult can possibly be expected to endure, so taking a call from work is a welcome respite from watching your kid miss a stationary ball literally two feet away for the 394th time in a row. Work/life balance has gone electronic.

My company gives its employees a little elasticity, but I know people who have been fired for checking March Madness scores and downloading pictures of Land Between the Lakes for a child’s school project. I know a rule is a rule, but c’mon. Not being able to check March Madness scores might possibly be classified as cruel and unusual punishment by the Geneva (Kansas) Convention.

I know you have one burning question: How did my dog like the sunglasses? Not as well as I’d hoped. He likes wearing mine, so I thought he’d love a pair of his own. As it turns out, I think he just likes being a diva in my oversized Jackie O. tortoise shells. He does look fabulous.

Susan Wilson writes for yeahandanotherthing.com and likethedew.com. She and her husband Chuck have lived here long enough to know that Midtown does not start at Highland.

Categories
Sports Sports Feature

A Sweet 16 Things to Do While You’re in Memphis

CREDIT: Stephanie Swartz | dreamstime.com

1 Beale Street

Downtown

Celebrate your team’s victory (or drown your sorrows after that tough loss) on world-famous Beale Street, right next to the FedExForum. Great music, terrific Southern food, and drink specials all up and down the street.

2 Cooper-Young District

Intersection of Cooper & Young, Midtown

An eclectic, artistic neighborhood in Midtown, Cooper-Young has some of the best food — and outdoor patios — in the city. Whether it’s Thai, seafood, Mexican, Irish, sushi, or just good ol’ American burgers, C-Y’s got you covered.

3 Graceland

3734 Elvis Presley Blvd., Whitehaven

332-3322 or 800-238-2000 • elvis.com/graceland

Graceland is the grand home of a kinda famous singer you may have heard of. Much of Graceland looks the same as it did when Elvis lived there, including the Jungle Room. Visit the “Sincerely Elvis” museum, which displays photos and home movies of the King.

4 Memphis Botanic Garden

750 Cherry, East Memphis

685-1566 • memphisbotanicgarden.com

A reigning center of horticulture, the Memphis Botanic Garden showcases the most beautiful plants and flowers in the Mid-South. The garden is open year-round and exhibits native wild flowers as well as more than 23 unique gardens. The Botanic Garden also features special events, educational programs, and art exhibits. The Live at the Garden Summer Concert Series is another great event at the Botanic Garden.

5 Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

Overton Park, Midtown

544-6200 •brooksmuseum.org

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of more than 3,000 works of art, ranging through the Flemish and Italian Renaissance, the Baroque era, and French Impressionism.

6 Memphis Pink Palace Museum &
Sharpe Planetarium

3050 Central, Midtown

320-6320 • memphismuseums.org

Stephanie Swartz | dreamstime.com

This museum features a unique, in-depth showcase of local history, music, culture, and science. The Pink Palace also has a shimmering planetarium and a popular IMAX theater, which has featured movies on subjects ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the deep sea.

7 Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum

191 Beale, Plaza at FedExForum, Downtown

205-2533 • memphisrocknsoul.org

A must-see visit for all music fans, the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum allows visitors a self-guided tour with headphones. The recordings offer guests a course in Memphis Music 101, showcasing a history of some of the greatest music in the world.

8 Memphis Zoo

2000 Prentiss Place, Midtown

276-WILD • memphiszoo.org

Offering a home to more than 3,500 animals, including 500 species, the Memphis Zoo is ranked as one of the top zoos in the United States. Exhibits include Cat Country, Primate Canyon, Animals of the Night, Once Upon a Farm, China — home to Le Le and Ya Ya, the famous giant pandas — and the Northwest Passage, where the polar bears roam.

9 Mud Island River Park

125 N. Front, Downtown

576-7241 or 800-507-6507

mudisland.com

Mud Island is a park built atop a long sandbar on the Mississippi River, just opposite downtown. Attractions include a scale-model Mississipi River Walk, a river museum, and a 5,000-seat amphitheater.

Courtesy Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau

Peabody Ducks

10 National Civil Rights Museum

450 Mulberry, Downtown

521-9699 • civilrightsmuseum.org

Housed at the site of the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King was assassinated, the National Civil Rights Museum offers interactive and informative exhibits on one of the most significant times in American history. With audio-visual displays bringing these events to life, the National Civil Rights Museum is a must-visit place for children and adults.

11 The Peabody

149 Union, Downtown

529-4000 • peabodymemphis.com

The Peabody hotel opened its doors downtown in 1925. Today, tourists and locals enjoy the exquisite lobby featuring ducks in the fountain, piano music, a bar, and one of the best restaurants in Memphis, Chez Philippe. And be sure to check out the rooftop, for one of the best views in town. The famous “march of the ducks” through the lobby happens twice daily at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

12 Soulsville: Stax Museum of American Soul Music

926 McLemore, South Memphis

946-2535 • soulsvilleusa.com

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is a celebration of Memphis music made famous by stars like Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Al Green, and others. While touring the museum, make sure to catch WATTSTAX, a depiction of the development of the music label and the people who created it.

13 South Main Historic Arts District

South Main and G.E. Patterson, Downtown

578-7262

South Main has unique retail stores, including great boutiques and antique shops and excellent restaurants. The 13 art galleries in the area are all within walking distance of one another, and on the last Friday of each month, hundreds flock to the free trolley tour of the galleries.

14 Sun Studio

706 Union, Downtown

521-0664 or 800-441-6249 • sunstudio.com

Visit the historic site where rock-and-roll was born — the famous Sun Studio. Walk in the footsteps of greats like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Howlin’ Wolf, and many others. One of the best parts about visiting the studio is that you can make your own record and take it home.

15 Tom Lee Park and the Bluff Walk

Riverside and Beale, Downtown

312-9190

Tom Lee Park on the Mississippi River is a mecca for joggers, walkers, rollerbladers, and kite-flyers. You can gaze at the river and the boats that go by. Take the steps up to the Bluff Walk for an even better view.

16 Tunica County, Mississippi

tunicamiss.org

Tunica, 30 minutes south of Memphis on Highway 61, is the third-largest gaming destination in the U.S. With exciting casinos, gorgeous hotels, restaurants, gift shops, championship golf courses, dance pavilions, and big-name entertainers, Tunica is a great escape.

Courtesy Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau

Soulsville: Stax Museum of American Soul Music

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

The Dish

Man cannot survive on basketball alone. So in the interest of keeping you properly fueled, we’ve culled the Flyer archives to put together this guide to spots around FedExForum offering Memphis’ finest in food, drink, and ambience.

Comfort-food connoisseurs must try the sweet-potato pancakes at the Arcade on South Main. A delectable twist on the original, these huge cakes are of the moist, rich variety, but they still maintain their fluffiness. Let them soak in some maple syrup while you’re eating the grits and eggs that accompany the dish, and they’ll taste, if possible, even better.

The Arcade, 540 S. Main (526-5757)

arcaderestaurant.com

It’s 1:30 on a Saturday (we’re talking a.m.) and after a long night of weekend-prompted debauchery, you’ve got the munchies. If you’re still on Beale, head for Blues City Café to prevent your looming hangover. The institution stays open until 3 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 5 a.m. on weekends. Go for a sausage-and-cheese platter or try the “World’s Best Tamales.”

Blues City Café, 138/140 Beale (526-3637) bluescitycafe.com

Smoky, crispy, explode-in-your-mouth fried chicken is the trademark of Gus’s Fried Chicken. Well, that and red-check tablecloths, cold iced tea, friendly help, and big lunch crowds.

Gus’s Fried Chicken, 310 S. Front

(527-4877)

No matter where you are in Memphis, you aren’t far from a Huey’s. The Huey Burger has consistently topped “Best” lists for so many years now that it’s pretty much a given. Don’t pass up their thick and scrumptious onion rings.

Huey’s, 77 S. Second (527-2700)

hueyburger.com

Rendezvous

With all the fixings, Kooky Canuck‘s Kookamonga burger weighs more than seven pounds. Eat it all in less than an hour, and not only does the restaurant refund the $21.99 price, you get your name and photo added to the Hall of Fame.

Kooky Canuck, 97 S. Second (578-9800) kookycanuck.com

Forget herbal teas, the Majestic Grille has herbal martinis. The Strawberry Basil Martini features chopped basil leaves, strawberry pieces, Strawberry Stoli vodka, and raspberry liquor. Or, try the Lavender Cucumber Martini: Hendrick’s Gin with bits of fresh lavender and cucumber pieces.

Majestic Grille, 145 S. Main (522-8555) majesticgrille.com

Luring diners down the best-smelling alley in the world for more than 60 years, the Rendezvous is the ultimate Memphis dining experience. The Rendezvous’ mustardy slaw and smoky ribs are better than a whiskey shot on Sunday.

The Rendezvous, 52 S. Second (523-2746) hogsfly.com

Jose Gutierrez is a true Southerner — a Southerner if you happen to have been born in the South of France. But he’s practically an American Southerner too if you count the 22-plus years Gutierrez headed Chez Philippe inside the Peabody. In 2005, he opened Encore, a contemporary French-style bistro at 150 Peabody Place, but given the quiet sophistication of the dining room and bar (not to mention its wonderful food), it might as well be worlds away from the action outside on Second Street near Beale.

Encore, 150 Peabody Place (528-1415) encore-memphis.com

Embrace your inner pyro and head to Spindini where the wood-fired oven takes center stage. Positioned near the bar, every seat has a view of the bright orange blaze as the restaurant’s signature flame-kissed dishes enter the inferno. Dishes prepared in the oven, such as the generously topped wood-fired pizza or stuffed “brick” chicken, are denoted on the menu with a fire icon.

Spindini, 383 S. Main (578-2767)

spindinimemphis.com

Some of Memphis’ most searingly succulent treats find their origins in Jamaica. The jerked, slow-roasted duck at Automatic Slim’s is a juicy delight that brings the unbridled fury of Scotch bonnet peppers to the table, along with the sweet and savory flavors of traditional Jamaican jerk seasoning. Top it all off with a relish of pineapple and sun-dried cranberries, and you have heaven on earth.

Automatic Slim’s, 83 S. Second (525-7948) automaticslimsmemphis.com

by Justin Fox Burks

Kooky Canuck’s

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Full of Glee

Mr. Leprechaun: Turn that frown upside down! The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a lot to be happy about these days. To wit: The university was recently named the 20th best university nationwide by U.S. News & World Report; the 2006 football team did Touchdown Jesus proud with a 10-3 record; super QB Brady Quinn looks to be a high pick in the upcoming NFL draft; and the men’s and women’s basketball teams are lacing up their tennies as they prepare for March Madness. So is it any wonder that the University of Notre Dame Glee Club is touring the States spreading the gospel?

These merry sons of Notre Dame will be appearing this Saturday at the Church of the Holy Spirit. The all-male choir will perform a cappella hits from the Renaissance, Classical, and Romantic periods, and they will shake down the thunder with folk songs, barbershop ditties, and African-American spirituals.

There’s no charge to hear these lads “sing her glory and sound her fame/Raise her gold and blue and cheer with voices true.” (They’ll surely belt out the Shea brothers classic “Notre Dame Victory March” along with everything else.)

Not a Notre Dame fan? Don’t fight it. With the school’s glee club here on St. Patrick’s Day, how much more perfect can it get? For this day, at least, the town’s taps will be pouring green beer, and it’ll be “Rah Rah for Notre Dame” for everybody.

University of Notre Dame Glee Club, Church of the Holy Spirit, 2300 Hickory Crest. Saturday, March 17th, 7:30 p.m. Free.