Memphis, TN

I finished out the week of midterms at school. The history mid term was second to last. This makes grading a pain in the arse but it allows me to go first for finals which in turn allows more fun droning BBQ Fest. I wonder how may of my high school teachers brokered deals to allow themselves to party more?

Duke signee, Elliot Williams

I went with R. Barcuch and Big Kat to the St. George’s vs. Harding Academy basketball game. The game had at least three D I players on the floor. From St. George’s; Elliot Williams, signed with Duke (highlights), Bowers signed with Missouri(highlights), and Marlon Brown of Harding, only a junior. It was a fun game to watch. It is enjoyable to watch a game that I had no stake in. Not my friends team, not my current or former players, not my school. I need to do that more often. St. George’s had too much for Harding to handle. They will face each other again, a game I must see. On a side note, the Williams kid is just as good of a student(Over 30 ACT) as he is a basketball player, unfortunately very rare to see. Here is a nice article about his recruitment before he committed to Duke.

The triva talisman of Evil Petting Zoo

On Tuesday the members of Evil Petting Zoo, my trivia team in semi retirement, dusted off the pens and paper and threw itself in the mix at the P & H for some trivia. Unfortunately we could not shake off the rust and finished out of the top three and therefore out of the money. That being said we enjoyed the socializing, eats, and libations. For one of the rounds, ridiculously impossible, the lights needed had to be turned on in the P&H, rarely done, so I snapped some photos of the artwork of local Memphis characters circa @1980. Enjoy!

The "art" of the P&H

Pete and Kath ponders the trivial things of life.

Evil Petting Zoo, out answers, and out of beer!

Nashville, TN

It has been a long time since I last posted. The end of a semester is chaos at best and the holidays although quite fun, were ridiculously busy. Here are a few highlights from the latter parts of December.

The Sommet Center (It will always be the GEC to me)

I got a road trip in to catch the Memphis Tigers play in Nashville. The Sun Belt conference had two game showcase at the Sommet Center (Formerly the Gaylord Entertainment Center) in Nashville. Memphis played MTSU in the first game and Western Kentucky played the Volunteers of Tennessee in the nightcap. There were tons of Tigers fans from Memphis in town which gave the crowd a sort of NCAA tournament feel to it. The games were pretty good. Coach Calapari, in his pure marketing mode, seemed to enjoy the atmosphere also. The Tigers looked rusty after taking about 8 days off during finals. The Vols looked great, particularly J.P. Prince, a Memphis high school phenom, who played his first game in over a year after transferring Arizona after nearly dying. Check this article for more about that.

The crowd fills the stands

"Big Red" performs at a TV time out

I went up with Tusky, Big Kat, Steph, Marvin, and Christy. We went straight to the game after driving from Memphis. We hit a few of the music row establishments after the game for some food and some adult libations. We spent most of the time at Robert’s Western World. While in the bar we ran into Whitney E., a friend of mine from college who lives and teaches in Nashville.

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Robert's Western World

A rainy view of Music Row in downtown Nashville

Once we got home form Nashville, I went over to Mr. Coach Eric Wells’ house to watch the Browns game which was played in blizzard conditions off the shores of Lake Erie. It was awesome to watch.