The Early Word: Tigers lose first AAC game; MEM will gain rooftop views
Cheers, Memphis! It’s Friday, Jan. 17, the beginning of a long weekend and the date of the Pink Palace’s annual “Science of Beer” party. Today also marks the start of a new Whitehaven Business Blitz highlighting locally owned companies, and the first one focuses on Trap Fusion. Stop in and get yourself some barbecue jackfruit. Tonight the Memphis Grizzlies play the San Antonio Spurs again; fingers crossed for another win.
On Saturday, you can get a head start on your Martin Luther King Day service project with a volunteer opportunity at T.O. Fuller State Park. And the Memphis Tigers women’s basketball team will play Tulane.
Sunday is Dolly Parton’s birthday, and you can get a discount on your beer tab at Wiseacre OG if you show up dressed as the Queen of Country. (Bonus points if you can find a Coat of Many Colors.) Not quite on theme, but maybe the Tigers men’s basketball game against Charlotte will be playing on Wiseacre’s big screen.
Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the National Civil Rights Museum will offer free admission and musical performances in their King Day celebration. And the Memphis Grizzlies will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at their annual MLK Day game at FedExForum. For more long weekend fun, check out The To-Do List.
The old A concourse at Memphis International Airport hasn’t been used since the airport opened its modernized B concourse in 2022. But it’ll one day be home to the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority’s administrative offices, which will relocate from its current space above the airport’s mezzanine level. The redeveloped A concourse will also house the airport’s new checked baggage inspection system, which will finally move out of the 1970s. A new rooftop observation deck, like the one at Nashville’s airport, is planned, too, and one airport exec says it’ll offer a unique vantage point of the city.
The Memphis Tigers lost, 88-81, to Temple in Philadelphia, partially due to the 22 offensive rebounds they gave away to the Owls. In fact, the Tigers were outrebounded in their past three games — even though they won two of those — by a total margin of 119-82. But this was, after all, the team’s first loss in American Athletic Conference play. And columnist John Martin points out that “the Tigers were not going to run through this league undefeated. Nobody’s doing that anymore.”
Plus, the City of Memphis says a gun-rights lawsuit has no standing, state lawmakers crack down on colleagues and Ecco has more space to lounge.
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Bianca Phillips
Bianca Phillips is a Northeast Arkansas native and longtime Memphian who’s worked in local journalism and PR for more than 20 years. In her days as a reporter, she covered everything from local government and crime to LGBTQ issues and the arts. She’s the author of “Cookin Crunk: Eatin’ Vegan in the Dirty South,” a cookbook of vegan Southern recipes.
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