Memphis Blogger Meetup (and Tigers)

On Saturday I went to my first Memphis blogger meetup! It was organized by Alyssa of Ten Feet Off Beale, who was the only participant I knew prior to the event. We’d never met in person, but she’s just as nice and fun as she seems online! I’m happy to have met her.

Other local bloggers in attendance: Cameron, Jade, Kim, Paige, and Sarah. Alyssa’s boyfriend Jeremy also stopped by to mingle and even took this picture for us. What a great sport!

We all met up at a new downtown speakeasy, The Blind Bear, immediately following the Memphis-Louisville game (more on that later). They gave us the VIP room. Swanky! The meetup was sponsored by Passionfruit Ads, so we enjoyed some Muddy’s cupcakes and goody bags, as well as door prizes – I won an adorable hot-chocolate penguin mug! Most of the other bloggers contributed fantastic handmade goodies. I contributed my business card. Sorry ladies! I’m new at this.

Everyone was really friendly, and I’m glad to know more bloggers in the area. There’s already talk of having another meetup in the spring, so I’ll share details when available in case more people are interested!

Meanwhile, I have to mention the Memphis-Louisville game on Saturday – the biggest home game of this season. Louisville is our third-biggest basketball rival (behind UT and Kentucky), and the rivalry goes back to the 1940s. As Louisville was #6 in the country at game time, we were not favored, but no one thought it would be a blowout either. Attendance at the Forum was over 18,000 (most games of significance draw around 15,000). I was so excited to see all the fans in blue flowing toward the stadium. There were some alumni in attendance too – Penny Hardaway and Robert Dozier. The atmosphere was amazing! I told Kathy that this must be how it feels at an SEC school every week.

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Blue-out successful!

The Tigers led for most of the first half and into the second, but then the Big East refs started calling foul on every single move they made, and if you’re not allowed to defend the ball, you are not going to win. We could have beaten Louisville, but we couldn’t beat them and their refs. Memphis lost 87-78. I had been looking forward to celebrations in the streets, but instead the sea of blue ebbed away sadly and quietly. The only bright spot in the situation was my favorite Tiger, D.J. Stephens, who had the game of his life. He literally threw himself into every play – I lost count of how many big spills he took. I’ve never seen anyone play with such abandon.

So, to sum up my weekend: Blogger meetup: good. Tiger loss: sad.