Date: 2005-03-14
To: Blues, Basketball, and Bluegrass Music
Miles today: 0.0

It was like driving past a tragic accident where you didn¢t want to look, but you knew you had to.I stood there, without taking a breath, hearing nothing, although I am sure it was louder than a thousand freight trains rolling by.Then it happened. The woman behind me started to softly weep as her husband was speaking profanities under his breath and then on to others. However, My anxious silence and anticipation was over, the roar of thousands screaming in joy, and in agony, filled my head. My emotion was an overwhelming ecstatic happiness, causing me to let go of myself, jumping and cheering.Darius Washington had missed his second and third free throws for the home Team Memphis Tigers, giving the University of Louisville Cardinals the game by one point, with no time left. The game was the last game in the Conference USA tournament, and the Cardinals were now champions.It was a game of epic proportions and it was quite an experience. This weekend I had the opportunity to go to Memphis and watch the final game in the Conference USA Tournament. My friend, Stephanie had found an outlet to purchase cheap tickets, which ended up being club seats next to the Conference USA commissioner¢s suite! We chanced the fact that U of L had to win a game on Friday to make it to the final game and although it was an extremely close game, U of L won and we made it down to the Blues and Rock and Roll Capitol of the World to watch the game in the FedEx Forum, which is without a doubt, the nicest basketball arena in the country.After the game, we headed to Graceland, to see the home of ¢The King¢, before we headed to Beale Street for a night of serious fun, partying with thousands of other Cardinal fans.Beale Street is comparable to Bourbon St if you have never been to Memphis. It is one bar after another, and there are great blues artists playing in nearly every bar, almost none of which charge a cover, so you can roam freely from bar to bar. The streets are closed as well, so you can carry your favorite beverages from one smoky blues joint to another as well.We started our evening on Beale St at a great blues bar, and I had some of the best seared chicken I have ever tasted, (Yes, I opted out of the standard Memphis BBQ). After watching a blues guitarist and harmonica player rip out some tunes in the BB King style, I wanted to hit the only Irish pub styled bar in the area for a frothy pint of my favorite, Guinness; which got the night really started.The bar we went to get my Guinness at was called Silky O'Sullivan¢s and as soon as I walked in, I heard the singer wailing out, 'Piano Man', by Billy Joel, and I knew I had found a gem in this Irish Pub full of 'Erin Go Bragh' flags and the familiar ORANGE/GREEN/WHITE Ireland flags. It is the definitely the most amazing bar I have ever been in before, PERIOD. I have never witnessed a friendlier bar in my life, and I never thought a place this great could really exist. It seemed almost fake, as we all sang together and danced in our seats while the singer, Barbara Blue, commanded the attention of the crowd, but made us all feel as if we were up there with her. I had one crazy night, and met some ¢Interesting¢ people and I won¢t go into details about the rest! (Sorry, but Stephanie is the only one who can understand the humor in the people I met, becuase she was there...¢¦) Around midnight, I knew if I didn¢t leave then, I wouldn¢t ever want to go, so we strolled out of Silky¢s joyousness and I took some more pictures of Beale Street at its finest hours. I then, took off to the hotel across the Mississppi river to get some shuteye, so I would be fully rested for our venture into Nashville the next day.Nashville was extremely nice, and due to my extreme love for music,(particularly Bluegrass and Old Time Country), I decided to continue my hasty tour of the downtown yesterday, while promising myself that I would return in fall to complete my Nashville experience, and spend a few days there to really get a grasp of this town.This weekend was a great chance to enjoy some things I love about non-trail life and get my mind off of the trail. I have been trying to enjoy things that I won¢t have on the trail for a long time now, and this weekend I finally did it for the first time in months. Since my leg break my mind has been on the trail constantly! It is going to be here so quickly!Take it easy everyone!Go Cards!