Memphis, TN

Hi again everyone!

I hope Monday was okay for everyone, with Duke admissions coming out & all. For those who were admitted, huge congratulations! I hope you choose to come here--it's an amazing place & I wouldn't have found a better fit anywhere else. & For those of you who didn't, I'm really sorry but know that there are places out there for you, too!

Now getting back to how my weekend was.. it was hectic! Basically I left Duke Friday night/early Saturday morning to go to Memphis to cover our Women's Basketball Sweet 16 / Elite Eight for the Chronicle (all expenses on them). Since my flight was at 7 in the morning & my cab was coming at 5:30am, I decided not to sleep--something I sort of regretted later on in the day.

The photographer and I finally arrived in Memphis at around 1 p.m.and we headed to our hotel, the Westin on Beale St. , which is right across from FedEx Forum, where the Memphis Grizzlies play (and where the women were to play). Right after we put our stuff down, we headed to the FedEx Forum since the game started at 2 pm.

It was an amazing experience covering the game, and having to live blog, twitter (@chroniclesports), & write a story immediately after was very intense and demanding, but definitely really fun. I couldn't believe that I was being surrounded by actual sports writers, people from the Associated Press, USA Today, AOL Fan Page, Durham Herald, etc. I sat right behind the officials during both games and had my own assigned seat and name tag!

  

A view of the court from my seat. That little TV up there is for instant replay used by the referees!

The women ended up defeated San Diego State after a close first half, and it was a great feeling knowing that they were in the Elite 8, and that they had deserved it. Right after the game, I went to the press conference, and wrote the story which was to be put online right away (since it was a weekend). Then, the photographer and I headed down Beale St. to get something to eat.

Now let me tell you about Beale St. When I first heard that there was an assignment in Memphis, I was really excited to go because I love covering women's basketball. Never had I thought that Memphis would be a cool place to be. Arriving at my hotel changed things completely. Beale St. at night was filled with festivities, with all the stores' neon, fluorescent signs flashing, live music in front of every other bar/restaurant, and just a mass group of people walking around. It seemed like a mix of St. Patrick's Day and Mardi Gras all over again, and I couldn't believe how festive the place was!

Random street corner

Blurry picture of the street (sorry it's from my phone)

Live music setup in the Pepsi Cola Pavillion

Another street shot

Memphis .. home of the blues, rock & roll, and Elvis

This guy used cardboard cutouts in the shape of triangles and rectangles, and spray paint to make those amazing masterpieces on the right. He was so amazing!! No pencil, no pen, nothing!

We headed to Dyers for dinner, where they had amazing burgers & fries.

From there, we called it a night and went back to do homework (since I had a CompSci lab and an ICS midterm to do, and she had a blog post and movie script to write, and a book to read). We stayed up late just talking, working, and watching tv, and woke up at around noon the next day.

There was a press conference again for the upcoming Elite 8 match-up against the Baylor Lady Bears, and after the conference, I wrote another story that previewed the game (and appeared on the front page of the Chronicle!!). Then, we headed out for a lunch/dinner meal. We walked around Beale St. during the day, which was much calmer and relatively empty (it was a Monday, after all). The street was still blocked off, though, so it was cool to be able to walk around without worrying about when to cross the street and all that.

Just a shot of the beginning of the street

A Coyote Ugly saloon!! (I'm not sure why I was so excited.. I guess it reminded me of the movie, and in a way it was kind of like a set, like Universal Studios.. though the movie wasn't even filmed here.. Not sure what I was thinking, but still cool!)

The Daisy .. an old theater

We went to this place called Alfred's, which had AMAZING bbq. I had a pulled pork sandwich and never had as good bbq as I did there... We watched the Duke game while eating & left during a timeout to head back to the hotel.

Part of the inside of Alfred's. The back walls were adorned with records and pictures, and the middle of the back had a sage and a huge projector screen (as pictured above). Later at night, we saw a live band performing from the stage.

After heading back to the hotel, we came out again at night to the Hard Rock Cafe to grab a late-night meal. A lot of the places were only open to those 21+ because they served alcohol, so we walked into the Hard Rock .. and there was a concert featuring Saving Abel that was about to start!!!

A picture of them from the upstairs balcony

A close-up picture (The photographer took this, as you can tell..)

It was a wonderful experience, and it was so coincidental how we happened to be there and got to listen to the band! I have a recording on my phone of them playing, but I can't figure out how to upload it, so you can just listen to their songs (like this one!), on YouTube. 

After that, we went back, did work (again), and went to sleep early from a long day. The next day, we got up at around noon again, and we both had tasks to do, like call our editors, etc., and we finally headed out at 4 to grab a quick meal before the 6pm game. We ended up going to a restaurant with amazing bbq (again!), and we shared the most amazing nachos ever.

It was sweet from the bbq, spicy from the jalapenos, cheesy, and just a big melange of flavors!

We headed back to FedEx Forum and got ready to cover the game. The experience was amazing watching our players on the court again, but I was really sad to see them lose. The press is supposed to be unbiased, so I couldn't cheer for Duke or anything, but at the end, when we lost our 10-point lead in the last 3 minutes, I felt defeat and couldn't believe it. The trip overall was amazing, but I just wish we could have gone to the Final Four, especially since the women have worked so hard and deserved to get there. I guess there's always next year..

Anyway, after the game, there was a press conference, and we ended up staying at the stadium until midnight since I had to write two stories (a game story and an analysis) and the photographer had to upload her pictures and pick which ones should go with the story and which should go in the online slideshow.

We headed back and didn't sleep since we had a 4:30am cab to the airport to catch our 6am flight back home. The trip to Memphis was AMAZING, and I think one of the greatest parts of being here. I never thought that as a freshman I would be able to travel across the country to cover sports games, let alone have it all paid for by The Chronicle. Just another fact (one of a million) that Duke was the right place for me!

Beale St., you are missed, but I'll see you again in a couple years, hopefully!!