The City of Memphis has Grizzlies fever for the second year in a row! Actually, it's the most exciting of times (outside of the birth of my child and meeting my lovely wife here in Memphis) for me because it makes the city feel good and I get to work with the Grizzlies affiliate station, 92.9 FM ESPN. People love going to these games, watching a winner on TV, and actually seeing something very positive for the city. It's good business for Memphis.
On top of that and all the busy stuff we have going on here at Classic Hits 94.1 KQK (planning our "Made in Memphis" Weekend, Song of the Day for a bunch of FREE concert tickets, and behind the scenes meeting folks in the local community) it's Memphis in May!
Last weekend we had a "pirate" party for my son Jake. It's hard to believe he's already 4! Arlington in April was also last weekend, so my folks from Illinois enjoyed those festivities with us too! Good times.
The highlight of last night's game was meeting Anthony Grant, head basketball coach of the University of Alabama! That....and a Grizzlies win!
Well, March has almost passed and it's time for Easter. Time just rolls!
Something I've decided to do differently this year is use my vacation time earlier in the year. So a couple weeks ago my wife Stacy and I took our anniversary trip to Vegas! I actually used to live in Vegas, so it's some good ole sites and big time events. Typically, I don't enjoy vacations as much unless there's big events. We managed to pack in a UNLV (where I went to grad school) vs. New Mexico basketball game, "O" the Circque DeSole Show at Bellagio where we stayed, and the NASCAR 400 in Vegas on Sunday.
Yes, playing right into the good ole southern stereotypes, but we love NASCAR. But, it kind of evens out if you're talking about staying at the Bellagio and going to see Circque. Great trip. And some good friends as well.
Next up, concert season and Spring Events. Starting with our annual Special Kids fundraiser that I'll be hosting on April 7th. Please come out and support a great charity! Click here for more and I would love to see you on the morning of the 7th for a great charity. It's my 8th year doing it.
It's been an exciting month with the weather seasonably warmer this year. It's the first year in seven that I can honestly say, "It doesn't really snow in Memphis." Otherwise, that's just not true! But today, on the 27th of February, it's almost 70 degrees and t-shirt weather. My family was playing outside with our son on his playset and BBQing this weekend.
Besides the weather, some of my favorite February events occured and were fun as always!
This weekend, my family went to the Shriners Circus at the Shelby Show Place Arena. The funniest part is how they make it IMPOSSIBLE for parents to leave without buying a $10 "light saber" of some sort before you leave. IMPOSSIBLE.
94.1 KQK sponsored Soup Sunday and it was good to see all our old (and young) friends! Willie B and I had a fun time hanging out with listeners and listening to the Doctors Band.
The Grizzlies are on fire as well, playing well enough to have an 18-14 record at the All Star break. Hopefully, we'll make the NBA Playoffs again and everyone in town and around the region will get GRIZZ FEVER! I've got it! The game we went to a couple weeks ago included a Dante Cunninggam last minute shot to win! It's nice to sit close thanks to our sister station, 92.9 FM ESPN, the station broadcasting the games. We were so close for the game you could see the sweat pouring off our Memphis All Star Marc Gasol.
Looking forward to some vacation time in March, more cool events including baseball, and concert season very soon!
~Brad
Hello to you again my friend! It's been a while since I've blogged. A couple months have passed and so much has happened over the past 2-months, and it has been good. Last month I became the Program Manager for the station, Classic Hits 94.1 KQK! This puts my job list at: 94.1 Midday Host, 94.1 Program Manager, 92.9 FM ESPN Program Manager, & 92.9 Exec. Producer for Gary Parrish Radio show. Each one of the program jobs is exciting. I'm VERY excited to program 94.1 because of our team, the music, the city and the local success we continue to build on. I get to work with Conley and Karen, Willie, Tom, GK, and a great team. I love being on talking about this music and the Mid-South. On the 92.9 side, it's writing, producing, creating and now working with the Grizzlies! I'm actually going to the first pre-season game tonight.
Personally, it's been a very good time because my son is now at the age where Christmas really means something. Elf on the shelf. Being good for Santa. It's all very fun. He is still scared of Santa based on his reaction looking at the Christmas line at Wolfchase.
I'm also very proud of my wife, Stacy, who recently started a very exciting new job here in Memphis!
With all the work, I'll continue to weave in a blog now and then. But for now, I'll see you on the radio. Thanks for reading. Merry Christmas.
The year really comes into perspective in Tennessee when the leaves fall and turn colors like they are now. Football is in full swing, but unfortunately for Alabama fans my son's prediction for an elephant win (Crimson Tide) didn't come true.
I was hoping to see an undefeated Crimson Tide team play my wife's Alma mater, Mississippi State, this weekend in Starkville, MS. But, it'll still be a fun time with my brother and sister in-law! Looking forward to it.
Speaking of football trips, we had a really nice overnight last weekend in Nashville watching the Titans beat the Colts. Our friend Andy, pictured with giant Colts jacket, has had a rough year considering he's also a UT fan!
Some suggestions for Nashville... Stay downtown. It's more expensive but you can walk everywhere or take a short cab ride. We stayed at a really nice hotel called the "Indigo" and took in Broadway. Even got some new boots! Margaritaville was fun because of the music and the balloon hat maker.
But the icing on the cake for the last 2 weeks had to be my beloved Saint Louis Cardinals winning the World Series. Time stops and all is right with the world when the birds on the bat win it all! We were there opening day in 2006 when they opened Busch and won it all that year. Ironically, we were at opening day this year. Coincidence?
I had a great time with my wife, mother in-law and my son Jake last weekend at the West Memphis HS Band Competition. My niece, Shelby, participated and did a great job with the Senatobia Marching Band. She's part of the auxiliary. She plays with the band as well (flute) during regular concert season.
But it brought back some great memories. The band at the high school where I went has kind of fallen on tough times over the past few years. Part of it is leadership. It's embarrassing to watch them march when I see them in a parade. Shelby's band (and every band I saw this weekend) is playing at a very different and much higher level of performance. In a word, all the bands were "tight".Â
The band director when I was in school, ironically named "Ben King", was a very good conductor, teacher, and leader. We also had a culture then where the sports players played in the band and it was considered "cool". Nowadays, things are so "specialized".Â
But I truly think leadership is what inspires the future. It was really exciting to see the young people this past weekend and it brought back some great memories. I thought about Mr. King this weekend. I may not be a professional saxophone player, but band and his leadership changed my life. I hope Shelby relishes these experiences.Â
Autumn Fun by Brad Carson,posted Oct 13 2011 10:28AM
My wife and I took our son Jake for a great Autumn trip to visit my folks in Illinois. The colors in Missouri and Illinois are in full "change". Way ahead of Tennessee for the most part.Â
This trip was partly to celebrate my wife starting her new job at Willis here in Memphis. I'm so proud of her.  I admire her work ethic very much.Â
Not only did we take time to celebrate her new job, but we went to our friend Bob and Joyce Sanvi's annual "canjun" party. We actually passed a trailer rig labeled with LSU stuff from Hommes, LA on I-55 in the Missouri boothill.  Stacy and I kept talking about that trailer because we knew LSU didn't play Missouri or Illinois. Turns out, they were the cooking crew for the party we went to the next day!
Friday night we also saw the Cardinals beat the Phillies and advance to the NLCS in baseball. I'm obviously a huge Cardinals fan. I actually have a "friend" here in Memphis who played for the Cardinals who is going to the game Friday. I'll share the rest of that story after Friday's game! But the story with the Cardinals has been this silly squirrel who ran across home plate. The marketing has kicked in on that...with the rally squirrel stuff.  The funniest thing was when that "squirrel" turned up in the Philadelphia celebration with Octavio Dotel marching it around the clubhouse.
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But Bernie Miklaz, a local columnist in St. Louis, brought up a good point that my friend Dennis and I were talking about. The Cardinals aren't about silly slogans, rally monkeys, squirrels, etc. They are about Hall of Famers, Stan the Man, history, Red, Whitey Ball, the Wizards, the voice of Jack Buck saying "that's a winner", and guys like me who nearly cry on opening day when they prance the clydesdales out. It's like a part of your childhood that you feel.
Speaking of childhood, on our trip my son Jake (who almost suffers from exhaustion he loves my folks farm so much) made his monthly trip to see his friends (horses) Queenie, Cari, and Cooper.
We also had the chance to catch some fish at my folks' pond and raise a flag at "Jake's Place" (AKA "the Cardinal Cabin"), which is great and provides nice shade at our monthly fishing hole.
Things are going well...Good weather, finally, and we're looking forward to spending some time with my family in the next few days. My folks have a farm, and we're big John Deere people. Of course, they don't have anything like this:
But there's nothing like time on the farm... and time in Cardinal country! I'm sensitive that we're not technically in Cardinals country 100% because I have several Braves and Cubs friends. But it makes me happy that the Cardinals are still playing baseball.
If you want to hear the games, you can support them on the other stations I work with: 92.9 FM ESPN/680 AM or 790 AM (tomorrow and Wed. games on 790 AM). I'm actually responsible for managing content on those 2 stations. Soon (Oct. 17th...you're one of the 1st to know this if you're reading my blog) we'll launch another 790 Sports with even more sports content here in Memphis.
I'm so glad that Memphis is my home. I love it here because of the soul of our city, the people, the events, the location, and the weather. Both sides of my family live relatively close. That said, I've been talking to my wife for the last 6 years about taking a vacation in New Jersey. Yeah I know, as Memphians it doesn't sound all that exciting compared to major cities.  Or when compared to Destin/Florida.  Or when compared to a lot of places. But New Jersey isn't about what you see on TV. South Jersey, where I worked and lived for four years before moving to Memphis, was very good to me because I was able to enjoy the shore lifestyle, the beach, the boardwalks, the entertainment of nearby Atlantic City, and the Victorian element of Cape May, NJ. I enjoyed my time there and always have seen it as a great place for fun and vacationing.
So, I finally had multiple deals and things come together to make the trip happen. Much of it because of my friends who I worked with that live in the area. It was also my son Jake's 1st plane ride, and he did so good! Luckily in Philadelphia they had a "play" airport that he enjoyed while we waited for the return trip.
It was fun to see Jake hit the beach because it was like a massive sandbox to him.
We also had the chance to take Jake to Ocean City, NJ. to enjoy the ocean, boardwalk, shopping, great pizza, and the carnival. They had unlimited rides for $10 on the day we visited. His favorite part was driving this little motor boat.
We also took the Cape May-Lewes Ferry across the Delaware Bay because of "more" shopping for my wife at their outlet mall. Jake enjoyed his first "cruise ship"/ferry ride. It also had a game room, which he enjoyed more than watching us cruise outside. He was reppin' Memphis with his little Jersey in this picture.
Luckily, while "mom" was shopping Jake and I spotted a candy shop and this massive lollipop.
But it was truly great to see all of my friends out there and introduce them to my family. My friend Eddie worked with all the kids making smores.  Not an easy task with 3-year-olds.
And my wife now believes me when I tell her that not everyone is just like "Jerseylicious" or "Snookie" in New Jersey and that the area really has some charm with fun things for families to do. I'll never forget our very first family trip (airplane trip) to the Jersey Shore.
So, it's been a loaded week. I was a judge at the Sam's Town company talent show and had the chance to hang out with Bill Boyd, Chris Wade, and their entire tremendous staff. Always fun...
Yesterday, my brother in-law Mike, his wife Angie, and my wife and I ventured to the Liberty Bowl. Clearly they need to prepare when they actually get crowds at Liberty Bowl. Especially crowds, unlike Southern Heritage Classic crowd, that do not spend the night at Tiger Lane. Please have a traffic direction plan. Also, closing entire exit roads isn't a good strategy y'all.
But a good game in the Skybox as I dressed up like a coordinator for Mississippi State...
Really looking forward to a fun weekend of family, food, and football!!! Is it Fall yet? I heard low 80's for Monday, so who knows?
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