Spindini, like many other Downtown businesses that enjoy the 45 games a year that bring fans in close proximity, can only watch.

“We would expect a full house once the game was over,” (David) Armstrong said. “Now, we won’t expect anything.”

Much will be made of the lockout’s big-picture financial effects, the million-dollar numbers trotted out by economist types. Just last fall, for instance, the Greater Memphis Chamber commissioned a study that said the team and the Forum generate $223 million annually and support 1,534 full-time equivalent jobs.

But what of the small picture? What of the small-business owners, the servers, the hotel clerks — the workers who on this chilly November night would reap the benefits of a rejuvenated group of Grizzlies fans hosting one of their more marquee games of the season?

via Kyle Veazey of The Memphis Commercial Appeal