Yesterday, Mark and I wanted to watch the Olympics mens' hockey game between USA and Canada. Because we have this super-duper system of antenna and TIVO, we do not get MSNBC. So I suggested we do what most poor college students do...... find a sports bar. Now many of you may not find this a unique idea, but I have never watched a game in a sports bar. And, being new to SJ, I didn't know of any sports bars. I went online and began searching..... While many advertised that they showed football and Sharks hockey, none mentioned Olympics. We decided to write down a few addresses and take a chance. We took light rail downtown and first saw a great show at the Quilt and Textile Museum - Joan Schulze retrospective. I took a class from her 15 years ago and she is amazing. She takes quilts to an artistic place that speaks to me. After leaving there, we wandered in the rain up and down the city streets searching for a bar with just the right elements...... The first was TOO FULL..... the second was TOO CLOSED..... and the last, the Britannia Arms (better known as the Brit) was JUST RIGHT. They had empty tables where Mark and I could spread out, lots of beer choices, good appetizers and LOTS of flat screens. Being a sports bar virgin, I wasn't sure what to expect. As the game began, the tables began to fill up..... lots of young-ish men bonding together over vast quantities of beer. The full table facing east was rooting for USA. And the full table facing west was rooting for Canada. With sons in and of Canada and daughters-who-play-hockey in the US, I was on the fence. We ordered our beers and appetizers (lots of salt and grease!) and settled in. Then a young woman who was followed by a guy holding a camera came to our table.... she was from the local NBC station and interviewing people about the game. Apparently a lot of Sharks players are playing on both teams (who would have known??). She wanted to get our thoughts about the game. And before I could protest, Mark announced that Sure, his wife would LOVE to talk to them. Oh my! Do I have pepper in my teeth? What kind of things were they saying in the Olympic interviews I watched last night? Should I sound knowledgeable or cute? It's so hard when you don't have time to prepare for your moment of stardom. Then she was asking me about the Sharks.... (the kind in the movies??) and who I was rooting for and what did I think about the game..... So I explained that we weren't Sharks fans.... YET (Phew, I remembered to throw that in at the last second) and that we had moved from Maine (how long can I keep claiming that?) and that we had 2 sons in Canada (forgive me Clint-who-lives-in-OR for the little white lie on TV) and 2 daughters in the US and most of them played hockey..... and the final foot-in-the-mouth was my bravado statement that I didn't think the score would be very high as they were both good teams (are they??). She thanked us and moved on. So back to the game..... it was very exciting to watch.... the patrons, I mean. Especially when a goal was scored. One of the 2 tables would erupt in cheers while the other would moan and swig beer. Come to think of it, they ALL would swig beer. And the final score was 5-3 USA. I REALLY hope that last statement to the TV lady is NOT on the air.
So, over all - the pros of going to a sports bar to watch sports:
1. snacks and beer that I didn't have to buy or serve or clean up
2. crowd watching - the energy is infectious, I found myself shouting, moaning and swigging right along with the kids
3. friendly staff who take good care of you - like having a mom when you are sick
4. being interviewed for the news - no one EVER came into my living room to interview me
And the cons:
1. public bathrooms - this one was clean and being a girl in a mostly male crowd, it was usually empty
2. chairs - not our squishy recliners
3. having to maintain "proper sports bar" behavior - like looking at the game ALL the time and acting really excited ALL the time and only knitting during the breaks between periods so you don't look like a bored old lady and not flossing or picking your teeth (not that I do that ALOT at home) and asking Mark game questions in a low voice so fellow sports bar patrons won't realize that you know very little about what is happening
All in all, I would say that it was a very fun evening and I would be happy to do it again. I'll keep you posted.
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