It's no secret, I enjoy watching sports at local eateries and watering holes.
Actually, it's one of my favorite things to do. "Do you want to watch the ball game at Shorty's Pizza Shack?" The answer is always "Yes." It doesn't matter if that ball game is women's soccer or little league baseball or college football. And the location could vary as well. The Dancing Bear, Salty Dog, George's, Hog Creek Ice House, etc.
So it came as good news, blog worthy even, obviously, that the NFL ended it's lockout on Monday afternoon. And because I was excited about that, I set out to interview a few restaurant folks about what I thought would be a subject of universal rejoicing.
I didn't expect anyone to be dancing or performing cart wheels. I sort of expected the reaction I got from Shorty's Pizza Shack owner Ted Browning. On a day when he had a lot of business to attend to, it was just another thing that happened. Browning said he is more of a college football fan. As am I. And his place is so new that he doesn't know what to expect when it comes to patrons wanting to watch the NFL while eating pizza in his restaurant (my guess, though is that it will be a popular pastime). And he sort of figured the NFL and the NFL players would work out something by Labor Day. Fair enough. But still, he has televisions within the friendly confines of Shorty's Pizza Shack and he has a cable package that includes the NFL Network. And it's a pretty safe bet that whenever the Dallas Cowboys are playing football, there will be people watching them at Shorty's.
Still, as stated, I don't expect everyone to be as excited as I am about the ending of the NFL lockout, which by the way happened this afternoon.
It has come to my attention that some people weren't even aware that there was a lockout. Again, that's fine.
However, after I stopped in at Shorty's, I did the same at a chain restaurant that will remain unnamed here for reasons that will become clear in a moment. I left there pretty disappointed.
Let me just say this: if you manage a chain restaurant that features dozens of television sets for patrons to watch sports, then you should probably care a little bit. Beyond that, if that chain restaurant fills the national airwaves with advertisements which depict supposed customers exuberantly enjoying football games, then maybe you should be interested enough to not stare at me with cold, apathetic eyes as I ask you about your reaction to today's news. I mean, you told me your restaurant is offering a promotion that entices fantasy football leagues to hold their drafts at your restaurant. Well, until today, we didn't even know if there would be any fantasy football drafts because if there's no NFL football there's no fantasy football either and therefore that promotion does not make any sense.
Oh, I know, I get too worked up over these things. I guess it's not necessary for the manager of a sports bar to care about sports. It seems like it would be a good idea though.
If I had it to do over again, I would have left the manager alone and spoken with the bartender.
And with that, I'm gonna go have a celebratory drink.
