It's been an interesting week in sports, primarily in the baseball world. I was going to write a column on steroids in baseball, tainted world series games, and just my overall thoughts on what's considered "cheating" in America's past time. However, I think steroids have become so common in baseball that it's not really a compelling story anymore. Instead, I've decided to vent about something that happened to me last weekend in downtown Atlanta.
I went to this new pizza place with some friends to have, what else, beer and pizza. When it comes to food, there isn't a more classic "guys night out" than beer and pizza. However, there is one other component that typically makes the "beer and pizza" experience perfect -- watching "the game."
My buddies and I pack into a booth, order our food and I immediately look over to the bar and noticed, of the two flat screen TV's in this fine establishment, NEITHER of them had the Braves game on. So.....I politely ask the hostess, "can you have them turn the Braves game on?" She said, "no problem." 5 minutes later, nothing. I ask our waiter, "can you see if the bartender can put the Braves game on?" Waiter says, "sure bro." 5 minutes later, nothing again. Mind you, the Braves are playing the team I grew up following, the Milwaukee Brewers. It's after 8:00pm, and I've already missed some of this epic battle (Ok, I'm embellishing the story...it wasn't that epic). By now I'm getting a little annoyed. I decided to approach the bartender, "excuse me, can you throw the Braves game on one of the TVs? It's either on Channel 17, 646, or 649." You see what I did there - I tried to make his life a lot easier. The less complicated for him, the better for me. We've all been there: there is nothing worse than watching a bartender (who doesn't follow sports) scroll through all 500 channels trying to find the game you want. Occasionally, they will stop on a channel that is the same sport and turn to you, "is this is?" (As the TV displays women's college softball.) Unless Chipper Jones is taking the female hormone drugs Manny was on and grew a ponytail.....NO, THAT'S NOT IT!!!
This particular bartender had to use some sort of Bat-phone to apparently get clearance on changing the channel. Finally, 3 minutes later - victory. The Braves-Brewers game was on the TV above the bar, as I devour my beer and pizza.
With that tragic story as the backdrop, here is my gripe: if Atlanta wants to be taken serious as a "sports town" - I should not be able to walk into a pizza joint on a Friday night, downtown, and have to ask for the bartender to put on the Braves game (three times!). This is the difference between the South and Northeast and even the Midwest. If I were at a pizza joint in Boston, New York, Chicago, or Philly, there would be no doubt that all TV's would be set on "the game."
Which by the way, that's another difference between Atlanta and Northern sports towns. I had to clarify with the bartender, "can you put on the BRAVES game?" In cities up North, it's just "Hey Tony, throw the game on!"
Atlanta is a town of over 5 million people now. It has all four major sports franchises, an ACC school in Georgia Tech and an SEC school in University of Georgia. There should not be a pizza joint, bar, pool hall, pub, burger spot without a game on a television after 7pm on a Friday night.
The city "too busy to hate" need not become, "the city too busy to change the channel."
Dude...this is a universal issue and it is one of my biggest pet peeves. If you want to call yourself a SPORTS BAR, you need to know how to turn on a fucking game. I can't count the number of places I have walked into or called and asked if they were going to have "this or that" game, and the hostess who answers the phone or the guy at the bar has no FUCKING clue. I once called a bar that was PROMOTING on the radio they would have a world title fight to ask what time the fight started, and the hostess had NO idea!!! But your promoting on the radio you're going to have the fight...and you're telling me you don't know when it starts?!? It's poor management! If I'm managing a sports bar, and I expect to get people to come and watch games, one of first thing I need to do when my hostesses get to work is make sure they have the schedule of games we are carrying, and understand it well enough to relay that to potential customers. It's the same thing in hotels. I hate when I go to a town and check into a hotel and the people at the front desk have no idea about what the good restaurants are bars are. People you work in CUSTOMER SERVICE! Learn about your town so you have something intelligent to say to visitors. WAR USC offspring playing football at Arizona, I'm OUT!
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