Thursday, June 26, 2008

ESPN DROPS THE (soccer) BALL!

Yesterday was the first Semi-Final of the EURO '08 Cup, featuring Cup favorite GERMANY and the Cinderella team of the tournament, TURKEY. As I predicted before, the bar was filled with anxious and happy Turkey supporters, ready to cheer their team on. And the National Team did not disappoint the crowd, taking an early lead to stun Germany and their supporters.



Excitement for the Turks was short-lived, however, as the German team came right back to tie up the match shortly after the first goal was scored. The two teams went back and forth in an exciting match until...... the ESPN satellite feed disappeared! The packed bar was bewildered as the TV's showed a blank screen, while at the same time, listening to the confused announcers trying to give everyone the play-by-play without the benefit of a picture. Very surreal.

After a few minutes, the picture came back and by then, Germany had taken the lead. As the match was beginning to wind down, the Turkish fans were showing signs of fear that their magical run would end. Then the improbable happened: We lost our feed again!!!

This time, the Turkish fans were going nuts. A few minutes left until the end of the match and the feed disappears??? WTF? During that blackout, the Turkey team found a way to score to tie up the match. The fans went crazy, only to get disappointed as the TV feed came back, just as Germany re-took the lead with about a minute left to play. It gets better.

As the game resumes with literally stoppage time left to play, the feed disappears YET again, forcing both fans of Germany and Turkey to stare at blank TV's and listen (with hope) to the announcers as they described the last few moments of the match. Germany ultimately won the match, crushing the dreams of the Turks. What could have been a dramatic and exciting finish to witness, turned into a confusing, mish-mosh of nothing. Talk about dropping the ball, ESPN!






Alas, the dream run ended for the Turks. While they were sometimes annoying to deal with, they definitely brought something unique to the bar.

Later on in the evening, we hosted another session of GUITAR HERO. Now I still don't quite get the purpose of this game, however, it seems to be popular, so when in Rome.....







All told, while it was a LONG day, it was a pretty good one.


TONIGHT: "Bucket 'o Lights" (Buckets of Coors Light, Michelob Light and Miller Lite, 5/$15.00) 5pm-10pm!



Nuff Said