THE FUN STARTS THIS TUESDAY!

PLAYING GUARDIAN ANGEL...

The past few weeks I've found myself playing "guardian angel" to one of our local "celebrities", the one and only PROFESSOR IRWIN COREY. He's a famous comedian who was really big back in the 60's and 70's and continues to perform on stage and screen today, at the ripe young age of 96.

The "Professor" (as we like to call him) keeps himself busy by going around the neighborhood and selling newspapers. Yes, selling newspapers at his age. I used to think that he was doing it to supplement his income; You know, a man down on his luck. Then I found out that he lived on Sniffen Court, a famous gated community in the neighborhood, where carriage houses sell for over a million dollars, easy. I eventually found out that he sells the papers to raise money for poor folks in Cuba (his political views are another story for another day).

I bring up the guardian angel thing because, each morning he stops by the bar and sells us his papers. We buy them and he'll tell us a joke or two and be on his merry way. We're located on a corner of a busy intersection and I don't know if it's because of his age or what but he tends to walk out onto the street with his walker filled with newspapers, regardless of what color the stop light is. And I find myself running out onto the street to stop traffic so that he doesn't get hit. And each time he smiles at me, tells me a joke and walks away, oblivious to what nearly happened to him.

Today, while waiting for the cable guy to show up, there was the Professor again, hawking his papers, this time in the middle of the street! He'd walk up to a car during a red light in his walker and knock on the window and try to sell his papers. Now where we're located, there is an exit for the busy Midtown Tunnel, where cars come flying out and around the corner and if you aren't careful, you can get clipped if you're walking in the street. And with a frail, small 96 year-old-man with a walker, you're a sitting duck.

So I see him out there in the middle of traffic, selling papers and oblivious of the fact that cars are swerving to avoid hitting him, and I bolt out of the bar and once again, jump out onto the street to keep the cars from hitting him. I gently grab the Professor by the arm and guide him back onto the sidewalk. I tell him that he shouldn't be out in the middle of the street trying to sell papers, that it's a dangerous and busy intersection and he might get hit.

I go back inside and sure enough, ten minutes later I look out and there he is again, hawking papers out in the middle of the intersection. This time around, he's almost causing accidents as cars are screeching to a halt to avoid hitting him. I run out again and pull him back onto the sidewalk and this time, beg him to stay out of the street. What does he do?

He gives me a lecture about being 96 years old and knowing what he's doing and not to worry about him. And sure enough, within a few minutes, he's right back out there, doing his thing.

WTF???

I guess when you're 96 years old, you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want. All I can do is look out for the old guy and make sure he stays safe.


That's It. That's All I Got.

Friday, March 5, 2010

EMBRACING NEW FACES..

I'm writing today's blog post from the bar this morning rather than from my usual spot because I have a date..... yes, a date.. with Time Warner Cable (rolling eyes).

You know the deal: You call the cable company and discuss your problem. The operator tells you that the next available date for the cable company to come out is about a week or two after your initial call. Then there's my favorite part: Selecting the time for the visit. With Time Warner, it's always a crap-shoot; It's either 9am-1pm or 1pm-5pm. And of course they almost always come within the first ten minutes of that block of time or the last ten minutes of that same block of time. Either way, you're doomed to wait.... and wait.... and wait. Which is what I am doing now. Lovely.

Last night was a pretty interesting night at the bar. It started out somewhat promising when a couple of small but lively groups showed up for Happy Hour. We also had a small group of co-workers booked for an after-work gig, however, it fizzled out when the girl who scheduled the party realized that her most of her co-workers were going to another work-related party instead. Reality check!

The night had a lot of ebb and flow to it. One moment you'd find the place teeming with females, gossiping over drinks. An hour later, the females would be replaced with a bunch of frat boys, blowing off steam over sports on TV. It flipped-flopped back and forth like that pretty much the whole night long.

During the course of the night, I got to meet some cool new people. There were these guys who happened to stop by after the NY Rangers/Pittsburgh Penguins game and were pleasantly surprised to find that we were a hockey bar. After talking hockey for a bit, it turned out that one the guys has his own hockey-related website (Hockey Barn.com), which covers all things related to, yes you guessed it: hockey.

I also met a lovely young lady who popped in with a friend of hers. As it turns out, she's a budding blogger who recently started a blog on bars and nightlife in NYC. She interviewed me for her blog and we got to share some funny stories about the bar life. When she sends me her link (I forgot to ask), I'll post it here.

There's an interesting little fellow who's been frequenting our bar for the last month or so. He hails from Wales (there's a rhyme) and he's been in our bar pretty much every night for the last 30 days (that's his proclamation, not mine). His story is that he's here to find an internship/job with a financial-based company. I'm not sure how that's going since he's always seems to be out every night. And he always has these bizarre stories of things happening to him while he's out and about, painting the town red. Oh to be young again.

WEEKEND HAPPENINGS:

TONIGHT: "After-Work Happy Hour" (5-9pm), $4 Mixed Well Drinks/Domestic Pints.

SATURDAY: "Kick the Keg Saturdays" (12pm-7pm), $2 mugs, ALL BEERS ON TAP*! Followed by "Hockey Night in New York", featuring $20 buckets of Labatt Blue, Molson Golden or Coors Light and $4 Molson Canadian pints! NHL Center Ice on tap for ALL NHL GAMES!

SUNDAY: "Kick the Keg Sundays" (12-7pm), $2 mugs, ALL BEERS ON TAP* (a deal so nice, we had to do it twice)! OSCARS Viewing Party (7pm -close), featuring $4 Domestic Pints/Mixed Well Drinks and live Oscars telecast w/sound!

As always, check out our website for more details and if you haven't done so yet, become a fan of Third and Long on FACEBOOK!


NEXT WEEK: BIG EAST TOURNAMENT BEGINS (Tuesday)!

That's It. That's All I Got.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, ROUND 7

Last night's edition of Pub Trivia had an air of electricity about it, as there were quite a few new teams on board, vying for a spot in the upcoming Finals of the Tournament of Champions. With our host, BRAD C. headlining the evening's activities, this week's theme was the Oscars, appropriate enough with this year's ceremonies taking place on Sunday.





As I mentioned before, there were plenty of newbies in for the action and they definitely had a good time.






With seven teams locked in already, we only have one slot left to fill before the finals. Next Wednesday, 8pm is the last opportunity to get your team into the finals so gather up the troops and make your way down to the bar and show everyone if you have what it takes! As always, it's free to play and you're guaranteed a good time!

TONIGHT: "Thirsty Thursdays" is the theme of the night, with $4 Domestic Drafts (5-10pm), NCAA Hoops and NHL Hockey on tap all night long!


More to come.


That's It. That's All I Got.

Oscar Night at Third and Long!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

HUMP DAY BLUES...

It's the halfway point of the week. Weather's crappy. I'm nursing a twisted knee (though I'm not quite sure what caused it); and quite frankly, I don't have much to report. With that being said, leave it to MR. TANQUERAY to drop a gem of an item for me to post:



(note the end of the video.... priceless).

Only in America, folks. What a country.


TONIGHT: With Pub Trivia's TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS nearing its conclusion, we have six slots filled for the upcoming finals, two slots left to fill. So gather up the troops and see if you have what it takes to get into the finals! Teams are 1-8 members and it's free to play. Besides playing for a spot in the finals, you and your team have an opportunity to play for cool prizes like bar tabs, t-shirts and other cool bar swag! And don't forget the drink specials ($15 Miller High Life buckets and $4 Mixed Well Drinks for ladies)!

Team registration kicks off at 7pm and the fun starts at 8pm.


That's It. That's All I Got.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

18 DAYS TO GO....

The countdown to Spring has officially begun. Today is March 2nd and on March 20th we officially say good bye to Winter (hopefully once and for all). T-BILL and I had "that conversation" yesterday about that annual rite of Spring: "The Day". What is "The Day" you ask? It's when women in NYC come out in full warm-weather fashion mode on that first day when it's exceptionally warm out. No jackets, no sweaters, just full-on winter shedding outfits with everything out for all to see. It's a day that the fellas at the bar really enjoy.

Right now, the over/under date of that taking place is April 15th. What do you think? It's supposed to be in the 50's this weekend alone, so..... What say you?

Still recovering from that crazy Gold Medal game on Sunday.

Time to start focusing on what should be a pretty busy month of March. This week, for example, aside from the usual weekly events scheduled at the bar (Beer Bingo, Pub Trivia, Hockey Night, etc.), we have our Annual Oscars Night Viewing Party. It's a fun night where we sit back, check out the Oscar telecast (complete from the Red Carpet show to the post-show comments), and do our own Oscar predictions contest (guess the winners).

From there, it becomes College Basketball central as we roll into Championship Week, where all of the conference tournaments take place, leading into Selection Sunday and the beginning of March Madness. Then of course, St. Patrick's Day takes center stage (it falls on a Wednesday this year), followed by the tip-off of the craziest two weeks in sports: the NCAA Tournament. Once the smoke clears on this, we're already into April, so as you can see, it's back to normal here at Third and Long as we shake off winter once and for all. And not a moment too soon!

In the meantime, we say goodbye to the Winter Olympics one last time with a special Dollar Draft Madness celebration with $1 mugs of BUD/BUD LIGHT, $2 Molson Canadian Drafts and $3 Molson Golden bottles all night long! We also have a visit by the MOLSON CANADIAN MODELS as well as plenty of NHL games on tap:

NY RANGERS vs OTTAWA
MONTREAL vs BOSTON
VANCOUVER vs COLUMBUS
TORONTO vs CAROLINA
NY ISLANDERS vs CHICAGO

Should make for a great night!


That's It. That's All I Got.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Sidney Crosby scores game-winner(Getty Images)

ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS....

The Men's Hockey Gold Medal Game between Team USA and CANADA was one that was filled with intense anticipation by fans of both teams. With a 3:15 start, the bar started filling up with nervous patrons as early as 2pm. As expected, we had a nice contingent of Canadian fans, ready to support their team...


as well as a pretty strong following for Team USA....


Of course there were some good natured ribbing between the fans of the two countries...

But it all went by the wayside once the game began.

I was torn again on who to cheer for. Most folks who know me knows how much of a fan of hockey I am. I am a supporter of a Canadian team (Montreal Canadiens). While I was very happy to see Team USA win their first encounter against Team Canada last week, I had a hard time believing that they would be able to defeat Team Canada twice in a row; especially after winning the first time. To try and beat the Canadians on their home ice twice, with the Gold Medal on the line and the pressure of two supporting nations and a worldwide audience on them... that was a lot to ask for. I just couldn't see it happening. But then again, that's why they play the game.

And sure enough, after a pretty even first period, Team Canada finally broke the deadlock and jumped out to a 1-0 lead. After scoring another goal in the second period and holding a 2-0 lead, the USA supporters were feeling pensive while the Canada supporters were cautiously optimistic.



However, when Team USA scored it's first goal, the place went nuts. And when I played "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen, the USA supporters really went crazy, just adding to the suspense of the game.





Finally, the 3rd period came and the pressure that came with watching that... it's hard to describe. It seemed that everyone hung on every shot taken, every hit made, every questionable call by the refs; you could cut the tension with a knife. When we got down to the final two minutes and Team USA pulled their goalie, you thought that the place was going to explode in anticipation: Will Team Canada hold off a hard-charging Team USA?

And then it happened.

Zach Parise's goal with less than 30 seconds in the game sent the place into a tizzy. Even the casual hockey fan got swept up in the euphoria of the moment as Team USA clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit to send the game into overtime...





It was unbelievable. I have to admit, I even found myself getting caught up in the moment. But then came overtime. Both teams were locked in and focused on the task at hand, and the fans in the bar were just as locked in. And at about 7:40 into overtime, "The Shot" happened...

The thrill of victory.....

And the agony of defeat. With that, what turned out to be a thrilling game was over and Team Canada won the gold medal for its exuberant fans, while Team USA were resigned to the fact that the came up just short on a remarkable run.





So while it was a heart-breaking loss for the Americans, you have to tip your hat to Team USA. They weren't expected to medal at all in these Olympics and to not only go undefeated but to go into overtime in the Gold Medal game, says wonders. This was a young team and they will be a force to reckon with in the next Winter Olympics (Sochi 2014). They have nothing to be ashamed of.

As for Team Canada, they had the pressure of being anointed the best team in the tournament; expectations were for gold and nothing less, and to have to do this on home ice, talk about a tall order. And when they lost to Team USA in the first round, there were serious concerns of them not being able to complete the task. But they dug in deep and found a way to make it happen and to raise the spirits of a country on which hockey is everything to them.

As for the day itself, I have to say, I hadn't had this much fun watching a sporting event since Italy/France in the last World Cup final. To see fans of two countries cheer hard and proudly for their teams and to do it in a way that was not only fun, but in a respectful way... it was a sight to see. Good times.


TONIGHT: BEER BINGO/MUG NIGHT MADNESS (4pm-close) featuring $1 Bud/Bud Light/Coors Light mugs OR $2 mugs, all other domestic drafts!


That's It. That's All I Got.