Tuesday, June 10, 2008

HOLY HEATWAVE, PT. II

It's 12:45am and as I write this, it's still 86 degrees outside. Hot, humid and funky. What a way to enjoy a Monday night. According to my weather goddess, HEIDI JONES, we will have to endure near 100-degree weather for one more day before we are hit with a deluge of rain that will break the heatwave. I only pray that our air conditioning system holds up until then.

CHEAP INTERNS RULE THE NIGHT

I stopped in a short while ago to check in with the staff and to see how things were going. It was obvious that the night was a good one: plenty of beer mugs all over the place; cluster of small groups engrossed in conversation and music, having a good time. The majority of the crowd that was still there when I arrived were definitely interns. Some of them were still wearing temporary ID cards on their chests.

As I hung out at the bar, talking with FIRE MARSHALL ED, I couldn't help but to notice during the few transactions that took place that none of the big time spenders were leaving any tips. One group in particular would stroll up to the bar, order a fist full of mugs, pay for their bounty, and simply tuck away their change- with no thought whatsoever to leaving a tip. What's up with that?? It was bad enough that they didn't even bother to think about leaving a tip- what made it worse was some of the attitudes these kids had. As if they were doing you a favor. Where do they think they are? England??? Talk about nerve.


THANKS, DEE DEE....

During the course of the recent NHL Playoffs, I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of great hockey fans. One fan in particular was a young lady by the name of DEE DEE. She was a diehard Detroit Red Wings fan, from Detroit who was not only cute, but knew her hockey too (a very nice combination, I must say). She came by the bar for every Red Wings game, sat in her same seat each time and never complained the few times we didn't have the sound on for a game.

Saturday night I found myself working as a last-minute replacement for FIRE-MARSHALL ED (he got called away for duty). While in the middle of a conversation with another employee, imagine my surprise when this hot chick came walking through the bar with a small bag in her hand. It was DEE DEE. She caught me off guard because quite frankly, I've never seen her without her Red Wings jersey before. She turned out to be hotter that I thought.

DEE DEE walked over to me and presented me with the small bag. She said it was a token of gratitude for us being so nice to her and her friends during the hockey playoffs. To be honest, I was quite taken aback by the gesture. It's not very often that a patron would go out of their way do that for me. It was a nice feeling, I have to admit.


EURO 2008 UPDATE:

Monday saw our first upset of the tournament as the pesky Dutch squad of the Netherlands decided to put aside their differences to put on a masterclass display on the favored Azzurri of Italy, trouncing them 3-0. It wasn't even close. The Italians are probably wailing in the streets of Rome as we speak.

The other match featured Le Bleus of France and Romania, the "weakest" team in this group, otherwise known as the Group of Death. That match, on the other hand, was a bit of a snooze-fest, as each team played tentative soccer, resulting in a 0-0 tie. Whoopie.

TODAY'S SCHEDULE:

Spain vs Russia (12 noon)

Greece vs Sweden (2:45pm).

$4.00 Carlsberg Drafts during the matches!!!


That's it for now. I'll be working the day shift tomorrow, so you won't catch me online. Try to stay cool and if you are around during the afternoon, stop in and say hello!


Dollar Draft Madness tonight!!! ($1.00 Bud/Bud Light MUGS)


Nuff Said

HAIL TO THE CHAMPIONS!

Well..... it's all over. A fun-filled hockey season came to a dramatic end last night when the Detroit Red Wings held off a furious rally by the hometown Pittsburgh Penguins to win Game 6, 3-2, and as a result, winning the Stanley Cup, 4 games to 2.



Throughout the series, it was pretty evident that the Red Wings had the better team; From steady defense to timely scoring and top-notch goaltending, the Stanley Cup Champs did what they needed to do to take control of the series early and doing whatever was necessary to keep the pressure on the young Pens.

Give the young Pens credit- They had a great playoff run. They breezed through the Eastern Conference side of the playoffs with very little trouble, only to run into a veteran team with a lot of grit and determination of their own. If they are able to keep all of their impending free agents, they will be a force to reckon with in the near future. Trust me on this.






In the meantime, to the victors belong the spoils. And for those Red Wings fans in the house, congrats to you too.

I want to take time to thank the following:

*MANHATTAN BEER (Coors Light/Molson Canadian Reps): For helping us put together the NHL Center Ice Program at Third and Long and for providing us support whenever we needed it throughout the season. Job well done.

*THE NHL for being helpful with any questions/concerns we had throughout the season.

*The Canadians in NYC Facebook Group for their strong support, especially in the playoffs!

and finally....

*To the patrons of Third and Long for supporting this venture all season long. Because of your ongoing support, the hockey season was a successful one! I think we've firmly established ourselves as one of the premier destinations for NHL hockey action!

Thanks again!


WEEKEND HAPPENINGS:

Since there's so much going on this weekend, I decided to list the upcoming events NOW, just to keep everyone abreast of what's taking place:

THURSDAY: SIERRA NEVADA TASTING PARTY (7pm-9pm). If you haven't tried it yet, here's your opportunity to check out SIERRA NEVADA I.P.A. on draft! $4.00 pints, with plenty of giveaways! BOSTON vs L.A., NBA Finals, Game 1 (9pm).

FRIDAY: "After-Work Happy Hour" (5pm-10pm). $4.00, all Beers, Mixed Well Drinks and House Wines!

SATURDAY: " EURO 2008 Kick-Off Party" (12noon). Catch the beginning of Europe's Most Important Soccer Tournament with a double-header! Switzerland vs Czech Republic (12noon) and Portugal vs Turkey (2:45pm); After that, we head straight into THE BELMONT STAKES with the race going off at 6pm! $4.00 Carlsberg Drafts all month long!

SUNDAY: EURO 2008 continues with another doubleheader beginning at 12 noon: Austria vs Croatia, followed by Germany vs Poland at 2:45pm. $4.00 Carlsberg and Domestic Drafts ALL DAY LONG!!!


That's it for now! More updates later!



Nuff Said.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

BACK TO THE OLD GRIND....

It's just after midnight on Monday and after a slow start, Dollar Draft Madness is kicking into full swing. The bar, once filled with diehard Detroit Red Wings fans, have since been replaced by college kids and gypsies. The college kids are your typical fratniks, who must have just gotten home for the summer and are meeting up with friends on the cheap.

On the other hand, the gypsies are gathered together like a pack of hounds, trying to impress the ladies in the bar by wearing knock-off designer duds and donning sunglasses in the dark. One guy in particular, is trying to raise his "street cred" by making announcements to the whole bar about getting a big promotion at work and buying everyone a round of drinks.

(Keep in mind that this is dollar draft night)

This could get funny. What an idiot.

On another note, just met the most interesting woman. Her name is Hillary Atkin, and she's in the entertainment industry. She happened to be walking by and stopped in for a drink. We started talking and as it turns out, she's a pretty cool and down-to-earth young woman. She saw me writing on the blog and offered to share her blog with me and I have to say, I was pretty impressed. Check it out and tell me what you think: THE ATKIN REPORT. I'm always amazed at the people we meet here.

Overall, the bar is churning along nicely. At least for Memorial Day.


UPDATE: Remember the Gypsy Boys I spoke about earlier? After spending most of the evening trying to play the role of "Big Ballers", it came time to pay the bill. And when the bill arrived, all of a sudden, the "Big Ballers" weren't so big after all. After much bickering between the Boys and the staff and the Boys among themselves, they finally paid their bill.

Wankers.


Tomorrow: Back to the old grind.


Nuff said.