Monday, December 15, 2008

GONE FISHIN'..... SERIOUSLY.

The last few weeks I've documented the recent phenomenon of the "Fish", better known as the proliferation of Miami Dolphins fans to the bar. It started innocently enough with a few hardcore fans, looking to catch their team on any available TV. Each week, the very small group added a couple of more people to their group, then a couple of more. The numbers kept growing and growing to the point where it caught the attention of the long-term regulars, let alone myself. I even began calling them "The Cult" because of their underground status.


Well we can officially say that the DOLFANS (i.e. "The Cult" or "Fishheads") are no longer in "underground" status. The crew showed up in force again today, this time led by two lovely blondes named "Michelle". As it turns out the two "Michelles" (they're both actually named Michelle, in case you haven't figured it out yet) host their own web site dedicated to the Miami Dolphins and their fans and they somehow hooked up with the local "Fishheads" of Third and Long. As a result, the locals got a shout out on the girl's website and helped to lead the charge in making Third and Long their "Official Home of the Miami DolFans". I shit you not; this has taken on a life of its own. You can check out the two Michelle's at their website to see what all the fuss is about. You can also catch them HERE.




While the DOLFANS were whooping it up at the back of the bar, the rest of the SUNDAY BREW CREW were getting involved in their own brand of hijinks at the front end of the bar. The afternoon started innocently enough (as always) with the introduction of a new game. A football pool that determines its winners by quarter. I first learned about this type of pool from one of our avid readers, B TO THE B..., a fellow blogger from Milwaukee, WI (Thanks B). They do this kind of pool all the time at his local bar so I asked him about it and he explained how it worked. Then out of the blue, he sent me a packet of pool cards for me to try out on the BREW CREW. So we gave it a go and it turned out to be pretty popular amongst the CREW, especially AFRIKA BAMBATTA, who lucked out and hit the pool twice, which allowed him to pretty much drink for free for the day. Lucky bastard.

Things really took a turn for the bizarre when someone came up with the novel idea to bet on the color of MISS WISCONSIN's underwear. In years past, the BREW CREW used to take weekly bets on what color one of our former patron's (CRIMSON CAMEL-TOE, damn I miss her) thong would be. So I guess they decided to resurrect the game and use MISS WISCONSIN as the test subject. Let me say that after about a minute of cajoling (and promise of a nice, hefty tip), she played along and went to the ladies room and took a photo of her undies while the BREW CREW placed their bets upstairs. After much pomp and circumastance, she revealed the color and lo and behold, RED was the color of the day and NAPOLEON DYNAMITE was a few bucks richer because of it. It was going to be one of those kind of days.

The rest of the day consisted of more goofy games, lots of booze, the same old shit but a different day. And as always, it was a good time.


If you got the sense that this Sunday was filled with laughs and good times, wait until next Sunday as we hold our 17th Annual Third and Long Holiday Shindig! It's the one time of year where we give a "little something" back to our most dedicated patrons, family and close friends of the bar. In years past, we've had an open bar, great music and of course lots of celebrating among friends!

This year will be more of the same, however, we are also going to use the Holiday Party to assist in raising donations for the The FDNY Foundation, which has established a fund for the children's education of Lt. Robert Ryan of 155 Engine in Staten Island, who recently lost his life in the line of duty. He left behind a wife and four children. So we're asking for a "Suggested Donation" of $20.00 per person, of which ALL PROCEEDS will go directly to the Fund, just in time for the holidays. So this year's party will be one with a purpose, as well as fun times!

In the meantime, it's Monday, which means it's RECESSION MONDAYS, featuring $1.oo Bud/Bud Light or Coors/Coors Light mugs, or if you are feeling extra "randy", $2.00 mugs of ALL OTHER DOMESTIC DRAFTS, ALL NIGHT LONG!


Until then, enjoy more pictures from Sunday's highjinks at our FACEBOOK PAGE.




Nuff Said

Monday, December 8, 2008

COLDER THAN (FILL IN THE BLANK).....

Sorry for the late post; I got caught up in running errands and such. And one thing that I noticed right away while running errands is that it's cold as hell outside. Winter hasn't officially kicked in yet, but it sure feels like it's banging on the door. Brrrrrr!

Yesterday was a pretty fun edition of BREW CREW SUNDAY. The early games brought about a laid back crowd, dominated by Philadelphia Eagles fans, gloating over the fact that the NY Giants were laying an egg all afternoon. There were some playful banter back and forth between the Eagles fans and the Giants faithful, yet at the end of the day, the Eagles fans had reason to celebrate as their team defeated Big Blue on their home turf, An ugly win for the Eagles, or an ugly loss for Big Blue. Take your pick.

One funny moment: This old codger came in, loaded up with newspapers and a big black journal book. He takes a seat at the end of the bar and orders a beer from BABY GIRL. As she grabs a pint glass to pour the beer, he begins barking orders at her. First he wants a plastic cup as opposed to a pint glass. Then he wants his beer poured a certain way. Then he wants this, wants that, yada, yada, yada. BABY GIRL looks at him like he has three heads and I whispered to her, "what does he want next, a straw?".

BABY GIRL gives the guy his beer and he spends the next hour or so running to all of the TV's and noting what's taking place in each game. It becomes very apparent that he's either a bookie or a degenerate gambler (or both). When he comes up to order his third beer, he says to me in a deadpan voice: "I'll take that straw now........... Just kidding." WTF? More on him later.

The 4pm games brought in more people, including the DOL-FANS, who came in force to check out the Miami-Buffalo game. At the same time, the Pittsburgh Steelers were scheduled to play against Dallas, so I was curious to see who would bring in the bigger crowd: STEELER NATION or THE DOL-FANS.














It became pretty clear right away that the DOL-FANS have taken over Third and Long. What was once mighty STEELER NATION has been reduced to splinters; a fractured die-hard few. I'd never thought I'd see the day when that would happen but hey, the numbers don't lie. DOL-FANS roll deep, and they only seem to get bigger and bigger each week.






More photos from Sunday Fun Day can be found HERE at our Facebook page.

Overall, it was a pretty good afternoon; both STEELER NATION and the DOL-FANS went home happy as their teams won their respective games. As for the old codger from earlier in the day, he ended up hanging out all day long (actually closed the bar); at one point he freaked out because he "lost" one of his newspapers. I guess it had some sensitive information on it and he scurried all over the bar looking for it.

While he was doing that, SCUBA STEVE, one of our bartenders who happened to come in for a few, played a gag on him. He wrote a note to him as if he were Santa Claus (in reference to his scribbling in his journal all day long) and told him that he knew that he was really there to check up on the patrons to see who was naughty and who was nice and that he really sucked as Santa Claus, or something to that effect.

The old codger found the note and seemed confused by it and kept bringing it up to BABY GIRL, while everyone around him were laughing hysterically. I guess you had to be there, though it was a priceless moment.

Don't forget about RECESSION MONDAYS and DOLLAR DRAFT MADNESS with the mugs ruling the night. Check our website for all of the great drink specials of the week. And if you haven't done so yet, check out the Brooklyn Dark Chocolate Stout. A nice pint for a cold winter night.


Nuff Said