New York was sitting pretty when the playoffs kicked off: the Jets to the west, the Patriots to the east and, for many, a frosty beverage with a Coney Island collar dead center at the local pub.
All that evaporated over two weeks, with the Jest knocking off the Pats only to fall in the AFC championship game to the Steelers of Pennsylvania.
So the Super Bowl will be technically the Big Game, but its import has withered, placing patrons from The Brazen Fox in White Plains to the Captain”™s Table in Orange County in the same league as Los Angelinos and Denverites: another semi-interested demographic passing the dreary winter”™s ebb in front of the TV with a beverage and a chip loaded with guacamole.
Fear not ”“ here comes a Jimmy the Greekless football prediction: The bars will be crowded and the ads will be picked apart like a late-game fourth-and-short decision.
Budweiser, which charts itself, reported consumption of its flagship beer among those who planned to watch the game was up 16 percent in 2008 and 25 percent in 2009. Figures from last year were not available. And when you dip into that guacamole, know you are part of a groundswell of consumption that places the Super Bowl”™s moveable feast No. 1 in annual avocado consumption. Hass Avocados, which makes the claim, said last year it sold 46 million pounds for the Super Bowl alone.
At Tavern on 7 Bar and Grill in Norwalk, Conn., 80 people turned out to see the Jets fall achingly short of overtaking the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game.
Manager Gama Garcia says the Jets absence from the Super Bowl probably will cost Tavern on 7 some business on Super Bowl Sunday. But, he added, the bar maintains a busy sports calendar even after the NFL season concludes, between English Premier League soccer and the NCAA basketball tournament in March.
At Ned Devine”™s Saloon, an Irish-themed pub in Yonkers, the patrons who gathered Jan. 23 to watch the double-header all spoke with Irish accents. A pair ”“ Aiden and Austin ”“ had come early while the Bears and Packers were mixing it up. They would watch the game, if half-heartedly. “This is our local,” they said, and the Sunday visit was part of their pattern. The neighborhood pubs in the McLean-Woodlawn bar axis feature a never-ending parade of hand-lettered sports marquees and the World Cup was promoted like, well, like the Super Bowl. Next month, many otherwise Yankee-minded pubs will become pit row for the good old boys of Nascar. Then the promotions for the NCAA basketball tournament will appear. Then the “play ball” of opening day ”¦
The Captain”™s Table in Monroe is a popular spot in southern Orange County for dedicated sports fans. With 10 flat-screen TVs, Jets fans packed the bar/restaurant on Jan. 24, only to watch their team go down in defeat. For the Captain”™s Table, a special menu tailored just for fans and $1 off all drinks helped fill the till, and the fact the Jets were in the playoff game didn”™t hurt, either.
“We have 25 high-def, flat-screen, plasma TVs and they will probably all be tuned to the Super Bowl,” said The Brazen Fox”™s manager, Barbara Corbett. “We also have two 8-foot screens. They also will be tuned to the Super Bowl.”
With pictures of Mickey Mantle, Dale Earnhardt and Seabiscuit on the wall ”“ plus the TVs ”“ The Brazen Fox on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains is three years old and Corbett has been manager since it opened. “We cater to all types of clientele,” she said. “We certainly do embrace sports, but we”™re not only a sports bar.” She expects a very busy day for the big game based on history: “We”™ve always been very lucky with a good crowd for the Super Bowl.”
The Jets had barely set their sights on the Steelers for all the AFC marbles when Ray Price took a seat at the bar of the Brazen Fox for a day-after celebration of the Jets”™ win over the Patriots. He spoke of Joe Willie”™s fu Manchu and of the old AFL.
There”™s always next year.
