Get Your Game On! Go Seahawks!

The National Football League’s preseason games are intended to test out new players, practice schemes, and get everyone conditioned for the upcoming season.  On the theory that fans need some conditioning, too, I spent a recent preseason game day checking out a few 45th street bars/restaurants to determine my own game plan for enjoying the 2010 Seahawks season.

Here’s what I learned, walking east from 45th & Stone during commercial breaks:

1) Blue Star Cafe.  I ordered my beer during the coin toss and was happily sipping my Hale’s Cream Ale (on nitro!  yes!) during the kick return.  In other words, super fast service.   Because the game coincided with Blue Star’s Saturday happy hour times, I was able to enjoy some well-seasoned and nicely-textured onion strings with my beer.  Total tab was under $10.  Both televisions over the bar were tuned to the Seahawks game, but without sound or closed captioning.  I had plenty of elbow room in the bar area though, as there were only 4 other people that watched part of the first quarter at the bar.  I enjoyed the friendly, quick service and the nice digs very much.

2) Rusty Pelican.  Showed the game on their one tv over the bar area. No sound or closed-captioning.  Nobody else was there watching the game.  Loners take note!  Good spot!

3) Murphy’s Irish Pub.  There are three televisions over the bar, and 2 of them were tuned to the Seahawks game.  No sound or closed-captioning that I noted.  The bartender told me a third television will soon be installed in the corner just right of the bar for game days.  There were 4 or 5 folks in the bar area near the televisions, but nobody was really engaged in the game.  A good thing if you want to avoid rowdy sports fans.

4) Wallingford Pizza House.  They’ve got one tv in the corner above their main dining area, but it wasn’t tuned to the game when I popped in.  Staff explained that they were confused about the game’s start time (easily done since the last two games were played 2 hours later than this one).  They also told me that the television can be tuned to the game any time.  Just ask!

5) Iron Bull.  When Wallyhood wrote about the Iron Bull reincarnation, we were promised an NFL tv package.  So I had to go check it out.  Oh yeah!  Score!  This new sports bar in the old Goldie’s location has 15, count ’em 15, television screens. Plus 4 pool tables.  The commentary of the featured game is prominently featured on the bar’s sound system.  The Seahawks game played on 3 or 4 of the televisions, including a big screen that is probably wider than I am tall.  Nine of the tvs are on one wall, which allowed me to watch the Seahawks while keeping an eye on Dallas (Romo– there’s no crying in football!) and the UT Longhorns (Hook ’em).  Over two dozen patrons chatted about the games with one another over bar food, beer, and liquor.  There were even a few girls wearing sports jerseys.  Double score!  At halftime, I spoke with co-owner Gerald, who asked me to convey two things to Wallyhood readers:

• UFC fights are also televised on one of the big screens.  There is a $10 cover on fight nights to help cover the cost of broadcasting the matches.
• A lot of Chicago Bears fans used to congregate at the bar before it became the Iron Bull (again).  Come back!  He’ll take care of you.  Actually, he’s already got the Bears’ schedule on his homepage.

After a well-made $5 black russian, I went home to watch my DVR recording of everything I’d missed while chatting with folks and commuting from one location to another.

All in all, I’m looking forward to spending part of my football season on 45th street.  But please do let me know what I missed!  Are there nice game watching spots up near 55th?  Maybe something in Lower Wallingford?  Share the love!

And let the Seahawks reclamation project begin (see, I was listening to the game!).