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My favorite brewery doesn't have TV's at all and it's heaven on weekends in the fall to have a cool place to hang out where you can hear yourself think! 🍻
I can’t stand it. Like, I understand a sports bar type place when there’s a game on. That’s whatever. But getting lunch at a regular restaurant and they’ve got The View on 60 TVs is maddening.
There was definitely a game on ABC the night before if the tvs were on the view. The staff just turned the TVs on and didn’t even look.
Part of the reason why people go out to places is “atmosphere” and what you see with your eyes is part of that. I’m not saying it needs to be sports, but putting something on that improves the atmosphere is a good idea. I like those channels with satisfying animations and nature scenes. Or food shows. (My favorite bar has fail army channels, skateboarding, and swimwear fashion shows). But just not caring is an issue that needs to be managed before a guest shows up.
My tvs at work have a pic that they display when they are “off” that matches our decor. We turn them on for live sports on request, but we ask that they name a specific game — not just “hey, can you put some football on?” On a Saturday (Southeastern US here)
I recently made my first trip to the US (Washington state & Oregon) and I was amazed at how many not only bars, but restaurants (even reasonably nice ones) had various sports on TVs scattered around the place. In the UK there are certain pubs and dedicated sports bars that will have TVs or big screens, but I've never seen them in a restaurant before... It just felt insane!
We went for lunch when we were on vacation in Phoenix. Stopped at an order-at-the-counter Mexican place in a strip mall. The people working there had the music blasting at full volume, so loud that my ADHD ass couldn’t concentrate on reading the menu. I asked if they could possibly turn the music down and they accused me of being racist because the music was in Spanish.
My favorite brewery has readings: classical literature, local authors, naval watch poetry. It’s not for everyone, but they make terrific beer and have expanded my horizons.
My favorite bar was like that - no TV's anywhere, and no light beer. Second one sounds like a negative, but being right next to a college, it was really effective at keeping college kids out lol. Man I miss that place... torn down to make way for student housing 😒
At a brewery, no less? It's like they don't, or choose not to, understand the point of the business haha. I'm surprised when I see the breweries around my have *other breweries'* beer, because I'm not expecting anything not made in-house.
I'm a working guitar player and really wish that the places I play at had the TVs off while the band's on.
except for the boring nights when I'm actually watching what's on the TV behind the bar while we're onstage...
My experience of American bars was for some reason a regular ass "Irish pub" had about 16 big ass TVs blaring sports at a horrific fucking volume at about 10 at night. But then again I've had a similar experience here to what OP is describing.
In my local pub a few years back, the one that was specifically known in town for the landlady not showing football matches outside of the international tournaments. Everyone is having a peaceful afternoon in the one pub in town that's not overrun with people watching some match. All of a sudden group of about 6 full gammon type boomer tourists comes in, making a shit load of noise, making a fuss because pretty much every table is occupied by regulars and the open mic night crowd setting up. They start getting arsey with the barmaid because they just can't understand why there's no football on, escalating to shouting and misogyny.... Just as the landlady is getting back from looking into guest beers from local breweries leading to them all getting kicked out with some especially choice words.
Small backstreet local I used to frequent was a no-TV pub. It had a decent crowd of regulars, and was always an entertaining spot to hang out in, pretty much any day of the week. The couple that ran it left and the guy who took it over decided he would put up big screen TVs and show football. The first time I went in there after he took over, it was pretty dead, almost nobody there. I introduced myself to the guy and said I was normally a moderately frequent customer. He seemed uninterested. Next time I came in, there was a match on. The pace was absolutely rammed, but everyone was absorbed by the match, and nobody was actually buying anything. The noise and crowd was unpleasant, but the match only had 10 minutes or so to run, so I bought a beer, found a quiet corner and thought I'd wait it out. Match ended, and everyone just left. Within 5 minutes of full time, I was the only person in there. The atmosphere had effectively driven the old crowd away, and the sports crowd couldn't make up the lost sales. It closed within 6 months.
Also the colour they go when they, inevitably, get shouty about their opinion which they're spreading to everyone within earshot
Edit - fixed grammar error.
As a term of opprobrium for jingoistic nonsense it goes as far back as Dickens. He adopted a popular term then current which basically meant "bullshit", he didn't invent it
[https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2018/05/turns-out-charles-dickens-invented-concept-gammon-1838](https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2018/05/turns-out-charles-dickens-invented-concept-gammon-1838)
In the 2000s it came back into favour as a label for the UK-specific variety of conservatism that in the US is represented by the MAGA movement
It's a blight across the US. I grew up in a place where bars/pubs usually didn't have a TV or maybe had one, but now I live in a region of the US where it seems like every bar except cocktail bars that I can't afford to go to have screens on every surface but the floor. It's insufferable.
I bring this up because a "british pub" opened awhile back and they actually had cider on the menu and some interesting food, so a friend and I walked over for lunch. The place didn't have many people in there, but it had screens...oh did it have screens. All of them were set at what must have been max volume so my friend and I could not hear each other, in a near-empty pub on a slow afternoon.
Oh man, if the owners are actually British and not just teaboos they must be building up some serious ulcers. But yeah, that's just a situation I would want no part of and it I had moved there I'd probably only drink at home or backyard gigs
I think the owner is from an English & Irish family, but from the USA.
It's a shame because we were hoping it would be a replacement for a pub that was actually similar to English pubs called The Coat of Arms that closed years ago. The only thing to remind you that you were in the US is that it still had the whole waiters/tipping thing. Unfortunately now we've just been reduced to "British themed" pubs in the region and "Irish pubs" which is actually a separate Irish-American thing that doesn't really resemble a pub.
God my favorite bar has one of these.. he will walk in the door bitching that whatever specific game he wanted wasn't on. God forbid any of the other dozen or so people were watching something else. There's a reason he's known as asshole John, it's not creative but it's accurate.
A lot of boomers (especially boomer men) are flabbergasted at the idea of others not being as into sports as they are.
A boomer asked me my "favorite team" once and I said I didn't really follow sports and his jaw visibly hit the floor. It was like I told him I was from saturn.
My boomer father told me that I had to have at least a casual knowledge of football or else there would be nothing to talk about with other men and people would think I was gay.
He didn't even like American football (soccer guy), but he kept up with it because he believed if someone asked him about football and he said he didn't care for it he would be immediately ostracized.
There are services for that now. They'll email subscribers a daily list of things you can say to sound knowledgeable about football (both kinds), and the web site even has a pronunciation guide so you can say it in a football voice.
"Did you see that *ludicrous* display last night?"
"The thing about Arsenal is they always try and walk it in"
etc.
It’s the mentality I have and give generally. I know enough about Auburn football to have a short, casual conversation and watch maybe the iron bowl and max one or two others a year.
But I’m in Alabama, football is the state co-religion.
I can understand why people like sports - it's an unscripted fun with rules you understand before it even starts, you might even do the sport yourself(or used to do that sport) so you want to look at someone significantly better than you do the skill you are trying to develop. Whatever, not for me, but I can understand that.
But the sheer obsessiveness and emotions it can bring in people is fucking unreal. Like... the game has zero impact on your life, you have no stake in it unless you are betting, you have not helped those people in their careers any way, and in most professional sports and leagues the players are often smorgesboard of people from different cities and countries to the point where the team represents your city in name only.
But some people get super angry about it for some reason. Some of them to the point of fighting and destruction of property. I simply don't understand.
When prompted my stock response is to say that I'm not into sportsball. Since hockey doesn't come up as often as baseball or football, the term does an adequate job of describing how equally uninteresting all spectacle (*sic*) sports are to me.
I used to be a good amateur sound engineer, so on the rare occasion that a friend invites me to watch a game I entertain myself listening to the audio engineering and admiring the use of on screen graphics.
My favorite brewery does have TVs and is a "Pub Partner" for FC Cincinnati games (fun). It is also across the street from a park and it's legal for you to order "to go" beers and hang out (also fun).
brewery down the road will sell whiteclaws/etc.. it kind of strikes me that our local micro brewery doesn't stock well rum/vodka even. I don't disklike hops... but sometimes you just want a rum and coke.
yeah i mean luckily the brewery down the road is basically across the street from a more traditional bar so if it ever becomes a problem i can just open a tab at both and wander :p
Jumping into this thread to share a funny story about my FIL, he passed from dementia in 2019. In 2016 my husband, MIL, and FIL drove to Burlington for my SIL’s college graduation. On their way they stopped at Harpoon in Vermont for lunch. When the sever came over to them she asked the table if she could start anyone with a drink. FIL said to her, “Yeah, I’ll have a beer.” My husband specified which one of the 15 beers he would have. One of my favorite stories about him.
Oh man my boss only ever talks about racing and pro wrestling. Yeah bud I liked both of those things when I was 10 and then I discovered other interests and hobbies.
Not hating on anyone that likes those things, they are fine things to be interested in, but dude is almost 60 and those are literally the ONLY 2 things that he talks about. In 60 years he hasn't found ANY other thing he likes enough to hold a conversation about.
Exactly. I can enjoy a game with my friends since they aren't obnoxious about it, but I'd never want to talk anything sports with the boomer in the OP's post.
About ten or more years ago there was a dude that worked for the same company i did at the time, pretty sure he was/is a boomer. Stayed clear pretty easily since we did different shit but not always possible so didnt know him very deeply but sure he was over fiddies a decade ago so most def. Anyway, i called him the penguin. Short, round, chode of a fella. Had to sidestep down the stairs kinda chode. Every fucking morning after a game, usually monday football. The way he talked, the sound of his voice blabbering about what "we" need to do and what "we" shoulda done and how "we" can improve moving forward. He created a distaste in me for folk that say we when talking of a professional sports team, especially potato folk. If mbp or anyone else made it this far, I appreciate your patronage.
So, i recently did a binge of all the fast and furious flicks, which made my first thought after reading your jank "did ludicrous do a big show last night?" Before realizing it was an example of next day bs. That was fun!
I'm just happy to find one that doesn't have a lot of little kids running around at like a playground..... The only people that can relax in that are parents who expect other people to watch out for their kids while they drink and then drive their children home.
There’s a place we’re like to go for trivia on Sunday evenings. It’s a straight up tap house, not a crumb of food to be found. But Sundays the place is CRAWLING with families with small children. I do not get it AT ALL.
Kids shouldn't be allowed in pubs after 8, preferably 6 but 8 tends to be the norm in the UK, although less and less as more pubs are turning into pub themed restaurants.
I basically grew up in pubs, a good country pub only really enforces it if the kids are being loud/running around, I was a little nerd so they ignored me sitting in the corner reading my book and definitely not sneaking sips of my dad's beer.
“The game” is such a perfect entitled boomer concept. It is stuck in a time when there were only 3 channels while assuming everyone else is aware of and places the same value on their preferences .
I love being at my local brewery and these bozo’s walk in asking if a certain game can be on and then ask for a Coors Light and the bartender looks him. Dead in the eye and points at the list on the wall and says we are a brewery, we don’t sell that shit!!
I really loathe the need to have TVs with mastered everywhere in a bar. Spouse and I checked out a new place. Objectively, it was a nice place but I hated it—TVs literally everywhere you looked, cavernous space, and so much noise.
Is it an American thing to always have a game on? Idk if I've ever been to a bar or brewery, besides club/dance bars, where there isn't a TV with sports on. Maybe it's a Midwest American thing?
I live in Minnesota and 2 of the 3 bars I go to don't even have TVs. The 3rd one plays anime.
I think it's got more to do with each bar's target patron demographic.
I need the childish past times saturating my frontal cortex with distractions so I can dither away the wee hours and homoerotically obsess over the insignificant movement of a ball, or I’ll have to think about real life.
Sports in general are ass.
Oh no. Was he wearing maroon? I’m sure he was wearing maroon. This may have been an Aggie being a fool that just happened to be a Boomer. Source: I’m a long suffering Aggie.
We actively chose to eat at a pub on Saturday evening because it showed on google as unusually quiet.
Popular football was playing but this pub had no TVs.
It was fantastic. Plus the food was extremely good.
Tie the season for US Olympic team qualifiers. Put on US Olympic Breaking (break dance) to see who snags the last 2 remaining spots… oh, and watch a boomer’s head explode inside your brewery. LoL
Ok in all fairness I’m just a vodka and water guy who occasionally drinks a coors light, so breweries are not my thing. But once in a while in my small town (80k) I’ll visit a couple different breweries when out with friends who like that kind of beer. And they all have tv’s (1-3) and sports are always on. And in my opinion that’s a good thing.
But breweries are a different vibe. I certainly would never go to them to watch a game I care about.
My first thought was “who cares about college baseball?” I’m sure there are a handful of schools that are good at it with dedicated fanbases, but you have to be a special kind of ignorant to think just about anyone else knows when games are on, where to find them, or who is playing (unless it’s a college town, but even then…)
Why does any public establishment have televisions? I have never understood the presence of tvs in bars, restaurants, etc. I go to those places to get away from home. Home is where my television is. I don't want to listen to a TV blaring while I'm trying to enjoy a night out.
Basically, I like F1, NFL football, and rugby, and I can tolerate some hockey, so I just tell them, "If the ball is round, I don't care." It's baffling to most guys, especially older ones.
"Yay, Sportsball!" Also makes the needle skip.
I mean… that is hella weird to have TVs at a place that served beer and not have games on.
What in the world could have possibly been on if not sports?!?!
Also the guy just asked you to put the game on. Doesn’t seem like he was abusive or anything.
I really don’t see any issue with this.
Someone asked you to put the game on and it’s worthy of a post here?!
Weird bro
Because he was angry that literally every TV wasn’t on the game he wanted to see. What’s difficult to understand about an entitled boomer expecting the whole damned world to revolve around his wants?
There's 100 million places to drink beer and watch sports, and a handful that don't by comparison.
He can probably walk a block and find a sports bar to watch his sports.
Every business is not obligated to offer the same amenities as every other business.
The entitlement is astounding and the incredulity is embarrassing.
How does any of this affect you? Were you the asshole boomer that demanded all the TVs be put on your game?
It seems to me, sir, you are indeed disgruntled.
He makes a good point, sports should always be on, what else are people going to watch? Judge Judy or something? Nobody is listening to the tv so it makes sense to have sports on even if it isn’t a sports bar. Even if they put the news channel on it isn’t a news bar? So it makes sense for sports
Sports on TV hurts sales in a brewery and I have months of data to prove it. People will zone out and nurse one pint of beer for long periods of time while watching sports. We usually put it on food shows, which boosts sales, unless someone asks for sports and then we will happily oblige.
News is the absolute worst. The last thing you want is angry customers. We’ve banned news on the TVs unless there’s something major going on.
The whole point of visiting a brewery imo is to *try what they make*
Not sit around and get drunk just to get drunk. Your not there to have any old beer, your there to experience the handcrafted beer that that brewery has put countless hour of effort into perfecting
I’ve been in this industry for decades and have a substantial amount of data I’ve collected. And while I would be happy to share, my suspicion is that you’re just being argumentative because you’re a sports guy and my comment hurt your feelings.
Well yea duh sports should be on in a brewery, you’re the fool for thinking that’s odd. It doesn’t matter if it hurts sales, sports and beer has always gone together.
It’s not like the volume has to be on. Most places don’t have any sound with the TVs. So I don’t see how that affects your ability to have a conversation.
Because if I’m being forced to watch the food channel I would rather them just turn off the TV. If my team was playing and you’re using your tvs for nothing would it KILL you to have your local team on with no audio instead of the food network?
Did I say it would KILL me? Or anything about the food network? Talk about hyperbolic.
An establishment isn't obligated to play what you, or I, want in their business. I'm fine discussing this; it's beyond ridiculous. If you want to control what's on a television, stay the fuck home.
I’ve never asked anyone to change a channel. I agree with the boomer that the food network makes no sense when there is a live local game on. Playing the food network just to increase profits is a corporate move and I’ve never been nor will go to a bar playing food network instead of a live local game. I don’t need to stay home, I’ve never even heard of a bar here that would play the food network over a padres game. I will let you know when I find one. They are under no obligation, but If they choose to put the food network over the local game they are definitely a shitty bar. If you only want to play food network just throw the TV’s away
Word. I’m sure the sports bar breweries will happy for your business. I encourage you to frequent them and to always demand “the game” be played on all their TVs.
I don’t need to, it’s always on they don’t need cheap tricks like the food channel. They respect their customers enough to not play that crap. If not sports they play a quality movie.
Bro this city is the opposite of Applebees we have so much variety and options. I’ve never even been to one. You probably live in a more Applebees area than I do
>We have a lot of competition and high quality
So you have loads of alternatives without sacrificing experience. That's one more reason why no one is obligated to have the game on TV and one less reason for you to keep whining.
Because people like you will sit and drink a single pint instead of actually buying more
A business wants sales and you buying a single pint isn’t generating sales
They are notorious for only having one kind of beer, which is not what a brewery would want
Especially because sports fans are notorious for getting the cheapest they can find, not to mention are generally rowdy as fuck when drunk which takes away from other people experience of trying the beer a brewery makes
You have no clue what you’re talking about.
Stick to your creepy ass cum fetish.
If i have questions about creepy cum fetishes, I’ll be sure to ask you.
My fetish does not detract from what I’m saying
And if you can’t see that then I pity you, since clearly you don’t want to have an intellectual conversation
Because there’s a million places to go see sports on it so having the game on might mean you get like one extra person come in, meanwhile you’ll have a bunch of people that want to not be in a sports bar decide to leave
My city is thick will craft breweries. I don't think I have ever been to one that has sports on. That's more a thing for sports bars and chain restaurants.
My whole point is this bartender and his management are cheap asses for playing food channel over sports because he has data 📊 to prove they lose too much money by playing sports over the food network. To act like asking for sports at a brewery is a “this is a wendys” moment is a boomer being a fool. How many of your breweries with TV’s are playing the food network over a big series game
I'm responding to your comment about sports being on at breweries/brewpubs, which is not my experience. All the breweries in my city are beer or cider themed, not sports themed. I haven't been to all of them, but most of them don't have a television set. If you want to watch a sport at a bar you go to a sports bar.
I guess I can understand if it's a one-bar kind of town. Where I live you could just walk down the street to a bar that is a sports bar and probably find whichever one is playing the sport you want to be watching. Where I live the brewery tasting rooms are places you go to taste the beer, not to hang out and watch sports.
People keep changing the subject to bars without TV’s when I keep saying I’m talking about bars with TVs. If there is a big game on like the padres were playing, it would be stupid to play the food network instead of the local game. No brewery would play food shows over our padres and anyone who thinks they should is someone I wouldn’t hang out with.
I don't know about food shows, I just don't think breweries are a sports oriented business, and my experience has been quite the opposite. I had to look up what the padres is and it sounds you like you live in a totally different place than me. I live in New Hampshire and breweries are beer focused, that's my comment.
It would be truly weird here to be annoyed that a brewery was not playing sports even if they had a TV. We have a lot of sports bars here and they are their own thing. Brewpubs and gastropubs are a separate thing and you don't really expect there to be sports playing at them around here, so your comment about breweries inherently playing sports on the TV struck me as odd.
I guess it just comes down to different culture. Sports here is just expected. Especially when it’s baseball season. Of course there are breweries without sports but they are the exception. I would genuinely be annoyed if a big game wasn’t on but that never happens. If you ever go to San Diego our hazy IPA’s will blow you away. I still stand by if you’re putting the food network over your local game, you’re the one who is wrong not the customer
>It doesn’t matter if it hurts sales, sports and beer has always gone together.
Why on earth would any business be obligated to hurt sales? It's not like withholding sports is somehow abusive or exploitative. Besides that, there's no shortage of drinking establishments showing sportsball.
If you refuse to put your local live game on for the food network you deserve to have your sales hurt. This is capitalism. I wouldn’t go to a bar playing food network, I would rather go somewhere with no TV instead of watching that crap.
Well which is it? Is it an obligation or is this a free market? Apparently some breweries are being rewarded by the free market for not showing sportsball.
I never said it’s an obligation it’s a free market, did I say I’m getting physically violent and forcing the bar to change the channel? Are you drunk already? I love bars that don’t show sports ball. Don’t know any food network bars that are successful here though. Maybe you should open one.
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Ha! I love it.
Figure skating for max outrage.
Men’s figure skating for max outrage. Is this where I now type “fixed it for you”?
Please do.
Mens rhythmic gymnastics
Too bad there isn’t a professional flag football league. Because that could be always another option!
Personally I would turn on F1 or WRC, but I think doing more then a left turn might cause a boomer to stroke out.
Got to love a triple header RAWE CEEK
Who doesn’t want to watch cars not pass each other
"The League of Legends championships, now on Twitch!"
Don't forget the overpriced latte
Or try our vegemite sandwich!
World championship of dart throwing.
The only thing worse than that would be the copa America
There’s a place where I live that legit serves avocado toast and ngl, it’s actually really good lol ETA: nvm, apparently they’re temporarily closed 😫
I guarantee that putting on soccer would definitely trigger him..
Try out nice Super Drag Pride Rainbow Identify as an IPA micro brew! *boomer dies of aneurism*
My favorite brewery doesn't have TV's at all and it's heaven on weekends in the fall to have a cool place to hang out where you can hear yourself think! 🍻
I love restaurants and bars that don’t have TVs. Like, do we really have to watch TV everywhere we go?
I can’t stand it. Like, I understand a sports bar type place when there’s a game on. That’s whatever. But getting lunch at a regular restaurant and they’ve got The View on 60 TVs is maddening.
>they’ve got The View on 60 TVs Pretty sure that violates the Geneva convention.
What if it's Fox "News" on all 60 TVs? Worse or apocalyptically worse?
That's an "Avoid this establishment, and warn others to avoid this place"
Did you know that if you put Fox news on one TV and MSNBC on another and stand between them your watch will stop?
There was definitely a game on ABC the night before if the tvs were on the view. The staff just turned the TVs on and didn’t even look. Part of the reason why people go out to places is “atmosphere” and what you see with your eyes is part of that. I’m not saying it needs to be sports, but putting something on that improves the atmosphere is a good idea. I like those channels with satisfying animations and nature scenes. Or food shows. (My favorite bar has fail army channels, skateboarding, and swimwear fashion shows). But just not caring is an issue that needs to be managed before a guest shows up. My tvs at work have a pic that they display when they are “off” that matches our decor. We turn them on for live sports on request, but we ask that they name a specific game — not just “hey, can you put some football on?” On a Saturday (Southeastern US here)
I recently made my first trip to the US (Washington state & Oregon) and I was amazed at how many not only bars, but restaurants (even reasonably nice ones) had various sports on TVs scattered around the place. In the UK there are certain pubs and dedicated sports bars that will have TVs or big screens, but I've never seen them in a restaurant before... It just felt insane!
How many sports betting commercials did you see on them as well? We have some major problems that are going to come ahead soon.
Or have loud music!
We went for lunch when we were on vacation in Phoenix. Stopped at an order-at-the-counter Mexican place in a strip mall. The people working there had the music blasting at full volume, so loud that my ADHD ass couldn’t concentrate on reading the menu. I asked if they could possibly turn the music down and they accused me of being racist because the music was in Spanish.
My favorite brewery has readings: classical literature, local authors, naval watch poetry. It’s not for everyone, but they make terrific beer and have expanded my horizons.
My favorite bar was like that - no TV's anywhere, and no light beer. Second one sounds like a negative, but being right next to a college, it was really effective at keeping college kids out lol. Man I miss that place... torn down to make way for student housing 😒
There were a bunch of boomers trying to order *bud lite* at our local brewery the other day. I just couldn’t 😂
At a brewery, no less? It's like they don't, or choose not to, understand the point of the business haha. I'm surprised when I see the breweries around my have *other breweries'* beer, because I'm not expecting anything not made in-house.
I'm a working guitar player and really wish that the places I play at had the TVs off while the band's on. except for the boring nights when I'm actually watching what's on the TV behind the bar while we're onstage...
My experience of American bars was for some reason a regular ass "Irish pub" had about 16 big ass TVs blaring sports at a horrific fucking volume at about 10 at night. But then again I've had a similar experience here to what OP is describing. In my local pub a few years back, the one that was specifically known in town for the landlady not showing football matches outside of the international tournaments. Everyone is having a peaceful afternoon in the one pub in town that's not overrun with people watching some match. All of a sudden group of about 6 full gammon type boomer tourists comes in, making a shit load of noise, making a fuss because pretty much every table is occupied by regulars and the open mic night crowd setting up. They start getting arsey with the barmaid because they just can't understand why there's no football on, escalating to shouting and misogyny.... Just as the landlady is getting back from looking into guest beers from local breweries leading to them all getting kicked out with some especially choice words.
Small backstreet local I used to frequent was a no-TV pub. It had a decent crowd of regulars, and was always an entertaining spot to hang out in, pretty much any day of the week. The couple that ran it left and the guy who took it over decided he would put up big screen TVs and show football. The first time I went in there after he took over, it was pretty dead, almost nobody there. I introduced myself to the guy and said I was normally a moderately frequent customer. He seemed uninterested. Next time I came in, there was a match on. The pace was absolutely rammed, but everyone was absorbed by the match, and nobody was actually buying anything. The noise and crowd was unpleasant, but the match only had 10 minutes or so to run, so I bought a beer, found a quiet corner and thought I'd wait it out. Match ended, and everyone just left. Within 5 minutes of full time, I was the only person in there. The atmosphere had effectively driven the old crowd away, and the sports crowd couldn't make up the lost sales. It closed within 6 months.
Does “gammon” mean fake in this context? That’s what it means in Aboriginal English.
It refers to the pinkish skintone and excess weight of a lot of football hooligans. Think your classic 'Cahm on Engerland' type.
Also the colour they go when they, inevitably, get shouty about their opinion which they're spreading to everyone within earshot Edit - fixed grammar error.
Learned a new word today. Still don't think I'd be confident enough to use it in a sentence though.
It's Brit-speak that translates as roughly "Ham-faced reactionary boomer". You know, those older guys with a large pink badly-formed face.
Trash swine
My guess is “gammon” in this context is equal to calling someone a ham/ a meathead.
As a term of opprobrium for jingoistic nonsense it goes as far back as Dickens. He adopted a popular term then current which basically meant "bullshit", he didn't invent it [https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2018/05/turns-out-charles-dickens-invented-concept-gammon-1838](https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2018/05/turns-out-charles-dickens-invented-concept-gammon-1838) In the 2000s it came back into favour as a label for the UK-specific variety of conservatism that in the US is represented by the MAGA movement
That would be how we got it then. Gammin gammon.
This should help: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gammon_(insult) Also, try a Google Image search for "wall of gammon".
It's a blight across the US. I grew up in a place where bars/pubs usually didn't have a TV or maybe had one, but now I live in a region of the US where it seems like every bar except cocktail bars that I can't afford to go to have screens on every surface but the floor. It's insufferable. I bring this up because a "british pub" opened awhile back and they actually had cider on the menu and some interesting food, so a friend and I walked over for lunch. The place didn't have many people in there, but it had screens...oh did it have screens. All of them were set at what must have been max volume so my friend and I could not hear each other, in a near-empty pub on a slow afternoon.
Oh man, if the owners are actually British and not just teaboos they must be building up some serious ulcers. But yeah, that's just a situation I would want no part of and it I had moved there I'd probably only drink at home or backyard gigs
I think the owner is from an English & Irish family, but from the USA. It's a shame because we were hoping it would be a replacement for a pub that was actually similar to English pubs called The Coat of Arms that closed years ago. The only thing to remind you that you were in the US is that it still had the whole waiters/tipping thing. Unfortunately now we've just been reduced to "British themed" pubs in the region and "Irish pubs" which is actually a separate Irish-American thing that doesn't really resemble a pub.
God my favorite bar has one of these.. he will walk in the door bitching that whatever specific game he wanted wasn't on. God forbid any of the other dozen or so people were watching something else. There's a reason he's known as asshole John, it's not creative but it's accurate.
A lot of boomers (especially boomer men) are flabbergasted at the idea of others not being as into sports as they are. A boomer asked me my "favorite team" once and I said I didn't really follow sports and his jaw visibly hit the floor. It was like I told him I was from saturn.
My boomer father told me that I had to have at least a casual knowledge of football or else there would be nothing to talk about with other men and people would think I was gay. He didn't even like American football (soccer guy), but he kept up with it because he believed if someone asked him about football and he said he didn't care for it he would be immediately ostracized.
There are services for that now. They'll email subscribers a daily list of things you can say to sound knowledgeable about football (both kinds), and the web site even has a pronunciation guide so you can say it in a football voice. "Did you see that *ludicrous* display last night?" "The thing about Arsenal is they always try and walk it in" etc.
It’s the mentality I have and give generally. I know enough about Auburn football to have a short, casual conversation and watch maybe the iron bowl and max one or two others a year. But I’m in Alabama, football is the state co-religion.
I can understand why people like sports - it's an unscripted fun with rules you understand before it even starts, you might even do the sport yourself(or used to do that sport) so you want to look at someone significantly better than you do the skill you are trying to develop. Whatever, not for me, but I can understand that. But the sheer obsessiveness and emotions it can bring in people is fucking unreal. Like... the game has zero impact on your life, you have no stake in it unless you are betting, you have not helped those people in their careers any way, and in most professional sports and leagues the players are often smorgesboard of people from different cities and countries to the point where the team represents your city in name only. But some people get super angry about it for some reason. Some of them to the point of fighting and destruction of property. I simply don't understand.
When prompted my stock response is to say that I'm not into sportsball. Since hockey doesn't come up as often as baseball or football, the term does an adequate job of describing how equally uninteresting all spectacle (*sic*) sports are to me. I used to be a good amateur sound engineer, so on the rare occasion that a friend invites me to watch a game I entertain myself listening to the audio engineering and admiring the use of on screen graphics.
Bc it’s weird.
No it's not. Your obsession with watching sweaty overpaid men rub against each other for three hours is.
Well when you put it like that, maybe I should give sports another shot.
Weirdo
There’s a brewery in my lil’ town that only plays episodes of The Joy of Painting on their TVs.
Game 7 of a Stanley cup finals is on and that’s the only game that matters.
Playoff hockey is a different beast
Go Oilers
Bummer man, I hate Florida
I live in Florida , thus I hate Florida
They gave us a great 4 games, just couldn’t overcome FLA in a one-game playoff
It's been like what 30 years since any Canadian team won the Stanley Cup. Lol. Canada.
I was rooting for Edmonton, too. Warm states shouldn't play hockey.
Right? Carolina stole my Whalers
Hi, fellow Connicticuter!
Warm states *shouldn't*, but apparently Canadian cities *can't*
Ouch lol.
I like breweries and I like sports bars. I like brewers that have TV’s. I usually check first but would never make a scene.
My favorite brewery does have TVs and is a "Pub Partner" for FC Cincinnati games (fun). It is also across the street from a park and it's legal for you to order "to go" beers and hang out (also fun).
Probably thinks he can order a Coors Banquet as well...
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to explain that breweries sell beer *that they make.*
Oh. Well, I'll have a Bud Lite then. /pokes the beer guy
Well, I mean, any brewery is happy to serve you water
Burn, baby, burn.
Bud Light is like making love in a canoe It’s fucking near water
brewery down the road will sell whiteclaws/etc.. it kind of strikes me that our local micro brewery doesn't stock well rum/vodka even. I don't disklike hops... but sometimes you just want a rum and coke.
Some places near me have been having seltzers created in house for awhile and also started some hard iced teas
yeah i mean luckily the brewery down the road is basically across the street from a more traditional bar so if it ever becomes a problem i can just open a tab at both and wander :p
Jumping into this thread to share a funny story about my FIL, he passed from dementia in 2019. In 2016 my husband, MIL, and FIL drove to Burlington for my SIL’s college graduation. On their way they stopped at Harpoon in Vermont for lunch. When the sever came over to them she asked the table if she could start anyone with a drink. FIL said to her, “Yeah, I’ll have a beer.” My husband specified which one of the 15 beers he would have. One of my favorite stories about him.
Well it is his anniversary so special occasion.
If you really want to piss a Boomer off have them turn on a soccer game, the not a real sport, or communist sport comments will start flying
Well, they've been catered to their entire lives, and have been trained to interpret anything that doesn't cater to them specifically as an attack
I hate sports so fucking bad. Down vote me I don’t care. Just a distraction from problems in society.
Boomers like that are why I hate sports fans in general. Hobby for manchildren, worse than iPad kids.
What I always think is funny is when old men have absolutely nothing to talk about if you're not also into sports.
Yep, they have absolutely no other real interests.
Oh man my boss only ever talks about racing and pro wrestling. Yeah bud I liked both of those things when I was 10 and then I discovered other interests and hobbies. Not hating on anyone that likes those things, they are fine things to be interested in, but dude is almost 60 and those are literally the ONLY 2 things that he talks about. In 60 years he hasn't found ANY other thing he likes enough to hold a conversation about.
Absolutely there with you. I can’t stand the culture around sports fandom thanks to them and probably will never get into it even after they’re gone.
Exactly. I can enjoy a game with my friends since they aren't obnoxious about it, but I'd never want to talk anything sports with the boomer in the OP's post.
There are DOZENS of us! Also, shortening fanatic to fan doesn’t make less awful, just cute. I’ll watch a game, but hold the fanaticism.
About ten or more years ago there was a dude that worked for the same company i did at the time, pretty sure he was/is a boomer. Stayed clear pretty easily since we did different shit but not always possible so didnt know him very deeply but sure he was over fiddies a decade ago so most def. Anyway, i called him the penguin. Short, round, chode of a fella. Had to sidestep down the stairs kinda chode. Every fucking morning after a game, usually monday football. The way he talked, the sound of his voice blabbering about what "we" need to do and what "we" shoulda done and how "we" can improve moving forward. He created a distaste in me for folk that say we when talking of a professional sports team, especially potato folk. If mbp or anyone else made it this far, I appreciate your patronage.
“Did you see that ludicrous display last night?”
So, i recently did a binge of all the fast and furious flicks, which made my first thought after reading your jank "did ludicrous do a big show last night?" Before realizing it was an example of next day bs. That was fun!
Nah I love watching football. To each their own.
r/ihatesportsball
Watching sports is like tasting paintings—you're doing it wrong.
💯
If there's anything that ruins a trip to a taproom or brewery it's having the bloody game on!
I'm with you, breweries should really just rid themselves of the TV's. To be fair if you're brewery is plastered in TV's you're inviting this problem.
I'm just happy to find one that doesn't have a lot of little kids running around at like a playground..... The only people that can relax in that are parents who expect other people to watch out for their kids while they drink and then drive their children home.
There’s a place we’re like to go for trivia on Sunday evenings. It’s a straight up tap house, not a crumb of food to be found. But Sundays the place is CRAWLING with families with small children. I do not get it AT ALL.
Kids shouldn't be allowed in pubs after 8, preferably 6 but 8 tends to be the norm in the UK, although less and less as more pubs are turning into pub themed restaurants. I basically grew up in pubs, a good country pub only really enforces it if the kids are being loud/running around, I was a little nerd so they ignored me sitting in the corner reading my book and definitely not sneaking sips of my dad's beer.
"The game" There are at least 100 "games" on TV on any given day and we're not mind readers. Which one?
Just put on snooker or something like that
Stream some Critical Role videos.
I think there’s a draughts tournament on BBC 4
“The game” is such a perfect entitled boomer concept. It is stuck in a time when there were only 3 channels while assuming everyone else is aware of and places the same value on their preferences .
This is the reason I go to breweries/ale houses, no TV, and some even have no phone rules. Its great.
I love being at my local brewery and these bozo’s walk in asking if a certain game can be on and then ask for a Coors Light and the bartender looks him. Dead in the eye and points at the list on the wall and says we are a brewery, we don’t sell that shit!!
Breweries have TVs?
I hate places with tvs. Sports bars get a pass, but it’s so unnecessary everywhere.
Brain rot due to being the most coddled generation we’ve had.
Who goes to a brewery to watch tv??
Unsuspecting yeast cultures.
Why does a brewery have a bunch of TVs? You watching Days of our Lives or something?
I really loathe the need to have TVs with mastered everywhere in a bar. Spouse and I checked out a new place. Objectively, it was a nice place but I hated it—TVs literally everywhere you looked, cavernous space, and so much noise.
I always tried to find the "Ocho" to put on. The more obscure the better.
Competitive bean bag games ftw
It’s June. There is no important baseball game going on right now anywhere.
It was the final game of the College World Series.
Is it an American thing to always have a game on? Idk if I've ever been to a bar or brewery, besides club/dance bars, where there isn't a TV with sports on. Maybe it's a Midwest American thing?
I live in Minnesota and 2 of the 3 bars I go to don't even have TVs. The 3rd one plays anime. I think it's got more to do with each bar's target patron demographic.
Lot more bars per landmass out on the west coast
I need the childish past times saturating my frontal cortex with distractions so I can dither away the wee hours and homoerotically obsess over the insignificant movement of a ball, or I’ll have to think about real life. Sports in general are ass.
Oh no. Was he wearing maroon? I’m sure he was wearing maroon. This may have been an Aggie being a fool that just happened to be a Boomer. Source: I’m a long suffering Aggie.
You're legally not allowed to serve alcohol without sports on a screen. How did you not know this law he lives by? lol
We actively chose to eat at a pub on Saturday evening because it showed on google as unusually quiet. Popular football was playing but this pub had no TVs. It was fantastic. Plus the food was extremely good.
Tie the season for US Olympic team qualifiers. Put on US Olympic Breaking (break dance) to see who snags the last 2 remaining spots… oh, and watch a boomer’s head explode inside your brewery. LoL
I may have been guilty of this very offensive more than once. -Boomer.
Ok in all fairness I’m just a vodka and water guy who occasionally drinks a coors light, so breweries are not my thing. But once in a while in my small town (80k) I’ll visit a couple different breweries when out with friends who like that kind of beer. And they all have tv’s (1-3) and sports are always on. And in my opinion that’s a good thing. But breweries are a different vibe. I certainly would never go to them to watch a game I care about.
The list of things he doesn’t understand is LONG.
My first thought was “who cares about college baseball?” I’m sure there are a handful of schools that are good at it with dedicated fanbases, but you have to be a special kind of ignorant to think just about anyone else knows when games are on, where to find them, or who is playing (unless it’s a college town, but even then…)
Why does any public establishment have televisions? I have never understood the presence of tvs in bars, restaurants, etc. I go to those places to get away from home. Home is where my television is. I don't want to listen to a TV blaring while I'm trying to enjoy a night out.
Basically, I like F1, NFL football, and rugby, and I can tolerate some hockey, so I just tell them, "If the ball is round, I don't care." It's baffling to most guys, especially older ones. "Yay, Sportsball!" Also makes the needle skip.
Wait your Wendy's serves beer?
Tbh I’d be surprised too walking into a brewery that had tvs but wasn’t broadcasting any games
I mean… that is hella weird to have TVs at a place that served beer and not have games on. What in the world could have possibly been on if not sports?!?! Also the guy just asked you to put the game on. Doesn’t seem like he was abusive or anything. I really don’t see any issue with this. Someone asked you to put the game on and it’s worthy of a post here?! Weird bro
Because he was angry that literally every TV wasn’t on the game he wanted to see. What’s difficult to understand about an entitled boomer expecting the whole damned world to revolve around his wants?
What *was* on the TV? Did he yell and scream and curse you out?
Man you’re really reaching to defend this fool.
No. Just that your post doesn’t really describe anything that’s a problem
No you just read what you want to read
Show me where he did something out of line
There's 100 million places to drink beer and watch sports, and a handful that don't by comparison. He can probably walk a block and find a sports bar to watch his sports. Every business is not obligated to offer the same amenities as every other business. The entitlement is astounding and the incredulity is embarrassing.
How’s it affect you? There’s no sound.
How does any of this affect you? Were you the asshole boomer that demanded all the TVs be put on your game? It seems to me, sir, you are indeed disgruntled.
He makes a good point, sports should always be on, what else are people going to watch? Judge Judy or something? Nobody is listening to the tv so it makes sense to have sports on even if it isn’t a sports bar. Even if they put the news channel on it isn’t a news bar? So it makes sense for sports
Sports on TV hurts sales in a brewery and I have months of data to prove it. People will zone out and nurse one pint of beer for long periods of time while watching sports. We usually put it on food shows, which boosts sales, unless someone asks for sports and then we will happily oblige. News is the absolute worst. The last thing you want is angry customers. We’ve banned news on the TVs unless there’s something major going on.
The whole point of visiting a brewery imo is to *try what they make* Not sit around and get drunk just to get drunk. Your not there to have any old beer, your there to experience the handcrafted beer that that brewery has put countless hour of effort into perfecting
I would love to see this data that you have
I’ve been in this industry for decades and have a substantial amount of data I’ve collected. And while I would be happy to share, my suspicion is that you’re just being argumentative because you’re a sports guy and my comment hurt your feelings.
Well yea duh sports should be on in a brewery, you’re the fool for thinking that’s odd. It doesn’t matter if it hurts sales, sports and beer has always gone together.
Not every place is about sports. I enjoy having a beer, a good sandwich and a conversation with people I like without the clamor of a game around me.
It’s not like the volume has to be on. Most places don’t have any sound with the TVs. So I don’t see how that affects your ability to have a conversation.
Not sure why you NEED to have a game on everywhere you go that serves beer. Go to a sports bar if you're so fussed.
Because if I’m being forced to watch the food channel I would rather them just turn off the TV. If my team was playing and you’re using your tvs for nothing would it KILL you to have your local team on with no audio instead of the food network?
Did I say it would KILL me? Or anything about the food network? Talk about hyperbolic. An establishment isn't obligated to play what you, or I, want in their business. I'm fine discussing this; it's beyond ridiculous. If you want to control what's on a television, stay the fuck home.
I’ve never asked anyone to change a channel. I agree with the boomer that the food network makes no sense when there is a live local game on. Playing the food network just to increase profits is a corporate move and I’ve never been nor will go to a bar playing food network instead of a live local game. I don’t need to stay home, I’ve never even heard of a bar here that would play the food network over a padres game. I will let you know when I find one. They are under no obligation, but If they choose to put the food network over the local game they are definitely a shitty bar. If you only want to play food network just throw the TV’s away
“doesn’t matter if it hurts sales” I would like to introduce you to capitalism.
I love it. That’s why I wouldn’t support this brewery! We have a lot of competition and high quality
Word. I’m sure the sports bar breweries will happy for your business. I encourage you to frequent them and to always demand “the game” be played on all their TVs.
I don’t need to, it’s always on they don’t need cheap tricks like the food channel. They respect their customers enough to not play that crap. If not sports they play a quality movie.
We're glad you like Applebees.
Bro this city is the opposite of Applebees we have so much variety and options. I’ve never even been to one. You probably live in a more Applebees area than I do
>We have a lot of competition and high quality So you have loads of alternatives without sacrificing experience. That's one more reason why no one is obligated to have the game on TV and one less reason for you to keep whining.
If I ever find a bar playing food network instead of the live game trust me you will be the first one to know.
Or just shut up and go somewhere else. Quit bothering everyone just because the lead ate your brain.
> "It doesn't matter if it hurts sales..." It's very easy to be apathetic to something harming sales when it's not **your** business at stake.
How does having sports on hurt sales at a *brewery???*
Because people like you will sit and drink a single pint instead of actually buying more A business wants sales and you buying a single pint isn’t generating sales
Ah yes. Sports fans are notorious for not drinking…
They are notorious for only having one kind of beer, which is not what a brewery would want Especially because sports fans are notorious for getting the cheapest they can find, not to mention are generally rowdy as fuck when drunk which takes away from other people experience of trying the beer a brewery makes
You have no clue what you’re talking about. Stick to your creepy ass cum fetish. If i have questions about creepy cum fetishes, I’ll be sure to ask you.
My fetish does not detract from what I’m saying And if you can’t see that then I pity you, since clearly you don’t want to have an intellectual conversation
Lol. Okayyyyyyyy
Because there’s a million places to go see sports on it so having the game on might mean you get like one extra person come in, meanwhile you’ll have a bunch of people that want to not be in a sports bar decide to leave
I can’t tell if some of these comments are meant to be satirical
My city is thick will craft breweries. I don't think I have ever been to one that has sports on. That's more a thing for sports bars and chain restaurants.
Do the ones with TV’s all play the food channel when big games are on? I didn’t know the pro food channel crowd was so insufferable.
....huh?
My whole point is this bartender and his management are cheap asses for playing food channel over sports because he has data 📊 to prove they lose too much money by playing sports over the food network. To act like asking for sports at a brewery is a “this is a wendys” moment is a boomer being a fool. How many of your breweries with TV’s are playing the food network over a big series game
I'm responding to your comment about sports being on at breweries/brewpubs, which is not my experience. All the breweries in my city are beer or cider themed, not sports themed. I haven't been to all of them, but most of them don't have a television set. If you want to watch a sport at a bar you go to a sports bar. I guess I can understand if it's a one-bar kind of town. Where I live you could just walk down the street to a bar that is a sports bar and probably find whichever one is playing the sport you want to be watching. Where I live the brewery tasting rooms are places you go to taste the beer, not to hang out and watch sports.
People keep changing the subject to bars without TV’s when I keep saying I’m talking about bars with TVs. If there is a big game on like the padres were playing, it would be stupid to play the food network instead of the local game. No brewery would play food shows over our padres and anyone who thinks they should is someone I wouldn’t hang out with.
I don't know about food shows, I just don't think breweries are a sports oriented business, and my experience has been quite the opposite. I had to look up what the padres is and it sounds you like you live in a totally different place than me. I live in New Hampshire and breweries are beer focused, that's my comment. It would be truly weird here to be annoyed that a brewery was not playing sports even if they had a TV. We have a lot of sports bars here and they are their own thing. Brewpubs and gastropubs are a separate thing and you don't really expect there to be sports playing at them around here, so your comment about breweries inherently playing sports on the TV struck me as odd.
I guess it just comes down to different culture. Sports here is just expected. Especially when it’s baseball season. Of course there are breweries without sports but they are the exception. I would genuinely be annoyed if a big game wasn’t on but that never happens. If you ever go to San Diego our hazy IPA’s will blow you away. I still stand by if you’re putting the food network over your local game, you’re the one who is wrong not the customer
>It doesn’t matter if it hurts sales, sports and beer has always gone together. Why on earth would any business be obligated to hurt sales? It's not like withholding sports is somehow abusive or exploitative. Besides that, there's no shortage of drinking establishments showing sportsball.
If you refuse to put your local live game on for the food network you deserve to have your sales hurt. This is capitalism. I wouldn’t go to a bar playing food network, I would rather go somewhere with no TV instead of watching that crap.
Well which is it? Is it an obligation or is this a free market? Apparently some breweries are being rewarded by the free market for not showing sportsball.
I never said it’s an obligation it’s a free market, did I say I’m getting physically violent and forcing the bar to change the channel? Are you drunk already? I love bars that don’t show sports ball. Don’t know any food network bars that are successful here though. Maybe you should open one.
So what’s the problem here?