Ferg's Sports Bar and Grille Review

It’s time for the long-awaited, much anticipated review of Ferg’s Sports Bar in St. Petersburg, Florida.  If it seems like I’ve been paying an undue amount of coverage to this bar so far, that’s because I have been.  Ferg’s is the place that started it all for me – where I cut my baby teeth on team trivia and nacho platters.  Ferg’s is the definitive sports bar in Pinellas County to which all other bars must be compared.  Although Ferg’s is famous for being located across the street from the stadium (Tropicana Field), its centralized location and proximity to Interstate 275 means that this sports bar makes a great meeting place and jump-off point whether you’re heading west to the beaches afterward, or east towards downtown.  It just makes sense, like cat-yodeling.  However, even if your night ends when the game does, you’ll find that Ferg’s does just about everything right!  It’s a great place to relax and soak up the Sports Bar Junkie experience.

Food

Ferg’s does nothing fancy when it comes to the food, but all of the dishes are solid, and there is some nice variety on the menu.  My favorite meals are the fried buffalo chicken sandwich (hot), the nachos, the stadium salad, and the chicken quesadilla.  The fries are crispy and the chicken wings are meaty!  Ferg’s also offers up smoked fish spread, a grouper wrap (not real grouper), and a generous selection of salads.  The burgers are only OK, and I must warn you about the chicken wings: though delicious when served piping hot, these wings turn particularly gross when they get cold.  Consider ordering just five at a time, so that this fate does not befall your tasty wings.  Personally, I love to order the stadium salad (a house salad with cheese and bacon) and a basket of fries and then combine the two!  It’s certainly not orthodox, but I call this creation a “fried Greek salad” (get it, Greek Orthodox, that’s a pun)?  Anyway it’s delicious, and if you don’t believe anything I say, just order a chicken quesadilla and try your best not to like that!  They post daily specials on the blackboard, keep an eye out for grilled cheese, it is beer’s best friend.  Overall it’s very good bar food, but nothing too special.

Food - 4/5

Beer

The bar at Ferg’s is loaded, and they can make you just about any mixed drink your heart desires, but at what cost?  No, seriously, I don’t know how much it costs and my bill is frequently a little bit higher than I expected.  There is a pretty good variety of beer available on tap, including Yuengling, Coors, and Blue Moon.  Occasionally Ferg’s runs a special on bottled craft beers, but not often enough for my liking.  However, if you know your way around the bar, you can do pretty well for yourself.  Happy hour runs from 6 through 7 on the weekdays, and all domestic and well drinks are half-priced.  $1.50 pints and $2 glasses of wine are definitely things the Sports Bar Junkie can work with!  A little known fact is that during happy hour, it’s cheaper to go with single drafts than it is to order a pitcher, so keep that in mind when you’re there with your friends.  The Blue Moon draft is my favorite, but that beer never gets the half-price treatment, so I usually choose Yuengling, but go with the wheat beer if you’re feeling flush, they even throw in an orange slice!  I like the selection, I like the variety, I’m not too keen on the price, but I always have a good time.  Drink and be merry, the Sports Bar Junkie endorses the beer!

Beer - 4/5

Service

Uh-oh!  It’s hard for me to say that the service is bad, because they’re all very nice girls (and yes, they are all girls), but it’s even harder for me to say that the service is good, because it isn’t.  While the servers are never rude, sometimes I wish they would be, since that would mean they were at my table.  Ferg’s is the place where I developed and perfected my patented two-fisted, double-arm full extension waitress signal.  Such a move might be seen as impolite at most establishments, but I find it practical in this application.  In Ferg’s defense, my last few visits were some of the best, meaning I haven’t had to wait 40 minutes to order, so maybe things are improving.  There are some new faces, and I haven’t seen the worst offenders in a while.  Most of the time I have no complaints, but if it’s 6:50 p.m. and I’ve got 10 minutes to find the waitress and order a drink before happy hour ends, I get a little nervous when I don’t see anyone around.  One failure in that situation is definitely one too many!  Overall, the staff has a good attitude and a lot of ground to cover, but the fact remains that the service is sub-par.  Maybe it's time to invest in one of these.

Service - 2.5/5

Atmosphere

I like the look inside of Ferg’s.  I like the green tables, I like decorations, I like the bar, everything is so colorful and I love the vibe!  I enjoy the way the interior is divided into three distinct rooms, each with its own character.  The lighting is just right, and the sound system is usually broken good.  The bathrooms are conveniently located, and they have their own TVs!  Popcorn is self-serve from their standing popcorn machine and it’s also free.  There’s something very welcoming and not pretentious about the atmosphere at Ferg’s; it’s a big place that manages to feel cozy.  The expansive outdoor patio offers the sensation of being drunk outdoors in public without the citation.  My only complaint is that the chairs could be more comfortable, but it’s not that bad. 

Atmosphere - 4.5/5

Sports

Ferg’s is definitely the place to come watch sports, and that is ultra-important to a sports bar.  Ferg’s throws the best big-game block parties I’ve ever been to.  Plus it’s sandwiched between the baseball stadium and the police station, which makes me feel oddly comfortable partying there.  There are a whole mess of TVs to watch and no bad seats in the house.  An impressive amount of sports memorabilia adorns the walls, and the crowd always seems to be into the action.  There is no better place to watch a Rays game.  It’s the next-best thing to being at the game, and the drinks are cheaper!  For football, baseball, basketball, and college sports fans, few places are as lively as Ferg’s.  Did I mention they have TVs in the bathroom?

Sports - 5/5

Fun

There is no better bar game in town (that I know of) than the Monday and Thursday night trivia contests at Ferg’s Sports Bar!  The game starts at 7 p.m. and moves briskly towards the final question at about 8:30.  The point-allocation scoring system forces you to wager on how confident you are in your answers, and the questions themselves test a wide range of knowledge, from sports to science and literature.  Ferg’s has spared no expense, bringing in the Tampa Bay Dream Team to run the show, and the hosts do a great job every week.  Bar tabs are the prizes for the winning teams, and you can use them right there on the spot to cover your bill.  The trivia game is a great lead-in to Monday Night Football or as a night out in itself.  There’s not much else going on besides trivia; no darts and just a few dusty arcade machines stuffed in the corner of the back room.  Nevertheless, Ferg’s, in the heart of St. Petersburg, is one of the most fun sports bars around.

Fun - 4.5/5

OVERALL = 24.5/30

GRADE = B+

The Future

The world can be a highly competitive place.  Students compete for grades, employees compete for promotions, and as I type this there are thousands of men and women competing for the best shopping deals on “Black Friday. "  Competition doesn’t have to be a scary or unnerving.  Competition can be a lot of fun.  We play traditional computer and board games as a way to relax; these are essentially competitions.  Over time game makers have discovered some interesting techniques that they use to motivate players to play and enjoy games.

Seth Priebatsch runs SCVNGR, a mobile start-up company with the revolutionary idea that we can build a game layer on top of the world.  In his speech entitled The Game Layer on Top of the World (filmed July, 2010 for TEDxBoston), Seth argues that the power of game dynamics can be used to build brand loyalty and ultimately influence people for good.  Game designers know that status is a particularly good motivator.  Status is why the average World of Warcraft gamer spends 6.5 hours-per-day playing the game.  He (or she) is willing to put in that much work because the reward is to have a hulking, powerful character that impresses all the other players on the server.

From my own experience I know that leveling up (for status) is a really effective motivator.  I used to stay awake and play Call of Duty 4 for an extra hour or two until I had achieved the next highest rank.  In college I played Resident Evil Outbreak well into the night, trying to post a high score that would be visible to all my contemporaries.  If I had convinced myself that I could achieve superior status by citing the most sources in my bibliography, or by reading the most pages in my textbook, I might have spent those late hours on my studies instead.

I’m using this as an example of how powerful game dynamics can be.  Compared with many more practical endeavors, building a highly ranked WoW character is very time-consuming and difficult, but the feat is regularly achieved by people that society would deem lazy by professional and economic standards.  How can this be?  Well, the status game dynamic is very influential, and has the potential to be used by businesses to attract and retain customer.  Sports bars are a business that I think could benefit from manipulating game dynamics.

Sports bars already participate heavily in the first game dynamic that Seth discusses in his presentation: the appointment dynamic.  In fact Seth uses the concept of happy hour as his chief example.  By being in a certain bar at a certain time (happy hour), that player essentially wins – his reward is half-priced beer.  Happy hour has already influenced that lives and habits of millions of consumers, but there is more that can be done to attract more regular patrons.

Now I’m going to discuss how manipulating the game layer can revolutionize the way sports bars do business.  A lot of businesses already offer some sort of frequent customer program.  Most of them operate on some variation of the punch-card system.  For example if you buy 10 coffees and have the cashier stamp your coffee-card, the next one is free.  The problem with this system is that it isn’t very much fun, and those cards just end up cluttering up your wallet.  I may have cashed in on a free beverage once in my life, but overall this system feels more like work than a reward.

The social framework of the internet is already in place (ex. Facebook).  We can make rewards systems a lot more effective, and more importantly, fun!  Seth describes the progression dynamic whereby, “You have to make progress and move through different steps in a granular fashion.”  This is going on wherever you see a progress bar.  Seth believes that when we are presented with a progress bar and easy steps to take to try and complete that progress bar, that we will do it because something deep inside compels us to.  “We will figure out a way to move the blue line all the way to the right edge of the screen.”  Seth’s company works on finding ways to use games to drive traffic to local businesses.  He suggests a game that requires people to go places and do challenges to earn points will be a lot more fun and engaging than remembering to bring your punch-card every time. 

I can see a future of sports bar marketing where winning at trivia will earn you 50 points, ordering the secret menu item of the day earns 25, and repeating the secret phrase of the day to the waitress – it’s found online at the company website, of course - will net you 10 points.  You could literally have a blue progress bar online to keep track of it all, just like at the website Linked In.  Other patrons would be able to visit the bar’s Facebook fan page and see their total score, your total score, how many times you had each won at trivia, and if one of you had amassed enough points to be a “grand Fergs all-star” or some other status-conferring title.  There could be group-based achievements too, to take advantage of the communal discovery dynamic Seth discusses.  I guarantee that some people would compete hard for the rank of number one customer if there is status at stake, and prizes are involved, and that means big money for the sports bar.  It would be easy for a sports bar to install this sort of system because the social framework is in place right now.  The time it would take an employee to update the rankings at the end of the night is practically negligible.  Earning enough points to fill your blue bar would no doubt result in free food or drink, and then you could start filling it up a second time like prestige mode on Call of Duty 4. 

I’ll admit that I chose to focus on game theory because I like to play games.  One thing that drives me to revisit certain sports bars is the chance to have fun by playing a game while I get the social experience of eating dinner with friends.  I think that sports bars could take this a step further and do what Seth is doing with his company, which is incorporating a kind of progression system (leveling up), with a rewards dynamic.  I agree with Seth that everyone likes to see some sort of visual progress.   I believe that a game-based rewards system could revolutionize the way sports bars attract customers, and it would be a lot of fun as well! 

 

The Things I Will Do To Boost My Readership...

If I was going to continue this blog, there are definitely some areas I would want to focus on to boost my readership.  The first step is to identify the aspects of my blog that appeal the most to my audience.  Let’s see, someone that reads a sports bar blog is most likely going to be a smart and sophisticated individual, a person whom the opposite sex finds simply irresistible.  Good, now that I’ve got a starting point, what does this cunning fox, this renaissance man (or woman) want to read about?  I know!  The answer is beer and food.

The most common question I get when I talk about a sports bar is, “How is the food?”  Though I’ve tried to mention my favorite dishes (the quesadilla at Fergs, the stone crab at Pincher’s and the wings at Norman’s), I fear I’ve not delved deeply enough into cuisine to satisfy the critical culinary curiosity of my reader’s refined palates.  Going out for a meal is a unique social experience.  One of my favorite elements of contemporary sports bars is that they are rapidly adding restaurant quality meals to a menu that used to consist only of “bar food” like nachos and pizza.  Those comfort foods are still immensely popular, but grilled chicken, seafood and salads are gaining a foothold in today’s family sports bar.  Combining the restaurant experience with the bar experience is what makes a sports bar so uniquely appealing, and in the future I promise to dedicate a good portion of my blog to reviewing the menu.  This way my readers will be able to plan their dinner and their night out all at once!     

To keep my sassy, sexy readership coming back for more I have to stay on the cutting edge of culture.  I don’t have the energy or desire to review every single sports bar in the state myself (however, there is another way which I'll get to in a moment).  Nay - to stimulate such rich and complex minds, I can’t fill pages with dry content, I need bubbling liquid news that hits on the many things my readership is curious about, and splashes up on adjacent topics that they might also enjoy.  Maybe a new seasonal beer has just dropped; I want bar patrons to turn to my blog to see if it’s worth ordering.  When there’s a major event like that, I’ll need to have a video review ready.  I can interview people drinking the beer, I can set up a blind taste test and have a little fun with it, and I can inform my discerning audience of some reasonable alternatives.  I need to illustrate how the new beer is best enjoyed in both a colorful and dynamic way, through the liberal use of multi-media.

In my class we talked about the differences between what we call web 1.0 and web 2.0.  In a nutshell, web 1.0 represents the old way of doing business on the internet, where websites are basically encyclopedias of information created by “the man.”  Web 2.0 is more organic: content is often personalized and is created, at least in part, by the end user.  Web 2.0 has really taken off in the form of social networking, file sharing and sites like Pandora, which generates custom music playlists for you based on your personal taste.  I think one way to increase long-term readership of my blog would be to infuse it with some elements of web 2.0.  For example, instead of a calendar of events, happy hours and specials, I could add a widget that generates suggestions based on criteria that my sexy readership enters on their own.  Say you have a craving for chicken wings and there is a big hockey game on TV, type in “chicken wings” and “hockey,” and you will get a list of hockey bars - like Dave Andreychuk’s Grille in Channelside - that have wing specials.  Or perhaps you enjoy Champion’s League Soccer and dark beer; my widget could notify you when Guinness is 2-for-1 at O’Boobigan’s.

The best part about a true web 2.0 widget is that every sophisticated socialite out there can add their own favorites places and meta-tags to the database, just like on Wikipedia.  After all, my readers (Sports Bar Junkie fans) are so smart that they already know what they want, and my job is just to facilitate them.  Of course, if none of the things I’ve mentioned help me boost my readership, I can always resort to gratuitous compliments and pandering! 

New Social Networking Website is Up and Running

Greeting friends,
It is at this time that I ask for your opinion.  Really, I'm always interested in what you think, and the things you have to say.  I want to know, which are your favorite sports bars, and why?  What do you find interesting about the videos and links I've posted here?  Think about what you can add to the discussion.  I want to hear all about it!  :-)

Also, please come and check out this social network I've created dedicated to the art and science of true sports bar leisure!  I've uploaded some great pictures and videos, and I've also created a forum where we can discuss our good times and our bright ideas.  The best part is, now you can upload your own files to the site as well (once you sign up as a member).  Please contribute your pictures and stories to our social networking site.  I know I'm dying to see what you've got, and to start a conversation over there.

I have a plan for how Blogger will use this new social networking site: If anyone has a favorite sports bar I haven't mentioned, please post some information about it in the forums under the "best bars" thread.  If anyone finds a fun bar game, like trivia on a new night or a shuffleboard contest, please post about that under the "sports bar games" thread.  Once I check it out I'll give it a full write-up on the blog.  It's easy, and this way everyone in the social network can stay abreast of what's out there.  In Blogger comments are only tied to one post, but the social networking site sorts comments by subject so that way everyone can find them easier.  It's sort of like the "event" designation on Facebook; invitees can indicate whether they plan on attending the event or add additional notes and details.  I know there's a lot more fun stuff out there.  I discovered my favorite bar game, Tiki Feud, completely by accident.  I was driving past the marquee and wondering what a tiki feud could possibly be.  So if your favorite hangout is someplace that I haven't mentioned yet, by all mean follow this link (to the forums) right away and tell us all about it.  The future of sports bars is in your hands!

Last Call for Sports Bar Junkie Followers

Alas, I've had a lot of fun writing this blog, but my class, RTV3280: Writing and Reporting for Interactive Media, is almost done (I'm in the home stretch now).  As a result, I'm afraid that I'll be wrapping up my blog soon.  I know -- it's tragic.  I hope no one gets too upset or takes this decision the wrong way; it's not personal, it's just business.  I was having a good time writing articles, recording audio and adding video; but without this class, I may be forced to move on to other mediums (like a job, hopefully :- P).  And anyway, I don't mean to tease you or get your hopes too high, but I am going to continue to write for at least little longer.  Maybe I'll make another audio slideshow (with some natural and ambient sound this time), or I'll review some more sports bars before I call it quits.  After all, it would be great if I could use this blog as an example of my work.  I might even get to do some professional writing some day -- that is if I continue to "step my game up."  To whoever read this blog, thank you so much.  If you're a hiring editor who loves sports bars, IM me!  ;-)  It's been real!

The Final Rays Game at Ferg's (2010)

From Tampabay.com -- A look at the disappointing last game of the Rays' 2010 season - a loss to Texas in the ALDS - from Ferg's Sports Bar. There are some great shots of just how close Ferg's is to Tropicana Field.

How to Tell You're NOT in a Sports Bar

A clip from The Daily Show, with Steve Carell reporting live from a "sports bar." Actually, this is a tutorial on how to identify a non-sports bar. The thumping techno music and a lack of televised sports here are both highly suspicious. Even Georgie's Alibi shows all the games on high definition TVs. Read my blog and stick to real sports bars; don't be like Steve Carell! ;-)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sports Bar Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Rays Fans Hold a Town Hall Meeting at Ferg's

Here is the proof that sports bars make viable forums for discussing important issues of civil and economic planning! These Rays fans have chosen to congregate at Ferg's to talk about possible locations for a new baseball stadium.

Drag Queen Bingo (At a Real Sports Bar)

Here's the promotional video for "Monday Nite Drag Bingo."
Georgie's Alibi is located at 3100 3rd Ave. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33713.
It's a highly recommended sports bar with lots of TVs and fun!

Audio Slideshow

Here Are Some Other Terrific Podcasts!

A big hello to my valued readership (both of you)!

I want to tell you all about some of the excellent podcasts I found (for free) at the iTunes Store this week.  I can't post links directly to the podcasts themselves, so visit the iTunes store to find them all!

First, I must mention The Audible -- a fantasy football podcast from the guys at footballguys.com.  I know that fantasy football isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you're a big player, this podcast can't be beat!  The show is a bit long-winded, but very informative and in-depth.  I think Fizzie's comment says it best, "Footballguys' Sigmund Bloom is the future of football analysis.  Get on board now, people!  This podcast kills everything else out there."  I have to agree: It's the best I've heard.  I like this even more than my beloved Yahoo! Sports, and I love Yahoo! Sports.

I found a few podcasts about beer at the iTunes Store, but none of them were better than Hop Cast with Ken Hunnemeder and Brad Chmielewski.  I watched Episode 116: Darkness Day 2010.  It was good; they got into some interesting dark beers, and had more stuff to say about them than just "good" or "bad".  Hop Cast's concept of traveling to various beer-related social events and reporting on-location is an example of the place that I hope to take this blog someday.

Something you may not know about the Sports Bar Junkie, is that he loves the video games, especially the old-school role playing games!  Something you may not know about the iTunes library is there are not a whole lot of podcasts specifically about sports bars.  I will connect the dots here, and say that if you are a sports bar fan like me, you may very well love video games too (they are in bars, after all).  And if you love old-school role playing games, like I do, you should listen to RPGCast on iTunes.  It's great, trust me!  ;-)

A lot of the podcasts I found on iTunes -- searching for "sports bars" and "sports bar reviews" -- ended up having more in common with traditional sports talk radio than they do with my blog topic.  That being said, sports are an integral part of the sports bar experience, so why fight it?  Go ahead and search iTunes for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and get full episodes of the Emmy Award-winning show, interviews with sports celebrities, and Gumbel's exclusive commentary.  It's way better than most "sports radio" podcasts,  it will make you sound smart at the sports bar, and you know you like Bryant Gumbel!

For a good time, check out the Drinking Man's Podcast.  It's a podcast for the drinking man, by the drinking man.  They review a few beers; tell some funny stories; chat about movies, music and art; and pretty much talk about all the things we do while we're in the sports bar tossin' back a few.  Listening to the Drinking Man's Podcast is just like listening to NPR (if you're wasted)!

Finally, for the benefit of anyone who reads this -- other than my professor, who showed it to me -- check out "Making the Hippo Dance."  It's a podcast from WNYC and RadioLab about making science topics more accessible and magical.  I liked it a lot, so I'm posting a link to it here!  I especially like the way they tell the story about the fireflies...

The History of Ferg's: Episode 1

You can click the title of this post or the play button to listen to the first episode of this podcast!

What I Learned in the Photography Module

It’s been suggested to me – by my professor, actually – that a journalist often discovers many new things about his subject when he starts making media.  I see what she means, after shooting 100 photographs at Ferg’s this week I have to say that place is a lot bigger than I realized!  All joking aside, I learned what gives Ferg’s its unique charm, I found out that I really enjoy photojournalism, and I rediscovered the joy and camaraderie that drew me to sports bars in the first place.

Ferg’s really is a big place: It has four big rooms, a bar, a patio, and an upstairs with a deck.  Ferg’s was built out of an old gas station, so all the extra rooms are additions.  This may explain why Ferg’s detractors say the place is a little dumpy; I DO NOT agree!  True, it may look like a small shanty town,  but personally I think the look has tons of character – I can feel the history in the building.  To me, the way the place is all stacked up makes it feel super cozy.

I learned that Ferg’s is adorned with more beer advertisements and sports memorabilia than you can shake a stick at.  The walls of every room – even the outside – are plastered with colorful signs and hand painted graphics.  There is a custom Ferg’s basketball hoop, a shot clock, trophies galore, sports-related folk art, and plenty of hats and t-shirts for sale.  The bar staff didn’t seem too weirded-out by me walking around snapping pictures of everything, and they were even encouraging once I told them what I was up to.  The tables are green and covered in local advertisements, and I learned that Ferg’s has 64 TV screens!  As for the patrons, I tried not to be too invasive with my photography, but for the most part everyone was having a good time and too involved in their football games to worry about my nosy camera.  That’s what I love about sports bars – you can yell out loud, celebrate and high-five your friends when your team makes a good play, a no one shushes you; they might even join in the celebration (if they’re rooting for the same team)!

It was a lot of fun to walk around with my camera and report on the action.  I like the idea that you can tell a story with pictures as well as words.  It’s been a while since I wrote a straight review of a bar for this blog, and I don’t want to spoil it now, but I promise that a full review of Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grille is coming soon.  I have instructions from my professor to follow for each post right now, but I'll work it in somehow!  :)

Photography Practice for the Web

This week in RTV3280 we're examining photography for the web.  Luckily for me I enjoy being behind the camera a lot more than being in front of one!  On Sunday I spent the afternoon at my favorite St. Petersburg sports bar, Ferg's, sharing a pitcher of beer and taking in all the football action.  I'll be posting more pictures here and on my Flickr account, but for now my assignment is to pick my best three shots and explain how I took them, what's going on in the picture, and which of the top 10 tips from Kodak my photos incorporate.  And so without further ado, here are the images:


I took this photo a couple of blocks away from Ferg's.  The bright blue sky and the warmth this shot conveys represent the feeling I get on Sunday afternoons.  I'm always excited to have a day of rest, beer and football; and so it's easier to notice the beauty and tranquility of my home city.  I took this shot through a hole in a fence using a vertical technique.  The Kodak tips I incorporated included using a flash outdoors and placing my subject, the covered mound, off-center in the frame.

That's my friend Nick on the left!  I took this photo inside Ferg's, at what must have been a crucial time in the Dolphin's game (going on over my shoulder).  I especially like how the other people in the shot are all watching different games.  In addition to locking the focus and moving my subject off-center, I followed Kodak's recommendation to stay within a flash range of 10 feet.

This beautiful young lady is looking very sporty!  That pose of hers -- a confident look of cockiness -- was once made famous by Rays' centerfielder BJ Upton in the 2010 Tampa Bay Rays pocket schedule (imagine a baseball bat in her right hand).  I used two of the Kodak tips on this shot:  I held the camera vertically and I became a picture director.

New Wal-Mart to Open Near Georgie's Alibi

Wal-Mart stores are celebrated by some as a bastion of low-priced goods and convenience.  Others revile Wal-Mart, arguing that the megastore steals the soul of the community by forcing quirky, funky local shops out-of-business.  There’s a brand new Wal-Mart under construction on 34^th Street in the historic Kenwood neighborhood of St. Petersburg, just a couple of blocks from local sports bar Georgie’s Alibi.  I thought I’d ask how Georgie’s and other businesses were reacting to the news.  Surprisingly, considering Wal-Mart’s ability to polarize, the answer to my question is with relative indifference.

 

Wal-Mart is building a smaller, scaled-down version of its store on the northeast corner or 34^th Street and First Avenue North, without a garden or automotive center.  This is not a gesture of mercy towards area business, the 107,000-square-foot facility complies with local zoning regulations, and so the retailer does not require any special permission to begin construction.  According to City Council member Jeff Danner, they’ve adjusted their strategy so they don’t have to go to public hearings.  But Danner isn’t angry at Wal-Mart for dodging the hearing.  In fact, Danner said he suggested Wal-Mart build on this site years ago.  A Wal-Mart spokesperson told the St. Petersburg Times that the company wants to work with Kenwood, as well as the nearby Central Oak Park neighborhood, to be sure the store blends in.  Jim Longstreth, president of the Historic Kenwood Neighborhood Association, described the plans for the new store as resembling a bungalow – a 107,000-square-foot bungalow.  That seems to me like a pretty optimistic way for the president of a neighborhood association to characterize an encroaching Wal-Mart.

Georgie’s Alibi has been located on 31st street in Kenwood for over a decade.  The popular sports bar has grown to encompass nearly a whole shopping plaza; it features 31 HD televisions; hosts games and contests, such as bingo on Monday nights; and offers generous happy-hour specials.  I asked Frank, the manager, what he thought about the new Wal-Mart being built three blocks away from his bar, which is situated just across the street from some of the oldest homes in St. Petersburg.  Frank told me he didn’t have a strong opinion either way.  He said if the new store brings more people to the area, then it’s probably a good thing for Georgie’s.

To be fair, sports bars are not typically the type of business a store like Wal-Mart damages the most.  Independent retailers and grocers in the area are probably more up-in-arms over the issue.  I would have expected the people of Kenwood to be more upset, and perhaps some of them are, but they will not have a voice.  The site used to be home to a Diamond Furniture Gallery and a Super Parts auto store – I doubt either will be missed.  Wal-Mart does bring new jobs, but they are not typically the type of jobs that can revitalize an area.  However, given the present hard economic times and the overall condition of 34th Street, maybe some new jobs are better than no new jobs.  Perhaps no one is quite sure what will happen as a result of the Wal-Mart moving in, I guess we’ll all have to wait and see.

Rules I Live By Online

1. I will not plagiarize words or pictures.
2. I will avoid conflicts of interest.
3. I will explain and identify my sources when possible.
4. I will not publish information that is unnecessarily harmful.
5. I will find reliable sources of information.
6. I will be clear and open regarding my own motivation.
7. I will always check my facts.
8. I will always give my subject a chance to respond.
9. I will not distort the facts to increase interest.
10. I will remain honest and always report with integrity.
11. I will not be guilty of libel or slander.
12. I will only report on newsworthy topics.
13. I will understand and obey copyright laws.
14. I will avoid the publication of private facts.
15. I will respect the rights of private and public individuals.
16. I will always be willing to retract or correct my mistakes.
17. I will seek out truth and report it accurately.
18. I will distinguish between real news and advertising.
19. I will avoid imposing my cultural values on others.
20. I will be vigilant about holding those with power accountable.

Additional Resources

• A directory of drinking games--they make watching TV more fun!
• The development of beer through history: Brought to you by Fordham University.
• Brew Your Own is an online magazine with blogs and other accounts from amateur beer-makers.
• Things-to-do in Tampa Bay is the place to find fun local events; this month is Oktoberfest!!
• The sports bar that started it all in St. Petersburg: Ferg's

The Deep Web

For this assignment I had to scan the “deep web” for an obscure site on my topic, and evaluate it using the criteria set forth in the article Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask by the Berkeley librarians. The site I examined is called the East Lansing / Lansing Area Bar Review, and it’s written by Paul and Mike Hernacki, formerly of Michigan State University.  Paul and Mike are two gentlemen who feel that good beer is an experience, “I believe beer is wonderful. It's what Zeus drank when he got thirsty, I'm sure of it. And I'm not talking about Budweiser or Busch Light. I mean Beer.”

I used Google, and my search looked like this: user review “sports bar” site:.edu.  The East Lansing / Lansing Area Bar Review is the number one result.

The first step in evaluating a web page is to examine the URL.  The URL can tell you if you’re looking at someone’s personal page, an educational page or a commercially owned website.  I searched for .edu because I wanted to avoid promotional materials and advertisements. I ended up with a personal page from an educational institution, and even though there is no publisher vouching for the information, I believe the authors' opinion is unbiased. However, one problem with this website is that it's outdated; the page has not been regularly maintained since the proprietors left MSU in 2000. This site is not a reliable guide today, but it still has practical value as a reference. I don’t live in East Lansing or plan to visit soon, so the site has not lost any particular relevance for me. I just enjoy reading other people's thoughts about what defines a great sports bar, and the fact that Paul and Mike let me know their site is out-of-date with a disclaimer tells me they care, and suggests that their opinions are still reliable. Plus college students know bars, and purporting to be lovers of real beer is the only credential these Hernackis need in my book.

I am very impressed with the quality of this website.  The reviews are brief, concise and visual, and I absolutely love the ratings scale!  Sports bars receive a score from one to five beer mugs: one beer mug means send your friends from the University of Michigan, three means it’s worth skipping a lecture, and five means you’re in the bar of Zeus!  This site is extremely scanable; I saw the special note under the Beggar’s Banquet review that says bottles of wine are half-price on Wednesday and I salivated a little. The information is all first hand, which I appreciate because it keeps things consistent. There are great links to other resources on the topic, including beer-of-the-month clubs and places to buy your own home-brew equipment.  There isn't much data available regarding the type of traffic the page generates, but a search for Paul and Mike Hernacki on Google yielded lots of results!  Paul graduated from Michigan State in 1998, he is now the Chief Technology Officer for a company called Definition 6.  Paul has a Google Profile which he updates frequently.  Mike is Paul's younger brother.  He remained at MSU until 2000, and is now an IT manager in Atlanta; he got his MBA from Georgia Tech.  I think I’ve stumbled upon some excellent role models upon whom to build my own critical beer voice. The East Lansing / Lansing Area Bar Review offers reliable opinions and intuitive design from folks who really know their stuff!

Pincher's Tiki Bar Review Fort Myers (Tiki Feud)

Every Monday at 6 p.m. it's time to play the feud!  Pincher's Crab Shack Tiki Bar, located on Ft. Myers Beach, hosts a sports bar version of the famous game show Family Feud; just in time for Monday Night Football.  Individual players or teams compete by trying to guess the most popular answers to survey questions.  The answers are all provided by drunk people bar patrons, so they can get a little strange.  But try not to embarrass yourself like this woman did, because the winners receive some seriously fabulous prizes.  The players with the highest point totals after four rounds come together to play fast money, a lightning round where getting the high score nets a $50 gift certificate.  It's a lot of fun, and very well organized by bar game standards.  The host has personality, and he keeps the proceedings moving briskly.  One thing I really like about the game is that it's impossible to cheat.  Any sneaky snake with a smart phone can look up trivia questions, but there's no way to google what Bob from Ohio thinks is the best age to get married.  We finished in third place last week--good for a free cocktail or dessert--and we'll definitely come back to give it another shot.  Tiki Feud is a fantastic bar game.  The survey says: It's a winner!   

Food

The bar menu looks promising, and since they are affiliated with the adjacent Pincher's restaurant the menu has lots of variety.  However, this is a two-edged sword; the prices are just too expensive for my taste.  I'm trying to eat, drink, and be merry on a budget!  Seafood is the rub: There's coconut shrimp, stone crab, and fried grouper aplenty.  Luckily chicken wings are only $5 during happy hour (4 p.m. - 6 p.m.), and they are tasty!  The wings aren't healthy, mind you, as they float in a sea of butter sauce, but I don't recall healthfulness being one of my criteria!   Food - 3/5

Beer

What's this, they only have Bud and Bud Light on tap?  That stings like a soccer ball to the face!  Sure they have fruity drinks, like frozen rum runners and margaritas, but the Sports Bar Junkie is interested mainly in beer (and the occasional vodka tonic).  Bud and Bud Light bore me to tears.  Everything is two-for-one during the aforementioned happy hour, but, despite specifically telling me over the phone that Pincher's Tiki Bar was a great place to watch Monday Night Football, they don't seem to be encouraging me or my "rowdy friends" to hang around and throw back a few pitchers.  Beer - 1.5/5

Service
The main bartender, John, was great!  I arrived 10 minutes or so before happy hour ended, and not only did he get my drink order before the deadline, he asked me if I wanted him to put in another round before 6.  Knowing that I had a two-for-one in the queue was a nice feeling!  The staff was attentive to my needs and I was never kept waiting.
Service - 5/5

Atmosphere
It's an outdoor tiki bar on the beach, so the lighting and ambiance can't be beat!  The bar chairs are comfy, the tables are clean and the weather delightful!  There's a very long walk to the bathroom, but that gives me time to reflect on how much I like hanging out at this bar!

Atmosphere - 4/5

Sports
Sports are the reason I started coming to bars in the first place.  There were several large high-def televisions strategically placed around the main bar.  I had a great view at two of them, and I don't think anyone had a problem following the game.  However, with only a handful of sets, this is not the best place to follow all the games on Sunday.  Sports fandom here is at a bare minimum: Salty sea dogs are at a maximum.

Sports - 2.5/5

Fun

Tiki Feud plus the beach and the beautiful sunset = nuff said!

Fun - 5/5

OVERALL = 21/30 

GRADE = C+

Google Sites

Inside The Swamp, one of Gainesville's most famous sports bars, hangs an alligator with a rose in its mouth.  It seemed silly to me at first, but now I sense the deeper meaning.  Someone is telling us that no matter how scaly our exterior, no matter how thick our skin and sharp our teeth, we are all protecting a softer side.  Today's sports bar is still a place for men to be men, but it's not uncommon anymore to overhear a discussion on fashion, the arts or politics.  The same idea applies to the internet: The web can be a big and scary place, but it holds many beautiful roses.  Websites like Blogger allow anyone be an author; and Google lets you build a website, create a photo album and hold virtual conferences with ease.  Here is a website I made for my sports bar blog using Google Sites.  In my class at the University of Florida, RTV3280, we learn just how accessible the web can be.  I am excited to be involved in a media revolution in which anything is possible!

A Short Introduction for Sports Bar Junkie Followers

Hello, and welcome to my blog!  Here I'll share my sports bar experiences with you, and tell you which ones are my favorites.  I'm going to focus mainly on Southwest Florida, from St. Petersburg to Ft. Myers Beach and everywhere in between.  I'll clue you in on all the details, so if you don't live nearby, you can still compare the sports bars I visit to your local haunts.

My name is David Anderson, and here are my qualifications--ones they told me not to list on my resume--that make me an expert on the subject of sports bars.  Firstly, I am the two-time defending champion of a highly competitive fantasy football league.  In fact I've finished first or second every year since '05.  Needless to say I have not accomplished this feat by accident.  I consider myself a true student of the game, and to maintain my unprecedented level of success I sometimes need to watch two or three football games at once!  What better place to hone my craft than at a sports bar?  In the process of socializing, drinking beer and eating chicken nachos, I discovered that sports bars are super fun.  Sports bars are bright, colorful and friendly; they often have cute waitresses; and they always have great food and drink.  My friends and I started meeting every Thursday evening at Ferg's Sports Bar, which is across the street from Tropicana Field, to play team trivia.  On trivia night you can win a bar tab or other great prizes just for answering questions.  We've played at Ferg's almost every week for two years!  I've been to other bar's trivia nights that just don't measure up, and I'll explain why not in my upcoming posts.  Other popular sports bar events include: bingo, golden tee, and darts.  I've even driven past a bar on Ft. Myers Beach that advertises a "Tiki Feud" on Monday nights; I have no idea what that could mean, but stay tuned and I promise we'll both know very soon.

Blogger has limited the official description of my blog to 500 characters.  To fully prepare yourself, here is the complete description of my blog and the criteria upon which I will judge the sports bars I visit:


"The sports bar has long been a favorite destination of man, but few are aware of how quickly these cathedrals of leisure are evolving and expanding.  The sports bar experience has changed.  Once just a haunt for the loud, obnoxious and drunken among us, the modern sports bar concept has grown to include fine dining, social events and family fun!  The advent of the NFL Sunday Ticket television package has helped to make sports bars a Sunday destination as ubiquitous as church.  Join me as I travel to these establishments, taste the many offerings of food and drink, sample the culture of team trivia, expose the atmosphere and service to the critical eye of judgment, and tell you, the reader, where to find the most joyful sports bar experiences Southwest Florida has to offer."


I will draw conclusions based on the following criteria:

• Food - (Quality, Variety, Value, Extras)
• Beer - (Quality, Variety, Value, Extras)
• Service - (Quick, Responsive, Friendly)
• Atmosphere - (Lights, Decorations, Music, Staff)
• Sports - (Televisions, Energy, Memorabilia, Experience)
• Fun - (Special Events, Overall Experience) 

Check back here often for reviews, tips, and all the food, fun and friends you can handle!


Sincerely,
David