Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Barely into our appetizer at a restaurant on The Country Club Plaza, the rain delay ended on the baseball game being shown in the dining area.
Play resumed and I found it impossible to tear myself away from the game. My date was incredible, and patient, but he did not share my obsession with the fifth and final game of the series.
This I simply did not understand.
So whether I’m in the mood for fast food, such as Back Yard Burgers, or a quiet dinner for two at Lawrence’s finest, like Paisano’s Ristorante or Teller’s, I have at least one TV to satisfy my sports-watching fix.
He wanted to eat and talk, then talk and eat. That, of course, is nice, but can it wait? The game is on.
I finally gave in and settled for highlights after dinner and during the ride home. It wasn’t as if my date wasn’t interested in sports. He’s a state champion wrestler, for crying out loud. His argument was that romantic dinners and watching a game that I’d potentially get far too emotional about just don’t mix.
When he reminded me of this, I couldn’t help but laugh. I’m one of those people. Yes, the old-man figure that gets smacked with his wife’s purse when he ruins their one evening a month out together by watching Monday Night Football through the entree.
Why are we like this? Obviously we live in a sports-driven society. One team’s success can pull an entire city together instantly, and there’s the answer.
According to Lawrence.com, there are 230 restaurants in the Lawrence area and more than three-fourths of them house televisions dedicated to sports.
So whether I’m in the mood for fast food, such as Back Yard Burgers, or a quiet dinner for two at Lawrence’s finest, like Paisano’s Ristorante or Teller’s, I have at least one TV to satisfy my sports-watching fix.
On top of that, there are restaurants designed solely for watching sports. Buffalo Wild Wings, Molly McGee’s, J.B. Stout’s and even 75th Street Brewery have more than 20 TVs each. For what?
Watching games, that’s what.
Remember that the next time you’re scolded by your girlfriend, or boyfriend, for averting your eyes from her long, romantic gaze to catch the score on the TV above her head.
That restaurant was built for it. Besides, the television can’t be ignored either.
Kansan sportswriter Alissa Bauer is a Winfield senior in journalism.
— Edited by Mindy Ricketts
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