Nick and I were there. I had my Eagles hat on. Didn't see anyone else from Philly. Did meet lots of Mexicans though.
I went to Tir Na Nog with a friend. At about 7:25 we asked if they'd put the game on, and they said they would have to wait for the guy in charge of programming to return, but that they could put it on this tiny t.v. above the bar. Or maybe it was already on that t.v. and we hadn't noticed. At this point, one of the bartenders pointed at the large screen and said rather pointedly, "There's no way in hell it's going on that screen." Fortunately, U.S. fans sort of came out of the woodwork and they ended up changing the big screen from the riveting Cincinnatti-Atlanta baseball game to the U.S.-Mexico match. I'm new to town so I don't want to rock the boat too much, but in spite of the fact Tir Na Nog's big screen is, well, humongous, on the whole I think as U.S. supporters we can do better. Specifically, I'm thinking that we should look for a bar that: a) wants our business to the point that they'll guarantee in advance that a U.S. game will be on their main screen; b) will play the sound during the game; and c) offers drink specials. OK, maybe the last one is pushing it. But based on the few years I lived in NYC, I think all three of these things are obtainable if you get a decent group that will reliably turn out and you find a relatively divey (sp?) bar. In Manhattan that was Nathan Hale's. Because it was downtown, I'm assuming they loved all the guaranteed business on game days,especially because saturday's are slow in that part of town. But I never took part in the planning or organizing, so that's speculation on my part. Anyway, Tir Na Nog was fine last saturday. But overall, I didn't get the impression that we're a big priority to them, which makes sense given the combination of its size, location, and irish clientele. So I think looking for a bar that can serve U.S. soccer fans a little better isn't a bad idea. And if that bar happens to be a bit smaller, I think that will only improve the viewing atmosphere, because the number of people there to watch the U.S. game seemed solid. We have a ton of matches coming up from January-June 2006, so I think the opportunity to show a bar we're serious is there. And I like the idea of not having to worry that a bar is going to bump an U.S. match for, say, a Gaelic Athletic Association event. I guess as a final point I should add that if this sounds like a simple rant, it's not. I can't do anything in the next 24 hours, but after that I am willing and able to help organize the fan base a bit. But first I'd like to hear some feedback from people who are more familiar with the local scene. Especially since it's obvious that the more diehard fans weren't even in town last weekend.
That sounds like most soccer pubs in Philly. I know everyone's against the Dark Horse but I think they'd put it on for us. I know the guys there well, they're good people and not snobby like most people think (that was the previous owners). Fado isn't bad either. Won't get specials unless we bring a decent amount of people but they would probably put the game on no problem. I frankly hate Tir Na Nog and have always hated Tir Na Nog so I'm all for switching. This may seem odd but how about somewhere outside the city? It seems as though most people on here could get to the Jenkintown area easily. It's a 20min ride on the R1, R2, R3 or R5 from Center City and there's a few pubs there that would do. Plus suburban bars are more likely to do specials. It's just a thought. I know I wind up watching the US at home a lot of the time because it's such a hassle to get downtown.
Thing is, it's not usually like that. Partly because I stupidly never called them until Saturday morning. But you might have seen the poster in the bar that there was a big Gaelic football tournament going on in Philadelphia this weekend and everybody involved in it met at Tir Na Nog that night. That's why the place was so packed. It is an Irish bar and they do show GAA stuff on the weekend as much as they show soccer. I should have gotten there earlier, in part because I've dealt with the manager on a number of occasions and could have gotten us a better place to watch. Honestly, the manager ended up watching the second half of the game from just behind where you were standing. He is not at all against American soccer. Any other night we end up in a far better situation. I went there for the US-Mexico match that was played at the Cotton Bowl and he got us a table up there where the band set up and a TV we could all watch. It wasn't a big screen but this was the night of a Flyers playoff game. By the end of the hockey game (it was a rout for Toronto) the soccer game was on a lot of the TVs and many people in the bar cheered when Eddie Pope scored the winning goal. I think we'll be fine at Tir Na Nog. You mentioned Jenkintown and its accessibility but it's hard to get back into the city after the game is over. Also there were five or six of us who came from University City and none of us have cars. If the El is screwed up or the trolleys are closed late it's even harder and honestly I don't want to be wandering around Suburban Station late at night. Selfish I realize but for the US game I just mentioned I watched with a bunch of people who came in from South Jersey. So Jenkintown wouldn't be as accessible to them either. Nathan Hale's and Nevada Smith's are exceptions, not the rule even when it comes to soccer bars. So too is Summers in suburban Washington which is where I go when I am there. But I can only go because it's a block from a Metro station, and I am far from the only person in the DC area who gets there that way. My point in saying this is that as I said I think Tir Na Nog is the place. They do want us, it's just that this particular weekend was a problem that they don't usually have. They told me that right away when I called and I should have called earlier and posted about it, so I apologize for that. But in the future I think we'll be fine.
Eddie, I've been to the Dark Horse when they refused to put a TV on the USA game when England was playing. They're not very cool about showing the USA on TV.
Christ, think about it. When England is on, most places won't put the US on. Especially at the DH where TVs are a premium. Most every TV in that place is watched by someone (since the middle bar only have the one big TV and and the upper bar has assorted little ones).
In my mind, this is the fundamental problem with the Dark Horse -- it's an English bar first and foremost. I would love it if the hardcore US fans here in Philly could find a bar that would put the US on, even when England is also on. I'm sure there are plenty of bars (not necessarily sports bars) in Philly that would do this, so I'd just assume forget about Dark Horse. I've only watched one game at Tir Na Nog, and that was the US v. Guatemala match in Birmingham. I thought the setup at Tir Na Nog was really nice -- they had the game on the big screen, which is really big, and within easy view of almost all the tables in the area. That said, I agree with K.P. that it would be nice to find a place that: a) wants our business to the point that they'll guarantee in advance that a U.S. game will be on their main screen; b) will play the sound during the game; and c) offers drink specials. Ultimately, I think it shouldn't be too hard to convince Tir Na Nog (or any other bar) to meet these criteria, if we just get organized. If we can guarantee them a crowd of 25 or more fans coming to watch the match, we could say to them that we'll give them our business if they guarantee in advance that they'll put the game on the big screen, play the sound during the game, and offer drink specials.
Do you think maybe if we "organized" and could get bars or pubs solid numbers on how many people we bring with us that that would help? I would have to think it would. As it is, we kind of just are some people "meeting up" as opposed to "here come the Philly Yanks". Make sense to anyone else? Has anyone in the area tried to do that yet? Ever?
Unfortunately, I'm not sure there are 25 of us yet. I wish there were but on a good night I suspect there are 15, 20 at most if everyone on BigSoccer comes out and a few more accompany them. With regard to the big screen, that's my fault a bit because I didn't call until Saturday morning. I would have pushed them on that had I called earlier. But I think they did realize that no one cared about Reds-Braves. The sound thing definitely annoyed me. The only reason why I didn't want to take it up with the manager is that I wasn't sure when the band was going to start playing until almost halftime, and I thought they'd start playing during the game and then we would have been really screwed. The drink specials thing I can't do anything about. Tir Na Nog is not a cheap place, unfortunately. Summers and Nevada Smith's, as examples, are much cheaper. I'm sure there are other places in the Philly area but as I've said none is as accessible for everyone as Tir Na Nog. Those are my cents for the time being.
That makes a lot of sense to me. I think it would definitely help if we could assure the bar or pub that at least X people would be showing up. I don't think anyone has ever tried to organize anything beyond simply saying "I'll be watching the game at Tir Na Nog, if anyone else wants to, let's meet up." Unfortunately, as dcajedi says, there are probably at most 15-20 people we could organize at this point, and I think even those numbers are probably overly ambitious. If we wanted to guarantee the bar that a certain number of fans would show up, I doubt we could guarantee more than 5-10. But I'm sure there are more than 10 fans in Philly who would want to join other fans to watch the U.S. play, and it's just a question of spreading the word and getting ourselves organized.