On Drinking: March Madness at Hollywood Bowl Bar

To me, the most exciting and enjoyable televised sport is college basketball and the epitome of that excitement is the March Madness NCAA tournament. I absolutely must watch this tournament from start to finish (it covers three weekends) and revel in the bracketology geekdom that ensues. And, of course, it provides an excellent opportunity for leisurely and extended daytime drinking, plus, occasionally, some choice encounters with fellow Madnessmen.

I live in Portland, OR and decided to go to a bar and watch the games on the first Saturday of the series. I felt proximity to my house was paramount so I went to the local bowling alley and discovered the bar with 10+ large screen TV’s and couches galore. The best spot in the house was already occupied by 3 scruffy guys but a spot on the couch was available so I sat my ass down and introduced myself. Travis, Alan and Tim soon warmed up to me and beers and sport conversation flowed. These dudes each belonged to different sub genres of scruff: Travis was more logger scruffy, Tim was more indie rock scruffy and Tim (Alan's brother-in-law) was all tatted and goateed scruff. They were all from Butte, Montana, and had come to Portland in search of the good life, part of which, apparently, involved afternoons at Hollywood Bowl on NE Halsey.  Halftime of game 1 came and we ventured over to the bar and they bought me a shot. They ordered a “boilermaker” type concoction that consisted of a shot of Crown Royal dropped into a half full pint glass of Red Bull (or in this case the cheap Hollywood Bowl equivalent to Red Bull). I have, for the most part, spurned the energy drink craze as it seems shallow and overhyped. But this shot was pretty tasty.

I considered the gauntlet to be laid.

We ate some deep fried bar food and started the second half of the game. It was my turn for the shot selection so I decided to go with an oldie but a goodie and ordered 4 “Mind Erasers.” “Mind Erasers” are shots but come in a pint glass and you drink them down with a straw. A “Mind Eraser” is a shot of Stoli, shot of Kahlua , club soda and ice and it packs a wallop. My objective was achieved as the boys all got a bit louder and glassy eyed. In fact, Travis started hugging everyone and the bartended asked me to keep “a handle” on him. Travis was shouting at the screen, being quite loud and aggro, which didn't really bother me. But I was there partly to root for the Washington Huskies and Travis was rooting for the Purdue Boilermakers (that earlier shot made sense now) - loudly - while verbally demeaning the Huskies with various insults, potentially the kind of thing that could get a  Huskies fan like myself riled. But the drinks kept coming, which offset the irritation, and the afternoon flowed by in a multi-shot colored haze.

At this point, enough beer and shots had been consumed so that we were all feeling quite lit for a Saturday afternoon. But, as all hard drinkers like to do, we pushed the envelope and had 1 more shot. Allan ordered a round of “Duck Farts” (basically a B-52 with Crown Royal instead of Grand Marnier) and we slugged those down. They were way too sweet for me and I knew my afternoon (and evening) was done.

I will never forget my afternoon with Travis, Alan and Tim as it encapsulated everything I could have hoped for and was in fact what I imagined might happen when drinking and watching college basketball at the Hollywood Bowl Bar.--John Jay

 

Hollywood Bowl Bar