I watched tonight's Thrashers vs. Bruins game at the hockey viewing party the Interactive Squad hosted at our suburban Up the Creek. If the team wants to evangelize in my neighborhood I want to support it.
The good news is the turnout surpassed my expectations. The parking lot was full, no small accomplishment for a Monday night. The bar area and about half of the dining room was awash in blue jerseys. Most tables were filled with families. Everyone had a chance to spin the prize wheel, and to do so without waiting in line for 20 minutes as you do at games. School age children dressed in their Blueland best sat coloring their children's menu and cheering when appropriate. The crowd was quiet at first. I expected more of a party atmosphere with fans mingling and discussing the recent trades. Instead most tables kept to themselves but shared collective cheers and gasps as the game played out on the plasma TVs overhead. Cheering a television is always more fun in a crowd. Families watching the game together on a Monday night is great, but you have to wonder if some felt they were a victim of false advertising. The fliers posted online and at the restaurant promised that Thrash himself would host this party. Instead the hosts were two women from the Interactive squad and a couple of people in charge of the prize wheel. Thrash's presence might have encouraged mingling and would certainly have added something extra for all the kids.
Another negative is that Up the Creek isn't the ideal place for a viewing party of any sort. The staff was pleasant and worked to meet any dining request, but the game wasn't visible from most of the dining room tables. A variety of decorative metal plants blocked the view of televisions from half the dining room entirely. Even the tables with a view of the TV only provided that view to patrons on one side of the table. Also perplexing was the staff's insistence on vacuuming the dining area during the game. Nothing quite helps you enjoy a hockey game like the feeling that your hosts are just watching the clock waiting for you to exit. I don't blame this on the Thrashers. I think it was a side effect of Up The Creek trying too hard. They even had the regional manager on hand. Too bad she didn't have ask them to stop vacuuming or suggest they offer some specials to the folks who turned out.
These factors make me think that other venues could be the difference between what was a nice viewing party and what could have been a great viewing party. The northern suburbs have no shortage of family friendly sports bar. (Yes, you out of town folks heard that right. Here in Atlanta we have family friendly sports bars. I think its a side effect of confusing an SEC football game with holiday mass. But that is another post.) Across the street was Indigo Joe's. The food isn't spectacular, but not really worse than Up the Creek. As a sports bar they have far more TVs in proximity to all of their seats. Any one of the Taco Macs in the area would work. As would the very nice Barnacles on 141 in Norcross. At last count Barnacles had somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 televisions. (Up the Creek had 7.) And don't forget the largest Jock's and Jill's in the area is just a few miles away in Alpharetta. A happy plus to gathering at a traditional sports watching venue is an increased likelihood of drawing in a few more casual sports fans. I dream of a day when I'm not the only person in Jock's and Jill's who speaks up to complain when someone asks to have the single hockey TV changed so they can have yet another view of the SEC game that is on 3 other TVs. Getting hockey folks into one of these bars might help raise their awareness that hockey fans do exist in the south.
Overall I'd give the event a B with the potential of turning into a B+ of A- next time out if they choose a better venue. The team has sponsored at least 2 of these events so far and I expect more in the future. If a viewing party comes to a place near you, do yourself a favor and check it out.