Tuesday, September 25, 2012

BDubs...

Jonathan had been toying with the idea of getting the cable package that allows him to see NFL Network. We realized that the upcoming Giants-Panthers game on Thursday was on NFL Network. Jonathan is a New York Giants fan (I have no idea how that happened, it's one of my failures as a father). So, we decided to go to our local Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game. I've never been there. Josh raves about the one in Lexington and Jonathan has been to this one, so I was interested to see how the experience would go.

On the way to BWW, I listened to ESPN Radio. They gave the Giants no chance to win. Their top running back (Ahmad Bradshaw) and wide receiver (Hakeem Nicks) were out. Their 3rd wide receiver - Dominick Hixon (he of the great Super Bowl catch) was out too. It wasn't shaping up as a stellar evening. I got to the restaurant a bit before Jonathan and went ahead and got a booth. The restaurant is separated into two areas. One has just tables and the other tables and the bar. I was able to be seated (perferably) in the non-bar area. I had only asked for two things - a booth and to be near the TVs. The booth was right in front of a big screen TV with two others in easy viewing distance. I was able to watch the Brewers Pirates game while we waited. Jonathan arrived. Our waitress told us they had 3.00 appetizers til 7. So Jonathan ordered onion rings and I ordred mini corn-dogs. His onion rings were excellent, my mini corn dogs were not. They were not hot at all, most were lukewarm and a couple were even cold.

We waited until the game started to order our meal. It was "Boneless Thursday" so boneless wings were .60 apiece. I went with the mildest they offered which was Southern BBQ. Jonathan went with the regular wings. Again, they were OK, but mine were lukewarm. I could understand if the place was packed that they might have issues with food sitting before they brought it out, but it wasn't packed at all. Anyway, each commentator on NFL Network picked the Panthers to win. The game started and the Giants got the ball and immediately started a drive. Little known Andre Brown looked good as the running back. Eli Manning threw a TD pass to Martellus Bennett. This thrilled Jonathan not only because the Giants scored on their first drive, but Bennett is the tight end on his fantasy team. The Giants held on Carolina's first drive and then drove down for a field goal. The Giants held again and then drove down for a touchdown. Ramses Barden did a good job in catching passes in place of the injured Hakeem Nicks. The Giants scored a field goal and led 20-0 at the half.

We only saw one Panters fan. It was a guy and his daughter had on a Panther's jersey. He saw Jonathan in his Eli jersey and told her to boo him. She only looked to be two or three, so she just looked at him. The Panthers received the 2nd half kickoff only to fumble it. This led to a Giants field goal and a 23-0 lead. At this point, I ordered a piece of chocolate cake with ice cream. It was good but Jonathan didn't help me eat it, so I was stuffed. The Panthers finally scored a TD to make it 23-7. The Giants got another field goal to make it 26-7. The Panthers started to drive but Cam Newton was intercepted. The Giants drove for another TD to go up 33-7 on another TD run by Andre Brown. The Panters drove down to the Giants 8, but Newton was intercepted at the goal line. The Giants then put in their subs. They got one more field goal to win easily 36-7. I know this sounds funny, but the game wasn't even as close as that score appears. We hung out til the end of the game and then left (with Jonathan ecstatic).

The experience wasn't that bad. Even though my food wasn't that hot (literally speaking), I'd go to eat again and just try something different. Our waitress was reall good, she kept our Coke and iced tea glasses full and kept checking on us. We were able to watch the game with ease. So, I'd be OK with going back again.