Watching Football (real football)

In London you have few options for watching the NFL: you can try to stream it from one of those shady websites, and watch a stuttering, pixely feed with commercials in Swedish, or you can go to one of the handful of restaurants and bars that shell out for the transcontinental broadcast. For last week's game, I chose the latter, and researched a bit to find out what my best bet was. I ended up choosing Bodean's in Tower Hill, an-American-style barbecue restaurant, instead of the Sports Cafe, which I've been told is a garish misconception of the ESPN Zone located in the most tourist-saturated part of London. By the time my buddy Garrett and I get there, it was 14-0 at the half, which was only a minor letdown because I was more than a little afraid that the Bears would get utterly embarrassed.

Bodean's was surprisingly similar to your standard American barbeque joint, complete with the pink, pig-shaped neon light in the front window. It was fairly packed for a Sunday night; we stood until we found a decorative whiskey barrel to perch on. I ended up getting a cheeseburger, which wasn't bad and wasn't great, and a couple pints of Coors light, which, being an exotic import, cost £4.50 apiece. After a few plays, it was apparent that the makeup of the crowd was about 80-20 groaning Chicagoans to whooping dairy-staters, which makes sense if you think about it. The most vocal Packer fan was, predictably enough, a short, stocky guy wearing a baseball cap and glasses and a faded green-and-cheddar sweatshirt proclaiming Packer dominance of the NFC in 1997. There were a few curious, eager Brits at the bar as well, who were impressed by my terse assessments (how did you know that would be a holding penalty? How did you know that wasn't a catch? You're right, this Collins fellow seems hardly able to throw.)

I felt bad dragging Garrett to this place to pay exorbitantly for crappy beer and watch a team he didn't care about lose eternal bragging rights. On the bright side, I don't really think I can stomach a Packers-Steelers Super Bowl, so I won't have to do this again.