The sign I spy every day while I walk from my workplace at the library for my second cup of coffee from Nichols across First Street finally pulled me in last Saturday.
My old pal first met at the big daily, Bake, met me a few minutes before game time. My dear wife Karen joined us when she got off her library shift, oh, at halftime.
Focus, Mark.
I slid in next to a smiling Bake, who’d selected a bar spot behind the Cobblestone’s line of beer taps. It provided a fine view of the line of flat screens tuned to college football right above the bar and a good place for our elbows as we caught up.
Bake this year retired from the spot he made for himself after the big layoff of January ‘13, as social media director of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. He still goes to the lively spot just across the street from where we culled News together from the 1980s, he admitted, but now he merely eats, drinks and is very merry without posting photos and catchy promo thoughts on the web site and other platforms.
Bravo, my friend.
Let’s Go Orange.
I sipped on a very tasty Blue Moon draft as I told him about how much I enjoyed working on the library’s site and social media, and working with the people, patrons and co-workers.
On the walls, too.
At game time, they turned every TV in the joint to the Syraucse-Miami game.
People at the bar and at the tables cheered as if they were in Miami with the squad.
When Karen arrived, we ordered 18 50-cent wings. Hot. Crunchy. Tasty. I did think they get some smaller-than-usual bird appendages in for the special-price event, but that may just be the Oliver Stone in me….
The Orange fought like heck, but couldn’t come through at the end, as QB Eric Dungey threw one too many interceptions – four – and Miami added one more late TD run to win 27-19. Syracuse is 4-4 with a bye this weekend.
Yet the Cobblestone proved quite welcoming for the 3:30 p.m. away game. Experiment, successful.
Mark Bialczak 
glad it was a successful visit to a new place to enjoy the game – is that an orange floating in your drink? )
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It is indeed an orange floating in the Blie Moon draft, Beth. That is how they are served if you give the OK. I like it. The brewers were right when they said it would taste good this way.
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yes, i’ve had a couple of beers that way, when they recommended it and it was good. plus, i was thinking good subtle way to show support of your team)
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It was the best way to support the Orange that day, for sure, Beth.
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I love the name.
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It is a good name for an old joint, MBC.
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Love wings! Love College Football. Sorry for your loss. This weekend I will be watching a big Rivalry. My Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn Sate. Wings will be made by me with a delicious Cajun dry rub.
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Good luck to your Buckeyes, Nancy. I am not a Penn State fan, dating back to my college years at Maryland when they beat us like a drum on the football field. And now my Terps are in the Big Ten with your squad and the Nittany Lions … and losing to noth regularly. Oh boy!
Those Cajun rubbed wings sure sound good to me. I’ll be watching Maryland hopefully beat Indiana, but I have yet to figure out the home food for game time. 🤓
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What is it with wing prices these days? The Ground Round in Utica used to have 10 cent wings for Monday Night Football. And that was only 30 years ago.
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Roll back the wing prices and mt creaky joints, Scott. The Ground Round had great burgers, too!
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