The Brooksider was already packed when I strolled in last Saturday, mostly with KU fans. The game was about to start and anxiousness was in the air. The barspotting crew at KCCGD knows this feeling all to well, as we made a stop here last year. This time around we were checking out the place to see what’s changed and whipping up some mojo for Krizzou’s Missouri Tigers. There were changes at the Brooksider, alright, and there were unexpected changes on the field.
The Brooksider Bar and Grill has a huge reputation for the area as being one of the top sports bars. Much of this rep comes from the huge 71″ plasma screen HD television. On top of that, there are HD screens hanging up all over. A huge concrete bar replaces the old wood one, complete with flat screens built into the bar. They also knocked out a wall for more spacious patronage and extended the stage out for better band rockage. Big Buck Safari replaced Big Buck Hunter to hang out next to Golden Tee, game-wise.
Another cool setup that I missed was the patio work. They now have a tent setup in addition to the regular patio they had from last time. The Brooksider also took care of that area and installed a couple of flat screens outside. This, with the full stocked outside bar, makes it ideal for smokers who still want to watch the games. With the smoking bans in full effect, the only way a real bar can survive is by building a patio and providing some stellar service outside.
Much of the reason the Brooksider rules bar wise was the talent that serviced the peeps who perch up and watch some sportage. The first shift crew didn’t shine as much. My reasoning leads me to think that the night time shift is where the big guns come out. I gobbled another set of Mac N Cheese Wedges and washed it down with some Shocktober beer. In between games, I even had some time to fill out a sudoko puzzle from a local advertising/neighborhood flyer.
The second shift ladies filled the gap of talent with authority. For some reason, they have this one waitress that looks like she could be in Playboy. My guess is that she hooked up with the owner/manager of the Brooksider. At any rate, looks don’t always lead to great service. I spied a dude at the end of the bar with pizza and when I asked about it he said they had a new menu. I asked for the new menu and got the old one, only to discover that there was a new menu floating around. The P.T. sammich was de-lish, but looking over the menu made me wish I had a second chance on it. Also, while I was tasting the blue cheese with my side of fries, they changed the K-State vs Colorado game to the baseball game, even though I requested it and no one else was watching. When I complained, the guy said I was the only one watching the football game. Huh?!?! Methinks they are forgetting what it takes to be a great sports bar.
For great football, there wasn’t really anything that exciting. TCU upending BYU earlier in the week was the only top 10 upset, and boy did they roll them. Michigan couldn’t be on the other side of upset specials as Penn State pulled away in the 2nd half for a convincing victory. LSU bounced back from embarrassment by defeating South Carolina 24-17. Vandy’s time in the top 25 will go away as Georgia proved they were the big dogs.
Big 12 wise, there were no real changes rankings wise. Oklahoma State is proving to be legit yet once again by demolishing Baylor 34-6. Texas Tech was almost upset by wayward Texas A&M as my guess is that the rest of the season each game will an upset watch for the Red Raiders. Nebraska is starting to show some signs of improvement by rolling Iowa State. Oklahoma took out their frustration of losing the Red River Shootout by dominating back-to-earth Kansas. Hey at least they notched an Orange Bowl at the right time.
The big game of the day was the looking to bounce back Missouri Tigers facing the Numero Uno Texas Longhorns. But what people didn’t notice was the most exciting game in the Big 12 was floating under the radar (and the bar) with K-State facing Colorado. Somehow, success got to the Tigers head and they didn’t account for Mack Brown using a freshly faxed blueprint to stopping the Tiger O from Mike Gundy. Texas 56, Missouri 31. Boy oh boy, did they look sloppy out there. I hope coach Pinkel rallies his staff together and get them off their butts to come up with a new game plan by next week. The North is up for grabs but they are still in the driver’s seat.
K-State, on the other hand, needs to get their kicker drunk and trick him into attempting field goals with cinder blocks. I kind of figured this game would be a toss up, but I was expecting a higher score. Josh Freeman looked good and his touchdown was nice. Somehow daddy Hawkins realized his kid blows and yanked the red shirt off of Tyler Hansen to help in the victory. I would be remiss to fail to mention Brooks Rossman’s career long 53 yard field goal but would rather have him miss that one and make the other shorter 2 for the victory. Again, it looks like the North is wide open.
The changes made at the Brooksider opens the bar up and actually provides a more comfortable viewing experience. It is still one of the best looking bars, but they could use some work on the service side. Kansas State and Missouri could stand to improve thier service as well and we hope to see some changes coming for the better for the feline teams. Still, it was nice to kick off the BCS at best barspot from last year.