via: espn

So, I have to be honest. I couldn’t picture myself holed away in a bar at 9 a.m. last weekend watching a basketball game instead of enjoying the lovely, lovely weather we were having. No, instead, I watched basketball in my house with the windows open, pretending I was enjoying the lovely, lovely weather outside. And what a weekend it was. UW made it to the Sweet Sixteen! This was something unexpected but hella nice.

After the Huskies dominated most of the first half, I was about to write the game off and go for a walk in the reserve next to my house, but then. Then, Illinois started mounting their come back. Of course, I was hooked. I watched the second half with growing dread, and thought UW was going to squander its lead and lose. They did squander their lead, but, as you all know, still managed to win the game in the last few seconds. Woo Hoo! Go Huskies.

Tonight’s games were phenomenal. The Texas-West Virginia game was settled with .8 seconds left. That’s right, I said POINT FREAKING EIGHT SECONDS. I turned to my football loving friend and said, “And that’s why basketball is so awesome.” Little did I know that 6 minutes later (game time) I would be saying the same thing after UCLA came from nowhere and won a game they had been losing for oh about 39 minutes against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Okay. I don’t know why I dislike Gonzaga so much. Perhaps it is because they keep getting hype despite their no competition conference. Perhaps it is because UW is somehow in their shadow despite being in a major conference (Pac-10) and having to play powerhouses UCLA and Arizona twice every season. I mean seriously. UCLA has the most tournament wins (11) and 3rd most appearances (36) ever, but have you even heard of another team in the WCC? Yeah, I bet not.

No matter, because UCLA’s win tonight – and Adam Morrison’s crying before the game was even over – was AMAZING. Seriously. Games are so exciting and down to the last fraction of a second. What other American sport can claim that?

I can’t wait for tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s my sort of second round Seattle Sports Bar review.

I chose Pyramid Ale House. Sure, Pyramid Ale House is another bar that doesn’t really advertise itself as an all-around sports bar, but they do cater to Mariners fans. What with being across the street from Safeco and all? I thought they might have some potential and I was indeed pleasantly surprised.

The first good news? I arrived after work and despite the fact that the first two games were already on, managed to snag a spot center bar.

TVs: They have two TVs on each side of the bar, and since UW wasn’t playing, I was willing to sacrifice some coverage. Luckily, since Gonzaga registers on Seattle sports fans’ minds, a screen was pulled down right behind the bar and projector turned on. Unexpected sports is pretty awesome. I had a great seat for the game. No crowd hovering over me. No straining to see the action. My expectations were blown away.

Food: The food was, again, just all right, but in this case, priced nicely. I spent less than half as much money on chili cheese fries and a salad as I did on 6 wings and an entree at Fox Sports Grill. The salad was actually pretty nice for bar food, too. No iceberg and pretty tasty croutons. Extra stars for that.

Drinks: As anyone well knows, being an ale house Pyramid serves only their beers and wine. Although I do love a cocktail, if I’m planning on staying for almost 5 hours, beer is good. And they do have a great beer selection. I had the sampler and the bartender allowed me to pick my own selection since I’m not a huge wiessen fan. Thumbs up on that score.

Service: Okay, so none of the servers cared much about the game, but they still were attentive and nice.

Overall: NO crowd, accessible viewing area. In fact, anyone could have sat at the bar and got a great view of the game. Not to mention the abundance of parking AND, more pertinent to me, it’s right on my bus line. I’m going to have to say this has been the best sports watching bar experience of the tournament so far.