‘When you’ve said Wisconsin, you’ve said it all,’ concerning the TV at a Viking bar in Bayport

Of Vikings and the vanquished, or possibly victors, and Badgers and buses and bars:
— Do people actually hit a Viking bar to view Badger tournament basketball? Apparently, as a patron stopped in Woody’s in Bayport to ask that the Wisconsin game be shown that started in what might be considered the wee hours of the morning, 11 a.m. He actually arrived at 11:10. Much of his time was spent on his social media device, possibly during timeouts or commercials. A few minutes later, his buddy arrived, and looking forward in the tourney, they said it would great to have another crack at Michigan State and beat them. They went into a long analysis of the meaning of seedings. During the latter portion of this time, an Irish lass (presumably) with long, bright red hair in significant curls, made her way to the back bar area for a pre-St. Paddy’s Day “observation.” Guess timing is everything. (Five minutes later, about when I left, the underdog Badgers were hanging in there, with the game tied at 14).
— Speaking of the Badger sports and the tours of their marching band bus, they made their usual stop, and possibly more than one time, at the Kozy Korner in North Hudson during recent days. But such a bus also was seen up on The Hill, in the shopping complex southeast of the Carmichael frontage road, where people unboarded then boarded again and then took off for another destination. But where? They didn’t head directly for the freeway, but trekked to the area to the west known for its eateries, quick fast food and other types of grub.
— Advertised online is a $12 St. Patrick’s Day “tee.” Could that be like a tea from another locality, Long Island? The former sounds even more over the top, and potent, than the latter. Brings to mind a recent metro event involving a St. Patrick’s Day staple, Guiness, and a contest for who could do the “perfect pour” the best. Hard not to spill if you’ve done too much “quality control” first, just to make sure samples were OK. Or like a fave bartender in Bayport said to the question, have you ever gained mastery and poured the perfect beer? “Many a time.”
— Seen in the contact information for the Irish Gazette, which can be found all over the area in like-minded establishments, was their web site media@theirishgaztte.com. Now if you inserted hyphens, would that be the-irish-gazette, or their-ish-gazette. We prefer the former of the two.
— When at one of my favorite haunts and ordering a beer, the small glass, not the full mug, I commented to the bartender, because of the impending holiday, that I would have the “wee bit” of the smaller size. And it wasn’t even green beer! Somewhat surprisingly, she gave a laugh worthy of the Irish.
— His legacy continues on and was perpetuated by signs at downtown venues, where their message was all that needed to be said. At the Agave Kitchen, the marquee read simply “Army John,” and at Pudge’s, perhaps his favorite haunt in many of the years prior to his recent death, the sign said, “Army John, celebration of life, Wednesday, 7 p.m.” Then, days later, there was this announcement on the Kozy Korner sign: “We will miss you. RIP. Kelli Schmidt.” What is with all the prominent deaths in the last year or two?
— Bartender Kendall at Pudge’s, (the second suchly named server there who has made a splash), has been frequently changing her hair style, and recently I told her that her upward puff made it look like she’d taken a page from Something About Mary. Since that movie now is somewhat dated, the joke and the scene it is from needed a bit of explanation. And downstairs, Alex said when told she looked particularly glamorous — with hair worn down in this case and glossy lipstick — that when getting ready she was feeling “fancy.” Both scenarios conjure up the image of Cameron Diaz.
— Is it bachlorette party season already? No, said workers at Dick’s, it was just that a busload of people had arrived, and most of the women looked much like that gender in the Trump family. No word on whether INS pulled into the parking lot a bit later (just kidding). But I’m not kidding about the highly buzzed dancing that went on, with people not respecting the space they had to work with and swaying to beat the band. I estimate that the average inebriated dancer needs about 100 square feet just for themselves to not step on the toes of others.
— News broke recently about the changes in location of several prominent Stillwater restaurants, but I knew about it prior to it being reported elsewhere, courtesy of someone I know who is a chef in downtown Hudson who hangs out at Dick’s. It has become well known that the family who were longtime owners and operators of Brine’s are getting out of the business, but my source added another tidbit — a certain acclaimed barbecue restaurant a couple of blocks to the south will be moving into that now available place.
— When going to do my civic duty to cast an election vote, I discovered that one of the poll workers had for a long time — like me — had been doing the duty of a freelance writer, before getting out of the biz because it has become far less lucrative. I thought that considering what she was doing that day, her initial job of being a political correspondent was interesting. I told her that my career path mirrored hers, and that now I was covering the late-night entertainment scene as a part of my mix. She appeared intrigued and full of questions about this version of the news.– The other night out in the Cities for a change, and taking in an old-fashioned country band, quite unusual for me, our little group ended up sharing a table with a much older couple having a strong relationship to the Andover woman on the gold-medal-winning Olympic hockey team. As the conversation moved forward — some of us weren’t too much into the twangy country — they revealed that their granddaughter was a senior on the womens’ high school team where the soon-to-be Olympian was then a sophomore. That connection was largely by chance, because in the next two seasons, the Gold medalist shifted back over to playing on the boys team.
At the next table over, there was another couple that prompted attention, with the woman looking very much like Jessica Lange. She and her recently deceased significant other, Sam Shepard, used to be longtime owners of a mansion in Stillwater and a ranch in Roberts. He received more prominence at the recent Oscars, being memorized as among them who had passed on. But among those recognized, often minor players in the movie-making game, would there be even passing reference to the A-list musicians who also died in the last year? Nope. I guess starring in music videos as a quick flick isn’t good enough to qualify for nods given to full-length films.