I’ve been doing a bunch of hip-hop songs of late with this writing bit, but I hope you know that’s just because of the braggadocio involved in rap. It helps with the unchecked confidence I need to write while Week to Week Notes is still a one-man army. My plan would be to get as much of the hip-hop I grew up listening to out there while I’m still in my 20s. Maybe I’m wrong for saying this, but it would look sort of ridiculous for a 50-year-old white-haired old guy to use a Drake song as the thematic music concept for a piece. My point is, I’m saving some of my favorite songs as a slow burn, but might as well use the first song from the first album of the Lumineers for the first Week of Pint&Pen&Paper.
Alright, I promise not to get all soft on you after only a week of doing a Pint&Pen&Paper, but I’ve been writing Week to Week Notes in some form to friends since I was a 21-year-old moron in UAlbany. It is kind of weird being like “hey read this and let me know what you think?” and expect to get a real reaction so I never really get to witness people's reactions of Week to Week Notes. Sometimes I’ll say a thing or two that might ruffle feathers. Just understand though that at the end of the Week, I’m really always hoping to put a smile on @YouTheReaders face.
So far, showing up to a bar asking for a pint and pulling out a small pen&paper has had most of the bartenders a bit surprised at first. Then I mention “I’m doing this sports writing publication called Week to Week Notes and I’m just here to ask you a few quick questions if you’re okay with it” which has brought a smile or smirk head-nod “cool” to their face immediately. Let’s hope that continues. As someone who worked at a bar for a bit and has been around my fair share of bartenders, I’ve always thought they were some of the most interesting people. They have to be personable as part of the job whether they’re having a bad day or week and random customers walking in who don’t know them may not always reciprocate the conversations back.
I’ll be honest almost everything I do with Week to Week Notes, I just happen to stumble upon. I’ve learned more from writing about sports&life than pretty much anything else I’ve ever done and I feel like I’m slowly gaining more wisdom as I go. Pint&Pen&Papers will be more about life with some sports sprinkled in, so that might not be for everyone who reads, but I’ll only do them once a week. I promise I won’t be rambling on at the start on all of them, but because @YouTheReader is reading this while I’m still small please know that I’ll always feel this way about this new bit. I realize I’m only drinking Guinnesses, briefly getting to know strangers who may become friends, and taking notes, but so far it is safe to say this is one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had with Week to Week Notes and I feel lucky as hell to have stumbled upon this.
Guinness Challenge Season #1
@Kids don’t try this at home. Not just because you’re underage and will have plenty of pints to drink if that ends up being your thing when you’re older but also because Guinness is actually best served in a pint glass from a tap. A pint of Guinness varies depending on the drinking establishment. If the keg it sits in is rarely poured, it can lead to some underwhelming taste. Rather than stealing gimmicks like reviewing pizzas, I’d like to start taking Notes while drinking Guinness. @DavePortnoy sue me, but my grandfather from Connemara, who I never got the chance to meet, Thomas Davis, used to drink pints and by all accounts was a self-taught thinker. The one rule I’ve imposed on myself is that I will only have 1 pint per sitting from each establishment I review, so @AnyoneWorrying, don’t worry about my drinking habits. The Guinness Challenge is to “cut the G” on your first sip (more like a gulp and a half). If this is your first time hearing about it, I didn’t come up with the fun challenge @YouTheReader can try the next time you have a Guinness. I’m planning on this to just be a SEASONal thing for me because I don’t know about you, but I prefer a pint in the cold weather months until the end of March. The 0.0 to 10.0 scale will be extremely nuanced but as a reference point, the only perfect 10.0 I plan to ever give out is at the Guinness Factory in Dublin one day.
Nancy Whiskey Pub 1/3 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.5
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Michelle was an excellent bartender! She loves Brooklyn and married a “Newfie.” (New term). Michelle’s grandmother was from County Kerry and 1 of 23. @TheDavis’ from Connemara, she had us beat! She mentioned checking out Paddy Maguire’s soon. Nancy Whiskey was established in 1967.
I went at lunch and was the only customer in there at the time so it was very easy to converse. *Note to self, try and do this at quiet hours like this when you can.* Part of our conversation was how bartenders sort of need to be actors behind the bar and Michelle mentioned that Bruce Willis was a former bar patron. @YouTheReader the new term “Newfie” is someone from Newfoundland, no big deal, thanks to Michelle, I’m teaching you stuff besides sports as we go. I’m looking forward to checking out Nancy Whiskey Pub again soon!
Irish American Pub & Restaurant 1/3 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 8.4
Guinness Challenge: Failed (I wasn’t even close)
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Carolina has been working at the Irish American Pub for a few months. She is originally from Venezuela. NY is crazy but she loves it. She plays dodgeball. She said it would be no problem to drop off the business card QR code. This is a Liverpool bar. She gave me a 7 for the failed Guinness Challenge attempt.
She was being very nice, I would’ve been a much harsher critic. The bar is also known as Carragher’s. She said she honestly wasn’t all that into sports but plays dodgeball so that might be a nice noteworthy unique one to keep in mind going forward. I think it’s so cool how everybody working at a bar, especially in NYC, has their own unique background of where they are from originally. That’s America for ya, I’m looking forward to checking out Irish American Pub again soon!
Trinity Place 1/3 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 8.6
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Sean from NY. Grew up in the Upper Westside. 1 year of bartending. Everton fan. A Binghamton alum who does not remember most of it but a fun time. Tim Howard was his favorite player. Mentioned there is an Everton player named Tom Davies. True fan.
Trinity Place had an awesome door/vault when you walk in (kind of like TF Noonan’s). Sean was funny and when I mentioned I had visited Binghamton a couple of times for their Saint Patrick’s Day parade, he said that would have been a pretty crazy time to go (which both times kind of were). Tim Howard, the former MetroStars and Man Utd goalkeeper, kept for Everton from ‘06 to ‘16. You also might have remembered him playing for Team USA from ‘03 to ‘18. While I knew there was a Tom Davies from my years of playing FIFA as the Tottenham Spurs at UAlbany, thanks to Sean I now know he is with Everton. I’m looking forward to checking out Trinity Place again soon!
Intermission
As a reliable narrator, @YouTheReader you have to believe me when I say I was planning on heading back to Hoboken after the two pints in 1,800 seconds (half-hour for those who don’t want to do the math). I was minding my own business heading back over to the PATH, when 3, we’ll call them foxes, stopped me and asked if I could take a picture of them with Christmas trees in the park as a background. I said “Sure thing, if you follow @YouTheReader on Instagram”, it must’ve been a couple of pints doing the talking. The four of us chatted for a bit as they started asking questions about Week to Week Notes and I was probably mumbling about the Guinness review bit. One of them happened to have a business at a Medical Spa, one just published her own novel, and the other just touched down in NYC from Colorado. I swear they basically dragged me over to the next spot saying I “had to do a review at O’Hara’s” tonight. They said they would meet me down there after dropping off their wine glasses back off at their apartment. They ended up standing me up, just kidding, thanks @Ladies who now may be @YouTheReaders! I sat down at O’Hara’s and immediately realized I left my backpack on the hook under the bar at Trinity Place. Luckily it was there waiting for me and by the time I got back to O’Hara’s my Guinness pint was halfway poured.
O’Hara’s 1/3 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.6
Guinness Challenge: Failed
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Nick is the bartender. From the Bronx. (I scribbled down Riverdale and Riviera - I should probably know where they are). Nick is a Yankee, Knick, Ranger, St. John’s, and Giant fan. St. John’s will never be the same. Nick next to me said the bartenders are stand-up guys. Eric was another bartender, he has been with O’Hara’s for over 10 years and loves the bar&crowd that comes in. Fallen Heroes scrapbook.
As soon as I walked into O’Hara’s I saw thousands of NYPD and FDNY cloth badges hanging up all over the walls. You can clearly tell that this place has a ton of history. Located by the firehouse, O’Hara’s is in the shadows of the 9/11 Memorial. Nick next to me was a fellow bar customer drinking a cold one. He overheard me mention that I was doing Guinness reviews for my Week to Week Notes and when I started explaining the concept of the sports publication said that “it sounds awesome.” He name-dropped one of Week to Week Notes’ rivals (who will remain nameless for this post) and said they aren’t what they used to be during the rise they had with writing. We both agreed that we aren’t interested in watching a telecast of fans watching games and that all they do now is talk into cameras like celebrities. He also said he totally missed the boat with their massive podcast as it wasn’t for his age demographic, similar to something I’ve rambled on about in my writing in the past. He had to go but wished me good luck and said he loved the idea behind Week to Week Notes. The kind words were greatly appreciated!
I asked Nick, the bartender, about St. John’s - will they ever be good again and he said unfortunately probably not if they couldn’t win with Steve Lavin. His favorite Yankee growing up was Don Mattingly and his favorite during the 90s was Bernie Williams, just like Steve from Texas-Arizona, so it should go without saying he knows what he is talking about as well. He brought up how he didn’t like how the Yankees treated Bernie Williams at the end of his career forcing him to retire, which as a kid growing up wrecked me. The other Yankee tidbit he brought up out of the blue that I was extremely impressed by was how the Yankees also did the same to Hideki Matsui after he just won the World Series MVP so that they could give Matsui’s money to bring back Nick Johnson who only played 24 games in ‘10. I remembered Godzilla getting the raw end of the stick, but had honestly forgotten it was for Johnson, great call back.
The last thing I’ll mention about O’Hara’s was that Eric and Nick plopped a massive Fallen Heroes scrapbook down next to me at the bar. It was filled with thousands of stories, accounts, and photos of 9/11 heroes. They said it was cool to take pictures. The scrapbook was filled with rare and personal stories. I took a few pictures during the first few pages but then was just overwhelmed by the sheer collective amount of history in that scrapbook, it didn’t feel right for me to leave anyone’s story out from the sad day in America’s history. I tried to read as much as possible and examined it from front to back. As someone who was in the first grade during 9/11, it clearly may not have affected me or my family as it did for so many people in the Tri-State, but their stories should always be remembered. By random happenstance, Week to Week Notes led me to an extremely humbling experience. O’Hara’s has a great atmosphere made up of some very stand-up people. I’m looking forward to checking out O’Hara’s again soon!
Playwright Celtic Pub 1/4 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 9.5
Guinness Challenge: Count it.
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Gemma from Cork City. She has been stateside for 7 and 1/2 years. Big Gaelic football fan. She was very busy - my fault for coming at a bad time after work. Her co-worker from Dublin is a huge sports fan. Big UFC fights and NFL are always on here.
Gemma was awesome. I felt terrible because she had her hands full with a bunch of customers but she assured me it was totally more than okay to do the review. It was mentioned that it usually is even busier, which for a Wednesday night I’d say is pretty impressive. She went out of her way to reach out to her coworkers and owners of Playwright Celtic to mention Week to Week Notes, which is greatly appreciated! The correct way to pronounce the pub is “Kuh-el-tic” for when @YouTheReaders go catch a game or big fight on their rooftop, which has a very cool view and vibe. I was also sitting next to some hoops fans who were having a drink before heading over to watch the Knicks play the Spurs, it is very conveniently located close to the Garden if you’re looking for a pregame pint. Amazing atmosphere with a great pint, I’m looking forward to checking out Playwright Celtic Pub again soon!
**Note to self: Put the Paddy Hat in your backpack next week when you head to work for the #GuinnessChallengeSeason.**
Thank you for reading Week to Week Notes, I’ll be back Friday morning with a TD12 & of course Sports!!