Hit the spot: Alumni groups flock to hangouts nationwide to watch games, reconnect to SU
UPDATED: May 13, 5:20 p.m.
Clarification: In this article, the section on the Sign of the Whale originally indicated a bar ‘scuffle’ occurred. This has been edited to reflect that it was not a scuffle. The Daily Orange regrets this miscommunication.
Days at the Loud House are dwindling for graduating Syracuse University students and commencement may be the last time some of them see the inside of the Carrier Dome. With their days at SU almost behind them, graduating students may yearn to feel a bit more at home after they break into the ‘real world.’ Alumni clubs help make the transition easier.
Though alumni use many of the clubs for networking purposes, some alumni say that the comfort of being surrounded by your alma mater appeals to them the most. SU graduates from across the country have designated specific hang out spots, mostly sports bars, where they can watch football and basketball games in special viewing areas and reminisce about their undergrad years.
Beth Crisafi, president of New York City’s alumni club, Big Apple Orange, said: ‘It’s the best first step to make a city not feel like such a big place anymore.’
Washington D.C.
Sign of the Whale
1825 M St. NW
SUinDC.org
Sign of the Whale was not the first bar where members of the Alumni Club of Washington D.C. gathered for games, said Charlene Wilson, the club’s vice president. The club originally gathered at the Rhino Bar and Pumphouse in Georgetown, which often had Georgetown University sympathizers in attendance.
‘The people got angry and complained, and we got kicked out,’ Wilson said. ‘We had to look for another one.’
Alumni have since deemed Sign of the Whale as their official hangout for SU games. Food and drink specials are available during games, but D.C. alumni use special cards that allow them to access the deals outside of sporting events.
‘People who go there go to it as our bar,’ she said.
The alumni club has formed a relationship with Sign of the Whale. When one of the original owners of the bar died, Wilson said the club called its members together to hold a fundraiser for the owner’s daughter.
‘Everyone came together,’ she said. ‘He was very generous to us, and we had to do something.’
New York City
Village Pourhouse
64 Third Ave. at 11th Street
bigappleorange.org
The Village Pourhouse had its fair share of SU alumni this year when Big Apple Orange signed a contract to watch men’s basketball games at the downtown sports bar. Because alumni work and live in various locations around the city, it has been difficult to designate one spot to call a hangout, said Beth Crisafi, a 2005 alumna.
During games, alumni gather around TVs in the bar’s back room, waited on by a staff clad in Syracuse T-shirts many of them are actually SU alums, she said. Members can even munch on Jim Boeheim wings and Melo mozzarella sticks, enhancing the SU atmosphere.
‘You’d think you were watching a game in Chuck’s,’ Crisafi said.
Crisafi said the most exciting moment at Village Pourhouse happened during the first game of this year’s NCAA Tournament. Not only did a chant of ‘Let’s Go Orange’ ring through the bar, she ran into someone that lived on her floor freshman year.
She said: ‘I didn’t even feel like I graduated.’
Boston
The Pour House
909 Boylston St., #21
The long-term relationship between the Boston Orange and The Pour House started when one of the managers, an SU alumnus, invited the group to watch games at his bar. Since then, alumni from around Massachusetts gather at the bar for games and it gets packed. For the attendance record-breaking game against Villanova last year, people started saving their spots at the bar at 11 a.m. for the 9 p.m. game, said Kristen Krikorian, former president of the group and a 1999 alumna.
The group’s dedication to watching the game at the same bar has garnered some interest, she said. A writer for the Boston Metro newspaper was working on a piece about how university alumni don’t gather in bars to watch games since the advent of live-streaming sports online. When Krikorian discussed the Boston Orange’s time at The Pour House, the article took a different turn.
‘He had to change his story,’ she said. ‘Despite that technology is around us, the camaraderie you find at this place really brings us together for games.’
Southern California
SOUTH located on 3001 Wilshire Blvd. and
The Parlor Hollywood located on 7250 Melrose Ave.
The vastness of Southern California has made it difficult for the SU Alumni Club of Southern California to stay in just one place for events,said Dennis Jacobs, the club’s Director of Outreach and a 2007 alumnus. Instead, the group splits its game watching between two different clubs one in Santa Monica and another in Hollywood.
Frequenting two bars gives the club an ability to cover more ground and reach more alumni, who show up en masse to watch SU athletic events, Jacobs said.
‘It’s always over 100 people,’ he said. ‘Some of these big basketball games will bring in 200 to 300 people. We can’t expect them to come to one location.’
SU alumni crowded a bar for the Villanova game last year, a game Jacobs remembers vividly. The bar reached maximum capacity, and Jacobs played trivia with the patrons, throwing shirts to those who answered questions correctly. When SU won, Jacobs and some friends led the bar in singing the since-banned ‘Hey’ song.
‘It was perfect,’ he said. ‘That was such a perfect game and a perfect day.’
Philadelphia
Tavern on Broad
200 S. Broad St.
http://www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/SYR/cpages/home.jsp?chapter=32
For Andrew Laver, picking a hangout location for Philadelphia’s alumni club was all about compromise. Before trying out Tavern on Broad, the group visited a smaller bar. Though they could rent out the basement level,the members’ immediate past president said the place wasn’t favorable for networking and socializing because of the noise.
‘Some people wanted to just watch the game, not listen to music in the background,’ said Laver, a 2001 graduate.
In an area where Pennsylvania college sports are big, Laver said it took some effort to make SU’s prestige known. Thanks to the Pinstripe Bowl and the basketball team’s presence in the NCAA Tournaments, however, Tavern on Broad has been showing more orange and blue, he said. Those kinds of events have helped build the alumni club’s name in the city, Laver said.
One particular memory Laver has of the bar was watching SU lose to Butler in the Sweet Sixteen last year.
‘It wasn’t the best of memories, but it kind of showed how we were all together,’ he said. ‘It’s kind of about the wins and losses.’
Published on May 10, 2011 at 12:00 pm
