So what's on the telly? Football, you say? - Updated

It's no secret that several of the KOTBR are fans of The Beautiful Game. I wouldn't call us soccer snobs, though. In other words, we don't hate on American sports like other soccer fans I've met. Heck, Mike is even a Cardinals fan, as misguided as that may be. But he's also down with Fulham FC of the Barclay's English Premier League, so that redeems him in my eyes (and probably redeems him in the eyes of our biggest Cubs fan, Jason).

We aren't soccer proselytizers, either. We're not going to try to convert you to our way of thinking, though that doesn't mean we haven't inadvertently picked up a convert or two along the way (for example, see our beloved founder, Chris Maples, and his relatively new affinity for Chelsea FC).

So what I'm about to say isn't a soccer sermon of some sort. It's just a public service announcement about the intersection of beer and soccer in this city, which is something that's been lacking since the beloved Rob n' Jay's Chippy went out of business in 2005. You see, there are now two pubs in Naptown that are touting themselves as "soccer-friendly." Since the English Premier League season began in August, both pubs have been opening early on Saturday mornings so soccer-starved Hoosiers can catch a game or two. The pubs in question are the Chatham Tap on Mass Ave and the Union Jack Pub in Broad Ripple. On top of that, both pubs have a decent beer list that is sure to have at least one offering to satisfy any beer geek (that is, if you like beer for breakfast).

The Union Jack opens at 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays and serves breakfast from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. They update their Facebook page every week to announce the slate of games they'll be showing. Whether the Chatham Tap opens early on Saturdays tends to be more sporadic and not very well publicized. While walking the dog on Mass Ave this past Saturday morning, I noticed that the Tap had opened its doors at 7:30 a.m. for the Merseyside Derby (that's a soccer match, not a horse race to the uninitiated), and it looked like there were about five or six people parked at the bar taking in the game.

The Union Jack posts its viewing schedule every week on its Facebook page. For the Chatham Tap's viewing schedule, I suggest that you call them at 917- 8425.

Cheers!

*********************************
Update - 09.30.08

After this posting, which I did with complete blinders on, one of our dearest friends wrote to remind us that his most awesome establishment (the location of our second anniversary party, no less), has always been soccer-friendly. In his words, "we don't open early every week.... We do open early for other big matches though. In fact, I think I saw the author at one, so I know he knows we show football regularly."

The author sincerely regrets his omission. For future reference, any complaints should be addressed to our HBG ombudsman.

That's a joke, by the way. We really don't have an ombudsman.