Week 6, Steelers 27 Browns 14 @ Reservoir Bar

So with the Steelers at 3-2 heading in, this division game against the Browns was looking really important. After last week's close call against the Lions, there was a definite sense of urgency in the air, as well. I figured that it was time to bring out the big guns and head out to a place where the Black and Gold  faithful really get out to represent. The thing is, even though I believe that any bar where they're showing the Steelers game can become a Steelers bar, there's nothing quite like going someplace where all of the fans are there with a common purpose. So even though I don't go to a full on Steelers bar every week, and even though the objective of these articles is more about exploring a variety of sports bars than strictly going to dedicated Steelers bars every week, I do give special attention to places that put their focus on the Black and Gold. Unfortunately, that often means heading into Manhattan, but the Steelers make that sacrifice well worth it. I figured that a must win game against a division rival was a good time to find one, so I headed out to the Reservoir Bar in Greenwich Village, very close to NYU.
I walked in to the Reservoir bar a couple of minutes after kickoff, and right away you could tell that it was going to be a real Steelers bar experience. I can't say what the crowd is like there on an average day, but it is close to NYU, so I can only assume. Still, on Steeler Sundays, you can be sure that this is no college bar. First of all, the place was packed with black and gold, basically all the way right up to the door. Second, and most importantly, you could tell right away that everyone in there was giving all their attention to the game, where it should be, of course. I was standing just inside the door when I noticed that there were a couple of empty chairs at one of the tables nearby. I asked the people sitting there if they minded if I put my coat down, and they did me one better and asked me to join them. Of course I accepted their offer, but when I sat down they told me that there was one condition: I had to be a Steeler fan. Right away, I could tell that these were my kind of people.

I had heard that the wings at Reservoir Bar were really good, so I was looking forward to my order of ten hot wings. What I hadn't realized was that it only costs about two dollars more to make it an order of twenty, but my new friends at the table said that they weren't hungry for any wings, so it was probably all for the best. Next time, though, why not? I mean, for basically the same price, in what situation is twenty wings not better than ten? I'm sure that you see my point. Either way, considering how crowded the place was, I was happy with the service. It seemed like everyone had a refill whenever they needed one, and the wings came out fairly quickly, hot and fresh. Now, as is the way with these things, because I had heard about how great the Reservoir Bar wings were, my expectations were pretty high going in. Although I wouldn't make a special trip back to the Reservoir Bar just for the wings, if I was there to watch the game I would definitely order them again. The hot wings were hot enough, the wings were pretty crispy, and all in all it was a pretty solid basket of wings.

The Steelers were on just about every TV that I could say, which was impressive, and they even had the sound on. The only problem, and it's a problem that is often common to crowded sports bars, is that there seemed top be a lot of spots that had less than ideal views of the game, and the TV's themselves weren't really that sharp. All together, though, everyone seemed to be able to find a spot where they were comfortable enough to watch the game, which is impressive  considering how many Steelers fans the Reservoir Bar manages to fit inside. Things looked even more impressive in the back, which I couldn't even see, let alone sit in, during the game because it was so crowded back there. It looked like some kind of Steelers VIP lounge back there, with lounge seating and a couple of really nice televisions. I'm not sure how early you have to get there, or who you have to know, to get a seat back there, but it definitely seems like it would be worth it. The other thing is that something like comfort, or picture quality of the television, doesn't really matter as much when you're surrounded by a crowd of people every bit as psyched up for the Steelers game as you are. People were genuinely fired up, and everyone in the place was completely into the game. Some sports bars are more like bars that happen to show sports, but the fans at the Reservoir Bar knew why they were there. The crowd alone, in both its size and in the excitement and football awareness of the people there, makes the Reservoir Bar a great place to watch a Steelers game.

None of this would matter without the game, and I was happy with what the Steelers put together. They didn't exactly storm out of the gate and just shut the Browns down, but they did manage to control the tempo of the game, and play the game that they wanted to play. Lately, that's involved a whole lot of passing, and Big Ben definitely delivered on Sunday. Any time that you go over 400 hundred yards passing , you're obviously having an absolutely monster day, and both Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes went over 100 yards receiving.    Roethlisberger and Hines could have both had even better days, but I'm still not sure what the refs were thinking when they called that no-catch in the end zone. It's like my dad says, you have guys who basically throw the ball at the pylon while they're diving out of bounds (no offense, Matt Ryan) and that gets called a touchdown, but Hines was practically doing somersaults in the end zone before the ball came loose, and the refs called it no catch.

That call ended up looking important when the Browns came out of the half and quickly got to within a field goal. It was a really good thing that Ben moved them down the field on the very next drive, capped pff with a touchdown by the increasingly impressive (yes, despite the fumble)  Rashard Mendenhall, because the game quickly devolved into something that only loosely resembled football from there on out. It was kind of like a game within a game, with the Steelers and Browns competing to see who could turn the ball over the most times, and in the most pathetic ways. Things were looking pretty bad, because it's situations like that that lead to teams suddenly getting back into games and pulling ahead. Luckily, Ryan Clark stepped up and made a huge play down near the end zone, coming up with an interception that brought the chaos to a close.

Although I'm still not happy with a lot of what I saw in the second half, right now it's looking to me like the important thing is that the Steelers got out of there with a win. There's a big stretch coming up, with the Vikings, the bye week, the Broncos, and the Bengals, so it's really important that the Steelers head into a crucial part of their schedule coming off of a win against a division rival. Let's get ready for some serious football in the coming weeks, and let's summarize:

• Steelers win (4-2)
• Monster passing offense, okay running game, "splash play" second half defense
• Wings at Reservoir Bar
• 70 University Place (10th/11th Street)
• Very good wings, okay TV's, okay TV placement, awesome Steelers crowd and game watching environment