Week 4, Steelers 38 Chargers 28 @ Mullanes Bar & Grill

There are times when the last thing on your mind is a football game. It's true. Funny thing is, sometimes that's when it's best to have something like that to shift your mind to. Plus, I know that I need to stay current on my search  for a great spot to catch the Steelers and get some wings, and to do that I need to get out there and report what I find. Also, it was a big game for the Steelers, no doubt, in the sense that they absolutely needed a win to keep the still very young season fom getting away from them. The thing is, Sunday night is often the last time that you want to head out into the night, especially since night seems to be getting here earlier and earlier, but I decided to save a night watching the game with some takeout wings for a little later in the season, when winter has set in and Brooklyn is enjoying its yearly four months of cold wind.

Apparently, though, everyone else decided to pack it in early, because when I got to Mullanes Bar and Grill in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, most of the crowd seemed to have cleared out. That's not to say that the place was empty, but most of the people at the bar seemed to be ending their night rather than beginning it. The weird thing was that, even though there weren't a lot of people in the place, it seemed that every seat at the bar was taken. That was fine by me, though, because I walked into the back dining room, where only a couple of the tables were occupied, grabbed a table directly in front of the big screen, ordered some Buffalo wings from their (limited, but fairly bar standard) menu, and settled in to watch the Steelers do their thing against the Chargers, in prime time no less.

Week 2, Steelers 14 Bears 17 @ Cody's Ale House

Well, no one said they had to go undefeated. But still, I could have guessed that something strange was going on. There was just a weird vibe in the streets of Brooklyn. Sure, the Steelers were playing Jay "You Hurt My Feelings" Cutler and the Bears, so it seemed like everything should be smooth sailing. Plus, I was going to watch the game at Cody's American Bar and Grill, the neighborhood staple at Court St. and Dean in Carroll Gardens, which is pretty much the local spot for Steelers fans to get together and watch some football with a friendly crowd. I know that Mike Tomlin wouldn't want me talking about last season, and I'd never want to cross The Coach, but Cody's even hosted a Brooklyn Super Bowl party last year. But still, despite all of these good things, I knew that something was wrong. It was just in the air.

Week 1, Steelers 13 Titans 10 @ The Wing Bar

The way I see it, nationally televised games give you a choice if you're out of town and looking to catch the Steelers game. They can be a great chance to hang out a full-on Steelers bar, where you know that you'll be surrounded by fellow Black and Gold faithful. You can hang out at home and enjoy the rare chance to watch a game on your own couch. Or you can go to a spot that, for whatever reason, doesn't have the NFL Sunday Package and wouldn't normally show the game, whether it's your local hangout or the place down the street that has some great wings. For opening night I went the third route. I decided to save my trip to one of the heavy hitters for a bit later in the season and check out The Wing Bar on Smith Street, right up the road from me in Brooklyn.