Monday madness
Darcy Stefanik and Alexis Kruse, KU juniors, waited outside Quinton's for the game to start. Downtown bars were already starting to fill up at noon. Enlarge video
Darcy Stefanik and Alexis Kruse, juniors at KU, have been waiting outside Quinton's Bar and Grill in downtown Lawrence since 7 a.m. Quinton's will seat people for tonight's NCAA national championship game starting at 4 p.m.
It's one of those days where mothers just have to sigh.
"I called my mother at 7 a.m. and told her that I was standing outside a bar waiting to get in," Alexis Kruse, a KU junior who at about noon was stretched out on the sidewalk in front of Quinton's Bar & Deli, 615 Mass. "She was so proud."
Yeah, it is going to be one of those type of days.
About noon, approximately 15 people were lined up outside the bar waiting to get a table when Quinton's begins allowing game seating at 4 p.m. Currently, the business is open, but will clear all seating areas at 4 p.m. and let those who have been waiting pick out table for the Jayhawk's 8:21 p.m. tip against the Memphis Tigers.
The waiting game began even earlier elsewhere downtown.
A crowd of about 25 - seemingly growing by the minute - was lined up outside Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar at 9 a.m. today in preparation for tonight's 8:21 tip-off in the National Championship game.
"Hopefully I'll get my favorite table," said Eric Swanson, a 28-year old Lawrence mutual fund representative.
If not, he'll be kicking himself. He only got in line at 1 a.m.
"I think I have a pretty good chance," Swanson said. "I was the second one here."
The sidewalk seating area of the bar and grill, 1012 Mass., looked like a crimson and blue fleece farm as co-eds passed the time wrapped in warm blankets to fight a morning temperature that hovered in the low 40s. Some had books, others had laptops, and some were equipped with an old-fashioned deck of cards to kill the time.
Everybody, though, came equipped with one necessity: Cash.
"Our table's tab was $770 on Saturday," said Sarah Pruitt, a 21-year old Jayhawk fan. "We counted. Our table had 100 beers at one point in time."
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rollcar (anonymous) says…
Holy cow, how many people does it take to go through over 100 beers in one sitting? Even if there were a dozen people at the table, that's impressive!
World_Vision (anonymous) says…
So, these people are going to just sit in there all day, and into the evening waiting for the game? Sounds boring. It also sounds like they are taking up tables that the wait staff need to turn over to make tips. I hope these sports fans are at least half as eager to tip appropriately. 20% of $770 bucks.
mommaeffortx2 (anonymous) says…
wow just wow.
alicenevada (anonymous) says…
World_Vision,I read that most, if not all of the dining establishments that are open for watching the game have a minimum charge per hour for people waiting at tables, so they can't just sit there all night and order nothing.I always wondered why college kids were so broke, now I see why. Beer and Spring Break Trips!
just_another_ninja (anonymous) says…
(previous commentors) Did you guys not go to college?? It's called "fun". You should try having it. I guess you'd rather sit at your desk and do work...Go KU!! Go KU fans!!!
George_Braziller (anonymous) says…
Yes, I went to college and graduated from KU but when I wasn't in class I was working to pay for said class.
overplayedhistory (anonymous) says…
arrrr! up hill both ways.
acg (anonymous) says…
Well then, George, aren't you bitter and angry that you didn't have the luxury of playing as much as these kids do? I hate it when old, grumpy people start in with that "back in my day" crap. I agree with ninja, try having some fun, loosen up, lighten up and smile once in a while. If it doesn't bother the businesses if these kids line up to wait for a seat, why does it bother you? If these kids have the disposable income to drink 100 bottles of bar beer and pay a table charge, then good for them for being that lucky. I moved to Lawrence in 1988 and I didn't really get the hubbub when the Hawks won, back then, because I had lived here all of 2 weeks when they won and thought the entire town had lost its mind. Now, 20 years later, they're doing it again, and this time I get it. The excitement is palpable and this may be something that alot of these kids get to experience once in a lifetime. If you grumpy jerks don't understand, then stay your happy a**es at home so the rest of us can enjoy it without your sourness spoiling it all.
lily (anonymous) says…
Hey I'm all for having a bang up time. If they've got the disposable income, party hearty. I just don't want to hear it when they start whining about having no money for the rest of the month and missing out on work hours. It's called the real world. You play you pay. That said, have a great time, be safe and smart, Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!
oscarfactor (anonymous) says…
I find it funny that Channel 6 continued to go "live" - and I mean LIVE, no seven -second delay - during the postgame hijinks Saturday night. Poor Janet Reid. Not once, but twice, different drunken fans either shouted expletives or described pleasuring themselves during the mayhem.It was hilarious and entertaining - much more so than Cody Howard in studio stumbling and bumbling through something resembling a game recap.Learn from Saturday night's mistakes - minimize the in-studio video and press conference boredom. Run audio if necessary underneath the Mass Street video. It's as exciting as the game itself, if not more so.
mommaeffortx2 (anonymous) says…
not the parting that gets me but the waiting in line, I know I don't have the time not to mention really not my thing waiting but have fun all be safe.
mommaeffortx2 (anonymous) says…
opps did not proof read again meant partying not parting sorry.
rumor_man (anonymous) says…
I just saw T Boone Pickens waiting for a table at Quintons.
supercowbellninja (anonymous) says…
Sure, these kids may be spending a few hours waiting to get into bars today, but I bet the old cranky coots on this thread spend just as much time telling people and things to get off their lawns.
supercowbellninja (anonymous) says…
Grumpy Old Man (Dana Carvey on SNL): I'm old and I'm not happy. Everything today is improved and I don't like it. I hate it! In my day we didn't have hair dryers. If you wanted to blow dry your hair you stood outside during a hurricane. Your hair was dry but you had a sharp piece of wood driven clear through your skull and that's the way it was and you liked it! You loved it. Whoopee, I'm a human head-kabob. We didn't have Manoxidol and Hair Wings, in my day if your hair started falling out when you were 16 by 19 you were a bald freak. There was nothing you could do about it. Children would spit at you and nobody would mate with you so you couldn't pass on your disgusting baldness genes. You were a public menace, a crome dome by age 20 and that's the way it was and we liked it! We loved it. Hallelujiah look at me, I'm a bald freak oh happy day! Not like today, everybody feeling good about themselves. I hate it! In my day we didn't have these thin laytex condoms. So you could enjoy sexual pleasure. In my day there was only one kind of condom. You took a rabbit skin and wrapped around your privates and tied it off with a bungee cord and you couldn't feel nothing! And half the time you didn't even know your partner was there. And we used the same one over and over again! 'Cause we were ignorant morons! Just a bunch of hairless, head-kabobs standing around with rabbit skins on our dinks and that's the way we liked it!
mommaeffortx2 (anonymous) says…
well if they are on my lawn then they are a long way away from the party.Like I said before go down have fun be safe if you are going to be alarmed about was is going on then you should have stayed home. But I do have this question do the people not have school or jobs they should be at right now? if the answer is yes then nice boss/teacher.Be safe and girls use your smarts tonight.
kusp8 (anonymous) says…
If Boone is there, make sure he buys everybody on Mass a round, heck, make it four rounds. He can definitely afford it.
George_Braziller (anonymous) says…
I'm not grumpy and old or bitter. I just said that I never had the opportunity to waste an entire day because my schedule was full from morning to night. And if I had had the opportunity there are other things that I would have rather done than stand in line at 1:00 in the morning to get a seat to watch a sporting event.
rumor_man (anonymous) says…
I just heard that T Boone's only waiting at Quinton's because his first two choices, The Crossing & Last Call, have closed down.
mommaeffortx2 (anonymous) says…
and yes I do tell all the dogs to get off my lawn but they just don't listen even worse their owners don't clean up after them, people don't really mess in my yard:)
dulcinea47 (anonymous) says…
I wonder if there'll be any room for us working folk by the time I can get down there after 5PM.
kusp8 (anonymous) says…
Dulcinea47, you can always go to the Fieldhouse. I was there on Saturday, and to quote Chris Farley, "It was awesome!"
Confrontation (anonymous) says…
The Fieldhouse setting sounds like it was a blast for those in attendance. I think it's great that the University provides this option. I'm not interested in watching it at a bar on Mass St., but I hope these students enjoy this opportunity to hang out with other fans. Just imagine what it's like to be in ManCrappin right now. How sad.....
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…
Confron -How about Columbia? I'm sort of half giddy thinking about it.
acg (anonymous) says…
I'm getting so nervous I think I may throw up.
TheYetiSpeaks (anonymous) says…
Hey, everyone take it easy on George. By the way, George wanted me to tell you kids to stay off his lawn.
Newcomb (anonymous) says…
I skipped class and many other "obligations" for things much less important than a national championship basketball game. If I still lived in Lawrence, I would've been in line at 1 A.M as well, the real world be damned! To all of those ready and willing to enjoy the amazing environment in Lawrence today and tonight - Have fun!
hawklet21 (anonymous) says…
Yeti- Are you sure he didn't say "punks" or "whippersnappers"?I, too, would be doing something crazy if I didn't have to be glued to this chair until 5. :(
AshleyMarie (anonymous) says…
Who ever the girl was that cussed on live TV channel 6 next to Janet Reid, you are awesome!
George_Braziller (anonymous) says…
Wow, no wonder most people avoid posting anything. One comment in response to someone else's comment and I'm reviled as "bitter and angry" and "a grumpy old man." I guess I should have taken out student loans and gone into debt for the rest of my life so that I could be one of the "cool" kids._______________________________"George_Braziller (Anonymous) says: Yes, I went to college and graduated from KU but when I wasn't in class I was working to pay for said class."
gccs14r (anonymous) says…
I guess it depends on what's important to you. If you don't mind a lifetime of, "Would you like fries with that?", then by all means, skip class and blow your student loan money on beer. You can always have another hangover tomorrow.
acg (anonymous) says…
Yeah, I'm sure that skipping class for a few days to celebrate the NCAA final four is going to ruin these kids. That's it, college folk, if you go out tonight, get hammered, sleep in tomorrow (if they have class) and skip, you're going to end up working at McDonalds. Ya'll better watch out, your whole lives are going to be ruined because you chose to celebrate this momentous occasion. Now get your butts to the library and get off my damned lawn!
Yeoman2 (anonymous) says…
Channel 9..."Everyone is ready to bust loose in celebration"Uhhhhhh what if they lose???Just a cranky old coot
mommaeffortx2 (anonymous) says…
wow some people on here are way to serious, I am older than the ku crowd but come on even I remember the young days, I just wanted to know who's boss let them skip out on work kinda boss most people would like to have. Get over the slacker comments people even us old folks skipped out on stuff in our life times or have all of you forgotten or just choose to not admit it.
FatTony (anonymous) says…
Its called vacation time, and when your employer says use it or lose it, you take it. Simple as that.
Confrontation (anonymous) says…
The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says:Confron -How about Columbia? I'm sort of half giddy thinking about it.**Me, too!
joshua_montgomery (Joshua Montgomery) says…
Check out the line at Wild Wings:http://tinyurl.com/3lpoj4
dulcinea47 (anonymous) says…
Don't you guys know these kids are spending mommy & daddy's money anyway? ;)
bretherite (anonymous) says…
Let them spend. This is a once in a college career event. I wish we were still in Lawrence. I would have staked out our table and I am well passed college age.
toe (anonymous) says…
I hired a kid to save me a spot. He made good money, and I got a table. Thank goodness for wifi downtown and my son's psp.