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Eurosports
European sports are not common in this country and if you are
from Ireland or the U.K., or just a fan of Irish and English sports, you
will have difficult time seeing your favorite clubs, or any club, here
in the US. But do not be discouraged because in Philadelphia there are
two establishments that bring Eurosport to you: the Dicken's Inn and
Fadó.
Both places air Soccer and Rugby with Fadó promising to air Gaelic
Football and Hurling, but the atmosphere in each place is quite
different which may enhance or inhibit your enjoyment of the experience.
The business aspect of the two establishments is quite similar in
that they both show the matches live which means that game times are
normally in the morning or early afternoon, but Dickens tapes some
matches and re-airs them at more hospitable times.
The cover charge is $5 - $10 dollars depending upon the
event—which is quite high to watch television, but they got you by the
balls because where else can you view Eurosports.
Because the games are
aired in the morning you are at the breakfast hour.
The Dickens Inn provides free coffee and you can purchase
breakfast sandwiches for $3. Fadó
promotes its Irishness by providing a breakfast menu that ranges from
toast and coffee to the famous Irish breakfast of eggs, rasher, sausage,
puddings, and Irish bread. Fadó
charges you for the coffee, but it’s an endless cup.
The Dickens makes more of
an event of the day by going the extra distance with the programs.
When we went to Dickens we went to see the Six Nations Rugby.
The Dickens converted the dinning areas into two large
“theatres” with big screen TV’s.
A big screen TV was placed in the main bar and chairs setup
around the TV. They also
had an English Premiership game in the “sports” bar and a Scottish
league game in the small bar between the sports bar and the main
bar--really a class act.
Fadó unfortunately was not
laid out well for common events like watching sports.
Fadó is divided into so many nooks and crannies that you can only
see the TV in certain places. They
have one at the bar (a pathetically small TV) and a large TV in the
front. The layout of Fadó does not provide that much room to watch sports.
It does not get that crowded so its not that you will not be able
to see the match, but you might not get a seat.
You may think that 9:00am
is too early to drink, but then you are a pansy-assed puritan that would
probably never go to one of these matches anyway, but for the true
sports fan, the game is always better with pint in hand.
When you compare the taps of Dickens and Fadó there is basically
no comparison. The Dickens
has a much larger selection of all the British ales and bitters as well
as Guinness and domestic beer. Fadó
follows the normal taps you would see in Ireland: Guinness, Harp,
Heineken, and some other beers. I’m
a big Guinness fan, so the lack of selection does not affect me at all.
English bitters are my favorite types of beer, but Guinness goes
down better in the morning than bitters.
Finally we come to the
most important part of going to a pub to watch a match—if you wanted
to watch a soccer game you can get it on pay-per-view—the other
patrons. First we have to
examine the two establishments. The
Dickens Inn is English, which is part of the U.K.
Fadó is Irish. Thus
it would seem perfectly natural that Dickens has a mostly English and
Scottish crowd and Fadó has an Irish one.
Well, the Dickens Inn has a mostly English and Scottish crowd
while Fadó is mostly Irish with some Scottish and Americans.
A reason for choosing one over the other would be based upon the
character of the people. The
Dickens Inn has a more reserved crowd while Fadó is more vocal and
lively. In the Dickens you
barely got applause when England scored, but in Fadó when the Irish
scored you got many loud cheers. The
opposite is true where when an error is made the Dickens is fairly quiet
whereas Fadó is louder. There
is definitely a cultural difference between the two establishments.
Both places are great and
I could not and would not say that one is better than the other.
The downside is the cost of seeing these matches.
Ten dollars a head is a pretty steep price and it makes me feel
like I’m being taken advantage of.
It’s not like you get a bunch of loafers that just come in and
watch the game without getting anything.
When I was at Dickens most people were drinking which brings in
revenue and as the day progressed ordered lunch at the bar.
When I was at Fadó, most people got breakfast of some sort.
When you pay $9 for an Irish breakfast, which is similar to a
breakfast you can get at a diner for $4, you know they are making plenty
of business. So by the time
that you add up cover charge, breakfast, and a couple of pints, you are
looking at dropping a good $30 - $40 dollars.
That’s quite hefty for a morning’s entertainment.
Eat, drink, and be merry,
--Nutty |
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Soccer and Rugby Events at the Dicken's Inn and Fadó. |
