Having worked at a bar in Hawaii, Maurice Bigden is very aware that time zones don’t always mesh with sports events elsewhere, and the month-long soccer World Cup is no exception.
“In Hawaii, pro football games on the mainland would be on at 4 a.m., so we either got the people who stayed up all night and came in or we got the people who just got out of bed … either way we sold a lot of coffee,” said Bigden, who has been tending bar at the Railroad Station Bar and Grill in Cloverdale for nine years.
“But these World Cup games are starting way too early and we can’t expect to be open for those early games,” he said. “Still, if you are going to watch sports in Cloverdale, this is the place to come.”
The month-long World Cup is already a week old and local sports-oriented bars and restaurants are having some difficulty accommodating the schedule of games that puts most of the early contests in the early morning hours, some beginning as early as 3 or 5 a.m., Pacific Time.
Most bars in this area don’t even open until 11 a.m., which is the hour the last of the day’s scheduled matches at venues in Russia. Ruth McGowan’s pub, for example, doesn’t open until 3 p.m. most days, except Friday, Saturday and Sunday when it opens at 11:30 a.m.
Railroad Station opens at 11 a.m. daily, so the seven screens inside the establishment and one on the outside patio have been showing the last-of-the-day World Cup games, along with whatever sports event patrons request.
“We are absolutely the place for baseball and football and we were packed for all the Warriors games,” said bar and grill owner Jangbu Sherpa. “I don’t know yet who is coming for which soccer games because it is so early (in the cup schedule) and we’ll see how it goes later.”
The early games in the group stages can start anywhere from 3 to 8 a.m., Pacific Time.
Every day through June 28, there are soccer matches among teams representing 32 nations, which is more than enough to attract the attention of niche fans like those who favor teams from Iceland or Senegal or the powerhouse favorites like Germany or Brazil.
This year’s cup — a quadrennial worldwide event that boasts of being the most watched sports contest on the planet — is even more disappointing to soccer fans and to sports bar operators as well because the U.S. team failed to qualify. Neither did the Italian team, often the default choice for Americans, nor did the Dutch squad, often the choice of fans that appreciate technical skills.
Bigden was behind the bar last Sunday, which was also Father’s Day, when the Brazil versus Switzerland game aired. Although it ended in a 1-1 tie, Bigden said the crowd of about 50 people was definitely tilted in favor of Brazil.
About a third of the World Cup teams are either Latin American or from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). In addition to Brazil, that roster includes teams representing Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Columbia, Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico.
“We have a very large Hispanic community around here and we can count on them appearing for any of the games that feature teams from Latin American nations,” he said. “Frankly, we had quite a few families taking dad out for lunch, but they managed to get caught up in the excitement when people start yelling.”
Here are other spots in north county where you may catch World Cup games:
In Cloverdale:
Papa’s Pizza and Café, 105 North Cloverdale Boulevard, opens at 11 a.m. and has five screens inside and one on the patio;
In Healdsburg:
Healdsburg Bar & Grill, 245 Healdsburg Avenue, opens 11 a.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. weekends and has eight screens on three sides of large room;
Elephant in the Room, 177 Healdsburg Avenue, opens 11 a.m. and has one screen inside and one on patio;
Bear Republic, 345 Healdsburg Avenue, opens 11 a.m. and has three television screens;
John and Zeke’s, 420 Healdsburg Avenue, opens 11 a.m. and has two screens.
In Windsor:
The Publican, 9057 Windsor Road, usually opens 11 a.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. weekends, but will open early for all games involving Mexico and Germany (June 23 8 a.m. for Mexico vs. South Korea and June 27 7 a.m. for Germany vs. South Korea and Mexico vs. Sweden).
