No Beer at Bears Stadium?!
The ??New York Times?? has a story on the struggle to obtain a liquor license at the Bears Stadium here in Newark: “Here, It’s Root, Root, Root for Beer Permit”:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/26/nyregion/26bears.html. This is just rough for the Bears: their season just started up, but the stadium lacks a license to serve that other American Pastime favorite: beer. I can’t imagine this is good for business.
It’s like a hot beach without a blanket, or a barbecue sadly bereft of sizzling meat. On Friday night, the minor-league Newark Bears gave fans one summertime treat — a baseball game on a balmy evening — without another:
Never mind the logo: Only soft drinks are on tap at a Newark ballpark.
Beer.
No beer has been sold in the Den, as the Bears’ riverfront stadium is affectionately called, this season, which began in early May, and no one is quite sure when it will start flowing again. In the off-season, the team switched food vendors, and the new concessionaire is still waiting for a liquor license, explained Joe Montefusco, a spokesman for the team. The matter is in the hands of city and Essex County officials, he said, adding, “We don’t know when it’s coming.”
Until it does, the Bears, still struggling to fill seats, will have to rely on the understanding of fans navigating a time-honored summer ritual without a time-honored refreshment. The stadium does not allow fans to bring in their own beer.
So on Friday night, as the temperature in the Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium hovered around 85, the Bears battled the Lancaster Barnstormers, a Pennsylvania team, and the fans battled their thirst.
A few fans, surprised to be in a dry ballpark, found themselves wishing they had smuggled a six-pack past the gates. “Baseball. Summer. Draft beer: Which of those three things don’t belong together?” asked Andy Pickard, whose son’s Little League team got to spend time with some of the Bears players. “It’s Memorial Day weekend,” he added, with some frustration.
