OT- XL Center area update

[the Blades]

With the latest Uconn agreement between them and the XL Center /State of CT in Oct...... "After what feels like two years of waiting UConn and the State of Connecticut have finally come to an agreement on playing at the XL Center. Over the next three seasons UConn's basketball and hockey teams will play a total of 90 games at the XL Center.".

...... and Uconn also focusing on an upgrade to it's Frietas practice facility instead of an on-campus "competition facility" UConn's Hockey Success At XL Center Puts On-Campus Arena on hold" .......

it looks like even more development will becoming to the area just north of the XL known as DO-NO. The new Dunkin Donuts Baseball Park will be opening in the spring:

Now comes word that Hard Rock International will be building between the XL and DD Park:

Hard Rock Plans Hotel, Cafe In Hartford:
The Hard Rock Cafe would be the second in Connecticut — the first is at the Foxwoods casino. The development would include the first Hard Rock Hotel in New England; plans call for a rooftop pool and lounge with views of the Hartford skyline. The hotel will include a Hard Rock Cafe, Body Rock workout facility, the Rock Spa and a Rock Shop with branded merchandise.

Well there goes my cheap parking lots at the XL that I've enjoyed for over 25 years . LOL !

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Funny but today on the radio I heard about the Hard Rock hotel and cafe which they are planning at corner of Trumbull and Main Streets. This was the first time I heard about this project. It's nice to see the XL Center boosting the local economy a little bit. I don't mind putting my money towards watering holes like the Russian Lady or my personal favorite Vaughns. Next time I am going to try the Thai restaurant near Vaughns.

 

[the Blades]

Interesting side note regarding the "Russian Lady" . It was named by the brother of a guy that I bought a different 600 person bar/restaurant/music venue from and it had a great run with that name until the late 90's when the Whalers left then it closed and the name was dropped . I even did a live weekly radio show on Clear channel's Radio 104 in the venue for about 6 months when it was one of it's other names. It's uncommon in Downtown Hartford but after about a 15 year hiatus the next group decided to bring the Russian Lady name back to life for another run.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Funny thing is I was at the Old Russian Lady but not New Russian Lady. I am a funny guy when it comes to deciding what bars to patronize. My philosophy is that all the booze is the same in all these places and prices are roughly the same, so the deciding factors are the quality of the food and the number and quality of the TVs and general atmosphere (unless a place is super cheap with the quantity of liquor, which drives me bananas). I can remember back in 2010 when UConn played in the Maui Classic (the year Kemba went crazy and UConn won it all), their opening game was against Wichita State. I watched it at a sports bar on Spring Street in New York City, somewhat randomly selected because it had enormous TVs. So I was watching the UConn-Wichita State game on one huge TV near the bar, and then there was a large contingent of Eurodudes who were watching a soccer game on all the other TVs.I had to order some seriously overpriced drinks, but it was worth it for the TV and the atmosphere which included hot waitresses that actually showed some interest in the game.

This past weekend for the UConn-Ohio State game, I was in Montreal. I know the city well, have family that lives up there. So I went to the MVP Sports Bar on St. Catherine Street. Every TV in the place had the Boston Bruins v. Florida Panthers hockey game, except one of 4 enormous TVs behind the bar which had the UConn game on at my request. This is a place that doesn't have the greatest food, but their drinks are cheap and they have high quality TVs.

Earlier this season I found a new local pub in my area which may be my new go-to sports pub for UConn games: Branford Brew and Cue. I saw the UConn-Michigan BOA game there. This place has about 16-18 pool tables but it's fairly quiet and they are serving very solid pub food, which surprised me. A lot of biker types in that bar but I felt relaxed there.

 

[the Blades]

Just noticed this on the schedule for Uconn baseball, they're making a visit to "the Donut" this season:

vs.

Massachusetts
Day: Tuesday
Date: May 10, 2016
Location: Dunkin' Donuts Park, Hartford, Conn.
Time: 7:05 p.m. ET