Paddy's Disappointments

Why am I disappointed? The first reason is painfully obvious to any Notre Dame fans out there. The Irish were out-played by Michigan. Notre Dame came out swinging, easily marching down the field for a score on their first possession. Michigan came right back to tie it up. Then Dayne Crist had to be sidelined for a while. The Irish’s 2 back-up QBs, included Joe Montana’s son Nate, couldn’t make anything happen. Meanwhile, Michigan’s offense picked apart the Irish defense, bringing the score to 21-7 at the half. Crist came back out to retake the lead at the end of the 4th quarter, but Michigan came right back with a game-winning score.

This was a different-looking team from last week. The Irish were firing on all cylinders against Perdue: offense, defense, and special teams. The run game looked like it wouldn’t solely consist of Armando Allen. But Michigan’s defense made the Irish look like a one trick pony; Crist passing to TE Kyle Rudolph was all that seemed to work. The Irish defense wasn’t giving up any long balls to Michigan’s QB, who responded by throwing underneath all day and running for over 200 yards. I’m hoping this isn’t another hot-and-cold year for the Irish; I guess this Saturday’s game against Michigan State will show if the Irish can really jell.

My second disappointment came when Mrs. Paddy and I visited Catherine Rooney’s newly opened second location in Newark, Delaware. I consider Rooney’s Wilmington location to be one of Delaware’s best Irish pubs. The Newark version did not impress me, though. The new place in has the same authentic Irish pub look as the original: dark wood, cabinets adorning the bar, a parlor room. But the craic just wasn’t there. Newark is a college town, and while I expected a college crowd I was still put off at the obnoxious loudness of the bar patrons. Irish pubs are supposed to be fun, laid back places, not gin mills with people screaming at each other for no good reason. The whole staff was young, but I was surprised that the bartender did not give me a blank stare when I asked for a Powers neat. He did put my whiskey in a snifter, an unfortunate habit that too many bartenders have. Snifters are for cognac and other liquors; whiskey goes in a whiskey glass, damn it. The drink was ridiculously over-priced, too. The barkeep either rang it up wrong or management is trying to bleed liquor drinkers dry. The food was okay, about the same quality as the original location. The new location has the same Irish whiskey to Scotch proportion problem as the original location, almost 2-to-1 in favor of Scotch. They can still put Dawlwhinnie on the back bar, but no Red Breast? Let’s get with it, guys.

It was not an overall pleasant experience that we had, but I don’t think it is entirely the fault of the establishment. My opinion is that Rooney’s owners opened the wrong type of place in the wrong location. Irish pubs appeal to a more grown-up and civilized customer base; opening one in a hard-drinking college town is not advisable. The problem is compounded by the fact that Catherine Rooney’s has an established reputation and a loyal following. This new location may just hurt their brand. The owners of Rooney’s would have been better off opening another of their C.R. Hooligans sports bar location in Newark. Hooligans is a more casual place that appeals to a younger, more rowdy crowd. It would have been a perfect fit for Newark, as opposed to them trying to put the round peg of Rooney’s into the square hole of Main Street Newark. The absence of critic made all the difference; it goes to show how vital it is for a pub to have. The original Rooney’s has plenty to go around, which is why I keep going back. The new Rooney’s doesn’t have the critic at all, which is why I’ll probably not go back.

Paddy’s Grade: C-

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