Final Four bar watch parties: 'It'll be full, it'll be loud and it'll be a lot of fun.'
Gonzaga University alumnus Courtney Conn moved to Chicago in May and wanted a place to watch college basketball with fans who shared her passion.
“I love Gonzaga, so my friends and I from Gonzaga would get together and watch the games just by ourselves,” she said. “When the March Madness tournament came around, we thought how nice it would be to have a fan group.”
A friend recommended Wrigleyville's The Graystone Tavern, 3441 N. Sheffield Ave., which set them up. The rest of the Final Four teams also are hosting watch parties at Chicago bars this weekend for transplanted fans.
“They (The Graystone) were so accommodating,” Conn said. “They were willing to work with us and got us all set up for the NCAA tournament.”
Fifty graduates of the Washington school came to the first watch party, where they put up a Gonzaga flag and took advantage of the $5 22-ounce Coors Light and Miller Lite drafts the bar has been offering throughout March Madness. The alumni association sent Conn cheer cards and sunglasses to hand out, and the event organizers are considering putting together a raffle for the Final Four game on Saturday, April 1.
“I wasn't expecting that many people to show up,” Conn said. “I was shocked. I saw people from Gonzaga who I know that I didn't know were living in Chicago. It was nice to reconnect with people. I'm really happy it all came together.”
While Conn and her friends are cheering Gonzaga, University of South Carolina fans will be at The Butcher's Tap, 3553 N. Southport, in Lakeview.
“We're obviously really excited,” said Kristine Casman, president of the Chicago chapter of the My Carolina Alumni Association. “It's our first time getting into the Sweet 16, not to mention the Final Four. We're just staying positive and cautiously optimistic.”
The Butcher's Tap is an official Ohio State bar, but South Carolina fans have had few conflicts in viewing schedules since the alumni group started hosting watch parties there during football season. They still make the bar their own on game day, setting up Gamecocks decorations and playing their fight song and alma mater.
“It has a great atmosphere and tons of TVs,” Casman said. “We've really enjoyed our time there.”
About 100 fans showed up to watch the Gamecocks play last weekend, and Casman expects even more on Saturday. The bar is offering $5 Bud Light stadium cups and Casman is planning to host a halftime raffle.
“Definitely come early since I think the place is going to be pretty packed,” she said.
Other contenders in the Final Four have more established home bases.
Alumni of the University of Oregon have been gathering at Homeslice, 938 W. Webster, since the bar and restaurant opened in 2013. They had previously hosted watch parties at the now closed Uberstein in Wrigleyville, but were drawn to Homeslice by co-owner Clay Hamilton, who graduated from Oregon in 1999 and filled his spot with Douglas firs shipped directly from Oregon.
“It's just a really popular restaurant/bar that provides a feeling of home for a lot of Oregonians who have transplanted out here,” said Chris Schroeder, president of the Chicago Ducks alumni group. “It's a non-pretentious, welcoming place to be.”
While the alumni group has a long history of gathering for football games, they only started doing basketball watch parties when the team made the Sweet 16 in 2016. Every game of this year's March Madness tournament has brought out more fans, with 75 people watching the Elite Eight game. For the Final Four, the group is considering running one of the 50/50 raffles they conduct at football games, with half the money benefiting student scholarships.
“It was a pretty lively crowd,” Schroeder said. “We had some 'Go Ducks' chants kind of cascading across the room.”
Colin Scott, co-chair of Chicago Carolina Club, has been watching University of North Carolina games at Gamekeepers, 345 W. Armitage, in Lincoln Park since he moved to Chicago in 2008.
“We get together throughout the year for football and basketball,” Scott said. “For bigger games, like when we play Duke in the regular season, we'll fill up the whole bar. It's a lot of fun to watch with fellow alums and fans.”
On game days the alumni put cutouts with the school logo on tables, pass around pompoms and other giveaways from the school, and drink beer out of blue cups sent to Chicago from Chapel Hill bar He's Not Here. About 100 people turned out for the Elite Eight game and Scott thinks they could draw 200 if his team makes the finals.
“Any good Carolina basketball fan always has a spirit of cautious optimism,” he said. “That really has been the theme throughout the tournament. We've had some really close games. Being able to get together, we get to have that common experience and kind of extend the favorite pastime of being a Tarheel - Carolina basketball. It'll be full, it'll be loud and it'll be a lot of fun.”