This is an article written for The Daily Orange's Thursday, September 17th edition. It is therefore directed at a student audience, so Mom and Dad- don't judge.
If you're going abroad to London, don't schedule class early Wednesday morning unless you like taking tests with a hangover. Tuesday nights at Sports Café are a religion. This two-story bar/club in Piccadilly Circus (similar to NYC's Times Square) is an American staple. Students studying abroad with all different universities, from SU to UNH to Notre Dame, gather here. In class on Tuesday, no one asks where you're going out for the night because after one week in London, everyone already knows.
Sports Café has four bars, a dance stage with disco lights, and more than half a dozen pool tables. Picture Maggie’s, but bigger, nicer, cheaper, and with fewer sorority girls wearing leggings. It’s open until 3 a.m., unlike many pubs in London, which can close as early as midnight. Getting there is easy because it’s less than a five-minute walk from the tube station. Admission is free, drinks are cheap, the music is our own, and the place is busting at the seams with people just like you.
At Sports Cafe, you're more likely to hear a southern accent than a British one. You can wear whatever you want without worrying you look like a sloppy American. With the blaring Top 40 hits, dim lighting, and crowded dance floor, it's like being back at your favorite fraternity party... except not in a dirty basement. There are even beer pong tables conveniently set up a few steps from the bar. After spending every second in a foreign country, it’s refreshing to be at a place that feels so much like home. Other locations include Birmingham, Glasgow, and Leeds, but it hasn’t made it out of the UK yet, so don’t expect to find one in another part of Europe.
Sports Café is a haven for the poor, penniless student. Some clubs charge $5 for a single shot, but here you can get five shots for $6.50. There’s no cover charge with a student ID, a pint is only $1.50, and a pitcher (a little over four large glasses) is $6. With a cheap bottle of wine to pre-game with (most run around $3-$4), you can have a blackout evening for less than 10 bucks.
The first Tuesday we were here, I didn’t go to Sports Café because I felt too tired. I sincerely hope I’m not that much of a wimp again. I woke up this morning with my contacts still in and, after taking a lap around the apartment, three questions: how did we get home, why is someone sleeping on the couch, and did I make ravioli? I rushed off to class, too late to fill in the blanks of last night. Taking notes at 9 a.m. in my three-hour lecture on Islam, only one question ran nonstop through my mind. Is it Tuesday yet?
