patrickdaley.com

This is something that I find really irritating and it almost makes me want to become a lobbyist.

The above plan is basically a measure that will phase out the number of bars in the downtown area over time. The reasoning is that there are currently too many bars in the downtown area for police to adequately monitor. The measure would be realized by not issuing new liquor licenses for establishments between Blair and Lake Streets, with exceptions being granted to grocery stores and bars that make more than 50% of their revenue from food sales. What I have not been able to find is at what point the city might consider adding new liquor licenses. I know the idea is to take the current ratio of 1:100 for liquor license to citizens and bump it up to 1:500 so maybe 500 will be the magic number. In this case I wish the city would just let the free market work. I know policies like this one and the actions of PACE are conceived of with the public interest at heart, but I think the time, money, and energy could be better spent. It is not just the culture of the campus, but the culture of the state as a whole. Anyone that is from Wisconsin knows how much the people there like to drink. The state has a strong German heritage and is known for its breweries. Unless the attitudes and behaviors of incoming students change there is always going to be a lot of drinking on the UW-Madison campus and I do not feel that eliminating liquor licenses is going to solve anything. The police may have less calls to respond to with less bars, but that may be because more people are drinking in private residences where scuffles are less likely to be reported. Purely speculation on my part, but I think if people are going to drink it is better to do so in a bar environment than in someone’s overcrowded basement.

You can consider this posting therapy for the loss tonight against Michigan State. Michigan State pulled down way too many offensive rebounds in the first half and as a result the Badgers were only up by one at the half. Tucker and Landry had good games, but then again so did Drew Neitzel with 28. The loss of course comes a day after the Badgers were ranked number one in the AP poll. Sunday’s game in Columbus just became even more critical. We need to bounce back and play our best game on the road. In 2004 the football team was crushed at Michigan State and it ruined our shot at the Rose Bowl. I have no love for Michigan State right now.

I am a little late on my posting of Wednesday night’s game. First of all, I am convinced that Williams Arena has one men’s restroom and within that restroom the only place to urinate is in a trough. Can you detect a hint of frustration? I found myself outside, as in out in the freezing cold, more than once while opening doors in my attempt to find a restroom. I guess it is called “the barn” for a reason. Now that I have gotten that tidbit off of my chest I can continue with my recap of the night’s festivities. We started the night at Sally’s, which is kind of like the Gopher version of Brats. It definitely felt like I was in Madison as most of the crowd was donning the cardinal and white. I love our fans. The game was a little too close for comfort. The Gophers did a great job of nailing shots from beyond the arc, while our guys struggled a bit. It was not until ten minutes into the second half that the Badgers started to pull away and never looked back. We had a good amount of fans in attendance, but I will give the Gophers credit because there were a few times where it was pretty loud in there. What a great way to spend Valentine’s Day.

Last weekend was the Super Bowl and we had a party. We had a lot of good food and it was fun although I did not watch much of the game because I was a bit distracted with so many people over. There are pictures, but I have not taken the time to post them.

This past Friday we went to see The Last King of Scotland with Ben and Betsy at Block E. It is a great movie about a horrible man and although a lot of the characters were fictional the ruthless paranoia of Amin was portrayed quite well. On Saturday I got in some quality ice time across the street at Loring Park; it was great being on the ice outdoors. On Saturday night we went to the new Punch Pizza location in the St. Anthony area. I love Neapolitan pizza.

Wisconsin lost to Indiana about a week and a half ago, but they have rebounded and won all of their games hence. I might be in Madison for my birthday when they play their last regular season home game against Michigan State, but I do not know if I can afford $100 for a decent seat. I also do not know how the weekend slips by so quickly. I thought it would be nice when football season ended and my weekends were free, but now they just seem to disappear.