This bar is in Park Slope, Brooklyn and it is called The Black Horse Pub. I went there to watch a soccer game which is a qualifier for the World Cup to take place in Brazil in 2014. Everyone in the world is playing soccer in order to be one of the thirty-two qualifiers. It is a big thing.
I noticed a fellow who was talking with one of the female bartenders. He looked familiar so I sat next to him. We recognized each other. His name was Tony and he lives in Park Slope. “Are you here for the games?” I asked him.
“I am here for the babes,” he replied.
“Well, I’m here to watch Peru vs Ecuador” I said.
Then our conversation took a different course. I began to talk about Sepp Blatter who is head of FIFA, the governing body of soccer. I compared him to the Pope because of the amount of power he has when designating heads of soccer federations around the world, just as the Pope designates cardinals. “They, in effect, control the way the game is played.”
Tony responded by talking about the women in the bar, or “the babes” as he called them. He said his desire was to seduce one of the female bartenders as he had done before in a different bar. He then talked about his desire to become an international bar gigolo.Meanwhile, I watched the screen and paid attention to the Argentina vs Colombia game. “Messi is not playing,” I said.
Then Tony tried to enlighten me about where these bartenders lived. “Most of these female bartenders are from Bay Ridge…they are very friendly.”
“Falcao almost scored, for Colombia,” I said.
“The ladies from Bay Ridge are less complicated than the ones from Park Slope,” Tony continued, just as Gonzalo Higuain from Argentina was expelled from the game. Tony looked at me and said “Cuatro,” a name given to me in another bar. “Cuatro…do you think I can be an international bar gigolo?”
I took a bite of my Cuban sandwich. I sipped my Corona and said loudly (because a number of Colombian fans were screaming goal!): “Look Tony, you have the looks to be one, but if you are dating someone from Bay Ridge, you have already become an international bar gigolo—you don’t need to go to Peru.”
The Argentina vs Colombia game ended scoreless. Peru beat Ecuador one to nothing, but that was a game I watched in another bar in Brooklyn. At least it wasn’t Nevada Smith, where they pour beer on your head after a team scores.
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