Bars boast booming business

The cash register clangs shut, breaking into the dull hum of conversation made by the seven customers sitting at the bar of Nick's on a weekday afternoon. Rows of unused glasses are tucked away behind the counter, gleaming against the dim overhead lights. Business is slow, but anything would seem slow after having to deal with the crowd Nick's had for last Saturday's basketball game. \nIts location in the middle of Kirkwood with 40 televisions -- five of them big-screen -- made Nick's a prime spot to watch the IU/Kent State game. But fans couldn't discriminate too much last weekend; they had to settle for wherever they could get a free table, which generally required showing up three to four hours in advance. \nSophomore Patrick Phillips and friends opted for Macri's Deli, where they went prepared to do some serious time-killing. They snagged a booth and spent three hours playing cards until the game started, breaking only long enough to order an appetizer to be polite.\nEven though most people didn't go for the food, Bloomington bars raked in tons of money. \nYogi's Bar Manager Chuck Ziepolt said Yogi's had its biggest day in sales ever -- something he attributed to the fact that customers started coming in so early. The bar was filled to capacity, and everyone was in a good-spirited and generous mood. Staff had to stop letting people in at 4:30 p.m. because the line was already spilling out the door. \n"It looked like a mini-Mardi Gras. It was so crazy and loud -- it was like being in a stadium," waitress Kara Hadley said.\nKevin Burkett, a bartender at Nick's, said the noise alone let him know the game's status.\n"I only watched about five or 10 minutes of the game, but I didn't need to see it; I could judge from the crowd's reactions what was happening," Burkett said. "When something's good, it's deafening. When something's bad, it gets really quiet." \nBurkett's only means of volume control was to roll up pieces of napkin and use them as earplugs.\nFor noise, crowd and legal reasons, some fans steered clear of the bar scene altogether, sticking to restaurants, their homes or a friend's house. These fans were how some local businesses got to cash in on the basketball game.\nBusiness shot up for all the Pizza Express stores, which were swamped with orders before the game.\n"We were all extremely busy and expect the same this Saturday," Pizza Express South Manager Eric Westerberg said.\nLatest Glaze suggests customers make their own memorabilia by coming in to decorate their own beer steins, shot glasses and margarita glasses.\nFor students pressed for cash who want the next best thing to actually being in Atlanta this weekend, an alternative is being offered by the Student Athletic Board, the IU Athletic Department and the Office of the Chancellor. Fans can watch the broadcast on a big screen in Assembly Hall, free of charge. Cheerleaders and pep band members will be there, and concessions and IU merchandise will be sold.\nIU Outfitters has sold more than 5,000 Final Four T-shirts at its four store locations and online. Associate Athletic Director Jeff Horan said IU Outfitters has been scrambling to get more shirts in to meet the unexpectedly high demand. \n"Sales are much bigger than the last time we went to the Final Four," Horan said. "We weren't expected to get this far, and there's a lot more excitement out there this time"