Month: December 2008

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

FS Ohio turns off Bearcats, upsets fans

The Bearcats basketball team had a thrilling come from behind victory over Eastern Kentucky University on Saturday night to improve to 9-2 overall. Unfortunately though the only people to see the late rally and win, by the Bearcats, were the roughly 7,000 fans in attendance as Fox Sports Ohio decided to cut away from the game with 1:20 left in regulation.

FS Ohio cut away for a Columbus Bluejackets NHL game. As a result the thousands of TV viewers missed the late rally and last second alley-oop dunk (Vaughn to Gates) to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Bearcats controlled the extra session and won by eight, and it was a truly thrilling end to see in person.

The many fans who missed the finish were none too happy and reportedly flooded FS Ohio’s office with complaints and thoughts of the Heide Game in mind. My suggestion – show up to the games in person. Fifth Third Arena has a 13,176 capacity (filled only once this year). The average attendance is somewhere in the 6,000-7,000 range. As a result there are plenty of good seats available for a young team with lots of talent that is quickly rising in the polls.

The Bearcats next home game is tomorrow night (12/22) at 7:30pm. UC will play host to Arkansas Pine Bluff in their last non-conference home game before Big East play begins. It is a crucial game that the Bearcats need to win.

The Bearcats need to head into Big East play with a minimum of 10 wins and no bad losses. So far, so good as a win against Arkansas Pine Bluff would be win number 10 and the only two losses have come to Xavier and Florida State. If the Bearcats can then manage another 10 wins through the remainder of the season and get to the 20 win plateau then they’ll be sitting pretty for a NCAA Tournament birth (see schedule/results here).

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/David Kohl

Categories
News

Over-the-Rhine Happy Hour Tonight

Milton’s Prospect Hill Tavern will be the spot for an OTR happy hour this evening (12/18) starting at 5:30pm. The director of the Over-the-Rhine Foundation, Mike Morgan, will be there to give a presentation. You will also be able to get Christian Moerlein’s Christkindl Winter Warmer Ale for $2.

Milton’s (GoogleMap) offers neighborhood bar type atmosphere that is located in the Prospect Hill subneighborhood of Over-the-Rhine. So be sure to drop on by and have a couple drinks. You could head on over to Nicola’s Ristorante (about 1 block away) for some dinner afterward and make a whole night out of it.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business Development News

Backstage Entertainment District getting all dolled up

The Backstage Entertainment District may or may not be something you’re all that familiar with. In a nutshell, it is the area surrounding the Aronoff Center for the Arts that is filled with restaurants and clubs. The area features some nice streetscaping, some decorative lighting, and a couple of spruced up alleys.

The problem is that the district never really took off in a way originally imagined. The restaurants have been successful for the most part, but success outside of performance nights was largely missing until more recently. The renovation of Fountain Square has spread investment outward and spurred the opening of nearby restaurants Nada and Oceanaire Seafood Room. Cadillac Ranch and the newly opened Bootsy’s (see review here) have also provided a bar/club mix to the district.

With all this the area still just isn’t quite there. So what is needed? Well with the dedicated work of 3CDC, the district will soon be home to yet another upscale bar that will be known as the Righteous Room in the former location of the troubled Phoenix Cafe. That project will also bring three new condo units to the three upper floors of the building. Still though, more can and probably will be done.

3CDC has previously floated the idea of closing off those previously mentioned spruced up alleys to vehicular traffic and making them “pedestrian throughways.” Also mentioned was the possibility of creating a “walk of fame” sidewalk across from the Aronoff Center.

Both are great ideas, but the alleys present the biggest opportunity if you ask me. Something that could be done here is after you close the alleys off to vehicular traffic you could then make them open-container areas where people could mingle about and bar hop from place to place within the Backstage District…providing a Beale or Bourbon Street type atmosphere in the heart of Downtown Cincinnati.

This idea is not all that new to Cincinnati as it was previously attempted on Main Street (OTR). The idea was met with some skepticism circulating about safety and the legality of such a concept. The Fountain Square Management Group has been able to implement this kind of thing for special events on Fountain Square, so who could be a better resource to attempt this on a larger scale than 3CDC?

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Development News

PHOTOS: Newport’s Mansion Hill and East Row Historic Districts

The other day I visited Newport (no not the Levee) and took some photos of Newport’s Mansion Hill and East Row districts. The day was cold, the skies were gray, but I had a good time nonetheless walking through Newport’s often overlooked residential districts.

Mansion Hill boasts many gorgeous homes that have been well maintained over the years. East Row is another historic district, but will much more modest dwellings in a comfortable neighborhood setting. The area is sprinkled with neighborhood businesses including the well-known Italian restaurant Pompilio’s and Mansion Hill Tavern.

Today the neighborhood is experiencing the spread of investment from the nearby Newport on the Levee complex, but is also suffering from the noise and traffic from I-471 which practically owns the eastern portion of the neighborhoods.

There are 35 photos in the slideshow. You can also view the full set on UrbanOhio.

Categories
News

Orange Bowl update for the Bearcats

The University of Cincinnati is reporting that about 4,500 tickets remain for Bearcat fans at the Orange Bowl. The University was originally given 17,500 tickets and are on the hook for selling those tickets. Should they not sell them, then the University is responsible for covering those remaining tickets. What happens many times is those left over tickets are given to a local charity of some sort.

At this point though the tickets have been on sale for just over 1 week and around 13,000 already have been sold. There are another couple weeks until the game itself so it looks pretty good that the UC allotment of tickets will be sold by the time the game rolls around – something that many people thought wouldn’t be possible.

Tickets are $125 and hotels are going for around $120/night in the downtown Miami area where most people are staying. If you want to stay on South Beach or in the Miami Beach area then hotel rates are going to be much higher. It is about a 17 hour drive (6.5 from Cincinnati to Atlanta, 10.5 from Atlanta to Miami) from Cincinnati to Miami with gas averaging about $1.70 a gallon.

You can find ticket information and everything else you need to know from match up information to bowl game merchandise at Bearcat Bowl Central. I’ll be joining at least one other blogger for the Orange Bowl madness. Who else is planning on making the trip?