The Madness of March is in full swing, and we’re excited to see how far the Jayhawks go in the Big 12 Championship this week and the NCAA Tournament starting next week.
To publicly show our affection for our beloved team, we gathered some of our staff members, along with some of the crew from Sandbar Subs across the street, and filmed a little commercial, now airing on local Channel 6.
You all know we don’t mind getting a little cheesy now and then (okay, most of the time). We had a good time on a Friday afternoon, and believe it or not, we only had to do a couple takes to get a good video.
A couple weeks ago, we got word that the Roaming Gnome—a lawn ornament that some joker at Travelocity turned into a globe-trotting quasi-celebrity—would be visiting Lawrence for College GameDay with ESPN.
We get excited about pretty much anything that is 1.) silly, and 2.) an opportunity to take silly pictures, so we were thrilled to find out that the Sandbar made the cut as a stop on the Gnome’s itinerary.
So, on February 28, after spending part of the day on the KU campus followed by dinner at local favorite Free State Brewery, the Gnome and his handlers arrived at the Sandbar.
Of course he experienced everything we have to offer: a Shark Attack, a photo opp with the shark outside our door, dancing on the bar and an indoor hurricane, complete with napkins flying through the air.
Thanks, little buddy, for hanging out with us on a chilly Thursday night. We hope you had fun, come back soon!
The folks at Travelocity made this fun video recapping the Roaming Gnome’s time in Kansas. He also visited Wichita State University for their College GameDay appearance, which was the same day as KU’s.
If you’ve been reading this blog for very long, or you’re very familiar with the Sandbar at all, you’ve probably heard the story by now:
Rob Riggle, famous comedian, actor, Marine and KU alumnus, tended bar here while he was going to school in the early 90’s.
We didn’t even know it until he told us– it was before Dave’s time here. You can read the story about how we found out here. (It’s worth the click. There’s a funny anecdote that you’ll probably never read anywhere else.)
Radio love
Anyway, we were excited to hear Rob give us a great shoutout recently during an interview on 810 Sports radio show last week.
You can listen to the interview here. He mentions the Sandbar (and the Wheel) at around the 12:37 mark.
A recent visit
Rob was also back in town a few weeks ago for a KU basketball game, and after spending some time at the Wheel, he ventured our way.
He spent most of his evening behind the bar, but he took the time to leave his mark on the wall of the men’s room:
After signing the wall, he admitted to Dave that perhaps his message would have been better left in the ladies’ room instead. Probably.
While typically we paint over stuff people write on our walls (so please don’t do it!), we’re going to leave this one up. In fact, Dave’s already put a frame around it.
The KU men's basketball team won a huge game last Sunday, beating North Carolina to win a spot in the 2012 Final Four.
Downtown Lawrence was crazy after the game! Traffic started backing up on Massachusetts Street as far back as 14th Street right after the game, and probably backed up even farther as the day got later. People packed downtown and the crowds got bigger all night.
Some of the bar band members put on an impromptu show at 8th and Massachusetts, and the Kennedy Glass float from the St. Patrick's Day Parade, a replica of Allen Fieldhouse, made an appearance too.
The city of Lawrence prepared well for this event, and the crowds were well-behaved even among the mayhem. Dave was surprised that so many people came downtown after this game, but the bar was prepared for it. He jokingly posted on his Facebook page that he was opening late on Monday because he didn't have anything left to sell- not entirely true, he didn't run out of beer completely, but it was definitely a great Sunday night.
Channel 6 News even interviewed Dave about the alcohol supply. You can read the article here.
Here's to hoping we have another fun weekend downtown!
About four years ago, a group of friends from North Dakota started coming in to the Sandbar during their annual pilgrimage to Lawrence. They were in town this past weekend for the KU-Texas game (sad face!), so we asked them to tell us a little bit about how their annual trip got started, and their thoughts on the Sandbar.
Here's what James had to say:
We grew interest in Lawrence when one of our classmates (Jeff Boschee) played basketball for the Jayhawks and have been continuing our venture there once a year ever since. I believe he played for Kansas from 1999 to 2003 (might be off a year) and we always liked to go out and have a good time there.
As of 4 years ago we discovered The Sandbar and it has been our favorite inLawrence ever since. The people that hang out there are super friendly and Dave is one of the nicest guys in lawrence to b.s. with. The other reason that we like to come to the Sandbar is to make sure we get a dirty banana shot.
While we are on our visit in Lawrence we take in a basketball game as well as taking in a lot of history, we seem to learn someting new about Lawrence every time that we come. Thanks for taking the time to do this, it is a great place and will always be our first stop when we arrive.
Dave took a picture of James and his group (and some random girls that Dave says he kind of encouraged to jump into the picture):
Thanks guys for making us a stop on your annual trip to Lawrence! See you next year!
Anyway, we were excited to hear Rob give us a great shoutout recently during an interview on 810 Sports radio show last week.