Buffalo Wild Wings In Windsor Draws Cornellians For Team’s Push To Sweet Sixteen, With Game Recap

With Cornell University surviving its first-round test in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the Big Red alumni machine swung into action. The word went out over the internet that Cornellians were gathering at Buffalo Wild Wings in Windsor to watch the second-round match.

Why Buffalo Wild Wings in Windsor? Well, apart from the fact that the rapidly growing chain (over 600 outlets in 42 states) of sports-themed casual restaurants makes it incredibly easy to watch the sporting event of one’s choice, there was the fact that owner Sarah Maggi Morin is a 1998 Cornell graduate who apparently played hoops at Cornell herself.

It turned out Morin was not available to be photographed, because she was busy rooting Cornell on with another group of Big Red fans at her other Buffalo Wild Wings in Hadley, Massachusetts. She’s a huge fan and will be heading to Syracuse to watch Cornell take on number one seed Kentucky. Morin sent the above photograph of her, and these photographs of New England Patriots legend Troy Brown with Buffalo Wild Wings general manager Jay Fisher

and of ESPN’s Trey Wingo and guests.

Poor Fisher was on hand for the game, however, and had to submit to the indignity of my amateurish photograph,

but he proved to be a good sport and a great host.

Not having visited a Buffalo Wild Wings before, I wandered around and took photographs. A clear spirit of fun pervaded everything. Here was a counter near the entry,

here a hilarious chicken that didn’t seem especially comforted by being seat belted,

here the basketball hoops,

here a family enjoying its food,

and here scores of happy customers.

But I was really only interested in the customers wearing red (Wisconsin’s color is also red, but Wisconsin fans were nowhere in evidence).

My companion Bob Bailin, like myself, was Cornell Arts & Sciences class of 1979 (and Hamden High class of 1975). This interesting young lady from Cornell’s Industrial & Labor Relations school joined Bob and me for the first half.

At half time, some of the younger Cornellians worked off some steam shooting some baskets.

Some Cornellians were also keeping an eye on the Frozen Four women’s hockey semifinal with Minnesota-Duluth, which Cornell would eventually lose 3-2 with 34 seconds left in a record third overtime.

It was a big sports weekend for Cornell, which also saw its men’s hockey team win the ECAC title and qualify for the NCAA tournament and its wrestling team finish second in the nation in Division 1 to Iowa.

But I can’t imagine watching NCAA basketball without plenty of food and beer on hand (and not necessarily in that order). Buffalo Wild Wings turned out to be paradise for a sports fan. The beer list was extensive,

the food tasty and inexpensive. Our waitress, Kari, took good care of us.

We tried three draught beers, the Dogfish Head,

the BBC Steel Rail,

and the Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat.

And soon, plenty of food was headed our way, including these spicy buffalo wings,

this overflowing combination platter,

this nice salad with southwestern ranch dressing,

and this black-and-blue burger that the bun could barely handle.

But our very favorite items were the roasted garlic mushrooms

and this platter with terrific ribs, wings in mango and habanero pepper sauce, onion rings and coleslaw.

Buffalo Wild Wings’ food was honestly much better than what I have become accustomed to finding in sports bars. And the setting was effortless, absolutely nothing interfering with our enjoyment of the game. Morin says one of Buffalo Wild Wings’ chief strengths is its tendency to have local ownership, ensuring that each outlet reflects characteristics of the local communities, especially their sports landscapes.

Now for those who want to know how the Cornell-Wisconsin game turned out—or to relive it—here are the highlights as broadcast on CBS Television (click on photographs to enlarge)…