NEW CUMBERLAND, PA -- Cookley's Bar, a Steelers hangout, was deathly quiet Sunday, despite the free flow of liquor and a game against the Browns. Bar patrons and managers blamed local Protestants in attendance for the muted reactions to the interceptions, sacks, long gains and touchdowns that occurred.
"I've been to a lot of Steelers bars all over the place, and usually they're pretty rowdy," barfly Karenna Kern said today. "But not here. You can hear a pin drop in here. I couldn't even get a good 'Here We Go Steelers/Cleveland Sucks' chant going - and we were playing the Brownies."
One of those Presbyterians keeping it down was Jack Thompson. "We're not a showy church," Thompson said. "A quiet prayer and some old-time hymns are all we need, and I guess it just carries over from Sunday morning to Sunday afternoon."
So why go to a bar at all? "Now, I didn't say we were opposed to drinking," Thompson said. "I go to Fourth Presbyterian, and as we always say, where's there's a Fourth Presbyterian, there's a fifth," he said, chuckling softly.
Cookley's bartender Paul Chwastyk said managers will try to liven up the place with polka music, Steelers highlights on video, and bigger crowds. "Maybe we'll try to bring in a few evangelicals," the bartender said. "They're pretty vocal. But we'd probably sell a lot less booze.
