Jackson Free Press

Fall is quickly approaching and some of us are scrambling to find the perfect place to watch our alma maters triumph this football season. Unless you have season tickets and a RV prepared to criss-cross this great nation, a television will be the only means to experience the excitement and grief of another year of chaotic college football.

Here are some of the sports bars I recommend for watching the likes of Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Jackson State and Millsaps battling each week for extra yardage. Who am I kidding—the only time you'll find Millsaps on television is when they're choking up miracle plays to Trinity University.

Last Call Sports Bar
The name is appropriate, since the "last" drunken phone "call" you made to your ex-wife probably didn't go as planned. The bar is inhabited by drinking people with a sports problem. Blue collar, white collar and no-collar alike frequent this little bar situated right off of Interstate 55.

Ten-plus television screens provide plenty of entertainment ranging from NFL preseason previews on the NFL Network to grainy episodes of American Gladiators on ESPN Classic. It's easy to lurk in the shadows and groove to the blues music cranked up to 11 while spotting the pool sharks in the corner, eyeing their next victims.

Last Call provides plenty of space for you and your work buddies to knock back a few tall-boys while debating over whether or not Pete Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

On a more personal note, watching a classic college football game on Fox Sports South on a humid Thursday morning in August will remind you that 1994 was a very good year for small-town boys playing two-hand touch football in the front yard with ice-cold lemonade awaiting them at half-time. Please, don't shed any tears. But if you are a whimsical, under-achieving introvert, this might be the right place to drown your tears when you watch the Saints ruin another "what-if?" season.

The Bulldog
The self-proclaimed international beer tavern of Jackson is not just a rendezvous for Mississippi State fans, but for all sports fanatics hoping to catch their favorite team in action. The Bulldog boasts more than 50 beers on tap and a wide selection of whiskey and scotch. If you start to get bored with the non-stop Brett Favre coverage, walk over to the back wall and check out some reading material from their massive bookcase.

When your significant other texts you, asking why you aren't home yet, inform her that you are busy reading the American Medical Association's Standard Nomenclature of Diseases and Operations, 5th Edition. (Yes, you can actually find that in one of the shelves.)

The bar is reminiscent of an upscale establishment in Boston with a little taste of New Orleans. If you happen to venture into The Bulldog on a Friday or Saturday night, expect to see, in the words of Motley Crue, "Girls, Girls, Girls." Southern beauties are abound, not to mention the waitresses wearing skin-tight tank tops and painted-on blue-jean shorts. And though the male clientele may have more gel in their hair than an Ed Hardy model, everyone has one goal in common, and that is to enjoy a night on the town.

Time Out Sports Cafe
Spirits are high in this little haunt located near the county line. If this were a college town, Time Out would be considered a "locals" bar. The moment a patron walks through the front doors, his or her name is heard echoing from all corners of the bar. You'd half expect Woody and Sam from "Cheers" to be dishing out drinks—that is how friendly it is.

Two dart boards, two pool tables and an assortment of televisions litter the scene, with a small stage set up in the back corner.

During any typical happy hour, expect to see gray-haired businessmen chatting it up with dolled-up ladies, sipping pensively on their gin & tonics. Later in the evening, former high school quarterbacks cram into the drinking arena to yell obscenities at the felonious officiating taking place during the all-too-critical NFL preseason football match-ups. The fancy jukebox varies in its tunes, playing anything from the Rolling Stones to 12 Stones—and that about sums up the crowd.

Sportsman's Lodge
The whiskey and wine will always taste about the same, no matter which bar you buy it from, but that isn't the case with the food. Sportsman's provides some of the tastiest bar grub in Jackson. The "Award Winning Wings" are worthy of their name. Choose up to 24 of these little jokers, and you'll be begging for 24 more.

There are also enough arcade games at Sportsman's to rival Chuck E. Cheese's. However, I wouldn't drag my child in here, especially with the long-haired riff-raff playing Skynyrd in the back, underneath the prominently displayed 8-point buck staring you down as you feast on hearty, meaty meals.

In fact, there are several former creatures of the wild "hanging" out inside of Sportsman's, and I doubt any of the people at the bar feel any sympathy for them.