John Adam Wickliffe

Football on the screens, The Big Easy on fans’ minds

Most people dread Mondays — the end of the weekend and the beginning of that long punishing stretch known as the workweek. However, some have found a respite from the doldrums of the first day of the week.

These people are definitely ready for some football.

Bailey’s Sports Grille on Laurens Road in Greenville has become a headquarters for those seeking pigskin bliss. It features a number of large-screen projection TVs, as well as smaller monitors connected to various sporting events. Tonight, the main event is Monday Night Football.

But it’s not just any MNF game, this one is special because it’s the first game played in the Louisiana Superdome since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the facility in 2005.
“Even the Atlanta guys are pulling for the Saints,” says Myles Burton of Boca Raton, Fla., noting the fervor for the home team that became America’s team in the wake of the storm.

The Falcons are taking a pounding by New Orleans this night, eventually losing 23-3, but the fans at Bailey’s don’t care. They are there to watch a great game, play some pool and have a good time.

The restaurant is a haven for sports fans — walls adorned with posters and pennants of sports greats and local favorites with television screens surrounding the crowd.

Eugene Converse, Bailey’s manager, says the crowd there varies.

“We’re a Steelers bar and a Browns bar,” he says, noting the influx of fans from other states. “It really depends on who’s playing.”

Tonight, he estimates more than 200 fans will pass through the doors, some 60 to 70 percent will play Bailey’s Monday Night Bingo, a game that uses football plays rather than numbers to create winning lines.

“A lot of people seem to like it,” Converse says. “It makes them stay the entire game.”

Robert Buntin keeps his bingo card up-to-date while sipping a beer and keeping tabs on the Falcons’ chances.

“They’re not bad tonight, considering Vick’s playing and the Saints are going to kick the ball a lot. I should get some good stuff.”

By the first quarter, the marks on his card aren’t indicative of a win.

Before fantasy leagues became popular, Buntin wasn’t a big fan of professional football.

“I had zero interest in pro football until fantasy football came around,” he says, “so that’s why I watch it now.”

Some fans come to Bailey’s with a certain outcome in mind. For Casey Cothern, a Falcons win would have been nice. Cothern, dressed in a red Falcons jersey, and Lorin Hair have been watching Monday Night Football at Bailey’s for the past three weeks.

The big difference between watching football at home and watching at Bailey’s is the crowd, Hair says. “Everybody gets into it. When somebody scores, everybody’s in on the game.”

A number of transplants have made Bailey’s their football home away from home. Rob Searfoss and John Cabrera, both originally from Marlboro County, enjoy the opportunities of Upstate nightlife.

“There are plenty of things to do. You can actually go to a bar and have people there with teeth,” Searfoss jokes.

Searfoss says the pair plan on making Bailey’s a weekly tradition to “blow off a little steam, play a little pool, drink a little beer and play some bingo.”

Meghann Otto, a native of Houston, isn’t watching the game, but she’s a big fan of the pool tables.

Football isn’t really her game, she says, but “I do like baseball.”

Mauldin’s Cashual Lynch has made his first venture to Bailey’s for Monday Night Football, although he’s been there for other sporting events in the past.

“I enjoy all the monitors all around and the pool tables,” he says.

And this game is significant, he says. “It’s extremely special, considering the hopes … rebuilding the confidence in the area and drawing people back to New Orleans. It’s about bringing the excitement back to the city.”

And for some, like Ron Cibulskis, going to Bailey’s means finding a good meal — the football game is just a bonus.

He has “no refrigerator, no food and no furniture” because of a recent move to Salem, “so I came out here to get some dinner.”

He enjoys the game with a pint of Killians, his favorite beer, but keeps in mind the same thing that many at Bailey’s have said about tonight’s game.

“I just hope when they play football, they don’t forget about all the people who are still displaced and still don’t have homes,” he says. “Back to normal for football is one thing, but back to normal for the people there is different.”

Frankie J proving to be a force in R&B arena

Following the 2005 release of “The One,” Francisco Javier Bautista, better known in the urban music world as Frankie J, is ready to hone a soulful, urban sound in the upcoming album “Priceless,” which will be released Oct. 17.

He spent the day in Greenville Tuesday to promote the album.

The 28-year-old R&B star’s musical roots began at a very young age.

“As a kid, I’ve always loved music since I was this tall,” he says, motioning about three feet from the ground.

“Music does run in my family. I would always just get in front of the family and perform, so as a kid it was already in me.”

Before going solo, Frankie J was the lead vocalist of the Corpus Christi-based Kumbia Kings, a band led by the brother of Tejana legend, Selena. With ambitions toward the American pop?music market, Frankie J departed the Kings in 2002.

Three years later, he had a No. 3 hit single on the Billboard 100 with, “Obsession.”

“In the beginning, it was more like I wanted to write and produce my own songs and I finally got the chance to do that,” he says.

A defining feature of “The One” and especially evident on “Priceless” is the collaborative effect of working with top talent in the urban music arena. While Frankie J wrote all the songs on the latter album, he collaborated with Chamillionaire, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Slim of 112, and production by Mannie Fresh, Bryan Michael Cox and StarGate.

“I just wanted to work with people who were going to help me out on this next album, and we’re going to add a different side of Frankie J for the third album,” he said.

Frankie J’s third album has “more of an urban feel, more of that R&B soulful sound, along with the pop sound still staying true to what I am.”

The urban artist credits his label for the freedom of creativity and individuality he enjoys.

“Nowadays, labels are being more lenient in allowing artists to do what they do best and not to be controlled,” he says, “I think Columbia has really helped me out in that way.”

“Getting to know me as an artist and an individual at the same time is very important for labels to do now with their artists because at the end of the day you know yourself best, you know what you can do, you know what you’re capable of,” he says.

Frankie J has appeared on the national stage as well with appearances on Live with Regis and Kelly and MTV’s TRL.

Being on television “feels like a dream; I’m living in la-la land because as a kid I was so into TV and I wanted to see myself inside the TV and feel what it would be like.”

His family, like most, is proud of their progeny and “has a library of all the shows that I’ve been involved with.”

Alternatively, live shows provide a chance for intimate contact with the audience.

“I definitely have to interact with the crowd,” he exclaims. “I don’t want the crowd to just come and see a show to hear me sing. I have to make them feel like they’re at home, like they’re comfortable. They’re there to have a good time, not to stare at you and say, ‘OK this guy can sing.’ I like to give them what they paid for.”

The urban, soulful melodies of Frankie J?s music provides a positive message for the fans.

“As an artist, you’ve got to stay focused and positive about your music,” he says.

While Frankie J considers selling a million records “just getting my feet wet,” he’s looking for more in his musical career, including writing, producing and eventually starting his own record label.

He has also stated an interest in reciprocating the help he’s received in the music industry by mentoring young musicians looking for their place in the genre.

In the interim, however, Frankie J is seeking success for his third, highly-anticipated album and focusing on his current career.

“At the end of the day you know what your job is — you have to come out with a hit record,” he says, “If you don’t come out with a hit record, nobody pays attention to you.”