Another Bobcat Bar Ruined!

[whitetrashgriz]

more of you will have to start going to my favorite hangout....cats paw! i don't watch football there cause it's a little too crazy for me but it basically has everything you want. imagine if they decided to "spruce" that place up. take stuff off the walls. paint it a nice shade of brown. put up some nice artwork...

the point is, it was a sweet, college sports bar right next to the field. it doesn't need to be nicer. it doesn't need to be cleaner. it needs to be fun. tv's all over. decent food. cool staff. on campus. that's it. just don't know why you'd mess with it. someone with a little money will most certainly start a bobcat themed sports bar near campus and specs will regret this move. see ya at the paw!!!

[BDizzle]

Does specs still have the hot waitresses?



Whose the New Kid on the Block?

[longhorn_22]

Does specs still have the hot waitresses?



Whose the New Kid on the Block?

Yes they do.
And leave Kane out of this!

[cat_stache_fever]

i haven't been in "spanktators" in about a year. that sucks. i can't believe no one has tried to open up a bar/restaurant in that business area just west of the booster lot. something right there would make a killing, especially on gamedays.

RTB, i know a couple good bar/restaurant managers who have a ton of opening experience(s) if you're serious. these guys are looking for ANY excuse to move back to bozeman.

[NrthFce]

While I don't mind change in general, I think it to be a ridiculous move to not understand your clientele. Specs needed a a little up-keep, maybe new paint, and some better lighting (maybe adjustable, nobody likes to get drunk in a spotlight). Why not play on the fact that your right next to the stadium, arena, and college and go with blue paint, gold stripe, and hang bobcat memorabilia more decoratively with class? Hang the goal post with pride, the all-American pictures with memories, and your own jersey with honor on a blue and gold background. That would be the "spark" they needed, not gray paint, maroon font tri-fold menus, and minimal black and white sports shots with modern framing of whom some of them aren't bobcats, aren't recognizable, and just plain and simple "nike shots" off the internet. I appreciate the owners gratitude towards the college but play off your location, history, and good community. JMHO Keep a good thing going specs...

[rtb]

I am glad others are feeling the same. I don't want to be too hard on the owners and managers, but my personal opinion is the change really sucks and has ruined a good thing. I really like the points above about that place not needing to be classy and look like the twin brother to the Pour House. The need to take advantage of their location and be a real Bobcat Bar. If the blue paint was too dark, try a nice shade of GOLD with maybe a blue accent? I don't know? Glad others have been there and can confirm my opinion a little.

[Pat-Specs-mgr]

I am not going to hide behind an user name so everyone knows who I am. I would like to clarify a few things. 1.) To the people that felt that I blew them off yesterday, that was not my intention. I appreciate every customer that comes into Spec's and know that with the way the economy is, money is tight for most people. I am thankful that people choose Spec's to watch their game, whether the customer drinks water or pop during the game or the customers who spend alot of their hard earned money. I never take any customer or their opinion for granted. 2.) With people being mad about no sod for Cat/Griz, sod is a Homecoming tradition. Spec's could not install sod this year due to fact that the sod was frozen and could not be cut. 3.) I have been manager for 3 yrs and cooked here for 5 yrs before that. Even before working here, Spec's was not only my favorite bobcat bar, but my favorite bar period. The reason for that was because of the great people that I met here. One of the main reasons that I accepted Joe's offer to become manager was because of the great customers and bobcat fans that come into Spec's. I am lucky enough to get to talk to them before, during, and/or after any bobcat event. People are saying that Spec's is a worse place now and not a bobcat bar because the memoralbilia and the paint are not bobcat colors. Any business can paint blue/gold and have bobcat stuff on the walls but does that make them a bobcat bar? To me what makes Spec's "Spec's" and Spec's THE bobcat bar are the great fans that come to celebrate a win, commiserate a loss but are always loyal, blue bleedin, griz hatin fans. I hope to see you all here on saturday cheering on a cat's win with many of your fellow diehard fans and supporting the cats throughout the playoff.

[rtb]

Pat,

I appreciate your honesty and thanks for joining the board. Can you just clarify:

1.) Will you guys be adding a lot of Bobcat Stuff back to the place or is it pretty much going to be the TVs, the B&W pics, and that's about it?

2.) For those of us here and the others that I've talked to everyone has basically said: Why?
-Do you want to give people an idea what you and Joe are trying to do with the latest changes?

[whitetrashgriz]

this is a touchy subject because there is no doubt what-so-ever that joe has done a ton to support the cats. i think for many of us, it's just sad to see yet another hangout follow the paths of the other bars that seem to want to cater to the "richer, yuppy folk" rather than the working man or college student. that's why specs was so sweet. it was right on campus, and you felt comfortable in there. you didn't worry about spilling or dropping something on the floor. it was just a fun, college bar. and what is dissapointing for me at least, is it seems like specs had a golden opportunity, and a prime location to continue giving us fans that bobcat bar feel. now it feels like all the other bars in town. i'll never stop going to specs. i've been going there since the batting cages were in the basement. but i'll certainly miss the sports-bar feel it used to have. and i would think all this will do is open up the door for someone else with money to cater to this bobcat crowd. i just hope when and if it happens, it's a bobcat fan as loyal as joe behind it, because i'm getting tired of these places that were so sweet 3-5 years ago changing. like santa fe reds! don't even get me started on that place. it's like they had a bet if they could go from one of the coolest places in town to one of the worst places in town in less than a year!

[rtb]

Good post whitetrash, my sentiments are pretty much the same.

The thing is I think you can class it up, clean it up, but still have a great Bobcat bar that feels like a Bobcat bar and doesn't feel like I'm in an Abercrombie store with TVs. There is a great little place just of the University of Minnesota campus called The Big Ten. It's a nice sports bar, that is tastefully decorated with Gophers stuff and has logos from all the other Big Ten teams. I doesn't just have to be jerseys hanging on a wall, you can do it well and still make the place feel like an "on-campus" bar should be.

[Pat-Specs-mgr]

Yes Spec's will be putting bobcat memeralbilia back up. The problem was when this venture was first started we were told the pictures and frames would be done by about the second home game, well because of things out of our control they were finished on Tuesday. Putting everything up was predicated on those pictures going up first because Joe and I weren't sure how they were going to be positioned on the walls. Unfortunetly we weren't able to get anything else up. With the color change the thinking behind that was because alot of memorabillia was blue it didn't look as well as it should. With the different color wall the bobcat stuff should really pop out and look good. It has been really frustrating this last month having to wait to try to get things done. I think when its done it will look really good and people will like it.

[rtb]

Keep us posted as to when the work is complete and hopefully those of us that feel the changes are for the worse will be able to give it another try and report back some positive thoughts.

[AlphaGriz1]

This is exactly why I am getting a new "rtb" your always too negative, and that isnt the message I want to send out...........I am a positive person.

[rtb]

This is exactly why I am getting a new "rtb" your always too negative, and that isnt the message I want to send out...........I am a positive person.

Drinking already this morning? You didn't see my request on the smack board after I used that crazy stuff called logic. Do I get to re-apply for the job? You know now that I have a son there is a clear replacement for me waiting in the wings.

[AlphaGriz1]

See, now your just hijacking this thread...............I am off to smack where I belong.

[NrthFce]

When are you wearing your new uniform Pat???



Yes, I'm hiding behind my user name, I love specs and don't want to get kicked out of there or punched in the face next time I go for a dead griz.... Com'on, smile Pat, it's funny

Yes, I

[ThunderCat]

You people are crazy!!!

First - Joe has done a lot for the Cats and provided the campus area with good food and drinks with tons of TVs and hot waitresses for over 10 years.

Second - The paint on the wall does not a bar make. The great people that will continue to jam Specs during every Bobcat Football and Basketball game make it the most authentic Bobcat Bar in the world.

Third - I worked at Specs for 8 years (both under the previous owner and breifly for Joe). Trust me, Joe knows how to run a bar. He has turned Specs into a hugely profitable business while still giving a good value and a great environment. He is not going to an on campus 'new R Bar'.

Show up early, wear Blue and Gold, be loud and GO BOBCATS!!!

Kevin Planalp MSU '02
Spectators 1991-1999

[kcatz]

Thanks Pat!!

Plus the Pizza is the best around!

[longhorn_22]

That meat pizza is this the shi*. Man's pizza.

[CelticCat]

Specs was definitely my favorite Bobcat bar in Bozeman, by a wide margin. I haven't been in there since these "changes", but from what I've read I don't think I'd like them. I hope that the changes planned and forthcoming restore the magic Specs had, and I'll wait till I see it myself next time I'm in Bozeman before passing judgment.

But I'll just echo the previous sentiments: why ruin a good, no great, thing!