That made a recent visit to Champions Sports Pub (280 W Jefferson Street, 671-4246) in the Marriott downtown all the more fun when my wife and I watched the Cards drub Boise State several days ago. That win turned out to be sort of a mixed blessing in that the crowd never really got loud or raucous; the outcome was fully predictable early on. Nevertheless, I’d forgotten how fun it can be to watch a game with complete strangers bound by their love for their team and relaxed with some social lubricant.

But I digress: What I aim to say is Champions is a pretty swell place. Well lit—and thankfully non-smoking—comfortable tables and seats, good noise level (music wasn’t blaring, high ceilings swallowed up much of the crowd chatter), friendly and efficient service, good grub and good drinks.Yeah, so I admit to drinking Cosmos during a ball game. What of it? Though some good buddies of mine question my masculinity for doing so, they’re excellent, though past-trendy sippers, and the bartenders at Champions have them down pat. They’re worth the ribbing, I say, but be prepared, they’re not inexpensive. It was a rare overnighter treat for my wife and I (we stayed downtown that evening, a rare splurge I also strongly recommend), so I wasn’t looking at the bill. But my guess is they’re in the $8 range.

Though not served piping hot, Champions’ Asian wings are excellent, about as good as any I’ve had locally. Free popcorn on each table is a good plus as well.

The place draws a friendly, civil and diverse crowd as well. (Perhaps the higher prices keep the real rowdies out? If so, I’ll pay the steeper fare.) Despite its hotel location, the majority of the folks there clearly were locals—sometimes easily identified by their U of L apparel—from all parts of town, and they were into the game. (If you’ve traveled much, you know the oppressive lameness of watching a game in a bar where no one cares about your team.)

Champions has no shortage of TVs, though its largest screens have color issues reminiscent of old-style projection TVs. It wasn’t a high-def experience, but we had a good view nonetheless.

Beer selection there is exceptional for this type of pub and includes a wide-ranging mix of imports, locals, domestic microbrews and the standard horse-drawn creek runoff from that place in St. Louis (I don’t drink its swill, but let’s hope I’ve got some mutual fund holdings in it). We’d been to The Pub (great beers, fantastic burger with goat cheese, too) on Fourth Street earlier, so we’d had our fill of brew, and therefore I don’t know about prices. But one sign that they might be a bit steep was a guy at a nearby table started with a premium import on round one, but switched to Miller Lite for every round afterwards. Perhaps sticker shock drove the change.