Managing the Madness: Breaking Down the NCAA Tournament

There’s nothing better than watching the NCAA Tournament during March Madness. To celebrate the best sports month of the year, Blue Line Sports Bar and Grill is going to offer up some predictions for the favorites to win this year’s tournament.

We encourage you to enter our annual Bracket Challenge. We’re excited to give away some great prizes again this year. The first-place winner will receive a $100 Blue Line gift card, second place will get a Blue Line hoodie or flannel and third place will get a $25 Blue Line gift card.

To help you with your bracket, let’s take a look at some of the favorites and dark horses entering the tournament.

Our Favorites

Villanova, the defending national champion, is the big favorite to repeat this year. The Wildcats were the No. 2 ranked team in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll behind No. 1 Kansas. Both should easily get No. 1 seeds after Selection Sunday.

If they both advance past the first two rounds, they will most likely play close to home for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. Villanova will most likely play at Madison Square Garden, which is only a two-hour drive from its campus. Kansas would most likely play at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, which is only a 45-minute drive from its campus. Those venues will be home away from homes for the Wildcats and Jayhawks.

The Wildcats won the Big East regular-season championship and are led by senior stars Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins. They’ve defeated stalwarts like Purdue, Notre Dame, and Virginia this season.

The Jayhawks may have the best 1-2 punch in the country in guard Frank Mason III and guard/forward Josh Jackson. Mason is a strong player of the year candidate and Jackson could be a high pick in the NBA draft in June.

Some of the other top 10 teams that could receive No. 1 seeds include Gonzaga, North Carolina, Oregon, UCLA, Arizona, Kentucky, and Louisville.

North Carolina might be a cut above the other teams because it has the experience of getting to the championship game last season where they lost on a game-winning three-pointer to Villanova. The Tar Heels have four upperclassmen starters and have more experience than those other squads.

Dark Horses

Some dark horses include two Big Ten teams in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Blue Line owners, Scott and Esther Widor, are diehard Badger fans. The Badgers are led by Bronson Koenig (14.2 points per game) Nigel Hayes (13.5 points a game) and Ethan Happ (13.9 points per game). With that type of firepower, Scott and Esther’s picks for a champion on their brackets should be pretty easy to figure out.

As for the Golden Gophers, they’ve made a big jump from only winning eight games a year ago. Head coach Richard Pitino was named the Big Ten coach of the year, guard Nate Mason was a first team All-Conference selection and Reggie Lynch was named the conference’s defensive player of the year.

After the Big Ten Tournament ends, the Badgers and Gophers could be anywhere from a fourth to sixth seed in the tournament.

Some other dark horse contenders include SMU, Purdue, Duke, Cincinnati, Florida, Florida State, Wichita State, Butler, and St. Mary’s.

The Blue Line hopes everyone has a good time watching the tournament this year. And be sure to get out of the house and visit us during March Madness. Remember, we’re more than just a sports bar!

The Top 10 Moments of 2016 at Blue Line

2016 was a great year for Blue Line. We met some new friends, visited with old favorites, and had many, many great times. It’s hard to narrow down our favorite, but we thought we’d give it a try. Here are (arguably) the top 10 moments of 2016:

1. Our Sartell location’s 10-year anniversary. We really can’t believe this one and are very proud of this milestone!

2. Our South St. Cloud location’s 4-year anniversary.

3. The many, many charitable organizations that the Blue Line helps to support. Over the last year, they have been vast; from national organizations to local sports teams.

4. The continuing business partnerships that we have established with our local partners.

5. Leslie and Chris’ wedding. We catering their receptions and fed over 450 people at their house! It was an awesome day!

6. Esther’s 50th birthday party–now that was a humdinger!

7. The tenure of our teammates. We celebrated a 12-year anniversary, a 10-year anniversary and many other multi-year anniversaries.

8. The many personal relationships that were started at the Blue Line. I know of two weddings this past year and three engagements!

9. Being nominated yet again for the Business of the Year in Sartell.

10. The Boy Scouts presenting us a flag for Blue Line South. That was incredibly humbling.

But overall the ultimate highlight is that people continue to support us at the Blue Line.  If it wasn’t for our guests, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. So thank you to everyone who has supported us in 2016, we are looking forward to serving you in 2017!

Seasonal Fall Brews On Tap at Blue Line

The fall season is here, and with it comes the inevitable shift in weather, clothing, and activities. The leaves change, the pumpkin spice lattes come out, and we begin to anticipate the first flakes of snow. Our way of bringing in the new season at Blue Line is by introducing our fall beers!

Oktoberfest-Inspired Brews

Our first two beers on tap pay homage to one of the biggest holidays for beer consumption: Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a festival that is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, and Germany. It lasts about two and a half weeks and runs from the middle of September through the first weekend in October. It attracts nearly 6 million people every year, and Oktoberfest beers are specially made for this festival. At Blue Line, we are paying homage to this tradition with Shells’ Oktoberfest and Beaver Island Oktoberfest beers on tap. Both of these beers will be on tap at both of our locations. Bring your friends and come celebrate fall and the Oktoberfest tradition with one of these beers!

Fall-Flavored Beers

Fall means Halloween, Thanksgiving, and crisp, cool weather.  Naturally, you are bound to see seasonal—sometimes pumpkin-flavored—beers. At our South location, we will be serving Wasatch Brewery Black O’Lantern Pumpkin Stout on tap. This dark beer has the rich, caramelly flavor of traditional stouts finished with a hint of pumpkin that is not overpowering, but not unnoticed. At our Sartell location, we will be serving three bottled beers for your enjoyment: Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin, Red Hook Brewery’s Out of Your Gourd Pumpkin Porter, and Ciderboys’ Peach Country.

Join us!

We have a great lineup of fall beers, great events, and a great atmosphere in which to enjoy them. So come grab an Octoberfest lager or pumpkin stout while watching the game or playing bean bags with your friends. There are plenty of ways to celebrate the fall season, and coming into Blue Line Sports Bar and Grill is one of the best ways to do it!

Introducing Blue Line's New Website!

Blue Line Sports Bar and grill recently rolled out a new and improved website. It’s prettier, it’s more user-friendly, and it has all the information you’ll need to know about Blue Line Sports bar. Take a tour of our new website!

We have a sleek, new design, a cleaner layout, and- best of all- all the pages and links are in working order! Officially, our new website was launched on July 25th. You may have already become somewhat familiar with our new layout, but just in case you haven’t, there are a few important pages that we would like to point out.

First up is the home page. Here, you can subscribe to our email list for special discounts and notifications about upcoming events. Scroll down a bit and you’ll see a few of our latest blog posts. Keep going a little further, and you’ll find a link to our full menu.

Speaking of the menu, we have the full list of food and beer menu available online. As the seasons (and our specials) change, you’ll be able to keep up with the newest grub and suds available at Blue Line, along with all our old favorites.

We still have a page for our event calendar and a separate page with information about the Blue Line Bean Bag and Golf leagues.

Want to work at Blue Line? You can apply online for either location!

Never been to Blue Line before? Check out the handy google map on our contact page— stop by for a visit! Watch your favorite game, have an ice-cold beer, and be sure to compliment The Widors on their new website!

Summer Specials at Blue Line

Summer Specials at Blue Line

Summer may be half over, but the temperatures are still increasing, and so is the list of events at both of our Blue Line locations! From our new summer salads to patio specials, there is something that everyone can enjoy happening right now at Blue Line South and Blue Line Sartell!

Light and Delicious Summer Salads

We have added three tasty summer salads to our menu this season including a Lemon Pepper Salad, an Oriental Salad, and a Phoenix Salad.

Our Lemon Pepper salad includes fresh mixed greens topped with lemon pepper seasoned grilled chicken or thinly sliced flat iron steak, both topped with fresh veggies, peppercorn asiago dressing, and breadsticks.

Our Oriental salad has fresh mixed greens topped with tempura chicken or shrimp, shredded carrots, mandarin oranges, red cabbage, pea pods, rice noodles, our toasted sesame dressing, and breadsticks.

Lastly, our Phoenix salad includes fresh mixed greens served with crispy chicken, tomatoes, red onion, deep fried jalapeños, shredded pepper jack cheese, our signature honey mustard dressing, and breadsticks.

What else is going on at Blue Line?

We will continue with Bar Bingo throughout the summer at both of our locations every Wednesday night from 7 to 9pm. The Sartell Youth Hockey Association will also continue to put on a Meat Raffle every Friday from 4:30 – 7:00 pm at our Sartell location. So, if you’re looking for a nice cut to throw on the grill, try your luck at the Meat Raffle!

Every Tuesday this summer we will be offering $9 pitchers at both of our locations.  Come relax and enjoy the sunshine and best beers of summer on our Leinenkugel patios.

There isn’t much of the summer left—come take advantage of our summer specials while they last! Learn more about our summertime specials by taking a tour of our new website!