Chicago - If any Spartans are ever feeling a little lonely in Chicago or miss East Lansing, then there's a perfect bar and grill for them to hang out at.
Everyone won't know your name, but at the Gin Mill in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of the Windy City, they'll know what it's like to bleed green and white.
The Gin Mill is best known for housing MSU fans during sporting events.
And the "Welcome to East Lansing," in green lights and pictures of former Spartans Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson during the 2000 championship run can make any Spartan feel at home.
"MSU fans gravitate toward Chicago," explained John McHugh, who has managed the bar for three years.
Want to watch an MSU men's basketball game? Look no further than the Spartan favorite.
Upon entering the Gin Mill, one would find it hard to overlook the 12 televisions in the front room. Even the DJ has a television in his booth.
Walking to the second half of the bar, there are nine more televisions to gaze into. And with that many televisions to watch, the true sports junkies would have only one question:
"What if I have to go to the bathroom?"
No need to worry, the Gin Mill has that covered, too.
Tickets to basketball games in March usually pinch the pockets more than most people would like. Watching the game at the Gin Mill, however, is as close as you can get to being at the game.
They've even got super fans - or in this case, a former MSU cheerleader.
Dressed in a red and white Brendan Shanahan Red Wing jersey and a white 2000 NCAA Championship baseball cap, Scott Brown - all by himself - shouts, "Go Green!"
And right on cue, hundreds of fellow Spartan followers shout, "Go White!"
And the chants continue until Brown feels like stopping.
Brown, a 2000 graduate, said he doesn't know what he would do without the Gin Mill.
"I've known about the Gin Mill for a long time," he said. "They have a pep rally here every year. It's become my home away from home.
"This is the best place for out-of-state Michigan State fans."
The bar has an "at the game" type feel. Throughout the Spartans' contest, bartenders toss T-shirts, there are raffles for prizes and the Spartan fight song plays about 10-15 times per game. And if MSU wins?
Free beer or free shots for all in attendance.
But in most places where there's mainly a one-fan contingent, there's always an anti-fan.
I spied a guy sporting a maize visor with a blue block "M" so, of course, I thought I had found that guy. I was sure the smile on his face was because of MSU's huge first-half deficit to Ohio State, its semifinal game in the Big Ten Tournament. But even he had been swept away by Spartan mania.
"All my friends went to MSU, so since I've graduated I've decided to root for MSU," said Louis Szura, a U-M graduate. "I'm actually rooting for them to pull this out."
Weird, huh?
Well, the Spartans didn't pull out the victory. But I'm sure the people in attendance got over it.
Romando J. Dixson, State News sports editor, can be reached at dixsonro@msu.edu.
