If there's one thing I wish we'd gotten when Tulip had the money, it's a big video projector. This year is killing us with all the sports events and our lack of a big screen. I considered buying one months ago, but rejected it on the grounds of: a) it's a huge capital outlay, and b) it's not really Tulip's image, as we're not a sports bar. But with the World Ice Hockey Championships followed by Euro 2004, even non-sports-fans go out of their way to watch the big games. The worst part, actually, is that part of my hoping the Czechs will lose so people will come back to the restaurant. Normally I'm rooting for the Czechs. Even when they played the Americans in hockey, I felt conflicted, because let's face it -- on a whole host of levels, the Americans just didn't deserve to win that game.

Every once in a while a customer comes in who says something along the lines of, "I love this place because there's no hockey/soccer." Of course, it's usually one of the only customers in the place at the time.

So if you've had enough of guys in shorts kicking a ball back and forth, this Thursday -- when the Czechs face the Greeks -- I could recommend a nice little refuge. The address is Opatovicka 3.