Ferndale Bars Quiet on Tigers' Opening Day

Maybe they were actually at the game. Maybe they were at a packed bar in Detroit to be closer to the action. Maybe they couldn't take off work and were making do with the radio play-by-play. Or maybe they were planning to skate out of the office a little before 5 to catch the end of the game with friends.

Wherever Ferndale's Tigers fans were watching today's 3 p.m. home opener, it sure wasn't at the bars in Ferndale. At least not by 4 p.m., an hour into the game.

And trust me, I checked. ? Dead. ? Dead. ? Deader. ? Deadest.

But wait, you might say, those bars have only a couple of TVs each, and they don't really cater to the sports bar crowd. OK, point taken. But had only about 10 patrons. had about double that, including those who were eating at tables. looked relatively full, but that's not so hard for a bar the size of a train car.

topped the list with a relatively full main room (it does have more than 30 TVs, after all), but it was nothing like the crowds that show up on weekend nights there. And the patio room and patio weren't even open.

The biggest strikeout was . Its TV commercials tout it as the place to watch sports. But a half hour after the first pitch, the place almost looked like it was closed, with just one guy sitting at the bar and barely five tables occupied, most with just one or two people each.

I could speculate some more on why no one was watching the game in Ferndale — my theory is that if you went through the hassle of taking a day off of work, you were going to Comerica Park, or at least watching the game at a bar within earshot of the cheers – but instead, I'll let the people who did choose Ferndale as their opening day venue tell you why.

"We tried to go to Detroit, but it was so packed, and we didn't have tickets," said Vernon Banks of Redford, who was watching the game from a table at Rosie O'Grady's with his wife, Leslie, and friend Fred Lyons of Rochester Hills.

"The bars in Detroit were standing room only, and it just wasn't fun, so we decided to leave," said Leslie Banks. "We had been here before. It's a nice place, they have good food. Plus, it's kind of in between our house and Fred's, so it made sense."

Also at Rosie's were Ferndale residents Renée LeBlanc and Kristy Dorland. Dorland said she went to the game last year, but "it was cold and miserable." With similar weather this year, she thought it would be better just to stay close to home.

"We have tickets for Sunday's game, anyway," said LeBlanc. "And it's supposed to be really nice."

Courtney and Kurt MacDonald were watching the game at Sneaker's a little before 4 p.m. but said they had already been to downtown Detroit at Nemo's for a morning pregame party.

"It was wet and packed," said Courtney, "so we just came back up here. It was our plan all along, though."

"We live about a half block from here," Kurt said. "So it's really convenient."

As dead as it was in Ferndale, though, the MacDonalds said Detroit was the same as it ever was: Opening day is still an enormous party down there, rain or no rain.

With the weather warming, the sun coming out and the weekend coming, my prediction is that you'll see the Ferndale bars packed with Tigers fans for tomorrow's game. Meet you at ?