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THE DE T R O I T J EW I S H N EW S ('DANKS GOODNESS) VISIT US AT (-Debbie goldfine (Weisserman 29555 NO1UMWESURN HWY. 10 1 Invitations 25% Off ail SOUTnnun 248-356-2454 ko.4.4aaaimaaaa TONE The Best Reputation in Town a g4 46 IA MIRAGE CENIER ,gsa.A.da,z3wednaaigsessigak 6 ,,4 Call a TONE-e Creative ,,gg Video (248) 851- 2300 amaaoisiowaa.f444aaaaaa Red Wings fans abound at the Gin Mill Bar in Chicago. n the night the Stanley Cup finals coincided with the National Basketball Association finals, Rob Katz faced a serious dilemma. As the owner of one of two Chicago bars that caters to De- troit fans, the obvious choice — albeit unusual in Bulls territory --- was to show the Red Wings game. But that night was a little dif- ferent at Katz's Waterloo Tavern in Lincoln Park — located a walk away from Wrigley Field and sur- rounded by blocks of sports bars and taverns that overflow with Michael Jordan-worshipping twentysomethings every night of the week. The Waterloo was host- ing a Mt. Sinai Hospital fund- raiser, and the rather exclusive group of mostly Jewish guests naturally expected to watch the Bulls while sipping their Chardonnay. So Katz put on the basketball game in the front room, and left the Red Wings crowd with a few small screens in the back. The Bulls didn't stand a chance. The Detroit fans were so much more passionate, Katz said, he ended up nixing the NBA in favor of hockey. In Chicago, no less. "This is not a good place to watch a Chicago game," said Wa- terloo bouncer John Ladle. "Everyone here is from one of the Bloomfields. I've gotten to know Michigan IDs very well." Two blocks north at the Gin Mill, it's like walking into a bar on campus at Michigan State. A sign above the doorway reading "Welcome to East Lansing" lets any unsuspecting Chicago fans know they are not in Bulls-Black- hawks territory anymore. "This is just like being at school," said University of Michi- gan junior Ryan Kantor. A Chica- go native, he had no idea the Gin 0 Mill was a "Michigan" bar until walking in while home on break this summer, and bumping into some college friends. The throngs of young Michi- ganders who have migrated to Chicago, however, know the Gin Mill and Waterloo are almost like being at home. "Everyone told me this is a Michigan place," said 24-year-old Bill Noble, who moved to the Windy City from Grand Rapids three years ago. "I always come here for the games." They might leave home, but true Michigan fans never aban- don their teams. "There is such a huge popula- tion of Michigan people here, no Bulls bar does as well as we do with the Red Wings," said Gin Mill co-owner Anthony Eugenio, originally from Grosse Pointe. The Waterloo was first to es- tablish this home-away-from- home for Detroit fans. Katz, creator of the hoopla, is actually not from Michigan; he's just a sharp businessman who grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Katz realized the po- tential profit in catering to an or- phaned group of enthusiastic sports fans while bartending at another popular Chicago tavern. "We had the music market cor- nered, but zero in sports," Katz explained, pointing to the satu- ration of Chicago sports bars, es- pecially in the ever-youthful and congested Lincoln Park. "So we started showing University of Colorado games, and soon we were filling the room." Katz said he picked Colorado because a lot of Chicago's afflu- ent North Shore kids attend school there; and they make up just the type of good-looking, hip crowd he wanted at his bar. Colorado already spoken for, when Katz opened the Waterloo four years ago, he needed anoth- er state with a substantial pres- ence in Chicago and a die-hard commitment to its teams. Green Bay was too cheesy, Minnesota too frigid. He picked the Lions. (Hey, the Red Wings were losing back then.) Most of the original Waterloo bartenders were University of Michigan and Michigan State alumni: like David Hasslinger, of Pontiac, who saw the booming call for Michigan bars in Chica- go and set off to open the Gin Mill, which is even more fervent (in a drunken, collegiate sort of way) about its hometown ties. A Red Wings logo shines bright in red neon above the bar. Spartan banners decorate the walls. Not to mention the smattering of Michigan caps and T-shirts that identify the loyalties of these jovial patrons. For now, there seem to be enough Michiganders to support both neighboring bars. The Red Wings' championship certainly provided a big boost this season. At 4 p.m. the day of the final game, the Gin Mill had a line 150 strong outside the door. At the Waterloo that night, a popular Ohio band called Ekoost- ik Hookah had been scheduled to play. Band members were ecsta- tic to see the overflowing crowd hours before they were scheduled to take the stage. But the band never did reach the stage, engulfed in a sea of Red Wings fans dancing in the aisles, on the bar, and even into a few reluctant Black Hawks-loyal bars nearby. The band, which usually packs a bar on its own, won't be coming back to the Waterloo, Katz knows. But that's OK. This Chicago bar has more than enough Detroit faithfuls to fill its stools. ❑ .