An annual basketball tradition began anew at lunchtime Thursday at the Power Plant?s ESPNZone, as Joe Lungre?s law firm took a break to enjoy the first round of the NCAA Men?s Basketball Tournament.
Lungre, a principal with Miles and Stockbridge, said his firm traditionally reserved a corner table for employees and clients at a downtown hotel before moving to the restaurant several years ago.
They joined an assortment of downtown employees, tourists and passers-by who took time out of their day to watch the tournament?s first three games. A line had formed outside the restaurant before its 11:30 a.m. opening, said spokeswoman Leigh Friedman, and by 1 p.m. the wait for a table was 90 minutes.
“The first round is always pretty much a sports holiday around here,” Friedman said. “Some people will come to watch their team, have lunch and leave. Other sports fans ? will stay and watch every game and see how their brackets hold up.”
With a private room full of his staff enjoying an afternoon of basketball, Lungre said he wasn?t worried about the firm taking off part of a workday.
“We?re lawyers, we don?t really get time off,” he said. “We just rearrange our schedule, so we?re not worried about productivity.”
Among those focused on big-screen TVs in the bar area was a delegation of about 15 students from Xavier University who had just finished a service project at Our Daily Bread. The group punctuated their school?s exciting 73-61 win over Georgia with an “X-A-V-I-E-R” chant.
The occasional cheer also rang out from Miles and Stockbridge?s private screening room, despite the University of Maryland not making the NCAA Tournament and neither remaining local team playing at the time.
“It doesn?t matter,” Lungre explained. “I think we have the normal number of basketball fans ? which is a lot.”
acahall@baltimoreexaminer
