Texas Man Goes To Dive Bar, Orders A Coors Light, And Asks Bartender To Turn On The Game. Her Response Is Shocking

A Texas dive bar guest was given the cold shoulder after making a fairly standard request.  San Antonio-based realtor Oscar Nordin (@nordin1598) published a TikTok detailing how he asked the establishment’s drink server to turn on its switched-off TV so he could watch a game.

However, he revealed how that went down in a text overlay of his video. The clip begins with a shot of a frosty Coors Light resting on the dimly lit bar top.

“Asked the bartender to turn on the game … she laughed and walked away,” the post’s on-screen caption reads.

A few seconds into the video, he pans his camera up to the blank screen resting high above the bar. In a follow-up video, Nordin showed that his request was being honored. At least, it looked like it was.

He records someone standing in front of the set, and it seems like they’re having a difficult time getting it turned on.

Dive Bars: No Place For Sports?

Commenters who replied to Nordin’s video had strong opinions on whether sports should be played in certain locations.

One person wrote, “Perfect! No stupid sports [expletive]!”

Someone else added, “Looks like my kind of spot.”

Another defended the bar’s decision to not turn the game on, stating that dives are no place for broadcast sports. “Dive bar means no [expletive] DSs yelling at the TV. Supposed to be relaxing not a goddamn scream fit. [Expletive] stupid sports.”

BroBible has shared its opinion on dive bars; however, there were others who sided with Nordin. One person said, “No game, no tip! Next bar please.”

Furthermore, they added, “Dive bar or not the game should always be on! It’s football season!”

Others seem to agree: sports games and dive bars don’t mix. The author of this Medium post argues that sports and dive bars should be kept separate. According to them, there are some key indicators that separate dives from sports-themed drinking venues.

Chief among them is the prevalence of television sets. While “one or two” is considered OK, any more than that puts guests “essentially in a sports bar.”

Moreover, the author adds that if any of the (two-maximum) TVs are playing sports, then the bar can no longer call itself a dive.

Other exclusionary fixtures are: Video games, ping pong, lotto ticket sales, dart boards, and pool tables. They also write that DJs and TouchTunes jukeboxes and the like also disqualify bars from dive bar status.

Although one might argue that there are plenty of dive-y establishments with a TouchTunes. Like the Cubbyhole in NYC, which oozes dive bar charm.

Other Dive Bar Staples

In the same article, the writer states that bathrooms should be endearingly disgusting. Additionally, drink specials should be cheap, like “$6 or less” beer and shot specials. And if mixed drinks contain more than three separate ingredients, then guests have officially landed in a cocktail bar.

Others have opined on the metrics that definitively classify a bar as a dive. Spot On argues that this classification is largely subjective, but there are commonalities between all types of spots. Chief among them are local support, a low-key atmosphere, and a limited menu. These spots typically open earlier than sports- and game-centric bars, and feel like little hideaways nestled in a neighborhood.

If there are food options, they’re usually limited to light offerings. French fries or tater tots, small bags of chips, popcorn, but no utensils or washable plates to speak of. Also, as the Medium piece argues, cheap drinks are a dive bar’s ultimate currency. Oftentimes, they must be paid for in cash, as many dives will eschew credit/debit cards and modern-day point-of-sale systems.

Dive Bar Origins

Per The Takeout, the first recorded instance of someone using the phrase dates back to 1871. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary writes that an issue of the New York Herald associated the term with a negative connotation. Defining them as “illegal drinking dens in the lower levels of a building, like a cellar or a basement.” Hence, the word “dive” suggests guests would have to travel to the bottom of a structure to reach this establishment.

The same write-up places authenticity above all when it comes to a dive bar. Yes, you’re probably thinking of well-worn wooden furniture. Luxuriated leather seats and rivets stained and broken-in after decades of use are a hallmark. As are artifacts placed on the walls accumulated throughout the bar’s history.

But as a dive-bar enthusiast and musician quoted in The Takeout article states, these should never be superimposed. Attempting to re-create or foist a dive bar feel on a place is impossible. If it isn’t a living piece of actual history. then it cannot be called a dive bar.

This is probably why some people may eschew congregants from coming in to watch a sports game at dives. Perhaps they’re relating the act of wanting to watch your favorite team while you enjoy a drink to a visit to the ballpark. It is the direct antithesis to the dive bar experience. That is, being out in the air and paying exorbitant prices for alcohol while surrounded by merchandise.

BroBible has reached out to Nordin via TikTok direct message for further comment.