When euchre night at McGee’s fell on the same night as the climactic episode of Joe Millionaire, some cardplayers were torn.
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Or West Lafayette. Or Columbus. Or Evanston. When Big Ten students run out their four years of eligibility but want to keep partying, they move to Lincoln Park, where the taverns offer a postgraduate Elysium of $2 Bud Light specials, modern rock cover bands, and card parties. McGee’s is one of four neighborhood bars with a euchre night. Durkin’s, the Purdue bar on Diversey, plays on Tuesdays. Jack Sullivan’s, for the Ohio State grad, has euchre every Wednesday. And Duffy’s–for those who can’t let go of Ann Arbor–just started a league on Mondays, the same night as McGee’s.
“I was one of many who learned in college,” said Nancy (Northwestern ’85), who, along with her friend Sara (Hope ’95), would be playing Bill and Ryan that night. “I had a friend who played euchre at the fraternity where we were little sisters, and the guys would insist on playing strip euchre. We always won. The guys would end up naked.”
Bidding hearts, Ryan and Bill took three of the five tricks, winning the round. Bill celebrated by interlacing his fingers, pointing the thumbs downward, and thrusting his palms across the table.
At that moment the bar was roiled by murmurs. A man in a black sweater scurried to a television. He leaned on the volume, and a pink bar raced across the screen beneath Evan’s earnest stoner mug.
On TV, Evan looked soulfully at Zora: “It might come as a shock,” he told her. “I did not inherit $50 million. I’m a heavy-equipment operator.”
“You should go in the other room,” Bill said. “It’s deathly quiet in there.”
