The Mason Jar is Gamecocks’ NYC hangout

USC fans heading to the land of Giants, Yankees and Knicks on Friday can find a Gamecock oasis in Midtown Manhattan.

The Mason Jar, about a 15-minute walk from Madison Square Garden, has been football home to the NYC Gamecock Club for five years. It features a USC flag and other Gamecocks memorabilia, and welcomes hundreds of fans in garnet and black on football Saturdays.

“When we first started going there, they thought they could get us and Clemson, cover the whole state,” said club president Louis Antonelli, who was raised in New Jersey and graduated from USC in 1994. “We educated them pretty quickly about that.”

During the next few days, the bar at 45 East 30th St. in Midtown will become party central for Gamecocks basketball fans. It’s a Carolina-themed barbecue joint, featuring pulled pork, chicken and waffles and shrimp and grits among the other fare.

You can also get the Palmetto Pitmaster Platter. It features all of the smoked meats and three sides and feeds 4-6 people. Price: $98.

The bar’s capacity is about 400, said co-owner Bill Kelly. And on football game days, “you literally can’t get another body in here,” he said.

The bar flies the Gamecock flag from the ceiling, has a football helmet used in a game and photos of former Gamecocks Marcus Lattimore and Jadeveon Clowney. On football game days, the club hands out towels, has a blow-up Cocky and plays “Sandstorm” and “2001.”

There’s even a Ray Tanner cocktail, named after USC’s athletics director. “I don’t know what’s in it,” Antonelli said. “I’m a beer guy.”

While basketball crowds are usually modest, given the Gamecocks’ hoops history, the team’s remarkable run to the tournament is bringing in the fans.

There were about 200 fans there on Friday for the win over Marquette, but only about 50 for the stunning upset of Duke two days later, because of the late Sunday start.

“But (Friday) we’ll have more people than any football game,” Antonelli said. “We’re expecting an early crowd, a middle crowd and a late crowd.

“And,” he said, “we’ll be here in full force for the women’s game. Name another bar outside of Columbia that will have all of the TVs on and the sound up for the women’s game.”

The USC women’s basketball team plays its Sweet 16 game Saturday at 4 p.m. against Quinnipiac in Stockton, Calif.

As for Antonelli, his Gamecock Nation descending on his home town has been a little overwhelming. There have been the phone calls, the emails, the texts.

And after the fourth media interview in a row, he admitted, “I’m a little punchy.”

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 8:35 PM with the headline "The Mason Jar is Gamecocks’ NYC hangout."