Big Country, Big Event Ready To Go Final Four Worth $30 Million To Seattle Economy

When ceiling tiles tumbled from the Kingdome roof last July, they landed square on Mick McHugh’s wallet.

Now that the Dome, site of this weekend’s NCAA basketball tournament, is back among the structurally sound, McHugh’s restaurant clientele has returned as well.

“I just got off the phone with John Elway,” said McHugh, owner of the popular F.X. McRory’s Steak, Chop and Oyster House, located just north of the Dome. “He and Rick Mirer needed a table tonight. What could I say? John, we’ll find a place for you.”

Thankfully, McHugh says, the two NFL quarterbacks won’t be dining alone. Swarms of Final Four fans, media and curiosity seekers have descended on Seattle, and McHugh has rehired 38 employees to handle the crush.

While the Dome was undergoing repairs last year, the Seattle Mariners were forced to play on the road. Then came the baseball strike. Then several Seattle Seahawks games were moved to Husky Stadium. Not exactly boons to McHugh’s business, which caters to sports-minded customers.

“When the tiles first fell, we thought, ‘Oh, the next day they (the Mariners) will just play a doubleheader’ and we’d go on from there,” McHugh said. “Talk about a nightmare. Then we finally get back in the Dome (in November) and it’s about the time the Seahawks are going in the tank.

“You never saw anyone so happy on New Year’s Eve, because all I wanted to do was get last year over with.”

Seattle, meanwhile, will slowly savor the next few days as some $30 million is pumped into the local economy because of the Final Four’s presence.

Chicago’s Len Tyrrell was doing his part, stuffing a sack from Final Four Slam Dunk Store with about a dozen souvenir T-shirts and hats.

Tyrrell has been to every Final Four since 1963. A former high school coach in Illinois, he’s one of 54 on hand from Maguire University.

Never heard of Maguire U? Neither had the NCAA.

“It started out as a hoax, but we actually were in the NCAA Blue Book (registry) for about seven years,” Tyrrell said. “The NCAA wasn’t too pleased when they found out in 1968 that it was a tavern. They’ve tried to take away our tickets and make it difficult for us to get hotels over the years, but we know enough people to get around that.”

They’re in with the in crowd, all right. After North Carolina State won the 1983 NCAA title, Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano celebrated at the Maguire clan’s hotel suite in Albuquerque, N.M.

Brian Butler made the trip from Stillwater to cheer on Oklahoma State at this year’s tournament. It doesn’t hurt that father, Scott, is a pilot who gets free airfare.

A senior at OSU, Brian was sporting a “Toothless in Seattle” T-shirt, a tribute to Cowboys forward Scott Pierce, who lost part of a front tooth in a game last week.

“The shirt was still hot off the press when I bought it,” he said, smiling proudly.

Scott was happy for a different reason. “The Final Four is one of those events, like the Super Bowl, that you do when you get the chance.

“Besides, if I waited for my alma mater (Northern Illinois) to make the Final Four, it would never happen.”

Many are thankful this year’s Final Four is happening in Seattle.

During the tile fiasco, Jack Pederson, owner of Umberto’s Italian restaurant near the Dome, ran a promotion giving away free dinners to customers who brought in tiles from their homes. He then hired an artist to build a Kingdome replica from the donated tiles.

“Last year was probably our hardest in 13 years,” Pederson said. “But we did our best to make it.”