Swinging Doors takes advantage of Phase 3 with Gonzaga watch party

Jackie Crane and Ken Briggs arrived Monday morning at the busy Swinging Doors restaurant and bar and made their way to the table where they’ve watched Gonzaga Basketball for years.

“We don’t have to dodge heads,” Jackie said, of why they picked the table.

As the Gonzaga men’s basketball team beat Oklahoma 87-71 in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Monday also happened to be the first day during the pandemic when restaurants across Washington were able to open to 50% capacity, creating the long-missing “ambiance” many Zags fans crave, Crane said.

Decked out in team gear, Crane and Briggs sat at a long table in the far corner of the restaurant with nothing between them and the large wall-mounted TV.

Tables were spaced out behind them full of fellow Gonzaga fans, including Barbara Kolbet-Snyder.

Kolbet-Snyder worked at Gonzaga for two decades. She remembers running five minutes late to basketball games and still being able to snag a seat. As the basketball program grew along with its fan base, Kolbet-Snyder would take a half-day off work to wait in line to purchase tickets.

Then in 2004 when the McCarthey Center opened in 2004 she was able to get season tickets with her husband, Dave Snyder. The couple has attended nearly every WCC tournament since 1999. But due to COVID-19, it has been a year since they’ve been able to watch a game in person.

“We just really miss the kids, the Kennel Club, the people we sit by, the staff,” Kolbet-Snyder said.

On Monday, the Snyders, along with friends Jeanne and Terry Leaf and Alan and Judy Olson, donned Gonzaga gear from head to toe and headed to the Swinging Doors to finally watch a game with their fellow fans.

The entire group had been vaccinated and were excited to cheer on their team.

“It’s really nice to be out with people,” Terry Leaf said. “Enjoying the camaraderie of the GU fans.”

Bulldogs just seem to follow Michael O’Keefe around. His mascot at Buena High School was a bulldog, and then he began driving Mack Trucks, which are adorned with a bulldog. Now he’s a Gonzaga fan.

“At home, everything is decked out,” O’Keefe said.

He spends much of his time now at home with his cat, Smokey, due to a disability. So getting out to watch a game brings some excitement to his day.

“Where can you go and watch 20 TV sets?” O’Keefe said with a laugh, gesturing to the massive screens surrounding his table.

For Bob Materne, owner of the Swinging Doors, seeing his restaurant full of excited fans was a sight for sore eyes.

Materne and his wife, Barb, have owned the restaurant, that’s now managed by their daughter Lisa Emery, for 40 years. It’s a family business with grandchildren waiting tables, washing dishes and lending a hand as extra “sanitation engineers,” Materne said.

“To have all the fans here this is like the old days again,” Materne said.

While the Swinging Doors has stayed open throughout the entire pandemic, there have been points where they only had 19 available seats due to COVID-19 restrictions. Materne said he has gone above and beyond to make the restaurant safe, installing glass barriers and an infrared air filtration system.

At 73, Materne said he feels safe eating there and hopes others do, too.

On Monday, he was seated at large round table in the middle of the restaurant with friends and family watching the game. He’s a die-hard Gonzaga fan too.

“I bleed blue,” the 1970 Gonzaga alumnus said.