It seems that any pub that puts up a big screen and a satellite dish bills itself as a sports bar. Sure you can watch sports in these places--but do they really meet the criteria to so name themselves? Genuine sports bars, the venue of choice for the alpha male, are in reality far and few between in Taipei. Here, we try to present you with some of the better choices to be found in the city.

      Starting with pubs that do have big screens, we have The Pig and the Green Bar, both located in Taipei's expat sanctuary, Tienmu. The Pig, the area's oldest and most popular bar, is a traditional British-style pub, and attracts healthy numbers of both Taiwanese and foreign customers. The pub sponsors softball, darts, and bowling teams.

      The Pig bills itself "the legend of legends" due to its longevity and colorful history, and caters to family and community values by sponsoring the popular yearly Piglet Pooh charity event. It is a place where you can take the kids for a meal and then catch "the big game" on their big screen.

      To those in the know, The Pig is also a party pub or a place to get down and boogie most nights of the week to live music, live jazz on Sundays. Michael Dethy, The Pig's "sports guru" who was instrumental in installing both the South African satellite feed (DSTV) and the free wireless Internet access, says: "What we get that your average pub does not get is a solid dose of North American and Australian sports... all in English!”

      The Green Bar, just across the lane from The Pig, is a typical American-style neighborhood bar, save for the fact that it features a special Sri Lankan menu, in addition to standard pub grub. The Green Bar sponsors soccer, softball, darts, golf and bowling teams. Its standing-room-only during most major sporting events, and it entertains a mainly expatriate crowd. The broadcasts are both Thai and Japanese. "Although they rarely use the Japanese-language feed because nobody can read the bloody menu," say some of the beer-soaked football fans.

      They feature a public digital jukebox that keeps the house rocking most nights, and often host lavish BBQ parties for sports fans and other regulars. The Green Bar features an outdoor patio that is filled nearly every weekend with amateur athletes swilling brew, their equipment bags strewn about. On weekdays, the bar is your normal, relatively quiet neighborhood bar--but it erupts during major sporting events.

      The Brass Monkey is in a different class altogether. Max Murphy, general manager, says: "We are a restaurant/bar that plays sports, and for that we try to concentrate on what our customers like hockey, rugby, and big games in football." And what the alpha male likes is the Monkey's Thursday night "Ladies Night" with a lot of rugby thrown in.

      To be fair, the Monkey's big screen also captures a bit of the NHL, plus American college basketball and football from ESPN and the South African satellite feed. In addition, The Brass Monkey hosts a popular, monthly quiz night, where those alpha males and females get to show their intelligent side.

      For the purists, however, there are two places in the city that cannot be beat. The first is probably one of the most "under-discovered" places in town. The Dome, located in Shihlin, has been around for about three years. It's a baseball paradise and caters to a mainly Taiwanese crowd, including many of Taiwan's professional baseball players. Jamey Storvick, ace bowler and scout for the Seattle Mariners, signed the local 19-year-old Chen Yung-chi, recent shortstop for Taiwan's national team, to a multi-year contract with the Mariners this past January.

      The atmosphere is pure sports, with autographed photos of famous players, golf, baseball and other sports paraphernalia adorning the walls. With its high ceilings, big screen and four televisions, the Dome makes for an excellent place to catch both international and local sports.

      Finally, there is the Tavern sports bar, the self styled "Theatre of Sports." This is no misnomer. With 40 flat-panel television displays, and a big screen showing the main event, you can catch multiple games and different sports at the same time. The Tavern focuses mainly on European soccer, Rugby, Cricket, and Formula One, but any sport can be viewed there. With a tasty Swiss menu, a wide selection of draught and bottled beers, a pool table and a foosball table, the Tavern gets packed out almost every night.

      "We now have free wireless Internet access, too," says proprietor Michel Blanc. So if you're skipping out of the office to catch a live overseas game, you can now keep in touch while enjoying a nice draft beer and some quality sport.

      As for other venues, where sports are secondary, the prevailing attitude is: "With regards to sports," says Bob Marshall of Carnegie's, "we'd love to show big games with sound, but they generally clash with our bar dancing. We tried contacting the IOC, FIFA and the IRB to reschedule major sporting events to avoid the clash, but sadly we haven't had any luck."

      For the location and schedule of events at the places mentioned in this article, please have a look at our dining and nightlife section. Wherever you go, enjoy the game--even if you're the only one in the crowd rooting for your team!