The Legend Grows: Dan Patrick And Ian Eagle Shared New Bill Raftery Bar Stories Including Hiding 8 Beers In A Trench Coat After Last Call

[Source] - “I just got through, I was working at CNN and I went over to Sager’s bar,” Patrick remembered. “I come in and Raft has the corner of the bar. As you walk in, the corner of the bar, there had to be 25 beers. He had ordered 25 beers. And it was just, if you came up to talk to him, just grab a beer. That was the first time I met him. And he is a delight.”

Let me get right to the point here. Bill Raftery is my white whale. There is no one in the world I want to have a drink with more. There's no one in the world I want to meet more. There's no one in the world I want to sit on a barstool and listen to him talk about whatever he wants more. He's that answer for me no matter the question. He's a living legend in the college basketball world and will always be a legend. 

We know about onions and a little lingerie on the deck and with a kiss and send it in, Jerome. But, it's the bar stories that turn Raft into a whole new level. The man is 81 years old, still making drinking jokes on air while absolutely loving college basketball. When he's on the call it's elevated instantly. He doesn't sit there and complain about games, he's adapted and loves every moment of it all. 

But above that, we now know he's the ultimate bar guy. He's constantly looking out for his pals. Look at this story from Ian Eagle

We got to the bar and literally 10 minutes into our stay at the bar, they call out, ‘Last call.’ And I see, like Bill’s whole demeanor change in that moment — and he just leaves the group and he goes to the bar.

“So he’s wearing a long trench coat,” Eagle said. “We get outside now. And our director, who passed away, great guy, Dave Hagen. He shows us that he snuck one beer out to the street. And we all laugh, like, ‘Oh, that’s amazing.’ Raft opens his trench coat. He has eight beers.”

That's the sort of guy you need in your crew. The demeanor changes when he hears last call and instantly thinks about everyone around him. How can I keep this going? We've only been here for 10 minutes, he wasn't ready to go to bed just yet. So he gets 8 beers and hides them in his trench coat for the boys to drink in the street. Ultimate good pal right there. 

At the same time Patrick's story of Raft having 25 beers surrounding him and if you talked to him you grabbed a beer is all-time. That's a man who knows how to control a room. You see Raft in the corner of the bar, you instantly head that way. He's prepared. He's ready to have a beer waiting for you and probably tell a story that has the entire bar stopping their music and TV volume on mute. The man is going to have a good night, show up the next day and deliver the greatest call a college basketball game has ever seen. That's how Bill Raftery lives his life and the sport is better because of it.