Catch the game at these great hangouts next time you find yourself in Manhattan ...

JOSHUA TREE – 513 Third Avenue

We were actually drinking a few blocks up the road at another sports bar when we got talking to a bloke in his 60s who treks to Manhattan from the back of Brooklyn each week. When we asked him why, he started telling us about Joshua Tree, where “the best U2 tribute band in the world” has a weekly gig. We followed him there and not only found out that the guy was right about the band, but also that this place rocks as a sports bar! My eyes couldn’t decide between the NHL playoffs on one mega-screen, NBA playoffs on another, tennis from France on another, Major League Baseball … The music out back creates a great vibe while you and your mates are watching “THE BIG GAME”. I forget what that other bar was called …

DUKE’S – 560 Third Avenue

This is the kind of place you might initially turn your nose up at because you’ve mistaken it as a place that might be beneath you. Do yourself a favour and actually stop here and give it a go. Duke’s gets the sports bar, food, beer, good times mix exactly right. It’s relaxing, it has massive burgers and nachos that take hours to devour, and it has lots and lots of TVs. It opens up out onto Third Avenue, meaning you can enjoy the city while enjoying the game. A highlight of ours was the “COLOR TV” sign on the front wall in illuminated tubes. Colour TV? Braggarts …

PROFESSOR THOM’S – 219 Second Avenue

It’s so unfair that New York sports fans pick on Boston supporters. Just because the Yankees have won 27 World Series to the Red Sox’s 8 … If you’re a Boston fan of the Bruins, Patriots, Red Sox or Celtics variety looking to escape the public’s mocking, your safe retreat is Professor Thom’s. It’s a great little den which boasts those intimate private booths with their own TV - which Sydney bars are only now starting to promote. A great night out. Don’t go there during the day. It’s locked …

12TH STREET ALE HOUSE – 192 Second Avenue

The good thing about New York is that, really, it’s just a giant group of small communities sitting side by side. The 12th Street Ale House’s role in all of this is to make sure its local clientele is well-watered, can watch the game and share its sports wisdom. Like all good bars, it looks like a lot of them would have many decades ago – it’s even got an old duke box which you can play your mum and dad’s favourite songs on.

KEATS – 842 Second Avenue

This is the place where swanky, important-looking United Nations staffers come to chill out after a hard day’s internationalising. Now, “chilling out” may involve sitting at the bar watching the Yankees take on the Pirates, or sitting back drinking up the courage to have a go at butchering your favourite song on the karaoke stage. It’s all fun. Keats has great bar food, too. One night, we walked in at around midnight asking what bar snacks they sold (we were thinking pretzels, peanuts etc - as if the kitchen would still be open at THIS hour, we thought). A menu was passed to us, with the only condition that we order before 2am, because THAT’S when the kitchen closes. What a place!

MANCHESTER PUB – 920 Second Avenue

Visitors to New York would be right in telling us that the Big Apple has thousands of English and Irish-themed bars, so why would we pick out this one in particular? This place makes the list because not only does it show sports from all over the US and Europe, it is very small, which means even a crowd of 20 watching a game generates enough excitement to repel you from leaving. It has the smallest pub toilet in the world, though. Be warned.

THE PRESS BOX – 932 2nd Avenue

Yes, being in the press game ourselves, we were naturally attracted to this place because of the name. And we’re glad we were. The Press Box’s fancy black exterior is a great indication of what’s inside. It’s actually styled in that old village-newspaper-printing-press type way. This place is an old, classy joint which boasts lots of old framed printing memorabilia on the walls. There are loads of TVs behind the long bar, meaning you can come in, throw your coat over the seat next to you and just relax.

OVERLOOK – 225 E 44TH STREET

Good sports bar, good food etc, etc. But we found this story within the pages of the Overlook’s bar menu: “Many customers ask: how did you come up with the name Overlook? Well, during the renovations after many long hours, and a few beers, Pat declared that the old bar looked like the bar in The Shining. After watching the movie again a few weeks later, he realises that it looks NOTHING like the bar in The Shining. By then it was too late to make a change, as the Overlook name was already on various applications and documents, so there was no turning back.” What’s the point of this story? We like stories …

STANDINGS – 43 E Seventh Street

The New York sports bar to end all sports bars. By day it looks like an abandoned picture theatre. By night, it has everything. Book a sports party, go nuts, do whatever. Just go there.

- (@JamesSmith1001)