Game On Sports Bar Boston

This story first appeared in the Boston Herald.

BOSTON — Ricky Falcucci is a bar manager at Game On — the popular sports bar located exterior Fenway Park — just the Eastie native is also responsible for some other duty not explicitly written in his job description.

Falcucci is in command of the sandwich chalkboard that sits on the sidewalk that pedestrians walk past on Brookline Avenue. Falcucci is the one who'southward in accuse of coming upwardly with funny messages — commonly sports-themed.

"Everyone knows I have the wit effectually hither," Falcucci said.

"He has a very, very creative mind," said Rufus Arraheffege, a promotions managing director at Game On. "The stuff he comes upward with is quite hilarious."

Some of the messages accept created attention, like when he wrote "Gerrit Cole hates kids" on the lath last October when the Ruddy Sox played the Yankees in the Wild Menu game. But nothing like this.

As the Celtics play the Warriors in the NBA Finals, another battle is taking identify: Game On vs. Steph Back-scratch.

Last week, equally the championship serial continued, Ayesha Curry — the wife of the Gold State star — became the subject of Falcucci's latest ribbing. Ayesha is a television cooking personality, a host of a show and the author of a cookbook. The newest chalkboard message was born.

Game On, the Boston bar outside Fenway Park, responded to Steph Curry'due south "Ayesha Curry CAN melt" shirt he wore last night with this sign today, which includes 2 packets of Ramen.

The feud continues. movie.twitter.com/FhwENLssdh

— Steve Hewitt (@steve_hewitt) June 14, 2022

"Ayesha Curry tin can't cook," the board said.

"Nosotros know his wife has a cooking book, a cooking show, so we only chose that," Falcucci said. "We had a agglomeration of different ideas. That's one that ended up sticking."

Information technology went viral on Twitter, and got more attention than whatsoever of Falcucci's messages have ever had. But he and his co-workers at the bar certainly weren't prepared for what came next: On Mon nighttime, after the Warriors took a 3-2 serial atomic number 82, Steph Back-scratch came to his printing conference wearing a white T-shirt with a bulletin in blackness letters defending his wife.

"Ayesha Curry CAN melt," the shirt said.

Back-scratch was asked about the shirt, merely answered it vaguely.

"You have to inquire effectually the room or inquire Twitter," Curry said.

It was a clear response to Falcucci's chalkboard. Back in Boston, he woke up Tuesday morning and couldn't believe that the Warriors star had acknowledged it.

"I had about every person that I've ever known send it to me," Falcucci said.

"Crazy. Steph Back-scratch is seeing my chalkboard? A little crazy."

Arraheffege had a like reaction.

"I was like, 'Oh my God, he responded,' " he said.

Falcucci wasn't working on Tuesday, only he wanted to make certain that the bar had seen Curry's response. He asked a co-worker to update the board to say, "Ayesha Back-scratch However can't melt." Every bit a touch, two packages of Acme Ramen Curry Noodles were fastened to the board.

Over the last 48 hours, the bar has gotten fifty-fifty more attention.

"It's been a trivial crazy," Falcucci said. "I just had my phone bravado upwards obviously all twenty-four hours long. It's been fun. It's been cool."

The bar wasn't done, either. On Tuesday, later on learning of Curry'south shirt, Arraheffege made an guild for their own shirts. The green shirts say "Ayesha Curry can't cook" in white lettering and are being sold at the bar for $20 apiece. Falcucci had a new message written on the chalkboard Wednesday ahead of Thursday'due south Game 6 at TD Garden: "Steph saying his wife can melt is like your mother telling yous yous're handsome."

Arraheffege made articulate that the chalkboard message is not intended to exist personal, just some playful trash talk.

"Information technology's awesome," Arraheffege said. "I actually like that he responded and I actually appreciate it. Information technology's good pub. It's all fun and games. I hope he sees it that mode. I hope they encounter it that way. Nosotros don't want it to get personal, especially as a eating house. … It's almost sports."

It appears Back-scratch isn't taking it personally. The Warriors star and NBA 3-point king is actually a lifelong Ruby-red Sox fan — his brother Seth was a Yankees fan, and he wanted to go against him — and he had his bachelor party at Fenway Park in 2011. He understands the territory.

"I'k the petty male monarch so I know all about everything," Back-scratch said Wednesday. "I use it as entertainment and only have fun with it. The more you lot're on the stage, the more you realize the attention that is on you, how much it means to each fan base, how much information technology means to the cities. And so you can't really be surprised past anything. At that place's a lot at stake when it comes to winning championships. …

Steph Curry: "I'chiliad the piffling king. And then I know all about everything and I employ information technology as entertainment and have fun with information technology." 🤣 motion picture.twitter.com/cEDqxBi5r9

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) June xv, 2022

"I think the more than you go into these environments, the more you use it as entertainment, fun, embrace it. Honestly, you lot wouldn't want to have information technology any other way, knowing that you lot're on this stage and you're playing for something that really matters to a lot of people."

At present, Game On — and the rest of Boston — just hope Back-scratch doesn't cook up another legendary performance to end the Celtics' flavor.