Super Choices in town for Super Sunday

On Sun., Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. EST, John Elway and the Denver Broncos will attempt to dethrone the powerful Green Bay Packers. Or, more realistically, Denver's tiny offensive line will try to not get crushed by 350-pound Packer nose guard Gilbert Brown. Many believe that this year will simply serve to extend the NFC's 13-year grip on the Super Bowl and bestow upon the Broncos the infamy of having lost five championships.

Yet just about everyone will watch, from the die-hard Cheesehead to that guy across the hall that no one has seen this year because he's always in CCL.

The Super Bowl is more than just a football game; it is a cultural event. People, football fans or not, congregate to watch because they know that they might witness a historical occurrence, such as the capping of Miami's undefeated 1972 season or William "Refrigerator" Perry's touchdown "run" in the 1986 game. They watch for the halftime show, the sappy side-stories, and the fireworks that go along with the pregame introductions.

More importantly, though, they watch for the commercials. From Budweiser's Bud Bowl and alcoholic frogs, to Jason Alexander's heroic parachuting in the name of Rold Gold pretzels, everyone sticks around for the advertisments. People want to see the products that companies are willing to pay $2.6 million dollars a minute to promote. This year promises not to disappoint. Even Nike is going out on a limb for the big game by bringing us naked footage of David Robinson, Lisa Leslie, Michael Johnson, and even soccer star Renaldo.

Most people attend Super Bowl parties to watch the game in style. At Yale, many social activities have been planned around the event, even though TV access is somewhat limited.

As always, hundreds of students will cram themselves into the TV rooms of the residential colleges, many craning their necks for a view while sitting on the floor behind a couch. Most colleges are courteous enough to serve dinner on paper plates so that students can eat while watching the game. These dinners often include a "super" burger, named in honor of the contest.

Some students, fed up with the lack of viewing space in the residential colleges, venture out into New Haven to local sports bars or eateries. Bars such as Gecko's, Viva Zapata's, and Rudy's all have special plans for Super Bowl Sunday. These include reduced-price pitchers, lowered group rates, and halftime drawings for free alcohol.

Louis' Lunch, normally the local bastion of stoicism and cynicism, has also joined the festivities by promising to turn the television to NBC, broadcasting their last NFL game this century, at kickoff. The folks at Louis' are also offering a betting pool consisting of a number grid based on the last digit in the Packer and Broncos scores after each quarter. This practice was deemed technically illegal by a Metro-North police officer even as he went ahead and bought the top left square on the grid for 25 dollars.

Some fraternities are also hosting parties of their own, mainly as rush events. The guys down at Alpha Epsilon Pi are having their annual party for alumni and prospective members, complete with Buffalo chicken wings and good quality beer.

"We also have a pool table, which becomes popular towards the end of the game when the NFC invariably has it wrapped up," chapter spokesman Andrew Morris, BK '99, said. However, he also notes that the chapter does have "a boisterous group of fans of Denver wide receiver `Big' Ed McCaffrey."

Sororities are having parties of their own, but most are smaller than the ones at the fraternity houses. Some sorority members suggest that the lack of alcohol at sororities leads to the small party size. "Once, though, we did get some Delta Kappa Epsilon guys over here when we made some really good chili," a Kappa Kappa Gamma sister said. "But they just went right back across to their own place when they were finished."

The Green Bay Packers are only favored by 11 points, so it should prove to be an interesting matchup--at least for a while.

But even if the game itself does not live up to its hype, Super Bowl Sunday promises to provide entertainment beyond the action on the field. Don't be surprised if most Yalies' Super Bowl parties don't end at halftime, even if it's a 21-0 rout.

After all, it's not just an ordinary football game--it's the Super Bowl.

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