Of ‘walk of shames’ and pitch-dark venues

Yesterday was an unofficial holiday for the island’s rabid gridiron fans as some called in “sick” for work.

Bitten by the very virulent Super Bowl bug, hundreds headed to the preposterous number of establishments that hosted the Super Bowl LIV live between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

You can say they really braved the current novel coronavirus scare gripping the world, as some ditched the now ubiquitous facemask and traded them for their favorite Chiefs and 49ers gear. One fan in particular brought a 49ers helmet and used it as a table centerpiece.

But what really stood out during yesterday’s Super Bowl parties were the venues’ varying degree of darkness. It seems establishments, aware that some of the patrons called in sick for work, wanted to give them a solid by making it absolutely impossible for anyone to distinguish Tom, Dick, and Harry from the crowd.

It was also not uncommon for patrons giving photographers the stink eye after noticing that you took photos of them, afraid that they might be unintentionally “outed” to their supervisors and their sick day was actually Super Bowl day. One fan in particular went out of his way to tell a serial clicker that he “absolutely doesn’t want to be a part of any photo.”

As always, the phenomenon of fans of losing teams exiting early even before the final buzzer sounded happened again yesterday, with walk of shames prevalent specially among 49ers fans who dressed to the nines in San Francisco gear.

In all, Saipan Tribune was only able to visit four Super Bowl parties yesterday as it focused on the biggest venues on island.

At Pacific Islands Club Saipan, F&B director Steve Balakrishna said a total of 115 football fans graced their “Monday Gridiron” event sponsored by Pacific Trading Co. at Charley’s Cabaret.

For $25, patrons wearing a smattering of Chiefs and 49ers jerseys enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast buffet and later indulged on burgers, French fries, and free-flowing Miller Lite beer.

Saipan World Resort’s “Touchdown” at the Sunflower Hall was also sponsored by PTC with Heineken as the headlining beverage. F&B director Mike Babauta said the just over 40 patrons were treated to morning refreshments and lunch buffet.

Majority of the patrons at the Susupe landmark were 49ers fans and Babauta said he’s pretty satisfied with the turnout “considering almost everybody is doing it.”

Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan F&B director Das Krishnan said the 60-odd football fans that graced their Super Bowl LIV party at the Chambre Bar was evenly split among Chiefs and 49ers supporters, give or take a few who really didn’t care who won and just loved the game centered around the pigskin.

For $25, their customers partook of breakfast, lunch of pasta and fried chicken, and free-flowing Heineken and Pepsi products, as like World Resort and PIC, the Fiesta Resort shindig was also brought to you by PIC.

“Very glad with the turnout. Everyone seemed to be happy because it’s a family kind of thing—cozy setting and smaller the better,” said Krishnan.

PTC general manager Charles Cepeda said his company always looks forward to sponsoring Super Bowl parties on island. “It was a food game for all the fans. I hope they all enjoyed the game this Monday morning,” he added.

Over at Hyatt Regency Saipan, more than 150 loud and proud Chiefs and 49ers faithful filled up the hotel’s cavernous ballroom.

MARPAC resident manager Guy Pudney was blown away by the enthusiasm of the crowd that descended the Garapan hotel yesterday for arguably the island’s biggest Super Bowl party.

“We had a sold-out house here at Hyatt. I’m estimating about 150 people. I’m very surprised it was just about 50-50. I’m very surprised because Saipan always favored West Coast teams. There are way more 49ers fans here [usually],” he said.

Food at the Hyatt Super Bowl party consisted of a light breakfast of eggs, bacon, fried rice, ham, assorted bread, juices and lunch made up of finger food—AKA football food—like chili dogs, nachos, pizza, French fries, and chicken tenders.

MARPAC also gave away a slew of prizes during the Super Bowl party, among them a Bud Light mini cooler, two Bud Light NFL coolers, a Budweiser refrigerator, cases of beer, chairs, and a 65-inch TV that was sponsored by Triple J SuperFresh & Truckload Store.

“Thank you everyone for coming out. Thank you to Hyatt for preparing our good menu,” added Pudney.