Saipan football fans tune in to Super Bowl 50

Count Saipan football fans to the estimated 189 million people who watched yesterday’s Super Bowl 50 as they trooped the various bars and restaurants on island to root for eventual champions Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers.

Some took a leave from work just to see how the Broncos’ defense crushed the Panthers en route to a 24-10 win, others sneaked in for a quarter or two, and one brought his entire family for good food and happy crowd.

“It’s my first time to watch in five years and I made sure I will be able to go out with my friends and enjoy the game by filing a leave of absence from work as early as November last year,” said Juan Camacho, who cheered for the Panthers and came with a friend that just took a few hours from work to catch the action.

“I like Cam Newton…he beat by favorite college team (Oregon State),” added Camacho, who watched the match at Tribes Bar.

Over at the Charley’s Cabaret of Pacific Islands Club, Rex Palacios was also with some friends and preferred seeing Super Bowl away from home.

“When you’re here with your friends, you can cheer as loud as you want. There’s no wife to tell you to calm down and keep quiet,” a smiling Palacios said.

Over 100 packed the Charley’s Cabaret and they included schoolmates Abbas Shakir and Juan Blanco, who are both supporters of the Broncos. They’ve been watching Super Bowl for the past several years with Juan taking a cue from his dad John, a Commonwealth Football League official.

“Watching football, especially the Super Bowl, gives me more idea how to play the game and become a better player. I also get to spend time with friends,” Juan said.

“It’s more interesting and exciting to watch Super Bowl outside our home because it feels like we’re actually in the field, witnessing every plays,” Shakir said.

Len Sablan, an MMA practitioner, was also among the spectators at PIC, and said football is harder than his sport as he saw how the Broncos defense ganged up on Newton.

“People are coming everywhere and you don’t know who is going to hit you, unlike in MMA, you have only one opponent,” Sablan said.

As for Rico Morales, watching Super Bowl means introducing the sport he likes to his daughter Stephanie.

“She wanted to come with me and see how the game is played. She is curious on why a lot of people are interested in watching Super Bowl. If we will watch it at home, it may bore her, so I decided it’s better to bring her here,” said Morales, who was at Naked Fish.

Ted Guerrero was also at Naked Fish, tagging along with him his wife and kid.

“We’ve got nothing more interesting to do at home, so it’s better to spend it here, enjoy the game, and meet old friends,” Guerrero said.

Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan’s Chambre Bar, World Resort’s Red Box, and Best Sunshine Live also hosted Super Bowl 50 and drew sizeable crowd, which they treated not only to good food, but also with some raffle prizes.

Ray Lizama was among the lucky winners at Best Sunshine Live, bringing home a cooler from MARPAC/Budweiser. Fiesta gave away brunch and dinner certificates and products from its sponsor Pacific Trading, Co.

“I came here to see the facility for the first time and watch Super Bowl. I enjoyed the food and the crowd and it’s just a bonus to win in the raffle draw, plus Manning’s team won. I wanted to see the guy (Manning), a future Hall of Famer, win the Super Bowl in what could be his swan song,” Lizama said.