Fans in Pacific hit hot spots to see Super Bowl upset

[thedrifter]

Fans in Pacific hit hot spots to see Super Bowl upset


Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Omar Santiago watched in anticipation, fists clenched, eyes wide and fixed on the five wide-screen TVs in front of him.

Wearing the No. 17 jersey of New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, Santiago watched as Burress caught a 13-yard pass from Eli Manning and fell into the end zone with Super Bowl XLII’s game-winning TD.

“Yeah! Yeah! Plaxico!” Santiago shouted, leaping up and down and exchanging high-fives with like-minded fans. “My man did it! He did it! He did it!”

Santiago, a 21-year-old Marine lance corporal from Staten Island, N.Y., was one of thousands of club patrons across the Pacific who viewed the Giants’ epic 17-14 upset of unbeaten New England at Glendale, Ariz.

About 400, including Santiago, packed the Prime Time Sports Bar at Camp Foster’s Globe & Anchor Club. Most appeared to side with the underdog Giants, who Sunday became the first NFC wild-card team to win the Super Bowl.

“They represent New York. They never quit,” Santiago said. “Wild-card team, 0-2 start — they’ve come so far since the start of the season.”

Conversely, Josh Foster proudly bore the No. 54 of Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi and expressed confidence the Patriots would pull off the perfect 19-0 season.

“No one’s come up with an answer for them all year,” said Foster, 25, a corporal from Worcester, Mass.

The sports-bar feel of most venues made it feel “just like I’m back home in the States,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua Woods, a Patriots fan stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan. “I was in Iraq for the last one, so this is a big improvement.”

Yokota’s Enlisted Club manager Rick Wiland said he was able to secure the Fox telecast off of a stateside cable feed via the Internet, complete with commercials not available on the AFN-Sports telecast.

“That was great,” Winland said. “People seemed to really enjoy it. We weren’t sure we could make that happen right up until kickoff, but we did.”

Some of the commercials were “kind of boring,” Staff Sgt. Doug Suazo said. “But I can’t stop thinking about the one [for CareerBuilder.com] where the heart jumped out of the woman’s chest.”

With an 8:30 a.m. Monday kickoff in Japan and Korea, troops and civilians were given at least the morning off to watch the game.

“It feels weird getting up and eating hot wings and drinking beer at 6:30 a.m. It’s definitely a Super Bowl I’ll remember,” said Don Glover of Arlington, Texas. He was watching the game at Yongsan Garrison’s Dragon Hill Lodge.

A Cowboys fan, Glover decided to root for the Giants. “I have to stay with the [NFC],” he said.

He wasn’t alone in cheering for a team he otherwise wouldn’t. Capt. Ron Paul, a Detroit Lions fan, was cheering for the Patriots “to make that record run,” he said.

Despite Sunday’s snow and ice shutting many of Japan’s highways, Tuck Williams drove from Yokosuka Naval Base to Ikego Heights Naval Housing Facility to catch the game at Club Takemiya.

The small club “has a family atmosphere, with most of the people knowing one another,” said Williams, command master chief of Yokosuka’s Naval Information Operations Command.

At larger venues such as the Community Club at Camp Zama in Japan, as many as 1,000 patrons gathered, decked out in jerseys and ball caps of their favorite teams.

At several locations, cheerleaders from the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams and Denver Broncos were on hand for dance performances, handshakes and autographs.

A myriad of prizes were given away throughout the region, ranging from DVD players to airline tickets to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.

Door prizes littered one table of Prime Time patrons, four of whom sported new ball caps won by lottery ticket drawing.

“I kept telling myself, ‘I want to win something, I want to go home with something,’” said 23-year-old Laurie Alcaraz, a hospitalman from Alhambra, Calif., assigned to Naval Hospital Camp Lester on Okinawa. “I wasn’t expecting them to call my number.”

As the defensive struggle moved into the fourth quarter, the tide of emotion ebbed and flowed as the teams traded the lead four times until the Giants prevailed in the last minutes.

At Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Pfc. J.D. Wilson stood and cheered the Giants’ triumph at the Sakura Theater.

“I am for the underdog always, but I don’t think New England rated a perfect undefeated season,” Wilson said.

“Everybody’s been on this Patriots bandwagon so long and I want to see that dynasty fall,” said Keith Joseph, a Department of Defense civilian.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Super Bowl provides diversion for troops


Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, February 5, 2008

BAGHDAD — The 2:30 a.m. kick-off didn’t deter them. Nor did the lackluster first half. For many troops in Iraq, an early Monday morning was spent trying to enjoy the Super Bowl and getting a respite from the war.

At Camp Victory, there were small gatherings across the compound but about 100 troops turned out at the “Sports Oasis” dining facility to watch the New York Giants spoil New England’s bid for a perfect season, winning 17-14. The crowd, which clearly preferred the underdogs, erupted when Giants quarterback Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass landed in the hands of Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left.

“I had to stay up and watch this one,” said Sgt. Jubar McDaniel, a 32-year-old native of Queens, N.Y., who is assigned to Company A, 11th Psychological Operations Battalion. “I’ve been a Giants fan since I was a kid. That’s my team...It’s about time.”

Soldiers grabbed fried chicken wings, cheese sticks, jalapeno poppers and sausage links. Many also threw back a few “near-beers.”

They roared their approval midway through the third quarter, when a replay meant to show injured New England running back Kevin Faulk jogging on the sideline also caught several Patriots cheerleaders in the process.

The troops got a dose of the real thing in the fourth quarter as two Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders dropped in. They were joined by Denver Broncos kicker Jason Elam, Oakland wideout Tim Dwight and former Raiders offensive guard Steve Wisniewski, a seven-time Pro Bowler in his 13 seasons with the organization.

The group, on a tour of U.S. bases in Iraq, stuck around after the game for handshakes, autographs and pictures.

“We can’t thank you enough for what you do every day out here to protect our freedom,” Wisniewski told the soldiers. “You’re the real heroes.”

At Camp Fallujah, a smattering of Marines hunkered down at the chow hall.

Sgt. Russell Robertson wasn’t sure if he’d stay beyond the first quarter. He wasn’t a big follower of either team, but it’s an undeniable piece of Americana for him, even if he didn’t have a real beer in hand.

“I let it remind me of home,” said the Manvel, Texas, native.

During the game, the few and the proud became fewer and prouder as the real clock ticked past 4:30 a.m.

Marines found fun beyond the game, mocking the American Forces Network commercials that seemed to be extra corny for the occasion.

“AFN cannot air stateside commercials,” an announcer during one AFN spot said.

“We know this!” a Marine shouted back.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Vincent Bell, corpsman, was patiently rooting for the Pats and his man, receiver Randy Moss.

Even on a frigid night in Anbar, the game brought a bit of stateside normalcy to these troops’ lives.

“It’s kind of a tradition,” said Bell, of West Helena, Ark. “I haven’t missed a Super Bowl since I was capable of watching it.”

Despite Tom Petty’s best efforts during the halftime show, the Super Bowl party at FOB Delta’s dining facility wasn’t exactly rocking. By halftime, only about a half-dozen people were planning to stick around for the rest of the game. One appeared to be running down a dream of his own, fast asleep at a table.

Signs around the facility promised beer, but it wasn’t quite the real thing, and coffee seemed more popular.

There are probably a few places that seem farther away from the U.S. than FOB Delta, 150 miles southeast of Baghdad. But with a small American contingent of about 750 outnumbered more than three to one by a brigade from the Republic of Georgia and handfuls of other international troops, Delta seems far from home. One of the TVs at the DFAC was tuned to the BBC, and several Georgian soldiers sat watching the news.

“There are a lot of TVs around and I’m sure a lot of people are watching in the barracks,” said Sgt. Freeman Burston, 37, of Atlanta, a member of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 221st Military Intelligence Battalion. That’s the state of Georgia.

“But really,” Burston said, “the majority of people are probably asleep.”

The scene at the base’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation center was somewhat more energetic, with about 10 soldiers and at least as many civilian contractors. Most were Giants fans, or at least Patriots haters, and they left happy into the cold dawn.

Reporters Vince Little, Michael Gisick and Geoff Ziezulewicz contributed to this report.

Ellie