Local residents will tune in to Super Bowl

    The Super Bowl is right around the corner, and millions of viewers are expected to tune in this Sunday to see the Indianapolis Colts play the New Orleans Saints. It has become customary for football fans to throw parties on the day of the Super Bowl. In the last few decades, the commercials that run during the Super Bowl have attracted nearly as much attention as the game itself.

    Many residents of Washington are planning to catch some or most of the game Sunday. Fran Crow said she plans to watch the game to cheer on Peyton Manning, who is the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. Crow hails from Tennessee, and Manning played college football at the University of Tennessee in the mid-1990s.

    ?He was such a good role model there,? said Crow. ?He still does the commercials for St. Mary?s Hospital [in Knoxville]. I?m sure all my kids back in Tennessee will be watching just because Peyton Manning is playing.?

    Crow said that she has come to really enjoy the commercials during the Super Bowl. 

    ?I am taping it just to see what the commercials are going to be,? said Crow. 

    Ed Yoder said he will watch the game and that he has a fondness for both teams.

    ?I like the Colts. I like the Saints, too. I think the Colts will probably win,? said Yoder.

    Yoder said he plans to throw a small party Sunday night and invite some guests over to watch the game.

    ?We?ll have some friends over. We?ll have some young people over, too,? said Yoder. ?It will be a nice evening.?

    Yoder said that his favorite NFL team is the Chicago Bears, and commented that ?they?ve fallen on hard times.?

    ?They were really good when [Mike] Ditka was coaching them,? said Yoder. ?The coach they?ve got now ? I?m not sure he?s the answer.?

    The Super Bowl commercials are not as appealing to Yoder as they are to some people.

    ?I watch a few of the commercials, but I mute most of them,? said Yoder.

    Yoder remarked that the greatest professional football game he can remember was the NFL Championship game in 1967 between Green Bay and Dallas, in which Vince Lombardi?s Packers defeated Tom Landry?s Cowboys.

    If nothing else, Yoder is hoping for a close game on Sunday.

    ?I?ve seen too many Super Bowls that have been blowouts,? said Yoder.

    Scott Goodwin said he is planning to attend a Super Bowl party.

    ?We?re going to go to a party at a friend?s house. There should be about 10 or 15 people there,? said Goodwin. ?We don?t have a Super Bowl party every year, but we will this year.?

For the full article, see our Feb. 5 print edition.