Friday, March 5, 2010

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Game on! By Shavaughn Moss ~ Lifestyles Editor ~ shavaughn@nasguard.com: It's like this! It's the biggest marketing event and the most watched television event of the year where 30-second advertising spots top $3 million apiece, and all 69 spots are sold out. With a record 98.7 million television viewers last year, who wouldn't want a piece of this pie? It's probably the one event that pastors would change their sermon schedules so that their parishioners could get to their parties on time to watch the "big game." It's a big deal when art museum directors bet on the outcome of the game, with a Renoir painting dissed as "sentimental blancmange," a jewel-encrusted gold cup dismissed as "another over-elaborate Victorian tchotchke." And the upshot being if the New Orleans Saints win, the Indianapolis Museum of Art will lend "The Fifth Plague of Egypt" by 19th-century landscape painter J.M.W. Turner to the New Orleans Museum of Art for three months. A Colts victory would take the "Ideal View of Tivoli" by Claude Lorrain, considered the father of landscape painting to the Indianapolis museum. It's this big! Oh . . . and some students will get to sleep in a bit longer on Monday, thanks to a one-hour delay scheduled to give school bus drivers more time to get to work the morning after the Super Bowl. Some U.S. schools have even gone as far as giving their students the day off. Yes — it's this big! And in The Bahamas, it's just as big of a deal, but the betting is being done under cover, and the parties are over the top. Everywhere you turn a Super Bowl party is being planned, to watch the Indianapolis Colts meet the New Orleans Saints in Miami for the Vince Lombardi trophy. Whether it's a private affair, or at a public venue, you're bound to find a place to hang out and watch the game, with a few ice-chilled cold ones at the ready and great food to be had within arm's reach. The Nassau Guardian canvassed a number of local spots to find out where the party's at so that you could determine the best spot for you to watch the big game. COMPASS POINT At Compass Point on West Bay Street, six 52-inch flat screen television sets will be broadcasting the game, and all of the pre-game shows for your viewing pleasure, according to Jamal Kemp, the restaurant manager at Compass Point. As with any great Super Bowl party, it just would not be complete without a great cold one special, and at Compass Point they're doing five for $18 Coors bucket specials, with well drinks at $4 per drink. They're also going to fire up the grill with all native specialties, and there is no cover charge. "It will be a casual setting with seating indoors and outdoors to watch the game," said Kemp. "It's a family atmosphere, and we'll have all the giveaways and the works," he said. POOP DECK SANDYPORT Poop Deck proprietor Freddie Lightbourn is a diehard Miami Dolphins fan, and even though his team isn't playing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and he tends to think it isn't a Super Bowl without the Dolphins, he says there's still going to be a massive party at his establishment on West Bay Street. "We have lots of people come into the bar, so it's more a bar night than anything else," he said of Super Bowl Sunday. He actually has people asking him to reserve seats at the bar because it gets so crowded. Looking out for his kindred Dolphins fans, he says 50 percent of his bar seats will be reserved for Miami Dolphin fans only — and they will have to be wearing Miami Dolphins garb. Like the other parties around town, great food and drinks specials is key to a fantastic event. At the Poop Deck they'll be roasting a whole pig, and are having fresh mutton flown in from Long Island. Pizzas, along with fresh oysters which are expected to arrive today, will make for a varied menu to suit all palates. "People are going to have a blast," said Lightbourn. As the Saints take on the Colts, Lightbourn says it would have been a different ball game if it had been something like a Dolphins/Cowboys match-up. "When the Jets play the Dolphins, it sometimes warfare in this place [Poop Deck], because we have some diehard fans, and I'm of course one of the original Dolphin fans, and of course we stand our ground. It's like old men becoming little kids and fighting and fussing over guys chasing a pig skin." Since the Dolphins aren't there, he says he can't pull for anyone else, because he's a Dol-fan to the core. Dol-fan or not, he'll still be watching the Super Bowl. GREEN PARROT Lauren Cartwright, manager at Green Parrot on East Bay Street is excited for their big bash, because she says they're probably going to have some of the best prices on cold "brewskies" around town with $3 Heinekens and draft beer. "Our drink deals are probably going to the best drink deals you can find around, and I know how people love their Heineken. Plus, it's going to be a fun, relaxing environment and people can be as loud as they want to be and party as much as they want," she said. The food she says will be pretty special too with a New Orleans Conch-inspired Po' Boy sandwich, and Indy-inspired fried tenderloin sandwich, with free bar snacks at kickoff. Not to be forgotten are the television sets where all eyes will be focused for the number of hours it will take to complete the game. Cartwright says a six-foot wide screen and four 42-inch television sets will all be tuned to the game. The Green Parrot day kicks off at 1 p.m. and Cartwright says it should be your Super Bowl-watching venue of choice because it's a fun, laid back atmosphere, where it's all about the good time. HARD ROCK CAFÉ Throughout the season Hard Rock Café, Charlotte Street north has been hosting Monday Night Football to a massive crowd, and they expect no less at their end of season Super Bowl party, according to Bryn Felix, the café's general manager. "People know the venue — it's a safe environment, and we'll have big drinks specials throughout the night. We're also creating a Super Bowl food menu as well." With eight 48-inch plasma screens, good sound and enough to eat, Felix says there's no other choice. Big parties can also reserve their spots. BENNIGAN'S RESTAURANT With the Budweiser girls on hand at Bennigan's Restaurant at the Mall at Marathon, specials on Budweiser and Bud Light, and discounting a number of items on their menu, restaurant manager Tenecia Wood says Bennigan's is the spot to watch the Super Bowl, as their eight flat screen televisions will all be game-focused. "We're going to have good food, drinks special and a good atmosphere," she says. PARTY IN DA BACKYARD AT THE BUTLER & SANDS GROUNDS Three huge 14-foot screens are going to be the biggest attraction for the Super Bowl fan that will watch the Super Bowl at Butler & Sands grounds, according to Burns House representative Michelle Fox. With a tailgate party at 4 p.m., and $1 beers sold from 4 p.m. - 5 p.m., and a bucket of beer six for $10, a full bar and grill out, the Party in da Backyard is the place to be. To top it all off, a fabulous half-time show will feature local artists like SosaMan and MDeez. "We offer a great party, great entertainment that is affordable and in a safe environment," said Fox as to why you would want to be in the backyard. We're known for the best events. Unlike other parties around town, there is a $5 cover charge for the Butler & Sands Super Bowl affair. Friday February 05, 2010