Area fans take in Super Bowl XLIV
For Scott Spahn of Greece, this year’s Super Bowl has been 33 years in the making.
Spahn, 39, has followed the New Orleans Saints since he was 6 years old and was thrilled that his team finally reached its first Super Bowl.
“I’ve had to suffer through a lot of awful seasons,” he said Sunday afternoon. “Finally, it’s time.”
Spahn was overjoyed with the results — a 31-17 New Orleans victory in Super Bowl XLIV.
“I don’t think anyone will be able to wipe the smile off my face for a week,” he said.
Across town, Indianapolis Colts fan Ginamarie Epping, 23, and her fiancé Adam Engel, 24, had decorated their Webster apartment with blue and white streamers and balloons, a Colts blanket, and Colts plates and napkins. Epping also wore her Colts jersey for the big game.
The couple had about 15 friends and relatives over for the game and spent much of the weekend prepping for the party. They’ve had game parties before, but never with such high stakes.
Epping spent several hours Saturday baking and decorating a football-shaped cake — which, she said, might be raw in the middle, “but looks great” — complete with Colts quarterback Peyton Manning’s signature.
But all her preparations couldn’t bring home a victory.
“I can’t say I didn’t shed any tears,” Epping said.
Still, the party was a delight. “We had a great time,” she said.
Epping said she became interested in football after assembling her first fantasy football team four years ago.
“With three younger brothers in the house, I used to hate football,” she said. “Now, I’m obsessed.”
“Gina is a diehard fan and loves her team, but she doesn’t know what it’s like to be a true NFL fan, with a losing team,” said Engel, a Miami Dolphins fan.
Epping disagreed and said she picked the Colts because she respected Manning, not because of the team’s success.
Spahn said he decided to follow the Saints because he wanted to be different from his friends, who all loved the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers or Dallas Cowboys.
To celebrate on Sunday, Spahn and his five children — all Saints fans — had some relatives and friends over to watch.
“I’m like a kid on Christmas day,” said an antsy Spahn Sunday afternoon. He woke at 5 a.m.
“Friends have been calling all day, to wish me luck and to razz me,” he said.
“The Saints have never really even been close before.”
Because he was tired of waiting for kickoff, Spahn took his family to an afternoon movie to pass time.
“This may be the slowest-moving day of my life,” he had said.
But once the game started, time seemed to go super-fast.
“And it went in a great direction — victory,” Spahn said.
VFREILE@DemocratandChronicle.com
Includes reporting by staff writer Jim Goodman.
