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Super Bowl Sunday in San Antonio is no substitute for a Spurs NBA Finals appearance, but the Alamo City's gridiron fans are still making plenty of noise downtown.
Hundreds of diehards - bearing Patriots and Falcons jerseys, among others - have swarmed to local bars and watering holes, some from as far away as Ohio, North Carolina and even Mexico.
During the first half - as the Falcons took a commanding 21-0 lead - Monterrey natives Lino Ledesma and Carlos Jimenez were perched around a small table at a packed Ticket Sports Pub on Houston Street.
Both Mexican nationals made the trip to watch the game in the U.S. because of the "incomparable" football atmosphere.
"I love football - and we watch it in Mexico," said Ledesma, straining to talk over the raucous crowd in the bar. "But in the states, it's the real deal."
"Watching football with Americans is just so different than watching it with Mexicans," Jimenez added. "You get to see all the (passion) here."
Across the bar, Ohioans Eric Smith and Darin Miller were rooting hard against the Patriots. Both Bengals fans who can't stand Tom Brady and the erstwhile Patriots dynasty, the pair said they enjoyed seeing sparks fly between opposing fans watching the game.
"We're tired of New England winning," Smith chuckled.
Posted up near the back wall of the bar, husband and wife Gus and Camille Guerra had split opinions on the game. While Gus, a Patriots fan, watched in dismay as New England fell behind, Camille, a Falcons fan, cheered as her team pressed to a 21-3 halftime lead.
"We love it here," Camille said.
"We were just looking for a better place to watch the game than a friends house," Gus added.
As Falcons wideout Julio Jones caught a deep pass during the second quarter, the red-and-black contingent at the bar erupted.
"That's why right there," Gus laughed. "At the (Super Bowl) we're all football fans, so you enjoy the game together."
The broadcast isn't all about football, as several members of the crowd perked up during Lady Gaga's halftime performance.
While the commercials during the game - typically the best the advertising world has to offer - haven't sparked much conversation, a Skittles candy commercial that depicted a would-be teenage suitor throwing candy into his crush's window has drawn several laughs.
"Honestly, even if the game were terrible, the commercials make it bearable," said John LaFevre, a Cowboys fan watching from an outside patio. "It's always good for everybody to cool off from the game for a bit and laugh at something together."
jgerlach@express-news.net
@JT_Gerlach
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