Super Bowl party at Sports Arena in Hermon to feature 4 HDTV sets

loading...

If it didn’t sound so inane, Len Cole would have to call his Super Bowl bash the Super Super Bowl Party.

As it is, Cole’s 12-hour party at the Sports Arena will just have to go nameless for the time being, but not due to a lack of inspiration.

The Sports Arena, an entertainment center in Hermon on Outer Hammond Street which also includes Heritage Bowling Lanes and XL Golf, will put away the bowling balls, golf clubs, cues and billiard balls Sunday as football takes over.

“We’re estimating 500 people or more will be here,” said Cole, The Sports Arena’s owner. “We’ve already sold 150 [buffet] tickets and we’ve got large groups of people coming from as far away as Rockland, Waterville, and Millinocket.”

What’s the big attraction?

Well, for starters, it may be the only place in Northern and Eastern Maine – and quite possibly the state – that will be broadcasting the game in high-definition on big screen television sets.

“This will be the first time in TV history that this will be available to people,” said Cole.

The party will be so big, Cole is closing down the Heritage bowling lanes at 4 p.m. and bringing in two of his four, 57-inch HDTV sets. Another one will be in the arena’s karaoke lounge and the fourth will be in the multipurpose (golf/pool) room, along with a gargantuan 91/2-by-7-foot screen, which is part of a high-definition projection and Dolby Surround Sound audio-video system. One of the 57-inch HDTV’s will be given away to a party attendee in a random drawing during the third quarter.

Another nine, standard TV sets will supplement the video capacity of the facility, which will open up its doors at 11 a.m. and stay open until the cows … uh, crowd comes home.

All eight regular pool tables and two coin-operated ones will be either moved out or covered to be used as tables.

The party has been three months in the making and is a joint effort between the Sports Arena, Bangor TV station and CBS affiliate WABI (Channel 5) and Best Buy.

“Every year, our Super Bowl party has grown. We had about 200 out here two years ago with the Patriots and 300 last year,” Cole said. “I was approached by Channel 5 to have a party here this year to kind of showcase the Super Bowl and HDTV, which CBS is broadcasting the game in. I hadn’t really heard much about HDTV at the time, but as I’ve grown to find out more about it, I’m more excited.”

High-definition TV is superior to standard TV because it broadcasts images using 720 to 1,080 lines of resolution compared to the 525 on regular sets. This results in a lifelike, digital picture that many viewers say is like looking through a clear window.

“The Best Buy manager just saw his first sporting event on it a couple weeks ago and he was just blown away by it,” Cole said.

Cole is expecting such a large crowd, he’s renting extra chairs, stages to put the TV sets on, and even Porta-potties. Dennis Paper and Food Service has loaned Sports Arena a large, refrigerated truck to store all of the extra food and beverages ordered for the party.

Cole has ordered triple the amount of food and beverages he would normally have on site to accommodate the extra people. The party also means 25 employees will be working on a day when the normal crew consists of five.

There is no admission charge, but the cost of the buffet, which will be open from noon to 10 p.m., is $20 per person. The food menu will be changed every 2-3 hours. The $20 fee also entitles people to an “I Survived Maine’s Biggest Super Bowl Party at Maine’s Biggest Sports Bar” T-shirt.

Hey, maybe that’s what they should call it. Nah, too long … They’ll keep working on it.

Profiting on the Patriots

If you’re looking for official New England Patriots American Football Conference championship caps in the Bangor area, you’re probably out of luck.

There is good news however, as the caps may be sold out, but there’s plenty of other Patriot-ic gear available to outfit yourself for that Super Bowl party.

“As far as Patriots products, it’s been busy ever since they clinched the AFC East, which we had things for,” said Bill Swift, store manager at Olympia Sports in the Bangor Mall. “After every win, the demand for that following week has increased even more.”

Swift says after the AFC championship “locker room” caps, replica jerseys are the most popular items. Of those, the ones featuring the names and numbers for Ty Law and Tedy Bruschi have been the most popular. Surprisingly, quarterback Tom Brady lags a big behind in third place.

The caps disappeared days ago.

“I had at least 108 hats . We had 72 delivered on the 19th and they were gone two days later. The next day, we got over 100 and those were gone by Monday,” Swift said.

Fans can still find some AFC championship flags and pennants, some beanies, bobblehead dolls, sweatshirts and T-shirts there as well as places like the Bangor Kmart, local Wall-Marts, and sports specialty shops like Lids.

“We had around 100 locker room hats and now they’re all gone,” said Nate Pennock, manager of the Lids store on Stillwater Avenue in Bangor. “If they win on Sunday, Monday’s going to be a long day. I may have to go to Portland to pick stuff up. I would imagine we’ll have people waiting at the door for stuff.”

Not that either Pennock or Swift mind the extra business.

“I don’t know about exact numbers, but I’m guessing we’re doing really well for sales. It’s like an unplanned bonus,” Swift said. “It’s been very good and it’s just fun going to work now. It’s all anyone talks about and everyone coming in is smiling. It’s like holiday time in February.”

Pam Bell, the softlines manager at the Bangor Kmart, can relate to that.

“We’re selling a lot of merchandise, but we still have a lot of selection. I would expect the closer we get to the Super Bowl, the less we’ll have,” Bell said.

All store employees contacted remarked how merchandise was delivered much quicker this year than it was two years ago, when the Patriots won their first Super Bowl title.

“We’ve got a lot more this year than we did last time,” Bell said. “The company was a lot more on the ball in terms of getting things in quicker and getting more of it.”

“Speed of delivery is critical. We’ve gotten things a lot quicker this time than we did two years ago. The process is much better streamlined now than it was then,” said Swift, who is part of that “streamlined” process. “If they win, I’ll have to leave very early Monday morning to go get products to bring back and sell.”

Swift said he’ll be waking up at 6 a.m. if he only has to drive to Portland and 3:30 a.m. if he has to go to Needham, Mass.

“That’s alright. If they win, I won’t mind missing some sleep,” he said with a chuckle.

Don’t bet on it

Mark Braveman has never been one to tell his girlfriend “I told you so.”

That may soon change.

The Bangor native was out in Las Vegas on a five-day vacation with girlfriend Fawn Wentworth last September when he wandered into the sports book area of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

His attention was attracted by the Vegas odds on the New England Patriots’ chance to win the Super Bowl.

“I was just looking at the odds and of course, at the time, they were longshot bets. I think they were 15- or 16-to-1 to win the Super Bowl,” said Braveman. “I wanted to put $100 on the Patriots, but she stopped me. She told me I was stupid if I did it.

“We argued about it for a little bit and I lost … I mean, I really lost. At the time, it was easier not to bet the money than to continue to argue.”

Wentworth, a Winslow native and Patriots fan, doesn’t approve of gambling, but that wasn’t the deciding factor.

“I said ‘You’re out of your mind.’ I’d seen them play in preseason and I didn’t think they were going to be very good,” she said. “I didn’t feel it. I just didn’t think it would happen.”

It should be noted that Wentworth’s “feel” for things carried a lot of weight at that time because she had turned three quarters into $100 the previous night by randomly playing them in various slot machines.

Still, Braveman intended to go back and make the potential $1,600 bet later, but he forgot.

Four months and 14 consecutive Patriots’ wins later, the couple are awaiting Sunday’s result with more than just casual interest.

“I remind her about it every week. I’m going to be rooting for them, but I’ll be pissed at the same time if they win,” Braveman said.

“The thing is now he’s just so mad at me, but now with this story, he’s finally getting his vindication,” she said with a laugh. “I think he’s rooting for the Pats just so he can have bragging rights and throw it in my face even more.”