Patriots fans cheer team on at Bangor-area taverns

HERMON – Fans huddled around one of the 60 screens at the Sports Arena just across the Bangor line said they don’t care how many times the New England Patriots make it to the Super Bowl – it never gets old.

“Maybe this is how Yankees fans feel,” said Sports Arena owner Len Cole, referring to the longtime dominance of the baseball team most hated by New Englanders.

Cole and his staff – many clad in Patriots jerseys – entertained a group estimated at about 700 Sunday evening.

Some of the waitresses flirtatiously showed a little midriff under their Tom Brady and Rodney Harrison jerseys.

“I work on tips,” said one waitress before disappearing into a sea of rowdy males.

Cole said he’s happy that his establishment has become the go-to place to watch big sporting events.

“People want to come out and be with other fans,” Cole said. “It’s almost as exciting as last year. I don’t think winning ever gets old.”

New England made its third Super Bowl appearance in four years. Cole had been planning a big party for two weeks since the Patriots advanced to the big game, and the advertising paid off.

Parking outside the Sports Arena was limited as attendants directed some of the late stragglers out back. Inside the facility pool tables were covered, and beer and appetizers were flowing freely.

“First the Red Sox and now this,” said Dave Gionta of Hampden. “All of a sudden, New England is the place to be for pro sports.”

Cole said he wasn’t surprised with the turnout at the Sports Arena, and even the competition conceded.

At the Ground Round in Bangor, when Sheila Roy of Brewer asked where everyone was, one of the servers replied, “Probably down the road at the Sports Arena.”

The atmosphere certainly wasn’t as loud at the Ground Round, but a small group enjoyed 25-cent buffalo wings and two-for-one appetizers.

“I’ll take this laid-back atmosphere over a rowdy bunch,” Roy said.

When asked if winning ever got old, she said: “I’m not as nervous as I’ve been in the past. If they lose, it’s not as big a deal.”

“But you do sort of get used to winning,” Roy added with a smile.

At the University of Maine, the campus activities office hosted more than 100 students in the Memorial Union Marketplace.

Sarah Bullard, a graduate assistant with the student activities office, said the crowd at the university was “pretty tame and happy.”

“We were kind of worried [about the turnout] because there were so many other things going on,” she said. “But it’s been good.”

Bullard said her student organization provided free nachos and veggies and dip and projected the game over two large screens at each end of the marketplace.

“It beats sitting in your dorm room huddled around a 13-inch screen,” sophomore Brian Miller said.