Area football fans and casual viewers alike congregated to watch the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV.

But it was more than the average Super Bowl for Louisiana native Jon Alvarado and his girlfriend, Sterling Heights senior Jess Yaxley, who went to O’Kelly’s Sports Bar and Grille, 2000 S. Mission St.

Alvarado, a lifelong Saints fan, had traveled 12 hours from his Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., to watch the game with her.

“Because of the Super Bowl, I wanted to be with her to watch it,” he said.

Yaxley said she wanted to take him somewhere local. The two met through a mutual friend in Annapolis, Md., eight months ago, while Alvarado was attending the United States Naval Academy.

Alvarado planned his leave around the Super Bowl after the Saints clinched their berth in the Super Bowl against the Colts two weeks ago. He came to the bar Sunday wearing his Drew Brees jersey, and Yaxley wore a homemade Reggie Bush shirt.

Sunday was the first Super Bowl the Saints have ever appeared in — something Alvarado has been waiting for his whole life.

“I’ve waited 24 years for this game,” he said. “If you had Saints tickets, it was just a bonus reason to go to New Orleans. They’ve never had anything, and now they have the Saints.”

From the residence halls

Cheers permeated through the Saxe, Herrig and Celani residence halls Sunday.

The halls hosted the Super Bowl game with a requirement that attendees bring either $1 or one can of soup for the Isabella County Soup Kitchen.

Kayla Pitt, a Grand Rapids freshman, and friend Autumn McDaniel sat comfortably on top of a Lion King blanket in front of the television. Pitt smiled whenever the Colts — her team of choice — scored.

“I like it!“ the Grand Rapids freshman said, beaming.

Craig Johnson, SHC Hall council president and a Lake City junior, was hoping the Saints would win. He said the event was for fun and fundraising.

“I root for the underdog,” Johnson said. “This is their last game of the season. A ton of people are watching and it’s showtime.”

Woodland sophomore Kasey Flessner said she was looking forward to the Colts winning.

“I think it is a good chance that they will win, they are playing pretty strong,” Flessner said shortly after the Colts scored a touchdown in the first quarter.

Other students supported teams because of a specific player. Highland Park Chris Thomas wanted the Saints to win because of running back Reggie Bush, whereas McDaniel had someone else in mind.

“I’m a huge Peyton Manning fan. I’m very excited — I love the Super Bowl,” McDaniel said.

From the pizza place

Mike Ely, 27, formerly of Dowagiac, pulls a pizza out of the oven at Pizza King on S. Mission St. during the Super Bowl on Sunday night, around 8 p.m. (Sean Proctor/Staff Photographer)

Super Bowl Sunday often means cheering a favorite team — but not everyone has the chance to relax in front of the television.

For employees at Pizza King, it meant working on one of the busiest days of the year.

“The orders are a lot larger, and we have a lot more party pizzas go out,” said owner Kyle Schonbok.

Orders for party pizzas, which have 30 slices and an unlimited amount of topping possibilities, started coming in Saturday night and only picked up as Sunday continued, said Schonbok, a 27-year-old Weidman resident.

Pizza King employees hardly had a moment to pause as gametime neared Sunday afternoon. Their work ethic was rhythmic — one person kneading dough, another applying toppings, a third pulling a fresh pizza out of the oven and a delivery boy always on hand.

“I enjoy it,” Schonbok said. “All the timed orders actually make it a little easier if we keep up on them.”

With two televisions in the store at 600 N. Mission St., employees were still able to enjoy the game, especially after halftime, when orders start slowing down.

Schonbok and employee Kayla Yaklin both hoped for a Saints upset.

For Yaklin, 22, the Super Bowl brings a wave of customers she is always glad to see.

“I’m hoping for a good rush,” she said before the game started. “This is our first Super Bowl being open, so we’re hoping for a good turnout.”

From the apartment party

From right, Nashville junior Kyle Pash, Adrian sophomore Jon Vallejo, Nashville sophomore Chris Cadwell, Rodchester sophomore Amy Lindstrom and Saginaw junior David Cornish watch the Super Bowl Sunday evening in Lexington Ridge. The group of about 30 people from Campus Crusaders for Christ was split between Colts and Saints fans. (Nathan Kostegian/ Staff Photographer)

More than 30 people crowded into a Lexington Ridge apartment to celebrate the big game Sunday, taking up room on two couches, at least 5 chairs and standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the kitchen.

Various snacks covered most of the counter space. Votes for the Saints and Colts were split throughout the gathering.

Nashville sophomore Chris Caldwell was energetically voicing his position as a Colts fan, yelling and high-fiving his friends standing next to the couch he was sitting on.

“It’s better with friends. You can really say whatever you want and know no one’s going to be offended,” Caldwell said. “I like any football game. I just use the time to scream.”

Caldwell was positive the Colts would win, especially since the coach’s last name also was Caldwell (Jim).

Midland freshman Jennifer Biber, a big football fan, had other thoughts — she was rooting for the Saints.

This year was different for Biber — usually, she spends it with family. Sunday, she was with friends from the group Campus Crusades for Christ.

Cheers and heavy sighs filled the air and laughter erupted throughout the apartment during commercial breaks. Biber said she enjoyed hanging out at someone’s place even more than being out on the town.

“This is the first time I’ve been to a big Super Bowl party where people aren’t rooting for the same team,” she said. “It’s kind of intimidating.”

Shaun Holtgreive, associate director of Residence Life, said 49 cameras were installed in Merrill, Sweeney, Beddow and Thorpe halls. Upgrades were implemented to the cameras in Saxe, Herrig, Celani and Fabiano halls, as well as the Towers residence halls.

“It gives us the ability to monitor doors and respond to unauthorized doors being propped open,” Holtgreive said.

The cameras on the exterior of the residence halls are next to entrances and side doors, as well as in the main areas of the floors. Holtgreive said the cameras on top of buildings did not provide the quality of picture he was looking for.

He said the parking lots and building perimeters of campus will be left up to Central Michigan University Police, not Residence Life.

“We have got the areas of concern for us (covered),” Holtgreive said.

Cost: $150,000

The cost for the cameras’ wiring and software for Merrill, Sweeney, Beddow and Thorpe halls was $150,000, Holtgreive said. The upgrades to the Towers area, along with Fabiano, Saxe, Herrig, and Celani halls did not cost Residence Life because it was equipment they already had, said Coordinator of Residential Security Ben Witt.

CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley said there are more than 300 cameras on campus. He anticipates more cameras will be installed in parking lots and on buildings throughout the campus as remodels and money permits.

He said CMU Police has regular meetings on safety and security for the campus.

“Lighting, the design of the building and cameras are all discussed,” Yeagley said. “Whenever there is a renovation done to a building on campus, we give our input on where cameras should be installed.”

CMU Community Police Officer Mike Sienkiewicz said the cameras are used for mostly after-the-fact situations. It is a tool of review if needed. However, there is some live monitoring, he said.

“I have it set up in my office so, if I need to, I can watch the main areas where people move the most,” Sienkiewicz said.

Those include the main entrances of the halls and the stairwells, he said, which, in the past, have had incidences of vandalism and crime.

Witt said the cameras enhance safety and improve on current systems that work in residential security.

“They are an invaluable resource,” Witt said. “We also have a change in philosophy by adding security to the perimeter instead of only concentrating on the interior.”

North Campus residence halls are older buildings, and camera installation is yet to be determined, Holtgreive said.

“We are still evaluating to upgrade or replace those facilities,” he said. “Once that decision is made, we will then know where we stand on camera installation.”

The bright pink-clad ladies of Fabiano, Emmons and Woldt Halls faced off against the maroon-wearing women of Saxe, Herrig and Celani Halls in a Powder Puff match Thursday
at Kelly/Shorts Stadium to raise money for breast cancer research.

“I’m super amped up,” said Davisburg sophomore Jessica Frick. “I love football and I love SHC.”

Spring Lake freshman Emily Rosencrants jokes with her team in the pre-game warm ups as they try to create an end zone celebration dance Thursday night at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. Saxes/Herrig/Celani won 22-0. (Matthew Stephens/Presentation Editor)

Frick was on the winning team of SHC, who beat FEW 22-0.

Cheering for SHC were LaPeer freshman Dante Harris and Dansville freshman Travis Konen.

Lake Orion junior Lauren Drury catches a pass and runs past the Fabiano/Emmons/Woldt defense Thursday night for the powder puff game at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. (Matthew Stephens/Presentation Editor)

Harris said he came to the game because he loved football and wanted to watch his resident assistant play.

Konen had a similar reason for showing up.

“The girls on my floor are playing and it’s something to do,” he said.

Harris and Konen agreed the game had a good cause.

“My aunt has breast cancer, so I should come,” Harris said. “It’s a very important issue with women and men.”

Let’s play

Springlake freshman Emily Rosencrants said her RA motivated her to take up the quarterback position for the SHC team.

“The RA lives across the hall, and she’s like, ‘Hey — like to play football?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah,’” she said.

Having people in her family dealing with this issue really hit home with her, Rosencrants said, and it was great to be able to show her support by playing at Kelly/Shorts.

“It’s a great cause, especially with having all women playing,” she said.

John Johnstin, Herrig Hall’s Residence Hall Director and defensive coordinator for SHC, arranged the second annual event.

The original idea for a Powder Puff football game came from one of Johnstin’s residents last year, and has since become a tradition.

He said he was hoping to eventually open up a similar event to other areas of campus.

“We would really like to get something worked out, maybe with South Campus,” he said. “Maybe work out campus-wide events open up to all residence halls.”

Johnstin said he hoped the event would raise as much money as possible, especially since the crowd had to deal with the biting cold.

“We’re going to raise as much as we can, hopefully at least $100,” Frick said.

Johnstin said he just hoped the participants would have a fun and safe time with no injuries.

Saxe, Herrig and Celani hall council threw a “Last Summer Splash” in the Saxe/Herrig courtyard Wednesday night. The Hall Council offered students a chance to tie-dye T-shirts or any item they brought, and offered volleyball, popcorn and cotton candy, said Lake City sophomore Craig Johnson.

Marine City freshmen Jerrod Black and Woodland sophomore Kasey Flessner worked together to put on the event.

“We pulled a lot of late nights going to Wal-Mart picking up supplies over the past few weeks,” Flessner
said.

Livonia junior Brittany Smith tie dyes a shirt at the Saxe/Herrig/Celani Last Summer Bash Wednesday night in the Saxe courtyard. T-shirts were sold for $3 and proceeds went to organizing a dance marathon, tentatively in the spring, benefitting Muscular Dystrophy. (Sean Proctor/Staff Photographer)

Black said they pulled several all-nighters.

“I am excited to see it happen tonight,” he said.

The event cost $275 and offered students the opportunity to raise money for future philanthropy events.

Wixom freshman Cameron Gottschall hopes to have a series of events to raise awareness and money for Muscular Dystrophy, including one in April where people will stand on their feet for 24 hours.

“I know that U-M has done this type of event for about 13 years and MSU started it last year,” Gottschall said. “We are hoping it will be a big event.”

Tie-dye was the most popular for students who lined up shortly after 7 p.m. and the line continued to grow as students from the halls came out with shirts or other items they wanted dyed.

Muskegon sophomore Thomas Holcomb said he found out around 6 p.m. about the event and grabbed his own shirt so he would not miss out.

“I used all of the colors,” he said. “I guess I am kind of a hippie.”

Black said he was happy the event was a success and was impressed with the amount of people that came out for what they spent on it.

“It is not about the money but doing things for the students we just wanted to have a good time with everyone,” he said. “The weather turned out great and so did the night.”