Super Bowl XLV shows it's good to be a 'cheesehead'
When former Central Michigan football player and current Pittsburgh Steeler Antonio Brown returned the opening kick of Super Bowl XLV, the crowd at O'Kelly's Sports Bar & Grill, 2000 S. Mission Street, erupted into cheers.
At Fabiano Hall, about 50 people gathered in the commons area near the front desk as the game was shown on an HDTV in the corner and from a projector.
Just a short walk away in the Herrig Terrace, a dozen people converged in the study room they converted into their viewing area. The broadcast of the Super Bowl could be heard coming from dorm rooms as well.
The biggest sporting event in America had Mount Pleasant firmly entrenched in its couches.
"We came to O'Kelly's to watch the game because it's a great bar," Lenox junior Jim Fitzsimons said.
He, along with Joe D'Haene, a Lenox junior, Drew Fitzgerald, a Metamora junior and Joe Brickel, a Richmond junior, went to O'Kelly's not only to watch the game, but to celebrate Brickel's birthday.
"There are TVs everywhere, it's awesome," Brickel said. "It's obvious everyone comes here for everything."
Senior Jenny Frautschy and junior Kyle Nelson, both of Wisconsin, perched on the edge of their seats in front of the television.
"The Packers in the Super Bowl signifies the hard work they've put in," Frautschy said, dressed in a green and yellow sweatshirt and cap. "We've had a couple building years and this just shows hard work pays off."
Nelson, sporting the staple "Cheesehead" hat, said watching the game is important to him because it gives him the feeling he's together with his family back in Wisconsin.
As the Green Bay Packers led the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-3, the Herrig Terrace group crashed the party over at Fabiano.
"When the Packers were up, we got excited and rushed that party with vuvuzelas," Jacob Taylor said. "It was spontaneous, everyone was quiet so we made a lot of noise and yelled 'Go Packers.'"
Taylor, a Jerome junior, said he became a Packers fan in third grade when he got his first Green Bay shirt.
"I haven't seen them win since I was 6, so if I get to see them win at 20 I'll be set until I'm 50," he said.
