For Santa Clara residents, Super Bowl 50 so close, yet so far away
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - About four hours before kickoff, Christopher Charles slipped a Peyton Manning jersey onto his 5-month-old Neapolitan Mastiff. Then he rounded up his two young sons and girlfriend and they embarked on the one-mile walk toward the Super Bowl 50 party outside Levi’s Stadium.
About 9/10ths of the way there, they met something as impenetrable as the Denver Broncos' defense — law enforcement standing in front of wire fences and concrete barriers designed to seal off the Super Bowl revelry to anyone without a game ticket.
As the dog sniffed grass, the family gazed at the oversized pictures of Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and Manning, quarterback for the Broncos, affixed to the side of the stadium.
So close, yet so far.
“It’s unfortunate,’’ Charles told Paste BN Sports. “But hey, it’s a measure of security, I guess.’’
While locals without tickets were kept on what felt like the football party’s sidelines, Super Bowl revelers found their way into the neighborhood and gave this usually sleepy Silicon Valley hamlet a shot of adrenaline.
On a sun-splashed day, fans wearing brightly colored football jerseys attracted visitors to watch not the game, but rather the people.
Wearing their racing suits, Rhonda and Raleigh Bagarino drove about 35 miles with the bicycles.
“We’re used to red and gold,’’ she said, referring to the San Francisco 49ers. But on this day it was a blizzard of mostly Denver orange, Carolina blue and patrol cop black.
“Get up on the sidewalk,’’ a policeman barked through crackling a speaker. “Even you on the bikes.’’
Folks clustered outside a Carl’s Jr. and cafe-style restaurants at a strip mall, where two 16-ounce beers were available for $7. Across the street was more family-friendly fare: Girl Scout cookies.
Rosalva Segura, 61, stood in front of the apartment complex in which she said she has lived for 13 years and watched her first flood of out-of-town football fans.
As they streamed by, Segura said she’d sold six boxes of cookies in an hour and was trying to keep her eye on an unrelenting customer.
“I want a cookie,’’ shouted her 4-year-old grandson, Ramon.
The passerbys included Levon and Stella Michael, who pushed a stroller occupied by their 2-year-old son, while the 5-year-old walked close by. The couple said a year ago they moved here from Armenia and this was their first exposure to Super Bowl revelry.
So, what did they think?
“Next time we have to buy tickets,’’ Stella Michael said.
Upon hearing that, her husband grinned and said, “We have to save money.’’