General

Big Game gets big ups in Brooklyn

February 2, 2015 Meaghan McGoldrick

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photos by Arthur de Gaeta

Share this:

This year’s Big Game might not have been one for the Jets or the Giants but that didn’t matter much to Brooklynites, many of whom celebrated the first Sunday in February by watching the spectacle at one of the Ridge’s many local watering holes.

While it was “anyone’s game” all four quarters, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots walked away with yet another ring, trumping the Seattle Seahawks 28 to 24.

“The game was definitely incredible and will be talked about for years to come,” said Staten Island resident and Seattle fan Michael Courtien, “but the best part was watching people who know very little about football recognizing [when the game] got real, and also all of us getting together to eat food and watch the game was cool.”

Courtien, 23, traded in what he’d hoped would be a celebratory pint at Fifth Avenue bar Red White and Brew (8910 Fifth Avenue) for more of a “there’s always next year” cheers.

“I thought the game was great,” said local radio jockey Steven James, who was quick to call Katy Perry’s halftime performance (featuring singer-songwriter Lenny Kravitz and surprise guest Missy Elliot) one of the best he’s seen in years. On the other hand, he said, Hawks’ head coach Peter Carroll’s fourth quarter call not to run the ball into the End Zone was among the worst plays he’s seen in Big Game history.

“Terrible play call at the end of the game by Seattle,” said James. “When you have a guy like Marshawn Lynch, or a guy like Russell Wilson – both guys with great speed – you run the football there, or at the very least if you’re going to pass, go with the play action.”

“Worst call in [Big Game] history,” agreed Brooklynite Chris Cassone.

That “worst” lost the Hawks what would’ve been the team’s second Big Game win in a row.

While local resident Rob Delorenzo had his reserves about Perry’s “overdone” Pepsi-sponsored performance, time spent on the field, he said, paid homage to what the Big Game is all about.

“The game was everything a red-blooded American could’ve hoped for and left us with great conversation topics to hold us over until the Stanley Cup and basketball finals,” he said. “Tough loss, Hawks; deserving victory, Patriots; Go Giants!”

“We had a very nice crowd at the Pour House,” said Third Avenue bar-owner Jason McDermott noting that, whether viewers were in it for the commercials, the halftime show or even just the food, everybody had a grand old time – especially the winner of the Pour House’s free halftime HDTV. “The game was exciting and the crowd was really into it.”