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Super celebration
YOUNGSTOWN
Some of the people watching Super Bowl LI between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at the Magic Tree Pub in Boardman and the V2 Wine Bar & Trattoria in downtown Youngstown were just pure football fans wanting to hang out with friends and see a good game.
And yeah, there were a few Patriots fans, like Youngstown State University computer science major Natalie DeVincentis of New Castle, Pa., who was wearing a Patriots jersey while watching the game at the V2.
“That’s my team,” said DeVincentis, who said she was not worried when the Patriots got down to the Falcons by two touchdowns in the first half. “They always start slow. They’ll come back,” she said.
She was correct as the Patriots went on to win their fifth national championship.
Sitting nearby at the V2 was Keenya Willis of Youngstown, originally of Alanta, who was watching the game with her sons, Kennedy, 14, and Kaden, 13.
“The Falcons are my home team,” said Willis, who jumped out of her chair and whooped and clapped her hands when her team scored a second touchdown. “Atlanta is going to take a big ‘W’ home,” she said.
But most of the people watching the game were Cleveland Browns or Pittsburgh Steelers fans rooting for the Patriots or Falcons for reasons of their own.
Kathy Szmat of Youngstown, watching in the V2 with family and friends, said she has been a Browns fan all her life, but since the Browns were not in the game she was rooting for “the beautiful Tom Brady” and Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick.
Kevin McElwee of Canfield and Mike Wendt of Boardman were in the Magic Tree Pub during the game to have a beer and order food to take out when the game started.
McElwee, a Steelers fan, said he was for Atlanta ... “Deflategate, you know.”
Wendt said he didn’t care who won. But, he said if the Patriots did win, Brady would go down as the best quarterback of all-time, “and I’m a Steelers fan.”
Sitting together at the Magic Tree Pub were John Thomas of Canfield, a Browns fan, and Dr. Andy Babinec, a Steelers fan.
“I don’t care who wins. I came here to see the game. It’s the Super Bowl. Everybody wants to see this game,” Thomas said.
“I’d rather see Atlanta ... somebody new ... win,” said Dr. Babinec.
One person said they wanted New England to win because he wanted to see National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell have to hand the Super Bowl trophy to Brady. Goodell suspended Brady for the first four games of the 2016-2017 season because of Deflategate.
Another customer at the Magic Tree Pub, Gina Austrino of Struthers, said she is normally a Steelers fan, but was pulling for the Falcons.
“I just want to see the Patriots get beat; but mostly I want to see the commercials,” she said with a laugh.