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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, October 3, 2003

First call for football

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

From left: Mami Numata of Kaka'ako, Eric Lightfoot of 'Ewa, Rosa Ceja of 'Ewa and George Katekaru of Kaimuki watch the Atlanta Falcons-Baltimore Ravens game on a TV screen at All Star Cafe in Waikiki. NFL fans gather at several bars and clubs around town on Sunday mornings to cheer on their favorite teams.

Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

You have to get up earlier than early to beat die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan CJ Robb to his spot in front of the wide screen at Players Sports & Entertainment Club in downtown Honolulu.

Robb, 33, has been coming to the sports bar bright and very early every NFL Sunday for 10 years to watch his beloved Steelers play. That's a full decade's worth of Holy Day red-eyes without so much as a DNSU-HO (Did Not Show Up — Hang Over). There are priests who don't have that kind of track record.

"This is the 50-yard line, front row," Robb says, extending his arms across the backs of two flanking chairs. "It's one of my rituals. Every Sunday, I'm the first one here. I've got to sit directly in the middle of the screen."

Indeed, that was Robb with his nose to the glass when Players general manager Gary Dickman unlocked the doors at 6:30 a.m. sharp. Robb was first among fanatics, but hardly alone. Every Sunday, establishments such as Players open their doors to pigskin devotees seeking breakfast, beer and three satellite-live hours of their favorite NFL team.

Each week without fail, men and women, liberals and conservatives, kama'aina and malihini, surrender their weekday identities at the door and assume a larger collective identity. Raider Nation. Packer Backers. Long-Suffering Lion Fans.

"We have every game, every week," Dickman says. "A lot of people hear about us through Web sites and they come down to see what's going on."

On any given Sunday, some 200 people will make themselves at home in front of Players' 16 television screens.

This particular Sunday is relatively mellow with only a couple dozen puffy-eyed regulars on hand for the first round of kickoffs. They sit apart from each other, a respectful observance of personal space that will melt as the crowd thickens and the Bloody Marys start to kick in.

At the bar, midway between Colts vs. Jags and Vikings vs. Lions, Richard Pasion, 28, cradles a Bailey's coffee, hoping a little Hair of the Dog will get his synapses firing again. He says he likes the games almost as much as the female bartenders, and chances are he would have shown up this morning even if his buddies hadn't confiscated his keys the night before, leaving him to sleep off a perfectly good drunk in the bed of his Toyota Tacoma outside.

"I'm waiting for them to wake up and answer the phone so I can get my keys back," he says.

At a table nearby, Kane'ohe Marine Doug Thurston, 40, enjoys the quiet before the storm of expected Green Bay fans hits the bar for Packers vs. Cardinals in two hours.

"It can get really busy in here, depending on the matchup," Thurston says. "There are a lot of Pittsburgh, Green Bay and San Francisco fans that come here. It can get pretty loud, but it's all in good fun."

At the other end of the club, brothers Patrick and Jon Carroll await the Chiefs game against the Texans.

"The Chiefs don't get shown a lot on regular TV, so we come here to catch them on satellite," says Patrick Carroll, a 23-year-old graphic designer.

"We might have a couple of beers while we're here," he says, noting that 7 a.m. Hawai'i time is noon back home in Kansas City.

As Carroll pauses to check his math, a throaty wordless cheer rises from the middle of the room. Pittsburgh has scored the first touchdown of the game, sending and Robb and another Steeler fan halfway out of their seats.

"When this place gets crowded, it's the closest thing you can get to watching football in a stadium," Robb says. "You can feel the tension."

Robb inherited his love for the Steelers from his parents and somehow managed to nurture it in the hostile soil of Raiderland, Los Angeles.

He isn't shy about displaying his loyalty. Complementing his officially licensed Steelers T-shirt is a black felt hat and a pair of black-rimmed glasses with yellow-tinted lenses. At some point in the season he'll break out his 12-year-old black Nikes with the yellow trim.

"They still look new because I only wear them during football season," he says.

There used to be more Steeler fans at Players, but many have since migrated to Waikiki's All Star Hawaii, which has set aside a room for the local Pittsburgh Steelers fan club.

"Everybody tells me I should go, but the kind of guy I am, I'm loyal to Gary (Dickman) and to this place," Robb says. "Plus, I'm too superstitious to change."

All Star Hawaii opens at 7 a.m. on Sundays and attracts an even bigger crowd than Players with it's breakfast buffet and 33 screens. The restaurant and café caters to an almost even mix of tourists and locals, many of whom, according to manager Sandi Hammink, graduate quickly from pots of coffee to pitchers of beer.

"There's usually a crowd waiting for us when we open," Hammink says. "It gets really packed toward the end of the season, before the playoffs."

New York chiropractor Carole Schroeder, 41, and her husband, Paul, are starting the first full day of their Hawaiian vacation at the All Star. Schroeder says finding a suitable place to watch the New York Jets was a priority in her vacation planning.

"I wanted loud, I wanted cheap beer, I wanted good food," Schroeder says, snapping her fingers with each item for emphasis. "This pretty much fits the bill. It could use a few less Steeler fans, but that's OK. We'll treat it like a road game."

By 10:30 a.m. the restaurant has spiraled into a cacophony of conflicted human emotion. Joyous "yeah, babys" clash against a chorus of indignant protests and despairing groans.

"Why do I watch this game?" says Edgar Lee, 53, as he paces back and forth near the buffet table, too disgusted to watch his 49ers perpetrate another affront to football decency. "Why do I watch this game?"

The scene at the Shack in Hawai'i Kai is similarly raucous with nearly 300 people packed tight around 24 screens.

"We get the same set of regulars sitting at the same tables in front of the same TVs every week," says general manager Brendan Burchfiel. "We have a few people come every Sunday from the North Shore just to watch the games."

Sitting at a corner table, John Moriwake has powered through two beers and an order of biscuits and gravy. With one eye on the Packers game, he half-heartedly picks his way through his wife's cold, abandoned omelet.

"My game (Bills vs. Dolphins) hasn't even started yet and I need a nap," he says.

At the opposite end of the room, two transplanted Wisconsiners strike up a conversation as they watch Green Bay's Ryan Longwell line up a 40-yard, field-goal attempt on the screen above.

Sid McLain, originally from Neenah, Wis., has wandered over from his nearby home for a Bloody Mary and a little bit of breakfast to go with his Packers game.

Katie Clements, 29, formerly of Minocqua, Wis., had something similar in mind. The registered nurse came to the restaurant directly from her night shift at Maunalani Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Clements' husband, a Vikings fan, has seen his team prevail and has departed for sunnier, breezier places leaving Clements in the company of her Cheesehead brethren.

"I like coming here because I have other Packer fans to watch with," Clements says. "It's more fun this way."

Reach Michael Tsai at 535-2461 or mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.

• • •

Sports bar do's and don'ts

Heading to your favorite sports bar to watch some football? Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Keep it friendly: A little rivalry between fans can help keep things interesting, but anything more than friendly trash talking can poison the room.

Down in front: Just like in the stadium, it's cool to stand if the people in back of you are standing, too. Otherwise, keep it planted so you don't block anyone's view.

Never mind the make-up: Football-savvy women are sorely lacking at a lot of local sports bars. Here's one good reason to go: When you're watching grown men beat each other to snot at 7 a.m., no one cares what you look like. Face paint is perfectly appropriate, however.

Don't forget to tip: It isn't easy to work a football crowd, so don't forget to tip your servers generously. Yes, even if your team loses.

Leave the credit card at home: A little cash-only discipline can help keep your stomach, your liver and your marriage healthy.

Plan for the trip home: If you plan on pounding a few, make arrangements to get home safely. Designate a driver, call a cab, whatever — just don't get behind the wheel if you've had too much to drink.