BANGOR, Maine — Jeremy Langley loves football, but the Husson University student from Fairfax, Vermont, has had to work the past three Super Bowl Sundays at the Rite Aid Pharmacy on Broadway in Bangor.
“I would check my cellphone [for the score],” said Langley.
“Super Bowl Sunday should be a holiday,” he said with a grin.
Langley won’t have to work at Rite Aid this Sunday when the New England Patriots face off with the Seattle Seahawks Sunday night in Super Bowl 49 in Glendale, Arizona.
He will actually be one of the organizers of a Super Bowl party on the Husson campus in Bangor for the dormitory residents. He is a resident advisor at the school.
Other football fans won’t be so lucky and will be trying to catch glimpses of the game.
Kim Grass knows what it’s like to work on Super Bowl Sunday. So does Tina Curless.
Grass is a bartender at Carolina Sports and Spirits in Bangor, and Curless is a waitress at the Sea Dog Brewing Co. in Bangor.
Grass, who is a Miami Dolphins fan, said she tries to watch the game when she isn’t busy.
“And when somebody screams, I’ll look up,” she said.
Curless, who has worked previous Super Bowls, pointed out that there won’t be a “mad rush” on Super Bowl Sunday because everybody will grab a table or a bar stool and watch the entire game.
Tables won’t turn over every 45-60 minutes like they would on a normal night.
“People are excited. It’s neighborhoodish. People will bring their kids. I’ve seen some of the tiniest Patriot shirts and shoes you’ll ever see,” said Curless, who lives in Bangor.
She said there will be plenty of good-natured ribbing between fans of the two teams.
She also said the patrons will tip well, especially the ones whose team wins.
John Hafford, the general manager of Seasons’ Grille and Lounge in Bangor, said there were plenty of excited Seahawks fans at the restaurant last year when Seattle routed Denver 43-8.
He explained that a plane carrying Seattle residents was delayed in Bangor so they wound up at Seasons’ Grille and Lounge.
“They were calling their friends back in Seattle and were having a great time. After the game, they asked me if we had any champagne. They bought two bottles,” said Hafford.
Two falls ago, a similar situation occurred, but that time it was a bunch of English people who found themselves watching the World Series.
“One of them was a Red Sox fan. The others didn’t care at first, but then they started getting into it,” recalled Hafford. “After the Red Sox won, they bought shots for everyone in the bar.”
Hafford is busy preparing Seasons’ Grille and Lounge for the Super Bowl.
He will have extra help on hand and will put a big-screen television on the wall in the dining room.
There are plenty of TVs in the lounge.
The restaurant’s room downstairs, which can seat 100 and hold up to 200, has already been rented. And he will add seats to accommodate their patrons.
Kerrie Guptill, an assistant manager at Rite Aid, said they will sell a lot of beverages and snack food at certain times, such as halftime, on Super Bowl Sunday.
Aaron Smith, the bar manager at Sea Dog Brewing Co., said he will have an extra bartender on duty Sunday but that having the Patriots involved in the Super Bowl presents him with a little dilemma.
“It’s hard to predict [the size of the crowd] when the Patriots are in it. A lot of people stay home and have parties. It’s more consistent when they aren’t in it,” he said.
The consensus among a dozen or so people on Thursday in Bangor was that the Patriots will win a close game, and they said “Deflategate” was overblown.
The New England Patriots were found to be using underinflated footballs in the first half of their 45-7 American Football Conference championship win over the Indianapolis Colts, which has prompted an NFL investigation.
“What is this world coming to? All this over 2 pounds per square inch [of air]. We’ve got better things to talk about,” said John Worthley of Hermon.
“It got too much coverage. It’s a pretty insignificant issue,” said Jimmy Costedio of Dexter.
Sea Dog Brewing Co. employees poked fun at “Deflategate” by writing “I’m not sure about footballs, but our beers are always properly filled” on their board.
“I don’t know how the balls got deflated, but I don’t think [quarterback Tom] Brady or [coach Bill] Belichick knew about it,” said Bangor’s Dennis Libbey.
“It’s the referee’s fault,” said Langley. “He should have been able to tell [if the balls were underinflated].”
Several fans said the Patriots have been more carefully scrutinized by the NFL because of their success and the “Spygate” incident in which Belichick was fined $500,000, the Patriots were assessed a $250,000 fine, and they were docked their first-round draft pick for videotaping New York Jets defensive coaches’ signals in a 2007 game.
“Everything the Patriots do winds up in a controversy,” said Bar Harbor’s Brent Barker.
“They should have known better. They had already been busted,” said Bangor’s Tom Pasternack.
“I don’t think it’s a big deal, but they should be punished,” said Jeff Devaughn, who hails from Philadelphia and is a freshman cornerback at the University of Maine.
Libbey said the “Deflategate” controversy will supply the Patriots with extra motivation.
“Belichick and Brady will rally the troops. It’ll be ‘us against the world.’ They’ll want to prove a point,” said Libbey.
“It’ll come down to the wire, but the football gods owe it to the Patriots,” predicted Costedio, referring to two great catches made by David Tyree and Mario Manningham that led the New York Giants past the Patriots in Super Bowls 42 and 46, respectively.
Barker chose the Patriots but said that “it will come down to who has the ball last.”
Tom Michaud of Winslow went with the Pats 24-21.
“Brady will be the difference,” he said.
Brown said the Patriots will win a tight game “because of their offensive diversity. They have a running game and a passing game.”
Pasternack said the Seahawks will prevail because of their defense, but his wife, Marcie, is going with New England.
The Patriots will take advantage of their “experience” to win, according to Old Town’s Dana Maxim with wife, Ann, in agreement.
Eileen Flaherty, who has been a lifelong Patriots fan and is picking them to win, said her 7-year-old nephew, Connor Flaherty, wears Rob Gronkowski (New England tight end) and Marshawn Lynch (Seattle running back) shirts.
“I’m going to have to get him straightened out,” quipped Flaherty.