Superbowl Sunday Plans?

In an audio interview with Dena Adams, Sam Sanchez, owner of Sam’s All American Sports Grill in Hillsboro Village, provides a seasoned assessment of what he anticipates for Super Bowl Sunday.

[audio: http://www.belmontvision.com/audio/Sam.mp3|titles=An interview with Sam] Interview conducted by Dena Adams, Ashley Beth Holmes and Andrew DuRant for the Belmont Vision

On Super Bowl Sunday, Sam’s All American Sports Grill in Hillsboro Village will have a surge of business around 3:30 p.m. When the pre-game show ends at 5 p.m., a cheer will go up from the partisan crowd of Green Bay Packers fans—identifiable by wedges of plastic cheese on their heads—and Pittsburgh Steelers fans—who may be wearing yellow-striped black hardhats.

Super Bowl XLV (the 45th, in case you aren’t smarter than a 5th-grader) is the event that packs a stadium in Dallas, sports bars, grills and restaurants around the country — and, from 4-8 p.m., the lobby of Kennedy Hall. Locally, the on-field action is on Fox 17, and the HD TVs at Sam’s won’t be tuned to anything else.

“It’s better than New Year’s Eve, because you don’t have to wait until midnight,” Sam Sanchez, owner of Sam’s at 1803 21st Ave. S.

So Sam’s has a packed house for the Super Bowl, with all the trappings one expects for any big game, but especially the one that is, for all practical purposes, the last one of the season. (Yes, Nashville will have the Lingerie Football League, but it so doesn’t count!)

And if the walk to and from Hillsboro Village is more than you’re up for, head to the Kennedy Lobby. They call it tailgating, even though RVs and pickup trucks must be checked at the door. Still, you’ve got hot dogs and chips, faux stadium seating and a great big projector screen for the game. There’s a bonus cause, too — the resident who wins the raffle fundraiser and the resident gets boxed seating for the game with private food service.

Be sure to keep your eyes on the commercials, too. This year, a 30-second spot costs a reported $2.8-$3 million, and that’s just to put it on the air; design and production costs jack that way, way up.

It goes up from there, too, for Chrysler. Advertising Age reported last week that Chrysler’s scheduled 2-minute spot would cost upwards of $12 million for the airtime. Standard commercial breaks during the Super Bowl are 90 seconds, but Chrysler negotiated a longer segment, according to Ad Age.

Outside of sports bars and dorm lobbies, all brimming with Super Bowl coverage, there are a few other things to do Sunday night. Bunch Library opens at 1 p.m., just in time to take you away from the pre-game show. And in the TV world beyond Fox, there’s “Buzz Lightyear” and “Tinkerbell.” Or you can just paint your toenails and go to bed early.

#SuperBowl2011