Super Bowl in Istanbul: Not your average party

A cold, late-Sunday night breeze swept the stragglers off the street as I stepped into Istanbul's largest Irish pub, the James Joyce near Taksim. Through the foggy windows, I glimpsed a handful of drunk folk singing, clapping and dancing to the strumming and fiddling of a four-piece jig band.

At the door, I was greeted by a soft spoken Turk in thin-rimmed glasses sporting a pony tail and a goatee. He could have been Irish. Over his shoulder I caught sight of a smattering of expats, cheerful amid the dim light, the hardwood furnishings and the cluttered decor. The doorway could have been a direct portal to the emerald island afar.

I inquired of the night's game, the NFL Super Bowl, the American football championship, the mythically massive annual sporting event with arguably the single largest global television audience each year.

The soft spoken Turk said they were thinking to show it, but needed 20 to 30 people to stay open late and so far there were just three and me. And then there were eight more. And three more. And then five and we had a game to watch.

I could sense the mixed sentiment among the bar staff. Seven time zones removed meant kick-off was at 1:20 a.m. Local time for a game that could last four hours.

The game was setting up to be a match of epic proportions. Pitted against each other were two teams that could not have had more opposite historic success. The Pittsburgh Steelers were the heavy favorites and on the verge of winning their sixth Super Bowl, the most in NFL history. The Arizona Cardinals were entering into their first Super Bowl in the club's 60-year history.

“The Cards may as well be the Bad News Bears,” said Adam Rapp from New York City.

Uneasy mood
The soft spoken barman ushered us upstairs to where they kept the large-screen television. We took our seats and a weirdness settled over the room. Everyone speaks native English, but not everyone is friends and I could sense an unease in the mood as people re-accustomed themselves to being surrounded by native speakers. The beer helped, too.

Present were mostly Americans, second were four Canadians, and then one Finnish, one Japanese and one Turk. There were two girls, both Canadian. When Pittsburgh scored early, there was one genuine supporter at the back. Two others claimed to support Pittsburgh because everyone seemed to be rooting for the underdog. No one believed Arizona could pull it off, but everyone was really hoping they would find a way.

Though only scoring three points on a field goal, Pittsburgh dominated through the first quarter and by its end, it did not look good for Arizona. Early in the second quarter, Pittsburgh made sure it was looking bad with a touchdown and a 10-point lead.

I could not help but let my feelings be known. “Come on, Arizona. At least make it interesting.”
And the crowd responded.

“Maybe John Madden (a commentator) will die,” a man said at the back.

“Really, that's like saying, 'I hope Jesus doesn't come back,'” his friend retorted and the room shook with laughter over the banter. The beer and the game were oiling the wheels of interaction as strangers bonded through a shared interest.

Crowd going wild
And then the unanticipated happened as Arizona managed to score a touchdown and put seven points on the board. The crowd went wild and everyone was quickly becoming friends. At least we knew the game was going to be interesting for a while. Little did we know.

That was about when we started to notice the boringness of the British commercials. Often people watch the Super Bowl solely for the million-dollar 30-second ad spots, but via this satellite television provider that would never be the case. There were no Budweiser horses, no bikini babes and no hilarity ensuing during commercial breaks.

Good thing then the game was plenty entertaining. As the second quarter neared its end, Arizona neared another touchdown and we neared the edge of our seats. Instead of seeing what we all would have guessed impossible (Arizona leading in the game), we witnessed what surely was a once-in-a-lifetime play.

Super game
A Pittsburgh defender stole the ball and ran the full 100 yards, a new record for the longest defensive score in Super Bowl history. It was phenomenal to watch a massive man, normally honed for bone crushing hits, instead lumber at full stride down the length of the field dodging tackles and holding onto the ball for dear life. With every step we were sure someone would take down James Harrison, the NFL Defender of the Year, but he just kept going.

Arizona nearly stopped him on the goal line. We wanted Arizona to stop him, but before the referees could decide if he had scored or not, our crowd awarded him the touchdown, if only for the effort. In the end, the refs sided with us. Pittsburgh took a commanding 17 to seven lead.

“This is such a Super Bowl game,” said Jonathan Makiri from Los Angeles.

During Bruce Springsteen's halftime show, he entertained with some classic hits. But what really entertained us were the efforts by a few to figure out the remotes. Unannounced, the satellite receiver had decided it was going into sleep mode and the ruckus to intervene was comical.

Halftime was also when we learned that our Super Bowl party was a lock-in party. A few people attempted to head out for food, only to discover that we were locked in for the duration of the game. The time was about 3:30 a.m.

In the third quarter, Arizona was killed by penalties, but their defense was surprisingly resilient. Too bad, because by the end of the third quarter, people were getting bored and the bar staff were asking if we wanted to leave. More than half of the group decided to call it a night at about 4:30 a.m.

And then the fourth quarter came and Arizona started to build on the momentum of its defense by adding seven points with its offense. The score was now 20-14 and Arizona's defense was again working hard against Pittsburgh's offense. So hard in fact that they managed to score two points on a safety, one of the rarest ways to score points. Suddenly it was 20-16 and Arizona would get the ball again.

“They really could be the Bad News Bears if they just had a woman quarterback,” said Rapp.

Missing the final twist
Arizona played quickly and with one long strike sent Larry Fitzgerald, their star receiver all the way for seven points to take the lead. Unfortunate for one among our group who had to take a bathroom break.

“Oh man, what did I miss?” the Turk said.

“Best Super Bowl I've ever watched,” said Christopher Booksh from New Orleans.

“And the best part is that 80 percent of our crowd went home,” said Rapp.

To Pittsburgh's delight, their star receiver stepped up and made a picture-perfect catch as he fell out of bounds but managed ever-so-delicately to keep his toes pointed and staked to the ground. He could have been a ballerina. There was 49 seconds left on the clock. It was 5:15 a.m.

“If you want the Cards to win, I could go to the bathroom again,” said the Turk.

But it was too little too late. The Pittsburgh Steelers won 27-23 and captured their sixth title. And we all went home thoroughly entertained.