Road to The Big Game

ST. JOHN, USVI—Not too many ardent Super Bowl fans have to worry about where to watch the game. This year was different for me as I’ve been on vacation in tropical St. John in the Virgin Islands for a week, spending most days at the beach enjoying the blue waters of the Caribbean and looking at little TV (save for a lively Clinton-Obama debate).

Though we had a TV at our place, my travel partners and I decided to scout some options that would offer some “local party flavor”. Too bad that the likeliest spot, a beach bar called Skinny Legs, was on the farthest side of this extremely hilly island. This dive (complete with menu printed on a surfboard) was recently named one of Esquire’s best bars in America.  It was started by two mainland friends, Moe of Massachusetts and Doug from New Jersey. Clearly, New England fans ruled the joint as Patriot gear sprouted everywhere, from caps and beach towels to a waitress wearing a Brady jersey. Indeed, locals advised that if we wanted to catch the game here, that we grab a table for lunch—and not move. 

In a bid for less driving and more Giant-friendly territory on Sunday night, we decided on choices that were closer to home. For some reason the Balcony Bar here didn’t have a TV and was offering its usual Sunday jazz band. At the Gekko Bar, someone had plugged in a Nintendo Wii to play some baseball instead of the pre-game show (and most folks didn’t seem to mind). We ended up hopping between a few spots with names like Rhum Lines, the Banana Deck and The Quiet Mon bar, which all had sizeable crowds cheering for big plays. This year the tight game was definitely a crowd pleaser.

One big adjustment: the Fox game feed came from a Virgin Islands cable station, so roughly half the advertisements were for local services—from insurance to real estate and office equipment. The state-siders in the audience all began playing a bizarre version of  “Was that a real Super Bowl ad or not?” with some looking to me for guidance (occupational hazard, but I’ve gotten used to it). Most of these ads were real cheesy, with no production values to speak of. Thankfully, by halftime, we headed back home to see Tom Petty and I got extra help by checking into the Adweek live Web chat for tips on the spots we’d missed.

As the game continued, you could hear loud cheers punctuate the tranquil night air normally filled with the sounds of frogs and crickets. And the Giants fans weren’t disappointed. Yep, it was a memorable game in many respects, and one that’ll send me to the Web to see more of the real ads (as soon as I’m back in civilization.)

by Karen Benezra, Nielsen Connect