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The bars on campus hope to attract viewers to their establishments by offering food and drink specials throughout the game. Photo by Brad Thorp

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Firehaus »
Address: 708 S. Sixth St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 344-4171
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Legends »
Address: 522 E. Green St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 355-7674
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• Touchdown treats

Super Bowl XLIV is just days away, and local places around CU are preparing for crowds of Colts, Saints and commercials fans to flood their facilities.

The American Football Conference will send the Indianapolis Colts, who have an almost undefeated season. The team suffered one of its two losses to the New York Jets after the coach took quarterback Peyton Manning out of the game. However, the team has deserved its spot in the race for the National Championship on Sunday and the chance to reclaim its title from Super Bowl XL.

The New Orleans Saints have a different background. The Cinderalla-story team, representing the National Football Conference, will be making its first-ever appearaznce in the championship game. The Saints’ running back Reggie Bush helped take the team to the top. The University of Southern California alum has helped carry the team’s running game.

This Sunday, both franchises will focus all of their efforts and energy to claim the 44th Super Bowl trophy. For football lovers and fair-weather fans alike, this is the one game of the year to watch.

And if the action isn’t there, there’s always the commercials.

Places in the CU area are capitalizing on all the hype and planning big for the entire day. This week, to help you prepare for the big day, buzz suggests some places around town to watch the game.

Illini Rec Room

If you want to make the entire Sunday about the game, sign up at the Illini Rec Room in the Union for a day of Super Bowl bowling. The event begins at 10:30 a.m. and will go to 5 p.m. to make sure bowlers are settled and ready for the game at 5:30 p.m.

The event offers up to 18 games of bowling, shoe rentals, a T-shirt, lunch and up to $350 in prizes. If 30 or more people attend, supervisor Justin Brinkmeyer promises to double the amount of prizes. The cost is $55 for the day.

“It’s a lot of bowling and a lot of fun,” said Brinkmeyer. “A lot of people just love it.”

For more info, call the Rec Room at 333-2415.

Legends Bar

If venturing out to feel the spirit of football with friends is what you want, Legends is the place for you.

“We have a ton of TVs and HD screens, and there’s also our specials,” management at Legends said. “We’ve got some all-new flat screens too.”

The bar is serving up fun with its specials. It will be raffling off prizes including promotionals from the bar as well as Miller Light. The specials include a buffet at halftime and $2 dollar, 20oz Miller Light drafts.

Legends Bar starts the festivities just before kick off time. For more information, call Legends at 355-7674.

Firehaus Bar

Another local joint with food and fun is Firehaus Bar. For the entire night, the bar will be serving up alcohol specials. Everything will be $2. Special food sides include 10 chicken wings for $2.99.

“We’re also giving away a free trip to Las Vegas during halftime,” management said. “We will be doing some type of game, and that will be the big prize.”

For more information, call Firehaus at 344-4171.

Party at Home

With cold weather and ice and snow on the ground, it’s hard to motivate yourself to go out and explore Super Bowl excitement. So why not stay inside and get intimate with your couch?

Just turn on the television and tune into the game. With a lot of different places to order in food, almost all types of eateries are ready to deliver at your door.

To add some entertainment to the game, look up old Super Bowl trivia and stump your party guests with old stats and facts.

If your party is divided between Colts and Saints fans, have a banter war. Keep a tally of which teams’ fans have the best trash talk and add it up at the end with the final game score.

For more fun for non-football lovers, take votes on everyone’s favorite commercials during each break. At the end of the game, if the team you were rooting for lost, then at least there’s something else to talk about.

Wherever you and your friends end up for Super Bowl Sunday, it’s sure to be a fun day and night of preparations and entertainment. Fill up on the American classics: tasty wings, cheesy pizza and cheap drinks that just won’t taste the same after the football season is officially over.