Butler County celebrates Super Bowl 60
FORWARD TWP — With the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks battling it out in a Super Bowl rematch, people across America — and Butler County — gathered Sunday, Feb. 8, to partake in the biggest television night of the year.
Fans who gathered at the Beacon Hotel for its annual pregame celebration Sunday leaned strongly in support of the Seahawks.
Tyler Conley, who was spending his Sunday at the Forward Township restaurant, said he cared more about seeing the quarterbacks succeed than the teams. While he mulled over both quarterbacks for a while, he ended up putting his support behind the Seahawks.
“I like Drake Maye — he’s a good kid, and he can throw. But Sam Darnold has also been in it a lot longer,” he said.
He added that he loves following quarterbacks with long careers because of the story their career becomes.
“He played good games for bad teams and bad games for good teams, so it would be cool to see him win one,” Conley said of Darnold. “It’s like when Matt Stafford went to the (Los Angeles) Rams, and they won the Super Bowl. That’s the kind of story I look for.”
While he doesn’t regularly tune in to either team’s games, he guessed that the Seahawks would have the advantage based on a strong defensive line.
Conley said he considered betting on the game, but felt that he tends to be less than lucky when it comes to sports betting.
“I don’t know, I’ve been pretty lucky lately, I might put something down,” he said. “I don’t ever win on sports betting. Lately, I’ve been winning a lot of raffles.”
Nick Krelow, son of hotel owners Debra and Greg Krelow, said the restaurant usually fills with regulars for the game each year, so they decided they would use Sunday to give back.
The hotel encouraged regulars to bring food for a potluck while the bar provided hot dogs and potato salad.
“Everybody loves to share and act like a family. Sometimes we’ll do five-foot hoagies, and give it away at halftime. It’s just about giving back to the customers for being here and doing stuff,” he said.
Personally, Krelow said he doesn’t feel a strong preference for either team, but ultimately hopes the Seahawks come out on top.
“I guess the Seahawks, just because I don’t want the Patriots to have another ring,” he said.
Bill and Sara Hess, two regulars, were also enjoying their time at the bar, waiting for the game. They said they’ve watched the Super Bowl every year since moving to the area at the location.
“We just moved down here from Michigan about 4 years ago,” Bill Hess said.
The two of them were also rooting for the Seahawks in hopes of stopping the Patriots from getting another ring, as they are both Steelers fans.
“I like getting together with friends and watching the game,” Sara Hess said.
Before coming to the Beacon, they said they tuned into the Puppy Bowl as well.
“Our dog was watching the Puppy Bowl,” she said. “I have a picture of him standing on the TV looking at the dogs.”
Another couple, Kathy and Brad Tresky, said they are on the fence about what team to support and are just going to enjoy the game. They said they appreciated the pregame festivities, but prefer watching alone.
“We come here a lot, but not for the game. We watch our games at home. I like to sit and really watch a game,” Kathy Tresky said.
While the game will be interesting to watch regardless of who wins, she said she hopes the commercials are entertaining.
“I hope they have good commercials,” she said. “Last year, they weren’t so good. They weren’t as exciting as other years.”
