By Christina M. Wright, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON, Ind. – Fans across Madison County will hunker down in front of televisions of all sizes to root on their favorite team in the Super Bowl. But a lucky few have journeyed to the much-warmer Miami for the big game.
“It feels great,” said Max Hains, a season ticket holder from Anderson.
Hains said he and his three sons drove the 1,221 miles from Indiana to the sunny South Florida.
“We only got two tickets,” he said, laughing with his boys in the background. “I brought the other two for a consolation prize.”
Getting tickets for the game was, as usual, the luck of the draw or connections.
Sindi Schug, from North Carolina, surprised her dad, from Pendleton, with tickets that a client gave her.
“I’m way beyond spoiled,” she said. “And so is he now, because of me.”
Schug said her father fought snow delays Friday, and missed his connecting flight in North Carolina.
“It’s been a long day yesterday,” she said. “But we got tickets, so we’re good now.”
The sunny upper 70s and 80s Florida weather isn’t lost on the Hoosiers.
“Bad news (for Andersonians still in town): I’m standing here in shorts and a T-shirt,” said 69-year-old Jerry Sale, who met his wife in Florida for the game and will be joined by two other couples. “The closer we got to Miami today, the warmer it got.”
Hains joked that his and his son’s game appearance might be decided by the sun.
“We haven’t decided about the face paint; we’re a little concerned about the suntan we’d get,” he said.
Sale and his wife, Karen, were standing in line Saturday night at the Cafe Iguana with 400 to 500 other Colts fans when The Herald Bulletin reached them.
“We came down here to have fun, and we’re going to have it,” he said, with a roaring crowd in the background.
The Sales said they have been Colts fans “since the Mayflower first landed,” and have attended 267 games since 1984 – when the Colts made the move from Baltimore to Indianapolis.
“That includes three games and the last Super Bowl,” Sale said.
The Hoosier fans said they planned to head out early for the game since the gates open at 11 a.m.
For the unlucky family members who won’t be cheering next to their jersey-wearing relatives, the experience will be different, but they’ll still be watching the game.
Hains’s other two sons will most likely watch the game together in Florida, although their father doesn’t know their plans.
And, Schug’s mother will have to watch the game from her living room with her nephews and nieces.
“She’s not allowed to leave the house,” Schug said of her dad’s strict orders to his wife because of the seven inches of snow floating about in Pendleton.
Contact Christina M. Wright, 640-4883, christina.wright@heraldbulletin.com.
