It’s a Super Bowl--but It’s Not the Only Game in Town

So you’re a follower of the Super Bowl philosophy of former Dallas Cowboys running back Duane Thomas, who once remarked, “If it’s the ultimate, how come they’re playing it again next year?”

And your only goal is to be as far out of earshot of Super Bowl XXI as possible at the 3 p.m. kickoff Sunday. Well, you do have a few options.

You could:

- Don earmuffs and immerse yourself in a sensory deprivation tank at the Altered States Flotation Center in West Hollywood. You’re afraid of the water? No problem. Altered also offers a synchro-energizer reclining chair to deprive you of your senses until the final gun sounds at the Rose Bowl.

- Catch Robert Gruenberg’s juggling act at Venice Beach. Don’t worry about nearby radios blaring the game. Gruenberg juggles chain-saws. Their melody will drown out any broadcast.

- Get married. The Queen Mary in Long Beach and the Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, both usually booked up for nuptials on weekends, have plenty of openings this Sunday afternoon. The Rev. Harvey Tafel of the Wayfarers Chapel is making alternate plans. “I’m a rabid football fan and I hope to get to watch the Super Bowl,” he admitted. “I’m picking Denver. They have the better quarterback.”

- Head for the King’s Head Pub in Santa Monica. The pub promises to have no television (or even radio!) on the premises. “A lot of our customers are football fans,” said co-owner Ruth Elwell, “but they’re British football (soccer) fans.”

Of course, if you are trying to escape the Super Bowl--if you fondly recall the first one in Los Angeles two decades ago because the telecast was blacked out locally--you’re in a minority.

On Sunday afternoon, Southern California, like other areas of the nation, will resemble a colony of troglodytes as an estimated 80 million people huddle in darkened rooms around television sets.

But the virtual absence of outdoor life should afford rare Sunday afternoon opportunities for non-fans. Parking spots may be available on the streets of Westwood, tee times open on area golf courses and seats available at the Original Pantry Cafe downtown instead of the usual line of 50 people waiting outside.

Librarian Greg Rice likes Super Bowl day for another reason: “It’s always a great time to go to the gym because there’s usually about three other people there,” he said. “It’s also a good time to go shopping for a car, which I might do this year.”

Movies and theaters are affected too. Below-normal ticket sales for the Sunday matinee of “Sweet Bird of Youth” represent only one of Drew Murphy’s problems as Ahmanson Theater general manager.

“(The play) closes Sunday and the company’s supposed to fly to New York Monday and I’m having trouble finding (plane) reservations,” Murphy said. “And we have another show coming in, and I’m having trouble getting (the new cast) into any hotels.”

The one place to avoid Sunday is any Pasadena-area freeway, what with 104,000 spectators attending the game.

Pasadena Police Lt. Lynn Froistad recommends that Super Bowlers get to the Rose Bowl no later than 11 a.m. “There is a pregame show at noon,” Froistad pointed out. “The 134 and 210 (freeways) are really going to be jammed between noon and two hours after the game (about 9 p.m.).”

In fact, Froistad suggested that rather than motoring to the stadium, fans should park near the corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Union Streets, where they can catch a 15-minute shuttle bus ride for $1.70, round trip. Recreational vehicle parking in nearby Brookside Park ($30 a night) will be available beginning Friday at noon.

Compounding Super Bowl traffic woes in Pasadena, there’s also a near-sellout crowd expected at nearby Ambassador Auditorium for a 2 p.m. performance by the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra. “You know, a lot of classical music fans aren’t big football fans,” said Ambassador marketing director Sam Lurie. Fortunately, the Ambassador seats only about 1,300 people.

Aerial traffic is also a concern. The Federal Aviation Administration has issued temporary air-space restrictions, instructing planes--except those of law enforcement authorities and the media--to stay 2,500 feet above sea level in the area of the Rose Bowl. Balloonists, hang gliders and ultra-lights have been banned from the vicinity.

None of which matters to Gruenberg the juggler, who plans to be on the boardwalk in Venice 25 miles west of Pasadena with his chain saws.

Just back from a gig aboard a cruise ship--”The director told me afterward, ‘I didn’t know the chain saws were real! ‘ “--he said he looks forward to performing at the beach on Super Bowl Sunday.

“A lot of women who don’t like sports come down on days like this,” explained Gruenberg, 27 and single.