What Game? : For Some, a Day on the Lake Beats Even the Ultimate in Football Any Time

For about 250 people who skipped Super Sunday and chose instead to travel out to Irvine Lake, trout, nice weather and a day of fishing beats three hours of even the best televised football.

“We hate golf anyway,” joked Kurt Hetzmaneder, 28.

The Huntington Beach resident and four companions all had a blase attitude toward football as they bobbed in a rented skiff under sunny skies. Mike Hudson, 30, of Huntington Beach said he couldn’t care less who won the game.

When asked what he’d caught during his 10-hour stretch at the lake, Hudson replied, “Just a buzz.” He said that he and his wife, Ellen, and two friends would be leaving soon to head for a nearby bar--not to watch The Game, but because they were running out of beer.

In a moment of seriousness, Ellen, 26, said Super Bowl Sunday is always a good day for fishing. “We figured it would be a perfect day for it,” she said. “We didn’t think anybody would be here.”

Might Watch the Highlights

A few hundred yards away, three fishermen proudly held up the best of 11 trout they had reeled in. The trio wasn’t completely disinterested in the Ultimate Football Game. “We might watch the highlights on the news,” said Gene Tolson, 70, of Gardena.

“We can watch sports any time, but it’s not that often we can all get together and go fishing,” explained Mack (Greek) Mercuriadis, 64, of Torrance.

Not everyone was ecstatic about skipping the Super Bowl, however.

Trolling westward around closing time, Clarence Kanae, 31, and Russell Jones, 19, both of Marino Valley, admitted they hadn’t had much luck. “They haven’t caught anything,” said Kanae’s 3-year-old son, Justin.

“We shoulda stayed home,” Jones said.

Meanwhile, other Orange County residents joined an estimated 130 million people around the world huddled in front of TV sets, at parties or with other fans in bars.

At the Orange Circle Saloon in Orange there was a sparse crowd of about 50 people, as evidenced by only four Harley-Davidsons and a Honda moped parked out front. Inside, where bar employees prepared “free barbecued chicken with all the fixin’s” for halftime, Denver fans flung popcorn and peanuts at the wide-screen TV as Bronco quarterback John Elway was sacked for a safety in the end zone.

As CBS commentator John Madden explained how the play developed, the same fans yelled expletives and ordered Madden to “shut up.”

Green Bay Fan

George Laidemitt, 28, of Orange said he was actually a Green Bay Packers fan, but he was rooting for the Giants because he had bet on the East Coast team to win. “If these guys score a field goal,” said an attentive Laidemitt, “I’ll be $300 richer at the end of this quarter.” They didn’t, and he didn’t win the big stakes.

One woman taking in the game admitted that she wasn’t exactly enthralled. “Actually, I hate football,” she confided. “When it’s . . . so nice, I’d rather be outdoors.”