Going the Whole Nine Yards : Cowboy Mania Peaks for Lancaster Woman as Super Bowl XXX Arrives

There are Super Bowl parties, and then there are Marie Delia’s Super Bowl parties.

For the sixth consecutive year, friends and relatives from across the state will gather at Delia’s two-story gated home in a desolate stretch of Antelope Valley desert to celebrate football’s biggest event.

What makes today’s game even more exciting for Delia is that her beloved Dallas Cowboys are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX. The Cowboys, whose team flag will be flying in front of Delia’s house, hope to win their third NFL title in four years.

“We eat and drink and have a good time,” said Delia, 53, who expects a crowd of 20 to 25 people. “You would have to come on Super Bowl [Sunday] to believe it. I can’t wait. When it gets close [to game time], it gets to where we’re almost sick to our stomachs. We’re so nervous for the players. I can’t imagine being those kids out there, or being their moms.

“Can you imagine?”

Some might ask the same question regarding Delia’s “Cowboy Room.” The room, which measures 20 feet by 40 feet, was built more than two years ago by Delia’s husband, Joe, after the Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills in the 1993 Super Bowl. The old party room simply became too small to comfortably accommodate everyone, Marie said.

“I did it for her,” Joe said of the addition, which is equipped with a 105-inch projection television and a seven-speaker surround-sound system.

Joe, 48, a reserve officer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said his wife’s passion for football far exceeds his interest in the sport.

“I don’t watch football at all, she does,” Joe said. “The only reason I hope [the Cowboys] win is so I can stay in the house that night.”

Marie, a receptionist for a Sun Valley trucking company, has decorated her Cowboy Room with an eye-catching array of player photos, memorabilia and team merchandise, not to mention an aquarium housing six turtles named after Dallas players.

There are autographed color photos of Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith, quarterback Troy Aikman and tight end Jay Novacek, all neatly embossed over mounted plaques. On another wall are four team-photo plaques commemorating Dallas’ Super Bowl champions from the 1971, ‘77, ’92 and ’93 seasons.

There is a replica of the Cowboy helmet that doubles as a telephone, and two other helmets that serve as chip and dip bowls. There is a Cowboy lamp, two framed Cowboy lithographs and assorted other mementos, all of which Marie says she collected or was given as gifts.

The only thing that seems out of place is the Christmas tree that stands in a corner of the room. The tree is still decorated.

“We don’t take it down until after the Super Bowl,” Marie explained. “That’s a tradition.”

Marie, who grew up in Baldwin Park, became a Cowboy fan after her parents divorced and her father moved to Irving, Texas, home of Texas Stadium, where the Cowboys play. Her first recollections are of watching Cowboy teams quarterbacked by Roger Staubach.

“Every time we’d go back to Irving to visit Daddy, we’d make sure it was a home game,” Marie said. “So we just became Cowboy fans. Once a Cowboy fan, always a Cowboy fan.”

Marie’s father died a few years ago, but the family has carried on the tradition of supporting “America’s Team.” Marie’s sisters, Patsy Robison and Jeanie Lundy, both of Bakersfield, are big Cowboys fans, as is Marie’s best friend, Pat Prather of Covina. A photo of Prather with former Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson hangs in Marie’s Cowboy Room.

Marie attended the Cowboys game at San Diego this season--a 23-9 Dallas victory--and she attended one game at Texas Stadium last season.

“We go to every game we can, but we’re not rich,” Marie said. “When I retire, I’d love to have enough money to follow them from game to game. That would be a dream.”

Until that day, Marie says she will be quite happy watching the Cowboys on her big-screen television. She enjoyed Dallas’ 38-27 victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship game two weeks ago, and she knows the Super Bowl will provide more excitement.

“It’s going to get pretty loud,” she said. “There’s wall-to-wall people and everybody’s shouting. . . . It’s pretty crazy.

“I feel like I’m out there coaching, like they’re my sons. If they lose, I can’t stand to go to work on Monday.”

However, Marie doesn’t give Pittsburgh much of a chance of beating the Cowboys. After all, an AFC team hasn’t won the Super Bowl since the Los Angeles Raiders in 1984.

“The Cowboys are going to win, hands down,” she said.

Joe Delia says he’ll know it’s close to game time when his wife and her sisters start holding various dolls, trolls and teddy bears dressed in Cowboy garb.

“They’re weird,” Joe said. “Just before the kickoff, all three sisters stand up and they’re holding their little creatures. I walk in the house and say, ‘They’re nuts,’ and go outside again.”

And the party begins.