By Elizabeth Ferszt,
Contributing Writer
A free Super Bowl party was held at the Michigan Theater of Jackson on Sunday Feb. 9, from 6 p.m. to close. The event was attended by over 100 people, including a camera and reporter crew from Fox News, Lansing.
The big game, between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, was bittersweet to many in the audience, as the Detroit Lions had been favored to make it to the New Orleans site.
The majority of viewers seemed to be supporting the Philadelphia Eagles, the 2024-25 AFC Champions, over the Kansas City Chiefs, the NFC 2024-25 Champions.
Michigan Theatre CEO, Steve Tucker could be seen vacuuming new, albeit heirloom-designed, art-Deco pattern carpets before the game. And setting up a hot dogs and chips buffet, as well as other concessions, including popcorn, candy, pop, bottled water, wine, and beer.
The venue continues its commitment to engaging the community, by offering a wide variety of live music shows, movies, concerts, presentations, and sporting events.
A young fan sporting a Patrick Mahomes’ side-tight, curls-on-top, haircut, said he would have to “shave his head if the Chiefs lose.” By half-time, the Eagles were ahead, 24-0, and Mahomes had thrown two interceptions.
There were, however, technical difficulties of the broadcast on the big screen, as the theater was using an Xfinity feed, without any WIFI hotspot or modem equipment. Indeed, the video feed stopped a few times and buffered back to YouTube TV, saying connection ‘timed-out’; then lost at least two and half minutes of live game time.
For example, while the screen showed an official Tom Cruise-narrated introduction to Super Bowl 59, the game had already commenced, 0-0, with the Eagles in possession. Then, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts connected to receiver A.J. Brown for a twenty-yard pass on 4th down, but that was drawn back due to an offensive foul (face-mask) on the part of Brown over the KC defender.
The audience good-naturedly grumbled and got up to inquire about the disruptions and get more concessions, but it was no comparison to the broadcast disruption at local station WKHM 101.9 FM – which if you wanted to listen to the game by radio, was essentially off air, and only played its call name on infinite loop.
Jackson resident Jon Casey stated, “Looks like they [Mich. Theatre] have lost their connection.”
The audience was also there for the infamously expensive and over-produced commercials, which got a luke-warm response, except for the childhood cancer spot, which was inspiring.
The final score was 40-14 and the Michigan Theatre audience was elated – the Eagles had won.
