Biggest Fans: Super Bowl turns friends into foes

Packers fan, graduate student Ryan Centi

St. Edward’s accounting graduate students Ryan Centi and Jimmy Nurre might be close friends, but come Feb. 6 these two buddies will be rooting against each other as their favorite teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, compete in the Super Bowl held in Arlington this year.

Packers: St. Edward’s graduate accounting student Ryan Centi might have been born in Jamestown, NY and raised in South Texas near the Valley, but as far as football is concerned, the team donning hunter green and taxicab gold is the only one he roots for.

Centi, an avid Green Bay Packers fan since he was young, doesn’t think he is too weird for liking the Packers in the state dominated by loyal devotees of “America’s Team,” the Dallas Cowboys.

“People who don’t know me sometimes think I’m weird, but all my friends know that I’m not a bandwagon fan, and I always like the same team in all sports no matter what,” Centi said.

As far as believing his team would make the Super Bowl this year, Centi said that he picks his team any and every year, regardless of how successful a season he thinks they will have.

“I still actually can’t believe they are in the Super Bowl, honestly,” Centi said. “One of my favorite games was this year when Aaron Rodgers beat Brett Favre. They’ve been saying in the media that there is always something Rodgers can’t do, but now he’s in the Super Bowl.”

Even though the Super Bowl is a mere three-hour car ride away this year, Centi isn’t too upset that he can’t see his favorite team in action.

“I started looking for Super Bowl tickets right when the playoffs started because I am kind of a (Indianapolis) Colts fan,” Centi said. “I wanted to see if they would both make it, but the tickets were just too expensive.”

Centi won’t be able to see his team in person, but he will be watching the game in full Packers attire with friends. However, one person he won’t be watching the game with is close friend Jimmy Nurre.

“He [Jimmy Nurre] won’t even watch the game with me,” Centi said. “You know, he just doesn’t want to have to be crying when the Packers do win.”  

Steelers: Growing up in a family of loyal Cincinnati Bengals fans, St. Edward’s graduate student Jimmy Nurre has always been a rebellious child, which to his family includes his devotion to the Pittsburgh Steelers, major division rivals of the Bengals.

“Since I was originally from Pennsylvania, I wanted to pick a division rival to the Bengals, and since that time I’ve been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan for as long as I can remember,” Nurre said.

As far as believing that the Steelers would make it to the Super Bowl this year, Nurre said that he had a lot of hesitation going into the beginning of the season.

“To be completely honest, I didn’t think we would make it this year,” Nurre said. “Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for four weeks, and I thought we were going to lose all four of those games. We also had a really tough schedule. However, I was pleasantly surprised when we made the Super Bowl.”

Nurre says that the most difficult thing about the Steelers headed to the Super Bowl this year is the fact that he won’t be able to see them in person, even though the game is just a few hours away.

“I am absolutely devastated I can’t go to the game, especially when I found out tickets were going for around $4,000, which isn’t very do-able on a college budget,” Nurre said. “It’s almost worse having the Super Bowl here than having it in a place that is completely out of reach.”

Nurre will, however, be watching the game with fellow Steelers fans at Bikinis on 6th Street, a local Steelers bar downtown.

“I’m not watching the game with [Ryan] Centi because he likes to talk a lot of smack,” Nurre said. “Win or lose, I’d rather be with fellow Steelers fans.”