Super Bowl fans: Behind the face paint and feathers to possible stardom
Super fans of both the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will be dressed to the nines for the Super Bowl Sunday. And one website wants fans to vote for their favorite.
Brian Evensen, an teacher at Walla Walla (WA) Community College, gets the back of his head painted with the Seattle skyline Friday morning, Jan. 30, 2015, at the hands of student Makiah Steen. The cosmetology department was busy with school and community members coming by for free Hawkmania make-overs.
Greg Lehman, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin/AP
While news that Seattle Seahawks super fan “Mama Blue”will make it to Super Bowl XLIX Sunday in all her glitzy glory, she’s going to have to step up her game if she wants to make it into the lineup of painted faces, costumes, props, beads, glitter of those currently competing to win votes for The 19 Craziest Super Bowl Fans of All Time in an online poll.
“Mama Blue, whose real name is Patti Hammond, missed out on a ticket lottery to the game,” according to KOMO News.
However the Seahawks intervened, making tickets available to her so she can stand up and cheer in Phoenix with the old school “Hawks” cheer:
"Give 'em the ax, the ax, the ax,
Give 'em the ax - where?
Give 'em the ax, the ax, the ax.
Give em the ax - there!
Go Hawks, wooo!"
While there is a good deal of speculation over what costumes halftime performer Katy Perry will wear, those watching the game from home may find what the fans like Mama Blue are wearing even more entertaining - for years to come.
Hence the online voting has commenced on the Ranker websites where people get to cast their virtual vote on everything from Top 10 Non-Traditional Bridesmaid Dresses Trends 2015 to Belfast's Most Romantic Restaurant.
“When your team makes it to the Super Bowl, it's pretty easy to get on your team or city's bandwagon. What better way to show your support by getting dressed up in your team's garb and put on some ridiculous gear,” according to the fan site, Ranker.
“That's what the spirit of this list celebrates. For the psycho fan in all of us, this list honors the best of the best, the cream of the crop. The fans you'll see on this list are fans who not only made their way to the Super Bowl but managed to stand out above any other of their fellow fans that captured the eye of the camera.”
At home, fans paint their faces, don lucky items, stock up on official team-themed party supplies, perfect the dip-to-chip ratio and perform zany rituals. Hardcore Super Bowl XLIX fans have already forgotten "Deflate-Gate," who’s performing at half-time and how cute the commercial puppies are in anticipation of their favorite event of the year.
However, there is an even more flamboyant route to dedication that includes spending the princely sum to fly to the Super Bowl city and arrive in a state of euphoria powerful enough to make a grown man rip off his shirt, paint his chest in his team’s colors, don a fright wig and other wacktacular ornamentation and perhaps brandish a witty sign while whooping for your team.
Just the costume alone can be pricey with official jerseys for Patriots fans price as follows: Tom Brady ($95), Rob Gronkowski ($95) or Jerod Mayo ($69.97). Seahawks fans have a choice between Marshawn Lynch ($95) and Richard Sherman ($95).
Then comes the cost of wigs, glitter, foam fingers, sunglasses, hats, stuff that lights up, jingles and honks.
Commercials at this time of year often pay homage more to the fans than the game or the teams. Even Disney got in on the act, painting legions of dedicated fans as hilarious “Minions” from the film, "Despicable Me."
Some of the best Super Bowl fan-tastic costumes came out of Super Bowl XLVII, when the Baltimore Ravens took on the San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans – a city which lends itself to over-the-top costume drama.
Many a manly-man, father and business person has been caught on a stadium camera sporting a feather boa color-coordinated to his team’s colors while leaping gleefully and waiving a foam finger.
Numerous moms, grandmothers and CEOs have had their colorful images beamed into the homes of millions as they whooped through painted lips beneath oversized sunglasses and mile-high fan wigs.
Worse is when those mega-fans whose heads have been shaved and painted to match their team’s logos, are seen weeping their metallic face paint off after their team’s loss.