By Nathan Duke
Football fans from all across Queens began filling bars and house parties for the big game early in the day, making Super Bowl Sunday an all-day happy hour.”You know it's serious when you start to drink before noon,” said Vinnie Bolo, a Middle Village resident who watched the game with 25 friends at a 213th Street house party in Bayside.Bolo, who threw a football on the street with several other partygoers in the early afternoon, said a majority of the friends with whom he watched the game were Patriots fans from Long Island. But he said he refused to use the “Go Patriots” napkins being passed out at the celebration.”It's all in good fun,” he said. “We're all cool with each other.”Other borough residents watched the Giants' stunning 17-14 upset in the company of family and friends. Gary Giordano, district manager of Community Board 5 in Glendale, said he had faith all along that the Giants could pull it off and win their third Super Bowl title.”It was just wonderful – I always felt that if they held onto the ball and could get to the other team's quarterback, they could do it,” he said. “Our team has the heart of a lion.”Michael Drogan said he watched Giants quarterback Eli Manning throw the game-winning touchdown to Plaxico Burress with 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter from his Douglaston home.”It was a good game,” he said. “It was close and exciting because the outcome wasn't decided until two minutes left in the game. I'm actually a [New York] Jets fan, but I'm happy for the Giants and Eli Manning.”Candice Stern, who watched the game from Bourbon Street restaurant on Bell Boulevard in Bayside and bet more than $70 in three pools, said she had just been excited that the Giants, who were 12-point underdogs, had made it to the Super Bowl for the first time in eight years.”We haven't been in the Super Bowl since 2000, so it's kind of special,” she said.Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
