WATCHING FOR THE WINNER; SUPER BOWL FANS RALLY FOR GLIMPSE OF BIG GAME

As the public address announcer at Miami's Pro Player Stadium began to introduce the teams for Sunday's Super Bowl XXXIII, the crowd at Cape Girardeau's River City Yacht Club began to hoop and holler.

A chorus of boos and jeers filled the room when he announced the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Denver Broncos. Of the 100 people that crowded in to watch the game on the club's big screen television, the vast majority was rooting for Denver's opponent, the Atlanta Falcons.

"Always root for the underdog," said Dave Reynolds of Cape Girardeau, "unless they're playing the Packers."

Reynolds, an obvious Green Bay fan, picked Atlanta to win by a modest spread of four points. He sat at a table with seven of his buddies where they had been since about 3 in the afternoon, getting up only occasionally to grab some more Buffalo wings from the buffet.

When he was asked how the food was, he just smiled. "It's free," he said.

Reynolds' tablemate, Dave Roberts of Cape Girardeau, was more bold in his prediction on the outcome of the game, saying that Atlanta would win by seven.

"I've got $75 on the Falcons," he said.

Scarcely 20 feet away sat Scott Taylor and his friends cheering loudly for the Broncos. When John Elway, the Denver quarterback, was introduced Taylor yelled the loudest.

"I'm an Elway fan," he said unabashedly. "He's the greatest quarterback of all time."

Taylor, who has lived in Cape Girardeau for two years, counts the Broncos as his hometown team.

"My parents live in Denver," he said.

Then, gesturing toward the Atlanta fans who surrounded him, he added, "We seem a little outnumbered, but we'll go for a win and walk out victorious."

Gena Felton, a public relations major at Southeast Missouri State University, shared Taylor's admiration for the Bronco quarterback. Felton worked during the game as one of the Bud Girls, visiting several bars in the Cape Girardeau for River Eagle Distribution to promote their products.

Dressed in referee outfits, the five-member promotion team, headed up by Blaine Lawson, had already been to three places by the time the game actually began and were looking to head to a few more.

"It's the biggest holiday in January," Lawson said. "What else is going on?"

While at Cape Girardeau's Playdium Sports Bar, the group paused only to listen to the commercials. In fact, the whole bar seemed to grow much quieter each time the network cut away from the game itself to the commercials.

As they went back to game, Felton turned away from the television.

"I'm rooting for Denver," she said, "because Elway's the best and because their uniforms are the neatest."