Superbowl XL

It's not outside. There are no cars nearby, and none have their "gates" open or have people "tailing" them. But make no mistake, this is a full-on tailgate party.\n"This is a huge game," junior Dan Park says about the NFL's divisional playoff game between the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers. "We've gotta get up for this one."\nPark and his fellow orange-and-navy-clad Bears fans scream at the TV as their recently infallible defense gets torched by the Panthers' Steve Smith. The Bears would go on to lose, but that's not to the credit of the 15 or 20 inebriated students hinging on every Jake Delhomme pass. It's comfortable and warm, and everyone has a tidy seat on the couch or floor. There's plenty of food and plenty of beer -- plenty of tailgating.\n"You've gotta have a party for these types of things," Park says. "It's essentially the same thing as if we were outside the stadium, except we have the benefit of the TV and much more comfortable seats."\nStuck in the winter with no Hoosier football or close NFL team still in play, students have taken such parties indoors, moving the food, beer and hoarse vocal chords from the parking lot into the living room.\nThis season's last chance to throw together friends, food and football comes Sunday, as the Super Bowl takes over American television for about five hours.\n"For something like the Super Bowl, it doesn't matter what teams are playing," Park says. "The Super Bowl is one of those things that you have to watch no matter what."\nPark is planning a prototypical Super Bowl party, with a keg of beer, Hi-Definition TV and plenty of snack food spread around his two-bedroom apartment. Park's friend, IU junior Tom Watermann, says the games are always better this way.\n"It's great to have a bunch of people enjoying the game so much," Watermann says. "It definitely lends to the experience. In a situation like the Super Bowl, when there really isn't a team for me to root for, I'm more concerned with watching the game and having a good time than the outcome."\nPark's laid-back approach to catching the biggest football game might contrast with upscale options some choose to dress up Super Bowl XL. In "InStyle Parties: The Complete Guide to Easy, Elegant Entertaining," Los Angeles event planner Marianne Weiman-Nelson, builds a party based on the desire to help messy football fans stay classy. The end result? A southwestern buffet, martinis as the "signature drink" and a sundae bar. Oh, and don't forget the glossy paper invitations, delivered weeks in advance - a far cry from Park's typical method.\n"I usually just IM (instant message) people and tell them to come over," he says. "No big deal."\nWeiman-Nelson's tips also include a wheat-grass field with miniature football players and referees, designer-frosted cookies wrapped in cellophane and football novelty candies.\n"InStyle's" method does incorporate some of the low-end fun of a large-scale sporting event, though. Weiman-Nelson encourages a football pool among members and relates the importance of having several strategically placed TVs all over the house so "no one misses a big play."\nFor those looking to get out of the routine of house football parties, regardless of elegance or lack thereof, Bloomington bars offer diverse opportunities for drinking, eating and spectating. From Yogi's, 519 E. Tenth St., large viewing areas to Opie Taylor's, 110 N. Walnut St., array of flat-panel televisions, those looking to park it in a booth rather than a couch have tons of options.\nChris Niehaus, an assistant manager at Yogi's, says this year will present a different challenge to area bars and restaurants.\n"It's tough this year, because the two teams in the Super Bowl (the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers) don't have a lot of local interest," Niehaus says.\nThose two teams emerged from a wild playoff race that saw three losses from the area's three most popular NFL teams, the Chicago Bears, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Indianapolis Colts. Both the Bengals and the Colts -- the second and first-seeded teams, respectively -- lost wild card home games to the Steelers, in which Cincinnati star Carson Palmer suffered a devastating knee injury and Colt's kicker Mike Vanderjagt missed a game-tying field goal in the fourth quarter.\nThe Seahawks' rise to the Super Bowl was far less tumultuous than the Steelers', as No. 1-seeded Seattle defended its home field on consecutive Saturdays to capture the NFC.\nWithout the Colts, Bears and Bengals, bars like Yogi's will still attempt to maintain a healthy crowd on Sunday.\n"These past few playoff games have had pretty low attendance," Niehaus says. "Those teams being gone hurts, but we'll have some Pittsburgh fans in for sure and we'll still assume a pretty big crowd will be there for the Super Bowl."\nScotty's Brewhouse, 302 N. Walnut St., is another bar for patrons to crowd into for the game. Snatching a seat at Scotty's is almost always the product of a marathon wait, though.\n"To get a seat before a really big game, you should probably be here about two hours ahead of time," says Bryan Scantland, an assistant general manager at Scotty's. "The Super Bowl is going to be right on par with that."\nScotty's will feature its regular Sunday specials and a commemorative Super Bowl glass with a Coors Light logo. Also, kids eat free, a special that Scantland says brings in plenty of table-packing families.\n"Our crowd is always huge, but it doesn't always look that way," he says. "If people can't get a seat, they'll just leave. Most everyone in our place is seated, and every seat is always filled."\nFor Park, Watermann and all their football-loving friends, Sunday will encompass a keg in the living room, spreading out some chips and localizing the party in front of the tube.\n"You've got to end the season right," Watermann says. "The Super Bowl is like that last chance for the season. It's all basketball for a while from here"