Super Bowl 2004 Parties

Super Bowl 2004: It’s More Than Just A Game

Super Bowl 2004 More Than Just A Game

For the week before the big game, Houston’s hip, ultra-swanky M Bar, located at 402 Main Street, will become The Point After, the officially sanctioned and highly exclusive after-hours destination for Super Bowl superstars and other high rollers who want to see and be seen.

One of Houston’s reigning ‘it’ spots will bustle with sports icons, fashion divas, jet-setting corporate executives, high-profile media personalities and – you too, if you dare. The Super Bowl Host Committee is making a limited number of tickets available to Houstonians and corporate partners. Festivities kick off Tuesday night with a media VIP party for sports’ most popular reporters and commentators.

On Thursday, Super Bowl Champion St. Louis Rams’ Marshall Faulk hosts happy hour with hand-selected celebrities joining him the following day out on the course for the annual Marshall Faulk Golf Tournament, followed Thursday late-night, rumor has it, by a motion picture release party by a major movie studio. On Friday and Saturday nights, Baltimore Ravens lineman and Super Bowl Champion Tony Saragusa brings his annual Super Bowl party to this spot. This off-the-wall, 11-year NFL veteran is known in party circles as a party pied piper, attracting celebrities everywhere he goes. Expected partygoers include Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers, Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino and a plethora of NFL players. Saragusa, who rumor has it is on break from filming the new season of HBO’s “The Sopranos,” is personally flying in more than 100 pals to party with him. A limited number of tickets will be made available to the public for $250 each.

The premier event at The Point After will be Sunday when San Diego Chargers Jay Wayman and Marcellus Wiley co-host the sixth annual Players Gala 2004, the official Super Bowl after-party of the NFL. The Players Gala was created six years ago when NFL players decided that they wanted, as Wayman puts it, to “party with a purpose – a place to kick it after the game and a way to give back at the same time.” This year’s gala features a red-carpet celebrity arrival and, rumor has it, will be hosted by superstar Eve and attended by none other than Houstonian-turned-interplanetary-megadiva Beyoncé. For the scoop, check out www.players gala.com or www.nfl.com.

Between official Super Bowl Host Committee festivities, M Bar stays hopping. On Friday early evening, San Diego talk-show personality Elaine Wood, host of the “Elaine! Show,” and Sequoia Productions host a celebrity fashion show and unveiling of the official coin for the coin toss. The red carpet rolls out at 5:30 p.m. for celebrity arrivals, and the models hit the runway shortly after. Part of the proceeds will benefit the Peresita Foundation for Women. Hip hop artist Nelly will also be in the house to feature his new clothing line, Apple Bottoms. Check out www.super styleshow.com or www.elaineshow.com. For info on everything going on at M Bar visit www.mon main.com or call (713) 222-1022.

The official festivities are just the tip of the party iceberg. Midtown’s Red Star is tenting off its entire parking lot for the entire week, converting Red Star into a whopping 18,000-square-foot party pad. On Super Bowl Eve, Red Star will be an all-star athlete destination, with a party co-sponsored by former Green Bay Packer Santana Dotson and San Francisco 49er Terrell Owens. More than 30 athletes have already scooped up their tickets to this, including Los Angeles Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neil, Green Bay’s Donald Driver and Pittsburgh Steelers’ Hines Ward. Tickets are going for $150 to $250.

If watching the game is more your speed, Red Star, together with co-sponsor Coors Light, is having a game-watching event on Sunday for locals – out-of-towners are always welcome, but a ticket to get in will cost a holder of a driver’s license with a non-Houston address $50 compared to just $20 for locals. For complete information, click to www.red starnightclub.com.

If “Invite Only” is your thing, Houston will deliver that, too. Expect to get into downtown’s Mercury Room and Boaka Bar by invitation only – both are hosting private parties virtually every night of Super Bowl week. On Thursday night, they are the scene of Upperdeck Trading Card Company’s private soiree, with anticipated guests such as Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter in attendance. On Friday night, ESPN Magazine and Miller Brewing Company are expecting 1,500 for a “who’s who” in the world of sports. Finally, on Super Bowl Eve, Radio One, 97.9 The Box and The Corral Group host The Red Carpet Star Walk, a music and motion picture industry event at Mercury Room. The $500 ticket includes an open bar, live entertainment, a lavish buffet catered by Zula and a silent auction with proceeds benefiting The Learning Planet. So far, Beyoncé and P. Diddy have RSVP-ed that they’ll be there. Mercury Room and Boaka Bar plan to roll out the red carpet for its celebrity guests, literally. A red carpet will stretch from Fannin to Prairie for celebrity arrivals, and seats in the bleachers lining the red carpet are available for sale to the public. For ticket information for this red carpet event, check out www.redcar petstarwalk.com. For complete info on the events at Mercury and Boaka, check out www.mercuryroom.com.

Just down the street at Zula, David Edward’s swankily-clad bistro, Super Bowl superstar Franco Harris hosts a private party for himself and a few hundred of his best pals. The next night at Zula, Sports Illustrated hosts a private party for sports celebrities certain to be rivaled only by the ESPN Magazine party just down the street. As of press time, rumors buzz about what’s in store for this hip eatery Saturday evening. For more scoop on Zula’s Super Bowl goings-on, check out www.zulahouston.com. If your invitation to Coors Brewing Company’s private party at Live on Main Street on Friday and Saturday nights gets lost in the mail, you can still check Live out for “Fox Sports Radio” broadcasting live each evening Monday through Thursday Super Bowl week and upscale hot spot Suede just up the street with tickets to the general public on Friday night for $50.

It’s not just for bunnies anymore! Playboy magazine and Houston’s own chef and caterer extraordinaire, Jackson Hicks, have teamed up to throw Playboy’s annual famous and fabulous Super Bowl bash. This lavish soiree will grace the Corinthian Ballroom occupying the first two levels of the magnificent neoclassical building at the corner of Main and Franklin downtown in the Franklin Lofts building. For more tantalizing information, call (713) 523-5780.

Certainly, what will prove to be the granddaddy shindig of them all is the Coors Light Super Bash, a 100,000-square-foot music festival that will start at 11 every morning and rock until 2 a.m. the next morning for five days in a row. Put together by David Edwards and George Ciotti of Big Night Ventures and Louis Messina of the Messina Group and cosponsored by Coors, the Coors Light Super Bash will occupy two full city blocks across Texas Avenue downtown, just a block away from the NFL Experience next to the George R. Brown Convention Center. Designed for locals who may not get invited to any of the city’s prestigious private parties or don’t want to plunk down serious bucks for a cover charge, Coors Light Super Bash is just $20. Main acts include Sammy Hagar, Jesse Dayton, Ezra Charles and Trick Pony. Rumor has it that Kid Rock and Rascal Flatts may also be headlining. To make it even more worthwhile, the event will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Downtown Entertainment District Association. The Super Bash is family friendly during the day until 6 p.m., after which only people 21 years and older are permitted inside. Get your ticket at Ticketmaster or at the door.

To help Houstonians and out-of-town fans take advantage of the big game festivities, Jeff Rosenberg of Tri Star Productions has created the TriStar Production’s Ultimate Game Weekend Playbook complete with big game tickets, celebrity golf at Houston Oaks Golf Club, a jam-packed celebrity party at Champps Americana, tickets to the NFL Experience and more. Would you like to be in the huddle at Champps Americana with Troy Aikman, Bo Jackson, Bart Starr and Roger Clemens, just to name a few? Check out all the action at www.tristarparty.com.

There are plenty more parties springing up everywhere, each one more embellished than the next. Rumor has it that Magic Johnson will have his famous two-night Super Bowl bash at a still-secret location downtown. So, football shmootball. It’s all about the parties! The real question this Super Bowl is not which team is going to win, but which party are you going to and what are you going to wear? ###