Bowl fans pay to party

Coral Wilson

It was the final hour before the battle of the year, but at the

Newport Beach Marriott, it looked more like one big party.

Yesterday wasn’t just any Sunday, it was Super Bowl Sunday. The

Oakland Raiders were playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the

Lighthouse Guild of Olive Crest was throwing the party. Who said

football and charity don’t go together?

Raising more than $120,000 last year, Marcy McKenna, president of

the Lighthouse Guild, is confident that the second annual Super Bowl

Extravaganza will bring in even more money this year, benefiting

Olive Crest Homes and Services for Abused Children. Because this year

there were actor Jerry O’Connell, The Laker Girls, band Sugar Ray and

a chance to win BMW’s new Austin MINI Cooper.

By the beginning of the tailgate party, the event’s 500 tickets,

priced at $100 each, had already sold out.

“It was a lot of work. There are 30 to 35 members, and every

single member was instrumental in making this happen,” McKenna said.

O’Connell, from the movies “Jerry Maguire” and “Stand by Me,” came

to support the Raiders. He broke away from promoting his latest movie

and turned down Super Bowl tickets to party in Newport Beach, he

said. But after a quick dance on stage with The Laker Girls while

swallowing his last bite of cheeseburger, he said he was definitely

happy he came.

“This is the party to be at,” O’Connell said, “The only place

better is at the game itself.”

Leaning in closer, he confided, “I know this is for charity, but

there are a lot of women here.” O’Connell, who lives in Los Angeles,

described Southland girls as “nicer, cleaner, the air is cleaner, and

their motives are not so ulterior.”

The Mighty Ducks Girls, the Angels Girls and the Lakers Girls all

showed up to support the cause.

Fellow Raiders fan Tom Hitchcock of Costa Mesa agreed with

O’Connell. “The girls are good, too,” he said. “The Laker Girls, all

the girls.” But the best part about the party was still the beer, he

said.

The beer was as plentiful as the girls, keeping bartender Cipriano

Lozano busy. Originally from Spain, Lozano follows soccer and doesn’t

really understand football. He was just selling the booze. And he

predicted he would sell a lot of it.

“I hope so,” he said. “Rock and roll!”

The advertisements drew in another group of fans.

“You gotta hear the ads. That’s better than the game half the

time,” said Bucs fan Kathleen Kunkler of Newport Beach.

Most of the guests said they just came to have fun.

“I just wanted to have some fun and throw some money toward a good

cause,” said David Geffeney of Irvine, who called himself a Raiders

fan by marriage.

Actor Arlen Pantel of Huntington Beach came impersonating Austin

Powers to pull the winning ticket for the MINI Cooper. In between

Charlie Chaplin, Bruce Springsteen and Richard Simmons

impersonations, Pantel explained why football is “the greatest

American sport ever created.”

“It teaches children and adults how the common goal of the team is

more important than the goal of the individual,” Pantel said.

* CORAL WILSON is the news assistant. She may be reached at (949)

574-4298 or by e-mail at coral.wilson@latimes.com.