49ers super fan to recreate game-day experience in Pleasant Hill home
PLEASANT HILL, Calif. - All around the Bay Area, people are making plans for watch parties ahead of the Super Bowl. In Pleasant Hill, a 49ers super fan is hoping to re-create the game day experience at home.
Peddy Khatami will be throwing a party Sunday. It will start on his front lawn and move inside once the game kicks off.
On Friday evening, Khatami prepared for his party by cleaning the same seats he had as a season ticket holder from Candlestick Park where he watched the 49ers play as a boy.
"Feels like just yesterday. I can see Candlestick right in front of me right now," said Khatami. "The same exact experience we have at Levi's Stadium, I’m going to have our car there blasting the music, the seating arrangement, the grill."
With football comes the food: meat for the barbeque and a specific beverage in anticipation of a victory celebration, a bottle of Fireball.
Khatami expects it will be standing room only with dozens of people invited.
Most important, it's a reunion with his childhood friends.
One flew in from Texas for this party.
"Do I want to do that with casual fans in Austin? Half of them are Cowboy fans or do I want to enjoy it with actual friends and family that are true 49ers fans," said Adam Prishtina who now lives in Austin, Texas.
It will be a fun time with a mix of nostalgia and tradition.
Another friend showed a photo of him and his 80-year-old father at the recent NFC championship game against the Green Bay Packers.
"When I was little and it was raining at Candlestick, he would put me on his lap and be his blanket to keep him warm while I was on top of him," said Devan Cross.
Khatami says the only 49ers Super Bowl he attended was the one the team lost in 2013, so he's good with not going to Miami; he's superstitious. And of course, there is the cost.
"$5,000 a ticket. That's ridiculous. I would not do that when I have the opportunity to experience it here with all the friends and family who live and die with the team," said Khatami.
The 49er faithful plans to adhere to the same rules as his tailgate parties at Levi's Stadium.
He'll open the doors to his party four hours before kickoff.
He's expecting about 35 people.