Skipping the big game in Sonoma County

<p>The New Orleans Saints had just stolen back the football with a daring onside kick to start the second half of Sunday's Super Bowl.</p><p>Jaime Dillon clenched his jaw, biting down hard on his tongue. He clearly was in pain.</p><p>But he didn't care about the game. In fact, he was oblivious to the giant pile of men who had savegely fought for the ball.</p><p>Dillon was getting a tattoo and was nowhere near a TV.</p><p>“I've never followed sports. It's not my cup of tea,” said Dillon, 26, of Healdsburg. “I'd much rather get a tattoo than watch a bunch of dudes tackle each other because of a ball.”</p><p>Dillon was not alone.</p><p>Across Sonoma County on Sunday, as an estimated 100 million of their fellow Americans sat in front of TVs watching the Super Bowl, residents eschewed the year's biggest sporting event to enjoy the mostly blue skies, get some shopping done or even get a tattoo.</p><p>At about the same time Dillon was wincing in pain, Deborah Brecher of Santa Rosa smiled softly as she breezed down the desolate aisles at G&G Supermarket. If it weren't for the huge display of potato chips co-branded with a large Super Bowl sign, a person might have thought she was shopping in a post-apocalyptic America. But instead she was enjoying the Super Bowl lull.</p><p>“I mean look at this place. No one. It's scary,” she said. “There is no line for crab.”</p><p>And she hadn't even gone to her favorite Super Bowl spot yet.</p><p>“This is the best day to go to the hardware store,” she said. “No men.”</p><p>Despite the near perfect Sunday weather, Len Sullivan of Cotati and his wife, Beth, didn't have to contend with crowds as they biked between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.</p><p>“I wasn't born with the ball gene. I was born with the wheel gene,” Sullivan said. “I know that doesn't sound manly. But I prefer bikes.”</p><p>After weeks of cloudy skies and heavy winter rain, a warm, sunny day usually inspires hordes of people to flee their homes in search of fresh air and a light tan. But with about one in three Americans watching the Super Bowl, this Sunday was an exception. </p><p>For those who did venture out, they got to experience what it would be like if Sonoma County had about one-third its current population — or about 155,000 people. The last time the county was that small was in the 1960s.</p><p>Tim Gonsalves added to that old-time mystique, cruising the lonely Wine Country roads in his mint-condition, pitch-black 1950 Chevy pickup.</p><p>“When you get a nice day like this, you've just got to get outside and enjoy it,” he said.</p><p>Inside Flying Goat Coffee at Santa Rosa's Railroad Square, barista Denis Lindsay surveyed the scene and noticed many of the usual Sunday-afternoon regulars.</p><p>“It's kind of the same crew as usual,” he said. “Maybe it's a little slower, but a lot of people are just sitting out front enjoying the sun.”</p><p>Back in Santa Rosa Tattoo on Seventh Street, parlor owner Daat Kraus pushed the needle into Dillon's skin.</p><p>“I guess I'd be watching the game if I wasn't working. But that's mostly just to drink beer,” he said. “This, yeah, this is better.”</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 703-1577 or nathan.halverson@pressdemocrat.com.</p>