Die-Hard Fans Steve’S Sports Dugout Is The Place To Be For Football, No Matter Who You’Re Favorite Team May Be

Almost all of the license plates in the parking lots of local sports bars and restaurants are from Idaho, but don’t expect the football fans inside to limit their cheers to the closest regional team, the Seattle Seahawks.

At Steve’s Sports Dugout in Post Falls, for example, the restaurant and bar is a veritable United Nations of Football; fans from around the country can find a TV screen set aside for their teams’ games.

Kootenai County football fans often don’t hail from here originally. When they move to the area, their team allegiance doesn’t necessary move with them. At taverns like Steve’s, San Francisco 49ers fans who now live in Post Falls can rub elbows with Pittsburgh Steelers fans who now live in Hauser.

Last Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars went up against the Steelers. The Kansas City Chiefs took on the San Diego Chargers, the New York Jets were facing the Denver Broncos, the Carolina Panthers were playing the Washington Redskins and the Tennessee Titans were battling the 49ers. All of the games could be found on screens at Steve’s.

As Tennessee scored, Craig Bowers of Post Falls, with his chair planted for optimal viewing of the big-screen, shouted, “Go! … !

“I’m a big Tennessee fan,” Bowers said of the team formerly known as the Houston Oilers.

He grew up around here but lived outside Houston for almost a year in 1985.

“I’ve just liked them ever since then,” he explained. “I was an Oiler fan for years and when they moved to Tennessee, I just kept following them.”

He wore a black hat with the Oilers’ logo on it, a habit he has for every game.

“It usually helps them. The times I haven’t worn it, they haven’t done so good,” Bowers said.

Meanwhile, a table away from Bowers, Meeghan and Kirk Terliamis, who also live in Post Falls, rooted for San Francisco.

“I’m from the Bay area originally, so I’ve been a fan for a long time,” Terliamis said. He remembers cheering for the 49ers as early as ninth grade.

In the next room, Deke Mueller of Coeur d’Alene rooted for the Washington Redskins.

“They’re my favorite team,” he said. “I don’t really like the Seahawks.”

As a kid, he played for a Little League team that called itself the Redskins. Ever since then, he’s cheered for the professional football team by the same name, he said. His father roots for Denver, and his friends are 49ers, Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers fans, he said.

On typical Sundays at Steve’s Sports Dugout, it’s hard to find a seat by 9:30 a.m. for games that start at 10.

“When Green Bay plays, we normally have 40 to 60 seats reserved,” said Jackie Parker, owner of Steve’s Sports Dugout. The North Idaho Packer Backers, a local fan club, take up many of those seats.

The Packers and the Minnesota Vikings are the most popular teams this year, she said. When the bar and restaurant opened 10 years ago, the Broncos and the Steelers captured most fans’ allegiances.

And the closest thing Idaho has to a local team? The Seattle Seahawks?

“The Seahawks don’t have as many fans,” Parker said. “Generally that’s not been a big draw. They haven’t been doing so well the last few years.”

At Steve’s, football draws the most ardent fan base.

“Football fans are really die-hard fans; they’re not like baseball fans,” Parker said.

Unlike baseball, the football season is brief and has fewer games, she explained. That makes every game important. Patrons like watching baseball, but they aren’t as excited about every single game as they are when it’s football season, she said.

“Football fans, they want to cheer and scream for every play,” Parker said.