In the eye of Hurricane Super Bowl

Red and white signs warn that vehicles parked on Brighton and Harvard Avenues within two blocks of the intersection will be towed between 8 a.m. Sunday and 2 a.m. Monday. Presumably, this will provide fewer targets for over-zealous fans who may have the urge to overturn cars either in celebration of a perfect season for the Patriots or in frustration should they lose the big game.

Six years ago when the Pats won their first Super Bowl, our college neighbors spilled out into the street seconds after the winning field goal cleared the uprights, and within two minutes, the incongruous chant, “Yankees suck,” rose from the crowd. Four blocks away on Commonwealth and Harvard, the revellers turned into vandals, and a couple of years later, a pepper spray pellet killed a college student in Kenmore Square as police tried to control rowdy students after a Red Sox playoff game.

But things should be calmer tonight. With two World Series and three Super Bowl championships behind them, the fans no longer experience the same burst of adrenaline. Brighton Avenue was practically deserted after last year’s World Series.

Other evidence that the big day is near: Printed signs in the windows of the White Horse Tavern urge fans to come in for “The Big Game,” avoiding any licensing problems with the NFL, but the Sunset Grill has no such scruples. Their blackboard on the sidewalk invites people to watch The SuperBowl. Yesterday at the grocery store, demonstrators offered samples of snack foods from card tables scattered throughout the store. We bought two kinds of seafood spread, which was not even on our radar screen until an old lady in a pastel baseball cap offered us a taste.