It was 1pm in the afternoon on Sunday, January 21, 1979….which was a time of the day on Sunday that folks normally gathered around the the tv with Sunday lunch being served on tv trays in the family room where the television was….but this particular Sunday was very special….cuz it was Super Bowl Sunday….. which is anything but a normal Sunday…..for some of the best parties of the year took place on Super Bowl Sunday all over Austin, Texas….and especially for this particualar Sunday found all the beloved Dallas Cowboys fans in full preparation for the war that was about to take place at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida with a 4pm kickoff…..and the fireworks had already begun hours before kickoff of Super Bowl XIII….as Bone Daddy, the original Sportsphile, had a “PreGame Party Special” at his sports bar Madison Square Garden, The Sports Place at 302 East 6th Street in downtown Austin that would draw nearly 500 people downtown some 3 hours before kickoff….as any person who ordered his Super Bowl Party Special of all you can eat hotdogs and all you can drink draft beer until there was a winner of the game for $20….as any person who came early for the game would get a special stamp on the back of their hand….which was all that patron needed to show each time they ordered a cold draft beer or a hotdog…. as this special ran from when the bar opened at 11am until NBC’s pregame show came on tv at 2pm….and when the bar went to normal prices at 3pm for this game between the two best teams in the NFL over the previous decade….Madison Square Garden, The Sports Place had 513 people enjoying the Super Bowl Special.
By the time Super Bowl XIII ended….the crowd of nearly 980 people at MSG had thoroughly enjoyed one of the best Super Bowl games ever played…..as the Cowboy fans went home saddened by a really tough loss in a game that could have been won….while the Steeler fans with their “Terrible Towels” were celebrating in the streets….as 513 football fans went home “stuffed with hotdogs soaked in beer”……for all had a smile on their face thanks to great football and great excitement at a great price.
