Super Bowl XV was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans on January 25, 1981 in a contest that featured the Tom Flores coached Oakland Raiders vs Philadelphia Eagles, coached by Dick Vermeil….as this event occupies a very special place in this lil ole chiweenie Sportsphile’s heart….cuz Bone Daddy, the original Sportsphile, received a call from his “road-trip sports buddy”….the Prince of Pleasure….at 12 midnight on the night of Friday, January 19, 1981…..with a conversation that led off with a comment like….“I’ve got my bag packed and I’m gonna pick you up at closing time (2am) at The Garden (Bone Daddy’s bar Madison Square Garden, The Sports Place in Austin, TX)…..cuz we’re going to Naulens to see the “Bad Boy” Raiders kick the Eagles tail this weekend”….and off they went at 2am on Saturday morning….headed for the Crescent City….the French Quarter….Bourbon Street….Lucky Pierre’s…. Felix’s Oyster Bar….the Louisiana Superdome…..and Da Raiders vs the Eagles.
Bone Daddy is the man who defined the word Sportsphile….and if you were going to be a close friend of his….you better enjoy going on “road trips” to many varied destinations on a moment’s notice…..while eternally banking on the belief that the “sports gods” always shine on true Sportsphiles…. as those.who embody tendencies to make spontaneous decisions to drop what they’re doing and head in the directions of sporting events of all magnitudes….albeit an event like the Super Bowl in New Orleans does make things a bit more enticing…so, when you embark on a journey that was not planned 3 hours before…..with the destination being a Super Bowl….in New Orleans….while not having a hotel room or a ticket to the game….and it just doesn’t matter….cuz you know the “sports gods” are in your favor for thisparticular “magic carpet ride” to Super Bowl XV.
This trip turned out to be one of the most unbelievable collage of truly memory-making stories from the very moment that POPs’ called BD….cuz LADY LUCK definitely rode with the “Two Boys from Texas” from the time they left Austin and throughout the “road trip” back home to Texas….for the truth is that I have probably 9 different stories to tell about something that lasted 48 hours mas o menos…..and each story can stand on their own with any story ever told….OK…I do get carried away every now and then….however, I have written the stories but need to put the pieces of memorabilia and videos with the text before posting…..which will happen soon in my L E’s Stories section…..but suffice to say, Super Bowl XV was one heck of an adventure.
This video is a recording of NBC’s Super Bowl XV Pre-Game Show…..featureing Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen, Bryan Gumble, Mike Adamle, Pete Axthelm, John Brodie, Len Dawson and Bob Costas….as it highlights players like Oakland’s LB Ted Hendricks, DE Howie Long, QB Jim Plunkett, OT Gene Upshaw, OG Art Shell and Coach Flores….. along with Eagles players like QB Ron Jaworski, SE Harold Carmichael, RB Wilbur Montgomery, LB Bill Bergey, OT Jerry Sisemore and Coach Dick Vermeil…..plus great interviews with Oakland owner Al Davis….Commissioner Pete Roselle….with tributes to Green Bay Coach Vince Lombardi.
So, you say….how come the game’s 4th Quarter is on this pre-game video?….as my WAG (wild ass guess)….giving special consideration to the fact that I wasn’t even a gleam in my daddy’s eye in 1981….so, my guess is that the game video with the 1st three quarters filled up and Bone Daddy used the remainder of the Pre-Game Show to finish the complete recording of Super Bowl XV.
Anyway, at the end of the day….Super Bowl XV was won by the Oakland Raiders by a score of 27 – 10…..as Bone Daddy and Prince of Pleasure sat on the 40 yard line….15 rows up….behind the Raiders bench….in the middle of Raider Nation….and oh my god-dog….what an experience….and to top-off this “road trip” that was blessed by the “sports gods”….on the dark and empty road back to Austin….the “Two Boys from Texas” saw a purple elephant with pink polka-dots standing alone on the side of the highway….out in the middle of nowhere….somewhere between Beaumont and Sequin, TX.
Again, I will be posting the rest of the stories…..or as Paul Harvey put it….“the stories behind the story, the real stories” in L E’s Stories soon….so stay tuned.
As the boys layed on their own pillows in their own beds on Monday night after Super Bowl XV…..they both felt blessed to have done what they had done….saw what they had seen….and lived what they had dreamed….for at the very core of their memories was The Raiders….and how they dominated the Eagles….which makes this a video worth watching.
