Super Bowl square bad beat left bettor with $400 bar tab

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 1984, file photo, Los Angeles Raiders running back Marcus Allen high-steps his way down the sideline past Washington Redskins' Anthony Washington (24) and Todd Bowles (28) during NFL football's XVIII in Tampa, Fla. Allen rushed for a Super Bowl-record 191 yards on 20 carries and scored two touchdowns as the Raiders trounced the Redskins, 38-9. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 1984, file photo, Los Angeles Raiders running back Marcus Allen high-steps his way down the sideline past Washington Redskins' Anthony Washington (24) and Todd Bowles (28) during NFL football's XVIII in Tampa, Fla. Allen rushed for a Super Bowl-record 191 yards on 20 carries and scored two touchdowns as the Raiders trounced the Redskins, 38-9. (AP Photo/File)

Super Bowl memories

Brian Blessing, host of Sportsbook Radio and Vegas Hockey Hotline on KSHP-AM (1400), remembers it like it happened 10 minutes ago. But it was actually 33 years ago when, at a bar in Buffalo, New York, he witnessed one of the worst Super Bowl square bad beats ever.

SUPER BOWL XVIII, Raiders-Redskins, Jan. 22, 1984: “We were at a bar that was well known for having high-end football squares. It was like $500 a square and paid around $15,000 at halftime. Ray Guy punts the ball and pins the Redskins on their own 12-yard line with 12 seconds left in the first half, and they go to commercial. Anybody with a brain in their head is going to kneel down and go to the locker room, so the guy that has the halftime square buys a round of drinks for the packed bar. The guy’s pouring drinks for everybody.

“They come back from commercial, and (Washington quarterback) Joe Theismann drops back and throws a blind screen pass that (Los Angeles linebacker) Jack Squirek picks off and walks into the end zone.

“Not only does the guy not cash the big number for the halftime square, but he has a $400 bar tab. At halftime, he was playing Russian roulette with five bullets. This poor guy was the hit of the party. The whole joint ended up buying him drinks and carrying him out of there.”