The postseason has just started at The Sandbar Sports Grill! Football’s regular season is over and, unfortunately, the Chargers will not be in the playoffs. However, The Sandbar, located at 718 Ventura Place in Mission Beach (right across the street from Belmont Park), still has all the postseason action you can handle. For the last 17 weeks, patrons of The Sandbar have been in a heavy competition to prove who has the best fan attendance on Sundays. That’s right, the names of fans who have frequented the Sandbar on Sundays the most number of times during the regular season were put into drawing to win a 50-inch flat-screen television or a new iPad. The winner will be announced on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5. Apparently, 46 potential winners are in the running. You may be wondering, “If the Chargers aren’t in the playoffs, why should I even go to The Sandbar during the playoffs?” Well, here’s the reason. It can pay off to watch the playoff games at The Sandbar — and pay off big. During the afternoon playoff games, there will be a raffle between each quarter for one of several outstanding prizes. If there are going to be a total of 10 playoff games and half of those games will be played in the afternoon, that’s five games with a minimum of four quarters each. That means there are 20 chances for you to win huge and exciting prizes that you will not have the chance to win if you stay at home waiting for next season. But wait! There’s more! As if the Super Bowl and THE big drawing weren’t exciting enough, The Sandbar hosts its annual Glutton Bowl at Halftime! What is a Glutton Bowl? I had to ask, too. It’s the superest eating contest in all of San Diego. (Yes, you read that right. It is the superest, because saying “most super” is not as much fun and eating contests are fun!) The winner gets a door prize and a bottle of antacid. In addition to all this, The Sandbar also gives you a chance to get some betting action on the Super Bowl. But gambling is illegal! So, how it this possible? Well, here’s how it is done: First, you donate a dollar to the Junior Lifeguards of San Diego program. As a thank you, you are given a square on a football pool chart (each square representing a number from 1 to 10, for Teams A and B). At the end of each quarter, the last number of both teams’ scores are considered the winner. So, if the score is “Team A” 14 points to “Team B’s” seven, the person who has a square for “Team A” four and “Team B” seven is the winner. The winner receives a gift card to his or her newest and most favorite bar — The Sandbar, of course! A note for those of you planning to hibernate until next season: during the regular season, The Sandbar has a contest called “The Best Seat In The House.” You buy a raffle ticket (with all proceeds again going to the Junior Lifeguards program), and if you win, you get to pick any table at The Sandbar and get a remote to change the channel to any game you wish. I can’t wait until next year, because if I win, I hope the Jets are playing the Raiders so I can change the channel to “Heidi.” For more information, call (858) 488-1274, or visit www.sandbar-sportsgrill.com. — Walter Ruskin is a member of the San Diego Community Newspaper Group’s “Ugly News Team.” Catch his videos and interviews at www.sdnews.com.
