Spike footballs, not punch bowls, says San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.
Lee is stealing a page from the Prohibition playbook, asking bars and restaurants to limit hard-alcohol sales during their Super Bowl parties next Sunday as the hometown 49ers do battle.
“[I suggested] that they serve something [other] than heavy alcohol during times of celebration, because that inebriation sometimes doesn’t help with people who want to maybe go beyond the bounds of acceptability in their celebration,” the mayor told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The hope is that drier parties could prevent a replay of the rioting and vandalism after the hometown Giants won the World Series in October.
Instead of attending the big game in New Orleans, Lee said he and Police Chief Greg Suhr aim to visit areas hit by last year’s rioting, asking business owners not to serve the hard stuff.
The sobering news left some 49ers fans in low spirits.
“Certainly this is an overreach and unnecessary,” blasted the fan blog Niner Noise. “Even if you banned all alcohol sales during the game, you will unfortunately still have people get their hands on booze.”