Blown fuse during Super Bowl

February 5, 1989 — Luray residents watching Super Bowl XXIII on Adelphia Cable missed the final 1:34 of the game — including the game-winning touchdown — because of a blown fuse in a power supply, according to Adelphia General Manager James Kitchen.

Kitchen said the problem occurred for no apparent reason in the main trunk line carrying the signal from the company’s head- in, located between Stanley and Luray. The result was a one-hour outage in Luray, while Stanley, Shenandoah and Elkton were unaffected, Kitchen noted.

“It’s a horrendous time for something like that to happen, but it’s something that can’t be predicted,” he said. “If we had known a fuse was going to blow, it could have been replaced.” 

The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII, despite many Luray residents missing Joe Montana’s pass to John Taylor with just 34 seconds left in the game.

~ From the public archives of the Page News and Courier

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