A real deep quick takes here at the Musings. Seven things I love about being a 49er fan. Why not?
Joe Montana, the alpha and omega of my fandom. Someone I have only slightly ironically referred to as St. Joseph of the 2 minute drill. As a kid in Northern California in the middle-late 80's he was the leader of the best team around. Also didn't hurt he was exceedingly talented. Not going to lie to my readers I spent the rest of the day crying after the 1990 NFC Championship loss to the New York Giants. I have secretly been hoping that one of the Niner linebackers hits Eli as hard as Leonard Marshall hit Montana in that game. Without the intentional added breaking of his hand as he got dragged down. I see this game as payback time. I know this current team is a generation or two removed but come on.
Montana was invariably the athlete I most wanted to be when I grew up. Sadly I posses no athletic talent whatsoever.
Jerry Rice The GOAT. The greatest of all time. For my money, there has never been another football player better than Flash. He set so many records and did so many amazing things it is hard to comprehend the numbers he left behind. Even toward the end when it was getting a little sad to see him out there he was still playing every down harder than guys half his age.
I think he is the reason for the modern air it out warfare of the NFL. Teams all sought their own counterpart to his skill set.
Someone may break his records some day, but it will take a long time to do it. He had that same hypercompetitive drive Michael Jordan had.
Spending half my life being called a bandwagon fan, the other half a die hard. People called me a bandwagoner especially after we left California and I was still rocking my Niners gear. I was like how am I bandwagoning this is my team, the first football games I remember watching are Niner games, I have always loved that team. Then in the last decade or so seeing looks of pity when I had my Niners stuff. Looks like, really they suck pick a new team, but I don't roll that way. Paying off now, but I guess soon I will hear how I am a bandwagon fan all over again.
Ronnie Freakin Lott. Dude was pure scary. Made the Pro Bowl from every position in the defensive backfield hit like a truck, ran like a gazelle. Once had a doctor lop off half his pinky so he wouldn't miss a game during the season.
Possibly the NFL's worst stadium, but a tough place to play. Candlestick Park. I hated when the team sold the naming rights for awhile I never stopped calling it Candlestick. Place is a dump has been a dump for years and they are finally getting some new digs in Santa Clara, hopefully a winning season or two before the move will help the atmosphere at the new park.
Bill Walsh the brains behind it all. The only man to ever deserve to be called a genius who made his living as an NFL coach. Also the most completely unassuming man alive. Funny true story here: When I was at the U of Oregon, Stanford was hosting the wrestling championship matches. At the time Walsh was their athletic director, when we got in I asked the wrestling media director if Mr. Walsh might be around during the weekend. "Oh he might stop in Sunday during the finals."
Awesome, I might have a chance to meet a hero. Sure enough during the action Sunday he shows up. He was up on the stage area where all us media/sports. info types were. So now I am within a few feet of one my all-time heroes. I stand up to stretch/improve my vantage for the next match as it involves one of my guys.
Walsh and the person he was with saunter to about 18 inches from me and get engrossed in what was a great match. I find an opening politely inject myself in the conversation and discuss my wrestler with the two of them for the last few minutes.
Never once did I have the courage to say anything to him about the 49ers and what those teams meant to me. I chickened out. He passed away the day before Tommy was born. I thought about trying to get Traci to change the baby's name to William Walsh Morris, but I don't think she would have gone for it.
San Francisco in general. I don't know if it is my love for the team that caused my passion for the city or what. But The City by the Bay is my all-time favorite city. To be fair I have never left the North American continent and only seen about half the US, but still.
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1 comment:
i grew up in the sfo bay area and i've been a lifelong niners fan though i also root for the seahawks to stay in various family members' wills. :)
joe montana was HUGE when i was in elementary school as was jerry rice. not totally a diehard fan of rice because he went to play with the raiders for awhile.
it will also ALWAYS be "the stick" or "candlestick park" no matter what company thinks they have naming rights. real fans will not refer to it as anything else.
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