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A Bittersweet Farewell to Candlestick: Faithful won’t Follow

24 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by route53 in Route 53 - Life is A Highway, San Francisco - Leaving your heart, San Francisco - Sports & Life

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49ers, candlestick, football, NFL, san Francisco, the stick

IMG_0198“We always said homefield advantage wasn’t about the field, we knew it was about the fans,” – Joe Montana

As of this writing we don’t know if there will ever be another game at “The Stick”.  An emotional victory last night let the emotions pour out.

I tried not to be bitter watch Jed York try to convince the fans that we were just “moving down the road to a castle” by symbolically lifting some turf that will be put in the new stadium or taking the last game ball and passing the torch.  You didn’t capture it on TV, but the chorus of boos from the fans was heard. #16 won’t be throwing TDs at Levi’s Stadium, the Beatles won’t be performing their last concert there, The “Say Hey” kid won’t be knocking em out of the park there, the greatest WR that ever played won’t be doing the cabbage patch there, and most importantly many of the longtime Faithful won’t be there.  Finally, my memories of my father won’t be there.

The 49er fans have always been called the Faithful.  Partly because it sat through decades without a championship and also because it dealt with a stadium was a bit of a Frankenstein (built in a windy part of town with an open end for baseball and then closed when the 49ers were brought to stadium).  The Stick never pretended to be more than she was and she gave us all that she had, even cracking but not breaking during the 1989 earthquake.

Alas, the people who love state of the art over nostalgia could not hold out and the 49ers will be moving south some 35 miles.  Contrary to what the team might have people believe, the passion that is football will not move with them.  Yes, some will follow, but true passion comes from many years.

I had a great night sitting next to Brent Jones, the famous TE from 4 Super Bowls as well as the generations of families.  These tickets have been in my family and those around us for almost 50 years.  This was my Sunday family.  When the 49ers were home I would spend my Sundays sitting here with my dad, hearing my first cuss words from the old military guy next to me, getting my first taste of bourbon from the old ladies behind me, and learning about the birds and the bees from the law enforcement people who sat on the other side of us.  These were family and memories created.  The 49ers asked us for $40K-$80K per seat to move south with them.  They even asked us for almost $1K to have the faded seat complete with gum and seagull poop.  The same seats that made me think of my dad; imagine having to pay $1K just to keep memories that belong to you.  Whenever I showed up on Sundays, I’d feel my dad’s presence next to me. Only one person in our section renewed.

So when the 49ers eventually go through consecutive bad seasons in the new stadium and fans don’t show up, remember the Faithful.  They showed up for 2-14 seasons.  They watched Jim Druckenmiller, they watched an old OJ, they watched Mike Singletary fall apart, they sat in darkness through blackouts and they still came out in those frigid temperatures which were much overblown.  For the most part, those fans at Levi’s will resemble more the disinterested emotionless wine-sippers opponents always complained about, but remember they aren’t the true Faithful.  Those people will be at home watching on TV.

IMG_0194That last victory was very sweet and it was a little bitter.

Candlestick was old, she was not that attractive, she was not user friendly, she was not tech savvy, but she was ours and that is all we wanted.

She gave us 5 Super Bowl Champions, she gave us the Bay Bridge World Series,  she gave us the Croix de Candlestick, and she enriched our lives.

Her detractors might slam her, but her fans really will miss her and the memories she created.  Thank you old girl, your magic was beautiful tonight.  In case you wonder if you were loved, you were truly respected.  Respect is more important than being loved.  Hopefully we will get one last chance to fill her aisles in the post-season.

Note: I’m a loyalist.  I always believe you dance with the girl that brought you to the dance.  I wrote this entry to justify my belief that the 49ers are making a mistake chasing corporate dollars at the expense of long-term community building. Did the 49ers need a new stadium? Yes.  but I think relocating so far away from their base shows a lack of knowledge and accurate forecasting. When the 49ers do suffer a downturn and I look back on this entry when the 49ers attendance dwindles, I will be watching closely.  Mostly I want to look the 25 year old 49er AE from Oklahoma who told me I was not a true 49er Faithful for not spending $160K to follow the team to the new stadium.

It’s November, 70s and Sunny!

15 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by route53 in Route 53 - Celebrity Sightings, San Francisco - Sports & Life

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baseball, football, Gaylord Perry, san Francisco, summer

The trouble with baseball is that it is not played the year round. –  Gaylord Perry, ex-Giants pitcher and Hall of Famer 

Me and Hall of Famer, Gaylord Perry

What a beautiful weekend it was in San Francisco.  A great weekend to get out to play and watch sports.  Many Sports weekends of my youth were spent with my dad at sporting events.

If you grew up in my generation in San Francisco and played sports or followed sports, there were three main sports you followed: football, basketball and baseball.  We had a hockey team (the San Francisco Seals) but they weren’t followed by many.  For me though, my dad took me to see the main sports.  My fondest memories of my dad were days like this weekend.  I remember my first baseball game and meeting the pitcher Gaylord Perry and my dad talking about his spitter.  I also remember that the pitcher did not appreciate the connotation that he was noted as a cheater.  We stayed after Warriors basketball games too so I could get Rick Barry’s autograph.  We hung out after 49er games so I could get Steve Spurrier’s autograph.  

A beautiful day this weekend, my son and I got out to see the 49ers with a nice victory over the Rams 23-20.  The same seats I sat in many times with my dad.  The same seats we high fived in and shared many Sundays.  It was just too warm! This was summer baseball weather! Candlestick Park in November is supposed to be cold and extremely windy.  Instead we sat there in short sleeved shirts looking to keep hydrated.

It was a great game and win, but I took note of how quiet it was.  In the 70s, the Warriors brought a basketball championship to the Bay Area. In the 80s and 90s, the 49ers turned San Francisco into a football town, but now the Giants own this town and I noted to my seatmate (a baseball executive) that we are definitely a baseball town now.

It has been two weeks since the World Series ended, but the buzz is still there.  At the 49ers game, many people were dressed in Giants Orange and Black, including me.  A couple weeks back before World Series Game 2, I ran into Gaylord Perry outside of AT&T Park.  I introduced him to my son  I didn’t mention anything about his spitter.   I just told my son he was the starting pitcher at the very first game I ever saw.  I could see the relief on his face that I didn’t mention the thing he was most noted for, and he graciously signed my son’s autograph book. 

Yep….only 90+ days left til Spring Training.  I can’t wait..especially if we continue to have baseball weather and  not football weather.

Monday Night Football and Friendship

01 Friday Jan 2010

Posted by route53 in Route 53 - Celebrity Sightings, Route 53 - Life is A Highway

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49ers, cheerleaders, ESPN, football, friendship, Jerry Rice, kolber, monday night football, Steve bono, Steve Young, Stuart Scott, tafoya

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You, too? Thought I was the only one.” – C.S. Lewis

One of the more wonderful things I was happy about in 2009 was that I got out a few times with one of my best friends from childhood.  We’ve started graying and maybe even have started to repeat ourselves so getting out again with each other and while we didn’t get to great events like a Super Bowl or a Cal-Stanford Big Game with miraculous plays, getting out and enjoying things together with someone and sharing in the joy, the laughter, the sadness, and the disappointment is what makes those events and memories even more special.

Jerry Rice #80 and me

Jerry Rice #80 and me

My wife often asks me about what it is that makes my friendship so special and I said it is that it is the unspoken.  It is that we don’t even have to tell each other about what we were tniking because “we just knew”.  The stunned look we gave each other as if to say, “Could this really be happening to us?”

Recently we went to a Monday Night Football game which I have to freely admit is not what it used to be from a television experience, but in a day and time when we see a lot of football played on Sundays, I had forgotten how special a night game in December could be.  Granted the 49ers are no longer a dynasty and ESPN does not replicate ABC and Howard Cosell or John Madden, but it didn’t need to.

Just sharing the night with a friend made a special night even more special.  I’d forgotten how great and magical Monday Night Football could be.  Even without the 49ers making the playoffs for the 7th straight season, the stars were still out.

With ESPN's Suzy Kolber

With ESPN's Suzy Kolber

The cool thing about Monday Night Football is that it is just as big a sporting event as it is a media event.  The sports celebrities are as big as the players themselves.  ESPN  personalities like Suzy Kolber, Michelle Tafoya, Stuart Scott and Matt Millen were all in attendance on the sidelines.
Matt Millen did play for the 49ers so he helped to add to the celebrity status.  There were plenty of 49er alumni in attendance  from the glory years, some working as  media as well as just taking in the whole scene:
  • Steve Young
  • Jerry Rice
  • Keena Turner
  • Deion Sanders
  • Steve Bono
MNF Pre-game hosts

MNF Pre-Game Hosts

As a football fan though, the game was very entertaining as the 49ers beat the defending NFC champs, Arizona Cardinals for the second time this season as they hounded them for 7 turnovers.

More importantly, the game ended with more memories for a good friendship that will leave us with more moments that we will be able to acknowledge with a simple nod and a smile because of its uniqueness in both of our memories.  From my perspective, taking photos of my friend both with the owner of the team as well as the 49er cheerleaders cracked me up.  Hopefully 20 years from now we’ll look back and them and crack up at how silly we were.  They will go in the pile along with the Polaroids (Wait, is it still 2009?  No? Time to throw away the polaroids.)  we took with Miss Universe 1982, Shawn Weatherly (yes, I still have old polaroids.)  In fact it was 1982 when the 49ers were bringing hoe their first Super Bowl (1981 actually).  Maybe it is coincidence that I went to the game with my friend Dave.  It has been a while since the 49ers had a winning season (they’ve not had a winning season since 2002), so this turnaround is a great time to share with friends.
With ex-49er QB Steve Bono

With ex-49er QB Steve Bono

Here’s to friends, football and pleasant memories.  I know this might sound sentimental and mushy, but I watched the movie Finding Forrester with my son.  The movie focuses ona reclusive writer who no longer wants to share with others because but a young kid from the neighborhodod shows him the joys of sharing and discovery again.  I’ve seen several writings on the Moral Premise of the movie:

Ignorance and avoidance of the unknown
leads to fear, isolation, and despair;
but Knowledge and embrace of the unknown
leads to faith, friendship, and hope.
In the movie, the reclusive author rediscovers the joy of visiting Yankee Stadium and a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden with his new-found friend.    This game was just a way for my friend and I to revisit some of those great memories and it just so happens that many of the heroes of our past were there.  Seeing Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Steve Bono, Matt Millen and Keena Turner on the sidelines while watching an increasingly competitive 49er team play a game on Monday night brought back many fond memories and good times.
It should be said that fiendships are not only there for the good times.  And that is why as we head into 2010 that I can only hope that many of the friendships of 2009 that were rooted in some not so fond times will get to rekindle some good times in 2010.

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