Football season is here once more. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like the SF Giants, I love the San Jose Sharks, but the 49ers are the team I’d bleed for. Watching them beat the Detroit Lions last night (27-19) to bring them to 2-0 for the new season, I felt so happy. Here we come, baby!
The 49ers are the oldest major league sports team in California, chartered in 1946 in the All-American Football Conference and then joining the NFL in 1950 when the two leagues merged. This is the franchise that created the “shotgun” formation (under Coach Red Hickey) in 1960. They are the only team in the NFL to appear in multiple Super Bowls and never lose one. The Niners are tied for second most Super Bowl Trophies with the Dallas Cowboys at five wins (the Steelers are still ahead at six). I’m sixth generation San Franciscan and this is our team. My grandfather used to walk to Kezar Stadium to sit on wooden benches and watch them play. “Golden” Joe Montana was my first celebrity crush, well, me and every other female in the Bay Area. Come to think of it, this is the Bay Area, likely, a lot of guys had a crush, too.
To celebrate the kick-off of the 2012-13 Football Season (yes, I know, calling the sport “football” is a misnomer, but I have to work with what we’ve got) I’d like to celebrate another great tradition of the Niners, the obligatory team song.
First, I have this one from 1984:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo8wWpxJi4s
So dated, it’s awesome. The one I really hoped to find was a rap from 1981, their “Cinderella Season.” It had awesome lines like, “my man Clark gonna make his mark” and “Earl Cooper is super-duper.” That was back in the day of Fred Dean, “Hacksaw” Reynolds and Freddie Solomon. Sigh. Classic doesn’t even begin to sum it up. Sadly, I couldn’t find this song, although I remember it being played to death on radio stations in the final weeks leading up to that year’s Super Bowl victory over Ken Anderson and the Cincinnati Bengals.
However, while in this hunt I did stumble on this little gem from circa 1985 (see if you can spot Charlie Sheen):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRsiFd5tYqk
Damn, I STILL miss Ronnie Lott.
Celebrating the past, and looking ahead to an awesome year! Go Niners!!!
