Jim Guthrie Jim Guthrie still does not
endorse Southern California sports, especially the Dodgers and the
Lakers. You can try to convert him by e-mailing him at [email protected]
While my beloved Giants were ending their season in the Big
Apple, and shortly before the A’s bowed out to the Yankees,
the real game of the Bay Area was taking place at the stadium
formerly known as Candlestick Park.
The Bay Bridge Series made an emotional and unusual stop in the
NFL season yesterday as the Raiders from the North met the Niners
from the South. Don’t get me wrong, I followed the two fine
baseball teams until the tearful end, but until you start talking
about football, you haven’t seen the passion of the Bay.
I must preface this next part by saying I have been a die-hard
Niners fan since I popped out of the womb, and the last couple of
years have not left us with much to be proud of. But I was going to
be damned if we lost to the frigging Raiders.
The two teams are clearly from different backgrounds and play
with contrasting styles. The Raiders of silver and black with the
“Commitment to Excellence,” with fans with spikes on
their heads, and a tradition as rich as…Bo Jackson?
The Niners, on the other hand, are the class of the Bay,
patenting their West Coast offense under the tutelage of the
legendary Bill Walsh. Despite the fading glow of the glory days
that has been ever present the last couple of years, the South Bay
can still console itself by polishing its five Super Bowl trophies
and thinking about Montana, Young, “The Catch,”
etc.
The two teams hadn’t met when they were both in the Bay
Area since 1979 (the Raiders had that brief interlude in LA). And
believe me, when the NFL schedules were released, both teams were
circling October 8th.
It is not so much that the two teams dislike each other;
it’s more like hate.
Then it was game time. With the spirits of Joe Montana and Kenny
Stabler looming over the 3Com Stadium roof, the lesser-known Jeff
Garcia and Rich Gannon led their respective squads into battle.
What took place over the next three and a half hours will go
down as one of the best games in Bay Area history.
The NFL’s leading taunter Terrell Owens caught a 4-yard
touchdown pass and Jerry Rice added another to give the Niners a
14-6 lead at the break.
After that the Raiders remembered that they could in fact play
football, scoring 22 unanswered points to take a 28-14 lead in the
fourth quarter.
Game over, right?
Not for my Niners, who stormed back to tie the game on a key
play by Owens and an interception by the NFL leader for weirdest
name, Pierson Prioleau.
What was to follow was one of the greatest series of chokes in
recorded history.
1) The Niners were threatening for their third fourth-quarter
score when they were forced to recover two fumbles and then failed
to advance the ball on fourth and inches.
2) The Raiders got possession at midfield and with 1:30 left
looked like a lock to score when penalties and traditional bad play
calling forced them to punt and pushed the game into the dreaded
overtime.
3) The Raiders took the kickoff down to the 49ers’ 24
yard-line before 250-pound butterball and cop-briber Sebastian
Janikowski rocketed his field goal attempt right of the
goalpost.
4) After the Niners had taken the ball to the Raiders’ 12
yard-line, Wade Richey (known in some circles as Wide Righty)
launced a field goal right into the hands of Anthony Dorsett, who
blocked it to the ground.
Whoa, Nellie.
Apparently, two collapses per team is all the NFL allows because
the Raiders capitalized on their next possession of the
sudden-death format.
In perhaps the worst day in sports history for my professional
teams, the mighty Niners watched Tim Brown slide into the endzone
for the game ending score.
Oh well, I guess us Niners fans are just going to have to
console ourselves by polishing our five trophies and waiting for
next time.