A Change Gon’ Come: A Niners Fan's Take On Being "Back"

By Charles Davis Jr. / @ccdavisjr

One of the most idiotic sentiments in fandom is when someone who is clearly not a fan of YOUR favorite team utters those famous words “You wasn’t talkin’ that ish when your team sucked, doe!”

OF COURSE I WASN’T TALKING ! WE SUCKED!!!

Seriously, what did you expect me to say?  “You can’t see that 8-8 record, son!!”  My team, the San Francisco 49ers, hasn’t been relevant in nearly a decade.  We’ve changed ownership.  We’ve changed head coaches.  We’ve changed offensive coordinators.  We HAVEN’T changed our quarterback.  All these factors have relegated a fan base that once reveled in yearly glory to the kid’s table at Thanksgiving dinner.

So now that my squad, a team that I have loved since the 1980s when I was first able to use them to topple my older Godbrother in Tecmo Bowl, is heading to the NFC Championship game once again, you want me to shut up?  How about you go to your nearest computer, and cop your very own “Who Hurt You?” t-shirt, because, clearly, since your team is not in the playoffs you have entirely too much time on your hands.

But I digress.

Watching the Niners game last week was a truly visceral experience.  I was absolutely living and dying with every snap of the ball.  And while I will deny it if you ever see me in person, when Vernon Davis caught the game-winning touchdown pass, I MAY HAVE even got a little misty-eyed.  Not the T.O. ugly-cry after his game-winning touchdown catch against the Green Bay Packers in the 1998 wild card playof, but a couple tears definitely welled up.

That, however, is the great thing about being a sports fan.  While I had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the game, I totally shared in the revelry of a great victory all the way from Cincinnati, Ohio.  I think most of us in our adult years have found that when you truly work for something, you enjoy it exponentially more, unless you happen to hit that lottery number that your dream book told you to play.  

With that said, I think that taking a decade off from being one of the livest teams in the league has made me appreciate this win even more.  As a fan, I was truly proud of the effort that our guys put out on the field. This weekend when the Niners step onto the field against the New York Football Giants, if we can generate that same kind of effort and tenacity, win or lose, I will still be one happy fan.

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