I was hoping to write this after the NFC Championship Game but the Saints didn’t get that memo. Oh well.
I’ve been to a lot of 49ers games at Candlestick. Actually my very first football game in my life was a 49ers game at the Stick. And I became a huge fan from there on. I took my little brother to a couple games when he visited form Florida and those are good memories for me to have of us. One of them was a game where Jerry Rice was breaking some big NFL record and the place was going nuts. It was also pouring rain and freezing cold. Ah Candlestick. That was the 1 good thing about the dry winter this year – not 1 rainy or even cloudy game this season. Frankly, it seemed really weird. Candlestick games = cold, cloudy/foggy and windy.
And I went to a lot of SF Giants games there. Went to the all of the play-off games leading up to the World Series vs the As. And yes the ’89 World Series game when the earthquake hit. I was on the escalator and it felt like we were surfing. The ground didn’t shake as much as roll. After it stopped everyone yelled and cheered because it didn’t actually seem that bad at all. Only a bit later after being in our seats, and people had their little TVs or radios on (yes…before smart phones..), did we realize how bad it actually was.
Once they called the game, it took forever to get to our cars. And then it took forever to get out. One of the joys of Candlestick is its location in the ghetto along with horrific routes in and out. So traffic is a nightmare on a good day. The police were sending us out through some side streets where all of the street lights were out and it was not a good place to be. There were bricks thrown in car windows, people standing around watching all the cars. But got home safely. All of my friends and family were freaked out because cell coverage was gone and all the news kept showing was the fire in the Marina but really saying how it was basically the city on fire. Nice.
I started going to more 49er games once we signed Jim Harbaugh. Was a fan of his at Stanford and was excited to have him! Then I finally got season tickets 2 seasons ago and it’s been a blast. Tailgated at almost every game with friends and had a super fun time each and every game. Our seatmates in our row and behind us were all super fun.
The send-off at the MNF game a couple weeks ago was great. We won – most importantly! And they had Boys II Men do their goodbye songs, many 49er greats to say hello/goodbye – Dwight Clark, Steve Young, TO, Jerry Rice, EDDIE D! It was AWESOME that the entire stadium chanted for Eddie. But no Joe. Don’t get me started. He lost some awesome points in my opinion but oh well. It’s a business.
A fantastic fireworks display set to Hello, Goodbye by the Beatles which was fitting both in song and also that they played their last concert at Candlestick (the Let it Be rooftop show was more of a jam session of a few songs.) As a huge Beatles fan, I liked that. No one left. Everyone stayed for the entire send-off and people were all singing with Boys II Men and the Beatles. You did actually want to shed a tear or 2. :)
I say Farewell Candlestick. It’s been a lot of fun. You gave me a lot of nice memories. But I would be huge liar if I said I’m not extremely excited about the new, way-more-cushier stadium :)
GO NINERS!!!!
Me and gnome at the Stick (with bubbly!)
