HansGruber":12661qcf said:
I dislike 49er fans because I"ve never met a real one in real life.
I spend about 50% of my time in San Francisco on business, and I have literally met ZERO 49er fans in that city. The average Seahawk fan could tell you when Zorn played, when Krieg played, what position they played, they might even know who Blades was if you asked them. They definitely know who Kenny Easley was.
Last time I was in San Francisco, some dork in a Giants hat was giving me grief about my Seahawks jersey. So I told him I thought the Seahawks secondary combined was about twice as good as Ronnie Lott in his prime. Dude gave me a blank stare. I said, you know who Ronnie Lott is, right? Blank stare. That's the average 49er fan. They'll brag about rings, but they don't even know Carroll worked for Walsh, and they definitely don't know who Roger Craig was. Biggest bunch of wanker poser wannabe fans in the entire NFL. Even Redksin fans, who rank slightly below neanderthals on the intelligence scale, even they are familiar with their own SuperBowl teams. 49er fans... next time one brings up their rings, ask them anything about those 80's teams. They'll give you a blank stare. Unless you bring up Jerry Rice or Joe Montana (as if they were the best members of those champion teams). Most ignorant fairweather fans in the NFL.
There are no 49er fans in San Francisco. They all root for the Giants. San Fran is a baseball town. Don't believe me? Go hang out there. See for yourself.
OK...
While I would love to completely destroy your entire argument...I can't. Its because there are ELEMENTS of truth, but you're not seeing a clear picture.
1) If you are in downtown SF then you are correct...you probably won't see many Niner fans. You'll probably see alot of homeless people and business people like yourself who don't give 2 sh*ts about ANY sport. The 49ers tried for years to get a new stadium built in SF and simply couldn't get it done. WAY too many political interests, way too many agendas. SF is just a different kinda town. It always has been. I live 45 min away and I go there like once every 3 YEARS...with the exception of 49er games. SF residents kinda have their noses in the air about the rest of the Bay. Essentially, if you were looking for 49er fans, you were looking in the WRONG PLACE.
2) That said, the 49ers belong to the entire Bay Area. Most of the season ticket holders are from the South Bay (San Jose). San Jose is larger in both size and population and is the heart of the Silicon Valley. There is a reason the new stadium is in Santa Clara (it borders San Jose). There is a reason the A's are trying to move to San Jose (have plans for stadium very close to where the Sharks play but are getting blocked on the move by the Giants). All the money is HERE (I live in SJ). All of the fans are HERE.
3) Despite the fact that most of the fanbase is from outside the city, Candlestick has been sold out since 1979. ZERO blackouts even in the lean years. People in SF love the Giants because that new stadium is the "cool new thing" (even tho its not so new anymore) in the City. The Warriors are trying to move into SF as well by building an arena on a pier next to the Giants (note how all the Oakland teams are trying to get the hell out of dodge). However...when the Niners are good, they RULE the Bay Area.
4) While most of you are pretty familiar with the "newer" Niner fans, the lions share of them are nothing like you describe. They had a stretch of down years and alot of those fans became fans of the team in those years. That is mostly a function of their age. As such, they have no connection to the past. Your opinion of those fans is formed because for the most part those are the loudest and most computer savvy members of the fanbase. They are the reason it's now dangerous to wear the colors of an opposing team at Candlestick (that and the place is in the middle of the worst neighborhood in SF, Hunters Point). Fans like myself who saw the great years followed by the not-so-great are abundant....but most of the time they don't get on Seahawks forums to talk football. What they do have tho is more disposable income and have already purchased 75% of the SBLs for a new stadium that doesn't open for another 1.5 years.
5) Finally, you said of Montana and Rice "as if those were the best members of those championship teams". Um, who exactly do YOU think were the best players on those teams. I mean seriously...Rice was voted as the best player of all time on NFL Network and Montana was top 10. Ronnie? Roger? JT? Haley? Young? Educate me.