Trip to the Field of Jeans RAMS vs SF

As most of you know, I’ve been attending the RAM games at SF since the late seventies and once again my 2 brothers, my son and I made the pilgrimage to Levi Stadium to see our Sunday Heroes do battle against the Big Red Machine…. The RAMS vs Goliath
We were excited to see this new stadium, I grew up in the city of Santa Clara, thus know the area very well. I graduated HS with the mayor of SC, who was very proud of his city in getting this stadium built. Both my brothers still live in Santa Clara, ….. my oldest brother lives 3 miles from the stadium, right off a bike path that heads right up to the stadium. Even though we were close, we decided to drive to the game to check things out in the parking lots to plan our future tail gates.
but I must say, I was expecting a better place. If one word were to describe the new stadium is that it is sterile kinda boring, nothing fantastic…. Candlestick was a dump, but it was like my dad’s old 1957 Buick Special, not the coolest looking car but solid and with character… the front bumper of our old Buick most likely weighed as much as my Toyota Camry does today….. But like my dad’s old Buick no matter how much money you put into it, it was still a Buick Special, not a 57 Chevy nomad, thus Candlestick was no longer sustainable. So now instead of playing in an old combat proven Buick, the Niners play in a bright new Toyota Corolla with some bells and whistles…….
We bought our tickets from the same family who has had season tix since Keasar Stadium…. very decent seats, 27 rows from the field on the 49ers side of the field at about the 10 year line, near the north endzone where Kap fumbled on the final play and where Britt scored his TD pass.
Levi stadium is built in the heart of the high tech world. High tech companies and a 35 year old amusement park surrounds the place. When I was a kid, it was all orchards. We would ride our bikes out there along the creeks that dumped into the very southern part of the SF bay and shoot our pellet guns. In the past 40 years the area has been covered with cement and high tech buildings covering some of the most fertile ground in the world. …
No lingucia sandwiches this time for tailgate, because we parked in a non-open flame tailgate parking lot. We purposely did this because we wanted to check things out for future games… but we still had some decent sandwiches from the local deli. Once again, we get to the stadium early and got to watch some RAMS pregame…. Saw coach Williams bark at his D, saw Coach Fish oversee the troops and caught some pregame head butts….
My thoughts on the game: it was a chess match of field position, IMO Benny Cunningham, and QB turned punter Hekker and ST coverage were unsung keys to this game. Cunningham had a decent Kick Off return to put the RAMS in decent position, although it resulted in a punt, it did not give SF optimal position. Kick and punt coverage helped put SF in long field position all day to allow the RAMS front 7 do an outstand job…. 8 friggin sacks on CK7… it was beautiful.
Austin Davis…. I do not understand the admiration Ram fans give this guy… they guy panics at the first sign of pressure…. His first INT wasn’t a great pass and it was a better play by Bethea to pick the ball… this resulted in a quick strike TD to give SF the ball….. at that point I had a feeling that a Niner onslaught was starting to happen.
Davis second INT was a killer…. We saw the play develop, we saw Britt wide open for a sure score, I got up from my seat assured that it was an easy 6 for our beloved RAMS, but Davis threw a pass like a flustered HS freshmen that resulted in an INT to Parrish Cox.
Austin Davis really didn’t do anything to help the RAMS win…. The go ahead FG by GZ in the fourth quarter was based on a shanked punt by SF that gave the RAMS great field position.
On the RAMS final drive before their kneel down, they had a chance to go John Robinson/Chuck Knox and put the game way. Third down and 1 on the 48… and the RAMS call a roll out, that sadly fell incomplete…..bummer…. RAMS forced to punt on the SF final drive that had everyone on pins and needles.
During that SF final drive I think back to the stupid missed FG kick return that Tavon fielded right before halftime and thanked the football Gods that it was ruled a touchback and not a safety, if it was ruled a safety, the Niners would be trailing 13 – 12 on the final drive only needing an FG to win..
The Niners march down field, broken tackles, yellow flags and all of sudden with seconds left, SC, err I mean SF is suddenly on the 1 yard line on the verge of beating the RAMS again…. It was a feeling of hopelessness. Everyone was certain of the outcome… football Gods strike again…… a pass on the goal line to Crabtree that is reviewed and nullified as a TD…… then, third and goal…. The snap, the collisions at the goal line…everyone in the stadium except for the few RAMS fans and refs are signaling TD….then just like a bad BAT MAN TV episode, HOLY LAURINITAS BATMAN! JL comes out of the srcum with the fumble recovery, The football Gods made up for the second quarter Gore fumble… out to Gotham City for the booth review….……..
Did the RAMS win? We look at the high tech replay screen with fantastic resolution and it appears CK7 crossed the line with the ball…..
Then Jerome the ref announces and states, the ruling on the field stands, RAMS touchback… WOW!
Fans flee to the exits like cockroaches, but we stay in the stands high fiving anyone wearing the blue and gold, we sit back until the ushers boot us out.
Traffic leaving the stadium. I kid you not, we used to get home sooner from Candlestick than getting home from Santa Clara….. traffic officers need to do a traffic study to get out of that place…. Public transit, private transit, everywhere was gridlock…. Thankfully the Football Gods had some extra beers in our cooler after the game.
There is no place like home to watch a football game on TV, but it is always fun to take in a RAMS game to get the game day experience. GRITS, we need to find 4 fans to split season tickets when the RAMS move back home.

• This topic was modified 10 years ago by joemad.
• This topic was modified 10 years ago by joemad.