For many 49ers fans, memories of the team's victory over the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX in 1995 and the team's four previous titles have provided comfort in the sometimes-lean and always title-less seasons that have followed.
But for younger 49ers fans, the team's championship run this season is a new and thrilling experience. That group includes most of the high school players who completed their football seasons last fall.
On Jan. 29, 1995, when Steve Young passed for six touchdowns to lead the 49ers to their fifth ? and most recent ? Super Bowl title, most current high school students were yet to be born. That makes this season extra special for
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"I think I'm definitely along for the ride, I'm enjoying it,
especially after the Giants won the World Series," said Drake senior Nico Giacomini, who was a lineman on the Pirates football team in the fall. "I think the first time I actually went to a Niners game, I was 3. I was born a Niners fan. My family and my dad's parents and my mom's parents have been Niners fans their whole lives, so it's just something I was born into, I guess you could say."
Lifelong attachments to the 49ers like those Giacomini has enjoyed have come with plenty of letdowns. Until coach Jim Harbaugh arrived last season, a typical teenage 49ers fan had known more downs than ups from their team.
"It's very exciting," said Marin Catholic
junior Morgan Mahalak, who will be the team's starting quarterback next season. "For being as bad as they were for so long, it was very frustrating. To see the improvement they've made over the past couple of years is very exciting. And just getting back to the Super Bowl is just awesome. I know that the fans, all the 49ers fans, are just absolutely ecstatic about being back."For San Marin senior Danny Blackwell, a standout linebacker last season, it would be just fine if the 49ers defense were to steal the show on Sunday. That's understandable for someone who lists linebacker Patrick Willis as his favorite 49ers player.
"I love watching the defense, how disciplined it is and how every tackle is a gang tackle and just how hard-hitting it is," Blackwell said. "That's what I love."
Naturally, the high school fans will be watching the game with interest Sunday. For Mahalak, that means gathering with friends from the football team at a teammate's house. Giacomini, too, will be with friends ? either near Lake Tahoe or in Marin. And Blackwell will be at a friend's house as he watches.
"I'll probably throw on my Joe Montana jersey," Mahalak said. "It's his Notre Dame jersey ? it's a classic Notre Dame jersey ? and I'll definitely wear that because he's one of my favorite players."
Of course, not every Marin football player will be rooting for the 49ers on Sunday.
At San Rafael, all-MCAL lineman Hugo Gurrola will be cheering for the team being led by No. 52 in purple. Though Gurrola does root for the 49ers most of the time, his interest in the Ravens will trump that come Sunday.
"Ray Lewis is my favorite player and I just got attached to him so I just started liking the Ravens," Gurrola, a San Rafael senior, said. "My friends, I think they know about the whole Super Bowl situation. They give me a hard time, but not too much of a hard time.
"I've got two Ray Lewis jerseys. My friends give me a hard time when I wear them ? they say I shouldn't be wearing them at this time ? but I don't let it get to me. And right now, I'm so excited. I just can't wait to watch the game."
If the 49ers do win Sunday, count on Giacomini and his friends to be among the throngs of car horn honkers and revelers in San Francisco afterward.
"All my friends and I are ready to go to San Francisco when the 49ers win on Sunday," Giacomini said. "We're going to go straight there. "... When the Giants won the World Series, we went to the park and it was just crazy. I don't really know where everyone's going to be in the city this time. They might be at Candlestick Park or they might be near the baseball park. But we'll find them wherever they are."
If the 49ers win, the Marin high school football community figures to be well-represented for a championship parade through San Francisco.
"I've talked to my dad about the parade and he said it should be much bigger than the Giants' (World Series) parade," Blackwell said. "I asked him if it would be bigger than the Giants' parade and he said way bigger because the Niners are much more well liked. So I'm excited to see the parade, I'm excited to get out there if they win."
Make that when they win, Mahalak said.
"I think we'll be at the parade in the city like they did for the Giants," Mahalak said. "That would be a lot of fun."
Contact Dave Curtis via email at dcurtis@marinij.com
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