From a friend (Anna) on another blog:
I am looking for people to participate in an online Farewell to Candlestick party. The purpose is, of course, to hold a going away party for the soon-to-be Great America 49ers. The second purpose is to test out software that I hope will become a significant part of and asset to social media and fan/user interaction. The software is at my.groupol.ogy, but you’ll need a private invitation in order to participate in this multimedia event that will feature videos, Candlestick memories, photos and live chat during the game. If you’d like to participate, please send email to anna@ekage.com). If you cannot attend, please contribute your own Candlestick memories on the “Jon Dowds Revenge” site listed in my blogroll (jondowdsrevenge.wordpress.com). Thanks!
It still hasn’t really sunk in yet. Candlestick Park, Monster Cable Stadium, 3-Com, Shit-hole, The Pigsty, whatever you want to call it, it will forever in my heart be The Stick. Some time soon it will be imploded and forgotten. I can’t even begin to guess at how many baseball and football games I’ve been to at the grand old hole, but I do remember the first game I went to. I was in 2nd grade, and it was 1969.
My mom thought it would be a great idea to take me and all the 2nd grade boys (16 of us) in my class to Bat Day. Bat Day usually fell near my birthday (April 25th), and this game was on the day after. I don’t remember very much about the game, but it was a sunny gorgeous Saturday, we were playing Astros, and all my favorite players were out there. Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, Willie McCovey, and Juan Marichal. An old guy behind me said “watch that centerfielder for the Astros. Jimmy Wynn. They call him the Toy Cannon.” I don’t know if he did anything that day, but I loved the nickname, and he became a guy whose career I followed as a kid. We were sitting in the upper deck cheapies on the 1st base side. I think we won.
The coolest thing about the game was the bats. Every kid 14 and under got a regulation sized bat. During any rally, all the kids would start pounding the bats on the concrete in rhythm. A sound that I’ll never forget, since there were tons of kids in the stands that day. My mom put up with a lot of kid shennanigans, and I hve no idea how we all got there, but I do remember getting bags of peanuts, those Carnation Malted things with the little wooden spoons, hot dogs, and cokes. We had a lot of fun stacking peanut shells on the hats of the 2 drunk oldsters in front of us who had fallen asleep (passed out?) somewhere around the 6th inning. All in all a greeat day, and my introduction to The Stick. Mom did that for the next couple years, bless her heart, and from then on I went to games every chance I got. Scrounging up money to catch the bus and hit the bleachers for 50 cents, or glomming on to friends who were going.
There’s talk of opening the stadium up some time next year for one last tour, and that is something I will not miss.
If you have any pictures or stories to share about the ol’ shit-hole, let me know . . .
Forty Niners Forever 
oh lordy, lordy.
That’s just Jay being Jay right there…
I want to see that movie “grudge match”.
Cutler benched lol
That’s gotta hurt.
funny shit, now what?
Yeah his feelings
That new “Grudge Match” flick looks like it might be a hoot. Great cast. You guys ever hit the theater on Christmas Day? A lot of “Berg’s” and “Stein’s” eating popcorn. No problem finding a guy if you’re in need of a quick circumcision. 😛
Nope, I have a butt load of kids so Christmas is a working day for me.
Did they finally run out of Rockys?
No
Dude, seriously?
Chicago should be embarrassed. Their run D has now passed comical, and has landed on utterly sad. Shame on you.
Even the cheerleaders are getting gassed.
Too much chili at half time?
No I meant overcome by the stench on the field getting worse.
Wow, lets play Chicago
(D)allass D was missing today but Chicago’s was invisible.
I take it they are still in the hunt but needed some nap time?
winner of the Bears-GB next week wins the division
Same with (D)allass and Philly
They’re still playing? They need a Little League 10 run rule.
not really.
Chicago D played the kneel down perfectly
Vick at work
Practice ‘ll do that.
I don’t know if the Eagles won or the Bears went fetal at the coin toss.
Roger and The Smoking Jacket Contingent get what they want through Officiating.
The great equalizer.
Talk now of Centralized Replay?
Who cares?
All that does is remove the On Field Crews from culpability.
You see what happens to Seattle when the laundry starts flying.
Officiating is too abitrary to begin with. The Brooks hit on Brees, the non calls in the End Zone to Crabtree during the SB.
These flaming tools in stripes are adversely impacting games at a ridiculous pace this year.
There’s enough technology available right now to introduce electronic/video related controls to curb this BS.
These clowns don’t deserve that amount of control. Totally out of control IMO.
Dont you think a few qualified officials posted away from the heat of the action, uninfluenced by the crowd, with replay at hand could make better calls? Got to be better than what we have now me thinks.
One thing I’d also suspect, the Drama Factor, points at Aaron getting cleared for the Bears game too.
The NFC East Sudden Death Match in Dallas next Sunday Night is a win/win either way.
Jerruh on the Big Stage in the Big Luxury Penthouse is just what the Smoking Jacket Contingent lives for.
Stroking their own.
Jerruhs’ A$$hole will have a new nickname for that showdown.
Titus Fishcunt.
I’ve been saying it all year. There really has to be fundamental changes around officiating. Too many od these calls are game-changers, and they are random in their application and effectiveness. And it really seems likve these calls have been really bad just in the last couple years. There used to be 1 or 2 calls a year that were real bad. Now it’s like 1 or 2 a week.
Just saw the Pittsburgh highlights. They call Pitts for batting the ball forward on the blocked FG. Something they completely missed in the Niner game last week. And they don’t call possession when Pitts recovered it and tried a lateral. Nuts.
Absolute joke Chuck.
I’ve joked for years about my imaginary Smoking Jacket theory.
Anymore, it really seems to me, like they have that much control via the Officiating.
2 Divisions coming down to the final game of the regular Season?
Ironic or contrived?
Harbaugh lobbied hard last year for flags on the Seattle CBs for aggressive hand contact etc.
Went largely ignored until this year.
Too much personal interpretation from Official to Official, little to no continuity from Crew to Crew.
Cheapens the game and, gives the appearance of collusion.
Ruining the game in so many ways.
All it takes is one piece of flying laundry to change the outcome of a game or, one Official to ignore the obvious and swallow the whistle at the wrong time.
That non call in Carolina with Gronk getting mugged is a perfect example.
There has to be some option made available to challenge the Officials for missed or questionable calls IMO.
They hold too much control, while making too many mistakes.
Competiton Committees are window dressing too. Keep introducing new standards yet never seeming to stay consistant with their application from game to game.
Ludicrous to laughable anymore.
Sick of all the Dean Blandino post-mortem BS too.
Thanks Dino, the whole world knew at the moment it happened it was BS, yet nothing could be done to get it rectified before the game outcome was altered.
WTF is that all about?
Vegas Cha-Ching is what that’s all about, followed by one Teams owner getting back-slapped while the other got flipped off.
They called a few more than usual on Squawks but missed a number too. Funny for me was Sherman got O PI called for him. Not so funny when it’s done against him.
Anywho, so much for the unbeatable at home Squawks who are now facing their 3rd division rival in 4 weeks and have lost to the other 2 so far. How confident can the Squawks really be now? If the Niners win tomorrow the pressure is really on for the Squawks, when was their last “must win” game exactly?
I said earlier, I like the Niners chances more than any other team in the NFC right now with the way they are playing. Maybe tomorrow isn’t the last game to be played at the stick, we shall see. Have to handle their business tomorrow first though.
That’s what concerns me 12th.
We’re rolling and playing good football right now.
I want to believe we have the momentum factor yet, these idiots in stripes have the authority to kick anyone in the bean bag at will.
I’m all for a Seattle meltdown too.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of chest thumping blow-hards, who haven’t done anything beyond screaming like a bunch of groupies at Backstreet Boys Concert.
I absolutely love when the lead dog feels like he won the race before he crosses the finish line.
Mugging WRs, PED infractions galore etc.
Rah-rah-rant 12th Man, you too can be beat.
Eff those smuglies.
I want a shot at Jerruh and Pete, for the right to settle the score.
Doing it on Candlestick turf would be a fitting tribute to history too.
As the scenario goes for us, NFC Championship loss to SB loss, I want the chance for atonement, which is fueled by desire and hard work.
Not striped shirted clowns taking control of the outcomes with flying yellow flags.
Let good old fashioned ‘competition’ dictate the results.
Everyone wants to chastise Harbaugh for working the Officials but, as much as it looks petty at times, he might have a point.
Be seen, be heard or, be ignored and gored by their incompetence.
I just hope we can control our own destiny.
Hoisting Number 6 in NJ would be TOOOOOO Eff’n sweet for me.
Can anyone tell me what the downside of a centralized, hopefully consistent, off-site replay and penalty review system would be? I cant think of any myself. Current system not working for sure. Also like the idea of coaches getting to call for reviews and possible overturn of supposed penalties called by refs.
Any review of penalties would have to be offsite as there would be too much pressure on local refs Not to overturn their crewmates piss poor calls. Presumably NFL Central would be less influenced by Buddy Bobs hurt feelings. Also less gameday emotion and crowd influence. Maybe?
Phil I’m at the point where I ask, can it get any worse?
They’ve gotta be feeling the pressure from all of us.
It’s impossible to hide incompetence of this magnitude.
All Dino does is deflect and diffuse.
That’s BS.
Find a way to fix it or, you’re just part of the problem.
Spare me the face-time with clicker in hand, camera time.
You’re too late.
The game is over, the damage done.
Words are garbage after the fact.
“…I’m at the point where I ask, can it get any worse?”
Actually Yes it really does seem to be getting worse as Chuck mentioned and thats scary
Hey Phil.
In theory it ‘should’ improve consistancy with the Officiating process.
It’s the implementation factor that has to be addressed.
With as many as 6-8 games being played simultaeniously on any given Sunday, the potential to further slow down the game action exists.
From everything I’ve seen and read, the League wants to speed up the process.
It has to be tried no matter what IMO.
Too many blown/non-calls being made.
I would welcome any technology that would also provide electronic means to act as additional ‘eyes’ to officiate the games.
Non-calls are as detrimental as blown calls. With HD screens in all these Stadiums, why are Officials sticking their heads into a microwave oven sized cavity to determine the outcome of a call?
Even after reviewing many of these calls, they still aren’t getting them corrected in some cases.
A 20′ tall video screen makes it obvious to fans in the Stadium but the striped shirt crew still look at each other and scratch their heads.
Put a committee of ‘League Officials’ in NYC and give it a whirl.
Nothing to lose, everything to gain.
The on field crews are too inconsistant of late.
Yep agree with all this NJ. “Hopefully” it would be better?
Phil the technology affords the game all sorts of improvement options.
Wireless communications, HD capabilities, unlimited camera angles, you name it.
The game is a money machine.
What’s the reason to ignore technology options?
The human factor is harming the integrity of the game as it stands right now.
Get the calls right.
Employ the technology, improve the tools these Officials need to keep pace.
Agree tech is there and should be used. Some of the ‘human factor’ (gambling, greed, addiction to power and control-it’s #1!) will always interfere sadly but using tech and uniform criteria for calls on plays and penalties will help for sure. Right now its very bad and not working
Phil, centralized equates to power grab for dear leader. It is the guidance from the top that is mostly screwing up these zebras and their calls already. The officials can do a good job of calling most plays but this league influence on what side of calls to err on and who to protect and gets no call scrutiny is part of the power grab play.
President Zero doesn’t give a shit who gets better medical care and who dies without it. His agenda is grabbing up all the power to decide who wins and who loses and the power to bestow his “mercy and grace” on whomsoever he chooses at the moment. Is that the abyss you want the NFL to fall further into?
btw, I dl’d the podcast. You’re a better man than I am if you could get through the entire thing with your sanity intact. Those guys discuss some worthwhile issues but with so much kiddie crap surrounding it I had to unplug. My impression is they are mostly stat geeks attempting to explain the stats.
Hey NoFear49er –
Nothing worse than new rules that can’t be interpreted and applied consistantly, for sure.
No continuity, less accountability.
We have HD cameras, TVs and Video Boards making EVERYTHING available to scrutiny.
How the eff do they still blow the reviews as often as they do?
Self preservation might have some influence there perhaps?
Jeff Triplett alone is the poster child for Mr Magoo wears a whistle and striped shirt, coming to an NFL Stadium near you.
A complete and utter incompetent moron yet, he’s still getting paid.
Why?
One of Dean Blandino’s Blind Mice.
This garbage has to END.
My solution would be less is more as far as rules, and therefore infractions, go, so get rid of some of the stupid ones and take away officials’ judgment calls everywhere as far as possible.
Make it black and white and the guys on the field will almost always get it right. They can’t see everything and savvy players are pretty good at hiding their penalty-worthy acts but some things just are part of the game. As long as they fall pretty equally I’ve got no problem.
Dumb it down, speed it up NoFear49er.
Put all of them into the technology age.
Wireless, real-time communications.
In game tutoring and assistance is good for the game.
You can’t have a 50 year old guy trying to keep pace with 20-something athletes.
Use cameras and communications to assist with all the areas of weakness.
Get younger Officials if need be.
Find answers.
Stop the BS, get it right before ruining a good game.
I see your point NJ49er, but I’m not one that wants to get every play 100% reviewed for the sake of perfection in officiating. It was a great game before we had all these reviews imperfect as it was.
I hear you NoFear49er.
I don’t want it perfect either, it’ll never happen.
I just want a way to get whatever is reviewable, corrected before damage is inflected on the outcome of the games.
They’re either looking for answers or, they’re creating a bigger problem right now.
Don’t review a call just to say it was reviewed.
If we can see what happened, they should too.
Something smells rotten to me.
Way too many sad-sack excuses coming from NYC about this topic for me.
‘Gee whizz, sorry about that, yada-yada-yada’.
See the problem, correct it, move on.
There’s absolutely no good answer for showing us a game in HD , where everything is open to scrutiny, without some sort of integrity being applied to what these players are there to do.
Fine by me when the camera caught a player grabbing private parts last week and levied a fine on him.
That let’s them know the ‘public eye’ caught you.
If the same camera sees a missed call, communicate it to the field and enforce it.
That in it’s own way tells the players, you can’t get away with dirty play.
It will improve the game.
I’m not lobbying for ticky-tac nonsense calls.
PI and headshots would be a perfect place to focus.
If a clown like Sherman gets put in the lens enough, his habits would change.
No different than hitting Goldson and others in the wallet for head shots.
Sooner or later someone has to succumb and toe the line.
Yeah I see the issue of Big Brother Commish furthering his influence over ‘how’ penalties are called = certain agendas like avoiding lawsuits and the ever popular power and control grabs. Hard to eliminate those. Hoping for a more uniform application of the rules which isnt the case now, ie, was this hit in the ‘strike zone’, yes? no? WTF IS an illegal hit on QB this week? Seems way to subjective called on the field. Maybe part of the subjective and just wrong calls would be corrected. Would need offsite reviews if refs are to be held accountable for bad penalty calls I think.
Yeah the kids on the podcast are 20 somethings but I grin and bear it since there is so little football news much less analysis, no TV, radio, etc. No Americans either. Just me and the coconuts.
Phil, at least the coconuts serve a purpose.
These Officials are about as hard headed as those coconuts, with much less credability.
I see what you mean Phil, at least they mostly keep it on football. When I’m driving I usually keep the radio on Sirius 88 the NFL channel. Lots and lots of garbage and some gems now and then. As background noise it’s perfect when it’s just me.
Sure technology might eliminate jobs in all sectors of our lives somewhere but, if it improves your way of life, go with it.
Who stands in line for a cashier if self check-out is an option?
Have to find ways to improve.
Game is too fast for old and slow methods of the past.
Yep coconuts more useful, less filling…than current crop of refs. So not only am I ‘blind’ (no visuals) but deaf (no radio) and starving for info. Luckily I got KNBR (I think) on NFL.com and youse guys.
Final thought: Quoting Ted Robinson re: the refs, he says “I dont even know what a catch is anymore!”
Here’s the skinny Boys…Keep The Faith.
San Francisco clinches NFC West and home-field advantage with:
1) SF win (Week 16) + SF win (Week 17) + SEA loss + CAR loss
1) Go 9ers!
2) Go Rams
3) Go Falcons….Next week.
Consider this as well.
Seattle has attempted to challenge the Drug Testing system on several occassions.
Aldon and the 9ers took immediate steps in-house to get him into rehab.
We got Goodells’ blessing for doing so.
Possible that the Smoking Jacket Contingent can wield some Officiating muscle, in important games, that impact Playoff seeding?
Who determines which Officiating Crews get assigned where?
To your point NoFear49er, too much clout in anyones hands opens the door to corruption.
Call me skeptical.
Too much money at stake to ignore the possibilities, that those in control of the bottom line, look out for themselves.
Very wise by Niner management. Lets not become Seadderal