to the guys that witnessed the glory days...

we were winning a lot.......now we are losing a lot........

We were Camelot. We won and won often with class and composure. We expected at SB championship every year. People used to critisise us as a feness team but we would still pop them in the mouth with our tough line, FB and D play. We had not just some of the best players and coaches but everyone else wanted to play for us.

I remember close games where we KNEW, not thought, not hoped, not wished we would win. We KNEW. It's hard to explain. It was an amazing thing to watch.

Man I miss thoughs teams.

Man, I grew up going to Super Bowl parades every year. That is just about the coolest f**king thing a sports fan can say.

Not to throw water on the party but it is amazing how people remember the past. Since I was a fan who learned to hate the Cowboys in the 70's there were times when I screamed at Walsh for playing to conservative and playing not to lose. There were times when I saw Montana make throws just like A. Smith does now and going WTH. When Young took over, a large # of fans thought that he couldn't carry Montana's jock even though he was a much better athlete.
The West Coast offense, especially during the first 6 games of a lot of seasons had the offense looking like they had never played the game before. It took me awhile to figure out that if we came out of the first 6 games 3-3 we were probably on the way to the Super Bowl because it took so long for the offense to come together.
But the overriding thing was that after being also rans for so long the 49ers were finally the class of the league and every year you knew we were the favorites and those hated boot licking Cowboys weren't. I was gambling in Reno the day that we finally beat the Steelers and realized we were the real deal and didn't start to worry again until about the time Mooch became coach.
It was a terrific ride but you don't really learn to appreciate it unless you go through what the team is going through over the last 7+ years. This is my second time thru HELL and while I understand we will never dominate for the # of years we did then it is nice to dream that we might.
I just hope that you get to enjoy the team we all love, winning enough Super Bowls to take back the lead from Pittsburg.

thanks for the responses guys I just hope I can experience 1 superbowl victory
GO NINERS!!!

Originally posted by gold49digger:
thanks for the responses guys I just hope I can experience 1 superbowl victory
GO NINERS!!!

we will get teh the superbowl......



in the next 15 years or so.

Remember we went 10-6 and that was a disappointing year?

To be completely honest, I took them for granted. There were games I new they would win, so sometimes I wasn't even paying attention. But when they lose a particular game, the entire week was bad until they win again on Sunday. Regular season games were considered boring, the fun started during the playoffs. With a few of there major playoff losses, the pain were unbearable for months. Especially when we lost in '82 to the Skins, '87 to Vikes, and '91 to the Giants. Those were three possible Super Bowls that could have been ours.

I'm both sad and glad that the 49er are going through this rough patch. It sure makes me more appreciative of the wins and more appreciative of the innovative defensive and offensive strategists that were running the 49er. I hope we are slowly gaining back some of our credibility by building a smart and innovative team. I don't have high expectation for this year, but I am very appreciative for the excitement that they have brought back to this board and restored my undying faith of the team.

Originally posted by Joecool:
Remember we went 10-6 and that was a disappointing year?

1992? we go 10-6, but the falcons and saints go in ahead of us. That year sucked. The last game of the year was against the Bears ... who were going to the playoffs and we weren't. I remember beating the ever-loving sh*t out of them that last game. IIRC, that was the season we had an awful start. Young got hurt, Grbac took a while to get in a rhythm, but we cam roaring back, but just couldn't do enough to seal a playoff berth.

As to the OP: some of these replies make it seems like we blew out all of our opponents. We didn't. We had many many many games where we were down in the 4th quarter.

But you knew we were going to win.

Joe Montana was the best comeback quarterback I've ever seen. Close second: Elway.

We would be down in many games, but Joe would bring us back. It was magic and it was gut-wrenching, but when you had Joe behind center, you almost just knew that he'd pull it off. That's what made him great.

Born49R is accurate. The thing about watching a 49ers game in the glory days was that you had three basic outcomes to games to expect:

1. Complete dominance -- when they hit on all cylinders they were a work of art, the QB was smooth, the routes were smooth, the D-smothering, interceptions came in bunches, holes were big for the RB.
2. Slug fest -- Or they came up against a tough opponent that realy matched up well and could attack on defense - Giants, Eagles, Bears. Now you got to watch the niners tactically adjust and work to find an edge and grind out a victory, and they often did.
3. The come-back -- By chance and just the luck of football, the 49ers would get down and then stage a fun comeback, often roaring back in the 4th quarter. Great fun.
3. Bumbling game -- they would occassionally hit the field (particularly early in seasons) fumble, bumble, and look lost. These were aggravating to watch, but you knew they would get it together, so you took these games in stride (sometimes with a worry in the back of your mind). These games also seemed to occur when we had significant personnel change -- so that was the source of the worry.

So the glory years -- the difference was they were FUN to watch, and 3 out of 4 times they pulled out a fun win. NOT grinding out a 2 point win or loss with 50 runs up the middle that created depression at the end of a Sunday afternoon. That was the difference!

One thing I would suggest is get a couple of the 49ers seasons on DVD from the 1980s and 1990s and watch the whole season in review. That is a GREAT way to get a feel for what is was like in the past -- and don't just get their superbowl seasons. The thing was they were ALWAYS in contention for the superbowl, so even in seasons when they didn't go, the fan base could just stay positive for the next year. (kinda like what the Patriots enjoy today!)

Originally posted by putangina:

Originally posted by JerryRice1848:
To think at one time we could have had a potential 11-0 vs. 11-0 showdown on MNF with the Giants in 1990

I still remember Ronnie and Phil Simms jawing and coming close to fistacuffs in front of the tunnel immediately after we won the game. Those were the days. Crazy that both of us lost the week prior.

I remember being at a Grateful Dead show that monday night and Bob Weir coming out and telling the crowd that the 49ers had beaten the Giants 7-3! The crowd went crazy! The Dead then went straight into their second set and it was a GREAT night!

I remember Steve Young talking about he and Mike Shannahan going over the playbook the night before our last superbowl going "That's a touchdown, that's a touchdown, That's a touchdown...". After the game, Shannahan was pissed because we missed one. That's the kind of team we had...

Originally posted by gold49digger:

What was it like? Watching the great players like montana, rice, young, craig and others shine every game?? I was born in 95 so I completely missed out on the best years of the niners.

It was amazing. One of my favorite things was listening to the announcers fawn all over the team. Like after they dismantled DEN and Madden said this was the greatest team of all time. The depth on those teams was astounding as well. Our 2nd and 3rd stngers were often better then other teams starters. It was a perfect combination of stellar coaching and stellar talent. I would advise watching the Americas Game series that NFL network put out.
Oh, and imagine having the best QB in the league and his backup is arguably the 2nd best QB in the league

It was a different world. The thing I remember from those days was looking around at other teams that were perpetual losers, and thinking "How can their fans stand it?" Now I know.

The Montana era 49ers never ceased to amaze me. You never got jaded even though you always expected to win. They seemed to pull off miracles on a weekly basis. It's such a different feeling when you have complete confidence in your QB and you know the team can come from behind at any time, no matter how far down they are.

When you watched the 49ers in those days, you were watching the best the NFL had to offer; sometimes by a wide margin. They had the talent, the coaching, and the best organization from top to bottom.

The first Super Bowl was such a Cinderella season. It was a miracle and maybe even a fluke. I don't think anyone at the time realized it was the beginning of a dynasty.

I remember how people (particularly Raiders fans) criticized Walsh's "dink and dunk" offense and said it wouldn't last; that it wasn't real football.

When you went to games in those days, 49ers fans were the best. Classy fans, knowledgeable, friendly, they treated visitors with respect. And they were LOUD. Some people criticized 49er fans for being too laid back. But for the big games, when it really mattered, that place would rock.

Walsh called it "Camelot." It was a special, magic time; and everyone knew it. And now it's completely over. We can never go back. But we can be great again in a new way. When the greatness starts, you don't recognize it at first. It seems to come out of nowhere and never happens the way you expect.

Originally posted by putangina:

I still remember Ronnie and Phil Simms jawing and coming close to fistacuffs in front of the tunnel immediately after we won the game. Those were the days. Crazy that both of us lost the week prior.

I remember that Monday night game. Totally out of character of both guys. That was a great game. I believe that was Burts 1st game against the Giants after they released him and he had a helluva game.