In less than two hours, I will be on my way to a party that will mark a departure from the world of Hot Pockets for dinner … and breakfast. A departure from the days of throwing a sleeping bag on top of my bed instead of buying and washing new sheets. OK, none of that is true. I already live with my fiance, Miss (for now) Sports Girl Liz, and I’m not saying I’m domesticated, but I’ve been trained to shake your hand every time I’m given a treat.
I kid, I kid. But the bachelor party starts very soon, as we head to Lake Tahoe (south shore, because it’s the required question anytime anyone around here goes to Tahoe). And while the party is pretty much going to center around sports on television, that leaves a problem on Sunday night, when both the Giants and 49ers are both on national TV at the same time.
The Giants are the obvious choice, being that they’re in the playoffs. But this is a potential season-saving game for the Niners, who due to the Giants’ recent accomplishments have been relegated to a BASG afterthought. And who can blame any of us for focusing on the Giants? Even Matt Maiocco took a little time off from the Niner grind to root for Bochy’s boys.
It’s not like the 49ers have nothing going on worth talking about. You have one of their more talented (if wildly inconsistent) wide receivers, Delanie Walker, go down with a high ankle sprain. Mike Singletary was a bad, bad boy at the end of the game against Atlanta (seriously, the post-game handshake is the most tired non-story in sports right now … Singletary’s career is in the balance, so while I blame him for poor coaching I certainly can’t blame him for thinking about other things than sportsmanship after losing at the last second). Glen Coffee just got arrested for finding his true calling away from the football field carrying a concealed weapon.
And even though 0-4 is ugly, this season isn’t over. Not even close. All three teams ahead of the Niners are LUCKY to be 2-2. The Niners play excellently during night games at Candlestick. Andy Reid had to come crawling back to Kevin Kolb with Michael Vick’s rib injury, and the Eagles’ defense isn’t that great. LeSean McCoy won’t do anything special (especially if he sits out with a cracked rib), because running backs never do in San Francisco. All the 49ers have to do is keep DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek quiet. And keep Alex Smith from getting skittish and tossing key interceptions at the end of the second half and the middle of the third quarter.
OK, so maybe a win isn’t guaranteed. But as long as the 49ers intercept Kolb twice, which they certainly can if the secondary and linebackers can catch the majority of the Kolb passes that hit their hands, it could be the start of the Niners’ comeback. Or, the season will be over. Either way, it deserves viewing along with Jonathan Sanchez’s postseason debut. Maybe not top-priority viewing, but definitely more than a flip of the remote control during baseball commercials.
So even though we aren’t going to Tahoe to gamble (more like play a ton of bocce ball and pool, and watch about 90 hours of sports), we’re going to have to make it to the casino on Sunday night. And it’s going to get dangerous, as I will definitely put down a wager that I probably shouldn’t. But to watch both games, we absolutely have to get to a sports book with room for all of us, or at least a sports bar, so we can soak in both games. Unless this cabin has a DVR. Hmmmm … it would still be kind of fun to go to the casino.
