Waiting is the hardest part
In the long hours after taking another double shot of 49ers heartbreak, I wondered if this overtime loss in the Super Bowl was my version of the 2002 World Series. I wondered if this is what it felt like to be a Giants fan two decades ago—to watch a long-awaited championship disappear in an instant. To repeatedly see immensely talented teams violently turned away at the last moment, or close to it.
The 49ers have packed a lifetime’s worth of heartbreak into an impressively short span of time, losing four NFC championship games and three Super Bowls since 2011.
The Giants inflicted pain across generations, with a lot of mediocre baseball in between these moments: Losing Game 7 of the ‘62 World Series on Willie McCovey’s line drive. Blowing the NLCS against the Cardinals in ‘87. Getting swept by the A’s in ‘89. Winning 103 in ‘93—but still needing one more. Game 6 in 2002.
After all that, I’m sure Giants fans were left to wonder if it would ever happen. If it was even allowed to happen.
That’s what’s running through my head right now, as part of a generation of 49ers fans who never saw Montana and Young sling it on the biggest stage. We’re left with grainy footage and old stories from the glory days.
What hurts is knowing these days could have been the the days. Instead, they’re endless, painful days of waiting. And waiting.