Bolden was one of about 30 sports fans watching the game at Covey’s Sports Grill in Tracy, and was among the few cheering for the Ravens, champions of the American Football Conference, on their way to a 34-31 win in the New Orleans Superdome.
“I'm an AFC fan, because my Raiders aren't in it,” said Bolden, a Tracy resident.
He wasn’t too nervous about being surrounded by 49ers fans, and had a couple other Raider fans to keep him company.
The game turned out to be a roller-coaster ride for 49ers fans, who started off confident their team would tie an NFL record by winning the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl. The Niners haven’t won the big game since 1995, when Steve Young quarterbacked the team following the 1994 season.
“We are due for a win,” said Martha Casanovas of Tracy.
She and her friend Sandra Yniguez of San Jose were confident since the 49ers’ Week 1 30-22 victory over the Green Bay Packers. They were encouraged even more when they went to Candlestick Park to see the 49ers beat the Miami Dolphins 27-13 in Week 14.
“I just saw from game one, when they beat Green Bay, that they were on a mission,” Yniguez said.
Then they saw their team struggle in the first half of the Super Bowl, and by the time the lights went out at the Superdome early in the third quarter, some fans worried that the 49ers weren’t playing up to their potential.
But Bolden and his son Solomon, 13, were among the happiest fans in the group after the Ravens’ Jacoby Jones ran back the second-half opening kickoff for a touchdown to put Baltimore up 28-6.
It was the last big play before a significant portions of the lights went out at the Superdome, giving the 49ers an extra half-hour to regroup. At the time, Bolden speculated the 34-minute blackout was a ploy to give the 49ers an advantage.
"After the lights went out it gave more motivation for the Niners to come back, and that was the scary part," Bolden said. "It was a very good game. It was a fantastic game."
Chris Covey, owner of Covey’s Sports Grill, said Sunday’s crowd was modest compared to those that came out for the other playoff games.
“I knew because of so many Super Bowl parties, and the fact that it's a local game, I knew it was going to be tough,” Covey said. “So I put out free food. I knew I had to do something.”
The fans who showed up saw the Ravens, led by quarterback Joe Flacco, dissect the San Francisco secondary early in the game, helped by untimely 49ers penalties and an interception from 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“They've had some blown coverages. Kaepernick, he's too tense,” said 49er fan and Tracy resident Jamie Kim. “They're basically not sticking with the game plan.”
Kim’s friend Isaiah Tautua of San Jose, a Raiders fan rooting for the Ravens, said the 49ers’ quarterback was in over his head, making only his 10th professional start.
“You can tell. He's not ready, with all the pressure on him,” Tautua said.
By the fourth quarter, after two 49ers touchdowns and a field goal, 49ers fans were back on their feet, and the crowd erupted with cheers in the fourth quarter when Kaepernick ran the ball into the end zone to cut the Ravens’ lead to 31-29.
Those cheers fizzled minutes later when Kaepernick lofted an incomplete pass to Michael Crabtree in the end zone on fourth down to effectively seal the game.
“It was a good comeback by the Niners, but at the end they could have executed,” Kim said. “It's still good. From what they were a few years ago until now, it's a big progression. There's always next year, and I'm looking forward to it.”
n Contact Bob Brownne at 830-4227 or brownne@tracypress.com.
I know that many of you are unhappy with the final results of the game, but it was a very entertaining game for those of us who had no rooting or betting interest for either side. Anytime the President doesn’t know which locker room to call to congratulate with less than a minute to go in the game is a successful Super Bowl.
Here’s some fun trivia about how the name Super Bowl came about. The first game in 1967 was called the NFL-AFL Championship game. Pete Rozelle the then commissioner of the NFL was looking for a name to market and help sell the game. In 1968 the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Hunt noticed his young son playing with a tiny black ball that had an incredible bounce to it. He asked him about it and his son told him with a southern drawl that it was call a super ball. This is how the name Super Bowl came to be.
grown men throwing a ball around.
The day is a nice change in one way though. There are always much fewer folks out. I usually take the wife and kids somewhere we would usually never go to, due to the crowds, or take the chance to just go to the park or shop in relative peace.
This year it was Black Bear. Usually too crowded to enjoy but quite nice on game day, at least until they turned on the damn tv.
We are in agreement here. Use ta work in an office next ta th Rader's business office. Got ta meet all of th team members an came away with th same disgust that ya have articulated.
Can't see th value in wastin half, or more, of my day watchin a bunch of wealthy men play football, some bein millionaires, while th majority of em are so rude an egotistical towards th fans who essentially made all of their money possible.
I'd much rather watch college or high school sports. Thare is a much better love for th game an less self aggrandizement an it sends a better message ta younger children who tend ta idolize these people not fer thair ability in sports but th fame an wealth it brings em.
What with th number of pro teams an th number of players on each team th chances fer a non-pro athlete ta make th big time is rather small. An generally speakin, once they can no longer make th grade they are booted out of pro sports an many loose all that easy money they made.
An better education is much better an has a higher propensity of success fer th educated individual than th person that only knows how ta throw a football.
A Niner loss makes my week so much better. Good job Raven's!