Sunday, September 11, 2011.
The San Francisco 49ers began their new season at ho in Candlestick Park, with their first ga against their division rival, the Seattle Seahawks.
The teams in the NFC West are the San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks, the St. Louis Rams, and the Arizona Cardinals. Among these four teams, the greatest and most intense division rivalry is between the 49ers and the Rams.
Before the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995, the team was in Los Angeles for fifty-eight years. As the Los Angeles Rams, they and the 49ers beca one of the greatest division rivals in league history. In 2008, ESPN ranked the top ten rivalries in the league, and the "San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams" was eighth on the list.
In comparison, the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals were not in the sa division as the 49ers until the league's realignnt in 2002. Although they were division rivals, there was no historical animosity between them. And in just eight years, the two teams' peak seasons never lined up, so there was never a true showdown. The intensity of their matchups was noticeably weaker.
Until this year.
In 2010, the Seattle Seahawks hired Pete Carroll as their new head coach. In 2011, the San Francisco 49ers hired Jim Harbaugh as theirs.
For the past three years, the personal rivalry between Pete and Jim had been one of the most exciting, intense, and heated rivalries in the NCAA.
Pete Carroll was the head coach of the University of Southern California from 2001 to 2009, during which ti he saw the team go from a slump to glory and then from the peak back to the bottom. Jim Harbaugh was the head coach of Stanford University from 2007 to 2010. Under his leadership, the team was unstoppable and dominant, reaching its peak in the twenty-first century.
The University of Southern California and Stanford University were already rivals in California. With UCLA, the three schools' history could be a whole book of rivalries. However, because of UCLA's recent decline, it couldn't keep up with the other two teams and beca a spectator, watching Southern California and Stanford's showdowns for three consecutive years.
Jim was a bold and aggressive coach, while Pete was also an unconventional and strict one. Neither of them would back down, and every ti they t, it was a clash of titans. From their trash talk before the ga to their confrontation on the field and their interviews after the ga, their rivalry was never short of drama.
Now, Pete's Seattle Seahawks and Jim's San Francisco 49ers were eting again, head-to-head. With both teams in a tough spot, the animosity between these old rivals was already in the air before they even saw each other face-to-face.
"He's not a concern. I've never considered him a rival," Pete Carroll said in an interview with the "Seattle Post" before leaving for San Francisco.
"Back in college, all of his wins were because of Andrew Luck. Luck is a top-tier quarterback, and I believe he'll have a bright future in the league. As for that attention-seeking coach, I think he should realize his incompetence and stop with all his nonsense."
After that, Pete scoffed and said disdainfully, "I don't think that matchstick of a quarterback can work a miracle again. I believe we'll be taking ho an easy victory from Candlestick Park."
Throughout the interview, Pete was full of disdain and contempt. He didn't even see Jim and the 49ers as a threat. As for Lu Ke, he was just a nobody.
Facing Pete's provocation, Jim fought back strongly. "If he's still living in his college dream, he better wake up now. Obviously, his record last year is the best proof that he is a diocre, incompetent, and arrogant coach."
Last year, the Seattle Seahawks only had a dismal record of seven wins and nine losses, but because the other teams in their division had even worse records, they beca the first division champions in NFL history to have a losing record and still make the playoffs. After defeating the defending champions, the New Orleans Saints, in the first round, they lost to the Chicago Bears in the second and ended their run.
Although the Seahawks made the playoffs and even the second round, they left a bitter and embarrassing mark in league history, and Pete Carroll's abilities were highly questioned.
During the offseason, Pete decided that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck wasn't good enough to lead the team forward. So, he fired Matt, traded for Tarvaris Jackson from the Minnesota Vikings, and completely cleaned out all of the team's backup quarterbacks to start the new season.
"His best skill is to bla all his mistakes on his players. Others' success is because of their players, but his failure is because his players are terrible," Jim, who was also no pushover, responded with sharp words and no hesitation. "And finally, instead of worrying about my team's players, he should worry about the wild dog on his own team! Losing the ga and losing your dignity is the real sha!"
The "wild dog" was a rookie on the Seahawks, Richard Sherman.
This rookie had been making bold claims in the rookie training camp, but his skills weren't recognized by scouts. In the end, he was only selected by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the draft.
After the draft, Richard boasted to the dia and angrily fired shots at other teams. "The scouts are all blind. I'm going to make the other thirty-one teams regret it and show them what I can do. I'm telling you, any pass that cos my way will beco a disaster!"
After three months of quiet during the training camp, Richard ca out again as the new season began. "That Chinese Arican quarterback is a disgrace to the league. He's a clown, as weak as Bambi. Yeah, Bambi is his nickna, a disgusting attention seeker."
"He was a ridiculous, jumping-up-and-down clown in the rookie training camp, constantly asking for pictures with players, practically begging every player to..." The reporter muted the rest of what Richard said, as it was an obscene word. "He's a complete sissy. I can't believe a team would be stupid enough to use him as a quarterback."
Finally, Richard pointed his right index finger at the cara. "I'm telling you, if you dare to throw a ball my way, I'll make you eat your words. I'll teach you a lesson like I'm kicking a stray dog! I'll make you know this is my territory!"
He was a rookie, and a fifth-round one at that. Almost no one in the league knew Richard Sherman, but at that mont, this young man was not only being arrogant and running his mouth, but he was also brazenly challenging his opponent. Of course, the 49ers' Chinese Arican quarterback was seen as an opponent that anyone could challenge. So, before the ga, there was another point of interest.
Even though everyone believed that Lu Ke didn't have the guts to challenge Richard.
Facing Jim's accusation, Pete calmly pushed back. "Players have the right to express their own opinions. If you can't handle it, you should go ho to your mom."
"He's a true reflection of his player; their mouths are both as foul as toilets." Jim responded in a later interview. "Let's settle it on the field."
The ga between the 49ers and the Seahawks hadn't even started, but the teams had already traded blows several tis. The rivalry between these two division rivals was getting more and more exciting.
So, which of these two teams, both facing internal and external problems, would get a win in their season opener? And how would the ga, which would feature the first Asian starter in league history, end?
By all accounts, this should have been a highly anticipated ga, but in reality, only the press releases made it sound good. The ga didn't get a Sunday night broadcast. It was scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. local ti in San Francisco, and it was just one of many gas being played at the sa ti.
The "historic mont" that the league was promoting was more like a "Chaplin" mont, a complete joke.
But even without a pri-ti broadcast and with the promotion being just for political correctness, the ga still drew a lot of attention. Even if the coverage was all the sa, and even if the ga was boring and the outco was predictable, the news of the first Asian starter in history had to be reported. As a result, thousands of reporters still ca to Candlestick Park.
What's more, the ga day was also the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Fox would be broadcasting the ga, providing a platform for fans in San Francisco and Seattle to watch.
On the morning of September 11, Candlestick Park was already crowded with people. There were a lot of reporters, a lot of ho fans, a lot of visiting fans, and a lot of people just there to see what would happen. Even though the San Francisco fans had lost faith in their team, as it was the season opener, the season ticket holders still showed up to at least save face for the team.
Located on the edge of the city, Candlestick Park wasn't just a football stadium; it was also a baseball stadium. It was less than ten kiloters from the city center, and traffic was very convenient. It had been the 49ers' ho stadium since 1971 and could hold nearly seventy thousand fans.
The stadium was built on a man-made peninsula made of reclaid land and building debris, facing the sea. It was a beautiful place, but it also sat in the middle of a "wind tunnel," which ant the stadium was often surrounded by cold, smoky wind, like a fairyland. It was also one of the windiest stadiums in the league.
Today, in this very place, the league would witness history.
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