Hill Billy

The coup de grâce of this father's year was the opportunity to take his two boys to an NFL football game. Even if it was the lowly 49ers versus the dissapointing Bengals. Logan, Tommy and I made the trek with a few friends in the ward on Saturday, December 15th. We met up with my longtime friend Mike who happened to be in San Fran with his wife and friends. The traffic was a dream getting into the game, finding only 6 or 7 complete standstills in movement delaying our journey a mere 60 minutes or so. Not bad considering that we sat in our car in the parking lot for 45 minutes before moving an inch getting out of the game.

As we were short 3 tickets, I introduced my friends Bryan and Alex to the art of scalping. This is done by first locating someone in the crowd of people who looks like he just got out of San Quinton prison nearby. Rather than ask how Scott Peterson is doing these days, inquire as to the availability of tickets the gentleman has on his person. It goes something like this...."you got tickets". His response is something like "yeah, watchu lookinfo". You: "I need _ (in our case 3)". Next he offers a $ amount that is rediculous. No matter what that number is, I guarantee it is rediculous. You must cut his number in half, and then cut it in half again. He laughs, and you keep walking. That is when the negotiation begins. At the end of the day, he asked for $67 each, and we paid $20 each.

The game was very enjoyable, as the 49ers inserted their 3rd string quarterback to bring home the victory. And bring it home he did. Shaun HILL passed for 197 yards and a touchdown in his debut as the starting QB, and has begun quite a QB controversy in SF. He could have passed for more, but the 49ers opted to chew through the clock in the second half and Frank Gore ran for 138 total yards. The final, 49ers 20 Bengals 13, Scalpers $60.

I guess Bengal fan is accustomed to losing, because they were loud and proud in the face of defeat. One in particular was Billy. Billy is so confident in his own football abilities, rather than purchase an existing jersey that represented some of the stars on the field, he custom made one of his own with his name on it. Perfect for being heckled at an away game. He stands up, crowd chants "Billy Sucks, Billy Sucks" or "Sit down Billy, Sit down Billy". The constant jawwing further convinced Billy of his prowess, and he egged on the fans further. To this, some friendly 49ers fans recognized Mike and Myself in Steelers jerseys. Knowing of the bitter rivelry between Steeler and Bengal fans, and the thorough domination that the Steelers have they asked us to go put Billy in his place. Terrable towels in hand, Mike and I took on the mercenary role, and righted the situation. Billy behaved himself the rest of the game.