I’m not a sportswriter… and it’s a far cry from politics to the gridiron… but yesterday witnessed the re-emergence of one of the truly preeminent football franchises in the history of the sport.

The San Francisco 49ers, Alex Smith and their no-nonsense head coach Jim Harbaugh, pulled off what may be the most remarkable finish to win a division playoff game in recent memory… possibly since 1981. Then, it was Joe Montana to Dwight Clark in what came to be known as ‘The Catch’.

This football franchise has seen its share of remarkable moments. The image of Terrell Owens at the goal line, snagging a last minute pass from Steve Young in the last three seconds of the 1999 NFC wild-card playoff game against the Packers at ‘The Stick’, is still fresh in the 49er faithfuls’ minds as the ‘The Catch 2?.

There can be no greater indication of the ‘new’ 49ers resurgence than the fans in Candlestick Park. The old place really rocked… you could hear the roar from miles away on the wind. The 49ers are back… and that ‘old’ stadium which has seen so many great 49ers teams over the years has, at least temporarily, a new lease on life.  read more »

A local news item caught my attention yesterday, on San Francisco’s CBS5 television station. It concerned the city’s municipal transport system, or ‘Muni’.

While the transport organization rumbles on with a $21 million deficit, new ticket kiosks are being built at two locations. Looks  like possibly a good idea at first glance. Sell more tickets, more passengers, more fares, more income to cut the deficit.

These are not the common or garden type kiosks though. The sort that look like either a burger trailer or Uncle Henry’s shed. They are state-of-the-art contraptions, constructed of stainless steel with bullet proof glass. The cost for the pair… $829,000!

Has the Muni gone loony? Well, perhaps not. You see, it’s not their money that they used to purchase these hi-tech boutique des billets. Neither is it funded from the city coffers… if there are any left, that is. It’s another wonderful investment, courtesy of the federal stimulus program. In other words, you bought them.

The terms of the grant insisted that Muni build new structures (with all the expensive bureaucratic procedures associated with anything ‘new’ in San Francisco), rather than perhaps ‘stimulating’ an existing empty office or retail unit, of which there are plenty.  read more »