Seattle Seahawks Defeat San Francisco Forty-Niners 23-17 In Close, Hard-Fought Championship Game (1/19/2014)

It was a close game, and the Niners were ahead 17-13 going into the Fourth Quarter.  However, the Seahawks scored a touchdown and a field goal in the fourth quarter to go ahead and win.  The Niners had possession in the last two minutes, and were moving the ball well with Quarterback Colin Kaepernick actually completing some passes for a change.  His last throw of the game was into the end zone, where it was intercepted to end the game with only seconds left.  If the Niners could have scored a touch down, they could have won the game by one point, 24-23, and been headed for the Super Bowl.

It seems to this observer that Kaepernick has some serious weaknesses as a quarterback.  He has trouble completing passes, and makes some bizarre play calls.  His strength is in running the ball.  If he cannot overcome his weaknesses next year, I suspect he will be replaced.  However, I hope he can continue to grow as a 49er and as a quarterback.  

The Niners had a good season and went down fighting hard.  I would rather see them lose the NFC Championship than to go to the Super Bowl and lose there.  Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks. I suspect that they will be the next Super Bowl champions.

San Francisco Forty-Niners vs Seattle Seahawks Today 1/19/2014

The Niners play the Seahawks today and the winner will go to the Super Bowl.

I'm a long-time Niners fan, so naturally I am rooting for San Francisco.  I'll be happy if the Niners win, but I won't be crushed if the Seahawks do (I'll be mildly down for the rest of the day, but that's all).  The reason is simple:  sports are for fun, they are not the end-all and be-all of existence.

I am supposed to attend a compulsory meeting of the tax preparers for my employer today, and that meeting would prevent me from seeing the game.  Sports may not be the be-all and end-all of existence, but I'll be damned if I am going to miss the game.  So I informed my wife that I won't be attending the meeting, and if anyone asks, it's because I have a temperature.  Yep, a temperature of 49 degrees F.  Or, Forty-Niner-itis.  What if they fire me??? Let 'em.

Seattle has the home-field advantage, and their fans are purposely noisy in order to disrupt the plays of their opponents, when those opponents are on offense.  Seattle has refused to sell tickets to the game to Californians, probably to prevent any rooting section for the Forty-Niners.  That's a bit chickensh*t, but it does show how seriously many people take football.

Oh, there's another game today as well, between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos.  That game will decide the other team that goes to the Super Bowl.

Probable winners today?  Seattle and Denver (because both have home field advantage).  However, as I told my friend Curmudgeon of Political Clown Parade, quoting the late Al Davis:  "football is a game of funny bounces."  Nothing is certain when two great teams collide.