When the San Francisco Giants faced the Texas Rangers in the 2010 World Series I remember reading an article by a sportswriter from the Dallas-Ft. Worth region who argued, in gist, that the Rangers deserved to win because Texas is ‘merica! while San Francisco is a degenerate, snobby, west-coast city that has contributed to the demise of our culture. In 2012 similar points were made about Motown, a real American city, whose Detroit Tigers deserved to beat the Giants. There was even some homophobia present in one article (I need to find and save these links for future reference). Of course, the San Francisco 49ers’ place in Super Bowl XLVII (47) against the east coast Baltimore Ravens will inevitably result in the same stupid generalization about San Francisco, e.g., Jon Friedman calling Baltimore “an iconic American city, a proud (by the definition of its residents) shot-and-a-beer, blue-collar place” and San Francisco “…the white wine-swilling crowd out there in the west” in his article “Why the 49ers Will Win the Super Bowl” (at least the title is good).
Generalizations are not bad in-and-of themselves. San Francisco can be generalized as politically left, ethnically diverse, advocates of rights for the LGBTQ community, maintaining a strong anti-war tradition, functioning as a sanctuary for undocumentable immigrants, favoring youth and innovation, costly, crowded, relatively efficient (I know locals gripe about BART and MUNI, but many don’t know about places like San Antonio where public transportation is semi-useless), and so forth. San Francisco is proud of these distinctions. Yet this idea that San Francisco is less ‘merican, because it is a particular version of what it means to be American, or that the city and region don’t deserve to enjoy something like football because Baltimore is rougher, or Detroit is harder, or Dallas-Ft. Worth is more Texan is ridiculous.
I was born in Vallejo, California. I was raised in Napa, California. I lived the most formative years of my life in San Francisco, California. I guarantee that this part of the world cares as much about silly things like baseball and football (silly things that matter to me because of where I was raised). The San Francisco Bay Area is as much a contributor to the national conversation over our country’s identity as New York, New York or Washington, D.C., or Chicago, Illinois, or (gulp!) Los Angeles, California.
For those who perceive the San Francisco Bay Area as a region detached from the rest of the country, aloof, disinterested, I recommend David Talbot’s Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love. It is about San Francisco from the late 60s to the early 80s. One thing that will hit the reader in the face is this: what San Francisco is debating now is what the nation debates in twenty to thirty years. Same-sex marriage? HHS mandate? Environmental sustainability? All these things that are in the national spotlight had precursors in the City by the Bay. In fact, the author, Talbot, suggests that San Francisco is the D.C. of the west coast (an analogy that is favorable if Los Angeles is allowed to be the New York of the west coast).
San Francisco isn’t immune to generalizations. Let true generalizations remain! As a native of the region please let’s ditch goofy ideas that San Francisco is full of Athenian philosopher types sitting around discussing the next iPad, and whether there is more work to do in order to completely erode traditionally morality in this country. San Francisco values much of what the United States values, sometimes from a different angle, but you can’t have a ying without a yang, right? San Francisco is as much a football city as Baltimore and the 49ers are as precious to the city as the Ravens to their city. You’ll see. Go 49ers!
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FYI, I know that if the 49ers win the Super Bowl there will be some idiots who will burn trash in the middle of the streets, who will overturn cars, and who will do the sort of things that give people the opportunity to piously go, “Wow, really San Francisco, wow, keep it classy!” Let’s recognize now that it isn’t 49ers fans, or Giants fans, who do these things, it is morons, and morons take advantage of celebratory chaos to wreak further havoc. If and when these things happen Sunday evening, please, criticize the morons, not “San Francisco” or “49ers fans”.
the archives near Emmaus 
It being the off-season apple TV offers a baseball package for cheap (something like $3.95 US for all games, all teams, coverage for the upcoming season).
I did what I never do, and that’s invest in baseball. This upcoming season looks interesting, and for $4US who could go wrong right? It was active immediately, and it still has the last world series games available (which I didn’t follow at the time).
I was stunned to see how tidily the Giants took down Detroit (or perhaps how badly Detroit fell).
(I agree, Sports riots, especially after championship games are silly)
Really, $4 US for the whole season? I need to move to where you live! It is over $100 here, or part of an expensive cable/satellite package.
Maybe I caught an off-season special aimed at encouraging those who rarely watch the sport to start watching the sport. I knew $4 was a good deal though ..
Being in Texas, isn’t baseball only surpassed by American football? Your market likely has a far higher demand ..
It depends on where one resides in Texas. In general, yes, football is a religion here. Basketball competes with baseball for second place though. Where I live in San Antonio no one seems to care about the Texas Rangers or Houston Astros, but the Spurs are huge. The Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks seem to have large followings as well. I haven’t been to the area near Dallas, so I don’t know that I can speak to whether their order of allegiance goes Cowboys-Mavericks-Rangers-Stars or Cowboys-Rangers-Mavericks-Stars, but I wouldn’t be surprised is the Mavericks come in second over the Rangers.
I knew basketball was popular in Texas too, (Texas having the stereotype of being crazy about sports), but I’m surprised it’s more popular than baseball – baseball being portrayed as America’s past-time, like apple pie.
San Fran is one of my favorite cities hands down. Those who disparage it probably have never seen it, much less been in the Bay Area. Baltimore, an iconic American city… are you kidding me!?
Exactly! What symbol in Baltimore is as iconic as the Golden Gate Bridge? the Transamerica Pyramid? cable cars turning around at Powell and Market? Lombard Street? Nothing!
…a root for the 49ers is (in this case) a root for Cleveland. Yet another city that is better than Baltimore.
Bazinga!
I’m moving fast today, so confess to not reading your whole article. But noted the headlines, bolds, etc. Anyway, for tomorrow at least, I’m a 49er’s fan! I hope they win and think they probably will (but Baltimore does seem to have some big MO, too, and are playing well). I have no DISlike for the 49er’s ever (except 95, when they clobbered my Chargers), btw. Just mostly loyal to SD teams and the AFC generally (tho not in this case). As a college kid, I admit to gloating when Broadway Joe and the Jets beat the then-Indy Colts (if memory serves me right) for the first then-AFL Superbowl victory when everyone thot them clearly inferior.