Earlier this season, there was a contest in which entrants tried to prove why they were the ultimate displaced fan of their team. Entrants submitted a video, pictures and/or an essay proclaiming their displaced nature. There was a combination of voting and judging and eventually they figured out the Ultimate Displaced Fan. 49ers fan Marcel Batts finished as an honorable mention and I've posted the video he submitted after the jump.
Marcel is an Army veteran of almost 17 years and has had to watch and listen to 49ers games from as far away as Afghanistan. Being in that neck of the woods means watching 49ers games in the middle of the night. While Armed Forces Network carried some games, he primarily had to listen to audio streams at 107.7 The Bone's website. The video after the jump was actually shot over in Afghanistan, although he is now back in the US at Ft. Riley, Kansas.
I think we can all appreciate both the awesomeness of his service as well as his dedication to the 49ers. He actually grew up in Texas and became a 49ers fan in part because he was a huge fan of Jerry Rice. Anybody that become a 49ers fan in Cowboys country must be doing something right.
Watching games in Afghanistan definitely qualifies as one of the crazier places to watch games. Have any of you watched games in particularly bizarre locations? Some early readers might remember that I lived in Saudi Arabia when I was in middle school. I watched the 1991 49ers-Giants NFC Championship Game over there in the middle of the night at the beginning of the Gulf War. Suffice to say, that is the craziest experience I've had watching a 49ers game. How about you?