The San Francisco 49ers report to training camp a week from today, at which point we’ll have more information than we know what to do with! In the meantime, we’re wrapping up the last few quiet days before camp.
The mothership recently tweeted out a question asking people for their earliest sports memory. The responses offer some highly notable athletic contests, but also some random ones. Everybody is going to remember something different, whether it be a famous game like The Catch or Kirk Gibson’s home run. Others will remember that random 49ers game that caught their attention for whatever reason.
I thought I’d open the door for people to tell us two things: 1) their first sports memory, and 2) their first 49ers memory. Those might be concurrent, but if you’re like me, they’re different.
My first sports memory is watching UNLV lose to Indiana in the 1987 Final Four. I was a huge Freddie Banks way back then (I got a thrill later seeing him play in the World Basketball League), and so that sticks in my head. The next major sports memory I can recall is Kent Hrbek hitting a grand slam against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1987. I’m pretty sure I watched the 1986 World Series, but the 1987 World Series is the first major league baseball moment I recall. I was rooting for the Cardinals in that World Series primarily because I was a Red Sox fan as a kid and so I didn’t like any other AL teams. It was odd.
My first 49ers memory is when they beat the Cincinnati Bengals on the John Taylor catch. I did not have a football team prior to that year, but I hopped on the 49ers bandwagon at that point. I think part of becoming a bigger fan is that my 4th grade teacher was a Bengals fan, and it became an opportunity to talk some smack to him during class. I was insufferable after the 49ers beat the Bengals.
So what is your first sports memory, and then your first 49ers memory?