Y-S 49ers fans up, down during big game

Joe Sutton expected to cry Sunday night. He just wanted to shed tears of happiness.

Sutton, 25, of Yuba City, gathered with 10 friends and family members Sunday to watch his San Francisco 49ers battle the New York Giants in the NFC championship game for a Super Bowl berth.

"It gives me goose bumps to think they're this close," Sutton said at halftime when the 49ers trailed 10-7. The Giants would eventually win the game in overtime 20-17.

A 49er Super Bowl is something Sutton's waited for his whole life. Unlike his 50-year-old uncle, he wasn't alive when the 49ers won most of their championships in the 1980s, and he doesn't remember the last time they won it all by defeating the San Diego Chargers in 1994.

Instead, he's grown up with the 49ers of the last 14 years, a punching bag driven to the conference basement by coaching changes and offense reconfigurations.

"I was always hoping they'd go to the Super Bowl, and they never did. It was always disappointing," said Sutton.

Slideshow: Locals watch NFC title game

He was hoping Sunday's game would change all that, and he had a man cave worthy of a conference championship. With about 10 friends and family members, Sutton squished into a shed equipped with couches and chairs, a wood stove and a projector displaying the game on a 120-inch screen.

Sutton's uncle, David Metcalf, had his fill of beans, but his indigestion in the first half came the soft coverage the 49ers secondary were giving to the Giants receivers.

"Three minutes left in the first quarter and I'm ready to dial 911," he said before declaring his hate for the zone defense that the 49ers were using. "I need to text (49ers head coach) Jim Harbaugh."

Like Sutton, Metcalf is a diehard Niner fan, but his pedigree goes back decades, and also includes a lot more articles of clothing. To advertise his allegiance, Metcalf wore a 49er beanie, sweatshirt and socks. Then he pulled up the sweatshirt to reveal the most important piece. The T-shirt declared the 49ers the "Team of the Decade" as it also trumpeted their Super Bowl win against the Denver Broncos.

"I knew I wore this T-shirt for a reason," Metcalf said.

Celebrating a 49er trip to the big game wasn't the reason, but Metcalf said he was all right with that. With a new coach, he predicted his team would go 9-7, not bag the 15-3 record that gave them a first-round bye and home field advantage in the playoffs. And this was just first year the 49ers are returning to form after learning "the Jim Harbaugh way."

He expects that to continue next season, and the seaason after.

Win or lose, "I'm happy with where we're at," he said at halftime, "because I know within two years, we'll have a Super Bowl."

Things are different now, he said, even though the 49ers' season ended Sunday night.

"We got that winning essence," he said.

CONTACT reporter Jonathan Edwards at jedwards@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4780. Find him on Facebook at /ADjedwards or on Twitter at @ADjedwards.