Okay, I must confess. I am still in the throes of football ecstasy.
I have been a San Francisco Forty Niners fan since I arrived in the SF Bay Area in 1969.
The Niners were pretty awful then, but since I love football and wanted to fall in love with a local team, not the NY teams I left in the rear view mirror, and since I would not, could not, ever be a fan of the Oakland Raiders, I chose the 49ers. It’s a love affair that has lasted longer than most people’s marriages.

Last weekend’s wild card lineup appeared promising. I watched every game with great interest and was hoping for close games with a few upsets thrown in for fun.
But instead we got some not so close games as the Texans, Giants and Saints pretty much took over their respective games and C-R-U-Z-ed home.
But….the last game of the wild card weekend, the one, I wasn’t all that interested in watching, turned out to be compelling football.

Say what you want about this controversial quarterback, but one thing is for certain—he’s got heart. Whether you like him or not, whether you think he’s talented or not, whether you think the Broncos getting into the playoffs was just dumb luck, it was Tim Tebow that made it all happen.

And so it’s time for Wild Card Weekend. I love these games, they are football’s gift to the faithful and fanatical NFL lover. Football is all about do or die, all about what have you done for me lately. Football satisfies that craving for drama and excitement and provides an adrenaline rush that is at once intoxicating and painful. I have heard the feeling compared to ugh, you, know, sex.

It’s New Year’s Eve-Eve and I’m GaGa over my Niners.
I am excited to ring in a New Year and ready to live life to the fullest. I find myself in a position I have not been in, as a SF 49er fan, for 9 long season. My San Francisco 49ers have exceeded all my expectations and have made the so-called experts look stupid. It is an exciting time in 49ers football land, and I plan to enjoy every bit of it, savor it and party like a Rock Star. This old gal is gonna Move Like Jagger!

You better not pout, I’m telling you why.
Playoff football is coming to town..

I’m going to make this quick, there are two weeks left in the regular season and baby do we have drama.
The scheduling of division games at the end of the regular season has every fan unnerved heading into week 16.
As I write this on Saturday morning, December 24, 2011, there are many unanswered questions heading into today’s games.

Oh oh, the blood letting has already begun.
Out…Todd Haley, Tony Sparano.
Who’s head is on the chopping block?
Norv Turner? Probably. His talented team really laid an egg this season. And the lowly Broncos appear poised to win the division. Holy Tebow!

Who’s Got It Better Than Us! (listen to it here)
Some Niners fan and rapper dude by the name of Bailey came up with this little tune. Now I am not a fan of rap, but I am a passionate Niners fan. My first thought was, oh no, some nasty rap tune that will make me cringe. But as it turns out Bailey has written a catchy little tune that is G rated and expresses the excitement and team spirit Jim Harbaugh has brought to this team and to its fans this season.
With the NFC West clinched it is now up to the Niners to keep Fred P Soft at bay. The New Orleans Saints are one game behind in the conference and can land the #2 seed if the Niners get sloppy.
Their post season starts this Sunday in Arizona.
Go Niners!

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Jim Harbaugh likes to tell his players stories about growing up in the Jack and Jackie Harbaugh household.
Harbaugh uses these stories to impart his football philosophy to his team. It looks like it is working very, very well. This 49ers team absolutely loves the guy.
Harbaugh has the 49ers going in the right direction, but he cautions them about getting too confident, too soon. That’s when his home spun yarn about Freddie P Soft comes in.

Say it loud, say it proud, shout it from the Golden Gate and the streets of San Francisco. The Niners are back! Exit Mike Singletary. Enter Jim Harbaugh, Vic Fangio, Greg Roman, John Morton, Brad Seely, add in to the mix incumbent coaches, Tom Rathman, Jim Tomsula and Mike Solari and you have a strong foundation for this team. The mere fact that Jim Harbaugh has taken the battered, bloodied and bruised Alex Smith and instilled in him confidence and accentuated his strengths while minimizing his weaknesses is worthy of Coach of the Year honors. The Niners didn’t need a preacher, they desperately needed an X’s and O’s guy with a staff that could adjust and utilize its talent. That guy is Harbaugh. Who has it better than us? Noooobody!!!

Hello fellow football fanatics. Are you as psyched as I am about the NFL season thus far?
Can you say L-I-O-N-S? Can you say B-I-L-L-S? Can you say C-H-O-K-E? You know who I’m talking about.
Redneck Faux Pas
What the hell does Hank Williams Jr.’s politics have to do with football? It’s a free country, that is until you say the wrong thing. I am very opposed to what he said. It was disrespectful and his “apology” was half hearted and forced.
Who does he think he is? Charlie Sheen?

Really?
Yes, the tailgating experience has come a long way Baby!
And Femmefan has the perfect tailgate accessory for you. Thanks to Joe at Talegator.com that junk in the trunk (your ass) can now rest on something …

Several months ago I was contacted by Aine Power. She was working on a research paper on female fans of male dominated sports for FIFA. I offered my opinion and some of my comments can be found in the research paper (although the spelled my last name Rocco not Ricco).
If you are interested in the way women feel about sports that have been considered the male domain, will find this research paper interesting.
It does support some of my early obesrvations, that women do not fit the stereotype the sports industry would like to use, it is much easier to sell to male fans than to women fans. Women can not be plugged into beer and boobs promos quite so easily. The whole PINK THING sports apparel idea the NFL started was beyond ridiclous and has been soundly repudiated by true female fans.
Check out the most recent stories on female fans below (click links). Seems as if female fans are now being regarded as vital and relevant. I knew that all along people!!
Ivette Ricco

John Madden told the KCBS morning crew he thinks it’s symptomatic of a bigger problem in that the fan stadium experience doesn’t appear to be a priority in the NFL.

“This isn’t something that just showed up Saturday night in San Francisco,” Madden said. “Over the years, I don’t think that the clubs, the NFL have really taken care of the fans…I hear all this rhetoric when they have a new collective bargaining agreement. Players will say they’re doing this for the fans, owners will say they’re doing this for the fans. I always say ‘doing what? What did you do? You did nothing for the fans, except take away.’ You look at ticket prices, you look at season PSLs, you look at concessions, you look at parking, everything goes up, up, up.”

Madden

“Football is no longer a man’s sport,” said Twan Russell, Director of Youth and Community Programs. “Young women across South Florida are competing on the gridiron scoring touchdowns and learning life skills that only just thirteen year ago was exclusively for boys. The Dolphins are proud to continue to host this exciting clinic for youth development.”

Back in May of 2001 I wrote a story about beer and broads.
It was perhaps my most popular story and men as well as women enjoyed debating the topic.
Almost ten years later, women, and more specifically, young, female, sports fans, are the object of the beer industry’s affection.
I felt it was time to review what has happened in the last nine years.

Now we have a new generation of women, women who enjoy a pint or two. They are young, beautiful, vibrant and sexy. They are the new generation of female sports fans.
Men and women alike are enjoying some of the same sports “pleasures” and activities heretofore the exclusive domain of men. Men and women can place bets on big games over at gamebookers.com

Picture this, the year is 1970, two women are sitting at a bar, they spot a nice looking man bellying-up to the bar. They exchange glances and tell the bartender they want to buy him a drink.
Sound plausible? In the year 2001 yes, in 1970, hell no.

Picture this….a bunch of guys smoking cigars, sipping 100 year old scotch served to them by a bevy of voluptuous women, suddenly realize that women actually love sports. Not just women’s sports (whatever that means) but the big three, NFL, MLB and NBA with the NHL climbing fast.
Yes it seems as if the sports industry has taken notice,they now know that women have disposable income, are highly educated and love their sports. This is something I have decrying since Femmefan.com was launched on a wing and a prayer in March of 2000. But do these marketing and industry moguls really understand this market? I don’t think so. It’s not a market that is easily targeted and identified.
Unlike male fans their female counterparts are not so easily seduced by childish beer commercials or sexy women. Although Femmefan.com has worshipped at the altar of beautiful male bodies in our Locker Room Lookers pages. Yeah baby!

This week I am making my picks and leaving it at that because I want to tell you about New Orleans and the object of their affection, the Saints.
I though that by now the city and the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina would be restored and life would be normal again.
It is sad to say that in this great county of ours, with all the riches we possess and in spite of the hard work of many wonderful, humane and compassionate people, things are still not back to normal in New Orleans.
But, there is one positive in New Orleans, the love affair the City of New Orleans has with its team, the Saints.
The Saints did not reach the Super Bowl in 2006 and yet to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.