Bravo for 49ers fans in 2012 but not like Broncos fans in 1977

I covered four of the five 49ers Super Bowl seasons, but wasn’t around the San Francisco Bay Area when the Niners won their first one.
I’m hearing that the surprising rise of the 49ers this season rivals the excitement of the 1981 season when they won their first one.
However, nothing I’ve seen or heard will approach the fanaticism of the Denver Broncos’ first Super Bowl season in 1977 when I was living and working in Colorado. “Orange Crush” loving Broncos fans didn’t just paint their faces to show their crazy support of their team. There were stories of people so obsessed with the team’s Super Bowl quest that season that they were literally painting their cars and houses orange.
I was living and working in Illinois in 1986 covering the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl Shuffle season and the excitement of that never matched what I saw and heard and felt in Colorado in 1977.
That said it was so great and gratifying to hear 49ers fans chatting “Defense” the very first time Drew Brees and the Saints had the ball on Saturday. That showed me how invested 49ers fans were into the game.

· Best thing about the weekend’s results? No more Tebow (over) analysis and no more Discount Double Check commercials (I only hope)

· The 49ers amazing “Hags-to-Harbaugh” season has largely been overshadowed by Tebow-mania and Aaron Rodgers and the Packers this season so beating the New York Giants on Sunday should assure that the 49ers will finally get their due respect and recognition.

· Get ready for Spike Lee, San Francisco. He’s on the Giants bandwagon riding West this week. Pay no attention to him.

· As much as I hate all New York professional sports teams, I think Eli Manning, in big games and pressure situations (under a blitz), is every bit as good as his brother Peyton.

· Are the Giants destined to go to the Super Bowl if Madonna is going to be there?

· Is it me or was Joe Buck excitedly rooting for the Giants to win today? My guess is he was secretly wishing for a trip to San Francisco rather than a return trip to Green Bay

· Thank you to Tom Brady for turning Tebow Time into Te-blow out Time.

· I’m a Tim Tebow fan but not a fan of the media who have spent the past 10 weeks flip-flopping trying to (over) analyze him.

· Media Overkill? Although Brady had a playoff record performance against Tebow and the Denver Broncos, there were clearly 3-4 times more TV cameramen following Tebow off the field than the Patriots quarterback.

· Did anyone watch the Playoff Game Nobody Cared About between the Ravens and Texans? I thought so.