49er fans ready to roar

On Jan. 10, 1982, Terry Kennington was at Candlestick Park with his father and witnessed "The Catch."

The leaping end-zone catch by San Francisco 49ers receiver Dwight Clark on a pass from Joe Montana resulted in a 28-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, propelling the team to its first of six Super Bowls.

"I was probably 20 rows back," Kennington said. "I didn't realize the significance at the moment … but that kind of indoctrinated me."

The appraiser was pleasantly surprised when he came home recently to a large 49ers logo spray-painted on the lawn of his Yuba City home. His 19-year-old daughter, Sierra, said the gift idea came from a recent segment on "Good Day Sacramento," about a spray-paint artist who creates lawn logos that last about three to four weeks.

The 49ers are considered the local team for many pro football fans north of Sacramento, with that sentiment stretching to Redding and Klamath Falls, Ore.

Last year's NFC championship game loss to the New York Giants was difficult to swallow, and San Francisco diehards still giddy over the San Francisco Giants' 2012 World Series win are anxious for their gilded-legged football team to win Super Bowl XLVII.

Local businesses selling 49ers merchandise are seeing their supplies dwindle.

Javier Villegas, manager of LIDS Hats and Caps in the Yuba Sutter Mall, said Thursday there was only one jersey left for sale, and that 49ers hats featuring the Super Bowl patch have been flying off the racks.

Leslie Brooke, manager at Party Land in Yuba City, said Thursday the store was almost out of items branded with the 49ers logo.

"The Super Bowl is big. That's like the only holiday where the men don't care how much the women spend," Brooke said.

The water in the fountain at Julie Casimiro's home will run red for Super Bowl Sunday.

The Yuba City resident said her family has been into the 49ers since the '50s, and that they have their "own way of doing things" to make sure the team wins, such as having everyone sit in their proper places.

"We have superstitious food. We have to have the same thing every time. Carnitas, cheese pizza, Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza, and my daughter makes a certain bean dip," Casimiro said. "Some of our jerseys can't be worn, they can just be hung in the room. I wear my sparkly orange glitter slippers."

Football superstitions are also in play at the Kennington home in the form of shoes. Sierra Kennington wears her red TOMS on game day, while her dad wears checkered Vans from the '80s and shakes his foot in front of the TV during intense moments.

"I've waited 18 years for this," Terry Kennington said.