* Pittsburgh vs. Arizona (in Tampa)
Sunday, February 1, 2009. 3:00 PM, PST.
Super Bowl XLIII
Battle Of The Steelers

If Arizona wins, our once hysterically hapless divisional foe (now built into an actual team by former Steeler coaches) get a championship for the first time since 1947. If PIT wins, they pull ahead of the 49ers and Cowboys for most total Super Bowl wins.

Who to root for in today's game, then? . It's a Morton's Fork. It's a Kobayashi Maru. It's no fun. What's a Niner fan to do?

Root for the Steelers. Here's why.

As reported by the New York Times, Dan Rooney, the über-respected owner of the Steelers is a lifelong Republican. He endorsed and campaigned-for Barack Obama for president.

Reason enough.

(Don't worry, McCain-supporting readers, you've got an NFL franchise to root for also -- the San Diego Chargers. Stockon-based owner Alex Spanos was one of George W. Bush's biggest contributors in 2004, and hosted events for McCain at his house in 2008. Now the Chargers are undergoing internal strife between their egomaniaical General Manager AJ Smith and their reasonably-humble star RB LaDainian Tomlinson. A pity.)

So, Niner fans; get on over to Shanghai Kelly's on Polk and pull up a stool (if you can get in today). It's alright to favor the Steelers. Let 'em have that sixth Super Bowl ring... the 49ers will get 'em back one day.

Defensive end Kevin Fagan and his mighty mustache helped hold the line for George Seifert's boxer's-mentality 3-4 defensive scheme during the zenith of San Francisco's 1980s power.

Fagan served stolidly in the d-line trenches alongside such fellows as Pierce Holt, Larry Roberts, the unforgivable Jim Burt, Danny Stubbs, Antonio Goss, and the immovable Michael Carter.

Fagan received NFL championship rings for wins in the oh-so-close Super Bowl XXIII against the Bengals, and as part of Super Bowl XXIV blowout of the Broncos -- at which time the 49ers' 1989 franchise staked their claim as the greatest football team of all time.

Being a lineman in a 3-4 scheme means forcible anonymity. But today, we remember and recognize Kevin (and his mustache) for the hard work put in.

Well done, Kevin.

Roger Craig was one of the most versatile running backs the NFL has ever seen.

A perfect fit for Bill Walsh's short-passing offensive system, in 1985 Craig became the first man to gain 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 receiving in the same season.

Walsh's system was based on gaining yards after initial contact. Yet to open up the short passing game, the defense had to be made to account for the running game. Craig excelled at both -- making defenders miss after a catch or running the ball out of the backfield in the 49ers' nimble rushing playset.

Eyes struck wide-open and high knees thrashing as he ran the ball, Craig was a marvelously unique weapon in the 49ers' offenses of the 80s that defenses were forced to adapt to. He could run with agility, or he could lower the shoulder and run with power. He could take the handoff, or he could catch a pass as ably as the best wide receiver.

His slicing scamper through a interlacing gauntlet of missed Dolphin tacklers became the signature image of Super Bowl XIX; Craig's knees threshing furiously in avoidance, and then bounding high in celebration as he crossed the chalk line into the endzone.

He would score three touchdowns that day, the first ever to do so in a Super Bowl.

Much as he would change the style of his face-mask from time to time, Craig would sometimes rock a mustache, and at times he would not. Another testament to his versatility.

Merry Whatever's-Your-Thing to y'all, and may your mustache be bushy and bright.

When Joe Montana first came to the 49ers from Notre Dame in 1979, he brought this fanciful Fu Manchu style with him.

Of course, everything went up from there. Joe grew into the greatest quarterback the NFL has every seen, and the 49ers began their golden age of dominance throughout the 1980s.

All due to a mustache?

Well, let's just say that it was there when he began...

Only a few games left of the NFL's 2008 season and as is customary, the Raiders are in full plummet. The last things that stand to be parsed out are which players are making enough of a name to picked up by other teams next year, which players are playing enough to be kept via Al's calculi for next season, and those that have given up all hope whatsoever.

"We're not close," said Oakland's best player, CB Nnamdi Asomugha, to the Merc after the last week's loss to San Diego, "and it's clear that we're not close. We don't play good football, we don't play sound football, and we have been undisciplined. We wonder why we don't get prime-time games, and this is why. We were on Monday night against Denver, we got blown out. Now, we came here and we got blown out. You just wonder how many people care and how many people are upset. You can't go out and play the way we played and expect to win or expect to do well."

Ouch.

Tossed into the The Black Hole today are the bloodied New England Patriots. Yes, those former capital-V ains from last year.

After dutifully soaking-in the coverage of Samurai Mike Singletary's promotion to head coach, the unfortunate conclusion becomes: it doesn't matter who San Francisco's head coach is.

The single biggest problem hobbling the 49er brand is that the current DeBartolo-York ownership is inept in overseeing the processes of running a football franchise.

Will Singletary do well? That'd be great. In fact, we him to give the team a bounce. By all accounts he is a man of integrity who connects with his players on a personal level.

And how does the town in which he became a Hall Of Fame MLB think Samurai Mike will do as head coach? "Probably pretty good," said AFS Chicago correspondent Lauren, "I mean, he has to be better than what you had."

Yuh-huh. But how much of the blame was truly Mike Nolan's to absorb? The observation remains: it won't matter how well Singletary does when all the pieces around him are coming apart.

The list of York-era failings gets trotted out time-and-again: the needless firing of Mooch; the politically-motivated isolation and alienation of Bill Walsh; GM Terry Donahue's reign of terror; the lowest bid-price hiring of Dennis Erickson as head coach; snapping off San Francisco stadium negotiations with Gavin; and alas, poor QB Alex Smith.

How will the future be hewn? How can fans trust the owners to make positive decisions? Will OC Mad Mike Martz be kept? Is Scot McCloughan the answer at general manager? What the hell is going on with getting a new stadium built in San Francisco? Or anywhere? And can you believe that they haven't managed to retire Jerry Rice's number yet?!

Photo via AP.