Hmm. I'm not getting off any streetcars, but later this week, as planned, I'll be calling the local cable provider to tell them to discontinue my TV service permanently. I've been watching television for 50 years now, and I decided a couple of weeks ago that enough is enough. It happens. Time passes and your tastes, interests and passions change. I ate steaks for many years and then one day I lost interest in those too. Likewise with television. Outside of 49ers games, there is nothing in it for me any more. And I've reached the stage of my life where I've become more aware of the diminishing amount of time left to me to accomplish some things that are infinitely more important in my mind than the outcome of a reality show or a soap opera.

This decision is partly due to the impact of new media too. These days I can see almost anything I really want to see via the internet. A similar evolution resulted in my getting rid of my landline telephone a few years ago. But it's also connected to a renewed appreciation for certain old media, mainly radio, paint and books. I like the calmness that takes over my apartment when the TV set is off for long stretches of time. It's also slightly ironic that I'm embracing those old media at the same time that I've set up a website to air my writing (not yet ready for prime time).

To those of you who love TV and can't imagine living without it, I don't consider myself in any way better because I've decided that I can no longer live with it. And I want to emphasize that it's not a matter of getting old and becoming a fuddy-duddy either. I mention it because over time perspectives on many aspects of life change. When you're living through a long stretch of years in which you root for a sports team you love, you can't imagine that the intense emotion that is at the heart of the fan experience will ever alter or desert you. Strangely however, over the course of this season, in which the 49ers reached a height they haven't enjoyed in almost 20 years, I found my emotional engagement with the 49ers taking a long, peculiar trip, with the result that I found myself watching a Super Bowl in a weirdly detached frame of mind.

It was partly the long-term impact of the QB change - I must admit that - but also the life perspective created by recent experiences and circumstances affecting myself and some people who are very dear to me. So...

Like Kevin, I'm sad that the team lost, but not as sad as I thought I might be. And like Arnold, I feel that the window of opportunity that has opened up for the 49ers in the last couple of years may close faster than some think. I don't think that represents a crappy attitude, but rather the kind of awareness that arises when you watch the game for a long time and develop a sense for the rhythms of rise and fall and frustration that inhabit every team.

I'm still a fan of the 49ers, that will never change. But I have a feeling - not one I'm all that happy about - that the kind of emotional nourishment cum rollercoaster ride that I used to get out of watching them play has gone away a little and won't be coming back. And I know that I'd be saying that even if the 49ers had won the game tonight. (There were definitely a couple of moments after big Frank Gore runs that I thought they would pull it off.)

Next year there might be 10 or 15 new names on the 53-man roster. And there's no question that no team in the NFC West can assume that it can bank 5 or 6 wins in the division as was common for over a decade. More likely, the 49ers, as well as the other teams, will be looking at the schedule and writing in 3 losses to NFC West rivals. Add that to a divisional champion's schedule and you have an uphill battle. The team is indeed "young" at many positions, but it's also quickly getting "old" at a number of other key spots. There's never a guarantee that the magical blend of youthful fire and mature force that takes a team into the realms of the elite will be maintained indefinitely.

I hope they do it. I really do hope they manage to lift another Lombardi one of these years. But they had golden opportunities last year and this year and for various reasons they didn't get it done. Regret for missed opportunities like these is yet another new element in the 49ers fan's experience. Who knows what kind of sensation all of these learning moments, disappointments and controversies will combine to produce when they finally do win a championship. Again echoing Arnold, I hope I have a full quotient of vitality left to relish that when it happens.

Looking forward to missing the other 364 days of commercials...

Cheers.