Taking the Loss Hard

The Salvateenies were getting a little full of themselves, sure that their Salvateenie Mojo, which had carried the San Francisco Giants to their first World Championship in 56 years, was extending to their other hometown team, the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers have not had a winning record for the past 8 seasons.  They have not been to the playoffs in 9 years and it has been 14 years since they last made it as far as the NFC Championship game.  They went 6-10 in the 2010 season, which is understandable, since the Salvateenies had focused their attention on baseball that fall.

This season, with the Giants safely out of it as football started up (some might have still been holding out hope, but not us), the babies tuned their mojo to football mode and...voilá...the 49ers went 13-3 and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs.  Last week, we all cheered as they squeaked by the Saints for one of the most exciting playoff victories in history, earning them a spot in this week's NFC Championship game against the New York Giants.

The outcome was a foregone conclusion as far as Daniel, Max, and Caroline were concerned.  This was the 49ers' year.  The Salvateenies would see both of their hometown teams World Champions before the age of two!

But then, it didn't happen.  Here is their reaction as they realize the 49ers will not be getting the ball back after Lawrence Tynes's field goal eight minutes into overtime:

After some reflection, they are looking into ways to re-calibrate the Mojo so that it favors "San Francisco", and not "Giants"...