R.I.P Bill Walsh

He was one of my links to childhood, watching him look determined on the sidelines with 39 seconds left, moments before Joe whipped that beauty to John Taylor and taught me what it was to like a team that won a chanpionship. That was the first time I ever watched part of a Super Bowl (first time I can remember watching anything on Sundays except for Ben-Hur), and because we recorded it, I think I watched it another 50 times. I loved it. I even remember as the 49ers were making that last drive they showed a graphic that said "No Super Bowl has ever gone into overtime" which for some reason made a lasting impression on me (the reason for the graphic is because the Niners were down 16-13, so a field goal would have tied it...if I remember right, the Bengals only touchdown was on a kickoff returned for a touchdown). And then, my grandpa sent us Silver Sunday, a retrospective on the Super Bowl and that featured a huge piece on that drive (my favorite is the clip that showed Sam Wyche say to his team "It's to Rice now" before the TD pass to John Taylor. Brilliant outcoaching. That was Taylor's only reception of the game). An interesting counterfactual is to think of how dominant the 49ers would have been if Walsh had stayed coach. The 89 49ers were loaded, it was obvious they would win the Super Bowl. But what about the NFC championship losses to the Giants in 90 and the Cowboys in 92-93? I would like to think they would have won those two games they lost at home and gone on to win a couple more Super Bowls. Anywho...