Virtual greatness

Every time I play a game of video football, I wonder if it’s going to be one of “those” games. Most of the time the game is uncontested or lacking in drama. Since I got back into Tecmo, I had one of those games. As San Francisco, I routinely have been blowing teams out. When I played the Colts, and not a particularly good Colts team, I struggled. My offense couldn’t do anything and my defense gave up big plays. When the Colts scored to make it 19-7 and there was about a minute left, I thought there was potential for a dramatic finish.

My previously horrible offense scored quickly. It was 19-14. I needed a stop or an interception. I got an interception on the second play. With about 25 seconds to go, I got inside the ten. I had four plays. In Tecmo, if the defense “calls” your play, it’s not going to work. They called my play three out of the four times. I had one scramble by Montana but could not score. I was short.

Since this is a video game I re-played the game and won easily. Of course. Now I get to play the championship game versus Cleveland (of all teams). Let’s see how it goes.

It went well. My Wii did not react well to our brief power outage yesterday morning. I couldn’t get it to power back up. The only way I got it to work was by unplugging it from the surge protector and plugging it into the other outlet.
I assumed that the team I played in the Tecmo Bowl would be good. The Cleveland Browns did not offer much of a struggle. Because there’s almost no such thing as a breakaway in the game, your best defensive strategy is to make the other team sustain long drives. Sooner or later you’re going to guess right and get an interception. In the first half I had three interceptions and a blocked field goal. I took a 17-0 lead into the third quarter.

This was not a classic Joe Montana performance. I threw four interceptions, including two in the end zone in the third quarter. The Browns scored a TD to make it 17-6. Pretty soon thereafter I scored to make it 24-6 and the rout was on.

I kept stats for this game. In honor of his Hall of Fame induction, Jerry Rice caught 14 passes for 210 yards. He couldn’t get in the end zone. Roger Craig had 13 carries for 54 yards and three touchdowns. Montana ran for the other touchdown.

The 1989 49ers had one of the most dominant playoff runs ever. In the Divisional round they beat the Vikings 41-13. In the NFC Championship they beat the Rams 30-3. In the Super Bowl they pounded the Broncos, scoring a record 55 points. That’s three playoff wins by a combined 100 points. My 38-12 victory pales in comparison.