Today’s 49er game was a tough loss, but it was worth it because my 5 year-old son Herschel learned an important lesson about sports and life.

Right after the game, I took him to his room, sat him down, and gave him the speech.

Me: “Son, last year at this time, the 49ers were already home watching games on TV. Their team was terrible and had been for years. Everyone was sure that their quarterback Alex Smith would never amount to anything. San Franciscans had given up hope and the national media didn’t even care about the 49ers anymore. And now here we are. One year later. And that same team with that same supposedly hopeless quarterback got within one game of the Super Bowl. That teaches us an important lesson, son. So tell, me what lesson did you learn today?”

Herschel: “That you really need to hold on to the ball?”

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