Candlestick would be missed

The San Francisco 49ers were limping out the second-to-last leg of a 2-14 season.

It was Week 16 of the 2004 NFL campaign when the Buffalo Bills – who were 9-7 that season – hammered San Francisco 41-7 as 49ers fans booed and heavy winds from the Bay at Candlestick Point whirred trash about the field.

But none of that mattered.

Nothing was going to ruin my first trip to Candlestick Park, which was called 3Com Park from 1995-2002 and is now Monster Park, at least in media guides and advertisements.

Walking around the stadium roughly an hour before kickoff, there it was – the very ground in the end zone on which Dwight Clark made “The Catch” in the 1981 NFC title game.

There were other sights to behold.

The sidelines on which the mastermind of the West Coast offense, Bill Walsh, once roamed. The turf on which Lawrence Taylor’s awesome hit on Joe Montana signaled the end of No. 16’s era and the beginning of No. 8’s run. The field on which the epic 1994 NFC title game was played, with the 49ers finally getting over that huge hurdle called the Dallas Cowboys.

It didn’t matter if there were weeds growing out of the cracked concrete underneath the seats, the stadium wasn’t designed perfectly with seats from which the field could not be viewed or that it took more than two hours after the game to reach the parking lot’s one and only exit.

This was Candlestick Park, the Lambeau Field of the West Coast.

But this monument to everything that makes the NFL great has an uncertain future.

The same week in which the Oakland A’s announced plans to move to Fremont – more blasphemy! – the 49ers’ brass announced Thursday it has plans to build a new stadium in Santa Clara.

Team owner John York and others insist the team will retain “San Francisco” in its name, but the cat is out of the bag and things are getting ugly.

Democratic assemblyman Mark Leno said Friday that he might introduce a bill that would prohibit teams from using “San Francisco” in their names if they do not, in fact, play there.

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom and Sen. Dianne Feinstein – a San Francisco resident – met with York on Friday to try to convince him to reconsider.

York has said he will think about it, but that plans to build a new stadium in Santa Clara will move along.

There are two sides to consider here.

York is right – the deteriorating Candlestick Park cannot stay in its present shape for much longer.

However, the old-school 49ers fans are more justified – to move the San Francisco 49ers to Santa Clara is sacrilegious.

It’s like SportsCenter being shown on Comedy Central, Michael Jordan not starting in an All-Star game or textbooks not costing $500.

It just seems out of place.

Part of the problem is that San Francisco politicians and other assorted suits have known the 49ers needed financial help and support to resurrect their stadium for years, but always looked the other way.

Like it was a big surprise when Thursday’s announcement came.

Please.

At least York has their attention now. His motivation to move seems built out of frustration, though.

After all, it’s not as if a new stadium can be built on top of Lombard Street or Golden Gate Park.

Still, York should have considered how other NFL teams have successfully renovated their stadiums over the years before making his announcement, one that has burned so many fans.

Yes, Candlestick Park has existed since April 1960.

But look at the opening years for other NFL stadiums – Soldier Field (1924), Lambeau Field (1957), Texas Stadium (1971), Arrowhead Stadium (1972) and the Superdome (1975), among others.

The Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints still all play in those venues.

It’s called renovation.

Don’t abandon Candlestick Park.

Don’t abandon the Lambeau Field of the West Coast.