Bolek Blog Series - Fans of Out of Market NFL Teams: San Francisco

As many of you have seen through my whored out Facebook statuses, I am profiling people who live in the Chicago area and are fans of out of town teams.

Thank you to everyone who has filled out a survey so far. If you're a fan of an out-of-town team and I haven't given you a questionnaire to fill out, please let me know ASAP, as I am looking to profile as many people as possible.

My seventh feature highlights an NFC West team, the best one in my opinion. Brad Schmidgall is a fellow U of I alumus. I got the pleasure of meeting him in the Garner dorms on the Champaign side of campus and recently ran into him at a social event for healthcare professionals. He is also a 49ers fan - something I can relate to.

I will also be including myself in this story and talking in the third person. If you can't handle that, then Brian says you're shit out of luck.

Editors note: Brad and I, along with one of his 49ers fans, may be coming up with a 49ers fan blog. We still have to work out the details - it will likely be throwing crap at the wall at first until we see what sticks. It will likely feature game recap, our thoughts on the next week's game and a fantasy football/gambling angle to it.

Here's a list of other blogs in the out-of-town feature series:

1. Dallas Cowboys
2. Tennessee Titans
3. New Orleans Saints 
4. Minnesota Vikings 
5. Denver Broncos

6. Kansas City Chiefs

Brad Schmidgall and Brian Bolek may have been separated by hundreds of miles as kids, but they shared a common link that they would discover when they lived on the same floor of the Garner dorms at the University of Illinois in 2002.

Both gentlemen were fans of an NFL team thousands of miles and two time zones away in California. They both started following the San Francisco 49ers right around the time Joe Montana wrapped up his fourth Super Bowl win with the team, which then transitioned into the Steve Young era.

Brad (right) on Metrodome surface before the start of the Niners/Vikings game in 2009

"I'd say I followed the Bears as well as a kid," Brian said, "especially with them being on TV every Sunday. When a Sunday ticket doesn't exist and you can't go to a bar, you end up watching a lot of Bears game by default."

Brian can sadly remember a project he did in junior high for a required home economics class, where he made a Bears pillow with Rashaan Salaam's name and jersey number on it. It was near that time where Brian's allegiance went strictly to the Niners, although he can't remember why it happened around then.

Brad grew up in Morton, IL, over 150 miles southwest of Chicago, and was a St. Louis Cardinals fan. Since St. Louis had no pro-football team at the time, Brad started following the 49ers.

Like Brian, he doesn't root for or against the Bears. But Brad does find it annoying at times to turn on sports radio during the regular season.

"DirecTV makes it easier, and I have a ton of friends that root for teams other than the Bears," said Brad, who has lived in Chicago for almost seven years. "I do wish there was a 49ers bar nearby I could hit up for big games."

Between the two, they have attended a combined three 49ers games. Brad saw a game that the Niners lost on a last-second heave by Brett Favre in the Metrodome during Favre's brief run on the Vikings, while Brian saw one of the best playoff games of all time in January against the Saints.

That made up for the clunker of a game he saw in 2009 featuring the Bears and the Niners on a Thursday night game, won by the 49ers 10-6. The game featured 5 Jay Cutler interceptions, but luckily, the forgettable game was more easily forgotten with the combination of beer and lack of food consumed by Brian.

"That game was a disaster, and I say that despite the fact the Niners won," Brian said. "At least me and my friend had good seats for the game."

Brad and Brian will be going to separate games this year - with Brad attending the Niners' home opener against the Lions in Week 2 while Brian and his girlfriend Jen will be going to the Niners/Bears Monday night game in November.

Speaking of the 2012 season, Brad and Brian have different views on the Niners. Both guys like the moves the team has made in the offseason, particularly drafting LaMichael James, a Darren Sproles-like backfield option. Brian believes the division race will be tighter than most people expect, with a Niners regression to about nine wins this year but still winning the division. Brad is a little more optimistic, with the Super Bowl as his team's projection.

"I think their defense is too good for seven losses, plus the offensive weapons we added will improve us overall," Brad said. "The NFC West is still pretty weak though, so I don't see us winning fewer than 10 games."

Brian (right) at Niners/Saints playoff game. He may have had a few beverages.

They both agree that the Seahawks will be the team's biggest obstacle in winning the division. Brian originally thought Arizona may be the team who might contend for the NFC West earlier this offseason, but his thoughts have changed as he has seen the Cardinals struggle mightily at the quarterback position, the one position Brian believes the Niners are still missing in order to be considered a serious Super Bowl contender.

"Alex Smith had a good run for us last year, but I still don't think he is the long term answer," Brian said. "Look at how poorly he did in the red-zone last year. I hope Randy Moss can help with that, but I think it's more of a quarterback problem than a receiver problem."

	Brian Bolek		Brad Schmidgall
	(27 yrs near/in Chicago)		(6.5 years in Chicago)
Favorite team	49ers		49ers
A fan since…	early 90s		early 90s
# of games attended	2 (both in San Fran)		1 (in Minnesota)
Choice of Team Consumption	DirecTV		DirecTV - regular season
			Joe's Bar - postseason
Favorite Player All-Time	Jerry Rice		Joe Montana
Favorite Player Currently	Patrick Willis		Patrick Willis &
			Vernon Davis
	9-7, Division Champs,		11-5, Division Champs
2012 Prediction	(loss in WC round)		Super Bowl bound
Vegas Projection for team	10 wins		10 wins
(as of 9-3-12) 5dimes.eu
Over/under?	Under		Over
Odds to win division - 5dimes.eu	(-245 - would need to
	wager 245 to win 100
Super Bowl odds
(as of 9-3-12) - 5dimes.eu	13/1 (+1300)