SF Mission District Stores Prepared For The Worst Should 49ers Prevail
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Some merchants in the Mission District plan to join the party if the San Francisco 49ers win the Super Bowl this Sunday, even as several make plans to board up windows and guard their stores in case the fans start to run wild.
"We might close early if it gets crazy," said Cat Mayfield at Therapy on Valencia Street, which will be handing out red and gold goodies during Sunday's game.
KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:
SF Mission District Stores Prepare For The Worst Should 49ers Prevail
Mayfield hopes police will be able to keep the celebrating 49er fans under control if the Baltimore Ravens are defeated.
"If we win, it will be very crazy. Hopefully we'll be less crazy than when the Giants won, just because of how much destruction there was," she said.
The neighboring designer women's clothing shop Weston Wear, for example, had its windows smashed by jubilant Giants fans who also trashed the store, recalled Georgina Queruel, who will nevertheless have some stationed behind the counter on Sunday.
"There's nothing I could really do about it," she said, asked about the possibility of vandals striking again. "I'm certainly not going to put myself in danger, but I mean, is it a concern of ours at the store here? Yeah, definitely."
Queruel studied sports and society in college, so she isn't surprised at all that drunk post-championship euphoria can produce out-of-control violence.
"You have a western culture with men who don't know how to deal with their emotions, and they wait till a sports event to exorcise all those pent up aggressions they have instead of just talking about it, or crying, even. There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone's human," she said.
Queruel urged Niner fans to have fun, especially if the home team wins.
"Yay, your team won, but I mean, definitely don't use it as an excuse to destroy property, or even worse, hurt other people physically," she said.
A few store owners said they saw nothing to fear, and planned to join the party should it erupt.
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