People make fun of Star Trek conventions, but if the truth be told, those gatherings don’t hold a candle to football games.

As I type, I sit in the rig looking out at the Candlestick Park parking lot fill up, and there are people out there about as far as the eye can see. People with barbecues, giant coolers, folding chairs and tables, some with tarps and tents strung up out the back of or between vehicles in the lot. Niners logos and colors everywhere, people in jackets and caps and jerseys and sweaters and complete suits, many tossing footballs back and forth, and you know that some people out there are applying body paint. The tailgate parties are in full swing.

I mention the Star Trek conventions because there are so many characteristics in common. Aside from the clothes and odd person in make-up, you’ve got the camaraderie, the trivia nerds, the vendors, and of course, The Show. Except here, there tends to be a lot more hooting. And Star Trek conventions don’t have people outside holding up signs that say “I need tickets.”

Of course, this being the last game of the season with nothing at stake (San Francisco is out of the running), there were not as many scalpers as there usually are at these games–not to mention a lot fewer people in the parking lot this time.

And the rig is truly a luxury–getting here hours early, sitting down for breakfast, watching the early games on the satellite TV receiver, nice and warm on comfy seats and the couch, with all the amenities, as we see all the people outside in their jackets in their folding chairs on the asphalt. Sometimes, we have to lower the curtains for privacy as people figure out we have the satellite TV and start watching through our windows.

Just before the game, we’ll head out for the stadium. I’ll blog a bit more then.