... first non-losing season since 2002, a year when they enjoyed a stirring playoff comeback at home against the New York Giants in the Wild Card round, only to get demolished by the eventual Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following week in Steve Mariucci’s last game as 49ers Head Coach.

This modest measure of success has a fan base, hungry for a return to prior glories, cautiously optimistic that this could be the year the team finally breaks through.

After all, Mike Singletary has achieved rock star status in the Bay Area as head coach, and 2009 was the first year in over a decade to see the 49ers actually improve on a 7-9 record from the year before, after several “false sta...

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