All Jenny Chen could do was hold her head in her hands when the Super Bowl ended.
“Next year,” the 29-year-old Burlingame resident said after the 49ers lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday night in New Orleans. “But I was hoping for a miracle.”
That sentiment was felt throughout San Francisco after a close contest in which the 49ers came just short of making the ultimate comeback, losing 34-31.
“I’m so sad,” said Gequez Edmondson, 22. Edmondson traveled with friends from Sacramento to watch the Super Bowl in San Francisco and hopefully be part of a celebration. But when that celebration didn’t come, the group simply left for home.
That appeared to be the case for many other fans too, as they left The City and bars they had visited immediately after the game. Hundreds of people walked through the streets of the Mission district just after the game clock hit zero, but an hour later the streets were filled more with police officers than revelers.
After the mayhem that ensued following the Giants’ World Series victory in late October, the Police Department decided to deploy more than 100 extra officers to help prevent potential violence Sunday. But many of the 49ers Faithful remained calm. By press time, 25 people had been arrested for public intoxication.
According to Officer Carlos Manfredi, there were a few small “flare-ups” in the Mission immediately following the game, and bottles were thrown at several officers near 24th and Hampshire streets, but no one was injured. There were reports of fireworks in the Marina.
After the World Series, hundreds of revelers took to the streets and wreaked havoc citywide. The mayhem included torching a Muni bus on Market Street and starting hundreds of fires around town. Thirty-six people were arrested.
But the mood Sunday was sullen.
Ian Micklenright, 37, said he had been waiting 18 years for the 49ers to return to the Super Bowl, but this was not the story line he hoped for.
“This is going to be a rough time in San Francisco,” he said. “But we’ll bounce back.”
A Public Works Department employee who wished to remain anonymous said she began her shift at 2 p.m. to sweep Mission Street and keep it clean of debris. She said she had hoped to be working another victory parade, like the Giants had in October, but the 49ers’ loss ensured there would be no more confetti covering Market Street.
“Next year we’ll take it,” she said.
akoskey@sfexaminer.com
