American Football: King of the Bay Area

”We are! Niners! We are! Warriors!”

”Go! Go! Lions, let’s go!”

”We are! Niners! We are! Warriors!”

”Go! Go! Lions—”

A thunderous, unending roar echoed throughout Ford Field. Eardrums throbbed violently. In the midst of the hoarse-throated shouts, one’s own voice lost all meaning. All that could be felt was the faint vibration of eardrums, forcing people to read lips just to make sure they were still chanting on the right beat.

Madness. True madness. The fans of the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers engaged in a heaven-shaking cheering war. The two sides roared at each other from across the stadium, their chants rising and falling in a back-and-forth battle. But gradually, the Lions Team, despite their inherent home-field advantage, began to lose ground, their cheers becoming fragmented and faltering.

It was utterly unbelievable.

After renovations, Ford Field could now hold seventy thousand fans, the same as Candlestick Park. However, due to the recent economic downturn and this being a city crazy for hockey, attendance at Ford Field had never reached its peak. This season’s winning streak had finally brought fans back to the stadium to support the Lions Team. Today, the attendance rate was over ninety percent, with approximately sixty-five thousand seats filled.

Compared to Cincinnati, at least, such an attendance rate was more than satisfactory.

Among the sixty-five thousand fans, the north stands had become a de facto home section for the San Francisco 49ers fans. Roughly fifteen thousand people had traveled to Detroit specifically to cheer on their team in an away game—an incredible turnout for a visiting team. The remaining fifty thousand were all home fans, outnumbering the visiting crowd by more than three to one.

For some teams, tickets are hard to come by even for home fans. The Green Bay Packers, for instance.

The waiting list for Green Bay Packers season tickets was already thirty years long, with an average wait time of ninety years—because hopefuls had to wait for someone to pass away or voluntarily give up their tickets. Many families put their children’s names on the season ticket website’s waiting list as soon as they received a birth certificate, and season ticket holders had to name an heir for their tickets in their wills.

Of course, aside from season tickets, single-game tickets were still sold for each game. However, since 1960, the Green Bay Packers’ home games had maintained a one-hundred-percent attendance rate, a record that had not changed in half a century and was unique in the Alliance.

Therefore, even lining up on-site to buy single-game tickets was an incredibly arduous task. This was true for home fans, let alone visiting fans. At Lanbao Stadium, the sight of a visiting fan was a true rarity.

In the entire NFL, there was only one Green Bay Packers.

Today, at Ford Field, a full fifteen thousand visiting fans had poured in, setting a new record for the San Francisco 49ers since the new millennium. After a decade, this young team was finally showing new signs of life in every aspect, demonstrating their upward momentum and rising-power status.

Now, facing fifty thousand home fans, the San Francisco 49ers fans erupted with unimaginable force. About a third of them shouted, ”We are!” while the remaining two-thirds roared in unison, ”Niners!” The first third yelled again, ”We are!” and the others responded once more, ”Warriors!”

The call-and-response, a light part and a heavy part, created a tiered soundwave. Its clangorous power seemed capable of piercing clouds and cracking stone, forcefully suppressing the cheers for the Detroit Lions. It wasn’t a matter of volume, but of sheer, overwhelming momentum.

The Niners’ chant was simple, sharp, powerful, and overwhelming. Its rhythm was perfectly organized, building layer by layer, delivering an endlessly stunning impact. On the other side, the Lions Team’s cheers seemed pale and insipid, even feeble. They couldn’t mount an effective counter. After years of lackluster fan support, the fans had gradually forgotten how to properly cheer.

And so, the cheers for the Detroit Lions were actually broken, dissolving like loose sand, completely unable to form a united front.

Exchanging looks of dismay, the Lions Team fans finally came up with a solution: ”Gridiron Heroes.” This was the Lions’ official fight song. Whenever the team faced adversity, the fans would link arms, stand shoulder to shoulder, and sing at the top of their lungs, becoming their team’s strongest support. This was one of those critical moments.

”Folks, welcome back! You are watching Week 6 of the NFL regular season, a matchup between the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers, live from the Lions’ home turf. These two teams are currently ranked second and third in the Alliance’s official power rankings. One is undefeated at five-and-oh, while the other stands at four-and-one. Now, they’ll have to give it their all for this victory.”

”Without a doubt, this is the most anticipated and thrilling game of the week, and all eyes are on it. We’re now less than ten minutes from kickoff, and Ford Field is already heating up as the fans from both sides, unwilling to be outdone, have started a duel of their own, cheering for their respective teams.”

”And who would have thought that the fans of the visiting San Francisco 49ers would erupt with such incredible energy, going toe-to-toe with the home crowd? The Niners are off to a fantastic start this season. They’ve found the quarterback to lead their resurgence, and their form is impeccable.”

”But let’s not forget, the Lions Team also seems to have found its leader, enjoying its best season opener in sixty years. So, this game is bound to be explosive. It’s one you won’t want to miss.”

Teddy and Kirk were still in the broadcast booth, waiting for the game to go live.

It wasn’t just Fox Television, nor was it just the online stream from ESPN. At this moment, more than thirty radio programs and countless secondary online streaming platforms were all focused on this game. The number of viewers sitting in front of their televisions and computers was astronomical.

According to official NFL statistics released later, the game attracted a full twenty-five million television viewers, with online viewership reaching an incredible fifty million. Among them, the rating for the eighteen-to-forty-nine demographic—the age group most valued by advertisers and the primary consumer base—hit an impressive 19.3.

What did these numbers mean? To put it in perspective, the game’s viewership, ratings, and online buzz completely surpassed those of the Week 6 Thursday Night, Sunday Night, and Monday Night games, making it the ratings champion among all programs in America for the week.

This wasn’t a primetime night game, yet it performed better than one. The level of attention it garnered was almost comparable to the Thanksgiving and Christmas Day games.

From one perspective, the epic showdown between two young quarterbacks—surpassing the Week 3 duel between Lu Ke and Andy Dalton—was a major reason it captured the attention of younger viewers. Furthermore, Lu Ke, as a rookie of Chinese Descent who had gone undrafted, had successfully established a foothold in the Alliance. This also played a significant part. Everyone had grown curious about him, whether for well-intentioned reasons or malicious ones.

Unintentionally and unexpectedly, the game became the center of massive attention. Ford Field was just one small part of the fervent craze sweeping across all of North America.

Standing in the players’ tunnel, Lu Ke’s spirits began to soar. In his line of sight, he could vaguely see a surging sea of white colliding with a boiling sea of blue, kicking up tremendous spray. But after his emotions reached their peak, they slowly began to settle. Calm and composure took over his mind.

Ding. The missions arrived right on schedule.

”Game Missions:

Complete a Touchdown in an official game. Requirement: None. Reward: +1 Base Point per Touchdown.

Complete a rushing Touchdown in an official game. Requirement: At least one rushing Touchdown. Reward: +2 Base Points.

Complete passes in designated zones in an official game. Requirement: At least one 30-yard pass to the left, at least one 30-yard pass to the middle, at least one 30-yard pass to the right. Reward: +1 Base Point.

Achieve tactical area control in an official game. Requirement: Short pass usage rate of at least thirty percent. Reward: +1 Base Point.

Achieve victory in an official game. Requirement: None. Reward: +3 Base Points.”

’This time, the game missions have changed significantly again. It’s even asking for a rushing touchdown? And it wants specific passing zones? A short pass usage rate of over thirty percent? The demands for controlling the game have been raised again. Am I supposed to think about all these mission details before every single pass?’

The game missions were getting more and more difficult. But Lu Ke didn’t have time to dwell on it, because he immediately discovered another mission.

”Objective Mission: Cultivate the Quarterback’s Go-To Receivers.

Mission Description: Before the end of the regular season, establish your own core passing targets to begin constructing the Quarterback’s complete tactical system.

Mission Requirement: Before the end of the seventeen-week regular season, the host must select two passing targets and complete fifteen and ten Touchdowns with them, respectively. Designated Target One (0/15), Designated Target Two (0/10).

Mission Reward: Cultivation Gift Package +1; Comprehensive Training Package +1.

Failure Penalty: Base Points deducted by fifteen; Special Points deducted by two; offseason training effectiveness reduced by ten percent; offseason daily training tasks increased by twenty percent; ’Resentful Paparazzi’ talent skill placed on a thirty-day cooldown.”

’Wait, what’s an Objective Mission? And what’s the deal with these failure penalties?’

But Lu Ke had no time to ponder it further, as the players were now swarming out of the tunnel. The game was about to begin.

”We are! Niners! We are! Warriors!”

The San Francisco 49ers fans were completely stealing the show. On their opponent’s home turf, they had stirred up a white storm that powerfully swept across the entire stadium, its mighty roar echoing through the players’ tunnel, growing closer and louder.

No further words were necessary, no pep talk was needed. The blood of every 49ers player began to boil, and a single thought dominated their minds:

Get on that field and fight to the very end!