After a promising pre-season, the San Francisco 49ers’ playoff hopes took a hit with a terrible loss in their first regular season game. Which meant that Monday’s opening night match against the visiting Super Bowl Champions New Orleans Saints was a must-win game for the team. Exciting? Yes. A down to the wire thriller? Yes. A win for the Niners? Unfortunately, no. After a competitive, hard fought match, the Saints managed to squeak by the home team with a last minute field goal to win the game. But it was a big improvement for the Niners as their offense showed a glimpse of their full potential.

Fortunately for the Niners fans, one team in The Stick was at their usual best – the 49ers Gold Rush. These ladies braved the freezing winds and the cold weather just to help the fans cheer on the Niners.

Full album here.

Here’s hoping the Niners improve in the coming weeks so that everyone will have something to cheer about.

Last Sunday, the resurgent Tennessee Titans rolled into town to take on the San Francisco 49ers. It looked to be an even match – both teams had newly installed quarterbacks who used to be their starters and both teams had a lot of potential that they weren’t living up to. Both sides went at each other relentlessly for four quarters but an excessive amount of turnovers doomed the 49ers to their fourth straight loss, 34-27.

Sunday was also the 49er’s annual “Youth” day, where kids could come in and be Junior Gold Rush cheerleaders, Junior Niners Noise drum line members or even the Junior Sourdough Sam mascot for the day. It was amazing to see the young girls who had signed up for the program out on the field dancing their hearts out with their proud parents looking on from the sidelines. San Francisco, here are your future Gold Rush cheerleaders.

This week’s Gold Rush girl of the week is 4 year veteran and line captain Deanna, who has always cheered her heart out for the team game after game, year after year, win or lose. She is definitely one of the reasons why the Gold Rush are the best cheerleading squad in the league.

Additional photos from the game found here.

RexLast Sunday looked like it would be a good day for San Francisco football – the weather was just right, conditions in the stadium were good and the crowd was pumped up. Unfortunately, the visiting Atlanta Falcons forgot to follow the script and proceeded to run roughshod over the woeful San Francisco 49ers, with a final score of 45-10. The bye week and subsequent signing of long time holdout Michael Crabtree should do wonders for the team, though, when they get back onto the field on Week 7.

Of course, the Gold Rush girls were at their fabulous best this game, debuting their “cold weather” costume (long sleeved jacket paired with their normal skirt) for the first time this season.

I seriously have to give it up to the team this week; they really did their best to keep the fans’ spirits up even as the team was being beat and just didn’t stop encouraging the team on. One of the most vocal and active ones was Gold Rush girl of the week Cassandra, who just didn’t stop cheering until the final minute. Awesome effort from the team as a whole. Take the bye week off, ladies. You deserve it.

Full album can be found here.

Gold Rush members Lindsey, Desiree and Angel participated in the competition while Chris cheered them on from the sideline. Each of the girls (and their competitors, among whom were 49ers players Joe Staley, Chilo Rachal and Manny Lawson) was partnered with a local celebrity chef. The pair who could amass the most crab meat in 3 minutes wins the competition. While the three of them definitely put up a good fight, they just couldn’t beat this year’s winner, Chilo Rachal. After the competition, the girls gamely posed with and signed autographs for many of the fans who attended the event.

See all of Rex’s photos here.

Auditions for the Gold Rush are Sunday, March 29th. Full details here.

There are still photos surfacing from this year’s Pro Bowl. Click here to check out this guy’s photos!