Historically, 49ers fans have a reputation for being wine and cheese lovers.

By Matt Driscoll • September 18, 2013 9:46 am
The Seahawks did their home opener in style Sunday night, trouncing the

Historically, 49ers fans have a reputation for being wine and cheese lovers. And while these days the atmosphere at Candlestick Park resembles Oakland more than the Oprah Book Club, apparently the long-standing reputation has at least a bit of homophonic accuracy – 49ers fans love to whine.

In the aftermath of Sunday night’s epic beatdown at CenturyLink, two Niners fans were so distraught that they penned a letter to the editor that was published yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle. In the letter, Judy Spelman and Rich Schiller argue that the noise generated by Seahawks fans on gameday represents “unsportsmanlike conduct,” and that the league should step in and stop Hawks fans from being so damn loud.

From the letter:

Was anyone else appalled by the unsportsmanlike conduct of the Seattle Seahawks and their fans, juiced on noise, which surely creates as big an advantage over an opponent as any performance enhancing drug and which, to their shame, NFL officials turn the same blind eye they have to concussions and drugs?

Are you kidding?

Apparently, they’re not. Spelman and Schiller go on to suggest a new rule: “The visiting team may stop the game when fan noise is greater than a specified decibel level, and should this rule be violated in more than three games, no home games will be played at the offending field for the rest of the season, including playoff games.”

The only thing louder than the 12th Man’s roar may be the laughs this idea generates.

Of course, it’s worth noting that the NFL instituted a rule against excessive crowd noise in 1989 that allowed the referee to warn the home crowd if the opposing quarterback complained. The referee even had the authority to dock the home team a timeout or call a five-yard penalty if things got too rowdy. However, recently the NFL has relaxed its stance against crowd noise, even allowing home teams to incite some madness via video displays and public-address announcers.

UPDATE: As Deadspin notes, in today’s Chronicle yet another letter was published asking the NFL to force the 12th Man to quiet down.