Huge

Outside the sports-memorabilia store we saw a large man signing autographs. It was retired 49er Bubba Paris.

Bubba is remembered for his battles with weight (he famously failed to report to camp below 325 pounds as ordered by coach George Seifert) and cheerful oversized personality, but he’s mostly known as the starting left tackle who kept pass rushers from crushing Joe Montana.

Most of the younger shopping center crowd passed him by---Bubba’s heyday was over two decades ago--but the over-forties snapped away with their cellphones. Bubba admired the picture from our iPhone camera and said he was disappointed by his EVO.

Stating that the EVO camera (8MP resolution) should not be worse than the iPhone4 (5MP), the tech-savvy member of our family adjusted the white balance, auto-focus, and other controls on his camera. Now the EVO performed like a champ.

Bubba let us touch his ring from Super Bowl XXIII—the one where the Niners beat the Bengals on a last-minute touchdown. It was huge, as was the man wearing it.