49ers Faithful Features: Sweetness Betrayed
Mike Finn likes chocolate peanut butter ice cream.
And I don’t blame him. I, too, like a good blend of sweet and savoury in my waffle cone. Two scoops, always.
For the longest time, I knew Mike as “the 49ers Superman logo” on Twitter. You’re probably nodding your head right now and can totally picture the dude I’m talking about.
Mike isn’t your typical 49ers Faithful, though.
He has this no BS way about him that has resonated with a lot of Type B fans who say what they’re feeling about the team/players, even though it might piss some people off. I’m guilty, too. And that’s probably why I admire Mike. The hottest takes in the Twitterverse usually come from @IceCreamJudas, the one and only.
“I don’t think I’m all that special,” Mike told me Monday night as he sat in his car for our interview after a long day of work.
If you haven’t realized it by now, he’s pretty special.
Mike’s been a Faithful since 1988 thanks to his dad, who ironically enough, isn’t even a fan of the team.
“He has no loyalty to any team. He just likes football.”
Originally from Irvine, California and now living in Las Vegas, Mike latched onto the 49ers after being mesmerized by one of the best to ever suit up in the red and gold.
“What made me fall in love with the 49ers was Jerry Rice,” he smiled. “Just watching him play and how smooth he was just catching the ball effortlessly. It just blew my mind as a child.”
Mike’s been through the best of times as a fan, like crying “the tears of championships.” But on the flip side, he’s also drowned in the losing seasons, too. Regardless, like a true Faithful, his love for the team has never faded. Even in a household of sisters—four, to be exact—who cheer for different teams. His older sister being a Broncos fan, his second oldest a Rams fan, and his two youngest sisters cheer for the enemy: the Seahawks.
Gulp.
“It’s awful.”
Mike and his flock of sisters were raised by one of the most inspirational leaders of his family’s team: his mom.
“She always gave us what we needed and tried to give us what we wanted as much as she possibly could,” he reflected. “And, you know, like, I wake up every day, go to work, work hard, and, you know, just try to be as honest as I possibly can, and do the right things all the time, because that's what she instilled in me.”
Boys and their moms, eh?
Mr. Ice Cream Judas himself says his mom is like the Faithful, really.
“She’s got the same mentality as we do. No matter what, she's always there when I need her,” he radiated. “She always gives me the best advice. And you know, just so I wake up every day, and I try to emulate that, because it's just such a good example, especially in this world today. You don't get a lot of that anymore. There's not a lot of people who have good role models out there, I guess.
“And she's just she's always been a rock for me.”
That line really stuck with me.
Mike’s a funny guy on Twitter. Like I said above, he’s no bull poop. He tweets his mind and of course, that comes with the odd online jail time. But Mike owns it. Most of his stories show the Ice Cream Judas we’ve all come to know and love. Like the story he told me about his favourite 49ers game he’s been to.
This one time at Candlestick Park, Mike talked so much crap that he scared off a bunch of Rams’ executives who were sitting in his same section.
“I started talking all this mess about the Rams and the kicker and all this stuff and blah, blah, blah. I literally talked so much s*** to them that they moved seats. I know it sounds petty. But it was hilarious that they were just like, ‘Okay, we've had enough’ and they left.”
That’s just his brand, though.
And even when he’s opinionated, Mike is a protector. He’s come to be someone who has gone to battle for me more than a few times. In a way, he takes care of the Faithful the same way his mom took care of him and his sisters.
“We band together. And it's love. It's sometimes it's a love-hate relationship with the fans. But you know, I wouldn't have it any other way.”
I asked Mike about his Twitter handle. I’m sure y’all were itching to know the meaning behind it, too. It began as his rapper name given to him by his best friend.
Ice cream Judas.
“Let's get this clear right now. Not because I'm a rapper, or that I can rap because I cannot,” he laughed.
His friend started calling him the notorious handle, which at first had Mike scratching his head, as well. But once he revealed the meaning behind that ridiculous rapper name, Mike loved it.
“Sweetness betrayed. Or betrayer of the sweet.”
He may be a little louder than some, but I promise you under that hard and sometimes obnoxious shell, there’s a sweet man who represents every aspect of what it means to be a Faithful—championship and losing tears included.
And he just so happens to love a good ice cream, too.
