By GWEN KNAPP, San Francisco Chronicle

Nostalgia clobbered the present day at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this past weekend.

The heir to "The Catch" deserves a stronger nickname than any of the San Francisco 49ers could dream up immediately after they brought down the exalted New Orleans Saints 36-32 on Saturday night.

"The Throw?" coach Jim Harbaugh ventured. "The Throw and Catch?"

Tim Tebow's first NFL playoff appearance has been shaping up as a battle for the soul of modern-day professional football.

In a year when some NFL teams lost their top three quarterbacks, the 49ers never needed to call on their second-stringer, rookie Colin Kaepernick, for anything more than mop-up duty. Alex Smith led the league in sacks absorbed with 44, yet stayed healthy and played all 16 games for the first time since 2006.

The San Francisco 49ers' diva made a brief appearance in the season-finale win against St. Louis.
Eight yards from the end zone and apparently in the clear, Michael Crabtree started high-stepping, in perfect mimicry of the Hall of Fame cornerback who served as his mentor. But two paces into the impersonation, Crabtree reverted to a normal stride and calmly scored his 28-yard touchdown.

The leading stories from the sports world for 2011 are topped by examples of an unusually bleak landscape:

"Monday Night Football" exposed the great San Francisco 49ers fadeout as a fraud. Once the lights stayed on at Candlestick, the 49ers undid Pittsburgh, as well as the theory that they had tapped out their energy and creativity for 2011.

The NFL doesn't hold many statement games, outside of the Super Bowl. For the 49ers, though, this one qualified.

The 49ers sit in a luxurious position right now, division winners with four games remaining, two of them against junior-varsity teams.

The Brothers Harbaugh have perfected their act.

The mystery is over. Alex Smith may have some surprises left in 2011, but the fundamental question about him has been answered. The No. 1 overall draft pick from 2005 could indeed bring life to a moribund career without starting over in another uniform.