The Colossus of Candlestick

My Parents Were There, In the Same End Zone... Awesome

Colossus of Candlestick?

I could sit here and write some lengthy, eloquent article about all my fond memories at Candlestick Park. In fact, I actually had two paragraphs written when I decided my writing was stale and the topic somewhat boring. In less than an hour, the final regular season game at Candlestick will kickoff. We all know this. It has been promoted for the entire year.There's no reason for me to preach to you all about my first 49er game, how awesome Steve Young was, or how the Loma Prieta Earthquake interupted the '89 World Series. That would be typical, and lame.

I have decided to bring something different to the table. A proposal of sorts. Come next year, when Candlestick is set to be demolished, the City of San Francisco should make an unprecedented move. Instead of building a mall or luxury condominiums, they should collect all the blown up remnants of the stadium. All of the steel and concrete will then be combined to create an eternal shrine to the heroes of "The Stick." Like a modern day Colossus of Rhodes, this monolith will grace Candlestick Point for all time. That's right friends, I want a 300 foot tall statue of Dwight Clark making The Catch. Just imagine, the year is 2025 and you're driving your son or daughter home from a rollicking 49er victory at Levi's Stadium. When, along the Bayshore Freeway, the massive statue appears. You then get to inform your child of the horrible field, crowded masses, terrible speakers, trough urination system and everything else we love about Candlestick Park. It would be a catalyst for historical discssion. Hell, throw in a huge statue of Willie Mays. It will remind San Francisco fans that Candlestick used to be a baseball park.

Think about it everybody. This is the absolute greatest idea I've ever had. "The Colossus of Candlestick: Wonder of the Modern World."

Player Safety? Or Fear of Billion Dollar Lawsuits?

The 49ers deserved to lose yesterday. I'm going to be very direct with my feelings about that. Anyone who thinks they played a good game against the Saints is clearly out of touch with reality.Their offense was horribly ineffective, again. Their coaching and play calling was horrible, again. In fact, were it not for a muffed punt on the 15 yard line and a sure thing pick six fumbled out the back of the end zone, we wouldn't even have an opportunity to debate the Ahmad Brooks penalty. So, in that regard, the 49ers had no business even being in a position to win in New Orleans. I'm still mad though.

I'm upset about a few things (obviously driven by the 6-4 record of my 49ers). I'm definitely angry about the way the Niners played. They absolutely sucked. But this doesn't change the fact that they were going to win the game, regardless of how deserving they were of victory. That's right, I'm most upset about the call on Ahmad Brooks. It doesn't matter how the rest of the game was played. In that moment, the 49ers had achieved victory, only to have it ripped from their grasp.

1) Did Brooks really hit Brees around the neck?
Slow motion replays showed Brees' neck elongating upon impact. Now, if you can see his neck stretching, how was the hit around it? Obviously, referees have to watch the game at full speed, so this issue seems almost mute. Nope, I have the solution.

2) Booth review/challenge for personal foul penalties?
The fact that a play like yesterday's is 'unreviewable' infuriates me. It's not even possible to overturn a a game changing call. The referees, watching the game at full speed, make a final decision on the spot. Don't people always talk about how today's NFL is the fastest in the history of the league? Is it realistic to expect the refs to keep up? In regards to personal fouls, the NFL has instructed referees to err on the side of caution. If they're going to err on the side of caution instead of on the side of the right call, isn't it logical that these plays be reviewable. The booth now automatically reviews every scoring play, has it added a noticeable amount of time to the game? No. Why not do the same with personal fouls? You know what, don't even make it automatic, allow the coaches to challenge. Give me something, anything.

3) Screw Mike Pereira
This guy comes out, every Sunday, and defends whatever stupid calls the on field officials have made. Today, on the Gary and Larry Show, he claimed the penalty on Brooks would be made ten times out of ten. That's right, TEN TIMES OUT OF TEN... rain or shine, cold or hot, Chad Henne or Tom Brady.Yet, some pictures from yesterday clearly show Kaepernick being tackled with the arms of the defender around his neck. So, is it really ten times out of ten? Or is it just whenever the officials feel like calling it? Maybe the ideal time is with three minutes left in the fourth quarter of a close game. Mike Pereira is little more than a tool put in place by the existing system. He is the Manchurian Candidate of FOX and the NFL, meant to legitimize their faltering product.

4) Just call it what it is
Please, it would make the grieving process a lot easier for football fans. Come right out and say, "Ahmad Brooks was penalized for hitting a quarterback hard." Don't try to disguise it by saying it was a hit around the neck. Don't say it was helmet to helmet or a hit on a defenseless player. Just be honest, admit that hard hits are grounds for penalization. Come out and say that teams will be punished for physical football. Roger Goodell, admit that you aren't concerned with player safety, but with billion dollar lawsuits.

Would The 49ers Even Win a Playoff Game?

This post is being written as I ride in a car. So please forgive any typos, 101 north can be a bumpy drive. Now that I have the disclaimer clearly posted, I'd like to point a few things out about my beloved 49ers. Is this a team that can go to the Superbowl? Not win the Superbowl, go to. Right now, I believe the answer is a resounding no. The 49ers probably wouldn't even win a playoff game, since they apparently can't defeat good teams.

For the moment, lets put aside how crazy of a year it has been in the NFL. Lets not even take into account the week to week randomness that has been exhibited this season. The 49ers have proven, so far, that they cannot win against quality opponents. I did a little math and came up with some interesting numbers. The combined record of the teams San Francisco has defeated is 20-33. The only  team with a winning record they have beaten is the Green Bay Packers. Now, this alone is not a startling statistic. As a "good team", San Francisco is expected to beat the "bad teams". I'm not faulting them for this, in fact, they deserve some kudos, great job fellas.  In those games, they have averaged almost 35 points per game, 34.66 with a repeating decimal, to be exact. That all is great, it's what you expect of a quality team. Now, with their losses we begin to see some interesting stats. The teams they have lost to have a combined record of 21-7. Also, all three of these teams have quality defenses. Seattle and Carolina boast outstanding squads while Indy is better than average. In those three games, the 49ers have averaged just 6.3 points per game. Let that sink in, 6.3 points. Also, they have been out scored a combined 66-19 in those losses. This brings us to the main problem with Colin Kaepernick. He can't execute against quality defenses. When he is pressured, he makes poor and hasty decisions. He looks at his primary receiver, then gets sacked or throws it away. I was more willing to accept this earlier in the season, as Kap is still relatively inexperienced. But he has had time to improve upon those problems. If he's going to be the man, he has to play like the man. He hasn't matured as quickly as I had hoped. He still lacks skill as a progression quarterback. He hasn't developed the ability to sit in the pocket and watch routes develop. At the slightest sign of pressure, he fails to step up in the pocket and make a play. With the game on the line today, he threw an interception into quadruple coverage, instead of throwing to a wide open Vance McDonald underneath. I know that he's still young, but he has been put in command. He needs to step his game up, and be the commander. So far this season, Kap has failed to answer the call when an opposing defense presents a challenge. 

On a side note, the 49er defense is not to blame whatsoever. They have kept the niners close in every game this year. Even the two blowout losses to Seattle and Indy were close going into the fourth quarter. So I guess that's a positive to take away from all this.

Still, what's most upsetting about everything is that the Seattle Seahawks could easily be in second place in the NFC West. Seattle has squeaked out wins against Carolina, Houston, St. Louis and Tampa Bay (while also losing to Indianapolis). What's the difference though? Seattle has found a way to win the games where they played less than stellar. They have found a way to get tough wins on the road, even if they weren't against quality opponents. The Seattle Seahawks are doing the things a good team does, win at all cost.

Now two games back in the NfC West, the 49ers don't have much hope of winning the division. They have to wait for some of that "any given Sunday" randomness to strike the Seahawks. Until then, all San Francisco can do is take it one week at a time. I didn't expect them to go undefeated this year, but I did expect them to play better against good teams.  A good showing against New Orleans next week will calm me down, but right now, I say the 49ers have little chance of going to the Superbowl this year.