Perspective (kind of)

Kyle Williams is destined to be one of the most talked-about names by 49ers fans this offseason (and rightly so), but thanks to the way the team has UNANIMOUSLY rallied to his defense, I'm not sure he's going to go down as an all-time goat the way so many other sports figures have. The way this team stood behind him to a man was unbelievable. Steve Young said in an interview that it shows this locker room is united, and that a united locker room is what it takes to win a championship. The 88 49ers were floundering around at 6-5 until they united as a team and went on to win 2 straight superbowls. They had the talent, but until their locker room came together they couldn't work it out on the field.

I don't mean to compare the two teams, obviously. That was an all-time roster. Just pointing out that great things can happen to teams that have that kind of unity amongst their players. They're all accountable, and they're all there for each other. That has both helped ease my pain from Sunday's loss and made me as optimistic as I've ever been about the future of this team. The coaching staff isn't going anywhere and will have an entire off-season to teach the team for the first time. Many of the pending FAs want to sign here again. The front office has proven their ability to get production out of everyone they draft, from the 1st round pass-rusher to the 4th round (possible feature) RB down to the 7th round special-teamers.

This team should be in the super bowl, no doubt. If Kyle Williams falls on the first punt, or just runs away from it, they're probably going to win that game. Instead of dwelling on that, though, every single player in the locker room had his back. I'm proud to root for a team like that. Imagine if the Jets' season had ended similarly. Or any one of 20 other NFL teams. Not many teams would react that way, and not many players would stand up and take responsibility the way Williams did. I don't think I've ever been prouder of a team I root for than I am about the 2011 49ers. They gave us a magical season, and when it ended in horror, they handled it as well as you could possibly wish for. This season was in every way an unqualified success, and for the first time I have complete confidence that they will improve this off-season and be competitive for years to come.

What do you even say.

Maybe I jinxed it with the post on disappointment, because for them to end their season by doing something they hadn't done all year is just too insane to believe.

What a great season. Everyone will remember Kyle Williams, but the offensive play calling was atrocious, and Alex smith reverted to 2005 levels at points in this game. Don't get me wrong, if Williams just falls on the ball both times, they probably win. But the offense left a lot to be desired.

I would like to say the future is bright, but as harbaugh knows well these chances don't come often, and this was a horrible way for us to lose our chance. Once again, a season ends in disappointment, but it sure was a fun ride.

Fuck.

Here's to Disappointment

6 more hours until the biggest game of my NFL fan life. I was a newborn when Joe Montana led the 49ers down the field and capped of their 3rd super bowl title with an Alex Smith-esque post throw to John Taylor. I was 2 when they flat-out embarrassed John Elway the following season, winning their 4th superbowl and continuing a run that would last for 10 more years. I was 3 when Roger Craig and Matt Bahr cost the 49ers a chance to be the first team in NFL history to win 3 straight superbowls. I was 7 the last time the 49ers played on football's biggest stage, winning an unprecedented 5th straight superbowl in spectacular fashion. A superbowl that included record-setting performances both by one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, and the greatest player to ever play the game. I was much too young to remember any of these moments.

All I've known from this team is disappointment. I very vaguely remember, as a preteen, seeing highlights of the team losing to Brett Favre in the playoffs year after year. Then we had the magical moment: Brett Favre's Face. Some people call it "the catch 2", but every time I think of that game, I think of that face. Sadly, even after a moment of triumph like that, Garrison Hearst's ankle failed him and we were once again left with crushing disappointment at the end of a football season.

Then began "the fall 1". All our heroes left us. We lost Young, Hearst, and Rice in the span of months. The greatest run any NFL team had ever been on ended in spectacular fashion. Though it lasted just 2 years, it set the tone for what was to come for all of us. Oh, and the season that broke the playoff drought? Ended by...Brett Favre. Disappointment.

Then we had another magical moment. The greatest comeback victory in any NFC playoff game that's ever been played. This is where my true fandom begins. 14 years old at this point. I watched this team drag itself back from a 3 touchdown deficit in just over 20 minutes. I was hooked. But even THIS season ends with crushing disappointment. Well, as "crushing" as it could be when your team loses by 25.

And thus began "the fall 2", this one destined to last much, much longer than the first. The fall that took one of the greatest franchises in the history of professional sports and turned it into a perennial laughingstock. The timing of choosing to follow this team closely at that point was nothing other than impeccable.

But now here we are. The day of the biggest game the 49ers have played in 14 years. A magical season that has been nearly devoid of disappointment. For a fan who's only ever known disappointment, this season has been the Neuralyzer, the season that has wiped 17 years of bitter disappointment from our collective memories. We are all 2 wins away from a season that doesn't end in disappointment. Truthfully though, this season has already been a triumph for us. The team has given us more enjoyment in 17 games than we have had in the previous 128 put together.

That said, here's to not ending this season with disappointment, and giving those of us who've only ever known it a season we truly will never forget. 5 1/2 hours!

Anxiety (The good kind)

Sorry for the shitty Larry King randomness and syntax, but I'm just thinking out loud macro to micro on the eve of the biggest game in San Francisco since 1995.

• Mainstream sports media (based in NYC) desperately want a Patriots / Giants match-up in the Superbowl. It would be an east coast coverage orgasm, and they want the number one media market team in the super bowl.


• This desire shows in their NFCCG picks over the past week. Especially at the worldwide leader (which I find unwatchable), who I believe are in the NY media market, but may be in the #7-ish Boston/NE market.


• The NFL Network has had excellent Niners coverage, and watching all day Wednesday as I fought the flu, it almost seemed 49ers biased. No surprise they're based in CA.


• From what I saw, the Saints/Niners coverage/pregame last weekend was disgraceful, what with the premature coronation of Drew Brees and Sean Payton. I'm still chuckling.


• It was a joyous experience to watch the Niners record yet another legendary playoff finish. I savored the Saints celebrating after the one that put them up 32, because I was feeling pretty confident (and drunk) that Alex-Fucking-Smith would make them pay like the cold blooded assassin he is.
  


• The Niners physically humiliated the Saints. Colston alligator armed that dropped TD pass because he didn't want to get hit (again).


• The Giants, the media, and their fans seem to be pretty confident their team is much improved since November. They act as though the 49ers existed in stasis since then, with no changes good or bad.


• Giants fans and many analysts who picked the Saints last week like to call the 49ers "lucky". It's like a dropped pass against the Niners is more "lucky" than a dropped pass against, say, the Giants.


• I hate to agree with Grant (hey what hair product are you using, Alex?) Cohn, but I think we'll see some passes to Sopoaga and Staley. I'm getting a strong feeling we may finally see Sopoaga's throwing arm unveiled. To the detriment of Tom Coughlin's face.


• A muddy field screws up the pass rush. That probably evens out, since both offensive lines make their share of bad plays.


• I hate Eli Manning, and want his milquetoast, silver-spoon fed face in loser's dismay at the end of the game. Like, crying for mommy Manning sad. I'll cherish that.

• Not one analyst I've seen has discussed special teams. The Niners special teams have been heroic this year, and with a wet ball will probably cause a few turnovers for the second week in a row.


• I can't believe the Niners are in the NFC Championship Game.
  

Alex Smith's Intensity

Much love and respect to Alex Smith. He's gotten a little vindication for his amazing performance at the end of the Saints game. I think he deserves a lot more.

How many people could have possibly imagined him leading not one, but TWO TD drives in the last four minutes of the game to defeat Drew Brees and the Saints? Anyone?

I'll honestly say that I was still pretty confident in the team after each of the Saints' TD. Not that they'd score TDs mind you, but that Smith would be able to get some first downs and get in field goal range. I didn't see the touchdowns coming. Amazing.

So, how did Alex Smith do it? Seems to me he did it with a level of intensity and determination that separates regular players from clutch performers. You could see it in how he conducted himself during the game and afterwards during interviews, when he covered up his personal redemption and showered praise and attention onto Vernon Davis and others. Intense and indefatigably classy.

You could see it in the game winning play. Watch it again closely, and focus on Alex Smith. Coming out of the huddle you could see his intensity, thinking "Fuck everybody, I'm winning this game for my team right now."

You could see it after the catch. Smith was not exuberant like everyone else. He seemed intent to stare daggers and talk trash to the New Orleans defense, the proxy for all of Smith's haters over the years. You can only imagine the level of trash talk directed to Smith by them over the course of the game. Look at the still above. Everyone is celebrating. Smith gave a couple nice pats on the back to his teammates, then violently ripped off his chinstrap while staring down the Saints defender. Later, you can see him walking around the field talking trash to the Saints defense.

There's been hints of Smith's intensity and desire to win before. Obviously, dealing with everything he's been through in San Francisco and hanging in there requires a level of intensity and desire that few have. As Jim Harbaugh has recently said:

“I really felt that he had the competitive drive and the wanting to prove himself and wanting to do it here,” Harbaugh added. “That’s the thing that probably intrigued me the most–that character of wanting to come back and do it here in San Francisco. Which is probably somewhere between rare and extinct. Not just for football players but just about anybody.

Seemed like a nice comment at the time, maybe a bit of an exaggeration used to make his player look good. Just something that a coach says. Looking now, Harbaugh was truly speaking the truth. Word for word. Read it again.

Over the years, one frequent complaint of Smith was his lack of outward intensity and vocal leadership. The reasoning for the criticism was that quarterbacks needed the "I'm not backing down and we're not losing" sort of outward intensity in order to gain success on the biggest stages. Smith didn't really show it, at least not in the typical way that everyone was looking for. In the Tom Brady curse somebody out sort of way.

But right beneath our noses, Smith was showing it all along, by hanging in there in San Francisco when no other quarterback in a similar circumstance would have been able. Much lesser difficult circumstances have killed many quarterbacks. For Smith to stick with it, he must have had a desire to redeem that was as strong as the emotion of any elite quarterback. Against the Saints, he brought it out for all to see.

Smith does not have the arm strength, accuracy, vision, or pocket presence that the very best quarterbacks have. He never will. But one thing that nobody can question in him anymore is his intensity and his desire to win. It's been there all along, it just took one of the greatest games in the history of the NFL playoffs to put it on full display.

***

As a fan, really taking that game in has been a wonderful experience, many years in the making. But mostly, I feel really good for the veteran 49ers that have endured all the losing seasons. And most especially, I feel good for Alex Smith. He truly deserves it.

Now, as hard as it is, we have to get off this ridiculous Saints game and focus on the Giants, who will be quite the challenge. On Saturday night, it seemed like the national media hype machine was then shifting over to San Francisco after having fully digested the Saints and Tim Tebow. I expressed optimism at that time that the hype would be short-lived, and that the Packers/Giants winner would snatch the hype machine's attention from San Francisco. It's going in that direction, and hopefully it goes further. First it was the Saints unstoppable offense. Now, it seems like it's the Giants' date with destiny. Gotta have it, 49ers need to rock this underdog disrespected status all the way to a Super Bowl victory.

All that said, the Giants game is going to be tough on account for how their defense is playing. I'm calling Delanie Walker and Michael Crabtree right now. They have to play big.

Oh my god

I can't type anything at all sensible or anything or whatever. What the hell did I just see? Did I just see Alex Smith Joe Montana his way right down the field? Holy SHIT! THAT JUST HAPPENED! We are going to the NFC Championship game!

That is the best game I've ever seen. I don't care if I'm biased. That is the best game I've ever seen live in my lifetime.

What Used To Be

Just a reminder, lest we forget our roots.

This whole waiting for January 14th has been excruciating, and there's still 10 days to go! So THIS is what it feels like to be a fan of a good football team.