49ers Season Preview on NYTimes Fifth Down Blog

Just wanted to give you guys a heads-up, the NYTimes NFL blog "Fifth Down" posted their Season Preview about the Niners (which seems to be part of a NFC West Season Preview, as Cardinals and Rams previews have been posted already):

Link

I think it is an interesting read and with surprisingly good detail in the individual player evaluations, especially for a national source that isn´t one of our beat writers. The only thing I think the writer got totally wrong was the part where he described Niners fans as "patient" and "understanding the concept of constructing a foundation". I believe we could introduce him to the ´Zone to cure him from believing such nonsense

Read the whole thing. Good read.

Wow, A sports writer from the East Coast that actually watched our games! Surprising! And well stated

Championship

Nice, fair piece. Overall great analysis of the team. This one piece blows away anything on bleacherreport.

Man f**k the NY Times 5th Down Blog!

Originally posted by ninerlifer:
Man f**k the NY Times 5th Down Blog!

Because their honest appraisal of our team? Yeah, Damn them, there's no room in the Webzone for logical thinkers!

Yea that was a pretty nice write up. and trust me I live in Dc the Niners fans are super patient. Out here they would've ran Nolan and Smith out of town after 2 years.

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by ninerlifer:
Man f**k the NY Times 5th Down Blog!

Because their honest appraisal of our team? Yeah, Damn them, there's no room in the Webzone for logical thinkers!

I think you need to get a sense of humor

Originally posted by ninerlifer:

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by ninerlifer:
Man f**k the NY Times 5th Down Blog!

Because their honest appraisal of our team? Yeah, Damn them, there's no room in the Webzone for logical thinkers!

I think you need to get a sense of humor

I've been trying but so far nothing.

Well, my take on the article was that the writer mostly knows what he's talking about but has a typical east-coast bias towards the NFC West in general ("Despite playing in a division that’s as mediocre as a Tuesday afternoon..."), and the 49ers in particular.

He certainly doesn't cut Alex Smith much slack ("The 49ers won’t win because of their quarterback, and they’re not quite good enough to win in spite of him. So, they must win with him"). Or Jimmy Raye ("Raye might find using a rudimentary passing attack painful given the receiving talent at his disposal"). I can almost see him sneering as he wrote that stuff.

It's always interesting to see what writers from different parts of the country think about the 49ers, and I'd be the first to admit that the team hasn't shown much to warrant any excitement over the past few years, but this article mostly smacks of the elitism of someone surrounded by the Giants, Jets, and Pats. As if they never face-plant or anything.

[ Edited by Yetiman on Jul 1, 2010 at 15:35:34 ]

The hype is much different this year than in years past. I dunnoy why, but this hype just feels a bit more genuine to me.

I really wish it was september already.

Originally posted by Antix:
The hype is much different this year than in years past. I dunnoy why, but this hype just feels a bit more genuine to me.

I really wish it was september already.

+1

Originally posted by NinerBuff:

Originally posted by Antix:
The hype is much different this year than in years past. I dunnoy why, but this hype just feels a bit more genuine to me.

I really wish it was september already.

+1

The 'hype' that some of us may be seeing this year has come in different forms. This article is from an east coast writer and we have also seen other online or print publications beginning to paint positive things about our 9ers.

Well, as a fourth generation Californian who has followed the 9ers since YA Tittle, you can imagine my surprise this evening when during a commercial break on the Colbert show, Direct TV had a commercial that had a Green Bay family differing on how to treat a family recently transplanted from SF. The fact the SF transplants bought Sunday ticket to watch the 9ers (not the Pack) was the point of contention.

I realize this might be a subtle point, but I believe Direct TV is playing this rivalry to sell it's product. Hell, we will be on what, four prime time games this year? So Direct TV is not the only one to notice.

I, for one, am very excited because where there is smoke (the hype), there is fire (the wins)...and I am not the only one seeing this. Sure, all of the negative folks can say I am drinking the kool-aid (and how many of you on the zone have actually had that stuff?) but my humble opinion says we will turn the corner and I am very much looking forward to it. There are more than enough positive trends to support my beliefs.

Mark my words, as we get into TC and preseason, the hype will build and I feel strongly that the playoffs will be achieved this year.

Go 9ers

Good article, but a couple things:

1. If Davis does blossom, I don't think that he should automatically switch positions with Staley. Careful thought needs to be given to this.
2. I will be VERY shocked if Baas overtakes for Heitmann at C.
3. I wouldn't call Goldson a "good" open field tackler.

Other than that, it's not too bad.

-9fA

Being ranked to win the division scares me, like a jinx. The 'experts' are usually wrong. Would rather go unnoticed and sneak up on the other teams.