In my professional life I look to the past for answers to questions or lessons for the future, but I am also the first to tell you that what happened on prior championship teams does not equate to a similar situation befalling our beloved 49ers. In laymen's speak, Championship Football teams may appear analogous, they run the ball, have strong defenses, typically have sound quarterback play, and overcome obstacles to winning; however, we all recognize, or perhaps should, that our team's experience, as with our existence within this journey, is entirely different.
"I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord"
Let's be clear on one thing, friends. Our journey as fans, and that of the San Francisco 49ers towards their sixth world championship, does not begin with the official start of the NFL 2014-2015 in the coming weeks. Our voyage, together, has been unfolding over the past three campaigns—each with moments of exhilaration and bitter, soul-crushing disappointment.
"Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand
I've seen your face before my friend
But I don't know if you know who I am
Well, I was there and I saw what you did
I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off that grin,
I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies"
Football is supposed to be an escape from the entrapment of reality. Though an athletic contest, it is nothing more than entertainment. Not that our lives are not entertaining. We are the masters of our own, depending of course on a great many mitigating factors beyond our control, universes. As people orbit in and out of our individual existence, as we do in theirs, we encounter our own moments of triumph and elation. We also, indeterminably and eventually, all suffer bitter heartache as well. Much of those pains, as are the missteps our champions on the gridiron commit, are self-inflicted. How quickly in that moment, when a transgression occurs we immediately loath and ostracize the offending party. None of us are innocent in this behavior. We feel betrayed by the offense; and uniquely, we do so for different reasons. Some are based on moral indignation; others are rooted in on our wanton desire for par excellence in the NFL. And, undoubtedly, some of us harbor some mixture of the two.
"And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well, I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord"
The past three years have provided us with ample ammunition for our outright desire to litigate, condemn, and persecute those who have trampled upon us: both foreign (outside of the Niners), if I may, and domestic (within the organization). There is no need to list, again, all of the woes that have befallen the players, the team, and the organization; and above all of this in our own minds, us. Yes, us. When Richard Sherman, rightfully or not, tipped the pass away from Crabtree, and then, in a fashion had the roles been reversed we would have reveled in, taunted the former Texas Tech standout; Afterwards, we too, along with our defeated receiver, felt hurt and ill-treated. Do we not harbor a desire for revenge towards Seattle? For Crabs? For Kaep? For Bow? I know I do. I hate those motherf**kers. But, I don't really hate those motherf**kers. I see them as an obstacle. As men, I respect them, but despise them. They are in my way, our way, to a renewed sense of glorious triumph with the ultimate prize being the claim to another world championship. More importantly, my claim, as it would also be yours, to being a faithful fan of the Six Time World Champions! We hurt selfishly. We hurt because we desire satisfaction. We hurt because we care, but sometimes I am not sure what it is we really care about.
"Well I remember, I remember don't worry
How could I ever forget
It's the first time, the last time we ever met
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up,
No you don't fool me
The hurt doesn't show
But the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you and me"
I am not the first, and won't be the last, to question the struggle we face as fans of professional sports in the modern era. Things are changing, and I believe they are doing so for the better. I can empathize with Aldon Smith's struggles, but his mistakes deserved punishment. As children, we can ridicule his nine game suspension to that of another, but the frequency and amount of offenses are different. No, I do not agree with the Ray Rice punishment as it was far too lax, but this is not about him. It is about Mr. Smith. I won't ignore the politics of the league, though. I do not believe, however, it is about making up for Rice. By all accounts, the Niners expected this. And to a certain amount, so did some of us.
"And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well, I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord"
With the news late last night/early this morning of Ray McDonald's alleged incident with his pregnant girlfriend, we have already sharpened our knives and our prepared expunge, or if you prefer, to cut him, as others preach tolerance and to wait for the justice system to sort out the situation, while the rest seek to lessen the blow by examining the potential fall out of a six game suspension. This too, is to be expected. We are, as animals, and therefore, survivors, prone to mitigation. It is rather fascinating to watch. And one begs the question: "Are you not entertained?"
I do not claim to be outside of it. I am right in the middle of it. As I sat on the floor reading the news from Ninertalk, dangerous, I know, I was exasperated. For all my passion and unconditional love of the organization, I must colloquially state, "What the f**k?" I mean this seriously puts in jeopardy, as if everything else prior to it didn't already, my desire to attend Super Bowl 49, while watching the Niners! I inform my wife of the dilemma now facing Niner-land. Her response to my comment of "cut the motherf**ker" was telling. Here, I paraphrase, "You really cannot have a personality around you like that as it brings down the entire group/team. It just upsets the balance in the work place." It struck me because it is the plain honest and unfiltered truth. Now, do not get me wrong, I am not saying we cut the man without proof, but it made me face a continuing problem in professional athletics, which its very existence betrays the notion of team and togetherness—you know, the principal reason for working and sacrificing with others for a collective goal. Continuously, almost as if it existed in a black hole devoid of morals, we, and we do this in "real world" as well; allow the rules to be broken by the talented out of our own desire to succeed.
"But I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord"
In our case, we seek to succeed in righting some indescribable wrong. The wrong? Three consecutive failed campaigns to win a Super Bowl. Not all NFL players display these issues nor do all humans, but to be fair we all have warts. Nor do I advocate an end for redemption—I believe deeply in it. How could I not? Haven't I, haven't we, seen it? This isn't about that. No one is innocent in our continued lust for victory. It isn't about the misbehavior off the field, the allegations true or not, the abuse, true or not of a woman with child, or any other f**ked up thing that a human can do another, it is about our love of winning the game trumping everything else.
"But I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord"
And the worst part, I am complicit; we are complicit, in this behavior. I'll watch, you'll watch; I'll believe, you'll believe; and we'll desire to rise above all of this so that we can claim our rightful place on top of the football world. I'll do so in spite of myself. And so will you.
It will be bitter sweet, won't it? When we win. Just think of everything we overcame.
Never forget, though, the things we failed to overcome.
"But I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord."
I am Fropwns
[ Edited by fropwns on Aug 31, 2014 at 11:43 AM ]
