As with life, you have sudden change. All of it is out of our control. This post was originally titled "Remorse, Redemption, and Reloading". But after the Borland retirement (see below), I had to adjust this because I view all of this as "Shock and Awe". Some god-forsaken heavy barrage, in the typical American fashion, designed to overwhelm one's enemy, see the Germans and Poland in the 1930s, to the point of petrification.
Below you will find my rambling and incoherent thoughts on all things Niner. I am now off to walk the earth, like Caine.
In short, my friends, I got nothing else I can say.
Remorse:
We all knew it was going to happen. We just did not want to believe it. Frank Gore is no longer a member of the San Francisco 49ers (at the time of this post, he has now become a member of the Indianapolis Colts). For some, this turn of events is just the justification they need to hurl another s**t log on top of the s**t fire that is still raging for some from last season s**t storm.
You know who you are. And I know who you are. More importantly, you know that I know that you know that.
I see you Tiger; but can you see me?
Folks got the right, you know? A lot of people are mad as hell at Jed York. They blame him solely for Harbaugh being gone—you ever thought that had York not fired Harbs, he could not have helped save those women or coach for the A's? Speaking of the A's, how would you like to be a booster at Michigan?
Michigan booster: "Where is our f**king expensive new coach? I want to masturbate some more while he scowls at the players."
Michigan AD: "He isn't here."
Michigan booster: "Why?!?!?!"
Michigan AD: "He seems to like it BETTER in the Bay. He also seems to prefer to coach Baseball over his Alma Matter."
Okay, Okay, I admit that was a bit catty. But the truth hurts. Harbaugh, it appears, is as butt hurt as some of us are about the whole damn situation. If not, why does he keep showing up in the Bay area?
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2015/02/13/tk-show-day-1-conversation-jim-harbaugh-today-clarifying-exit-49ers-move-michigan-much-much/
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12438584/jim-harbaugh-becomes-oakland-coach-day-arizona
Anyway before it is over, we will suffer more remorse. We will lose more players (at the time of this post, we have lost Iupati, Skuta, Johnson, Culliver, and Cox; meanwhile, Bruce Miller went full on potato), and whether we always appreciated them or not, once they are gone, we will mourn. We will mourn because they were with us, good or bad, right or wrong, stubborn offensive philosophy or failure to reach individual potential, poor decision-making on the behalf of players off the field or a culture of "looking the other way", future Hall of Fame head coach or megalomaniac, super star young owner or foolish young man, tremendous G.M. or a dude that just cannot draft an offensive player to save his life, during one of the most exciting times in recent franchise history.
For us fans, we see these guys and cannot help but wonder why they could not get it together to seal the deal. After the Super Bowl loss, we fought back, we rallied behind….
but that was just not enough. And then there was last season when the wheels came off the machine.
And that leads me to the shocker of our offseason: Patrick Willis. Patrick was born and raised in Tennessee, he attended Ole Miss, and he is a fellow southerner. Those of you who have heard his story understand that he faced some rather tough times as a youngster, but thanks to some loving folks, he made it out. Poverty is a very real problem where I come from in Arkansas. I assure you it is a similar situation throughout the south. So, anytime, a young man or woman who struggled early on can make it out, or better yet, escape, I cheer them on. You should too. That brings me to the point. I listen to the words a man speaks when he is spoken to. Patrick was very clear on why he is leaving the 49ers: his feet.
For you and I, or at least fair reader, most of us, we do not make a living with our feet. He does. And now sadly, he did. The lasting legacy of a man from a blue-collar background is his craft. Patrick Willis' craft was the art of causing havoc on the gridiron. And man was he good at it. But as good as he was as a player, he was ten times that as a leader. It appears, and I admit I did not know his deep commitment to faith, that he has reached a place that some will scoff, but that I applaud, a man of deep commitment to his teammates, his family, is even more devoted to something greater than himself. He has humbled himself to it.
Humility, which he spoke about repeatedly throughout his press conference, means something to him. This isn't a man providing lip service as a result of a transgression; it is the honest conviction of a human being that has reached the final potential of his physically gifted body. And now that body, which has served him for many years, is failing him. He recognizes it, and he does not wish to tarnish himself or the organization that drafted him.
Jed York said that Willis is his ideal image of "class". He was right. Whether some chose to accept that or take further shots at the young owner is on them. But, I have to agree with him.
The next step for Patrick Willis is to spread his story as an example. It is a good, no, it is a great story, one worthy of enshrinement. Someone will follow it, if they haven't already done so.
Low and behold at press time, we get the extra groin kick of the TOTALLY OUT OF f**kING NO WHERE RETIREMENT OF CHRIS "Hi, I'm 24" BORLAND!!!! The man has retired (ESPN says: "quit") from the game of Football Americano. I respect his decision. But as a selfish niner fan, I am flattened, again, by an unexpected retirement. I suspect you are as well.
Forced Rebuilding:
So, here we are. I want to tell you that we have been here before. I want to tell you that the franchise is going to return to "the dark age". But, I can't. I just can't. History doesn't work exactly like that. Dark ages are not cyclical. I can come to only one conclusion:
We are not through, yet.
Please understand me, Mandrake, that does not mean we are where we were. No, I am afraid that time has come and gone. We are now, in the now, we just passed then. When did we do that? Just now. We are in now-now. When will then be now? Soon.
We are therefore, GULP, rebuilding. Sorry Jed, Sorry Baalke, Sorry "the Mad Homer", but we are ripping the guts out of this b***h and rebuilding her new and perhaps, though it will mean we do not have a roof for a while, better than before.
It begins with downfield production. An issue for the 49ers for several years has certainly been downfield production. For a time, we relied on Vernon Davis to take the "top" off of the defense. Fair reader, as you may recall, VD has not been the VD we know and love for quite some time. To be fair to the critics, maybe there is something to the money, the smoothies, the artsy-pursuits of the man that has taken a little of the piss and vinegar out of him. Until somebody puts the piss and vinegar back into him, we have this man:
And when you wonder why this happened, when you question how it was possible that we could get a 26 year old burner, you only need to go here:
Ladies and Gentlemen. Wait, wait, we have very few women around here because you bag of dicks chased them off. For f**k's sakes boys, the ladies have insight too. Anyway. Ladies and Gentlemen, the NEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW LEADER OF THE 49ers Anquan "Jaws" Boldin!!!
The remake of the 49ers offense, and arguably the mindset of the team as well, continues with the signing of Reggie Bush. Many will quibble that it is several years too late, but I believe they are assuming Reggie will carry a predominate load. Hyde, Hunter (if ready and able to go), and he can provide us with the correct amount of speed and power to move the ball. His punt return work should, I believe, bring a bolstering effect to a rather subpar performing unit.
At the very least, ladies and gentlemen, we should be a helluva lot faster on offense. That is a good thing.
We also signed…..
No comment.
We are also keeping Cook, acquired Shareece Wright, and are going to kick the tires on Sterling Moore. I am sure in the coming days and weeks there will be more to come.
Where and when will all of this end? I have no clue. None of it was expected. None of it could be stopped. But I hold hope that some how, some way, we will become a better team after all of this.
Until then, I walk the earth.
I am Fropwns.
[ Edited by fropwns on Mar 17, 2015 at 7:46 PM ]