FiddySicks

I kinda think the Cardinals and Giants proved that if you really want to “revitalize” a part of your city, a park will definitely help to do that. But it’s usually a lot more feasible when all of those gains (and then some) aren't just given to the owners because they made a vague threat to move to another media market. The Giants, in particular, are proof that you can pay for your own park and still rake in money hand over fist. Even with all of the Bay Area hurdles to overcome. It just might take a decade or so longer to do that. Amazing that the A’s didn’t have this foresight in the FOUR DECADES they’ve been doing this stupid dance.

I spent a part of my honeymoon in the San Pedro Harbor and the entire time I could hear the Jackass theme and “punk rock changed our lives/ grew up in peedro” in the lead singer’s voice. Similarly to @Ferdinand Cesarano, I hate the way they say Prescott, AZ, and hate even more how everyone jumps down your throat about it. But I get it. The constant mispronunciation of Nevada fills me with an irrational rage.

Considering we’re at the tail end of the “message board internet” era, I swear some weirdo is gonna eventually make a documentary about this place for Netflix or something.

This might be one of my favorite rebrands in years. It was so desperately needed, and I think they stuck the landing on bringing the brand into the 2020s while still giving a nod to the past. I get the dislike of the cruise ship logo, but it actually makes perfect sense considering that the LA area is one of the largest cruise ship terminals in the world (fun fact, I went on a cruise in December out of Long Beach Harbor, and on the way, I stopped to see construction on the new Clippers arena). It might’ve made a bit more sense if they played in Long Beach rather than Inglewood, but that’s splitting hairs and I can give that one a pass.

I actually think most of that came when Reebok got the exclusive contract with the NFL? If not then, when they made the “one helmet rule”, so yeah, you might be right.

Oof, yeah. No. Don’t do that. (Hint: That relationship didn’t end well!)

The most mind blowing thing about all of this to me is the price. I remember buying my first authentic jersey (Eric Byrnes A’s green alt), and it was like $225. I thought that was outrageous! Straight up dumb money. But I really wanted it so I saved up. But $450? That’s almost to my limit for things like video game consoles I just can’t wrap my head around spending nearly $500 for a shirt. And I’m the dummy who’s spent what I consider to be “dumb money” on an embarrassing number of jerseys.

Definitely would’ve expected Reese to be the NASCAR driver instead of Malcolm.

San Jose is weird because it’s the largest city in the Bay Area, and I think has been my entire life. The problem still with SJ is that it’s kind of geographically isolated from the rest of the greater Bay Area. The other issue is they don’t have the public transportation heft that the rest of the metro area does. They have Cal Train, which has improved but still pales in comparison to having a dedicated subway line like the rest of the Bay Area has with BART. San Jose decided a long time ago that they didn’t want BART running into their area (as did Marin County), and while the NIMBY stuff is very typical, it definitely holds them back from being a fully fledged contender for another top level pro team. Marin county doesn’t have this issue because it’s always been a bedroom community with a more upscale feel. It at least makes sense that they would give that pushback. San Jose, otoh, doesn’t have the panache Marin County does in terms of luxury, and has mostly changed to a working economy with the tech boom. Them still pushing back against some of the public transportation options coming from the rest of the area is actively kneecapping themselves when it comes to certain levels of growth. At least, that’s what I’m feeling about it. Theres also the expense, of course. That’s an issue too because of what I said about San Jose’s overall isolation. That’s a huge distance to cover.

Imagine being a football program so big and powerful that you don’t have to play in a conference and can pick your own schedule, and STILL choose to play both of the service academies Does Notre Dame still get any bull:censored: privileges with the CFP that they did with the BCS? I still can’t believe they gained an automatic BCS bid every time they won ten games.

I mean, they are. Two minutes after they get lost, most people who aren’t the weird angry haters who already irrationally hate the Giants, will forget about them entirely. I say that as someone who grew up an A’s fan in the Bay Area and greater Northern California. Bye Felicia.

Sounds like he got caught smoking weed without his rec card. I can’t imagine the league would still suspend a guy over that, though.

No thanks. We don’t want them!

I’m not saying I even necessarily buy into a lot of that, but that’s the common explanation. It’s a league who’s main TV event is one of the biggest TV events of the year, and they had the ability to combine it with one of the highest grossing pop stars of all time. I don’t necessarily blame them for that, but there’s definitely an element to it comes across as annoying. It just feels like the further consolidation of entertainment (and for the producers, wealth) that we’ve basically seen everywhere else. Plus you have to understand the trend of people wanting sports to be kind of a “safe space” from some of the other residuals. As ridiculous as that may be, I kind of think some of that is fueling it, too.

I think the thing I’m taking most from it is that the Taylor Swift machine and the NFL machine are really similar in that they’re there mostly to extract cash from people. But they kind of go after what’s usually diametrically opposed sides of that dollar. Seems like a funny coincidence that the affable dummy the league has really been pushing as their friendly face just so happened to end up with the friendly face of that other economic machine. It could totally be a coincidence because like I said people date. But you have to understand that this more of a combination of entertainment ventures than it is a relationship (at least for anyone who isn’t those two), and yeah, I’m sorry but that can be annoying some times! In that sense, it’s sort of the crossover that neither side actually asked for.

I mean, I think you know exactly why people find it off putting. It’s the commodification. These two had some mutual interest in each other and as soon as that got public everyone pounced on it like piranhas, and have spent the entire season trying to cram these stories down our throats in an attempt to make every single dollar they can off of it. It’s just yet another example of how empty and meaningless so much of our society has become always been. People date, I don’t need a sales pitch or a reminder of the effects it has on the bottom line.

Thats ironic, because I’ve spent the last 30 years of my life having “discussions” with Niners fans who do just that in order to prop their guy up (I once had a heated conversation with a Niners fan about how Giovanni Carmazzi was “for sure gonna be the guy”). And I’m not even saying Purdy is just another one of those guys. He’s been very solid for them and played a lot of “mistake free football”. I bring up the Jimmy G comparisons because I heard a helluva lot of that early in his Niners tenure, too. The shine wore off pretty quickly though. Niners window is probably pretty close to closing. They have an old roster with a ton of miles on their already banged up playmakers, and little cap room. I’m mainly just worried that they’re going to go into next season (which I think is their very last legitimate shot with this core) and they’re gonna have all of the same problems and questions they do now. Or worse, the league starts to figure out Brock Purdy a bit better, then the Niners are right back where they were in 2014-15.

I mean, I hope I’m wrong, but I kinda see a ceiling for him being somewhere around what Kirk Cousins is. That’s not necessarily a knock, because Cousins is very good, but it’s also not “that” type of guy. He’s currently got the same playoff record as Jimmy G and sort of had a lot of the same problems Jimmy G did in the Super Bowl vs Kansas City (The Aiyuk overthrow gave me PTSD). I could be wrong but I’m not sold yet on him. “Game Manager” feels even more apt after that game in my mind. Also, just to be fair, a lot of my frustration stems from legit DECADES of the Niners missing out on that kind of guy due to a combination of some really dumb luck, and some really dumbass decision making on their part (Everything from taking Alex Smith over Rodgers to not pursuing Brady harder when he was just right there for the taking).

Also, we have back to back Ultimate Playoff Losers. Congrats, Eagles! They lost to Tampa, who lost to Detroit, who lost to SF, who lost to KC. Tampa won (lost) that crown last season (Dal-SF-PHI-KC).

I’ve mentioned it before but I grew up in Niners territory and the first Super Bowl I saw was the one after their last win. I cannot tell you how many times I heard this as a talking point. I still can’t wrap my head around the Bucs having two Super Bowl wins while sucking most of the time I’ve been a fan, yet the Niners have dominated that same stretch and have none. Football is weird.

I’m wondering how many people realize just how close to the Bears this ownership group actually is. It’s better, but not by that much. Same sort of nepo baby idiots in charge, but with a twist of Bay Area politics.

My final thoughts: I don’t care about Pat Mahomes or the Chiefs. I’m not going to get into much of that beyond saying that people are dumb to already be labeling him the new Brady or the football Jordan or whatever. Just slow down. Niners just got out coached and out played. Chiefs have something the Niners haven’t been able to find since Steve Young. A QB worth a damn. It’s really that simple. Niners have this awesome team and these :censored:in nobodies at QB and the result is always the same. Purdy is nice, sure. But you think that dude is ever gonna be the IT guy? :censored: no. Never gonna happen. Niners are doing everything they can to win a title except for the ONE thing that actually works. Only time teams win, only time the Niners have ever won, is when they had the man at QB. Had the Niners been more proactive on Brady or Rodgers, they probably wouldn’t have this same stupid played out issue. And I know a lot of the time that’s so much easier said than done. I also know the Niners have also had some really bad luck with all of this. But they’ve also created so much more of this mess than they ever get criticized for. I heard someone call the 49ers the “red Cowboys” the other day and it felt closer to home than I would’ve liked. Now after that game it somehow sticks in my mind even stronger and I’m just happy I don’t have to reckon with that because I dodged the Niners fandom bullet years ago.

He’s four championships away from catching Brady. Can we please pump the brakes on this guy a bit? It’s really getting ridiculous. Y’all are absolutely nuts.

Lol I’m so happy I made the decision to not be a 49ers fan.

Losing Greenlaw is BAD news for the Niners. Hopefully they have something to adjust. Offense needs to do more, as well. Crazy to see a team dominate a half like that, walk out with the lead, and it still feels disappointing. Chiefs have looked half asleep at times, but with them that rarely matters. Niners have to keep up the tempo and pressure if they want to pull this out.