November 14, 2011
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1 Is it just me or are the Niners starting to look legit?
2 Two many years of the Singletary/Smith dog-and-pony show for me to believe any of it is real, but they do tend to win these days.
3 Don't get me wrong. Having an 8-1 record this early in the season is pretty amazing. They played an NFL powerhouse yesterday and won a toe-to-toe battle.
4 I'm pretty sure a lot of us old school Niner fans aren't quite ready to think the unthinkable.
5 And yet...
6 I'm starting to hear whispers of "Super Bowl" coming from such luminaries as the Merc News' cynical Mark Purdy.
7 I keep thinking that we are one Frank Gore injury away from going into the toilet.
8 But it looks to me like our lunatic of a coach is quite legit. His lunacy has produced an 8-1 record. You can't argue with that.
9 I knew the defense was vastly improved. I knew that during the summer. But Alex Smith outbattled Eli Manning, the comeback kid. Smith has simply learned not to be stupid. Singletary tried to get that across to him, but he remained stupid, which translates to me that Singletary was and is stupid.
10 I mean I know there are DN readers out there who are Raiders' fans and Chargers' fans and all the rest, but on this Monday, the entire NFL must be reeling. Ladeez and Gents, it's all about the Niners this day.
11 Both my daughter Caitlin and myself saw similarities to this team and the famed Niners teams of lore.
12 There's a reason for that.
13 I was born a Niner fan. My Dad had season tickets before I was born. I got taken to games as a wee lad, went on to work at Kezar and Candlestick, and have had to abide the complete incompetence of the organization for the past ten years.
14 But they seem to be a team moving in the right direction. Finally.
15 My guess is that somewhere, Eddie DeBartolo is having a say in all of this. It looks too much like his puppet strings. I'm fine with that. I'm fine with that.
16 Eddie always had a Michael Coreleone feel about him. Of course we all looked the other way. Who wants to know about those things?
17 But the Walsh/Debartolo look is back. Harbaugh will never be Walsh. But he brings surprises and intensity to the mix. He is out of control and insane at times, but he produces.
18 Steve Young has complained for years that the Niners needed to know who they are. The Raiders know who they are. The Steelers know who they are. Even the (gulp) Cowboys seem to know who they are.
19 Young's point was that this is a franchise that completely re-defined football forever. The Walsh West Coast Offense was invented here. Being a class act was also. I don't know that Harbaugh has brought that as much as I would have liked, but he certainly has re-established a lot of what used to be, especially defensively.
20 In an era where defense has slackened due to potential injury, our guys seem to have figured it all out, and they do it with class and head-pounding.
21 Offensively, nah. Not even close. But safe. You can't ask for more. I would like to see Smith spread the field a bit more. But one thing I have noticed. After a turnover, we're making the other teams pay. Immediately. That was the mark of Montana. It isn't important that we do it in the air, as long as we do it. Pick six.
22 Anyway, I'm loving all of it. I never left the Niners; they left me. As long as the organization kept backing knuckleheads, I was not going to support it. It wasn't fair to the fans, and it wasn't fair to the season ticket holders, of which I am one.
23 But when something turns around, and I see hard work, determination, and dreams of glory, then I can light it up. Laziness, poor work habits, excuses, and poor ownership can be pretty tough on a sports' fan.
24 But intelligence, belief, physical production, no mistakes, good recruiting, good coaching, and demonstratively better ownership equals champions.
25 So we'll see. But like my good pal Mark Purdy, I'm finally starting to whisper "Super Bowl" to my cereal bowl.
26 I just want to breathe a bit of confidence into it.
27 Stay tuned.
28 Peace.
~H~
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