I grew up with the 49ers. Along with holidays and special occasions, Sundays at Candlestick have been family gatherings that have spanned several generations. Season tickets, dating back to Kezar Stadium, have always been in my household. For the past ten years, our seats in section 20 have been held in my name. From these seats, we've witnessed the organization reach the highest of highs through five Super Bowl seasons and countless playoff appearances. However, we've also witnessed more than our share of disappointments. Recently, these disappointments have rivaled (and perhaps surpassed) the rock-bottom feeling of despair and league-wide indifference we all shared as fans in the mid-seventies.
Since the dismissal of Steve Mariucci five years ago, the 49ers have floundered on and off the field. As fans, we are asked to drag ourselves off to the worst venue in North American professional sports to cheer an increasingly clueless and dysfunctional organization. Along the way, we park in overpriced dirt lots, suffer through unbearable traffic jams and wait in endless lines to enter the stadium and purchase expensive refreshments while the lingering stench of 40 years' worth of spoiled hotdogs and spilled beer assault our senses. In return, the price of our season tickets (and everything else associated with the gameday experience) continues to escalate.
Perhaps you've heard of the law of diminishing returns. It is a law that most season ticketholders are all too familiar with these days.
As things stand today, here are my long-term prospects as a ticketholder:
1) The team remains in Candlestick for the foreseeable future while Santa Clara and San Francisco continue to play hot potato with the new stadium's proposed development. As a reward, I'll receive more of the same that I've outlined above - with prices steadily increasing as the stadium continues its slow descent into the muck and sludge of the bay adjacent to this facility.
2) Somehow, someway, a new state-of-the-art stadium complex is built in the Bay Area. This stadium will become the new standard-bearer for public sporting facilities. The gameday experience for 49er fans will be envied by the rest of the league. Of course, nothing comes without a price. If ownership has no problem jacking up ticket costs in the current stadium, it is logical to assume that this opportunity won't be lost to ask me to dig deep into my pockets for seat licenses, 'preferred' parking, game tickets and stadium refreshments. I've already seen a similar phenomenon occur at Pacific Bell Park once the Giants finally exited their previous facilities and have no doubt that it will repeat itself. After all, we're all made of money here in the Bay Area, right? How else can we afford to live here? Of course, if you lived in, say, OHIO, you might not appreciate what it takes to keep your head above water in this neck of the woods.
You see, Catch-22 isn't just Darrell Jackson's offensive production in meaningful games. It's also the predicament season ticketholders now find themselves in.
Earlier this week, the organization made the decision to stick with Mike Nolan while promoting Scott McLoughan to General Manager. Basically, the message I've received is that the best course of action is to take none. Although it seems that McLoughan has done a serviceable job in his prior role, leaving Nolan to concentrate on coaching duties is quite puzzling. Most qualified observers would agree that Nolan's main shortcoming during his tenure has been his inability to manage the team on the field during gameday, and yet management has made this Nolan's main focus. Quite frankly, I'm not ready for another year of questionable referee challenges, poor clock management, miscommunication between players and coaching staff, bone-headed penalties, nonsensical press conference answers, the 'Zak Keasey/Hanibal Navies Shuffle' and dubious decision-making during crunch time.
The 49ers organization has been largely dependent on the goodwill the team fostered within its fanbase during the eighties and nineties, but there is a breaking point. The Bay Area is a wonderful place to live, full of vibrant and intelligent people who continue groundbreaking work that defines the way this planet communicates and distributes information. To 'stay the course' with the current regime is an insult to our senses of value, productivity and accountability. To do so without any plausible explanation while expecting us to open our checkbooks for another year of futility is foolish and arrogant.
Today, this team should carefully consider the landscape that lies ahead during the next two months. While season ticketholders watch mediocre NFC teams compete in the postseason, management should be taking steps to ensure that these same people will check the 'renew' box when their invoices arrive in February. In other words, give us one good reason to give you our money again. Then give us another. And another.
Since the 49ers have adopted a 'wait and see' attitude, I'm doing the same. I'm going to wait and see what this team accomplishes before I spend another dime on tickets. I'm going to treat the 49ers just like they've treated me these past few years - as an insignificant pest that gets in my way of doing things. I've run out of rationalizations without reasoning. The blackouts are coming, mark my words. Your time is up.
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