Lil' Jed Sent Me Two Letters Today

I don't know who is in charge of the mailing lists at Niner headquarters, but they aren't doing a very good job of keeping things current.

If you were born during this game, you'd be eligible
for a driver's license in the state of California.

This evening, I received an envelope in the mail, with not one, but two emails from the team. The first was Lil' Jed's letter addressing the expired CBA. The second was a letter from the VP of Ticketing & Suites, outlining the details of the team's refund policy in the event of a work stoppage. The funny thing is that it was addressed to "Dear Season Ticket Holder." Uh, no. Not anymore.

The way I figure it, there are two explanations why I'm still receiving season ticket holder correspondence, each as likely as the other:

1) The front office hasn't bothered updating their mailing list, due to either not getting around to it yet or blatant disregard for my wishes to terminate my relationship as a paying customer for this product (I'm guessing the latter).

2) The Niners still consider me a season ticket holder, just as they consider the thousands of others (educated guess) of people who have also decided not to renew their tickets. I don't think the 49ers want to admit to themselves that they've lost so many formerly loyal (and paying) customers, so internally, they still think of us as season ticket holders who just haven't renewed yet.

I can imagine the internal dialogue going on in the head of each member of the front office: "But they'll be back. They ALWAYS come back. We've won FIVE Super Bowls, remember? Why, it's only been - what - 16 seasons* since we brought the Lombardi Trophy to San Francisco? Big deal! You love us! Remember?  Just wait til we get this silly CBA thing sorted out and you see Coach Harbaugh yell at Smith (Alex) for failing to read a blitz formation in training camp - you'll be begging us for your old seats back!"

If you were born during this game, congratulations -
you're older than Lil' Jed.

Either way, I wish they would take the hint leave me alone. Next time I'm looking for tickets, I'll find them on Craigslist or StubHub - and I'll purchase them from a season ticket holder, without having to pay for two worthless preseason games and the hyped-up "rivalry" games with our traditional divisional opponets the Cardinals and Seahawks.

Regardless, thanks for the memories - and laughs - this offseason so far, 49ers front office.

*I typed that sentence and had to pause and think about that fact that the Niners, who were mostly woeful during the Super Bowl era prior to their first Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XVI following the '81 season, are once again XVI Super Bowls removed from appearing in the NFL title game. The equivalent of Lombardi's Packers, the Steelers' first dynasty and the 70's successes of the Dolphins, Raiders and Cowboys have passed since Steve Young and the 49ers crushed the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. I'll have more on this some other time when the cold reality of the past 16 years without a title sinks in. This deserves further thought and dissection.