Clueless? Delusional? You Be The Judge



"Thank you, come again."

Once again, I'm questioning if the 49ers' front office is incredibly clueless or merely delusional. Over the past week, they've been sending out notices to former season ticketholders about their new "paperless" ticket option. Apparently, the Niners haven't realized that these fans have not only chosen to go paperless, they've also chosen to do away with the whole thing by going ticketless!

But that's not all the ticket office has been up to. A buddy of mine (one of the many folks I know who also refused to renew their tickets for 2011) just received a season ticketholder "thank you" gift in the mail yesterday! In the 40+ years my family and I held tickets, I don't think we ever received a "thank you" gift for renewing, yet now these bozos are sending tokens of their appreciation to folks who aren't spending a single dime on them this year.

So, are the 49ers clueless for not being able to update their email lists and customer records, or delusional by thinking that this is just a small bump in the road and we'll get past this misunderstanding and return as ticketholders?

Either way, they're wasting their time.

And now, your Daily/Weekly/Monthly Dose of Sunshine:

The ESPN Magazine franchise rankings just came out today. The 49ers have slipped 13 places to #90 (out of 122 pro franchises in North America). If that wasn't bad enough, the stadium experience is ranked 117th and affordability is 102nd.

Hmmm, a terrible stadium experience that's overpriced? Where do I sign up?

The only thing that surprises me is that there are five stadiums ranked worse than Candlestick.

On-Field or Off-Field, the News is Still Bad

Oh, 49ers, how you never cease to amaze me. Today, the team sent out an email to "celebrate" the one-year anniversary of the stadium vote.

"The hard hats are ready to go at the new stadium in Santa Clara," says the email, while detailing the "progress" thus far. Among the highlights: millions of dollars spent finalizing designs and prepping the site for work, finalization of the environmental review process (take note that the PROCESS has been finalized - not the approval), the construction of a preview center and the approval for a "possible" future Super Bowl on the Santa Clara site (don't ask me how you approve the possibility of an event happening - you don't question Lil'Jed and his posse of nerds).

However, the San Jose Mercury News also marked this anniversary with some pomp and circumstance of their own in the form of a front-page article, titled "One year after vote, Santa Clara 49ers stadium far from easy score."

The article details the pitfalls that the franchise has encountered since last year's stadium measure was approved by Santa Clara voters, including a $50 million dollar increase in the facility's price tag and a one-year delay in the estimated completion of the project.

What a difference a year makes, huh? Here are a few stadium issues the Merc has identified:

• The current lockout, which will prevent the team from knowing how much money the NFL will contribute until the league reaches a contractual agreement with the players' association.
• League stakeholders who still want the 49ers and Raiders to share a stadium, despite the Raiders having no desire to move to the South Bay.
• Santa Clara's general fund budget that was promised to voters can no longer be allocated for the stadium construction.
• Both the 49ers and the city of Santa Clara have not disclosed where their money or budget is coming from.
• The aforementioned $50 million price increase, putting the final total at nearly $1 billion. Nobody knows who's paying this extra cost.
• Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to discontinue agencies statewide, jeopardizing up to $41.6 million that is supposed to come from Santa Clara's Redevelopment Agency. The city says the team would be responsible for paying this money, while the team said the funds need to come from the city.

The Merc isn't just content to talk about off-field news today, though. Tim Kawakami, who's been observing the Niners' unsanctioned workouts this week, writes that erstwhile and allegedly future starting quarterback Alex Smith and (supposedly) top receiver Michael Crabtree aren't exactly the best of pals.

I'll say this for Smith - he's doing everything he can to assume a leadership role with this team (unfortunately, we had to wait for six years and an expired contract for this to happen). Crabtree, meanwhile, continues to show that he's a me-first diva that has never participated in a full training camp or single preseason game while failing to take his game to the next level.

Crabtree's latest excuse for not participating in yesterday's session? Sore feet from new cleats. Unbelievable. Every day, it's something else with this guy. Somebody needs to tell him that he's being paid to be one of the best receivers in the league, and unless he starts working WITH his teammates, that's never going to happen.

And that's the way it is. I'm not reporting the news, just compiling it.

Three Random Thoughts

• Anybody else think it's strange that Alex Smith has taken on more of a leadership role as an unsigned free agent than he did while under contract for six seasons?
• Michael Crabtree: SHUT UP and try to help the team for once. The next time you make a positive impact on the organization will be the FIRST time. "Who's the quarterback?" How about "who's the top receiver?" The last thing this team needs is for an underachieving "me-first" wide receiver causing trouble in the locker room.
• John Henry Johnson, RIP. It doesn't seem right to lose half of the members of the Million Dollar Backfield in six weeks.

Your Daily Dose of Sunshine

Let's get this party started with some "encouraging" news:

FOX Sports: 49ers organization ranked 24th in NFL (hey, last year they were ranked 28th - baby steps, people).

And now, on to other matters:

The head honchos at League headquarters are telling Harbaugh and the 49ers to stop treating Alex Smith as if he's still officially their quarterback:

 PFT: NFL sends 49ers memo about Alex Smith talk

No wonder the original Niners
logo had a saloon in the background.

I know this may sound like another Robot Goodell attempt to smack the helpless 49ers back into their hole, but really - does Harbaugh have to be so brazen with the Alex Smith stuff? Can't he at least keep his communication with Smith a bit more close to the vest? We shouldn't even know that this is going on right now.

And before I get crapped on for being so negative, take a look at some of the comments from this story and tell me that the Niner fanbase is thrilled with the way things are headed:

"Poor Harbaugh, already getting sh*t for embracing Alexa. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet kimosabe."

"Can their(sic) be a more inept run team in the league? I know Snyder and Al are candidates, but they would not ok giving out playbooks to unsigned free agents."

"Guess the Niners didn’t learn their lesson after Lance Briggs"

"Most underachieving team for their talent in the league."

"Honestly, there really shouldn’t be any conversation about FA players and that’s a pretty fine line to cross."

And, a few comments thrown in about how the League seems to take every opportunity to stomp the 49ers when they're down:

"What does (Goodell) have against the niners?"

"(Goodell) even comments that the NFL will help the Vikings stay in Minn while doing nothing to help the 9ers with league funding on their stadium. And exactly how much did the NFL contribute to the 2 stadium project that needed the least help – NY and Dallas."

"The NFL is always eager to make an example out of the Niners, WTF?"

In other news, Matt Barrows writes that the quarterbacks* don't have enough wide receivers to throw to during their self-organized workout sessions.

The most notable absentee is Michael Crabtree, who hasn't shown up despite being in the Bay Area. Yes, the same Michael Crabtree who is quickly proving that he isn't interested in participating in anything he doesn't get paid for, including training camp and preseason games, regardless of how much it may help his team or his own (unrealized) development as an NFL receiver.  What a prima donna jackass. Apparently, Alex Smith is starting to think so, too.

*I'll say this for Alex Smith - he is doing everything he can to be the best quarterback he can be in 2011. Unfortunately, that's not going to be enough to get this franchise where they need to be.