Cowboys 20, 49ers 17

Injury Excuse For Huge Loss, Mayor Rips Grbac

Welcome to reality, 49er fans.

Given their cupcake schedule, the 49ers have few challenges in the 1996 regular season. On the rare occasions the 49ers have been challenged, they have failed. The loss to the Cowboys is another reality check following their last meaningful game at Green Bay.

Oh, sure, the game started as the usual fantasy for the 49ers. They overachieved and ran up a quick 10 points on the uptight Cowboys, just like last year. But this time, the better team actually won in the long run. In predictable fashion, Steve Young made a quick exit, Elvis Grbac finally played to his talent level, like a backup QB should, and the 49er facade came crashing down.

Now, 49er fans have to accept the reality of their team. They have 6 wins against dismal opponents. Add one win over Houston, the one team they beat with a respectable record. In the big games against Carolina, Green Bay, and Dallas, they are 0-3.

Don't think this will stop 49er fans. After all, Baltimore's next, and after that, probably a tough road game at the Jets then Falcons before Tampa comes to town. So don't worry, after a couple more puffball wins, the 49er fans will resume their role as the most belligerent fans in the NFL, filling your favorite team's newsgroup with "best ever" comments.

"They would have won if..."

Check out Monday's headline of the S.F. Chronicle sports section: "Cowboys KO 49ers in OT. Concussion ousts Young . . ." Yep, the very first thing mentioned is the fact that Steve Young was injured. The excuse is reverberating throughout "the Bay Area"-- if only Steve Young hadn't been injured, the 49ers would have won.

Poor Elvis Grbac is finally figuring out what it's really like to be a 49er. Only weeks ago, Grbac was being hailed not only as the QB of the future, but 49er fans voted for Grbac to be the QB of the present. Local newspaper and T.V. polls showed a consistent majority of 49er fans wanted Grbac to replace Steve Young immediately as the starter.

And what does Grbac get now? You guessed it; that familiar red and gold dagger stuck between the vertebrae. The Elvis bandwagon lay abandoned after boos from the "faithful" cascaded down the aisles of 3Com (and yes, we've purposefully spared you any and all "funny" Elvis remarks having to do with "Heartbreak Hotel" or "Elvis leaving the building", etc.).

According to Grbac, the interception wasn't totally his fault. Apparently, William Floyd "drifted" away from where he was supposed to be in response to Strickland's charge. Speaking of Floyd, anybody hear how his concealed weapon and drunk driving charges are coming along?

Cowboys, Deion earned the win

Did anyone else feel a sense of deja vu when Grbac threw the game into the hands of Fred Strickland? It was reminiscent of when Brett Favre threw what looked to be the game winning interception to Marquez Pope. But from that point on, any similarity ended.

The difference: the 49ers squandered their gift and ended up losing to Green Bay. On Sunday, the Cowboys took their gift and converted it into a win.

So if any 49er fan tells you that the Cowboys were lucky because Elvis handed them to game, quickly point out to them that such a gift doesn't necessarily mean a win-- the team still has to earn it, and the 49ers are a perfect example of a team that couldn't win a sure thing.

The Cowboys definitely earned the win. The injured Eric Bjornson, in for the injured Jay Novacek, scored the tying TD. Then, in overtime, Dallas went from a 1st and 20 on their own 24 yard line to the winning field goal, riding big plays from Moose Johnston and Emmitt Smith (who made Merton Hanks a hood ornament).

Perhaps the most gratifying moment of the game came on the most crucial play of that winning drive. On 3rd and 7, Deion Sanders caught a slant pass to pave the way to the Cowboys win. Why was it so gratifying?

Deion did it. While we have no particular interest in Deion, it's hilarious to see the ex-49er, the man that brought them a Super Bowl, come back to haunt them. The fact that most 49er fans and the media loved Deion as a 49er and now villainize him as a Cowboy is one of the biggest tributes to the hypocrisy and double-standard of the 49er Mentality, so what better turnabout is there than him sealing the "W"?
He caught a slant pass. Yes, this converted DB who possesses little as far as receiving skills was able to make the most critical play of the game-- just like good old Jerry Rice. Anybody starting to see that it doesn't take the greatest receiver ever to catch a slant?

Fans whine about play call

Offensive Coordinator Marc Trestman has been in and out of the doghouse more times than Marmaduke. It seems that now, 49er fans are upset Trestman called the ill-fated Grbac pass that was intercepted. The word from 49er-land is that the 49ers should have run the ball instead.

Yes, we know, these are the same fans that screamed at Trestman for running the ball against Green Bay. And funny how you aren't hearing about Bill Walsh's role with the 49ers this week. It looks like he made his little end-of-game jaunt down to the sidelines for naught again. In case you didn't hear, Walsh held a team meeting at the beginning of the week to solve the 49er offensive woes heading into the Dallas game. Maybe it was that last stint at Stanford, but clearly, the magic of the "Genius" has tarnished just a tad.

Double-standard continues

A story in the S.F. Chronicle focused on the lack of celebration by the Cowboys during the game. The point was that it is no fun to hate the Cowboys when they don't publicly display their emotions. The story names Dallas "the most ostentatious team in professional sports."

At that we choked up our morning coffee. If the Chronicle is looking for unwarranted shows of bravado, it need not look past its own city limits. While we have no particular allegiance to the Cowboys, even we can see that with the likes of Merton Hanks, Ken Norton, Jr., and William Floyd, the 49ers are the kings of ostentatious. Even Jerry Rice, supposedly their classiest player, has had his moments of signaling first downs, calling himself "Flash 80", or dancing the "Cabbage Patch" in the endzone. But for now, the unholy trilogy of Hanks, Norton, and Floyd do enough talking and stupid dancing for any team -- let's not even get into Tim "T-Mac" McDonald.

Mayor chastised for hopping on the bandwagon

By now you've seen the comments made by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, calling Grbac a "bonehead" and "an embarrassment to humankind." We've gotten lots of letters asking us to rip Brown; but if you think about it, Brown was just doing what he thought a good 49er fan should do. The 49ers lost, so what better way to react than jump off the bandwagon and find a scapegoat? Clearly a classic 49er fan reaction, and as a politician, Brown wanted to capitalize on the 49er Mentality. Even Carmen Policy said that Brown "was reacting like a fan." (read: like a 49er fan).

However, Grbac burst his bubble. Grbac responded by informing everyone that his kid had undergone surgery two weeks ago and that these tragic family problems were the cause of his mental collapse -- no longer was the fact that Floyd drifted in response to coverage by Strickland the cause of the interception. Of course, with all the talk of the infant's severe condition, it's almost been lost that Grbac's wife attended the game while the infant was stuck at home with a babysitter.

In short, Brown, a master of political strategy, got outmaneuvered by the masters of football media spin, the 49ers. There's nothing 49er fans love better than a really good excuse, especially when it has to do with a catastrophic family event and family values (see: the Rice family). But even if there was no kid involved fans may have reacted in similar fashion. Part of the outrage to Brown's comments is the sheer shock that anyone would publicly denounce anything having to do with the Best Team Ever (see: our mailbox).

Now, the Grbac bandwagon is back as 49er fans flock to his defense. So now we've seen two strategies to remove the knife from a back this year: (1) run for a touchdown against a pathetic team (Steve Young v. Cinci); or (2) have a sick child coincide with a loudmouth mayor.

We've painted a seemingly heartless picture here to illuminate the hypocrisy of the 49er fan (voting to start Grbac, booing and hating him, then loving him again...). In all seriousness, our collective best wishes go out to the Grbac family, the Rice family, and all families because such things are more important than football. As for Willie Brown, well, we can only chuckle at another episode that would only happen in San Francisco.

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