Offseason 2005

A round-up of all the news going into the 2005-2006 season ...

NFL dumps filthy game on Mexico

Inclusion of worst team a slap in the face to Mexican fans

March 31, 2005 (NHS) -- Commissioner Paul Tagliabue had a sheepish grin almost as big as the spin coming out his mouth, but does anyone actually buy into anything positive coming out of the NFL's decision to play this regular season game in Mexico City?

Sure, maybe if the game was an exciting, legitimate matchup of playoff contenders then, yeah, we could buy it as sincere. But the contest will pit the 49ers against Arizona -- a.k.a. the worst team in football versus the lone team that couldn't beat the worst team in football in two chances.

At worst, it's a blatant P.R. stunt laced with a tinge of racism. At best, it's yet another example of the NFL's pro-49er preference.

Seriously ... Niners versus Cards??

You gotta hand it to the NFL. If this game went on as it should have at Arizona -- a locale already suffering from dismal attendance figures -- approximately 300 people would have shown up to see these two powerhouses go at it. But by shifting it to Aztec Stadium the NFL takes advantage of a population starved to see any NFL game, and a guaranteed 100,000-plus will buy a seat.

Certainly, the stunt reeks of greed, but there's also a hidden, insidious side to this gesture. No one in our shill of a sports media will mention it, but one could wonder if the NFL's attitude here is, "Hey, let's dump this crappy game on Mexico since they'll pay thru the nose for it anyway!"

Maybe since Tags lives all the way in New York he doesn't get Left Coast politics, but if you live in California or one of the border states you are well aware of the sensitive attitude many Mexicans hold towards America. Whether you think it's justified or not, the sentiment is real -- and we wouldn't be surprised if that segment sees this in the most cynical light: that greedy, haughty corporate USA is shaking down Mexicans once again, robbing them with an obnoxious ticket offering just because they can. After all, one can almost see the FOX promo: "Coming soon, a game so awful it could only be played in Mexico ..."

Are we being too jaded and assuming the worst about the NFL's intentions? Well, if you can come up with a better, innocent reason, we'd like to hear it, because most would agree that by including the 49ers of all teams in the game, the NFL has pretty much admitted their guilt.

Or perhaps you believe Tagliabue's proffered explanation for including the worst teams in football? He claimed that "the Cardinals and 49ers play in markets with large Hispanic communities, including many people of Mexican descent".

That certainly applies to Arizona, yes, but San Francisco?

If the NFL was really seeking to cater to its Hispanic demographic, how about picking -- hmm, let's see -- a team from Texas? After all, a preseason game in 1994 between Dallas and Houston had an attendance of 112,000. Logically, they could have repeated that success by selecting those teams again.

Unfortunately, that was impossible since the Cowboys and Texans don't play each other this season. Well, the next best choice would have been Dallas versus anybody -- still a sure thing since the Cowboys are far more loved in Mexico than either of the two filthy teams the NFL picked, especially the 49ers.

Maybe the NFL just wanted to include a California team for marketing purposes? Well, what about San Diego, the city located minutes away from Mexico? Southern California has a much bigger Hispanic population. Hell, even the Raiders would have made a better choice as they have a better represented Hispanic fan base than the Niners, due to their time in SoCal.

Hey, here's a thought for all you conspiracy theorists: Maybe this is part of the grand plan for the 49ers to move to L.A.? ESPN Radio already broadcasts every 49ers game of the season to Los Angeles -- why is anybody's guess -- but maybe it's to soften up the market for an eventual 49ers move, and this Mexico stunt fits in very nicely to such a plan.

But in the end, maybe it's a simple case that the NFL asked all the other, better teams if they wanted to play in Mexico, and those teams refused because they didn't want their seasons interrupted with a logistical nightmare instead of a meaningful game. And it's true -- the Niners don't have to worry about silly things like "playoffs chances" or "being good".

Besides, making 1/16th of their season into a P.R. circus gives the Bandwagon a mighty nice excuse (which is always more important to them anyway). Some possible suggestion for you Whiners out there:

"The Niners could have made the playoffs if it wasn't for that game in Mexico!"
"It's no fair that the Niners have to travel so far because Bill Walsh can't sit on a plane so long!"
"The Niners would have won the Super Bowl if our kicker didn't suck and/or our wide receiver didn't forget to call timeout in Mexico!"
"It's all because of salary cap hell!" (Not that this has anything to do with Mexico, but they'll say it anyway so we might as well include it.)

Freebie before tradition

Maybe the game is simply just another reminder of how the 49ers remain the NFL's coziest, most preferred franchise, and the NFL will stop at nothing to promote them. It's sure to be a sell-out, it's sure to generate an instant mini-bandwagon in Mexico with a lot of jersey sales, etc., and what better team to gift the extra revenue to than their precious little Niners? And in terms of maximizing profits, what other team can better attract a bandwagon overnight? We all know the 49ers' proven track record there ...

But all in all, if this is NFL's Great Pro-Niner Stunt of 2005, we're lucky. Gifting the Niners a freebie P.R. game is far more benign than, say, the insult of 2002. Back then, Chris Berman and his ESPN cronies conspired with the NFL to choose the 49ers for the first ever Thursday night game to open an NFL season, and more. Coincidentally, the NFL just announced this year's Thursday night opener will be hosted by the Patriots due to the "new tradition" that the Super Bowl champion now always hosts the opening game of the season.

Funny how those NFL "traditions" always seem to start AFTER the 49ers get their little gift. Kinda like the "tradition" that now teams will lose two first round picks if they cheat the salary cap AFTER the 49ers only lost a 3rd and 5th rounder for their cheating. So maybe after the 49ers get to crow about "the honor to play in the first ever regular season game on foreign soil" and get their cheesy revenue bump, the NFL will come up with some "new tradition" to let a team play in Mexico that Mexican fans actually want to see.

"Our fans in Mexico are knowledgeable and passionate," said Tagliabue. Too bad those cancel each other out in this case. Mexican fans will be so passionate about finally seeing an NFL team live that they will show up in droves, and it will trump the knowledge that the 2-14ers barely qualify as an NFL team. But, hey, maybe the 49ers will once again beat the one team they could actually beat last year, a whole new nation will buy into the sham, and we'll see a whole new Bandwagon, much to the NFL's glee.

¡49ers Los Mejor Siempre!

Niners vote to keep their Instant Replay loophole

Traditional "down by contact" ally remains for 2005

March 23, 2005 (NHS) -- If you see a sullen expression on the face of a Niner fan/media member these days, it might not just be because the 49ers were 2-14 and now poised to blow the first pick of the draft. It might be the fear of losing one of their biggest allies of the past decade: the "down by contact" loophole of Instant Replay.

Up until now, the very mention of "down by contact" has caused its share of cursing from Niner-haters. After all, how many times have we seen 49er fumbles recovered by their opponent then magically instead handed back to the 49ers? Tens of times? A hundred? Certainly the most of any NFL team, even though such a stat is nowhere to be found.

You know how it works. The ball squirts out, the other team celebrates, but a giddy referee sprints into the picture frantically pointing to the ground. Sometimes they even make a show of the "referee huddle" before the inevitable explanation that it's "Niner ball" because it was "down by contact and the whistle blew", and therefore the play is "unreviewable".

As has been dutifully documented over the years at this website, no team is favored more by the referees. (See, for example, the incident where a replacement ref once entered a 49ers huddle during the game to shake Jerry Rice's hand). As a consequence, the 49ers have enjoyed the fruits of the benefit of the doubt in so-called "grey area" judgment calls, be it a game-breaking pass interference or that timely holding call that just coincidentally happens to wipe out their opponent's best run of the day.

The "down by contact" problem is perhaps the worst offender of this category of bias in terms of its stark nakedness. While all too often the casual fan doesn't notice the 49er linemen holding to the point of practically square-dancing while the officials celebrate a 49er TD, when it comes to "down by contact", everyone sees it. The replay is shown, the fumble is blatantly out before play stops, but there's nothing anyone can do about it because the Instant Replay rule cannot be invoked if just one official terms the reason as "down by contact". The Niners get yet another freebie and the smug Bandwagon is left to crow about how "it's just part of the game". (Of course, when that once-in-a-blue-moon occurs and the 49ers actually get victimized by the rule, you never hear that. Worse, they stupidly believe all such calls even out.)

But at the NFL owners' meetings this offseason, the topic of possibly eliminating this loophole was discussed. The odds of it actually passing were low. Indeed, some parts to the proposed change needed work, such as the part allowing the refs to consider events happening after a whistle is blown (which makes little sense since all players are taught to play to the whistle). Why not just make it a point of emphasis for refs not to prematurely blow their whistles?

No surprise, the 49ers were among several teams that voted to preserve the "down by contact" technicality in Instant Replay, thus there will be no change in the rule for this season. It is possible the NFL will try to change it again next year so the hope that common sense will ultimately prevail lives. The fact that it's even being considered is a victory of sorts as it shows that at least some in the NFL are serious about addressing the favoritism that goes on in the officiating.

Somewhere, Steve Young is pissed. What's next, removing the clause to the "roughing the passer" rule that makes it a penalty if you breathe on a 49er QB a little too hard?

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