Stegeman: Controvery Aplenty
by Spencer Stegeman
06.02.05 -- When soon-to-be former Public Relations Director, Kirk Reynolds put together a fifteen minute feature on how to deal with the media, I wonder if he imagined the possible ramifications of its leakage. Or the sense of irony that would have driven Alanis Morisette to put a double-barrel shotgun in her mouth. The video featured a racist depiction of an Asian man, a mockery of gay and lesbian marriage, and naked women (while trying to teach the value of treating women with respect?). Now, you all know by now that I'm the most liberal person on the planet, and I'm obviously disgusted with something like this being associated with my 49ers. Are we not down and out enough as it is? Now we appear as racist, homo-phobic misogynists? Here is my point: This was not intended for my eyes. This was intended for a locker room of exhausted football players with the collective attention span of a Twinkie. It was never meant to be seen outside of the 49ers organization. Should Mr. Reynolds have used better judgment in making this film? Probably. Would the film have been as well-received in the locker room if it had explored other racial stereotypes? Who knows. Should he have been more careful to make sure this didn't get out? Obviously. What I'm saying is that this was, in essence, a film made for a small group, and intended to be seen only by that small group. If I made a video of myself dry-humping the Statue of Liberty while dressed as Lesko "the free money guy" from the info-mercials it would clearly cause unrest if it was received by certain people. But many of my friends would find it hilarious. Who are we to judge what was not intended to be seen by us?
And on a smaller scale, we might have a small quarterback controversy on our hands come mid-season. As you know, we drafted Alex Smith out of Utah with the number one overall pick of this year's draft. Something I wasn't to happy about. Nothing against Smith personally, but I thought that we needed to give Tim Rattay a chance to prove himself behind an actual NFL offensive line, as opposed to the Origami setup we had last year. This offseason we made quite a few moves to get that line up to snuff. We acquired left tackle Jonas Jennings from the free agent market, considered by many to be the best available at that position in free agency. David Bass was also a huge aquisition for us, as he was a beast at Michigan that could start at Guard or possibly slide over to the Center position if Jeremy Newberry can not get healthy.
I believe that if Rattay can stay healthy (and if last season is any indication, it is a big "IF"), he has the ability to be a very good NFL quarterback behind a functioning O-Line. Here's the problem. We just drafted Alex Smith and are probably going to pay him around sixty million dollars for six years of his time. Obviously if Rattay has a Drew Brees year, he could hold on to his job for the season. But if he is performing only at a reasonable level, do you pull the plug and replace him with Smith? I say no. Rattay has earned his fair shot in my opinion, and last year wasn't fair by anyones calculations. Every Sunday last season I felt like Gargamel falling to the ground in tears because the Smurfs got away, when all I wanted was some creamy, blue stew. Smith has to earn the starting spot, and in this reporter's opinion (sorry, I just wanted to sound like an asshole), he needs to sit there with the clipboard for a year, and learn the nuances of being an NFL quarterback...something Rattay did for five years.
This is where I eat my crow (odd for a vegetarian). Last year I thought everyone had us pegged wrong. I thought we would have a good season despite everyone insisting that we couldn't possibly contend after cutting a handful of marquee players. This is where I would humbly admit defeat. But I'm only human so I need to divert blame to someone else. Damn you Terry Donahue,you incompetent moron! "Let's hire Dennis Erickson as our head coach, he's only done jack-shit on the NFL level!" Great idea Donahue. Thanks for the great memories. Please let the door hit you on your way out, knocking you head-first into the steaming pile of shit that you turned the 2004 49ers season into.
Controversy aside...Go Niners
06.02.05 -- When soon-to-be former Public Relations Director, Kirk Reynolds put together a fifteen minute feature on how to deal with the media, I wonder if he imagined the possible ramifications of its leakage. Or the sense of irony that would have driven Alanis Morisette to put a double-barrel shotgun in her mouth. The video featured a racist depiction of an Asian man, a mockery of gay and lesbian marriage, and naked women (while trying to teach the value of treating women with respect?). Now, you all know by now that I'm the most liberal person on the planet, and I'm obviously disgusted with something like this being associated with my 49ers. Are we not down and out enough as it is? Now we appear as racist, homo-phobic misogynists? Here is my point: This was not intended for my eyes. This was intended for a locker room of exhausted football players with the collective attention span of a Twinkie. It was never meant to be seen outside of the 49ers organization. Should Mr. Reynolds have used better judgment in making this film? Probably. Would the film have been as well-received in the locker room if it had explored other racial stereotypes? Who knows. Should he have been more careful to make sure this didn't get out? Obviously. What I'm saying is that this was, in essence, a film made for a small group, and intended to be seen only by that small group. If I made a video of myself dry-humping the Statue of Liberty while dressed as Lesko "the free money guy" from the info-mercials it would clearly cause unrest if it was received by certain people. But many of my friends would find it hilarious. Who are we to judge what was not intended to be seen by us?
And on a smaller scale, we might have a small quarterback controversy on our hands come mid-season. As you know, we drafted Alex Smith out of Utah with the number one overall pick of this year's draft. Something I wasn't to happy about. Nothing against Smith personally, but I thought that we needed to give Tim Rattay a chance to prove himself behind an actual NFL offensive line, as opposed to the Origami setup we had last year. This offseason we made quite a few moves to get that line up to snuff. We acquired left tackle Jonas Jennings from the free agent market, considered by many to be the best available at that position in free agency. David Bass was also a huge aquisition for us, as he was a beast at Michigan that could start at Guard or possibly slide over to the Center position if Jeremy Newberry can not get healthy.
I believe that if Rattay can stay healthy (and if last season is any indication, it is a big "IF"), he has the ability to be a very good NFL quarterback behind a functioning O-Line. Here's the problem. We just drafted Alex Smith and are probably going to pay him around sixty million dollars for six years of his time. Obviously if Rattay has a Drew Brees year, he could hold on to his job for the season. But if he is performing only at a reasonable level, do you pull the plug and replace him with Smith? I say no. Rattay has earned his fair shot in my opinion, and last year wasn't fair by anyones calculations. Every Sunday last season I felt like Gargamel falling to the ground in tears because the Smurfs got away, when all I wanted was some creamy, blue stew. Smith has to earn the starting spot, and in this reporter's opinion (sorry, I just wanted to sound like an asshole), he needs to sit there with the clipboard for a year, and learn the nuances of being an NFL quarterback...something Rattay did for five years.
This is where I eat my crow (odd for a vegetarian). Last year I thought everyone had us pegged wrong. I thought we would have a good season despite everyone insisting that we couldn't possibly contend after cutting a handful of marquee players. This is where I would humbly admit defeat. But I'm only human so I need to divert blame to someone else. Damn you Terry Donahue,you incompetent moron! "Let's hire Dennis Erickson as our head coach, he's only done jack-shit on the NFL level!" Great idea Donahue. Thanks for the great memories. Please let the door hit you on your way out, knocking you head-first into the steaming pile of shit that you turned the 2004 49ers season into.
Controversy aside...Go Niners
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