If not the Hawks , than GO SF !

[bigcc]

The same reason any rivalry truly exists, it's how the fans treat each other...

That weirdo probably coped with the 9ers losing because we at least USED to be in a division with the chiefs

 

[chris98251]

I totally agree with you that sports fandom (and maybe society) has changed a lot in the last 50 years. Fans demand more now and they want the success to come fast. Expectations were lower in the 70s, people were more content to root for their team, win or lose. There was very little of this attitude that if you didn't win the championship that the total season was a disaster.

We've all become experts, and think we know better than the players and coaches. We've learned to spew vitriol when our team is losing, to blast the players, coaches and owners. We've come to the point where many fans view a winning season as a failure. Some fans are truly devastated when their team loses a game. I remember reading about soccer fans in England being fanatical like this in the 80s and laughing about it. Now, that same attitude is everywhere.

As a long-time coach, I always believed that sports were a communitarian thing that connected us together, not divided us. But it has become all about partisanship. Many people on this forum said that they have no interest in the Super Bowl if the Seahawks aren't in it. When I was a kid, everyone watched the World Series in October, regardless of who was in it. That's certainly not the case anymore.

There's no turning back the clock on any of this. A lot of this is the result of our society becoming a winner-take-all system, that it's okay to have a handful of billionaires as opposed to a middle class. But now I'm getting into politics, so I'll stop here.

Not true, we are and were more patient realizing that to get to the top of a house of cards you need to build it carefully, also that a gust of wind from nowhere can cause it to collapse and you have to start over. We realized this. Something I think the next two generations either took /take for granted or do not realize.

 

[Maulbert]

My best friend of 25+ years is a 49ers fan. He hasn't celebrated a championship since he was 10 years old living in Kentucky. I love him more than anyone on earth. I hope he never feels the satisfaction of a 49ers championship again in his lifetime.

 

[Parallax]

Not true, we are and were more patient realizing that to get to the top of a house of cards you need to build it carefully, also that a gust of wind from nowhere can cause it to collapse and you have to start over. We realized this. Something I think the next two generations either took /take for granted or do not realize.

Am I understanding you to say that the salary cap era has something to do with the lack of patience? The fact that it no longer works to carefully and methodically build a powerhouse franchise?

If so, I agree (lol). If not, I'm good at filling in the blanks so I can agree with myself.

 

[chris98251]

Cap era is a two edged sword, you still need to build a core, depth but creatively fill yearly with key role players for a couple year stints.

Then understand and realize when players have hit the performance salary balance so you don't over pay, usually after 2nd contract.

 

[Parallax]

Cap era is a two edged sword, you still need to build a core, depth but creatively fill yearly with key role players for a couple year stints.

Then understand and realize when players have hit the performance salary balance so you don't over pay, usually after 2nd contract.

True. It was always a challenge but it's harder now. But also potentially faster to rebuild because no one can hold a team together long.

The only way to create a dynasty anymore is to have a phenomenal QB around whom you can maybe keep a couple of other stars in place and back fill with guys on rookie contracts and great-value free agents. Any team with Mahomes running the show is going to have a chance as long as he's at the top of his game. We were sort of in that camp when Wilson was at his best. Which is why I wasn't quite ready to shoot Carroll when they made the Adams trade. Seemed a terrible deal in terms of value but sometimes you have to strike while the iron is hot.

I preferred the days when a team could build something that would hold together longer. Like when San Francisco had Montana and Young on the same roster. That's nuts!

The great teams of yore had runs of five or more years. Some seemed to reload again and again. Football had the Browns, the Packers, the Steelers, the Cowboys, the 9ers, etc. Real dynasties. Baseball, which was the big sport at the time, had the Yankees, Cleveland, etc. Hockey has had its share of dynasties and they ran into more recent history. The Canadians, the Islanders, the Oilers are the three that immediately spring to mind.