Remember

You should have seen me at the Dumpyork bunker in the final minutes of game one, Rams 25 – Niners 28. I was that sloppy drunk uncle at Thanksgiving who needs to hug everyone and slur something about loving them and how wonderful it is for us all to be together. A real win in regulation! Against the Rams! Man, does it get better than that?

OK, now that I’ve bucked myself up with a little reminiscing about a bygone era, let us face the present. Sadly, too many of the season predictions in the forums were right on the money, 1-3. Now we face Indy, Washington, T-Bay, and the NY Giants. Our secondary is a shambles and the O line is looking like it is in mid-season form--from last season that is.

Would you actually put the expensive first round draft pic in the line of fire for the next five weeks? He could end up like Terrance Murphy last night. The receiver was jacked up the side of the head during a kick off return and was taken motionless off the field. It was a very scary several minutes. Thankfully, the news is good and he has motion in his legs and was aware in the locker room. But, putting Alex behind this offensive line and facing the ferocious D’s the Niners are up against is truly putting his health at risk. He’ll learn to feel the pocket or perish. 

To win consistently is going to take a lot more than we’ve seen so far from York’s empire. To paraphrase a former first lady, it takes a front office to raise a champion. Why? Because you need talent on the bench when the inevitable injury spree occurs. Attracting that talent takes intangibles, competency, team spirit and leadership. Those intangibles were part of the old Debartolo organization and part of it's front office tradition.

Except for his wife’s maiden name, everything else from that era York swept away. We’re all going to suffer for the next couple months watching this team, but let us remember where it began, York.

Side note: I want to express my heart-felt appreciation to Jamie Winborn. I’ve truly enjoyed watching him play and I wish him the best. That guy knows how to hit! His presence might have come in handy last Sunday, but that is another story.