To put it simply, I am an old soul. I am bad with technology, so I limit the resources I use on a daily basis. I never have enjoyed the sound of an mp3, so I prefer to buy vinyl in record stores. I like the feeling of a newspaper in my hand, so online journalism will forever be lost in my mind. And when it comes to sports, I am most comfortable following the schemes and plays the old legends drew up on chalk boards. In basketball, I prefer man to man over any zone defense; in baseball, I respect Triple Crown winners more than saber metric statistic; and in football, most importantly, the low risk offense structure of a traditional quarterback who is simply afraid to turn it over and let's the defense do the rest puts me in a peaceful state of zen. Do not make mistakes and capitalize on what the other team does wrong. Simple, but now up for so much questioning.
The reason I site football as the "most important" is not because it is my favorite sport to watch (I love all equally, except hockey), but because my old soul/old school way of thinking was interrogated publicly on Saturday night at Candlestick Park. Oh, and just to continue with the old soul way of thinking, I do not want to leave Candlestick either, Niners fans. Anyway, as I was saying, Saturday night when the San Francisco 49ers man-handled the Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay Packers right out of the NFC Playoff picture, my beliefs were questioned to their core. Colin Kaepernick, the new school, high risk, high reward quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, put on a performance for the ages. He battled back from a game opening pick-six, when I deemed the moment was "too big for this guy," and threw for over 250 yards and 2 TDs. Ah, I almost forgot, he also ran for another 180 and another 2 TDs.... All while running the triple option offense.
So here is where I am wrong. Colin Kaepernick, or CK7 to the new schoolers, takes a lot of risks. That pick-6 could have forced the 49ers into a game of catch-up for the next 4 quarters. It didn't. One wild run without taking care of the ball could have led to fumbles and national embarrassment. They didn't happen. #7's taunting penalty could have been met with a ferocious "we're the Packers and you're a youngster" attitude from BJ Raji and Clay Matthews. That didn't happen, either. No, none of the new school maneuvers CK7 put on display came back to bite him in the ass once. Why? Because Colin Kaepernick is old school. CK7 runs the triple option which is a new variation of one of the most old school schemes in football: the option. He approaches each mistake with amnesic mentality, giving him the ability to brush off doubt and execute the very next chance he gets. His new school persona? The Milwaukee Brewers hat in the ESPN interview the day before a game against a team from Wisconsin, the swagger he brings with each big play, and new style of play are all new school elements of a guy who at the end of the day does just two things: competes and wins. That, ladies and gentlemen, is as old school and as old soul as they come.
As a quick aside: I am not going to lie, watching Alex Smith lose his job over injury went against one of the most old school ideals - loyalty. However, that was not on Colin. Harbaugh, along with his astute coaching staff, made that decision. So I think the resentment I felt toward Colin initially came out of sympathy for #11. After all, Alex took us to the same place CK7 has gotten us, so I felt allegiance to a guy we all ragged on for the first six years of his career. Plain and simple, I did not think Harbaugh's decision was the right one or the fair one. This is the No Fair League, though, and since Jim Harbaugh watches this team 100 hours a week and we only watch for 3 1/2 hours a day, I figured he knew what he was doing. We should have all let that go by now. I am going to miss Alex.
So, where is this blog going other than a quick statistical recap from Saturday's beat down and admitting a new found trust in our quarterback? Well, this is going to be the tough part. This blog post is actually, at it's core, an apology to my friend, Craig Sargent. For the latter part of my young adulthood, I have spent countless encounters arguing with Craig about every sports topic known to man. Hall of Fame admittance. Warriors basketball. The legitimacy of Arizona State as an actual academic institution. All of these things were fun, sometimes booze-infused banter. I made some points, he made some points, but for the most part we came to see eye to eye on particular topics. Then, all of a sudden, Alex Smith was concussed, Kaepernick tied the Rams, later lost to them, had some great moments, and Craig and I were knee deep in debate.
I could not stand Kaepernick. For all reasons I mentioned above, I did not know what everyone saw in the guy. I thought some of his decisions were senseless, his attitude overblown, and, to be perfectly honest, I did not think he was the guy for the job. As I am sure you could guess, Craig felt completely different. This was his guy from the draft. "Not everyone's going to have a great game every time " said Craig, in reference to the Rams loss. Craig had no problem quickly changing his profile picture to Colin Kaepernick right after Harbaugh announced that #7 would be the full-time starter. What does this dude see, I would ask myself. His stats were almost the same as Smith's, ratio-wise. Was he to be the the quarterback of the 49ers future? I thought no, hell no, in fact. But old Craigy Sargent thought different. Sunday night came and that fuckin' Sun Devil was right. Kaepernick can flat ball. Not only can he ball, he seemed to only get better after the pick-6. He ran, he threw, he taunted, he won. The point total (45) was the third most in San Francisco 49ers history. Wow. I was wrong.
So Craig, here is my apology to you. I cannot apologize to anyone else this blatantly because to be honest, no one has been riding Kaepernick's jock as hard as you have. And the funny part is, that is actually a compliment. While I can still say with great certainty that Alex Smith was robbed of a starting job, I can be a true man and admit when I was wrong. Kaepernick was, and is, the answer for the San Francisco 49ers. Sorry it took such a legendary playoff performance to finally see it. But hey, CK7 is my Facebook profile picture now, so I guess that makes up for something?
Don't get too ahead of yourself, the Warriors still suck.
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