Jan. 29, 2023 (SFChronicle.com)
MUDVILLE, U.S.A. — This will go down (way down) in San Francisco 49ers’ lore as the Lemony Snicket Game. A series of unfortunate events. It’s all over but the sputtering and muttering, so let’s get on with it.
• First of all, 49ers’ fans, be good sports and wish all the best for the Philadelphia Eagles’ fans. Nothing but mad props for a fan base proud of its rep as the most foul-mouthed, drunken bullies in the NFL! Egging the 49ers’ buses arriving before the game? That’s called a Philly Omelet..
. . .
• “Thank goodness the 49ers signed Josh Johnson, and not Colin Kaepernick,” said the Eagles and their fans. The signing of Johnson was out of desperation, right? What if the 49ers had signed Kaepernick, instead? Kaepernick hasn’t thrown an NFL pass since 2016, but Johnson hasn’t thrown 100 passes in an NFL season since 2009. Johnson has nine NFL starts, Kaepernick 58. When Purdy went out Sunday, which guy, Johnson or Kaepernick, would have posed more of a threat to the Eagles?
• But if it had been Kaepernick, and he incurred three delay-of-game penalties and fumbled away a shotgun snap, the Kaepernick Haters Club would be howling like the mangy wolves they are.
. . .
• Hey, no sour grapes! Congratulations to Philadelphia, the city whose contribution to American culture is a cracked bell, a cream cheese and a sandwich you can’t get anywhere else in America except at every Subway.
Complete article at: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/49ers/article/bad-calls-bum-refs-banged-up-qbs-49ers-17750385.php
Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: sostler@sfchronicle.com
Written By Scott Ostler
Scott Ostler has been a sports columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle since 1991. He has covered five Olympics for The Chronicle, as well as one soccer World Cup and numerous World Series, Super Bowls and NBA Finals.
Though he started in sports and is there now, Scott took a couple of side trips into the real world for The Chronicle. For three years he wrote a daily around-town column, and for one year, while still in sports, he wrote a weekly humorous commentary column.
He has authored several books and written for many national publications. Scott has been voted California Sportswriter of the Year 13 times, including six times while at The Chronicle. He moved to the Bay Area from Southern California, where he worked for the Los Angeles Times, the National Sports Daily and the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
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