SB Nation User Blog: howtheyscored

Vituperationfest 2008: Probably Contains Language

howtheyscored — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:38:12 -0000

While on the one hand, I hate the fact that I'm adding to the current Fanpost clusterfuck, on the other hand I feel like the regular infrequency of howtheyscored authored fanposts entitles me to making one or two every couple months, and it's been a while.

Also, I'm pissed. And that's a good reason too.

I have NEVER ONCE in my life, before tonight, gone to a baseball game, and left that game in a bad mood. And that's saying a lot since I'm currently riding a three year, completely unbroken losing streak. The Giants have not won a single game that I've attended since 2005. And I've never left a single game in a bad mood. Even when the team loses, even when the team loses in the most heart crushing, bullpen blowing Matt Cain starts ways, the sheer enjoyment of being at the park, the sheer pleasure of watching the motions of the game, the sheer fact of enjoying an experience with the people I care about, these things are always capable of trumping whatever negative events actually take place either on the field or in the stands.

But not this time. Not today.

I don't generally feel the strength of the Giants / Dodgers rivalry within myself. I hate the Dodgers and everything that they represent and everything that is representative of them, but the mere thought of blue and white will not send my body into a hate spiral. I lived very cordially with a Dodger fan for three years. He's a good guy. I've even been to Giants / Dodgers games where it was hard to get any blood flowing (and that includes losses). It takes events to really trigger my reflex. It takes a little something... extra.

I can't watch the Gibson clip without fighting back a massive gag reflex and punching something. I can't watch anything that has to do with Piazza, Gagne, Lo Duca, Lasorda, or Martin without needing to leave the room (unless said thing is humiliating for any of those people). I can't handle a beach ball without wanting to pop it, and I can't be in the middle of a wave without feeling somehow dirty (you can imagine how these last two things make going to the beach difficult). And so on. But the mere fact of the Dodgers doesn't generally work me into even a minor tizzy. Give me a playoff race. Give me circumstances. Give me something.

Which is why today is a milestone of sorts (good or bad, I don't know). There's nothing at stake for either of these teams playing each other. There is no playoff race (repeat after me). There's no... I mean, it might as well be an exhibition game there's so little on the line for anybody.

But when the Giants started losing today, it wasn't the fact that we were losing that was driving me the most insane. It was the fact that we were losing to mother fucking god damned Dodgers. But it wasn't just that. I've taken losses to Dodgers before. I've even taken losses to the Dodgers amidst douchy Dodger fans, and come out the other end in at least a passably decent mood. It was that we were losing to the Dodgers, but we weren't even doing that exactly. We were losing to ourselves, and we picked the motherfucking Dodgers to do it to.

It is maddening to watch bad baseball. It is infuckingfuriating to watch bad baseball lose to the Dodgers. If there is ONE FUCKING TEAM to go out against and play nothing more than fundamentally sound baseball... to provide a decent effort against... to do anything but sabatoge yourself from front to back... make it the Dodgers. Can you just play halfway decent baseball against the Dodgers? Can you possibly actually make THEM beat YOU, if you're going to lose the damn game anyway?

You might still suck. You might still lose. But for shit's sake, play these rivalry games in a way that gives any indication you've actually played the sport before. Play these rivarly games with any modicom of competence. DO NOT GIVE THE DODGERS WINS. They can take them if they earn them, but DO NOT, absolutely under no circumstances DO NOT hand a win to that motherfucking team and the shitsucking legacy they've left during my lifetime.

And there was a group of four people who sat a row behind me. They came in wearing black. BLACK was the color of their clothing. They weren't even wearing jeans that were blue. Khaki shorts, green shorts, and black shorts. Don't say a word for 7 innings, and then suddenly with a 4 run lead they start rooting blue and heckling everybody around them. But not in a decent heckling sort of "all in fun" way. In a jackassy, making personal attacks and yelling in your ear sort of way.

I was this fucking close to getting thrown out of the stadium. But since getting thrown out is the same as leaving early, and since I'm, you know, a Giants fan and I don't leave early, I didn't do it. I probably wouldn't have done it anyway just because I don't punch people. But if I would punch somebody. It would be those shitheads.

And now I've gone and ranted. And all I even wanted to do was spread the god damned vituperation. Remember the point, though, how the Giants beat themselves? How that was the heart of my shittastic bad mood? That's what we're going for here. That's why it's actually the Giants who draw my ire, and not the Dodgers. There's vituperation to go around, and every last drop of it is unconditional. So here's the deal, Giants team:

ATTENTION: FRED LEWIS, RICH AURILIA, JOSE CASTILLO, OSIRIS MATOS, JACK TASCHNER, JOHN BOWKER, AND BRUCE BOCHY:

So that's the point. That's what it comes down to. Who do you blame? And please, don't pull any punches. Because I'm fucking pissed at what I saw today. And that means so are you. The logic there works, just take my word for it.

(Ray Durham played well again, though. He stays off the shitlist for now).

Also, sorry for the complete incoherency. My brain is functioning on pure rage right now, so the fact that I can even express myself in complete sentences is enough for me.

49ers Year-by-Year: Improving the Segment

howtheyscored — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:19:15 -0000

At this point I've been writing the 49ers Year-by-Year segments for six weeks, and have completed three seasons worth of summaries. They can be found either in the Year-by-Year section of the site accessible on the left margin directly beneath the log-in, or at these links: 1946 Overview, 1946 Season, 1947 Overview, 1947 Season, 1948 Overview, 1948 Season.

Since we're still early in the process, I wanted to make an active play for feedback in order to improve the quality, readability, and participation of future seasons. Personally, I'm a little dissatisfied with the format that I seem to have picked up. I have some concerns that I would like to address and I have some goals that I would like to express.

And I would like any feedback that anybody can give. Let me know if you share any of my concerns, if you have any of your own, or if you just have suggestions for the future?

Some concerns that I have:

Length: Each season is currently running close up 2500 words and two stories. I'd personally like to work around this a little better. I think that each season should ideally take one story just so that it doesn't get so boring. At this rate, it would take over a year and a half just to get to the 80's... there's just no way that anybody is that patient to the get to the glory years.
Repetition: Repetition is good, but it can also be boring. Right now the structure of each season has been VERY rigid. I don't think that is necessarily a problem, but there are aspects within each individual story that are also repetetive. The "Season" segments have been covering every single game. Game after game after game is internally repetitive, and I think it's bound to be a major drag. I think it will be better for me to display the season results and then recap only the significant games.
Not much on the players: I've been pretty focused on the games and their results, but I haven't done much in terms of profiling the more interesting ACTUAL characters of the historical years. Buck Shaw, Frankie Albert, Len Eshmont... less well know (but AWESOME) guys like Alyn Beals and Johnny Strzykalski... I think it would be cool to make these somewhat less generalized and somewhat more personalized.
Response: After six stories, the most glaring thing for me is that nobody is commenting. This isn't in and of itself a bad thing because if nobody coments that DOES NOT mean that nobody is reading (not by a long shot), but one goal that I've always had for these stories is that they would encourage discussion. Since they're not doing that, I can improve some aspect of the process to consequently improve on that goal.

So please, let me know. If you have any ideas, or would like to see anything going forward to make these more entertaining for you, please let me know. I can't please everybody, but I'd like to please as many as possible.

Thanks.

Talking Football: I'd Like to Interview Somebody

howtheyscored — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:47:29 -0000

Hi all,

I've gotten myself into a little project that's associated with the Year-by-Year articles that I've been writing, and by virtue of this I'll be pushing through the 1950's with a particular interest on NFL great Y. A. Tittle.

If there is anybody on these boards who was a fan during the 1951-1960 seasons that Tittle was a 49ers, I would love to have the opportunity to interview you by e-mail about the 49ers, the NFL, the seasons, the games, and Tittle himself during these years. Not only would it be a pleasure for me, but I believe that it will improve the quality of my output - and I know that it would REALLY help me out with the project that I'm working on.

So, if you're reading this and you remember those years and you would be interested in fielding some questions by e-mail while reflecting on the past, please either respond in this fanpost or send me an e-mail expressing your interest at howtheyscored@yahoo.com. The more the merrier, and I'm sincerely looking forward to talking to anybody who has the time and the interest.

Thanks.

Giants History: An SBNation Writing Project.

howtheyscored — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:04:37 -0000

Good morning Giants fans. I am a regular commenter and contributing writer at the 49ers' SBNation site NinersNation. I am coming here to make a request, but I hope that you don't simply dismiss me presence here as user spam (and I hope you'll excuse me for cross posting this text from a fanpost I just finished at Stampede Blue, it's a lot to retype). I am not trying to bring attention to myself, to the 49ers, to our blog over there, or to anything else on the web outside of your own website and the dedicated and intelligent fans who frequent here. My request as it concerns you is completely Giants-Centric and, I sincerely hope, not unreasonable.

A short while ago I began writing a weekly segment on NinersNation about the team's history from year to year beginning with its inception in 1946. I am hoping that somebody on this board would be willing and able (and eager) to provide similar pieces of writing for me on the Giants' history from the years 1961-1964.

To explain further: On account of the focused historical nature of the segments that I am writing on NinersNation, I've been contacted (and have agreed) to act as a fully-credited resource on a novel being written about Y. A. Tittle and his years in the league, specifically regarding the context of the league at the time and the team's that he played for. Y. A. Tittle spent his final four professional seasons with the New York Giants, and I am neither qualified (as a 49er fan), nor would I have the time (as I am busy working on ten full years of Tittle's career as a 49er), to produce quality articles on the historical seasons of the Giants.

This being the case, I'm hoping to keep this endeavor within the SB family. If anybody has the interest, the time, and the motivation to write about the historical Giants, PLEASE drop me an e-mail at howtheyscored@yahoo.com, and I'll be more than eager to give you every detail that I have about this project, as well as put you in personal contact with the author of the novel this has become a part of. These pieces you would write would in absolutely no way be private, and I think that it would be really cool if, when written, you would also post them as fanposts (or stories) on this blog for your readership to enjoy. The information in these pieces would be used strictly as reference material for the novel being written, and I'm more than happy to answer any questions and respond to any concerns that you have about any of this (and you would be right to have some) by e-mail. I will not (and could not) take credit for anything that you produce, and you would also be given full credit for your contribution.

Again, please e-mail me if you are interested. I would really like a hardcore Giants fan to be involved, and I have a particular affinity for the SBNation audience.

Colts History: A Humble Request from a Denizen of NinersNation

howtheyscored — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:28:15 -0000

Good morning Colts fans. I am a regular commenter at the 49ers' SBNation site NinersNation. I am coming here to make a request, but I hope that you don't simply dismiss me presence here as user spam. I am not trying to bring attention to myself, to the 49ers, to our blog over there, or to anything else on the web outside of your own website and the dedicated and intelligent fans who frequent here. My request is completely Colt-Centric and, I sincerely hope, not unreasonable.

To explain further: On account of the focused historical nature of the segments that I am writing on NinersNation, I've been contacted (and have agreed to) act as a fully-credited resource on a novel being written about Y. A. Tittle and his years in the league, specifically regarding the context of the league at the time and the team's that he played for. Y. A. Tittle spent his first three professional seasons with the AAFC version of the Baltimore Colts, and I am neither qualified (as a 49er fan), nor would I have the time (as I am busy working on the next ten years of Tittle's career, as a 49er), to produce quality articles on the historical seasons of the Colts.

This being the case, I'm hoping to keep this endeavor within the SB family. If anybody has the interest, the time, and the motivation to write about the historical Colts, PLEASE drop me an e-mail at howtheyscored@yahoo.com, and I'll be more than eager to give you every detail that I have about this project, as well as put you in personal contact with the author. These pieces you would write would in absolutely no way be private, and I think that it would be really cool if, when written, you would also post them as fanposts (or stories) on this blog for your readership to enjoy. The information in these pieces would be used strictly as reference material for the novel being written, and I'm more than happy to answer any questions and respond to any concerns that you have about any of this (and you would be right to have some) by e-mail. I will not (and could not) take credit for anything that you produce, and you would also be given full credit for your contribution.

Again, please e-mail me if you are interested. I would really like a True Blue Colts fan to be involved, and I have a particular affinity for the SBNation audience.

Open Gameday Thread: The jponry Edition

howtheyscored — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:10:19 -0000

Because she asked nicely.

49ers Year-by-Year: 1948 The Season

howtheyscored — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:30:10 -0000

The 49ers had a lot of question marks going into 1948. Two years in a row, the team had gotten off to blistering starts only to sputter in the second half, unable to overcome either of the two dominant league powers in 7 of their total 8 matchups thusfar. 1946 had been a year of promise, with a strong offensive core run by a local coaching legend and managed by a talented first year quarterback. 1948 was supposed to be a year of progress. The core offensive group had returned, with a year of pro experience under Frankie Albert’s belt, there was no reason to expect anything but improvement. And yet, the offense failed to live up to expectations and the defense was eminently vulnerable. Though the team racked up gobs of yards on the ground on what seemed like a weekly basis, the passing game was maddeningly inconsistent and rarely flashed the brilliance that had been promised by so many of the successes of the before.

And despite warranted fears that the team might be regressing and that important changes might be necessary to make it to the next level, the 49ers stayed the course going into 1948. They returned every one of their offensive skill players, and made their most significant additions from a pool of available youth, many of whom would only have the opportunity to contribute consistently on defense.

The question marks remained. Would the passing game be capable of playing well and playing consistently? Would the new, largely inexperienced starters on the offensive line and on defense be the difference between vulnerability and effectiveness? Would staying the course be the key to prolonged success, or was the team regressing and in need of greater change than they seemed willing to make? Only the games could tell the story.

The Season

Thanks to some kind of strange, beautiful order, the 49ers opened the 1948 season at home against the Buffalo Bills. The 49ers and the Bills had experienced roughly identical seasons in 1947. They had both been in contention for much of the year only to ultimately fall to a seemingly insurmountable division power (the Browns for the 49ers and the Yankees for the Bills). By the last game of that season, a game that pitted the two teams against each other in San Francisco, both teams had been eliminated for weeks and came in with identical records. In some act of beautiful, frustrating symmetry, they tied the game and finished the season under exactly the same circumstances.

This time things were not so even. The 49ers opened the season looking for blood. The passing game was on point and the running game was typically strong. Though the defense was still victimized by a potent Buffalo offense to the tune of 467 total yards (including nearly 300 on the ground), the 49ers were never really threatened in this home opener and rode their own offensive resurgence to a 35-14 victory.

Game two of the four game homestand pitted the 49ers against the hapless Brooklyn Dodgers. The 49ers steamrolled through this game, riding 269 passing yards and over 200 running yards (which surpassed any of their offensive performances from the year before) to an easy 36-20 win. An encouraging sign was that the defense limited the dons to less than 100 yards in the air, and less than 250 yards of total offense. Though the team played well in this game, the performance was regarded with an air caution. How would the team respond to stiffer competition? Could the defense withstand the league’s elite offenses?

The next game would be a true test of some of these questions. The perennial championship contending New York Yankees strolled into town with a 1-1 record that came behind two underwhelming performances. Still, this was the Yankees and they represented a hurdle that the 49ers had failed to jump since their inception. This time would be significantly different. The 49ers knew they had something to prove and they played with a fire that the Yankees were unable to match. Surprisingly, it was the defense that made the difference this time. The offense managed the game when they had the ball, but it was the 6 defensive turnovers in this game that gave the 49ers an overwhelming 41-0 victory. This was the kind of overall performance that the fans in San Francisco hadn’t seen in over year, and the kind of dominance that created a justified air of excitement among both fans and players.

The last game of the homestand brought the cross-state and divisional rivals Los Angeles Dons to town. Over the last few years the Dons had danced around .500, just behind the 49ers, but always a threat. They came into this game 2-1, and the Niners made sure that they wouldn’t stay on the bright side of .500 in San Francisco. By this time the 49ers were running on all cylinders and the offense took advantage of Los Angeles for over 500 total yards, nearly 300 of which came on the ground, while stifling their southern cousins on defense to the tune of less than 100 yards through either the air or the ground. This 36-14 affair was an easy win, and the 49ers left San Francisco on a high note.

The 49ers were off to a blisteringly fast start, but they had started fast before. They key to the season was going to be maintaining the momentum they had built during their first 4 games over the course of their final 10. They would be on the road for the next 4 games, but it didn’t even prove to be a speed bump. Over the course of this road trip, they traveled to Buffalo, Chicago, Baltimore, and New York, and didn’t encounter a single challenge along the way, coming out with 38-28, 31-14, 56-14, and 21-7 victories in each game respectively. This trip also saw the team’s best and most consistent offensive output of the whole season, as they racked up 536 total yards (split 268/268 right down the middle) against the Bills.

The sterling 8-0 record for the 49ers was good enough to tie the team for first place in the division, but they still had one major hurdle to jump this season. They still had to play the Browns twice, and they wouldn’t get their first chance for another three weeks. In the meantime, the 4-3 Colts were coming to town, and it was the same glorious story another week in a row. Almost 400 yards on the ground and a stifling defense, and the 49ers had another victory, beating the Colts 21-10.

At this point, it would have been easy to look ahead to their matchup against the Browns a week later, and perhaps it was a blessing that it was an awful 1-9 Chicago team that came to town that week. The 49ers barely sneezed as they ran all over Chicago (328 rushing yards, in fact) for an easy 44-21 victory.

That victory sent the 49ers on the road to Cleveland for a matchup they had been two years and 10 undefeated games in the making. The 49ers had beaten the Browns the first time the two teams had ever met, but had failed to so much as scratch the Champions since. This year, things were going to be different. The 49ers had never been this good. They had never had such a good chance to beat this team. But things wouldn’t be different, after all. The Browns defense completely stifled the 49ers offense. The 49ers had over 200 fewer yards than their season average, and were held to single digit points for the only time all season. The Browns won the game 7-14, and the 49ers were back to playing catchup.

Luckily, the 49ers wouldn’t have to wait another 10 games to get their revenge. The next week they would head to Brooklyn, and then they would come home to take on the Browns in San Francisco. The team knew that if they lost another game, they might be eliminated before they knew it, and they beat the Dodgers handily. Though the defense appeared to be wearing down, the offense was back on point and the 49ers scored a season high 63 points on the way to a 63-40 victory.

Which brought the Browns back to town. This was the most important game the 49ers had played in over a year. If they won this, they would remain in contention. If they lost, they would be eliminated. It was the first game the 49ers ever played that had truly epic circumstances. In the end, though, it wouldn’t be much different. For the first time in two years the 49ers offense made a dent in the Brown’s defense, but like usual it just wasn’t enough to dethrone the champs. The 49ers lost 28-31, and even though they had one game left in the season (which they won 38-21 in Los Angeles), the season was over. They were eliminated again. But it was a wild ride while it lasted.

Primary References:

Thanks to the wonder of technology, I actually lost my original article yesterday to a file glitch, and then my favorite resource for these season posts was down for maintenance all day today. So, I did the best I could with the time and one still fairly awesome resource I had time to reference. Here it is:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/sfo/1948_games.htm

Matt Cain Love Thread

howtheyscored — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:35:05 -0000

My head's about to explode. You can tell that my head is about to explode by how disjointed the rest of this fanpost is. Really, it's uncharacteristically scattered and weird. Just keep reading, you'll see. My head is about to explode. If you wait long enough, you might hear a popping sound and then see pieces of my head on the walls, on the floors, on your new Corduroy jacket. And it's not easy to get brain out of corduroy...

Long story short: This thread is reserved for Matt Cain love. The last month has seen the most bizarre, unwarranted, illogical, and ill-conceived outpouring of Matt Cain DOWNER WEENIES than I would have previously thought possible. At first it was like a dripping weenie faucet, and then suddenly there were weenies everywhere... on the walls, on the floors, on your new leather stilletos... and it's not easy to get weenie out of stilletos.

Here's the deal: Matt Cain is a very good pitcher for the Giants. Matt Cain has all the talent in the world to become a great pitcher for the Giants by the time he's 25. Matt Cain is awesome. He's by far my favorite current Giant.

Matt Cain, Matt Cain, Matt Cain, I love you. I made a sim of you* and played until you died. Your daughters were ugly, but they still got some when I told them to. There is no room in this thread for anything contradictory to Matt Cain love. He is the original linch-pin of what is going to be a Hall of Fame rotation that will bring us riches and championships beyond our wildest dreams. He is the shining star.

Bring it. Bring your love. I'm sick to death of weenieism. It's an epidemic, and the only vaccine is... well, there probably isn't one... but for one thread I can at least combat the symptoms...

*True story.

Poll

Matt Cain:

49ers Year-by-Year: 1948

howtheyscored — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:04:14 -0000

Though the AAFC was proving itself to be a legitimate pro league - with a number of teams capable of playing at an NFL level – and a valid economic competitor with the NFL, it was still struggling. In fact, both leagues had dealt with economic strain from the moment the AAFC came into existence, and the AAFC as a whole had lost money in each of its first two years. Nearly all of one league’s problems could be directly attributed to the existence of the other, and the competition between the leagues was creating unexpected financial difficulties for both.

Aside from simply splitting an audience, resulting in fractional viewership for either league, competition actually pushed internal costs up for both the AAFC and the NFL. Perhaps the most difficult effect of the so-called league war was that player salaries had skyrocketed relative to their previous standards as each league vied for the best players to try to get any advantage whatsoever with the fans. Teams were paying more for players while receiving less total at their individual box offices.

1948 was the first year that it began to become painfully clear to the controlling powers in both leagues not only that neither would be able to survive so long as the other remained, but also that there might not be much time to resolve the problem before both leagues would become completely unsustainable.

The AAFC faced internal problems as well. Where the NFL was enjoying a period of uncommon parity and drama in its post-war seasons, the AAFC had gone two seasons with almost none of either. Both seasons had been dominated by two seemingly unstoppable powers in the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Browns, but perhaps even more damning was the apparent talent gap between the handful of teams at the top and the bottom feeders. Teams like the Chicago Rockets were completely overmatched in every facet of the game by even the AAFC’s second tier teams. And the league’s second tier teams, like the Bills and, to that point, the 49ers, had essentially been consistently completely overmatched by the league’s two top tier teams.

Not two years after having officially entered the world of professional sports, the AAFC appeared to be on the losing side of a battle that both sides were losing. Times were tough in the league.

The 49ers:

By 1948, the 49ers were suffering many of the exact same problems that the league as a whole was facing. Though they had established themselves as a legitimate power in their league, and as valid competition for teams like the Browns, they had still just completed two second place campaigns, neither with much late season drama to speak of. They had gone two years in a row without pulling a profit and, though regularly drawing crowds in the tens of thousands, had failed to establish a paying fan base the likes of which the Browns and the Yankees enjoyed on a regular basis. Though times were still good for the 49ers insofar as they continued to put a winning product on the field, they were far from where they needed to be if the team was to remain a viable economic franchise.

They had stumbled through the second half of 1947 after an exciting, red-hot start, and though they had finished second in their division and tied for third in the league, the season had been a step backward in a lot of ways. The passing game that had been so effective in 1946 had been afflicted with inconsistency and ineffectiveness in 1947. The defense that had been so good in 1946 found itself, time and again, taken advantage of in 1947. The series they split with Cleveland in 1946 turned into an easy Browns sweep in 1947. The team had seen regression on both sides of the ball, an alarming amount of turnover on the offensive line, and - ultimately - a worse record than the year before.

1948 was going to be a critical year for the 49ers. Would they continue to wallow in the second tier that they had planted their feet so strongly into already? Would they overcome the hardships of 1947 and, with another year of experience, take the next step and become one of the league’s elite powers? Or, was the regression in 1947 a sign of things to come? Could the team be coming undone already? Only time would tell.

The Players:

Between 1946 and 1947, the 49ers had done little to add either depth or talent to their core group. And as with the year before, the offensive group remained largely intact between 197 and 1948, with the most significant changes again coming along the offensive line. Where they didn't add much starting talent, though, this year the brought in a number of younger talents for immediate depth.

Returning for the third straight year was the entire backfield of Frankie Albert, Len Eshmont, Norm Standlee, and Johnny Strzykalski. Unwilling to make the same mistakes two years in a row, though, the 49ers were did not stand pat with their running game simply because it had been strong the year before. They added depth to both sides of the T, acquiring rookies Forest Hall and Jim Cason to give the established starters Eshmont and Strzykaski some much needed depth and support. Cason would also provide added support on defense as a Safety to try to shore up some of the deficiencies on that side of the ball.

The 49ers returned their two tight ends in Nick Susoeff and Alyn Beals. This was perhaps a sign that the team was continuing to pursue a successful passing game to complement its dominating rushing game, as both players, and especially Beals, had shown themselves to be capable receivers – perhaps more so than either one was a blocker.

Where the 1946 offseason had seen five out of seven players change, including tight ends, on the 49ers starting offensive line, the 1947 offseason was a sheer example of stability by comparison. In addition to the Susoeff and Beals at tight end, returning to the left and right tackle spots were Bob Bryant and John Woudenberg. The other three positions saw changes. The year before, the team had looked either to their bench or to NFL castoffs for replacement players. This year, they looked young. To replace ineffective LG Garland Gregory and C John Schiel, the 49ers turned to two rookies: 25 year old Don Clark to man the guard and the 22 year old Joel Williams to direct the fray from center.

Perhaps most notable, though, was the replacement of two year star, starter, and line stalwart Bruno Banducci with third year player Visco Grgich, who had distinguished himself the year before as a rising star on the defensive side of the ball.

The defense had also seen improvements come though the offseason. Young star Visco Grgich was only getting better, and he was being joined by a sudden infusion of youthful talent starting with rookie safety/halfback Jim Cason and extending to exciting talents like rookie Paul Crowe and second year player Eddie Carr. Established defensive players like Len Eshmont and Johnny Strzyalski would continue to get time, and to make significant contributions on that side of the ball, but if there was a theme for 1948, it would have been youth. The defense was younger. The offensive line was younger. Even the backfield was younger with two rookies prepared to get their feet wet as soon as possible.

Would the relative stability of the offense, combined with the added depth take the unit to the next level, or had the team’s offensive woes the year before been the result of not enough change to a team that had, perhaps, over performed the year before that? The running game was almost assured to remain as a strong as ever, but how would the passing game respond to playing behind a younger, less experienced offensive line? The offense was a mystery, and only playing the games could answer any of these questions.

Would the youth infusion on defense add a spark that had been missing the year before, or would the relative inexperience on that side of the ball come back to haunt the team this year? Would the team as a whole be able to rise above the difficulties of the previous two seasons and finally become a contender late in the season?

Only one thing was sure: with the league on the ropes, they may not have many more chances to make a run for glory. There wasn’t time to wait for things to fall into place.

Primary Citations:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/sfo/1946.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-America_Football_Conference#1948

And this is the problem with not citing at the time of writing. I can't remember where I pulled some of this from now, but it's fair to say that I at least pulled from the 49ers official website, and from Glenn Dickey's book "San Francisco 49ers: The First Fifty Years. My apologies. I'll be more studious about this in the future.

49ers Year-by-Year: 1947 The Season

howtheyscored — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:29:08 -0000

Coming into the 1947, the 49ers had already made a fair bit of history. The year before, they had been the first major league professional sports team to play a game on the West Coast, and then became the first major league professional sports team to play a regular season game on the West Coast. They had enjoyed a 9-5 season and had helped to establish the legitimacy of professional sports in California. And after all that, they became the first football team in history to have an Asian American on the roster when they signed rookie running back/defensive end Wally Yonamine during the offseason.

And while making history is all well and good, and in some ways worthy of more pride than sheer victories - particularly when that history involves breaking color lines for the sport - the name of the game is holding that Championship Trophy at the end of the year. The 49ers were a hopeful team. They had enjoyed a great deal of offensive success the year before and had kept their main core of skill players together on that side of the ball. They had played solid defense and had defeated the League Champion Cleveland Browns in Cleveland. If they didn't show improvement in 1947, it would be a disappointment. The team was hungry, and expectations were high.

The Season

The 49ers got a bit of a gift to start the 1947 season, playing their first four games at home, and their first against the Brooklyn Dodgers – a team that had gone 3-10-1 the year before, and that the 49ers had swept in two games by a combined score of 62-27. This August 31 matchup came with no surprises, as the 49ers easily wrapped up a 23-7 victory over the still hapless Dodgers in front of nearly 32,000 happy fans. Frankie Albert threw for two scores and Alyn Beals caught two to make easy work of this game.

A stiffer test was to come in week two when the cross-state divisional rival Los Angeles Dons came to town. The Dons were one of four teams in 1946 to finish the season with a winning record, and were eager to improve on that early success. Having beaten the Rockets the week before, the Dons were eager to cinch up win number two, and the 31,000 fans who came out to watch the game were in for a real treat. After taking a first half 14-0 lead behind a powerful running attack, the 49ers watched the Dons come back through the air in the second half to tie things up. This battle was decided on a late fourth quarter Joe Vetrano field goal to give the 49ers a thrilling 17-14 win.

The Niners continued to roll at home with their running game the next week, racking up over 250 total yards on the ground, with two Norm Standlee rushing touchdowns, to steamroll the expansion Baltimore Colts. Riding high on three home victories, the undefeated 49ers would welcome their stiffest test of the young season when the 2-1 New York Yankees came to town on September 21. The Yankees had lost to the Browns in the Championship game the year before, and were popular favorites to win it all this season. With the 49ers looking strong, this game represented a possible Championship matchup, and the reality of that was not lost on the fans, as an astounding 52,000 people showed up to watch.

The game lived up to expectations. The 49ers came at New York with everything they had on offense and defense, racking up over 150 yards each through the air and the ground, while holding the Yanks to less than 100 of each. For all of their firepower, though, the Niners were only able to put together a field goal in the first half, and fell into an early 3-14 hole. They turned up the heat in the second half, riding two long Frankie Albert TD throws to cut the lead down to 16-21 in the fourth quarter, but in the end that was all they would get, and they would finish the home stand on a low note – wasting stellar performances on both sides of the ball in a frustrating loss.

The 3-1 Niners would be going on the road now for two games to face the Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Colts. The Bills, who had finished the previous year at 3-10-1, already had 3 wins for the new year, and were looking to prove that they weren’t a fluke against one of best teams in the league. The 49ers were having none of it, though, and returned to the sheer power of their running game to roll all over the upstart Bills to the tune of 277 yards on the ground, five rushing TDs, and a 41-24 spanking to improve their overall record to 4-1.

When the Colts had come to San Francisco earlier in the season, the 49ers had made short work of them, but Baltimore wasn’t going to be such an easy opponent on their home grass. Despite racking up the most passing yards in a game that they would get all season long, and rushing – once again – for over 150 yards, the defense just wasn’t in this game as the 49ers gave up 400 total yards to the Colts and were lucky to escape with a 28-28 tie.

At 4-1-1, the 49ers came back home to face the Chicago Rockets, and it was probably fair to expect that they would be looking past the winless train-wreck to their next game, at home, against the defending league champs and divisional rival Cleveland Browns. It turns out that they weren’t prepared to take even a week off, and stomped the Rockets 42-28 to ride into the next week’s anticipated matchup on a much deserved high note.

The Browns came into this game at 6-1, and if the 49ers came out with a win, they’d be in sole possession of first place in the division and on the clear track toward the championship game. If they lost, they’d be facing an uphill battle down the stretch with the re-match coming in Cleveland. The 49ers had every reason to be optimistic. They’d defeated the Browns once in the previous year, were playing in front of their home crowd, and had established one of the strongest offenses in the league. Recently, though, the defense had been struggling – and they couldn’t afford to have another poor performance this week.

In front of a season record 54,000 fans at Kezar Stadium, the 49ers put up one of their least inspiring efforts of the season. The Browns had one of the toughest defenses in the league, and managed to hold a disappointing Frankie Albert and the 49ers to fewer than 90 yards through the air. Jumping out to an early first half 0-14 win, that would be all the Browns needed as they torched the 49ers defense for the most yards they had given up all season, including nearly 30 through the air. A potentially crushing 7-14 loss at home, the 49ers faced the distinct reality of having to win each of their final six games – including five consecutive road games and a difficult rematch in Cleveland – just to keep up with the defending champs.

It was with this mindset that they marched into Los Angeles the following week. Riding their most balanced overall effort of the season, the 49ers swept their season series with the strong 5-3 Dons behind four Frankie Albert TD passes and over 200 yards both on the ground and through the air. Feeling good after this 26-16 victory, the 49ers had a daunting task ahead of them. Their next two games would be against the 7-2 New York Yankees and the 8-1 Cleveland Browns – the two teams responsible for the two losses that the 49ers already had on the year.

Unfortunately for 49er fans, the team couldn’t take the heat. Though they jumped out to an early 13 point lead against the Yankees, the offense managed a measly 139 total yards and the defense fell back into its hard luck habits, giving up over 400 as the Yanks rolled through the second half to a 24-16 victory that was closer in score than it ever was in reality.

Going into Cleveland with three losses and four games left in the season, the 49ers would have to defeat the Browns on their home turf to have any chance of taking the division and advancing to the Championship game. It was do or die. They had beaten Cleveland in Cleveland the year before, but this season the team had been hurt by an inconsistent if dangerous offense and an underperforming defense. As it happened, the offense would come out to play, but it was once again the defense that spelled the 49ers undoing. Despite going over 300 yards of total offense, the defense put together its worst performance of the season and the Browns took away a dishearteningly easy 14 -37 victory at home. The 49ers were eliminated, the Browns would be going to Championship for the second straight year, and neither team had a lot left to play for in the regular season outside of pride.

But if that was all the 49ers had left to play for, they were happy to play for pride. Though eliminated, they marched into Chicago and Brooklyn with their two biggest offensive performances of the entire season, racking up 432 total yards in Chicago and almost 300 rushing yards alone in Brooklyn to take away two easy 41-16 and 21-7 victories respectively before coming back home to finish the year off against the Bills.

Hoping to at least give their home fans a victory in an otherwise meaningless game, the 49ers stuck to their guns in front of a disappointingly, but understandably small 22,000 person crowd at Kezar. The Bills came into this game facing an identical situation, also sitting at 8-4-1 and having been eliminated from contention weeks prior to the defending divisional champs. Despite controlling the pace by grinding this game out on the ground, perhaps it was appropriate that the deflated 49ers were only able to put together enough of an effort to escape the season with a 21-21 tie against the Bills, leaving both teams in second place with identical 8-4-2 records.

This was not the way the 49ers had envisioned the 1947 season going. After a blazing hot 5-1-1 start, it was ultimately the team’s inability to step up their level of play against the league’s two elite teams that led to another disappointing second place finish. The standings would say that the 49ers had a successful season, but the atmosphere in the locker room might have said something different. The 49ers had come off of a strong 1946 season to play inconsistent football in 1947. It was clear that the offense would have to mature and the defense would have to make serious improvements for the team to be competitive with New York and Cleveland in 1948.

It was up to the offseason to decide the fate of the following year.

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