Week 14 - Seahawks vs. 49ers

The 49ers played like a dream yesterday... I sure hope that it was real and it's not still Sunday morning and I'm about to wake up with the game starting later today.

I know what I'm thinking (not what you're thinking, but it could well be the same thing): Why can't they play this well every game? Sometimes I watch other teams' games, just to watch some well-played football; well, yesterday the Niners were the ones playing good football. I feel like I'm rambling and that feels good too. The offense looked smooth, the game-planning looked diversified and creative, there was good blocking, if one player wasn't contributing (Crabtree) another one was picking up the slack (Morgan), the defense got a flurry of turnovers, and Alex Smith tantalized us with a glimpse as to why the 49ers drafted him in the first place.

Okay team, and this is a team game, let's see you play like this, say, for the next three games! Because as I understand it, if you win the next three games, you're going to the playoffs regardless of what else happens in the rest of the division. You can actually go 8-8, which is the win-loss record you had last season. And this time, you'll be going to the playoffs. Takeo Spikes is playing with such desire; now, let's see the whole team keep up this elevated level of play and DO IT!

(and to think I was one of those people who thought the Niners should just be playing for next season... while here they are still playing for this season - although ideally they'd be playing for this season and all seasons in the future too, but that's for the front office to worry about).

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Now for a gripe session: what was up with the FOX Sports telecast of the game? It got so bad that I had to hit the mute button and listen to the radio broadcast. What was so bad about it? I'll tell you: that incessant background music they played over everything except active play between the whistles. That is, during replays, player substitutions, it seemed over everything. I've put up with less than perfect telecasts before, annoying announcers and what-not, but this is the FIRST time I've ever had to mute the game and turn on the radio. What were those producers thinking? As long as I can remember, I've appreciated FOX Sports over the CBS game telecasts for their use of sound, but if this keeps up, I guess I'll have to rely on the radio broadcasts from now on. Even though the radio was around 30 seconds ahead of the video from the TV. No exaggeration, it was close to half a minute ahead. When I first contemplated turning on the radio, I figured the time difference might be a few seconds, but not 25-30 seconds. It was amusing at first, especially since the 49ers were playing so well (I could enjoy what was happening twice), but I'd rather just listen to the TV broadcast. How annoying was it? It reminded me of why I refuse to watch another show altogether.

Moderation, folks, moderation.