By Julie Buehler
Hey Jed. This is for you.
Read the headline.
Soak it in.
Mull it over.
Read it again.
Think about it.
I’d like to apologize in advance; you can all this “tough love.”
Because I do love you buddy, and that’s why I have to ask: How dumb can you get?
At first I thought it was inexperience driving the crazy train in San Fran.
Because everyone thinks you’re a smart guy.
Your youthful bluster earned the attention of Silicon Valley and you built a $2 billion stadium that was voted “Best Facility” by Sports Business Journal in 2015.
And you also went from owning the 17th most valuable franchise to now, according to Forbes, the 5th most valuable. Behind the most lucrative Cowboys, Super Bowl winning Patiots, Redskins and New York Giants.
Not bad kiddo. And according to the Niners website, it was York’s “strong leadership” that was “instrumental in providing the team and its fans a state-of-the-art new home a year ahead of schedule.”
Ok, it got built early, but this is the same venue that cooks fans for half the game as the sun mercilessly beats down on them. Which, I’m sure was impossible to predict seeing how the sun moves in different patterns every day. (Hope you’re picking up on my sarcasm)
And this is the same venue that offers fans free Wi-Fi to order from concessions, but can’t offer fans a better way to get to and from the stadium without jumping over railroad tracks.
The same venue that can’t get its grass together.
And the same venue that season ticket holders are running from, will host the Super Bowl, further lining your pockets.
But while yours and the team’s net worth increase, it’s impossible to ignore the devaluation of what’s happened on the field.
All because of ego. You got too smart and started acting dumb.
Yorky, when you decided to “mutually part ways” with Jim Harbaugh, thus washing away his leadership that was “instrumental” in providing the team with discipline, work ethic and more wins in 4 years than they enjoyed the previous 7 combined, you put your priorities over that of the team.
No one blames your for disliking Harbaugh, he’s not a personality that is easy to understand, but we do blame you for not being able to see his value as a head coach.
As owner, you’re responsible for seeing potential and running to opportunities that will build a winning franchise, not protecting your ego, dismissing those who don’t fit your mold and narrowly focusing on adding sponsors while your best players choose retirement over the Red and Gold.
And now that we see the results of a tumultuous offseason, there’s more head scratching moves.
Now Jared Hayne is cut while running back drop like flies.
Now Colin Kaepernick is benched. For Blaine Gabbert. Who’s 5-22 as a starter.
And the latest dumb, dumb thing you did is NOTHING.
You waltz by the press last Friday, congrats on your second son, but Yorky, NO comments about the team? No “atta boys” for the guys in the trenches fighting and scrapping for relevance.
You’ve done nothing to restore confidence in your coaching staff.
You’ve done nothing to restore hope for the fan base.
You’ve done nothing but politic for Super Bowl 50 while your team sinks into an abyss.
The management is confused. The coaching staff is confused, but the fan base can see exactly what’s going on York.
Bad leadership.
And it starts at the top.
Please, stop being dumb. Be smart enough to look to mentors, like your uncle. Be smart enough to ask for help from those around the league who buckled at the pressures of winning but rebounded.
Maybe, read a book called The Score Takes Care Of Itself, by Bill Walsh, Craig Walsh and Steve Jamison.
Maybe read The Education of A Coach by David Halberstam.
Let’s get some common sense and solid logic leading this franchise and watch it turn around once again.
Julie Buehler hosted the Coachella Valley’s most popular sports talk radio show, “Buehler’s Day Off” every day for 3 years, but now she can be exclusively seen on KMIR sharing the coolest stories in sports. She’s an avid gym rat, slightly sarcastic and more likely to recite Steve Young’s career passing stats than American Idol winners. Tune in to KMIR’s nightly news or KMIR.com for her sports reports.
