Beil's Spiel: Not your father's 49ers

The storied franchise that once gave us Montana-to-Clark and Young-to-Rice almost delivered Erickson-to-Mississippi this week. But like so many San Francisco 49ers attempts this season, it came up incomplete.

With all due respect to the fine folks in Oxford, Miss., the mere fact that head coach Dennis Erickson would consider a move from the once-vaunted 49ers to the University of Mississippi tells you how dramatically the franchise has imploded. Ole Miss?

What's next – is there an opening at Kutztown State?

No, these are not your father's 49ers. They're your brother-in-law's. Under owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the 49ers won five Super Bowls. But when Eddie D. was forced to give up control of the team to his sister, Denise, it was the beginning of the end.

Denise handed off to husband John York, who has fumbled his way through virtually every major decision and bumbled most of the minor ones.

It would be easy to rant about York's penny-pinching ways (employees dubbed him "Bad Santa" for his attempt to eliminate both kids and presents from the team's Christmas party). There were his memos about cutting back on bottled water costs and forcing some team officials to share hotel rooms on road trips. But we'll skip those gory details.

Cheap is one thing. Perpetually incompetent is much more of a problem.

York and his hand-picked general manager/human shield Terry Donahue plunged the franchise into what they call "salary-cap hell," and have spent the past year complaining about their self-inflicted woes while simultaneously gutting the roster of most of its offensive firepower.

Frustration is at an all-time high for fans and players alike. Running back Kevan Barlow has been trying to squeeze into holes a mouse couldn't get through, and recently suggested the Niners spend all seven of their draft picks next year on offensive linemen. Quarterback Tim Rattay has taken a ton of hits, but not as many as www.dumpyork.com, which is gaining support every day.

Other NFL owners have encouraged York to sell the team, but he refuses. Imagine Mr. Magoo in charge of an NFL franchise and you can envision the path the 49ers are on. But York can't see the obvious: that he is the problem.

York's only hope is to step back from the wreckage, hire some experienced "football people" to handle scouting/personnel and hand over control. But that's probably the least-likely scenario.

One unhappy 49er employee told me he thought York was "delusional," adding that "John is convinced he knows what he's doing and can fix all of this."

Meanwhile, Erickson will coach the final three games of this season and then plot the course for the future. The notion of Erickson coming back in '05 is a little like Captain Hazelwood taking the Exxon Valdez out for another spin ... unthinkable.

But Erickson has $7.5 million remaining on the balance of his contract, which means York has 7.5 million reasons to keep him around. If we know anything about The Yorkster it's that he doesn't like writing big checks – and he really doesn't like writing them when he gets nothing in return.

The holiday season is here and in the old days that meant the 49ers were preparing for another march into the playoffs. Not anymore. Now Niners fans are left wondering what Bad Santa will bring next.

Amazin'
My first reaction to hearing that the New York Mets were shelling out more than $50 million for four years of Pedro Martinez was that they must be nuts. Pedro used to be among the very best pitchers in the game, the key words in the sentence being used to be.

Martinez has lost velocity and is no longer the ace the Mets are hoping for. Maybe they'll get two good years out of him, and knock the Yankees off the back page of the New York tabloids once or twice.

But that's about it. Pedro is a colossal gamble, and the Mets could eat $15 to $20 million on the back end of the deal if Martinez completely loses it.

I broached the subject with my buddy, New York Steve, a diehard Mets fan who has been in agony in recent years. Steve is fine with the deal, even if Pedro lasts only a year or two. "Like I'm really gonna be worried about (Mets owner) Fred Wilpon losing some money. Go Pedro."

Good call
The media buried Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Tice after Randy Moss made that ill-advised pass into the end zone in the fourth quarter against Seattle last week. The pass was intercepted and Minnesota lost 27-23.

Granted, the call was unnecessarily risky given that the Vikings were trailing and had the ball deep in Seahawks territory. In direct contrast, Bill Cowher and the Steelers called a halfback pass in the fourth quarter of a tight game with the Jets. Jerome Bettis hit Jerame Tuman for the touchdown and Pittsburgh won 17-6.

Bottom line: If you take the big risk and score, you're a genius. If you turn it over and lose, you're an idiot.

It's all BCS
I received lots of email this week from fans frustrated by the BCS. Some felt I shortchanged Utah and Boise State in last week's column for not including them among the other three undefeated teams in the national championship hunt. Fair enough, but neither the Utes nor the Broncos faced a major conference schedule like USC, Oklahoma and Auburn.

If not for a missed chip shot field goal in the final seconds, Boise State would have lost to a sub-par BYU team. The Utes dominated a weak Mountain West conference.

Both Utah and Boise State would merit a spot in a playoff system, but there may not be a perfect solution. Michael Brown of Dallas emails: "In a four-team playoff, who would be the fourth team? Cal? Texas? Utah? Who gets the shaft? Let's say it's an eight-team playoff – are you prepared to crown a two-loss team as the national champion if they happen to catch an undefeated team on a bad night?"

Larry Beil is a Yahoo! Sports analyst. Send Larry a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Saturday, Dec 18, 2004 2:23 am, EST

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