So, we've got our starting quarterback in Troy Smith for Sunday's game against the Rams. He's replacing Alex Smith for the second time this season, and what's done is done. Mike Singletary didn't want this information known for one reason or another, be it due to some trickery and misdirection for Steve Spagnuolo and the Rams or be it some odd power trip where Singletary is just looking to control whatever he can.
The last bit is akin to a president in the waning hours of his time in office. They're lame ducks, the speeches get longer and more philosophical, they talk about just what is wrong and how things need to change, but fail to mention how they've had four to eight years to make all the change necessary. Favors roll in, requests for pardons and down the home stretch, more decisions are made than in any other given day. With two games to go, Mike Singletary is just making decisions.
Let's hope there's a method to his madness. Who knows? It could end up being an ill-fated move in a season that has been built upon them, a coup de grâce to accentuate the end of his tenure. Or it could be something different. The decision might pay off and he might have stumbled upon a miracle. Jump for more.
A miracle would be appropriate, I think. I mean the term, not that we really deserve one, being that any success for the 49ers at this point in time would have to be the work of some higher power. What kind of stable organization changes its starting quarterback with two games remaining while directly in the middle of a very close race for the division lead?
Speaking of higher powers, I'd like to address my opinions regarding Singletary's oh-so-elusive rat. We've seen Matt Maiocco and Matt Barrows break all kinds of news that probably wasn't supposed to be broken over the years. But there have been a couple things this season that leads me to believe we've got a much more powerful rat on our hands than some random employee. Tim Kawakami was the first to explore the possibilities earlier on in the season and I found myself agreeing with him to an extent, which speaks volumes as to how legitimate I feel this is.
Jed York is the rat, and in my mind there's not a single other possibility when it comes to certain situations. It's no secret that Jed caters to the national writers, which is why we've had Singletary upset with reports from Yahoo and NBC, while Jason LaConfora of NFL.com and the NFL Network broke the news of Troy Smith starting yesterday. I don't quite know exactly why Jed York is the rat, but an affinity for national media is a pretty good excuse.
Offensive coordinator Mike Johnson claimed to know nothing regarding who would be starting at quarterback, and while it's likely he was just saying it by command of Mike Singletary, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that's the situation Sing put him in, not knowing which quarterback to build your gameplan around. Maybe it's another "I want winners" kind of thing, where Johnson has to perform under the circumstances or he's gone and Singletary has someone else to blame. It's a long shot, but I honestly don't know how to feel about anything this man says anymore.
Hm ... how to wrap this up ... I've bashed Mike Singletary, I've doubted both quarterbacks and I've insinuated that our owner is a giant jive turkey. I think I covered it all. Who do you think the rat is?