Fooch's note: TK wrote about it. Worth a read.
I am pretty sure there will not be a more ridiculous story this offseason. Two years ago, Tim Kawakami lost a wager to Jed York that the San Francisco 49ers new stadium would be ready in time for the 2014 season. It ended up costing Kawakami a meal at the world renowned restaurant French Laundry. A month ago, Kawakami brought up the dinner and and an issue he had with it.
You can listen to the audio in this FanPost from last week, but the basic gist of it is that Kawakami ended up having to cover dinner for himself, Jed, and Jed's wife. Kawakami said that Jed had initially told TK he would cover his wife's dinner. When the bill arrived, Jed did not pay for it, and TK ended up paying $2,100 to cover the three meals plus tip. TK said he thought Jed was more oblivious to the $2,100 cost being so much, as opposed to just trying to stick it to him.
Deadspin picked the story up earlier this week, and now Pro Football Talk received a statement from York through the 49ers.
"The bet took place two years ago and Tim has never shared his concerns about the dinner with me," York said. "I am happy to speak with Tim one-on-one so we can all move forward."
PFT raised a couple points about the issue:
It's indeed odd that Kawakami never conveyed his concern privately to York or to the team, opting instead to broadcast the complaint publicly two years later. It's even more odd that Kawakami - who ordinarily isn't bashful about asking tough questions or communicating candid opinions - didn't say to York at the time, "I'm not paying for your wife's meal."
The whole thing is just bizarre. As is often the case, I think we can safely lay blame on both parties for this whole situation. York for not doing what he promised and paying for his wife, and TK for not bringing up the topic at some point. If this was a significantly cheaper meal, I could definitely see TK seeing that and thinking, "OK, I see what you're about, I'm gonna stash this one away." But this was a $2,100 meal. You gotta say something at some point because that's some serious cash for a newspaper columnist.
On the one hand I hope this all goes away, because it's pretty stupid. On the other hand, I'd love more official statements about a two-year old dinner bet because the whole thing is so ridiculous it is entertaining to some degree.