In sports we have the Alex Smith Syndrome which the Colonel and I describe as, "paradoxical psychological phenomenon in which sports fans express empathy and have positive feelings towards 1st round picks who have been on their teams for over 4 years, sometimes to the point of defending them."
This is the perfect description for 49ers fans who defend Alex Smith mercilessly. Seriously say something damning about Alex Smith to a random 49ers fan and you'd think you just told that person to go fuck themselves. It's amazing how 49ers fans defend Smith with such vigor. You have to give them credit for that, they defend their players.
Amazingly I even started defending Smith when someone tried to disparage him. I've been teetering on the line of Alex Smith Syndrome this entire season. The 49ers have been winning and Smith hasn't done anything to lose games. He's played smart and safe. So I've defended Smith when someone says "he still sucks". When the truth is, he does still suck!
I had to discuss this situation with the Colonel and get a prescription because The Colonel is the most rational sports fan I know.
"Okay," says the Colonel with a concerned look in his eye."What are the symptoms? Are you defending Alex Smith to random strangers? Are you saying things like "He's not that bad"? Do you become really defensive when talking about Smith?"
"All of above," I say. "Though in recent weeks I've come back to my senses."
"Well that's good," says the Colonel. "I'm rooting for the guy, there's nothing wrong with that, but Alex Smith still sucks. He's barely thrown for over 2,000 yards this season, doesn't even average 200 yards a game, only thrown 15 touchdowns. Smith has a good completion percentage, but he's barely thrown the ball 350 times this season."
"Smith also can't complete a lot of throws that elite quarterbacks can complete. He still can't throw to Frank Gore in the flat. The ball still lands at Gore's feet. He still throws above receivers and is lucky he hasn't gotten one of them hurt. If you gave Smith ten chances to complete a touch pass, he'll complete 1 out of 10. Smith is the definition of an average quarterback."
"I know all that," I say. "But why do I still defend him?"
"It's because Smith has been on the 49ers forever," says the Colonel. "I was still in law school when they drafted him. He's gotten chance after chance to prove himself. 49ers fans have been trapped with Smith for so long, they defend him because he's everything they've known for the past 7 seasons. 49ers fans have been held hostage by Smith's potential that was really never there."
Celtics fans will most likely agree with you when you say Kevin Garnett is an asshole. They'll always respond with this though, "he's our asshole though." Alex Smith may be an average quarterback, but he's our average quarterback.
Alex Smith hasn't made any backbreaking mistakes this season that could cripple the 49ers and has our team on the verge of the 2nd seed in the NFC. Yes by the numbers Smith isn't any better than Rex Grossman. Unlike Rex Grossman though Smith has figured out who he is and what he can do. The 49ers aren't where they are at right now with Grossman or Tarvaris Jackson or Carson Palmer.
I just hope and pray though the 49ers don't stupidly give Smith a long contract extension.
Obviously, I'm not a Niner fan, but since Alex is widely considered to be the best QB in Ute football history, I'll interject with some of my own thoughts on his college career to see if it makes your Stockholm Syndrome any better.
ReplyDelete--In the 2 seasons (03 and 04) Alex was a full-time starter, rarely did he have to complete a 3rd down of longer than 10 yards. The offense we ran and the number of teams that the Utes manhandled didn't lend itself to a lot of 3rd and long situations, but there are going to be times during an NFL career where a QB needs to complete a 3rd and long.
--One of the most glaring "what if's" with Alex's college career has to be what would have happened had then head coach Ron McBride not pulled his redshirt against San Diego State (a game the Utes would eventually lose).
--The other is how Alex became the starter in the first place. Back in 03, the Utes are playing in College Station against Texas A&M. Down 28-0 at half, the Utes crawl all the way back to get within a 2 point conversion of tying the game. During the 2 point attempt, starting QB Brett Elliott breaks his ankle and is done for the year. Alex started the next week against Cal and the rest, as they say, is history.
I do think the whole course of Alex's career, let alone the fortunes of the Utes, may have transpired a lot differently if that doesn't happen, but I suppose we'll never know.