The best, and worse, thing about sports is the fans. Fans either love or hate their team. You see fans that jumps on a wagon every year. You also get that type of fan that is a downright hater, just because. Unfortuantely, some fans take things personal.

Let's play, "What if?" What if Mr. Williams didn't fumble in OT? Niners get the ball on the next possesion, right? What if Alex Smith ends up throwing a "pick six" on the very next play? Does he deserve death threats even though the Niners faithful was giving him love last week?

I'm not going to wish death on the guy at McDonald's because he got my order wrong. I'm not going to pray for Amazon to go under because they sent me the wrong books. Sometimes we forget that these great athletes are humans as well. Was his ball security horrible? Yes. Kyle Williams was trying to make a play, we can't get mad at his effort. Everybody makes mistakes, I highly doubt "let me mess this up" was on his mind.

I've cried twice over heartbreakers:  1995, AL West Tie-Break game between the Angels (lost) and Mariners and in 1996 (Football) UCLA came back from 17 down to defeat USC. That was the Trojans sixth straight loss in the series. I remember the setting, the food I ate, the clothes I wore - EVERYTHING! As I sat near the door, looking outside the window, my dad told me, "Never cry over sports, you have other things to worry about." I never knew what he meant until... 2002, "The Tuck". I was shocked, disappointed and angry. I didn't do my homework that night and got in trouble the next day. One rhetorical question from my dad, "Raiders game?" He knew I was out of whack and I also got in trouble. Using the Raiders game as an excuse not to do my homework? Bad move on my part. I got the message though.

I've heard some weird stuff about fans after their team has lost. People call in sick from work, don't do homework, put errands on hold for a couple days, etc. Is all that really necessary? It's like we forget, while we sulk in sadness, the players are still going on with their lives. They are not going to come personally take us out for a drink and apologize. At the end of the day, they were doing their job and unfortunately it was just a bad day at the office. We all have our bad days.

Niners fans, look back on the season. The lockout messed up everything. Coming into the season, the Niners were a trendy pick to win the NFC West and that's it. I'm not a Niners fan but, I thought they would win the West and nothing more.

New coach, new system, a slim to none training camp and this unexpected season happened?Be happy and grateful. You know the defense is elite and the offense needs work. You know how it feels to be in this position after a long drought. Leave Kyle Williams alone, real fans - Niners or not- knows that a lot more things didn't go the Niners way all game. The 49ers lost the game, not Kyle Williams. It was just a bad day at the office.

Stephone

1/24/2012