Byline: Lynn DeBruin, Rocky Mountain News
The tremors that shook the Bay Area 12 days ago weren't churned up along the San Andreas Fault.
And they certainly weren't set off from people dancing in the streets.
A more likely explanation: shock waves. After all, it's not often the 49ers and Raiders win on the same day.
One has to go back nearly three years, to Dec. 8, 2002, to find the last time that occurred before Oct. 30.
And judging from Sunday's NFL results, it might be a while before it happens again.
'It's tough being a Bay Area sports fan period the last couple of years,' said Jason Fazio, a bartender at The Bus Stop sports bar in San Francisco. 'It's not pretty. Even though we have two options, when both teams stink, it really stinks.'
At the season's midpoint, the 49ers are 2-6 and tied for last place in the NFC West, coming off a 24-6 home loss against the New York Giants. The Raiders also are in last place, at 3-5 in the AFC West, after a heartbreaking, last-play, 27-23 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
The prospects don't look very good for either.
Sure, the Raiders and their built-for-scoring offense are viewed as a team that can beat anybody on any given day, especially if they can average 36 points as they did in successive victories against Buffalo and Tennessee.
But the Raiders still have to play the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos twice (including Sunday in Oakland, Calif.) and the NFC East-leading Giants, not to mention the Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers on the road.
The prognosis is even bleaker for San Francisco fans.
'They just have a paucity of talent, of playmakers,' said San Francisco radio personality Ralph Barbieri, who co-hosts The Razor & Mr. T show on KNBR in San Francisco.
The 49ers' biggest offensive weapon this season has been left-footed kicker Joe Nedney, who produced all of San Francisco's points in a 15-10 upset of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12 days ago and in Sunday's loss against the Giants. San Francisco hasn't scored a touchdown at home in its past 13 quarters.
'The games aren't even pretty, that's the worst part,' said Fazio, whose income is somewhat tied to how well the local sports teams fare.
San Francisco's quarterback situation is as ugly as the outdated, albeit renamed, Monster Park (it was called 3Com Park until September 2004 and Candlestick Park before 1995).
Second-year pro Cody Pickett on Sunday became the fourth player to start at quarterback for the 49ers in the past five games. Erratic rookie Alex Smith (five interceptions, no touchdowns) has a partially torn ligament in his right knee. And Ken Dorsey is out because of an injury to his left ankle.
Tim Rattay, who had a career-low 70.2 rating in four starts with San Francisco, is a Tampa Bay backup after a recent trade.
The bright spots have been few and far between. There was the opening 28-25 victory against the St. Louis Rams, the loss by three against the Dallas Cowboys and the upset of Tampa Bay.
Overall, the ugliness has settled in like the fog that can blanket the area.
Last month, the 49ers gave up 52 points in a loss at Washington.
'Another week, another 49ers loss,' one fan wrote on his Internet blog. 'At least no one got killed and the Earth did not crash into the sun.'
Storied pasts
Wasn't it just a few years ago when both teams were really good?
Three years ago, the Raiders were celebrating an AFC championship and their third consecutive AFC West title.
That same season, the 49ers won the NFC West and pulled out a dramatic 39-38 wild-card victory against the Giants.
Plenty has changed since then.
Bill Callahan now is the coach at the University of Nebraska and the once- valuable members of the Raiders' over-the-hill gang (from Rich Gannon to Jerry Rice and Bill Romanowski) have retired.
As for San Francisco, Steve Mariucci and Terrell Owens are gone, and their current quarterback is a guy who until last week was better known for being the son of a rodeo star.
While the losses pile up, the eight Lombardi Trophies the two teams have between them collect dust.
Knowing the tradition only makes the losses more painful.
'You can't help but think of what they used to be,' longtime Raiders fan Glen Cartwright said. 'They're a long ways from that.'
Jeff Barnes, a die-hard Raiders fan for 38 years, doesn't have to be reminded.
He was so disgusted after Oakland started the season 0-3, he yanked off his Raiders jersey and flung it into a tree outside a San Leandro sports bar.
He said it took him three tries before the tree finally 'caught it.'
'I figure I'm pretty much just like the Raiders,' Barnes cracked.
He bought a replacement jersey, but he has yet to wear it.
'I'm not putting it back on until I feel they're worthy,' he said.
Across the San Francisco Bay, the frustration is just as obvious.
'We've been spoiled in this area,' said David Moody, a fourth-generation 49ers fan who writes a fan column on ' class='emaillink' target='window'>www.SFGate.com.'For so many years, for a 20-year stretch, the 49ers either won the division or were near the top, and we were used to getting to the championship game. It's gone away and it's hard to stay faithful when the rebuilding has gone on for so long.'
He spoke of disillusionment, discontent and concern about how bad it will get before it gets better.
'We were hoping with the new coach (Mike Nolan) and (No. 1) draft pick that things would get better, and they haven't,' Moody said.
On the flip side, many believe Nolan, whose father, Dick, coached the franchise to three NFC West titles in the early 1970s, is the man to turn it around.
'He's an eternal optimist and I think players are still buying into his program,' KNBR's Barbieri said.
Silver and bleak
While the young 49ers have struggled, the Raiders have tantalized and teased.
They were competitive in the road opener against the New England Patriots (a 30-20 loss), lost by six points against Kansas City and three at Philadelphia before finally getting their first victory, 19-13 against Dallas.
Then, after a disappointing loss at home against San Diego, they recorded consecutive wins (Buffalo and Tennessee) for the first time since early 2004.
Any joy fans felt disappeared Sunday, when the Raiders rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit only to let the Chiefs drive 72 yards in 95 seconds for the winning score.
So much for the Commitment to Excellence, a franchise motto that seemingly has become as outdated as the home-field introduction that boasts Oakland as 'the NFL's winningest team.'
'A lot of people were thinking we righted the ship after we won three of four,' Cartwright said. 'This was another step back.'
The Raiders have turned it around before, most notably 2002. That season, they halted a four-game losing streak with a 34-10 blowout road win against Denver, a game that propelled them to Super Bowl XXXVII.
The odds are better they'll make history for another reason.
With nine penalties Sunday against the Chiefs, they are on pace for 162, which would break the single-season record of 158 set by the Chiefs in 1998.
'I'm not buying into the conspiracy theory that the refs are out to get (Raiders owner) Al Davis because he and (former NFL commissioner Pete) Rozelle didn't get along 30 years ago,' KNBR's Barbieri said.
While the Raiders of old may have been famous for intimidation penalties, Barbieri said many of this season's infractions are from lack of discipline.
He also questions whether Norv Turner is coaching material.
'He's the kind of coach Al always wanted, somebody who would say 'Yes, Al,' just like the Joe Bugels and Mike Whites,' Barbieri said, naming two past coaches who were unsuccessful.
The frustration has boiled over for players as well as fans.
Running back LaMont Jordan, joined by Randy Moss during the off-season to bolster Oakland's offense, predicted the season would be over if the Raiders had six or seven losses entering Week 10.
'I could see (failure) if we didn't have the players,' Jordan said after Oakland fell to 1-4. 'But the bottom line is we have the players, and if we don't make the playoffs, we will be the most underachieving team in the league. And, quite frankly, it will be an embarrassment.'
Blacked out
If the Raiders' season continues to go down the tube, fans at least won't have to watch.
Many of their home games already are blacked out locally because of a marketing disaster known as personal-seat licenses, a program that charged fans expensive premiums for the right to buy season tickets.
Oakland's 38-17 victory Oct. 23 against Buffalo marked the 56th blackout (of 84 games) since the team returned from Los Angeles in 1995.
The plan, which ends after this season, didn't go over well with Oakland's blue-collar fans.
With 216 consecutive sellouts, San Francisco hasn't had that problem yet. But tickets are easier to find these days, and the season-ticket waiting list, once at 20,000, has dwindled to 3,000, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
Barbieri called the home loss against Dallas doubly embarrassing.
'It was the most vociferous rooting for a 49ers opponent in the history of the franchise,' Barbieri said. 'Maybe only 25 to 30 percent of the fans were Dallas fans, but they were so much louder.'
When Nolan commented afterward about 49ers fans selling their seats, one fan shot back in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The gist: If the product were worthwhile, fans would hold onto tickets.
The 49ers have resorted to promotions such as the Monster Fun Pack - four upper end-zone seats, four hot dogs and four soft drinks for $149 - and that has some cynics convinced a degree of desperation has set in.
'What could possibly be fun about watching the Niners get stomped by the New York Giants and/or Seattle Seahawks?' Moody wrote in his fan column.
Another long-running joke in San Francisco concerns plans for a new stadium, which have gone nowhere since a proposed project narrowly won voters' approval in 1997.
Moody, like most San Francisco fans, can only hope the 49ers turn it around long before one is built.
'Most fans are looking forward to little things, a little progress in the run game, the defense playing better, maybe even staying close in some games,' Moody said.
Others simply are looking forward to the season finale Jan. 1 against the Houston Texans, who are 1-7.
'It's the Reggie Bush Bowl,' Moody said of the chance to nab the Heisman Trophy candidate from the University of Southern California. 'Whoever loses it ends up with the first pick of the draft.'
INFOBOX
Sitting in last place by the Bay
How the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers have fallen from glory since their dominating days of the 1980s and 1990s:
San Francisco
DecadeRec.Pct.Playoff Rec.Pct.Super BowlsSuper Bowl wins
1970s 60-82-2 .424 2-3 .400 0 0
1980s 104-47-1 .688 13-4 .765 4 4
1990s 113-47 .706 9-7 .563 1 1
2000s 39-49 .443 2-2 .500 0 0
Oakland
DecadeRec.Pct.Playoff Rec.Pct.Super BowlsSuper Bowl wins
1970s 100-38-6 .715 8-6 .571 1 1
1980s 89-63 .586 8-3 .727 2 2
1990s 82-78 .513 2-3 .400 0 0
2000s 45-43 .511 4-3 .571 1 0
CAPTION(S):
Photo (3)
Linebacker Kirk Morrison of Oakland reflects the Raiders' despair as running back Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates his winning touchdown with receiver Eddie Kennison as time expired Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The loss kept the Raiders in last place in the AFC West. BRIAN BAHR / GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: San Francisco 49ers fullback Fred Beasley contemplates a dismal season near the end of the 49ers' latest loss, Sunday against the New York Giants. Fans in San Francisco are frustrated about the ineptitude of the 49ers, tied for last place in the NFC West at 2-6. GEORGE NIKITIN / ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAPTION: BAY AREA BLUES / Looking for return to their glory days, Raiders, 49ers get stuck in neutral. See graphic archive.
