The new divide

After reading Matt Barrows' most recent Q&A, something became painfully obvious - 49ers fans are splitting in a bad way.

The readers' questions in the Q&A made statements like "I think maybe Scot [McCloughan] is also over-rated," followed by "It looks like McCloughan has built a team with good depth." A later question regarding Mike Nolan's infamous comments to Peter King stated "Nolan was stating the obvious, not taking a jab at Smith," followed by "Nolan has taken another shot/swipe at Alex Smith."

These were just a sample of the questions driving a wedge in the fan base. In reality, there are many more. Should the team move to Santa Clara? Should Alex Smith have been given more of an opportunity to win the starting job this season? Is Nolan too reluctant to give a starting job to a young player not drafted in the 1st round (i.e. Dashon Goldson, Captain Morgan, etc.)? These points are debated to no end in the comments sections of the various 9ers blogs (a problem we don't have in Nineragua). Obviously, we can't agree on everything, but it seems we're getting to a point where we can't agree on anything.

There are numerous ways to draw the line between the two camps in this little row, but the most obvious point of distinction relates to Nolan. On one side are the fans who believe Nolan has done a good job rebuilding the team and should be given the opportunity to finish what he's started. These are the guys who wore suits to the opener last year and send hate mail to Tim Kawakami. On the other side are those who feel Nolan should have already been hatcheted, or at the very least should be on a short chain this season.

This is nothing new. The aforementioned Kawakami's been talking about 49ers fans in these terms for months, if not years (I see this starting as far back as the '06 season). I always figured Kawakami had beef with Nolan. I still think he does. But the reality has set in that Kawakami is correct - we are a divided people.

The only thing that can unify us is a lopsided record. Either a lot of wins or a lot of losses and we'll all be back on the same page.