D-day for the 49ers is Tuesday. By all indications, Measure J will pass. As I wrote in my SI.com column this week, I don’t really think the vote will decide anything concrete: a yes vote could force an investment by the Yorks that they’re not really prepared to make. Don’t expects shovels in the ground anytime soon.

But, that being said, I still find it troubling that such a small group of voters are being asked decide the direction of such a historic franchise.  Projections are for a very light turnout: Santa Clara is a Democratic town and this primary isn’t a big draw for Democrats.  So maybe 20,000 people will turn out.  The 49ers have spent an enormous amount  ($3-4 million) on convincing those 20K people – one insider called it “carpet bombing the community.”

Twenty thousand Santa Clarans and a team front office/management structure that is – for the most part – removed and clueless about the 49ers hisotry get to decide the future of a team that most of the people I grew up with consider their own?

I know there’s no room for sentimentality in the big business of sports. But the whole thing just seems wrong.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 5th, 2010 at 10:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.