Nothing in sports offers more intrigue in such a meaningless forum as the NFL preseason.
Local fans are understandably excited about the return of football with Raiders kicking off the exhibition season Thursday in Oakland against the Arizona Cardinals, and the 49ers debuting in New Orleans against the Saints on Friday.
Read More
Suddenly the 49ers faithful need some good news. And quick.
Losing center-guard David Baas right out of the free-agency starting gate was not what 49ers fans were imagining when they were cheering the end of the NFL lockout.
Read More
The new NFL labor contract brings the 49ers’ stadium in Santa Clara closer to reality.
As team President Jed York pointed out in a conference call this week, the new collective bargaining agreement has a provision setting 1.5 percent of revenue aside for new stadiums. This is why the owners wanted a new deal reducing the players’ share, so they’d have money for new stadiums.
Read More
New coaches and old stadiums. The Black Hole and holes to fill. Pro football is back by the Bay — dare we say welcome? — and now that the talk has shifted from lockouts to wideouts, the major questions are whether there will be a last hurrah for Al Davis and the Raiders and a first hurrah for Jed York and the 49ers.
Hue Jackson didn’t slip in unannounced as the coach of the Raiders, but after the headlines about the 49ers and Jim Harbaugh a week earlier in January, the naming of Jackson, especially since he already was on staff, had an anticlimactic feel.
Read More
Jed York played coy when asked Tuesday about Alex Smith’s future as the 49ers’ starting quarterback. “My sense is Jim [Harbaugh] and Trent [Baalke, general manager] are going to figure out what’s best for the team and I’m going to support them 100 percent.” The team president added, “I’ve said all along we would love to have him back.”
Fair enough. Given the new coaching staff’s limited time to prepare for the season, it’s entirely understandable the 49ers keeping Smith, who ESPN.com reported has agreed to a 1-year, $5 million deal.
Read More
Despite the fact the NFL lockout is still lingering, single-game tickets for the San Francisco 49ers go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.
Tickets will start at $64 and go up depending on seating.
Up to eight tickets per game can be purchased at one time.
Season tickets also remain available and include up to a $55-a-ticket savings on single-game tickets. For all 49ers ticket information, call (415) GO-49ERS or visit www.49ers.com.
Read More
Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and San Francisco 49ers owner John York will speak to 100 middle school boys at Stanford University this morning.Rice and York will talk about the importance of balancing athletics and academics as part of a four-week Youth Impact Program, a partnership between Stanford and the 49ers to help at-risk boys learn about community leadership and football.The boys range in age from 9 to 12 years old and largely come from underserved communities in East Palo Alto and East San Jose.
Read More
An agreement appears close on a new NFL labor deal, which is good news for everybody, but both the Raiders and 49ers will face formidable problems when the lockout ends.
Raiders owner Al Davis had hoped the new agreement would give clubs the right of first refusal on three potential free agents, but it does not, so the Raiders could lose cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, tight end Zach Miller and running back Michael Bush.
Asomugha is almost certainly gone. Who will sign him? I’d bet on the New England Patriots because they have the smartest front office in the NFL.
Read More
A new South Bay home for the 49ers gained yardage Tuesday night when Santa Clara selected a sports marketing agency to direct sales of personal seat licenses that would help fund the proposed stadium, estimated to cost nearly $1 billion and be open for the 2015 season.
The Santa Clara Stadium Authority picked Legends Premium Sales to coordinate sales of the seat licenses, a type of fan investment considered pivotal in bringing the project to fruition. The licenses are set to go on sale in January.
Read More
Jim Harbaugh’s foresight will mitigate the damage done to the 49ers by the NFL lockout.
With a complete turnover in the coaching staff, the 49ers needed spring workouts more than other teams. In years past, teams with coaching changes were allowed an extra minicamp. The 49ers, along with every other NFL team, were prohibited this year from having any spring workouts.
Read More
URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/archive/105/105?page=39&type[story]=story&quicktabs_1=0&quicktabs_6=1
