Desperate times require desperate solutions. Gene Washington once pointed out to me that Joe Thomas was so destructive in the late ’70s that Eddie DeBartolo was forced to turn control over to Bill Walsh.
The 49ers are not quite so desperate now, but the outlook is not rosy, either. They haven’t had a winning season since John York impulsively and foolishly fired Steve Mariucci in 2002. The three coaches since — Dennis Erickson, Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary — have all been disasters in different ways.
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College football has lost its way because the media and couch potatoes want to turn it into a minor league NFL.
The sport has long been plagued by scandal. Cam Newton and Reggie Bush are only the latest in a long trail. Half a century ago it was written that Hugh McElhenny found his way to the University of Washington from Compton Junior College by following a trail of $20 bills.
But even with all that, college football had one big trump card over the pros: tradition.
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There are many reasons Jeff Tedford suffered his first losing season at Cal this fall, but none so big as the quarterback problem.
So the most important goal is finding a quarterback who can return the Bears to a bowl, where they are notably absent for the first time in eight years.
“We’re going to concentrate on finding that one guy in the spring, so we can work with him for the season,” Tedford said in a recent interview.
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The NFL is getting serious about concussions, which is a good thing, but it’s not doing anything serious about steroids, which are one of the prime causes of the concussions.
The new rule assessing automatic 15-yard personal fouls for helmet-to-helmet hits has been very controversial because it can affect games.
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Alex Smith justified Mike Singletary’s decision to start him and made a strong case to stay in San Francisco as the 49ers trounccd the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Singletary’s decision was roundly criticized by the know-nothings in the Bay Area media. One pointed to Troy Smith’s winning record as a starter, without noting that the wins came over the 3-10 Broncos, 4-9 Cardinals and 6-7 Rams. Whoop-dee-doo.
Another media critic said Singletary might have to make a change at halftime against Seattle. Not with a 30-7 lead.
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Apparently, we’ve been using the wrong type of analysis on the Raiders. Instead of measuring their physical ability, we should have been testing their emotional temperature.
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It had to be painful for 49ers fans on Sunday, thinking of the two that got away.
The least obvious is offensive coordinator Mike Martz. I supported Mike Singletary’s elevation to head coach, though he knew nothing about offensive football, because Martz was there. But the first move Singletary made was to fire Martz.
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Oakland is fighting the San Jose attempt, aided and abetted by A’s managing general partner Lew Wolff, to hijack its team.
A plan to build a 39,000-seat park at Embarcadero and Oak Street, was presented to the Oakland planning commission on Wednesday. The 20-acre site, adjacent to Jack London Square, would include a parking lot and possibly retail outlets. It is next to Interstate 880 and close to the Lake Merritt BART station.
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Memo to Raider fans: Make your social plans for January. The NFL playoffs won’t intrude, because your team won’t be in them.
Two weeks ago, everything seemed to be coming up roses for the Raiders. They had just beaten the Kansas City Chiefs and, while they were taking a week off and getting healthy, the Chiefs had lost their fourth game and fallen into a tie with the Raiders for first place in the AFC West.
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Coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Andrew Luck are Stanford’s dynamic duo, but neither one will be there much longer.
But sorry, 49ers fans: Neither one is likely to show up at Candlestick Park, either.
Harbaugh has a year left on his Stanford contract, but that wouldn’t stop him from leaving for a pro job after this season.
Remembering that Bill Walsh left Stanford and turned the 49ers into a dynasty team, fans have hoped for a repeat by the current Stanford coach.
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Well, this is one 49ers fans can’t blame on Alex Smith. They may even want him back after Troy Smith crashed and burned in the 49ers’ first home shutout in 33 years Sunday.
When a new quarterback, especially an unconventional one like Troy Smith, comes into the NFL, he can have some early success. But then, the defensive coordinators look at the game video and devise schemes to stop him.
That’s what happened to Troy Smith on Sunday.
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Those bemoaning Al Davis’ apparent “meddling” by telling Tom Cable to keep Jason Campbell at quarterback forget one thing: This time, Davis is right.
Backtrack a bit to the start of the season. Campbell, acquired in the offseason from the Washington Redskins, was a disaster. The Raiders’ offensive line couldn’t protect him, and the Oakland fans were chanting “Bruce, Bruce,” for Gradkowski, whom they got in the second half of the second game, against the Rams. Gradkowski rallied them for a win and remained the starting quarterback until he was injured in the Houston game.
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Somebody had to win, and it was the 49ers who beat the Raiders on Sunday in one of the 10 worst games I’ve watched in the 44 seasons I’ve been covering pro football.
Truthfully, there wasn’t much for the 49ers to be proud of, except for finally getting that first elusive victory.
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The Giants’ win over the Atlanta Braves last night mirrored their season: agony followed by despair, but ultimately ending in triumph.
Nothing comes easy for this team, and that was true through this whole series. Every game was decided by one run, and in last night’s game, neither team had more than a one-run lead at any time.
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Will Mike Singletary last the season as 49ers coach or be fired during it?
Logic points to the second alternative. The preseason choice to win the weak NFC West, the Niners are 0-3 and heading to Atlanta to face a team which beat them resoundingly at home last year.
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