The first step in building a championship team is to have the right quarterback, and the Raiders seem committed to drafting one with the No. 1 overall pick.One indication: After saying he’d like to play in Oakland and then interviewing with the Raiders, Jeff Garcia quickly signed with Tampa Bay instead. Garcia was undoubtedly told by the Raiders that they would draft a quarterback, so Garcia’s time as a starter would be short.
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The 49ers have a realistic chance to return to the playoffs this fall because coach Mike Nolan and personnel chief Scot McCloughan know how to put a team together. This year, the 49ers were well under the salary cap, and owner John York was willing to commit money to improve the team. Nolan put the club’s money where it could do the most good.In their preparation, Nolan and McCloughan saw fourbasic needs: A shutdown cornerback, a pass- rushing outside linebacker, a nose tackle and a wide receiver, after Antonio Bryant was released.
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Ben Braun is probably just a year away from being fired as the Cal men’s basketball coach. He got a pass this season because early injuries to big men DeVon Hardin and Jordan Wilkes left the Bears seriously shorthanded, but if his team doesn’t do much better next year, he’s gone.
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With Thursday’s release of wide receiver Antonio Bryant, the 49ers are belatedly acknowledging that talent isn’t enough if it isn’t accompanied by character. Just as the Raiders are doing as they prepare to either trade or release Randy Moss.Moss is the more extreme example of the divide between talent and character.
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The question nobody is asking: Can the Raiders afford to draft a quarterback No. 1 overall?There’s no question they need to draft a quarterback. Yes, they have many needs, but a team goes nowhere in the NFL without a quality quarterback. The Raiders don’t have one now.
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Norv Turner’s departure gives 49ers coach Mike Nolan a chance to think outside the box in picking a new offensive coordinator. Will he? We all know the answer to that. The guy I’d like Nolan to hire is Sam Wyche, who was Bill Walsh’s first quarterbacks coach with the 49ers. Wyche later went on to be the coach of a Cincinnati Bengals team that nearly upset the 49ers in the Super Bowl in Walsh’s last season.
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Brian Sabean is on the hot seat. The Giants’ general manager shares responsibility for the team’s game plan only with owner Peter Magowan, but he’ll be the scapegoat if the Giants have another dismal season.In Sabean’s first four years, he did a brilliant job. Trades brought in key players such as Jeff Kent and J.T. Snow and a pitcher, Jason Schmidt, who became an overpowering staff leader. The Giants’ plan of opening their new park in China Basin with a strong, exciting team worked to perfection.
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Could this BALCO steroids case get any more tawdry? Now, the lawyer who once represented BALCO executives has admitted he defied a judge’s order in leaking court documents to San Francisco Chronicle reporters, apparently in the hopes of forcing a mistrial motion.Let’s be honest about this: Despite the Chronicle’s repeated self-congratulations, this case has always been about self-interest, not journalistic integrity.
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Because Al Davis seems to regard new Raiders coach Lane Kiffin as a younger version of himself, he has given Kiffin authority to revamp the coaching staff. That’s the best news for Raiders fans in years. At the news conference announcing Kiffin’s hiring, Davis twice alluded to his time as an assistant coach at Southern Cal, when he was only slightly younger than Kiffin is now. Davis was known for his recruiting, and Kiffin, too, was regarded as a good recruiter at USC.
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Jeff Tedford has continued his drive to make Cal’s football team a perennial national power with another stellar recruiting class, which, significantly, included 10 out-of-state players. Recruiting is the life blood of college football. Tedford has worked from the inside out, concentrating on keeping Bay Area stars home and then gradually widening his recruiting circle. In his previous four seasons, he had signed only 12 out-of-state players.
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Jeff Tedford has continued his drive to make Cal’s football team a perennial national power with another stellar recruiting class, which, significantly, included 10 out-of-state players.Recruiting is the life blood of college football. Tedford has worked from the inside out, concentrating on keeping Bay Area stars home and then gradually widening his recruiting circle. In his previous four seasons, he had signed only 12 out-of-state players.
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Norv Turner seems poised to be the next coach in Dallas, creating a unique chain reaction: The Cowboys, 49ers and Turner would all be hurt by his decision. Turner had two chances at being a head coach, in Washington and with the Raiders, and he was underwhelming both times. Granted, he coached under the two most demanding owners in the league, Dan Snyder and Al Davis, but he never seemed to have the commanding presence a coach needs.
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Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith will be the first black head coaches to face each other in the Super Bowl because of groundwork laid by Bill Walsh.From his first year as a head coach — at Stanford in 1977 — Walsh looked for black assistant coaches. Denny Green was on his first staff.
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A combined stadium for the 49ers and Raiders is the best solution for theirstadium problems — and for the A’s as well.The 49ers’ need for a new stadium is the most obvious. They’re playing in what was originally designed as a baseball park and modified for football in 1971. Access to the stadium is difficult, and there is no BART connection. Bathrooms are inadequate and the concourse space is so tight that lines from concession stands block fans trying to get past them.
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The latest Raiders scapegoat, er, coach, Lane Kiffin will age rapidly as the Raiders decide their next important question: What should they do with receivers Jerry Porter and Randy Moss?Kiffin will have no impact on the decision. The only thing he knows about the Raiders and the NFL is what he learned from watching game videos the night before his hiring was announced.As usual, it will be Al Davis making the decisions — and more alone than ever.
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