Back in the early 2000s, when the A’s were bursting back onto the scene as a relevant force in big-league ball, general manager Billy Beane — considered at the time a merely great young baseball mind — adopted a mantra of sorts in response to queries regarding his teams’ exceptional camaraderie.
“Chemistry,” Beane would say, “is a by-product of winning.”
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No team wins a world championship on the strength of a single unit, so to say the Giants won it all in 2012 because of their starting rotation is an oversimplification.
So, too, is saying that Buster Posey makes the offense go, or that Sergio Romo is critical to bullpen success.But when you think of the Giants and the keys to their shot at repeating, where does the mind go first? The rotation, of course.
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Sergio Romo’s World Baseball Classic cameo — and let’s get real, it was nothing more — got entirely too much attention, and entirely too much gravitas was attached to everything he did for the Tres Colores.
That’s not to say there shouldn’t be some thought put into who might have to close for the Giants should Romo’s head or elbow explode.
But aren’t we forgetting Santiago Casilla, and Jeremy Affeldt, and even young Heath Hembree?
Relax.
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Fans who live in a major sports market like the Bay Area have a luxury that those living in, say, Indianapolis, simply don’t have and will forever envy: The ability to quickly snap out of the mental funk that often comes with a crushing loss.
Super Bowl? So last week. Time to bounce back, people. On to the next.
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OK, we’ve had our two weeks of all things irrelevant, including an actual breakdown of the news conference attire chosen by John and Jim Harbaugh.
We’ve had our fill of filler stories. You know, the little-known tale of the trials and tribulations of the special teams gunner. Gripping stuff that you’ll never again give a second thought.
We’ve been amused by the players who just can’t help themselves.
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Check out what our staff and columnists predict will happen in this year's Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens.
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It certainly doesn’t seem like the NFL left a single stone unturned in terms of providing a potentially classic Super Bowl this time.
The Harbaugh angle, whether the Harbaugh boys — you just know they were Eddie Haskell types way back when — are playing along, is fascinating from multiple angles.
Retiring, polarizing and proselytizing megastar future Hall of Famer? Ray Ray will do.
Compelling quarterback matchup? Colin Kaepernick and Joe Flacco, absolutely yes.
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Christmas came early for Giants and A’s fans this season, in two fairly different forms.The Giants’ gift to their wildly fortunate fan base was straightforward. And as far as gifts go, it was pretty inexpensive.It was the gift of continuity, in the form of bringing back virtually every meaningful piece of the team that gave its city a second world title in three years.
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How did we get from hand-wringing panic heading into Sunday’s game in New England to hang-wringing panic in the wake of an epic upset?
By falling into the all-too-easy trap that is being a 49ers fan.
We’re never gonna make it. ... We’re all gonna die. ... Look at all of these new problems to worry about!
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As you read this today, I’ll likely be in the icy Pacific Ocean off the coast of Aptos, atop a boogie board. Grinning ear to ear, I’ll be dropping into a smallish wave that will take me all the way to the shore and into the unconditionally giddy embrace of my 8- and 9-year-old daughters.Unless, of course, they drop into the wave before me — or muscle me off it.
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