Although many in the media are clamoring for the Giants to walk away from the contract with Barry Bonds, it wouldn’t make sense for either party. Bonds and the Giants need each other.Despite claims by his agent, no other team is interested in Bonds. All the problems he brings, the apparently failed amphetamines test the latest, are too much for another team that has no previous relationship with him.
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The hand of Don Nelson could be seen in the Warriors trade that brought them Al Harrington, among others, and got rid of two problems, Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy.In Nelson’s first tour with the Warriors, he was both coach and general manager. In a preseason meeting, I asked him how it would work this time.
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As Mike Nolan watched the more-talented San Diego Chargers fall to the New England Patriots in the AFC divisional playoffs, I wonder if he thought that he might someday be the kind of coach who can get his team to the playoffs but then fail. As Marty Schottenheimer does. As Nolan’s dad, Dick, also did.Dick Nolan did a masterly job of getting a 49ers team that had stumbled through most of the ’60s into the postseason for three straight years. But he could never get his team to the Super Bowl, losing three straight years in the playoffs to the Dallas Cowboys.
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Mark McGwire’s dismal showing in the Hall of Fame voting was obviously due to his link with steroids. In the NFL, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman was suspended for four games because of substance abuse, almost certainly steroids, yet nobody seemed to care. And Merriman made the Pro Bowl.On the surface, this difference in attitude towards steroids use in the two sports makes no sense.If anything, steroids use is more important in football — for linemen, on either side of the ball, and linebackers because strength is so important.
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Predictably, Jeff Tedford’s name came up last week on the list of possible choices for the Raiders’ next coach but don’t worry, Cal fans: Tedford’s not going there. And neither will any other top coaching prospect.An NFL coach is more of a CEO than a coach, letting his coordinators and other assistants do the hands-on coaching while he sets the overall tone of the team and deals with the media, not necessarily in that order.
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Mike Nolan is still defining himself as a head coach, and his firing of defensive coordinator Billy Davis is the latest illustration of that.When Nolan was hired as coach of the 49ers in the spring of 2005, he knew little beyond the fact that he wanted to be a head coach. For a time, he thought he could fill the combined role of coach and general manager. He finally discarded that idea after talking to Mike Holmgren, who had done both but was a better coach when he concentrated on that job.
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Barry Zito followed the athlete’s creed and the Giants seriously damaged their future by signing Zito to a record contract for a pitcher, $126 million for seven years.The last honest athlete was former 49ers safety Tim McDonald, who told his agent, Leigh Steinberg, "Show me the money."Since then, athletes have claimed they want to sign with a winner, but then take the highest offer.
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When the 49ers’ plan for a stadium in Santa Clara falls apart, as it will because John Yorkcouldn’t plan a two-car funeral, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom should be prepared with his own plan.Forget putting it within the San Francisco city limits. Both Candlestick Point and Hunter’s Point are deeply flawed sites and there is no other workable one.
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Will Al Davis have the courage to draft a quarterback No. 1? The Raiders should have a shot at either Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn or Ohio State’s Troy Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner, in April.They’re tied with the Detroit Lions for the worst record in the league at 2-12, with Tampa Bay at three wins. If they lose their last two games, which seems well within their grasp, they’ll be assured of one of the top two picks.
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Drafting Alex Smith was the best decision Mike Nolan has made as 49ers coach. Success in the NFL starts with the quarterback.Smith’s ability was obvious from the start to those of us who watch practices as well as games. But the question remained: Would he be tough enough mentally?
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The Raiders are clearly the most dysfunctional franchise in the Bay Area, but the Giants are closing on them.It was after the 2001 season, when Barry Bonds hit a record 73 home runs, that the Giants seem to have settled on their plan of surrounding Bonds with veteran players.It worked very well in 2002, when the Giants came so close to winning the World Series, but they’ve slipped every year since then.A comparison of that 2002 team with the one for 2007 that general manager Brian Sabean has put together so far shows just how far the Giants have slipped.
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This has been a very frustrating football season for Cal followers. This team had great talent, but it didn’t play that way often enough. Now the Golden Bears are going back to the Holiday Bowl, which should be renamed the Consolation Bowl.What can the Bears do to get to the Rose Bowl — or another BCS bowl?» Practice and play in the Holiday Bowl as if they’re playing for the national championship.
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The A’s got their man, Mike Piazza. Now, can the Giants reel in Barry Bonds?The Giants and Bonds need each other. Despite earlier talk about going young, the Giants have moved to basically put together the same old lineup — emphasis on old. The idea of turning their back on Bonds because they wanted to make a big change seems quaint now.Butthe players the Giants have signed — or, in the case of Ray Durham and Pedro Feliz, re-signed — are mostly mediocrities, right down to their latest signing, 32-year-old catcher Bengie Molina.
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Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby made the only decision he could Tuesday, firing Walt Harris as football coach.Bowlsby noted that the lagging attendance, even with a new stadium, was a factor because football helps pay the cost of Stanford’s program of 32 varsity sports, largest in the country.But there were more important factors. On Friday, I wrote about the discontent among Stanford alumni. There was also what amounted to a silent revolt among players.
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Walt Harris will be fired as Stanford coach. My sources tell me it could happen as early as Saturday, after the Big Game.Harris hasn’t made friends in his two years at Stanford. I seem to be the only one in the media who likes him. More important, he’s alienated influential alumni by his reaction to criticism in a 1-10 season. That’s critical at Stanford, where alumni often supplement coaching salaries, to bridge the gap from the relatively paltry amount the Stanford athletic department is willing to pay.
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