Hello Top 25

ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. Pittsburgh (29) 15-0 773
2. Duke 14-1 729
3. Wake Forest (2) 14-0 725
4. Connecticut 14-1 660
5. Oklahoma 15-1 617
6. North Carolina 14-2 611
7. UCLA 13-2 576
8. Syracuse 16-1 560
9. Clemson 16-0 528
10. Michigan State 13-2 503
11. Texas 12-3 421
12. Georgetown 11-3 365
13. Notre Dame 12-3 363
14. Marquette 15-2 353
15. Arizona State 14-2 328
16. Xavier 13-2 279
17. Minnesota 15-1 262
18. Butler 14-1 256
19. Purdue 12-4 182
20. Louisville 11-3 173
21. Baylor 13-2 159
22. Villanova 13-3 110
23. California 15-2 109
24. Michigan 13-3 78
25. Saint Mary's 15-1 62

Lets Go

I didn't forget the Gallopping Gaels...

Me and a couple buddies were able to shake off the dust and finally get out to Moraga to see Saint Mary's take on hated rival Santa Clara.

It wasn't the best game - the Gaels were barely able to make 1/3 of their shots, some sloppy turnovers, and the Broncos were out for blood.

And then the guy that sells the tickets made everyone go home happy - except for the Broncos that is.

Patty Mills didn't make alot of shots, he had some bad turnovers, had some lay ups blocked, and didn't even seem to be a focal point of the offense towards the end of the game - until the last shot, they set the, got him open and he drained a three with less than three seconds left to give the Gaels a scrappy 62-63 win.

I think Mills showed he's as cool as the other side of the pillow, hitting nothing but net despite having gone 3/12 from beyond the arc before the game-winner.

This was a nice win to see, because in past years, we couldn't close games in which we didn't shoot lights out. This game, the defense kept it close, with Omar Sahman actually being a defensive difference maker and Saint Mary's showing the ability to get boards and some easy buckets from inside the paint. In past years, this would be have been a letdown loss that gave Gonzaga the window to walk away with the conference.

I told the boys Friday, and I will state it again - if SMC ends up in the tournament anywhere near the left coast, we HAVE to go - even if its just to see them dumped in the first round...

(On a side note, it was AWESOME to see people tailgating in the parking lot before a big WCC home game. Maybe the school will finally devote the money to making it a top flight program so we don't lose the nice roll we're on)

OC search uninspiring...

Well, the 49ers OC search is well under way.

So far, the three candidates are former Rams head coach Scott Linehan, Colts receivers coach Clyde Christensen, and the most recent interviewee, former Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski.

Wait, who? We fired Martz and are talking to a failed head coach who drove our best receiver (Isaac Bruce) out of St. Louis, a wide receivers coach, and an OC who just got fired after failing to score a touchdown in his final 6 games of 2008.

I'm glad the team has heeded my advice of making sure, if we fire Martz, to bring in someone measurably better. None of these candidates seem to fit that mold.

The most interesting candidate thus far is Chudzinski. While he had a down year this year, after watching some Browns games on the NFL Sunday Ticket, it didn't seem like play calling was the issue - the Browns seemed to fail more to a lack of effort by their star players. Braylon Edwards dropped alot of passes, and Derek Anderson seemed sluggish.

Plus, Chudzinski has a history of working well with tight ends - he was the TE coach in San Diego when Antonio Gates decided to get SILLY, and he was the offensive coordinator last year when the Browns were a high powered offense that went 10-6. From what I've seen, he seems like the best candidate since he's had recent success, and he just got fired, so his chances of bolting for a head coaching vacancy in a year or two are slim.

Matt Maiocco had some things to say about Chudzinski and his work with tight ends, and how it could affect perennial dissapointment Vernon Davis:

http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers/2009/01/chudzinski-meets-with-singletary-mccloughan.html

I'll be interested to hear what other coaches come in to interview, as it appears chemistry with head coach Mike Singletary will be a huge deciding factor in who becomes the next OC.

Matt Barrows of the Sac Bee seems to think Linehan is the favorite in the clubhouse, and also has some thoughts on this incoming off season:

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/49ers/

Interesting Nuggets: The possibility of drafting USC's Rey Maualuga or Florida's Percy Harvin. Both address needs, and while niether adress the team's biggest holes (RT, Safety, Pass Rushing OLB, QB) , they are both excellent college players who would be solid additions to the team, as well as present the best possible value at pick #10. I would be happy to see either on the team, depending on who else is on the board, of course

Barrows also dropped a sick Harvin highlight film on us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt68j3UjyZI

And I have to applaud Barrows for his take on Tim Tebow. I personally wuoldn't mind drafting Tebow and SLOWLY trying to develope him into an NFL QB - but I have long agreed that he gets so much man-love from the press that it is rediculous.

Here is what Barrows had to say:

"I know this won't win over any readers in the Sunshine State, but if I hear another word about what a great guy Tim Tebow is, I'm going to hurl my body out of a third-story window. I've never heard two grown men gush over another man like announcers Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis did Thursday night. To paraphrase Brennaman: To spend just 15 minutes with Tebow is to improve your life. What?!!? Are you freakin' schoolgirls? It sounded like those two had joined a Tim Tebow cult, and by the end of the broadcast I was urging them to drink the Kool-aid. Oklahoma fans must have tuned in and thought they were getting the Gainesville, Fla. broadcast. They hardly said anything about the Sooners quarterback, who, you know, actually won the Heismann this year. The icing on the cake came in the end when, after hours of listening to The Amazing Tales of Tebow, the golden boy was slapped with a taunting penalty. Doh!"

BURN! That being said, I have no problem nabbing Tebow in the third round or later...

Bloggin' Live from NFL Playoff viewing

I love the Ravens


I am watching the Ravens-Titans playoff game right now, and Ray Lewis just killed FB Ahmad Hall as he got the first down to get the Titans out of their own end zone.


Whew - his helmet flew off like it was Madden 09. Ray Lewis and crew sure brings an intensity that it doesn't seems like many other teams have.


Let me just say this - I know sportsbook.com bugged my house, and purposely blocked me from entering their site - because 8 minutes after kickoff, the site was up and running


My Ravens bet, while never booked, is hitting through halftime...

UPDATE: The Ravens pull out a squeaker, 13-10. Of course, they forced a timely turnover when they needed it most (And of course, they wont the turnover battle 3-0). I love watching this team.

Giants news I can take

Well, even though the Giants have already added 5 players this off season, the rumor mill wont leave them alone.

Jayson Stark is reporting the Giants cannot afford Manny Ramirez.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3814396

Thank god!

I have to admit - seeing big Ole #99 hitting third and playing left is a sexy idea, but in all reality, it wouldn't work.

First, like the article said - they cannot afford him.

Second, after doing a little poking around, he is a type A free agent. While the Giants first pick is protected because its a top 15 pick, they would lose their second rounder and hinder the youth movement they are trying to build.

In other words? I'm already over Manny.

Plus, the Giants can contend in a weak NL West without him. Would Manny really make them title contenders?

I'm not the only one who thinks so:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9000272/Rebuilding-Giants-heading-in-the-right-direction

Which lead me to Ken Rosenthall, who is reporting Nick Swisher is available:

Nick Swisher might not be a Yankee for long. The signing of free agent Mark Teixeira eliminated any chance of Swisher playing first base, and the team's outfield surplus almost certainly will lead to a trade.
Both Swisher and Xavier Nady are drawing significant interest, according to major-league sources. The Yankees are not in a rush to trade either; their only desire is to make the best possible deal.
The versatility of both players is appealing; Nady plays both outfield corners and first base, while Swisher plays all three outfield positions and first.
Nady, 30, is a free agent after next season. Swisher, 28, is signed through 2011 with a club option for '12. Either would be more affordable to the Giants than Ramirez. Swisher also would fit for the Braves and Pirates.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9036288/Manny-in-L.A.-still-makes-sense

The minute I heard Tex was going to the Yankees, I called for a bay area reunion for Swisher and the Giants - if nothing else but Swish doesn't belong on a team with facial hair constrictions.

http://samadamsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/12/big-unit-becomes-giant.html

He is signed long term, is only 28, can play all three outfield positions AND first base, and has hit 35 home runs in a season. Not to say he can hit 25 at Pac Bell, but he can field, he can get on base, and he can put a charge into a ball left out over the plate

I couldn't imagine him being to expensive - the Yankees aren't going to start him, and they can use pitching - something the Giants can afford to part with - and I seriously doubt any the team's starting five pitchers wold be necessary to get a deal done.

GM Brian Sabean has had a very solid off season, and I am not the only one who thinks so. If the team does nothing else, they have improved the line up with a full season of Pablo Sandoval and Edgar Renteria, improved the bullpen, and strengthened the starting rotation. While adding a large veteran presence, he has done nothing to hinder the youth movement. Acquiring a guy like Swisher could push this scrappy team over the top to contend in 2009.

49ers OC Drama

When Mike Singletary was asked how quickly he would like to fill the vacant Offensive Coordinator position, his response was "Yesterday."

I hope he didn't think he missed some sort of deadline...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/06/SPDI154P48.DTL

So far, there has been very little other than speculation coming from Santa Clara - and really no names have given me any hope that they will do a better job than Mike Martz did.

Singletary has spoken to the hearts of 49ers fans, trying to dismiss that he is a "three yards and a cloud of dust" coach and especially when saying he wants to mirror the offense of beloved Bill Walsh.

The one coach Singletary has mentioned wanting to talk to, Tom Rathman, brings back more fond championship memories, but figures to be a risky pick for OC and may not even be let go by Al Davis.

But everything else seems to contradict that open minded balanced team. Singletary wants a team that can "impose its will," on other teams, being able to run the ball when the other team knows its coming.

THAT sounds like a Mike Nolan, "tackle #69 is eligible," unimaginative type offense to me...

Matt Barrows has some interesting thoughts on the position, including throwing Scott Linehan's name into the hat

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/49ers/

I really like the idea of bringing Rathman back to coach the RBs (Frank Gore would probably love him) and be the OC in waiting, taking on a bigger role with the offense and the philosophy, so that when we eventually lose the man ahead of him, we have a replacement ready to step in.

At this point, I really don't have a candidate I'm endorsing for the job, mainly because we don't know who is being considered. All I know is this is Singletary's single most important decision of his short head coaching career. The right move could catapult them into contention, the wrong move could make the offense look like i did when Norv Turner left (yikes)!

I Smell Bacon

I hope people have been following the controversial BART shooting from New Years

For those who haven't seen the video, here is the link to KTVU.com :

http://www.ktvu.com/video/18425287/index.html

I hope people are as OUTRAGED as I am. This is absolutely unacceptable - and needs to be dealt with NOW.

The SF Chronicle had some experts look at the video - here is an interesting article about their thoughts:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/06/MNOV154P0R.DTL&tsp=1

I hope the family gets every penny of that 25 million dollars.

Manny Watch

Usually I complain that there isn’t any news during the winter vacation season (Christmas and New Years), but one of two things have happened – either baseball executives aren’t taking any breaks, or the rumor mill refused to die down when news is traditionally slow.

Anyone who reads this blog (AKA The person I asked to check it out today) will know I post the blogs I’m following on the right, and they are showing the Giants to be interested in both Manny Ramirez and Joe Crede.

Wow. This really isn’t the offseason most expected.

I am also torn. The Giants veterans were the boring ones to watch last year. While these moves almost certainly make them the favorites to win the west, it also doesn’t leave a lot of open spots for young players to develop.

Lets look at the pros on cons:

Signing Manny/Crede Pros: This gives the team of the most feared hitters in the game, and makes the entire line up better by giving the team a legitimate #3 hitter and moving other hitters down in the line-up. It improves the team defensively as well, since Crede is a good glove at third, and Manny can probably do as well as Fred Lewis in left. The downside of hindering the youth movement is offset if management has already determined young players like Nate Schierholtz or Lewis are no more than part time players, with no reinforcements at AAA. So why not splurge for short term splurge contention, while mixing in young players over the next few years when our biggest contracts run out.

Cons: This looks a lot like a couple years ago – Have the big bat in the middle of the line-up, fill it in with good veteran hitters who play good defense, and fill the stadium with people who want to see Manny hit a homerun. This seems to be a departure from last year’s youth movement and you have to wonder if investing in Manny will lead to contention, or another Bonds-esque headache.

Also, a big offseason haul does not make teams instant contenders. While these pieces seem to fit, there is no guarantee the team will gel. It’s just as likely the Diamondbacks have THEIR young players finally put it together and become the team everyone thought they were going to be last year, When Justin Upton was tearing the cover off the ball and they looked like they were going to walk to 100 wins and a Brandon Webb Cy Young.

Verdict? I figure people should just lay back and see how things play out. This could make the 2009 Giants a title contender, or it could blow up in their faces. Or maybe GM Brian Sabean decided he wasn’t going to sit on his hands and let the Dodgers keep Manny without making sure the price tag is steep enough.

Here is what Ray Ratto had to say about it in today’s Chron…

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/03/SPR2153B2A.DTL&feed=rss.giants

Gran Torino - MUST SEE !!!

Among the not-so-many things I did over my vacation was catch a couple movies.

And while I didn’t enjoy Will Smith’s Seven Pounds (let’s just say my eyes rolled as I typed that), I loved Gran Torino.

Clint Eastwood has a magic touch, a way of telling a story that seems, well, different.

The incredible detail he uses from the opening scene is amazing, something I didn’t pay as close attention to until watching it a second time (I know! I told you its good).

It starts at a funeral, Eastwood (playing disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski) at the front of the church. While we don’t yet know who’s funeral it is, you can see the scowl on Eastwood’ face as he watches grandchildren enter, none of whom are dressed accordingly, acting properly, or even know the correct way to give the sign of the cross when entering the pew.

The next shot shows Clint’s grown sons, complaining that they cannot please him, yet just totally ignoring the notion that perhaps their own children should take off the Lions jersey and put on something a little more funeral appropriate-or at least stop texting during the service.

As the story goes on, we learn the funeral was for Eastwood’s wife, a deeply religious woman, showing why he took these gestures as so disrespectful-not necessarily to himself, but to the woman he loved that has passed on.

All this leads up to one major plotline – Clint Eastwood is F-ing old school in this movie. He worked in a Ford plant, he sits on his front stoop and PBRs with his dog Daisy, American flag waving over a neighborhood he was once proud of, but is now surrounded by minorities. He is cynical, hard headed – old school.

But there is one old-school characteristic of Eastwood that isn’t as charming – he’s racist. I mean, he was dropping racist terms that made some of my friends look at me and ask if it was really a racially charged word or not.

I mean, when is the last time you heard the term zipper-head?

And Eastwood nails this racist role – starting from when he tells the neighborhood Hmong kid that he doesn’t have any jumper cables, and the very next scene he’s giving one of his guests a jump.

This shows a part of America we think, or hope, doesn’t exist anymore – but it does.

I won’t spoil the plot, because nothing I have talked about happens more than 10-15 minutes into the movie, but through some circumstances the young boy next door, Thao (who Eastwood has nicknamed Toad) begins working for Eastwood, and through the hard work he puts in with Clint, he eventually begins to stop seeing people in color, and start seeing people in terms of their values. At one point, he actually acknowledges he has more in common with the Hmong neighbors than he does with his own sons.

Well, that is all I will ramble on about this movie. Go see it. And if you are not convinced yet, know this – Clint Eastwood is a bad ass in this movie. I believe the best line was somewhere in the middle of the flick, when staring down a gang of three kids that is mistreating a young neighborhood girl, Eastwood steps out of the car.

“Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have fucked with? That's me.”

If that doesn’t convince you to see this flick, then nothing will.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Well - there goes another overrated holiday !!! Not that I don't enjoy the time off...

I hope everyone else has.

Among the things I have done while off - NOT work, played-out Guitar Hero, watched hours of football, texted too much and never once touched the blog.

I also did some drawing, which I thought I'd share below

So much happened over the vacation, I'll be catching up with my nosey opinions soon.