With Mike Nolan, it was hard to know what to think. The team would look great one moment, and completely lost the next. We didn’t find out much about the quarterback competition between Shaun Hill and Alex Smith last night, but the team sure looks a lot more capable than they did under Denver’s new defensive coordinator.
Part of that could have been due to the fact that Nolan’s new team looks like they’ll give the Raiders a good run for last place in the AFC West. However, the 49ers look to have a pretty strong running game, receiving corps, secondary and linebackers. Their last draft looks like it was pretty fruitful if you ignore the whole Michael Crabtree mess, particularly Glen Coffee, Scott McKillop and Kory Sheets.
Too bad they don’t know who’s going to pass the ball or rush opposing passers. The 49ers won’t face many starting quarterbacks this season as bad as Kyle Orton, so they can’t plan on picking off three passes per game, and counting on Manny Lawson to do anything beyond making six freakishly athletic plays per season is foolish.
Singletary’s team has some warts, but at least they aren’t an embarrassment. After watching such a long era full of penalties, double-speak and bad suits, just the idea that San Francisco will again have a respectable group run onto the field every Sunday is a vast improvement.
News, notes, links and quotes
– Looks like the Niners will be without Thomas Clayton and Zak Keasey this year. (Matt Maiocco)
– I didn’t see any of today’s Giants game, so I not only missed what must have been a fabulous Fox Broadcast, I missed seeing Matt Cain bean David Wright. If Mets fans hated Cain after that, they’ll want to kill him after reading this quote about Pablo Sandoval’s homer two pitches after Santana tried to plunk Fat Ichiro in retaliation: “We got the best of it,” Cain said. “There’s probably no better feeling than getting thrown at and hitting a home run in the same at-bat. So good for him. It didn’t seem to bother him. He seems to shrug a lot of things off.” (Baggs)
– Pretty cool Sandoval was named the 3rd most exciting player in the National League behind Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez by NL Managers in a Baseball America survey. Have to figure by “player” BA meant “position player”, or else Tim Lincecum would have to be considered for the top spot — or at least No. 2. (The Splash)
– The top 10 clutch plays by Magic Johnson, without the baby hook in the 1987 NBA Finals. I know, sacrilege, but this video compilation works anyway. Watch for the woman holding a blue and gold CA vanity plate that reads “EMAGICJ”. You don’t see that much nowadays, the vanity plates at the game. That used to be a huge deal back in the ’80′s. (YouTube)
– “The Worst American Sports Writing,” starring Greg Bishop, Jets beat writer for the New York Times. One Jets fan describes him as “a fancy-pants version of Randy Cross…He might as well be writing about the Seahawks. He certainly gives the impression of someone who’s doing time on the beat because the Giants slot is taken.” C’mon, at least Cross is better than Bill Maas! (Deadspin)
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I thought the best of yesterdays game was Big Sugar tipping his cap to the Mets fans who were booing him when he got taken out.
Just awesome, it was the biggest passive eff you I may have ever seen.
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Actually, Cain’s cap-tipping wasn’t his version of saying “Child please” (thank you, Ochocinco) to Mets fans, according to Baggz:
“Cain tipped his cap as he came off the mound, which I’m sure the Mets fans didn’t appreciate. What they couldn’t have known is that the small contingent above the Giants dugout that stood and cheered him weren’t just any group of out-of-town Giants fans. They were the minority owners of the club, along with their families. Bill Neukom, Larry Baer and many of the investors accompanied the team to New York for the series. After Friday night’s loss, they were glad to have something to cheer — finally.
I’d tip my cap to the people who sign my checks, too.”
It looked like Bengie also gestured to the ownership group after his game-winning HR.
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For what it’s worth, one of Baggarly’s coworkers thinks Cain’s gesture was “the wrong thing to do.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_13132157?source=rss
After seeing the replay, Cain did look pretty pissed when he tipped his cap. Maybe he WAS saying “child please.”
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Hard-Knocks-One-episode-down-no-Bengals-have-b?urn=nfl,182619
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Oh, it wasn’t the thing to do, but it was rad.
It also got us a run after Fat Iciro pulled an Aurilia.
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Stank-eye?
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Homering after being thrown at.
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