Football

The offense is in a state of flux, but the 49ers will make the playoffs on the play of the defense. [SFGate]

Mike Singletary's actions point to him being less stubborn than we think. [SFGate]

Mark Purdy flip flops on Alex Smith and apologizes. [SJ Merc]

Singletary was impressed by the leadership from his offensive players. [Press Democrat]

Basketball

You know how the Warriors need a true point guard? Well, apparently there's a ton in the NBA today. [SFGate]

The bottom 10 plays from the Raiders Thanksgiving loss to the Cowboys. [SFGate]

Baseball

Pay the man. [SFGate]

The A's are showing interest in a Cuban defector, just not the good one. [CC Times]

Football

Singletary is starting to feel the sting of losing and things not going according to plan. [SJ Merc]

Bill Belichick and Bill Walsh have three Super Bowl rings a piece, but Belichick's coaching tree isn't growing like Walsh's did. [SFGate]

The 49ers need continuity on offense. [Press Democrat] It's interesting that Mike Johnson (QB Coach) spent his year away from football getting his college degree AND studying the spread offense. Hmm. Jimmy Raye's longest run as an OC was three seasons. Hmmm. Also, Allen Rossum was cut by the Cowboys because he couldn't stay healthy, the same reason the 49ers cut him earlier this season.

The 49ers dropped the tampering charges against the Jets. [Sac Bee]

Tom Cable punted on 4th and 1 and then thouhgt about going for two instead of the tie. [CC Times]

Basketball

Don Nelson won't make the Texas road trip with the Warriors as he battles pneumonia. [SFGate]

Pneumonia is a hell of an excuse to get away. [CC Times]

Nelson is sick as a dog and CJ Watson is recovering from swine flu. No wonder Jackson wanted to leave so bad. [CC Times]

Football

Is it time for the Niners to tailor the offense to Smith's strengths? [SFGate] It already feels like it's a game too late. But, it might not matter. Alex Smith is not the future of the 49ers. Colt McCoy anyone?

Mark Purdy seconds the notion that Alex Smith isn't the answer. [SJ Merc] Here is the key quote from Alex Smith that highlights the notion: "I think we came out, for whatever reason, apprehensive, cautious and kind of waiting for somebody to make a play." When you are the #1 overall pick, YOU aren't suposed to be apprehensive. YOU are supposed to make plays. I've been a staunch Smith supporter since he was drafted, making various excuses for his play. But, it's over, Smith is not the answer.

Gradkowski brings a much needed energy to the Raiders. [SFGate]

With the playoffs now pretty much a pipe dream, Maiocco outlines the 49ers remaining goals. [Press Democrat]

The 49ers' coaches put a bad gameplan together despite hacing extra time to prepare. [Sac Bee]

Jerry Mac's Raiders post game wrap. [CC Times]

Top 10 plays from yesterday's Raiders win. [SFGate]

Baseball

The A's signed Dallas McPherson. [CC Times]

Some Giants notes, including the notion of moving Freddie Sanchez to third if they acquired Dan Uggla. Not good. [SFGate]

Basketball

The glass is half full at the Fast Break Warriors blog. [SJ Merc]

Baseball

Lincecum wins the Cy Young and talks about getting busted. [SJ Merc]

Rob Neyer takes a closer look at NL Cy Young balloting. [ESPN]

The Giants are unlikely to go adter Matt Holliday or Jason Bay. [SFGate]

Football

Niners need to limit the YAC on Sunday. [SJ Merc]

Becuase you were dying to know, Q&A with Bruce Gradkowski. [CC Times]

Basketball

* The Warriors are playing with a lot more heart now that Jackson is gone. To bad they have played the Cavs and Celtics on the road. [SF Gate]

* Where will Monta end up? How about the Warriors!? [SJ Merc]

Baseball

* The Chronicle proves once again that they don't know anything about sports. [SF Gate]

Basketball

Warriors lose to the Cavaliers. RT, did they cover? Also, an update of the "Big Meeting" tomorrow between management and Monta Ellis. LeBron James was giving Stephen Curry advice after the game. LBJ a GSW next year? I kid. I kid. [CC Times]

Baseball

Andrew Bailey won the Rookie of the Year, now the A's need to find one that swings a bat. [SFGate]

Lincecum has to go to court before the judge signs off on his pot ticket. Can't blame the judge for wanting an autograph, right? [SFGate]

Football

Matt Wilhelm stepped up nicely when he came in for a hurting Takeo Spikes who may still be out Sunday. [Sac Bee]

No starting QB has been announced for the Raiders, but there's other stuff to talk about, too. [SFGate]

Chris Johnson and his quest for 2,000 yards rushing. [NY Times]

by RT


The day of reckoning has finally come and the Warriors get a B+ for how they handled the Stephen Jackson situation. As I have written in the past, the Warriors should have told Jackson he was not welcome at practice or at games and told him that he would not be traded. Simply put – “you can come out of your room when you are ready to play nice.” Of course, the only team to actually go through with such a threat was the Denver Broncos this last summer with Brandon Marshall. Amazingly enough, Marshall is headed for the Pro Bowl as a Bronco and not a Charger or Cowboy. Of course, there was no guarantee this strategy would have worked with Jackson.
When Al Harrington got traded this time last year, the event was permanently etched in the head of Jackson and his agent. While Captain Jack gave the Warriors everything they wanted and more, the team continued to lose and he had to start thinking – “I am stuck with this team that will not be a winner for at least another two years.” The reality is that most NBA players want to win unless they are living in New York, LA or Miami. The New York Knicks have been terrible over the past 7 season and the only player that has requested a trade was Starbury, who is at least 30 cards short of a full deck. So while Al Harrington is eating steak at Angelo and Maxie’s with super models, Jackson is stuck in Oakland going nowhere fast. For the Warriors, the Al Harrington trade was a disaster because he got exactly what he wanted while the Warriors got nothing in return. The Warriors were not about to let a player get exactly what he wanted again.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Warriors must have narrowed their trade partners down to all the terrible teams in the league and the teams that do not play in the above-mentioned cities. This list of teams was short to say the least. As any good trader knows, the best trade is often the one you didn’t make. With that thinking in mind, the GM of the Bucks, T-wolves, Pacers, Jazz, Grizzles and Kings need to be given a lot of credit for not getting involved in the Stephen Jackson trade talks. However, the Bobcats, a train wreck of a franchise in their own right, could not stay away.

In a lot of respects, this trade was a huge in for the Warriors.

* They get a significant amount (~$21 mm) in savings over the next 3 years.

* Monta Ellis now has to take the team seriously when they tell him – “If you don’t want to stay, your options are Utah, Sacramento or Minnesota.”

* The Warriors have not righted the ship, not even close, but the die-hard fans now know that the Warriors realize how poorly they handled the Harrington trade last year.

The only real negative in all of this is that the Cavs were likely offering two expiring contracts for Jackson which would have been nice trade chips later this winter. However, most fans don’t understand the mutiny which would have occurred if Jackson would have ended up in Cleveland. Think about it – one guy gets to play in the best city in the world and the other guy gets to play with the best player in world. If I was a janitor at Oracle, I would have asked for a trade to the Staples Center because there was no reason to believe I wouldn’t get it.

Finally, I think I speak for most Warriors fans when I say that Stephen Jackson still has some good basketball in him. He is a very unique player that can not only guard the best players in the world but he can also score from about anywhere on the court. However, his best Warriors days were behind him. He needed to be a mentor to the younger players on an off the court. He needed to play the point forward that looked to create mismatches on the offensive end. He needed to teach this team how winning in the NBA is about sacrificing for the good of the team. The bottom line is that the Warriors needed him and he didn’t want them. It was time for him to go.

And yes, there is such a thing as addition by subtraction.

Basketball

Big news of the day: The Warriors traded Stephen Jackson and Acie Law to the Bobcats for Raja Bell and Vladamir Radmonovic. [CC Times] RT, will have something a little more in-depth later today, but the Warriors definitely are "winners" in this trade. The team could be worse without Jackson from a talent standpoint, but the Warriors weren't going to the playoffs. Sorry Dubs fans. Acie Law and Raja Bell are on expiring deals. Radmonovic has a $6.9M option for next season, while Jackson has $28M over the NEXT three years, not counting 2009. We'll wait and see if RT thinks there is any more wheeling and dealing left.

Kawkami chimes in, from vacation. [SJ Merc]

Football

The Raiders' failures are directly related to their last three 1st round picks: Russell, McFadden and Heyward-Bey. [CC Times] I'll even expand on the last 10 Raiders' first round picks: Michael Huff, Fabian Washington, Robert Gallery, Nnamdi Asomugha, Philip Buchanon, Derek Gibson, Seabstian Janikowski. One great player, Asomugha, and the rest is garbage.

Gwen Knapp summarizes the Alex Smith experiment. [SFGate]

JaMarcus Russell, still bad. [SFGate]

Stanford is the Bay Area feel good football story. [SJ Merc]

Matt Maiocco presents the 49ers road to a Wild Card slot. [Press Democrat]

How an uncapped 2010 affects the 49ers roster. [Sac Bee]

Football

Kawakami sums it up best: "Josh McDaniels saved the 49ers season…by trading Jay Cutler to the Bears last off-season." [SJ Merc]

It's about a 50/50 chance Frank Gore will become the 49ers all-time leading rusher. Raise your hand if you knew who the current all time rushing leader was? You're lying. [ProFootballReference]

Matt Wilhelm made some big plays filling in for Take Spikes. [SFGate]

Post game quotes from both locker rooms. [Press Democrat]

You know it's bad when Mark Roman gets an INT on you. He hadn't had one since 2006! [SJ Merc]

The loss was not entirely Cutler's fault. [NFP]

You want to watch the Raiders on Sunday? Well, you better buy a ticket. [Sac Bee]

Baseball

John Shea tries to forecast the bad contracts that will be offered this off season. [SFGate]

Hockey

Sharks blow a two goal lead and then lose in shoot out. Whatever, wake me when it's the playoffs. [SJ Merc]

Football

* Bears-Niners! It looks like I am not the only one who likes the Niners in this one. [SF Gate]

* Apparently, the Niners are having a bad season because of little mistakes. I thought not having a quarterback was a HUGE mistake!? [SJ Merc]

* Some Raiders lineman is doing well ... besides his Mom and Dad, nobody cares. [CC Times]

Basketball

* Koski and I came up with a new plan for the Warriors yesterday. Instead of trading Jackson, they should keep him, have the second worst record in the league (no place suck like New Jersey), draft John Wall out of Kentucky and trade Curry to the Knicks for the top pick for the next four years. I really don't see how this does not make the team better in 2013. [SJ Merc]

* TK thinks Curry will be fine. Agreed. [SJ Merc]

The fact that Kawakami felt he had to write this article is embarrassing. [SJ Merc]

Football

The most over-hyped non-story of the week: Vernon Davis' supposed bulletin board material, “The guys up front, I think we can destroy them. I don’t see anything spectacular about their front line.” Whatever. It's two teams without a winning record playing in the middle of November, not Joe Namath before Super Bowl III. Retarded. [SJ Merc]

Is there anything Stanford football announcer, Bob Murphy can't do? [SF Merc]

Basketball

WTF?!?!?! Were in the second week of the NBA season and the All Star ballots are out? [SFGate]

You know what's not helping the Warriors trade Stephen Jackson? Everybody saying the need to trade him. [SFGate] P.S. It's not going to help.

Baseball

Baggarly sees Molina's chances of returning to the Giants somewhere between remote and unlikely. [SJ Merc]

Hockey

Dan Boyle, last night's hero. [SFGate]

Basketball

* Let me get this straight ... if Stephen Jackson distributes the ball and plays the big point guard the team needs to have Monta play his natural position at point guard, the Warriors are really good!? I have no idea who would have thought that was a good idea. [SF Gate]

* Am I the only one that finds it ironic that Stephen Jackson's agent is ripping the only coach who could make his client look good enough to get a ridiculous long term contract? [SF Gate]

* Jackson will be gone in a few weeks. Challenge. [Yahoo Sports]

Baseball

* The Dominican Republic is a really shady place. [SF Gate]

Football

* Chiefs v. Raiders this weekend. Yikes. [CC Times]

* At what point can Singletary say "we are sticking with the quarterback that gives us the best chance to take the highest rated quarterback in next year's draft" [CC Times]

Football

Ugly 49ers loss yesterday with 4 turnovers leading to 24 points for the Titans. Officially, MAYDAY! [SJ Merc]

Matt Maiocco breaks down each turnover concludes that Alex Smith's eyes betrayed him. [Press Democrat]

Jerry Mac looks ahead at the Raiders' remaining schedule. [CC Times]

Things aren't too friendly between the NFLPA and the League. [CC Times]

Gwen Knapp doesn't like Thurdsday NFL games. [SFGate]

Mike Lombardi's First Half thoughts. [NFP]

Lombardi mentions the 49ers are in a tough spot and I tend to agree. Before the losing streak, I was content to wait out Hill and let him manage. Hill's inability to make all the NFL throws (15 yard outs, especially) caused him to be benched. Smith has a better arm, but makes too many turnovers. I was close to dead set on not taking a QB with one of the two 1st round picks next season, but unless Smith shows A LOT more down the stretch, I'll take Bradford, McCoy or Claussen next April.

Baseball

Names being linked to the A's: Chone Figgins, Vlad Guerrero. [CC Times]

Angel Villalona's trial should begin soon, maybe? God bless the USA court system (weird, right?) [SJ Merc]

Basketball

RT, how does it feel when the Warriors' season is over five games into the schedule? [SJ Merc]

MTII's post game wrap including: Cap'n Jack no likey Omri Casspi. [CC Times]

Baseball

Lincecum got busted. I hope he wins the Cy Young even more now. [SFGate]

Baggarly with some clever taunts Lincecum may hear in the future. [SJ Merc]

Tsk, tsk, tsk, Ray Ratto, you're old and out of touch. [SFGate]

Football

Ratto reminds Raiders fans that they have not sunk as low as possible. [SFGate]

2008 First round pick, Kentwan Balmer, will see increased playing time over the next few weeks. [Press Democrat]

Kevin Lynch's plan on implementing a spread offense. Slowly. [SFGate]

Usually, teams like to lay low on a bye week. The Raiders can't help themselves. [CC Times]

Basketball

Warriors-Clippers preview. (Everybody, but RT yawns.) [SFGate]

Hockey

Sharks, lose? Sharks lose. [SFGate]

Soccer

Women's soccer, dirtier than you think. [Deadspin]

Basketball

Hey Warriors fans! Are you ready for some Anthony Randolph? Too bad. [SJ Mercs]

It's game three and Scott Ostler is calling it a "must win?" Stupid. [SFGate]

Football

Ray Ratto's one-year assessment of Singletary. [SFGate]

Kawakami says the second half of the season will test Singletary's abilities. [SJ Merc]

Everybody's asking why the 49ers didn't spread out their offense against Indy. Matt Maiocco has your answer. [Press Democrat]

Baseball

John Shea with predictable hind sight. [SFGate]

Watch some young A's in the Arizona Fall League on the MLB Network. [CC Times]

Football

* It's funny that the Raiders are thinking about firing Cable because of his off the field issues. I would fire him for his on-the-field issues. [SF Gate]

* His defense did not give up a touchdown pass to Peyton Manning and almost beat the best team in the NFL. The week before his team was getting blown out on the road and they had a chance to tie or win the game at the end. However, Kawakami wonders if Singletary can coach. Personally, I think he has a legitimate question here. [SJ Merc]

* Besides Cam "Dwight Howard can dunk hard so the Magic are better than the Lakers" Inman, who cares what Lane Kiffin thinks about the Raiders? [CC Times]

Baseball

* The Giants have developed one major league hitter from within the organization in the last 15 years. Makes sense to promote one of the minor league coaches to the Giants hitting coach. They are killing it in the Giants building these days! It is time to throw a parade! [SF Gate]

* Would anybody be "shocked" if the Phillies won the World Series? Seriously. [CNNSI]

Basketball

* Azubuike will start. In other news, Nellie is still playing Stephen Jackson so who cares. [SJ Merc]