An Even Year

Special delivery from Santa

Santa Claus ---  I was not like most kids because I never stopped believing in Santa Claus. And boy has it paid off dividends through the decades.  This Christmas for one of the few times, I happen to catch Santa as he was coming through the fireplace.  He thanked me for requesting the 49er barbeque cover.  I told Santa that tape would not work anymore on my old cover.  He remarked that the 49er cover which use to be very popular had very few requests this year and he questioned me why.  I explained to him that the Niners have disappointed their fans this year and there is a feeling in Sacramento that barbeques will be out lawed in the state in the next few years.  Santa replied  for environmental reasons?  I told him perhaps partly but really they don't think it is safe to eat all that meat and we should not put ourselves in danger.  Or it could be the legislators putting the pressure on Weber and other competing companies to increase their anti to Sacramento.  But remember our leaders in Sacramento always know what is best for us.

New Years Resolution --- One of my New Years Resolutions  was to cut the alcohol consumption.  I just returned home from Church on New Years Day and my wife asked, "Can we have a silver fizz while we watch the Rose Parade?"  The temptation was too great and I said, "yes".  It reminded me of Adam and Eve.  I know there are hundreds of theologians around the world  that will tell you that it is  just an old wise tale.  I hate tell these pot smoking thinkers that the reality of Adam and Eve is repeated a million times a day.




Bush exchanges Masonic handshake

Super Bowl 'L' ---  I happened to hear the President of Super Bowl 'L' interviewed and one of the subjects discussed was safety.  He emphasized the cooperation between Homeland Security and all the agencies around Bay Area.  Can anyone really feel safe with Homeland Security involved?  You certainly can't believe them. They have not been either efficient or truthful with the American people. I always wondered why we needed another agency after 9/11 when we have the FBI and the US Army.  It took an Ivy League grad to create such a monstrosity. 

Old # 98 T. Harmon in a 1939 photo

Football Uniforms ---  My wife said the Tampa Bay Bucs in all red/orange uniforms  appeared as they were devils in their game against the all yellow Ram uniforms including shoes that  made it look as if there was a flag on every play.   It became known as the mustard vs ketchup game.  We reported on the all red Bills vs all green uniform Jets game in our last blog.  Since that time it was discovered that color blind people had a very difficult time watching the game because they could not distinguish the teams.  The first team in college football to have a distinguished helmet was the Michigan Wolverines which was done so that their color blind quarterback could tell the difference between teams.   The same helmet design remains today. The picture also shows how you can eliminate face mask penalties

Beards --- I am not a fan of having a beard so I admit I am prejudice when I say they look horrible. Recently there have been a rash of media and other personalities  showing off new beards.  They might be the smart ones.  With the 4th Crusade coming the only way they might be able to defend themselves when they are attacked is to say "Don't shoot, we're one of you!"

NBA ---  Mark Jackson the former Warrior coach and TV analyst made quite a few headlines when he said Curry was bad for basketball with kids shooting 30 foot shots.  If we followed his lead  basketball would still feature two handed push shot.

The Warriors ---  The team only had 8 available players at the end of their last game.  They are killing themselves in games that mean absolutely nothing.  If they lose10 games  during the season and the 8th place team who they would face  losses 45 games, the Warriors get one more home game in the playoffs.  Big deal!

The Giants ---It was no secret that the Giants needed to add two starting pitchers to their staff.  They accomplished this goal by signing Cueto and Samardzija.  I like the fact that they both pitch around 200 innings a season so perhaps the always over worked bullpen will get a little more rest this year.  These signings  makes the Giants' a legitimate contender.  Remember this is an even year and the pressure is on. There is talk about signing an outfielder but I think that's all it is ...talk.  I believe Parker can handle left field.  One writer commented that after he hit three long homeruns against Oakland he went back to striking out.  Baloney!  In the last week of the season following his home  run barrage he hit singles and doubles to raise his season average with the Giants to .347.  He struck out 21 times in 21 games and average of one a game. . . Juan Perez signed with the Cubs farm system.  Sorry to see him go and I wonder who will play centerfield for the Giants in September. . .  The Giants have been warned by Homeland Security not to bring hair dryers on the plane since they look too much like guns.

The Bowl Games ---  New Years Day use to be the big game day now it is New Years Eve.  I guess the NCAA doesn't realize people have to work for a living but the elite who run colleges live in their own little world.  TV ratings were way down.  I predicted that Clemson would beat Oklahoma and if Michigan State could get two big turn overs they would upset Alabama.  Turns out they would have needed about five defensive touchdowns.  I have Clemson winning the title.. .   Congratulations to Navy for winning the Military Bowl to complete a very successful season.

I also predicted that if Stanford could score 10 points they would beat Iowa.  That didn't take long in their complete rout of the Big Ten runner up.  It was the great play of Christian McCaffrey of Stanford  that saved the bowl TV day from being a complete disaster.  There is a lot of good running backs in college football who are exciting but they are all a notch below Stanford's #5 . . .   I also thought Notre Dame had a chance against Ohio State because the Buckeyes couldn't win their big games this year.  Wrong again!

The Pac 12 blew a big chance to gain tremendous recognition.  That fell apart when Oregon blew a 30 point lead when their coaches started fooling around with weird decisions.  Then Arizona State lost a tough game by one point on January 2.  Earlier in the bowl season UCLA lost to a sub .500 mediocre Nebraska team and USC lost to Wisconsin.  The Trojans barely prepared for the game practicing only seven times since they had already hired their coach. Guess there was nothing to play for.  Big mistake!  My thought that college football is made up of many stupid coaches was confirmed during the bowl season.

Black Monday ---  There are so many lousy NFL  teams that I thought that at least 15 coaches would get the ax on Black Monday.  So far it hasn't happened.  The first to go was Tomsula of the 49ers an hour or two after the Niners beat the Rams to lose any chance of getting the Cal QB in the draft.  The 49er leak still exist. Thought the President of the 49ers the reported source of the leaks was fired.  Guess not! Remember last year all the stories about Harbaugh setting him up to get fired.  Then this year it seems all the football world knew that Tomsula would not be back on Friday except the coach himself and the 49er CSBA insider Matt Maiocco who was left out of the loop because he told the truth too often.

Forty Niners Job ---There are plenty of well known names in line for the Forty Niner  head coaching job.  Wonder how many will still be interested after being interviewed by Baalke and Jed York who all 49er fans know are the ones who should have been fired.   Maybe the second best thing is to tell York to stay in Youngstown, OH and watch his team on Direct TV each week. 

Just heard that the 49ers asked permission from the Bengels to interview Hue Jackson.  He has been a phony from his days at UC and USC to the pros.  If he is hired they will be calling for Tomsula to come back, in a hurry.