Falling A Sleep In Seattle! Niners Can’t Control The Noise Or Their Offense. Seattle – 29 San Francisco – 3

Good morning sports fans. Well we new at some point the ugly was coming, but it still doesn’t remove the pain. And we have to admit this one was ugly and painful. San Francisco had came off a big win against the Packers and were flying high. So they thought they could go up north, get some revenge for the last two losses that they had to suffer at the hands of the Seahawks, and that ever pressing, loud, and boisterous fan base. Well, that didn’t happen. The game looked like it was going to be a defensive struggle, mainly because both offenses struggled to get in the endzone. Marshawn Lynch had another great game, and are own Frank Gore didn’t have such a great game. It was defensive from the start.

As a matter of fact, no real points were even put on the board until the second half of the game. The Niners offense in the beginning was okay, but as the game progressed you could tell they were intimidated by Seattle. The crowd noise only put more salt in the wound. As a Niner fan it was hard to watch. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was as if the team as a whole just forgot about what plays to run. They totally looked out of sync. What I did notice, is that when their play selection wasn’t working they continued to stay with the same plays, they weren’t pliable. The Seahawks defense which is very good mind you, simply just waited for the same plays to come to them and then they responded accordingly. It was simple basic defensive execution.

Seattle didn’t do any thing special to win the game, it was just that the Niners offense was predictable and flat. There were no trick plays, no end around plays, no running backs going out into the flat to catch the football. So it was easy for Pete Carroll’s defense to dismantle Jim Harbaugh’s offense. I was very disappointed in the San Francisco’s offensive line and their receiving team. Anquan Boldin who had a great game against the Packers couldn’t get open. Vernon Davis got injured again, I’ll tell you something,
Vernon Davis doesn’t like Seattle. For some reason he doesn’t play well in Seahawk land. He had 3 catches for just 20 yards, and no touchdowns.

The offensive line couldn’t keep Seattle’s defense out of San Francisco’s backfield. Collin Kaepernick was running for his life. He had what looked to be a decent run, but instead he threw it to Frank Gore who ultimately dropped the pass.  Fans I think it is evident that Seattle exploited a chink in San Francisco’s armor. It’s a problem that Jim Harbaugh and his coaching staff are going to have to find a answer to and find it fast, because the league is aware of it now, and I’m sure they will follow suit in stopping San Francisco’s quest for Harbaugh’s glory. Is it attainable? E-mail your thoughts and tell me what you think. Remember folks it’s ALLBAYAREASPORTS.COM. Bay Area Sports Magnified!

ICE KAEPPED!! Aaron Rogers & Green Bay Sent Packing. San Francisco-31 Green Bay-28.

Good morning sports fans. Well, we got our fix, the wait is over and now we can breathe because the season is officially here. The marquee match up of the weekend is without a doubt the Packers vs. the 49ers. This was a game that wasn’t controlled by the defenses, really, it was the offenses. Which I was a little surprised at that. I thought our defense would stymie the Packers offense a little more then they did. But I will have to say that we are talking about the Aaron Rodgers. He’s a Superbowl champion and a stiff competitor. He can definitely keep it interesting when the game is close, and this one was definitely that. I have to also mention that Collin Kaepernick made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

I was also surprised to see Jim Harbaugh respond to the Packers attempt to stop Kaepernick’s ability to run the football. Kaepernick shocked all the eyes that were watching him, and proved that he has the great ability to throw the football. Collin threw for over 400 yards, and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. Niners showed the league it’s new high powered offense with the acquisition of Anquan Boldin. Bolden caught 13 passes for 200 yards receiving. And this is the best part. You knew picking up Boldin was a smart move, but you didn’t know if he would be an immediate impact to San Francisco’s Arsenal, or a good future part of their season. It looks like that question was answered. Anquan wanted to make a impact right away, so he did.

Frank Gore had 21 carries for 44 yards. The play that everyone has been talking about is the Collin Kaepernick hit by Clay Matthews when he was out of bounds. “First off, it wasn’t a very smart play,” Matthews said. “I’d already committed to hitting the quarterback. I guess I should’ve figured he was going to step out of bounds. But it’s nothing personal. I went up to him later and was joking around with him.” It charged up the crowd at the Stick. Clay Matthews had stated to the press the week before that he wanted to get some good hits on Collin in the game. During the press conference Collin was asked what he thought about Matthews comments. His response was, “If intimidation is your game plan, I hope you have a better one.” Which goes to show that I have again under estimated Kaep. This young man is fearless. His passing ability was to me a exhibition.

I know everyone’s talking about Russell  Wilson up there in Seattle, but this guy Collin I just like him. He just comes in assumes the role of leader like he was just ready from the beginning. Joe Staley didn’t like the hit at all. “I’ll try to do a better job just keeping my cool,” Staley said. “I didn’t want see Kaep get nailed like he did out of bounds. That’s our guy out there. I’ll protect anybody. Anything I feel like is outside the rules … some of it was the comments he made this week about going after the quarterback. I wanted to grab him and let him know that’s not going to fly. That’s all I did.” Rogers finished with 21 of 37 for 333 yards, and he threw 3 touchdowns, and one interception. The interception came from newly acquired cornerback Eric Reid, which is turning out to be another good pick up for Jim Harbaugh. Vernon Davis also scored twice, he finished the day with 6 catches and 98 yards receiving.

Jordy Nelson finished with 7 catches for 130 yards, and one touchdown. Both quarterbacks finished with high percentages, which is why I said our defense didn’t produce that same fight we saw last season. But we do have to remember it was a good match up. Almost like a good game of chess.  I know the loss leaves a bad taste in Packers head coach Mike McCarthy mouth. It makes you wonder why a game like this is so pivotal? Because it can set the tone for the rest of the season. Not only that, the Niner organization knows that everyone had that looming question concerning last season, were the Niners last season a fluke. I can tell Jim Harbaugh and CO. want to make it clear and show the NFL that it wasn’t. Or was it? San Francisco has probably their stiffest competition this year next week. The battle in Seattle. Who’s going to win? Tell me what you think. Remember folks it’s ALLBAYAREASPORTS.COM. Bay Area Sports Magnified!

Grading The 49ers 2013 Preseason

Can Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers put together another Title Run?

Hello sports fans. Hope you got a chance to look at your 49ers during the  brutal preseason. The reason why I say preseason is brutal is because you know as much as I do we fans can’t wait for the season to begin. So until that great day happens, we fans are in agony, AGONY I TELLS YA! But we are civilized people so we’ll show some patience. So what did you think of the Niners preseason? To me the boys in red looked good. Now I know most of players aren’t the starters, but they still represented the SF logo with intensity and fire red fierceness that we fans love to see. What I couldn’t understand is that when you watched the games, San Francisco had some nice stand out players that the red and gold cut instead of signing them.

Some of the more breakout players did get cut or traded, and the reason why is because they didn’t breakout. First we have A.J. Jenkins. This guy was the Niners No.1 pick. He had mad skills while playing for the University Of  Illinois, but for some crazy reason he puts on a Niner uniform and can’t catch a ball. What happened to this guy? We also traded Forty Niner veteran Parys Harralson. I saw him in uniform and I thought, “Okay great. We have a veteran who knows the system and will bring more umph! to the pass rush. Nope, didn’t happen. Then there’s Austin Collie. Here’s a guy that the masses just knew Collie was going to make the cut and he didn’t. But what is more interesting is that there was some breakout performances and they also got cut . The cut that has me scratching my head as to why the Niners cut him is Lavelle Hawkins. This guy makes the best play in preseason football and the Niners cut him.

If you haven’t seen his miraculous touchdown he made against the San Diego Chargers, your need for fantastic football plays has diminished. I guess Harbaugh & Co. just decided he wasn’t made for the 49er format. Not to mention they let go of Cam Johnson who definitely look good this preseason. Then there’s Kasim Osgood and Chad Hall. Now I know the 49ers organization can’t keep everyone, But I’m sorry I would’ve found a way to keep Lavelle Hawkins, and Cam Johnson. Only because to me Hawkins looked very athletic. Johnson looked hungry at defense, and the Niners need more hungry defensive personnel. But hey,  I’m just a armchair quarterback writing about a few observations. I don’t really know what happens in a NFL franchise during preseason. Still it makes you wonder what’s going to happen once the season starts. We will probably see these guys wearing an opposing teams uniform.

Who knows maybe Cam Johnson will be blitzing for the Rams and injure Kaepernick and make his career short. Or we’ll watch Lavelle Hawkins catch a pass in the end zone, and it will cost us a season we will regret ever cutting the guy. It’s happen to us before up here in the Bay Area all to many times. We mold great players there’s a disagreement and now there playing against us and they beat us. And the only thing we’re thinking is man! Why couldn’t we keep that guy! All in all the 49ers preseason did look good, But if I had to grade them, I’d have to give them a B+. And I feel like that is a fair grade, since they did loose 1 game in preseason play. Not to mention that the crew at ESPN has the Niners ranked 3rd in the league. They are also saying that the Seahawks are the best team in the league. You can’t wait to see what happens and neither can I. You think ESPN got it right? Tell me what you think, drop me a line. Remember folks, it’s ALLBAYAREASPORTS.COM. Bay Area Sports Magnified!

49ers Preseason Game 2. Kaepernick V.S. Smith: From Teamates To Rivals.

Alex Smith is now a Kansas City Chief

Good afternoon sports fans. Well we kinda knew this was coming. After our once hero Alex Smith was let go and picked up by a team trying to rebuild. We all knew that Alex would get picked by one of the NFL’s franchises. Only question was, which one. And that was a question that we didn’t have to wait to long to get a answer. Kansas City saw that opportunity and pounced on it as soon as they could. The question that is in the back of the faithful minds is, if he goes to a new team how fast will it effect us, and how severe will it effect us. Most people I talk to on the street say, Like this guy I talked to the other day, “It won’t effect us. We’ve got Kaepernick.”

Wow! I’m not sure how to respond to his statement. Have we the faithful all of a sudden become a “Trash & Dash” fanbase? The only reason why I ask is because, I understand that we can’t be as loyal to players like we want to. The NFL is a sports corporation, and when players get traded it’s business. When it happens GM’s aren’t giving us a chance to chime in with an opinion poll as to whether a person should stay or go. Now I know a lot of people want to blame Alex Smith for the teams 10 year drought out of the NFC West Division title. But there is a few items that shouldn’t be overlooked. Now most of you reading this might think well Rich, you’re and Alex Smith fan. That was the case two years ago. Why because he was a 49er. But what I can’t ignore about the 49ers while he was at quarterback is that the guy went through 5 offensive coordinators in his first five seasons with the red and gold.

Look! I don’t care who you get Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, you change their offensive scheme every year for 5 years they’re not going to be good at quarterback. That’s what Alex had to go through. Then to make matters more interesting, when the opportunity came to get Peyton Manning the organization was ready to cut ties with Alex like he was a bad habit. Instead of jumping ship Mr. Smith stays loyal and re-signs with San Francisco. Alex showed some loyalty, something you just don’t see in the NFL. And the 49er faithful benefited for it. That same year Alex delivered the 9er’s all the way to the NFC Title game. So you may think I’m a Alex Smith fan. I was until he left the faithful and became a Chief. I’m just a person that likes to observe the facts. So with that, Friday, Alex will represent his new home Kansas City, and we will have his  former under study Colin. But if you think I’ll be rooting for Alex Smith, you’re are dead wrong.

It’s all about the red & gold machine. I’ll be watching the secondary for pass protection. I’ll be doing what I have been doing  since 1974, rooting for the San Francisco 49ers. Goooooo Kaep! Gooooo Patrick Willis! Gooo San Francisco! I do want to see how Kaep plays against Kansas City’s defense. And I want to see what San Francisco has in the backfield besides La Michael James.  It’s just preseason, but with all the history and scenario’s it’s definitely worthy of watching and of talking about. So who’s going to win. I think 20-12, Niners. But hey, I’m just another sports writer who’s ramblin. Tell me what you think. Remember folks, it’s ALLBAYAREASPORTS.COM. Bay Area Sports Magnified! Next week we’ll take a look at the Oakland Raiders.

Curry Dish Has Too Much Salt. Spurs Win In Double Overtime. San Antonio – 129 Golden State – 127

Steph Curry try’s to dribble pass Tony Parker

Good evening sports fans. Who would’ve thought first and foremost that the Golden State Warriors would beat Denver and advance to the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs. Now here’s is something no one in the NBA counted on. Who would’ve thought that the Warriors would be facing the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of this years playoffs. Well they did. Are you ready for this. Don’t get me wrong, it is what you thought. The Warriors lost, and now they’ve lost a record 30 times since 1997. But what is real significant is that the Spurs who won, barely got out of the contest without having a heart attack. They did say that Tim Duncan had the flu, but even still, the rest of the team didn’t look like the Spurs we’re used to seeing. The Spurs who are the No.1 seed in the Western Conference, didn’t look like the No.1 seed. As a matter of fact, the best team in the Western Conference had to come from behind to win Game 1, of the Semifinals, of the 2013 NBA Playoffs in double overtime.

What was true is what NBA aficionados figured that the Spurs would win. But it didn’t go the way they said it would. According to the Inside The NBA panel led by Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Shaquille O’neal the San Antonio Spurs should pummel the Warriors. I’m going to go on a limb here, but I’m going to say it now. The Golden State Warriors will win this series. Should I say it again so that it’s clear and my reading audience will know that I didn’t stutter. The Golden State Warriors will win this series, if Mark Jackson can convince this team to play as a team. The reason I say that is because tonight’s contest was really just a matter of playoff experience versus playoff youth. The Spurs obviously playoff experience with Greg Popovich, versus Mark Jackson’s playoff youth. You could tell. Golden State played with the want, the heart and the athletic desire to win the game, but the Spurs played like they’d seen this re-run before.

The Warriors starting guard Steph Curry played brilliantly. He finished with 40 points, 11 assists. Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes both had 19 points a piece. Jared Jack finished with 15 points. Andrew Bogut finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds. But the Warriors would need more than just brilliance to take game 1. It showed too. Because with all the great shots that Steph Curry made, he was still new to the playoffs and he’d never been to the second round before. Whereas Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, Greg Popovich and the rest of the Spurs were well aware that it would take the team to win the game. You could see the differences in the two teams. At the beginning of the third quarter they asked Popovich how they were going too stop Steph Curry.  Pop just said, “I don’t know he’s pretty unstoppable.” Then he smiled and said, ” We’ll just have to work together to try to win.” It’s a lesson that Mark Jackson should be teaching his team. Greg Popovich smiled because he knew with everything Steph could do, eventually he would tire out and the Spurs would win as a team.

Tony Parker finished with 28 points, Danny Green added 22 points, Tim Duncan finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds. I know it’s hard for us Warriors fans, but it’s a game like this that will define who the team is and where they’re going. This Warriors were ahead with 127-126 with 3.7 seconds left in the game when Manu Ginobli hit a 3 pointer to give the Spurs the win in double overtime. Ginobli finished with 16 points. It was later found out that his shot was not really supported by Coach Popovich. ”I went from wanting to trade him on the spot to wanting to cook breakfast for him tomorrow morning,” Popovich said. ”That’s the truth. When I talk to him and say, ‘Manu,’ he goes, ‘This is what I do.’ That’s what he’s going to tell me. I stopped coaching him a long time ago.” What was also significant is that Ginobli wasn’t hitting any 3 point shots most of the night. That’s why when he had the open look 3, I told my neighbor who was with me watching it, ‘He’s going to hit that shot.” The reason why I knew he was going to make it is because there’s a rule in NBA. Never give to many opportunities to veteran shooter.

You look at all the great shooters of the past, Reggie Miller, Larry Byrd, John Paxon, John Stockton, Ray Allen, and our own Steph Curry who is becoming a great shooter. You ask the defenders that had to guard them and they’ll tell you, never give veteran shooters too many chances because if you do you will pay dearly. Tonight it was Manu Ginobli, and the team that paid was Golden State.” On the last play, it wasn’t for me; they just left me open,” Ginobili said. ”I set a screen for TP (Tony Parker) and they both went with him and left me open on the weak side. When I caught it I just saw Brazemore flying. I just gave it a lot of air and it went in. I wasn’t even an option. They told me just go screen and stay far from the play. The play was for Tony or Boris. And they got confused.”

The reason why I believe Golden State can win this series is, because this happened in round 1 against Denver. The Warriors lost game 1 to the Nuggets by 2 points, but they won the series. Why? Because the outlasted Denver. ”We had a heartbreaker in Game 1 of the last series (against Denver),” Curry said. ”A last-second layup by Andre Miller. So we’ve been here before. But we know how to come back. We’ve been a resilient team all year. To have an opportunity to go 1-1, we still have a chance to do that.” If you didn’t watch the game, you missed just how tired San Antonio was from playing against the Warriors. The Warriors did something that hasn’t been done to the Spurs in a long time, and that is to push the number 1. seed to a double overtime at San Antonio. You could tell because it was affecting the Spurs physically. You should have saw Tony Parker. He was exhausted. That goes for Duncan, and Ginobli. They had to use the young second team just to stay in the game.

San Antonio can celebrate tonight. They got the win. But if Mark Jackson can coach like he’s suppose to, the Warriors can and will win this series. I do think that Mark Jackson should let the press know that the reason why they lost is because he didn’t coach them to play team ball in the last minutes of the game. He should be telling Steph to set up plays and not to take every last shot. He’d already got 40 points. It was time for the rest of the team to contribute. He needs to let him know that no matter how much he wanted to win it’s still the team that wins games not one person. Think I’m lying ask Michael Jordan. Hey, he went 8 seasons without a title before he started playing team ball and then the Bulls won a title. Am I telling the truth or am I just talking? Tell me what you think. Drop me line at our website, and remember, it’s ALLBAYAREASPORTS.COM. Bay Area Sports Magnified!