Niners may not be who we thought they were

SAN FRANCISCO -- The rant was predictable. What Mike Singletary said was the way the 49ers played, or in truth misplayed, is unacceptable. “Stupid stuff,’’ was his terse analysis of another game squandered.

Indeed, but should we, and he, expect anything else?

Maybe the Niners, who Sunday at Candlestick Park lost their fourth straight game, this one to the bottom-feeder Tennessee Titans, 34-27, are no more than they can offer.

Maybe those wins in September were illusory, giving everyone including the head coach the mistaken idea the team was in the upper echelon of the NFL.

Maybe the thought San Francisco could for the first time in seven seasons finish with a winning record, or at the least an even record, was the stuff of fantasy rather than reality, a dream for the faithful nurtured on the greatness of Montana and Young, Lott and Rice.

Indeed, the Niners could have beaten the Titans, perhaps should have beaten the Titans, whom they led 20- 17 in the fourth quarter. But they didn’t, and no matter how you analyze it, the four Alex Smith turnovers, three of them interceptions, the inability to shut down  Tennessee running back Chris Johnson (135 yards and two touchdowns), that’s all conversation.

Singletary, who now has a losing record, 8-9, since being elevated to then interim head coach a year ago, spoke of giving away the ball and of giving away games, both contentions being undeniable.

“The No. 1 thing is we cannot turn the ball over,’’ said Singletary after the Niners record slipped to 3-5, “and that’s the thing that basically killed us today . . . We’re not finishing football games. If you go back to Minnesota, back to Indianapolis, back to the game today, take your pick, we’re not finishing games.’’

But the response to both explanations is a question, to wit: Why? Why are the Niners making mistakes? Why are the Niners blowing leads down at the end?

Could it be their players simply are not as good as the other team’s -- even a team such as the Titans, which won a second straight game after opening with six consecutive defeats? Could it be the offensive game plan, so restrictive, doesn’t fit the players in the lineup?

Singletary is understandably supportive of offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye, since he is the man who chose Raye. And no intelligent coach knocks his players, not when there are eight games to play, one of those games in quick turnaround on Thursday night against the Chicago Bears at the ‘Stick.

But Alex Smith isn’t there yet, despite all out-of-control optimism constructed over the previous two games. And the offensive line remains a problem, even though Singletary avoided a direct assessment of this game with the answer, “You know what, the past two weeks, I think they played well, I really did.’’

They didn’t play terribly well when Alex, who appears more comfortable in the shotgun formation he played at the University of Utah, was under center in the “T.’’

Smith was sacked four times, one of those resulting in a lost fumble with some nine minutes left in the third quarter when the ball was knocked out of his hand as he reached back to throw.

Raye, the coordinator, had been criticized for his conservatism, mainly because Shaun Hill was at quarterback. But with Alex playing a third straight game and starting his second in a row, it wasn’t what was called -- Smith threw 45 passes and completed 29 -- but the style that was utilized.

So many of the passes were short and wide, four yards, five yards. Alex has an arm. What he didn’t have was time, and perhaps Raye figured that into the equation.

What nobody figured was Smith would throw three interceptions, although one came after the Titans had taken a 27-20 lead in the fourth quarter, and Alex was forcing an attempted comeback and two others came after tipped balls.

“I wouldn’t say that at all,’’ Singletary insisted when asked if the interceptions were Smith’s fault. “I thought Alex was playing well today, for the most part. When you get turnovers, obviously you can’t say that, but I thought he made some good decisions . . . It looked to me that he was getting the ball where it needed to go.’’

The 49ers are not getting where they need to go. Losing to the Vikings, then undefeated, at Minneapolis, or to the Colts, still undefeated, at Indianapolis, both narrowly, is no sin. But losing to the Titans could be considered one.

When Alex, as a starter four and five years ago, before the injuries and agony, had an unusual number of fumbles, someone, fact or fiction, determined Smith had abnormally small hands. Singletary refused to enter that discussion.

“What he did in the past,’’ Singletary said of Smith, “I’m going to leave in the past. All I know is what I saw today was a quarterback throwing the ball pretty effectively. As far as the fumbles, we have to look at it, but I’m a little bit surprised he hasn’t fumbled more. When you get a quarterback that’s coming in new and not taken any snaps during the year, there are some of the things you’re going to have early on.’’

It’s early for Alex. For the 49ers, it may be later than they think.

RealClearSports: Harbaugh Turns Stanford Into a Winner

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford didn't as much play football as endure it. It was a place kids went so they could get into medical school or create Google, not get into the NFL. There was a reason it was nicknamed Harvard of the West, besides the academics.

Then a coach named Jim Harbaugh arrived a couple of years ago with the stubborn idea kids who had brains could also be kids who had athletic ability. He was going to recruit people who not only could score on the SATs but also on the field.

Read the full story here.

RealClearSports: Cable's Troubles Becoming Unacceptable

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND -- No one's ever judged this region by what might be called normal standards. The Bay Area, Northern California, was settled by Spanish missionaries, who were pushed out by pioneers looking for gold, with a lot of frontier justice on the side.

The edge of the continent may have put a limitation on movement -- this is as far west as you can go without a ship or a surfboard -- but there never has been any limitation on ideas, no matter how irrational or unpopular.

Almost anything is acceptable. Almost.

This situation with the man who coaches the Oakland Raiders has all but reached a point of unacceptability, with people who don't know exactly what happened screaming "Off with his head'' and those in a position to find out the details saying very little.

Oakland is one city south of the Protest Capital of the World, Berkeley, or as the late columnist Herb Caen called it, "Berserkeley.'' It was an Oakland native, Gertrude Stein, who said of the city, upon returning to find her old home had been razed, "There is no there, there.''

These days, with Tom Cable being accused of everything except that recent mechanical failure of the Bay Bridge, the one that closed the structure for eight days, there is plenty there.

Too much for Cable and the Raiders organization.

The Raiders have a bye this weekend, which, when you're 2-6 for 2009 and haven't had a winning season since 2002, might be viewed as beneficial. Instead, it's proving just the opposite, since media that might be focused on the team's troubles instead are concentrating on Cable's.

And they are many.

During camp in August, up at Napa in the middle of the wine country -- where else would a Nor Cal team train, anyway? -- Raiders assistant Randy Hanson incurred a broken jaw during a meeting of the coaching staff.

He accused Cable of causing the injury, either, as the story goes, by shoving him out of a chair in which he had leaned back, or punching him in the jaw.

After an investigation, and surely deliberation, the district attorney of Napa County declined to press charges, maybe because he didn't believe the case was strong enough, maybe because Napa didn't want to aggravate the Raiders and chance losing them to another city.

For a few days after the announcement, the Raiders' subject matter dealt with the ineffectiveness of third-year quarterback JaMarcus Russell and other paranormal items. Then on its "Outside the Lines'' program last Sunday, ESPN provided the revelation that some 20 years ago Cable had hit his ex-wife and early this year smacked a girlfriend.

The Raiders contended they were blindsided by ESPN, a network the team contends harbors a grudge against it. But to the credit of the Raiders -- meaning owner Al Davis, considerably more sensitive than his critics want to believe -- and chief executive Amy Trask, the allegations were not taken lightly.

"We will undertake a serious evaluation of this matter,'' read a release from the Raiders. "We wish to be clear that we do not in any way condone or accept actions such as those alleged.''

This was not good enough for the National Organization for Women, which demanded Cable be suspended while the allegations are checked out. It wants NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has spoken about fairness, to make a statement about Cable.

Earlier in the week, asked about his future, Cable insisted, "I'm coach of the Raiders, and I think my future is to be coach of the Raiders.''

Al Davis does not like firing coaches, despite all the coaches he has fired, and he likes even less dismissing them during the season, having done that only twice, Mike Shanahan and Lane Kiffin, over the past 40 years.

But this uproar over Cable is an embarrassment. It may even become a distraction, although the players, worried about their own futures and paychecks, invariably ignore everything except trying to keep the opposition from making a touchdown while making some touchdowns of their own.

Cable conceded he did slap his first wife, with an open hand, not a fist, and has regretted it. He said he did not strike any other female.

A team as bad as the Raiders, groping for any reason to be optimistic, hardly needs the current scenario, a coach under fire for reasons other than his record, and even the folk of Northern California wondering what is going on.

Any moment, we may all go over the edge.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/06/cables_troubles_becoming_unacceptable_96527.html
© RealClearSports 2009

 

RealClearSports: Urban Meyer Teaches a Bad Lesson

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

They're teachers. That's how coaches describe themselves. They take pride in helping the youth of the country, instructing them in how to become better players, become better citizens.

We're always hearing about the second part, how what a coach wants most is to prepare a kid for life after sports.

Do something wrong, you get punished. "Coach Suspends Halfback'' is the headline. Unless he's too valuable. Then, well, as we're often reminded, discipline will be private.

Or virtually non-existent.

Urban Meyer, the Florida coach, has his own ideas about justice. And lesson-teaching. They might not be similar to ours, but we don't have to think about national rankings and the BCS.

Our ideas have to do with the difference between right and wrong.

To Meyer that difference is only 30 minutes, half a football game.

One of Meyer's players, linebacker Brandon Spikes, was caught last Saturday on videotape intentionally sticking his fingers through the facemask and into the eyes of Georgia's Washaun Ealey.

A dirty move, a cheap shot. And an incident replayed again and again on the various networks.

It bothered us. It didn't bother Meyer, not to the point he would keep Spikes out of uniform for the next game, against Vanderbilt.

Meyer understood he was required to make a showing. So he announced Spikes would have to sit out the first half of the Vanderbilt game. Then Spikes will be permitted to go out and gouge someone else's eyes.

"I don't condone that,'' said Meyer. He seemingly was referring to what Spikes did, not about his own decision.

Out west in September an Oregon running back, LeGarrette Blount, sucker-punched a Boise State defensive end after the game, and Blount was suspended for the season. Or, barring a change in mind by Oregon coach Chip Kelly, to this point in the season.

But in the Sunshine State, the coach looks at violations a little more kindly. Or at the AP rankings a little more intently, not that Florida should need Spikes to beat Vanderbilt.

What it does need, however, is a sense of perspective and an understanding that there's no place for scofflaws in activities built on rules and fairness.

Reprimands have been popular of late in our sporting world. Chad Ochocinco, the Cincinnati Bengals receiver, was fined $10,000 for wearing a black chinstrap. That NFL certainly has its priorities.

Then a golfer nobody ever had heard of, Doug Barron, became the first PGA player to be suspended for violating the Tour's performance-enhancing drug policy. He's gone for a year.

Now, Brandon Spikes is going to be banished for an entire 30 minutes of a 60-minute college football game. That should make him contrite.

"I talked to him,'' Meyer said of Spikes. "That's not who he is. I love Brandon Spikes.''

And then my favorite phrase in failing to explain why an athlete gets away with almost anything, "We're going to move on.''

They're going to do anything to avoid the facts, the implications, the embarrassment. They're going to worry about putting the ball in the end zone instead of putting a finger in an opponent's cornea or retina.

Why does it always have to be like this? Why does the final score have to supersede common decency? Why can't a coach, any coach but particularly one as recognized as Meyer, step forward and act responsibly, since he wants his players to act responsibly?

We know Urban Meyer can recruit and motivate. We know he's won national championships. What's so hard about admitting that there was a problem and, as a leader of boys who would be men, that problem will be corrected?

Why is Brandon Spikes being given a figurative slap on the hand used to attack an opponent's eyes? Why is getting a man into the lineup more important than getting a message across?

We found out long ago sport does not build character. What we found out the past few days from Urban Meyer was that anything is permissible. Except defeat.

The sin, the author John Tunis said, is not failing to act like a gentleman, but in failing to win. Florida fans are thinking of another national title, not of reprimanding an act that in some places would be considered disgraceful. Get the kid out of the doghouse and back on the field. That's all they care about.

And so that's all that Urban Meyer cares about. You're surprised he didn't have Brandon Spikes write an apology on a chalkboard. That is if Spikes is apologetic.

Urban Meyer certainly doesn't appear to be.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/04/urban_meyer_teaches_a_bad_lesson_96526.html
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Allegations against Cable have caught Davis’ attention

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — Al Davis is watching. That should be understood. He may be 80 and hurting physically, but nothing gets past him. Including this embarrassing business with his coach, Tom Cable.

We know Al’s philosophy of sport, the idea of just winning. Not that he’s any different from the rest of us. As Red Smith wrote decades ago, you’re not going to field a team of choirboys. Not if you want to be successful.

You use who you can, when you can. Get them out of bed sick, get them out of jail, get them on the field.

Al Davis, however, has a social conscience, supporting the less fortunate, especially former players. He often talks tough. He doesn’t talk nonsense.

The statement from the Raiders, meaning from the desk of Al Davis, that they are aware of the allegations against Cable, accused of striking an ex-wife and a former girlfriend, “and will undertake a serious evaluation of this matter,” is proof Davis is not taking the issue lightly.

Not dismissing it with the commentary, “We’re just thinking about the season,” which is what we usually get. Along with suggestions any criticism of the Raiders is a conspiracy hatched by the NFL.

In one of the more unusual interview sessions, Cable on Monday stood behind a podium to be confronted by a house divided by gender.

The male reporters were more interested in the progress of quarterback JaMarcus Russell, or rather the lack of. The females asked Cable about the allegations against him and how he felt about anger management.

His repetitive answers referred to a statement released in the wake of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” program on Sunday — a short while before the Raiders lost to the San Diego Chargers 24-16 — that Cable physically abused the women.

This after the Napa County district attorney said he would not pursue charges against Cable over the incident in August in which a Raiders assistant coach claimed the coach broke his jaw.

Cable’s response to “Outside the Lines” said that more than 20 years ago, during the marriage to his first wife, Sandy Cable, he learned she had committed adultery and he “slapped her with an open hand,” and has regretted it. He denies striking ex-girlfriend Marie Lutz earlier this year.

When Cable was asked by a woman reporter Monday, “Can you tell us what Al Davis has said?” he answered, “We have not had a discussion.”

They have now. You can be certain. And whether Cable’s position as coach is in jeopardy because of the allegations, as opposed to being in jeopardy because of a 2-6 record, one need only read the release from the Raiders.

“We wish to be clear that we do not in any way condone or accept actions such as those alleged,” the Raiders’ statement said. “There have been occasions on which we have dismissed Raider employees for having engaged in inappropriate conduct.”

Not surprisingly, the Raiders sent out another release insisting “during the past year ESPN engaged in a calculated effort to distort the truth about the Raiders.”

That can be ignored. No one, the Raiders, the NFL, the public, can ignore what the team calls “the allegations” against Cable.

If those allegations are at the point of “he said, she said,” remember the only thing that counts is what Al Davis says.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Allegations-against-Cable-have-caught-Davis-attention-69034562.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Smith gets another chance

By Art Spander
Examiner Columnist

Unfinished business. That was Alex Smith’s explanation for returning to the 49ers last spring when logic dictated he take his battered psyche and repaired arm to another franchise.

“It was important,” said Smith. “I felt like I had unfinished business here.”

Business he barely had a chance to start. Business which none of us ever believed he would get the opportunity to complete. And now business that would make his story enthralling.

They are his team, the 49ers. As they were supposed to be, before the constant chaos and frequent injuries. He came back, against our better judgment, given the chance for a comeback of another sort, to prove the faith once shown in him was justified.

Maybe he shouldn’t have been the first pick in the 2005 draft, but he was. There had to be some reason: talent, smarts — after all, Alex graduated Utah in 2½ years — and intuitiveness.

He’s only 25. That’s the same age at which Joe Montana became a starter in 1981. And while no one is declaring Smith the new Montana, Alex has years ahead of him, and yet years of experience.

In ’06, Alex’s second season, when he had the wise Norv Turner as offensive coordinator, Smith became the first Niners quarterback to take every snap in every game.

There’s no guarantee Smith will be a savior, despite his three-touchdown passing performance off the bench last Sunday. But here was a lesson. Smith, the Niners’ first choice in ’05, throwing to Vernon Davis, the Niners’ first choice in ’06.

There are factors such as chemistry, desire and coaching — especially coaching — but in football ability invariably makes a difference. First-rounders are supposed to be great. Otherwise they wouldn’t be first-rounders.

Mike Singletary, the guy in charge of the Niners, is impatient. He doesn’t suffer fools or laggards. Or quarterbacks who complete only 6 for 11, as did Shaun Hill the first half for the 49ers against Houston.

It wasn’t all Hill’s fault, and he is a fighter, someone who has beaten the odds. But he doesn’t have the capability of Alex Smith.

“When I looked at Alex,” said Singletary, “I didn’t know what we were going to get when he went in.”

What he, we, the Niners got was a quarterback under his sixth coordinator in six seasons, a quarterback whose courage had been questioned by the very person who drafted him, former coach Mike Nolan, playing beautifully.

No, the Houston Texans had not prepared for Smith — although in the NFL such an oversight is inexcusable. And no, Smith, who went in with the Niners trailing, 21-0, couldn’t get them closer than 24-21.

But the man who was a teammate of Reggie Bush at Helix High in San Diego, who played his college ball under Urban Meyer, had us thinking less of the present than of the future.

The Niners through history have been the team of Frankie Albert, Y.A. Tittle, John Brodie, Montana, Steve Young, Jeff Garcia — quarterbacks who could find a receiver and find a way.

Alex Smith was drafted to be next in line, heir to that throne. He again has been handed the crown. And the football.

Time to finish business.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Smith-gets-another-chance-66768407.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

Newsday: Jets' rushing games rolls, but Washington's lost

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Ground it, pound it. Rex Ryan kept emphasizing his philosophy, kept talking about a Jets team that ran and ran and ran; a Jets team that lost its No. 2 rusher, maybe for the season, but didn't lose its direction or its push on the offensive line.

Five minutes into a game that would serve as much as a reminder as a result, Leon Washington incurred a season-ending injury, a compound fracture of the fibula in his right leg.

Almost before teammates were airborne on their flight back home, Washington was on the operating table at a hospital. "They needed to get surgery done,'' Ryan said, an indication of the seriousness of the injury. "They didn't want to wait to get back to New York.''

It was a sobering comment about an otherwise delightful afternoon along San Francisco Bay. The Jets, rushing for more than 300 yards for a second straight week -- the first time that had been accomplished by anyone in the NFL since 1975 - crushed the Oakland Raiders, 38-0.

"This is as good as it gets from an offensive standpoint,'' said Ryan after a game in which the Jets, ending a three-game losing streak, gained 447 yards of total offense. "We were able to control the ball as good as we did.''

They did it because rookie Shonn Greene from Iowa, who had only seven carries the first six games, carried 19 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns and because Thomas Jones rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.

They did it because the offensive line pushed around a Raiders team that showed a bit of life a week ago in upsetting the Eagles but now, at 2-5, seem pathetic once more.

"When we took the young man,'' Ryan said of Greene, whom the Jets acquired with the 65th pick in last spring's draft after a complex trade, "how we visualized our team was that we would ground it, pound it, and let the young kid hit you when you were on your heels. But he's a talented back, and you can't have too many good players.''

Nor can you have too much vengeance. Jets offensive line coach Bill Callahan led the Raiders to the Super Bowl in 2002 and then was fired after a 4-12 season in '03. So at game's end it was Ryan himself who gave Callahan a Gatorade dousing.

"He probably won't say it,'' Ryan said of Callahan, "but this game was really important to him. We just wanted to show him our support. He means a lot. And this game was special to me, with my brother.''

That would be Rob Ryan, longtime Raiders defensive coordinator, dismissed after last season.

No one was dismissing Greene's performance, including Greene. "I was upset when the injury happened [to Washington] but I was prepared. I just followed that offensive line. They did a great job sustaining blocks. Give them the credit for all the hard work. [Jones] and I just followed them the whole way.''

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/jets-rushing-games-rolls-but-washington-s-lost-1.1548347
Copyright © 2009 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday: Jets' defense nasty from start and never lets up

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It started early for the Jets' defense, the first play from scrimmage, and it never ended until the game did.

The Jets took willingly -- four turnovers -- and gave grudgingly in a 38-0 rout Sunday, the most lopsided home loss in the Raiders' 50 seasons.

This without nose tackle Kris Jenkins, done for the season with a torn ACL. But this with his replacement, Sione Pouha, along with Marques Douglas, Calvin Pace, Shaun Ellis and the rest of the Jets' defenders.

"When a guy goes down,'' linebacker Bryan Thomas said, "there's not going to be any sympathy cards. The next guy has to step up. It was good to see Mike DeVito and [Howard] Green and [Ropati] Pitoitua step up and contribute.''

Pace sacked troubled Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell on the first scrimmage play, with Russell fumbling and Douglas recovering at the Oakland 4. Four plays later, the Jets were in front 7-0.

Jets coach Rex Ryan said defensive coordinator Mike Pettine "wanted to give Calvin the opportunity to pass rush, so he flipped the responsibilities for Calvin and Bryan Thomas, and it paid off for us. Calvin did a great job, not only with sacks [three] but in stripping the ball.''

Before the half was history, Russell was. After the fumble, Russell threw two interceptions, and with about six minutes left in the second quarter he was benched, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft replaced by Bruce Gradkowski.

Apropos of nothing, it was a bad day for Bay Area quarterbacks, with Shaun Hill of the 49ers being replaced by Alex Smith in the loss at Houston.

Ryan didn't care about who was playing for the Raiders, just that his defense was effective against one and all.

Oakland had the ball at the Jets' 2 with a couple of minutes left but couldn't score. "Our guys never flinched,'' said Ryan, who conceded the Raiders could have kicked a field goal just to get points. "We wanted to keep them out of the end zone. It was a great sign.''

He said the defense's primary goal was to halt the Raiders' running game. The Jets allowed 119 harmless yards on the ground.

"We just have to be physical up front,'' he said. "We miss Kris. That's a big loss. But we want to win a championship, so we can't stop.''

In Oakland, interest in the Raiders virtually has stopped.

Announced attendance at a game blacked out regionally was 39,354, smallest since the team moved back to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1995.

A bad sign was the way the fans, few as they might have been, booed Russell. By game's end, the only cheers were for the Jets, probably from New York expatriates.

New York teams have pummeled the Raiders of late. Three weeks ago, the Giants beat them, 44-7, at the Meadowlands. Now comes 38-0 from the Jets.

"Our guys stepped up,'' Ryan said. And stepped all over the Raiders.

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http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/jets-defense-nasty-from-start-and-never-lets-up-1.1548378
Copyright © 2009 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Cal’s season remains in the rearview mirror

BERKELEY -- They tell football players to look forward, concentrate on what’s ahead. For Cal, it’s what’s in the rearview mirror that puts everything into perspective. For Cal, the games that count are the games they couldn’t win.

The rest of the season is almost incidental, as was Saturday’s game against Washington State. That one was over after 52 seconds. Not literally, of course. But symbolically, metaphorically, when the Bears scored on the second play from scrimmage.

Then they scored five minutes 19 seconds later. Then they scored roughly a minute and a half after that. Some people have questioned whether Washington State belongs in the Pac-10. The Cougars certainly didn’t belong on the same field as Cal. Again.

This one finished with the Bears ahead 49-17.  Last year, Cal won 66-3. For Cal, Washington State is nothing. Unfortunately, Oregon and USC were too much.

Those were the teams Cal needed to beat. Those were the teams Cal couldn’t beat.

It’s going to be a successful season for the Bears. They’re 5-2, if only 2-2 in the Pac-10. They likely will win their final five games. That would be 10-2. That will get them to a bowl. But not the only bowl that matters, the Rose Bowl.

Cal crushed UCLA, which is borderline-awful. Then eight days later, Cal crushed Washington State, which is awful without any qualifications. The Bears are rolling, if against easily rolled-upon teams. Two losses, a bye week, then two dominating victories.

“Yes,’’ said Cal quarterback Kevin Riley, “I’d like to play Oregon and USC again. I didn’t lose any confidence. Those were just bad games.

“The bye week, we thought quite a bit about that. Our confidence wasn’t down. Our spirit was down. Those types of spankings shouldn’t happen against a team of our caliber.’’

Sports is not what shouldn’t happen but what did happen. Falling to Oregon, 42-3, and then to USC, 30-3, going consecutive games without a touchdown, the Bears looked like Washington State did against the Bears. Bewildered. Incompetent.

“We’re not going to look back,’’ Jeff Tedford, the Cal coach, reminded. “We made a pact after the bye week we were going to start a new season. We need to take each game one at a time and keep focusing on the details and play our best.’’

He wasn’t trying for a pun. He wasn’t alluding to Jahvid Best, his supreme running back. On the game’s second play from scrimmage, Best caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Riley. Then a minute into the second quarter, Best ran 61 yards for another touchdown.

The Bears had a season-high 559 yards in offense, 309 on the ground, 159 by Jahvid. Everywhere he was, Washington State wasn’t. And if Best was sitting, as he did for a while because of a sore foot, Shane Vereen was a wonderfully adept replacement, with 66 yards and two touchdowns, one receiving, one running.

Each took direct snaps in what is called the Wildcat formation. “The players really like it,’’ confirmed Tedford. “They come to me with ideas on how to use it. It comes in a lot of different parts. We probably ran three parts today. If we’re looking for misdirection, Shane and Jahvid fill the role.’’

Vereen contends the formation “keeps the defense open,’’ spreading players around. Asked how he would like to embellish the Wildcat, Vereen laughed, then explained, “Probably throw more, have more pass plays for us.’’

It’s Riley who does the throwing -- he was 12 of 18 for 229 yards and three touchdowns -- and Best and Vereen who do the catching and running.

“We just didn’t do it against Oregon and USC,’’ Vereen conceded. “But the last couple of weeks we’ve had a sense of team, a sense of urgency on the offense.’’

Best said the team used the off week to “get our minds right.’’ Their minds are clear. Their offense is effective.

“We told ourselves to forget about (Oregon and USC). We’re starting a new season. That season, we’re 2-0.’’

Tedford spoke only of a sense of purpose. He liked the fast start. He knew Cal had an advantage with the speed of Best and Vereen. Get them out there. Let them perform. They did. Against Oregon and USC they didn’t, Best gaining only 102 yards combined in those games.

“It’s really important that we look at our immediate short-term goals, which are week to week,’’ said Tedford.

Arizona State is next week -- Arizona State, which had six turnovers against Washington State and won only 27-14. After that for the Bears are Oregon State, Arizona, Stanford and Washington.

“We’re 5-2 with a lot of tough games to play,’’ said Tedford, a coach sounding all too much like a coach. “We’ll let the big picture take care of itself. We’re not going to get caught up in the Pac-10 race.’’

They’re already caught. They can’t escape. They can’t get rid of the losses to Oregon and USC.

SF Examiner: Choosing between Russell and Hill

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — You’ve been around. You know the axioms of sport, the clichés. You know that no matter what you’ve done before, your reputation is dependent on the last game. “What have you done for us lately?” is sport’s ultimate question.

What Shaun Hill of the 49ers and JaMarcus Russell of the Raiders did was get people talking, get people asking: “Which one would you rather have as your quarterback, this season or in the future?”

The subject was fodder for Gary Radnich’s morning show on KNBR (680 AM). Hill’s last game, a week and a half ago against Atlanta, was his worst game. Russell’s last game, Sunday, a win over the Philadelphia Eagles, may have been his best.

All of a sudden we could see the potential in JaMarcus, who, despite his flaws, looked like a young man with a future, a young man who was the first pick in the draft. All of a sudden we could see the failings of Hill, who went undrafted and spent nearly six seasons in the NFL without throwing a pass.

So, we were asked, if you were starting a team, who would you rather have, Russell, the All-American, the very first selection in the ’07 draft who because of poor work habits and a degree of confidence that nears arrogance had been a bust, or Hill, the guy in control, the one who earned his place, but at 29 is as good as he’ll ever be?

I’ll take JaMarcus. There had to be a reason he was chosen over everyone else. He is supposed to lead a team to championships, even though Raiders coach Tom Cable properly pointed out, “‘supposed to’ are scary words; there are a lot of things in this world that are supposed to be but are not.”

A great quarterback wins games, not merely manages games. Indeed, Hill had a 7-0 record at Candlestick Park as a starter, but the Falcons quickly took him out of his comfort zone. Having to play from behind, Hill was flustered and frustrated.

Russell’s also been frustrated in his two-plus seasons, but against the Eagles, who are supposed to be a good team — thank you, Tom Cable — JaMarcus made the right plays. He appeared to understand what is required of a quarterback.

A player is allowed a stinker now and then, but what happens if Hill starts to slide? Do the Niners finally give the bewitched Alex Smith an opportunity? Like JaMarcus, Alex was the first pick in the draft. Once again, there had to be a reason.

We’ve learned success comes from more than talent. Just because you can throw a ball 60 yards or shake off tacklers doesn’t always mean you’ll have the magic to make teammates better, to make them believe in you.

Tom Brady was a sixth-rounder. Kurt Warner needed seasons in the Arena League and Europe to prove he could be an NFL starter. There are exceptions. There are mistakes.

But if the scouts think someone can play and someone else can’t, it’s difficult to defy the odds. Shaun Hill has done all he could. It’s simply that JaMarcus Russell should be able to do much more.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Choosing-between-Russell-and-Hill-65123177.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

No revenge for Tom Cable, just victory

OAKLAND -- He’s a rough-hewn sort, which is what an offensive line coach is supposed to be. But now Tom Cable is a head coach, of the Oakland Raiders, and his appearance, background and recent problems have not fit the image that some prefer.

We’ve heard it all. Tom Cable is Al Davis’ tool. We’ve written it all. Tom Cable is just filling space until he’s fired.

The last few days, with the Raiders getting crushed the previous weekends, with the accusations that Cable punched one of his coaches, the news and the rumors had been particularly nasty. A season on the brink? It  was a season in the sink.

So when the unexpected took place Sunday, when the Raiders sacked Donovan McNabb six times, when the Raiders held an opponent without a touchdown for the first time in 43 games, when the Raiders upset the Philadelphia Eagles, 13-9, Cable could have extracted a measure of revenge.

Could have pointed out we know less about football than about conjugating verbs, less about football than about restaurants in Barcelona. Could have gloated and said hey, he knew what he was doing all along. Which very well could be the situation.

He knew they could play, that it wasn’t a matter of tactics and strategy but of competition. And if deep down he was burning from all the words hurled his way, he wouldn’t be letting us in on the revelation.

“I think this makes a statement,’’ Cable said, making his own statement, “that we have good enough players, we have a good enough football team, and it’s a matter of whether we go out and fight for it. And today we fought to win. We deserved to win. We beat a good team.’’

What that makes the 2-4 Raiders, ending a three-game losing streak, is a legitimate question. In the NFL, good teams lose and bad teams win, if in either case not consistently, which is why they’re either a good team or a bad team.  And why the Raiders can get battered one week by the New York Giants, 44-7, and then the next week defeat the Eagles can be attributed to the “Any Given Sunday’’ Sunday.

But if the Raiders with their few hours of success satisfied a Coliseum crowd announced at 49,642, Cable was waiting for new answers. Like whether this was just the Eagles acting as if they would have been better off taking a swim in the Atlantic or whether the Raiders actually deserved to be a member of the NFL.

“The biggest issue in the locker room,’’  Cable insisted, and correctly so, “is how we handle this. How do we grow? . . . How do we turn it around and make it consistent, grow from it?’’

Cable had been telling us the Raiders were “about to turn the corner,’’  although you wondered if the corner were at Telegraph and 51st or one of the intersections of the Champs-Elysees. So Sunday he did give us a little post-game reminder.

“I said to you guys time and again,’’ was Cable’s instructional commentary, “stop looking to write negative things or worry about the BS. ... We’re developing a team and an organization that has struggled to win the last few years, and you don’t flip a switch to that overnight. Don’t wake up the next day and everything is rosy and ready to go. There’s a process.’’

On Sunday, the process included quarterback JaMarcus Russell, as taunted as Cable, connecting on 17 or 24 passes for 224 yards and, on a great catch and excellent blocks by rookie Louis Murphy, an 86-yard play for the game’s only touchdown.

The process included the defensive line chasing down McNabb and holding the Eagles to 67 yards rushing. “We got home after the Giants game,’’ said defensive end Trevor Scott, who had two sacks as did Richard Seymour, “and asked, ‘Is this what we want?’ We can’t be playing ball like that.’’

The process included Justin Fargas rushing for 87 yards on 23 carries and then on third and one, with 2:02 on the clock and the Eagles out of timeouts, JaMarcus Russell  throwing to Gary Russell for the ultimate first down.

“It was coming,’’ said Cable of JaMarcus’ play. “He’s been throwing balls much better.

“Our defense played pretty good, (and) we had enough of a run game to eat up the clock, maintain drives and keep them off the field. We went out and said, ‘Enough. Let’s play.’ There were no magic words.’’

Just for the first time in a month, a magic ending.

RealClearSports: Favre's Too Old? Too Spectacular

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

So do you still think Brett Favre should have retired?

Not a bad evening for the man. Too old? Too spectacular.

We worry about others more than about ourselves. We're always giving advice but rarely listening to advice. Maybe we should just shut up.

That goes for sports journalists, writers, announcers, former players. The whole lot of us virtually demanded Favre give it up. Insisted he was making a fool of himself, was embarrassing the NFL.

Favre didn't hurt anyone. If you don't include the Green Bay Packers.

He's a football player who wants to play football. Disingenuous? Flip-flopping? That's trivial stuff. The way he passed against Green Bay is not.

There's a lyric from "South Pacific,'' a show that even predates Brett Favre: "...So suppose a dame ain't bright or completely free from flaws, or as faithful as bird dog or as kind as Santa Claus. It's a waste of time to worry over things that they have not; be thankful for the things they've got.''

Be thankful for what Brett Favre still has, which is a remarkable ability to throw a football, an unfulfilled passion for competing at football.

He will be 40 before this week is finished. The term "graybeard'' is descriptive, not only a cliché reference. But he's young as springtime when he's given time in the pocket. When he can thread a ball through defenders.

The Packers didn't want him after the 2007 season, not under his terms. It was a painful separation. But once he took his leave, Favre was under no obligation to walk away from the game.

We carry images in our mind. We hated to see Joe Namath stumble when he spent that season with the Rams, winced when Johnny Unitas tried to hold on after he joined the Chargers. It's not so much what the veterans do to themselves, but what they do to us.

We want to remember the homecoming queen when she was 21, not when she was 61.

Yet Favre at 39 is as memorable as Favre at 29. A father could poke his 7-year-old Monday night, assuming the kid hadn't gone to sleep, and tell him, "You're watching history, son.'' Because Brett Favre indeed is history.

An athlete is only what he can produce, only what his body allows. It was Joe Montana, the great 49ers quarterback, the winner of four Super Bowls, who had a ready answer when someone asked why he didn't quit. "What do you have to prove?'' was what someone wanted to know from Joe.

Nothing, in effect. Except for himself, to himself.

"When I retire, I won't be coming back,'' Montana had explained. "I'm not like an accountant who can take a sabbatical. So I'm going to keep going as long as I feel like I can play and I enjoy it.''

No regrets. That's the essence. No wondering what might have been. Just do it until you no longer can do it. And then don't look back.

You know there are individuals who wanted Brett Favre to make a mess of things. Individuals who were aching to say, "I told you so.'' What are they saying now?

That despite their misgivings, their disenchantment, Brett Favre is a champion, a player who makes other players better, a player who makes teams better.

The Vikings knew all about Brett Favre. They had lost to him more than enough. They saw him as the one who could be the leader, be the winner. So far, they are correct in their assessment.

We can never be sure when an athlete is done. A change of scenery, a new outlook, a revised dedication may resuscitate a career. We're too eager to write an ending. There, it's over, so go about your business and get away from us.

A Sports Illustrated article by the wordsmith Selena Roberts questioned Tiger Woods' future. In a year when Tiger came back from knee surgery, a year when he won six tournaments but not a major, he suddenly was on the downside and probably never would catch Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors. What?

Tiger is only 33, and to conclude his golf had reached a plateau is wild thinking. Maybe Selena is right. Most likely she's wrong. Nicklaus himself went three years without a major and then started winning them again with great frequency.

Tiger's going to be around a long while. So is Brett Favre -- he looked brilliant against Green Bay, looked like someone who deserved to be given the chance to work his magic.

Tiger Woods didn't suddenly lose his touch. Brett Favre never may lose his touch.

The great ones need listen only to themselves.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/07/favres_too_old_too_spectacular_96495.html
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Show us a commitment to excellence, Mr. Davis

By Art Spander
Examiner Columnist

Send us a sign, Al. Give us a word, Al. Tell us “pride and poise” still has meaning, there truly is a commitment to excellence. That the Raiders — your franchise, Al Davis — is more than a punch line from Keith Olbermann.

Tell us you’re still in control, Al, that you’re distressed with the way the Raiders have played, embarrassed by what’s happened with your head coach, frustrated by the performance of your quarterback.

You’re a Hall of Famer, Al. You were responsible for the Raiders becoming champions, and responsible for the merger of the AFL and NFL — at least in part.

You saved the career of Jim Plunkett, extended the career of George Blanda. Your team won a Super Bowl years before the 49ers did.

Now the Raiders are a joke. Literally. Now, alluding to the contretemps up in Napa and the rout by Houston, Keith Olbermann goes on NBC and cracks, “Coach Tom Cable wouldn’t be blamed for thinking prison might be a good option.”

The Raiders have fallen into a black hole. Will they ever be extricated? If they couldn’t beat the Texans, how can they beat the New York Giants or Philadelphia Eagles? Or anyone?

What do you think of people taking shots at your team? Of your ex-QB Rich Gannon saying current QB JaMarcus Russell doesn’t have a clue? Of your almost backup QB, Jeff Garcia, trashing Russell and others with whom Jeff spent training camp?

Do you have the wrong personnel? The wrong philosophy? Is the style that worked so well in the 1970s and ’80s outdated? Or have the seasons of losing had such a negative effect that it doesn’t matter who the players are or what the system is?

JaMarcus keeps throwing balls over people’s heads and says, “I guess I must play better.” Darren McFadden gets injured. And then Tom Cable is investigated because of an alleged attack on one of his assistant coaches. Can it get any worse?

What’s going on in the executive suite? Are you irate? Are you resigned? Do you wonder what happened to the Mad Stork and John Vella? Do you wonder what happened to the good old days?

Wasn’t this the season everything would get better? The season JaMarcus matured? The defensive line would shut down the run? That you had answers to most of the questions?

You used to kid that the pro football draft was a kind of sporting socialism, that it helped the poor while penalizing the strong, and since the Raiders were among the strong it never was to their benefit. Now you’re among the downtrodden, always selecting high, as high as the very first pick when you took JaMarcus, yet it still hasn’t helped.

Will anything help? You’ve had five coaches in seven seasons. You’ve had 25 wins in seven seasons. The Raiders used to win 25 games in two seasons. The Raiders used to win division titles. The Raiders used to win respect.

Remember when people feared the Raiders, Al? Now they dismiss them with a sneer, with an off-handed remark by Keith Olbermann. Did it burn? Tell us, Al.

And then tell us when the agony is going to end. If it ever is going to end.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Show-us-a-commitment-to-excellence-Mr-Davis-63648622.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

[ArtSpander.com Exclusive] Singletary’s caution being swept away in excitement

SAN FRANCISCO -- The head coach is acting like a head coach, wary, cautious. Do not get too excited, Mike Singletary is saying in so many words. It’s like telling a rooster not to crow at a sunrise. We’re not listening.

We’re watching, watching as the San Francisco 49ers return to the past; watching as linebacker Patrick Willis plays the way Mike Singletary once played; watching as the NFC West is turned upside down and the Niners turn into a team that, even if it can’t do it all, does enough.

Do not get too excited. That’s always the mantra of coaches. The team must get better, must work harder. Look at how the Niners started on Sunday against the dreadful St. Louis Rams. They were “fortunate’’ to get a first half touchdown.

But look at how the Niners finished, with a 35-0 victory -- their first shutout since the end of the 2001 season, 119 games.

But look at how the Niners finished, with a 3-1 record in the first quarter of the season, a victory over every other team in the NFC West.

But look at how the Niners finished, with a belief that even when they are less than perfect, even when All-Pro running back Frank Gore is missing because of an injury, even when they only have 228 yards in total offense, they can be successful.

Not in seven seasons, 2002, the last time they were in the playoffs, have the Niners been 3-1. Not in a long while have the Niners had a linebacker such as Willis, who in the fourth game of his third year had five tackles, three assists, two and a half sacks and a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“Wow,’’ was the response from Singletary, a Hall of Famer, about Willis. “Wow is the only thing I can say, because he has so much talent. He just has to put his talent and knowledge together, and that’s where he is going to take it to the next level.’’

The 49ers already have reached the next level. Not the level of the Steelers and Patriots and Colts, but to a position they haven’t been in for seven seasons, where performance equals dreams, where respectability replaces regret.

Not because they defeated a Rams team that has been blanked in two of its four games, a Rams team that has scored only 24 points in four games. But because even when the Niners had their problems on offense, they were excellent on defense.

They were efficient, a term the late Bill Walsh used when he was pleased with a result.

Singletary is in his first year as full-time coach, having been elevated from the interim status given last season when he replaced Mike Nolan. There are no one-liners from Singletary, no routines. Just the simple, understated concept of hitting your opponent harder than he hits you.

“We don’t want any team coming in here and setting the tempo,’’ Singletary said when asked about his advice at halftime to a Niner team that led only 7-0, and only because the Rams fumbled a punt in the end zone.

“We want to set the tempo. We were not doing that. I had to remind ourselves this is our house.’’

Willis is their gem. So often we hear about high draft picks who are busts. Willis, to the contrary, has met all the expectations and met a great number of running backs head-on.

Someone wondered of Singletary, who some two decades ago was the middle of the champion Chicago Bears defense, if he ever had a game with the statistics Willis compiled against the Rams.

“Not an interception returned for a touchdown,’’ said the coach. “Those didn’t come very often, hands like rocks.’’

Those who a month ago suggested the Niners, without a winning season since ’02, would be atop the NFC West after the first month would have been judged to have rocks in their heads. Yet that is what has happened.

“That is our goal,’’ said Singletary, “to win the division. But that is not our goal. When you look at NFC West, a lot of people think it’s a weak division, but I don’t think that’s the case. We want to be one of the best teams in the NFL. But as we go forward, the most important thing right now is to win the division.’’

To do that, Gore, with a bad foot, must return soon. To do that, quarterback Shaun Hill must not get sacked four times. To do that, Patrick Willis and others on the defense, Manny Lawson, Takeo Spikes, must play as they did Sunday, limiting the Rams to 82 yards passing and 95 rushing.

“I think,’’ said Singletary, “our defense right now, we’re making plays. We’re headed in the right direction, but I want to make sure our guys understand we still need to improve. Did they do a good job? Yes, they did. Can we get much better? Absolutely.

“It’s a good sign we can generate points somewhere else, but at the same time, you say, ‘OK. Once our offense gets set, we’re really going to make some strides. ’’’

The excitement is building. Be careful Mike Singletary doesn’t find out.

L.A. Daily News: USC serves notice they aren't done in Pac-10 yet

By Art Spander
Special to the Daily News

BERKELEY — There's your answer: USC. Next question.

This wasn't a game, it was a reminder. When the Trojans put their minds to it, they also put an end to it. They certainly put an end to any thought Cal is in their league, figuratively that is.

Even if the Golden Bears are in the Pac-10. they no longer are in the Pac-10 race, not after the way USC crushed them 30-3.

Not the way USC crushed any hopes that the Trojans would be less than expected this season, even with the annual upset to a lesser light, this one to Washington.

That was an aberration. That was tradition. That was not an indication.

But this romp over Cal on a cool windy Saturday evening in front of a sellout crowd of 71,799 at Memorial Stadium was more than an indication. Whatever was wrong with Trojans at Seattle has been corrected, in a very big way.

"The way we moved the ball around was great," said USC coach Pete Carroll after his sixth straight win over Cal. "(Freshman quarterback Matt Barkley) played football like a real football player. Matt is our guy. We' re growing game by game."

Cal, which was supposed to challenge USC for the conference title, which two weekends ago was ranked No. 6 in The Associated Press poll, is getting worse game by game.

A week ago it took a 3-0 lead in the opening minute and then was whipped 42-3 by Oregon.

Against USC, the Bears threw an interception in the end zone with a minute gone and then were shut out for the next 49 minutes, or a total of 108 minutes going back the first 60 seconds at Eugene. Cal hasn't scored a touchdown in two games.

"Our defense," Carroll said to nobody's surprise, "was tremendous."

The opening three games, Cal's Jahvid Best had rushed for 412 yards and scored eight touchdowns. He was being promoted as a genuine Heisman Trophy candidate. But he gained only 55 in 16 carries at Oregon and less than that, 49 yards in 14 attempts, against a USC defense which some thought questionable.

"We attacked the running game," Carroll said, "and when they tried to pass we had pressure from the front."

So, for the first time in his eight seasons as Cal coach, Jeff Tedford has gone winless in his first two conference games.

The Bears appeared to play scared, or at least trying to keep the score close. Trailing 20-0 with some two and a half minutes left in the half and the ball on its own 38, fourth and one, Cal punted.

The boos were comparable to those USC fans offered at the Coliseum against Washington State.

Then, when Cal attempted, and missed, a field goal from USC's 21-yard line, with seven seconds left in the half, the boos were even louder.

Expectations had become disgust.

"Give USC credit," Tedford said. "They are a great football team. Their defense is one of the best in the country. We didn't execute very well in the passing game. But we can't be one-dimensional. We have to throw the football in order to be successful.

"We were zero-dimensional today, because we couldn't run it and we couldn't throw it."

The Bears were virtually zero on the scoreboard too, with only a 29-yard field goal with 4 minutes 15 seconds remaining preventing the shutout.

Barkley, who was at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana a year ago, was efficient, completing 20 of 35 for 283 yards, one of those passes for 56 yards to fullback Stanley Havili on the first play of USC's second possession.

The Trojans had been knocked because they had the worst third-down percentage in the Pac-10, 11 of 44, but they were 6 of 15 against Cal, and started on the first series.

"Third down is a big down," agreed Barkley. "We stretched (Cal's defense), and our guys did a great job of getting open. I think the coaches have had faith in me the whole time, but they've decided to open the playbook now.

"We think we're the best team in the Pac-10. We don't worry about anybody else."

Now everybody else has to worry about USC.

As everybody has forever.

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http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_13481905
Copyright ©2009 Los Angeles Newspaper Group

RealClearSports: With Raiders, Nothing Ever Changes

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND -- The coach said he is to blame. "To me, this is on Tom Cable,'' explained Tom Cable. No less is it on Al Davis, the man who hired Cable. Al Davis, who repeatedly has proclaimed, "I am the Oakland Raiders.'' So maybe Al Davis is to blame.

The Raiders are a team with convoluted priorities. They can't stop the run, but management put much of its effort in stopping a former player turned critic from attending practice.

They can't get the ball into the end zone, but in the post-game locker room they can get into the face of a journalist asking a legit question.

The Raiders are 1-2 after three games. It's going to get worse. They play at Houston, but then they play the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and San Diego Chargers. It's going to get worse, but after the last week, in a way, it couldn't get much worse.

The 23-3 loss on Sunday to Denver, in Oakland, almost was incidental. A game, a defeat. It happens.

What also happened was a Raiders assistant reportedly told the police in Napa, where the team holds camp, that Cable punched him and broke his jaw on Aug. 5.

What also happened was CBS analyst Rich Gannon, the last person to play quarterback for a Raider team with a winning record, was banned from the team facility for knocking the current quarterback, JaMarcus Russell.

What also happened was Lowell Cohn, a columnist from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, asked Richard Seymour, the guy the Raiders obtained in a trade from New England, whether he was assessed a personal foul for pulling the hair of the Broncos' Ryan Clady. Seymour grew belligerent, and a Raider official then started arguing with Cohn.

What also happened was the Raiders were some 18,000 seats short of a sellout, so there was no local television of the game in which the Broncos gained 372 yards to Oakland's 127.

Paranoia runs deep. Stole that line from Buffalo Springfield, a rock group that was together briefly in the late 1960s. That was a time when the Raiders used to be successful, a time when Davis didn't worry about what was written or said, just about his team performing.

Al is the creator of the phrase "Just win, baby,'' which in effect proclaims, who cares what the rest of the world thinks, just get more points than the other team. These days, however, the Raiders management, if not the athletes, care about the wrong things.

Russell, the quarterback, is in his third season. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft. He's big, strong and throws interceptions. But he was Davis' selection, so he'll remain as a starter, maybe improving, maybe not.

Presumably Cable will remain as head coach. He's also Davis' selection, installed last season when Lane Kiffin was uninstalled.

Cable is either a cockeyed optimist or delusional. "We're just around the corner from where we want to be,'' was his comment. "It's right there in front of us.''

Right there behind him is the training camp incident. According to NFL.com, defensive assistant Randy Hanson told police he was struck by Cable, and the result was the broken jaw. Hanson's attorney, John McGuinn, called it "a classic case of felony assault.''

The Raiders are a classic case of incompetence. They haven't had a winning year since 2002, when they went to the Super Bowl and Gannon was their leader. But now he's persona non grata because Rich said the team "should just blow up the building and start over.''

Gannon finally was allowed on the property, after CBS whined to the NFL, and he definitely was at the Oakland Coliseum to watch the Raiders get pummeled by the Broncos. Probably had to choke back a few giggles.

But the Raiders are no laughing matter. Since '02, six plus seasons, they've had five coaches and 25 wins, no more than five in any of the six full seasons. When Russell threw his two interceptions in the first quarter against Denver, the fans, the faithful, started booing and never stopped.

"I have to have faith in the guy,'' said Cable of Russell. "His growth has been extreme regarding his work effort. He's just not consistent. He's part of the 10 percent of the team that has to bring his level up to the 90 percent which is performing.''

Then the coach pointed out, "Everything can be fixed, and if not it has to be changed.''

With the Raiders, little's been fixed, if anything, and nothing ever changes.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/09/29/with_raiders_nothing_ever_changes_96491.html

© RealClearSports 2009

[ArtSpander.com Exclusive] Raiders end a demoralizing week

OAKLAND -- Another one of those days for the Oakland Raiders, with mistakes mounting and pressure building, and a post-game confrontation. A perfect conclusion, if you will, to another one of those weeks.

Rich Gannon was in the house Sunday, working with CBS-TV, observing and commenting on a game that the Raiders’ head coach understandably called disappointing, because it was. In fact, it was worse than that. It was demoralizing.

That’s the very same Rich Gannon who threw five interceptions for the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, or three more than JaMarcus Russell threw Sunday for Oakland. The very same Rich Gannon who had been banned from attending Raiders practice at the end of the week because he had knocked Russell for, well, doing what seemingly Russell can’t stop doing, missing receivers.

The Denver Broncos, however, didn’t miss a chance to take advantage of the Raiders, aka Team Chaos, winning 23-3. Yes, the game was that one-sided. For proof, consider this: Denver's total offense was 372 yards. Oakland's was 137 yards.

It’s all coming apart for the Raiders, even after three games. The battle with Gannon is indicative. Nobody likes criticism, but it is part of pro sports. You ignore it and try to improve. But the Raiders, for whom this seemed to be a season of enlightenment, are not improving. They lost a game Sunday, got routed. They lost their cool.

Richard Seymour, the guy who was supposed to help a defensive line desperately in need of help, the guy the Raiders obtained from New England a couple of weeks back in exchange for a first-round draft pick, the guy who didn’t want to report, got called for a personal foul early in the third quarter. He was caught pulling the long braids of Ryan Clady.

When columnist Lowell Cohn asked Seymour about the incident, he not only refused to answer but demanded Cohn leave the locker room, He would not, leading to a Raider official getting in Cohn’s face. What the Raiders need is for some of their defensive linemen to get in the opponents’ face. Or for Russell, the overall No. 1 pick in the 2007 NFL draft, finally to play like the overall No. 1 pick in the draft. Rather than to make Gannon look good by JaMarcus making himself look bad.

This one wasn’t on local TV. This was one had a crowd announced at 45,602. Row after row of seats in the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, capacity 63,132, were unused. Or the booing for Russell, particular, and the Raiders in general would have been louder. And it was plenty loud.

Quarterbacks are always blamed. Long ago, Daryle Lamonica was mistreated verbally when he had a bad day for the Raiders. Across the bay, the booing of the 49ers’ John Brodie was historic. And yet, the derision for JaMarcus is notable. And unrelenting.

“I’m not really going to get into that,’’ said Russell. He had two interceptions in the first quarter. He was sacked three times. Eventually, he completed 12 of 21 for 61 yards, but only three of those completions were in the second half.

“Some plays you can’t control,’’ said Russell. “Because of a lot of coverage we had check-downs and had to stay (in the pocket) longer. Other than that I thought I did all right. The second interception, the receiver got knocked down, and I thought it could have been interference.’’

Then he made a concession that raised a question about the Raiders direction. “We didn’t show up on certain plays,’’ said JaMarcus.

The defense was on the field far too long, in part because it cannot halt the run -- the Broncos rushed for 215 yards -- and in part because Russell had the two interceptions and Darren McFadden lost a fumble. Three turnovers. And only 23 minutes and 45 seconds of possession time, compared to the 36:15 of the Broncos.

“We were not very sharp on either side of the ball,’’ Tom Cable, the Raiders’ coach, conceded. “Third down was an issue on both sides of the ball. We got outplayed, and that’s the bottom line here.’’

Cable said he hopes the booing “ticks off’’ his players, who should be no less ticked off by the result. “We have to play better,’’ said Cable. “The fans deserve better. I feel like we’ve got to keep moving forward. We’ve got to help JaMarcus be at his best.’’

The Raiders, contended Cable, in his first full season as coach, had been “making strides.’’ But in this game, all they made was a mess of things.

“We didn’t practice very well during the week,’’ he said.

They didn’t play very well on Sunday. But it would be like pulling hair to get the reasons why.

RealClearSports: Kiffin and Meyer: One "Flu" Over the Cuckoo's Nest

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

Meanwhile, in the "Who said college football was all respect and sportsmanship?'' sweepstakes, the University of Florida held six players out of practice, not so much to prove Lane Kiffin misguided but because the athletes had flu-like symptoms.

Gators coach Urban Meyer expressed concern swine flu could ravage his team. Kiffin, the Tennessee coach, reportedly asked for medical verification, while gleefully hoping the entire Florida squad will be quarantined until 2010, along with Al Davis.

About a year ago, Sept. 30, 2008, Davis dismissed Kiffin from his briefly held position of Oakland Raiders coach, setting off a chain reaction that found Tom Cable taking over at Oakland and Kiffin, after joining Tennessee, taking a lot of shots at Florida and Meyer.

The two schools finally played last Saturday, the Gators, the national champions, winning 23-13, but that was only a three-and-a-half-hour interim in the verbal game.

Meyer followed up by saying his game plan was conservative because he didn't think the Volunteers appeared to be playing for a win, and also that several Florida players already were ailing from the flu.

Never one to let an opportunity slip by without adding his ill-chosen remarks, Kiffin, when asked 48 hours later if he were worried the Gators were contagious and could have given the flu to some Tennessee players, responded, "I don't know. I guess we'll wait and after we're not excited about a performance, we'll tell you everybody was sick.''

There were no official reports on how all this was being viewed from the second floor of Raiders Central in Alameda, Calif., where Davis spends his working hours -- meaning all day, every day -- but it is presumed the mood is joyful and more than once somebody muttered, "What did you expect?''

Al, who turned 80 in July, doesn't offer public statements frequently, but he knows who's who and what's what. And you can be certain as Kiffin continues to speak out when it would be wiser to remain silent, Davis is feeling more than a touch of reassurance.

Davis fired Kiffin "for cause,'' citing everything from conflicts over personnel moves to lies to the media. "I don't think it was one thing,'' Davis said at the time. "It was a cumulative thing. I think the pattern disturbed me.''

What is happening of late to Kiffin doesn't disturb Al one tiny bit. A vindictive sort, Davis doesn't easily forgive and he never forgets. After UCLA upset Tennessee in Knoxville a couple of weekends back, stopping the Vols inside the 5-yard line, Davis was asked for a comment.

"I didn't care one way or other,'' Davis insisted, even though everyone in the free world knew he did care. "I know (UCLA coach Rick) Neuheisel. I know the other fella who's coaching the other team. I did see the similarities, though, when you get near the goal line.''

The "other fella.'' Davis wouldn't even permit himself to use Kiffin's name. Lane, however, was a trifle more magnanimous. When Tennessee was in the tunnel waiting to go onto the field at Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium a photo held up by a hometown fan caught Lane's eye.

"The picture of Al Davis,'' Kiffin said, "made me laugh.''

Not much else has the last 51 weeks. Kiffin watched the press conference of his removal as Raiders coach on television. He subsequently announced he would sue Davis and Oakland to gain the money Davis is withholding under the argument that Kiffin did not fulfill the obligations of his contract.

Signed by Tennessee, Kiffin went after Florida the way Tennessee only wishes it could do on the field, insisting the Gators violated recruiting rules in trying to get a commitment from wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson.

Then came the obligatory apology, with that wonderfully disingenuous embellishment, "My comments were not intended to offend anyone at the University of Florida.''

Which they did and which Kiffin knew they would. "I'm going to turn Florida in right here in front of you,'' boasted Kiffin to a room full of Tennessee partisans, who cheered the fact Richardson chose their school.

"I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him,'' was Kiffin's valedictory statement.

Surely Meyer loved the fact that after the rhetoric, Florida beat Tennessee, providing Meyer a forum for more rhetoric.

"When I saw them handing the ball off,'' the Florida coach said the day after, "I didn't feel like they were going after the win.''

The feeling among others is that Urban Meyer was going after Lane Kiffin, if in a different way than Al Davis went after him. Everybody please shake hands and come out snarling.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Reunion reminds fans of Niners’ glory days

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — The talk was about what used to be.

“Those were the days,” ex-mayor Willie Brown affirmed.

The talk was about what might be again.

Eddie DeBartolo had come back to his adopted home, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame that bears the name of his father, Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.

He had come back to reminisce, to laugh and, even for a brief emotional moment, to cry.

He had come back for a reconciliation which could only mean good things for the 49ers, the team which won five Super Bowls when they were owned by Eddie, the team which talks about winning Super Bowls now that they are run by Eddie’s nephew, Jed York.

Let’s address the issue. The 49ers were champions because of Bill Walsh, a visionary who coached and managed them out of the darkness. And it was terrific to see Bill’s widow, Geri, among the many at the Sheraton Palace for the DeBartolo presentation.

But without Eddie, there’s no Walsh. Without Eddie, there are no resources. DeBartolo, Walsh and John McVay all had a hand in the success, along with Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott and so many others.

“We weren’t supposed to lose,” Steve Young said. “Eddie would say, ‘You tell me what you need to be great,’  but in return you’d better be great.”

Young, Lott and Jerry Rice offered an unintentional comedy routine during their time on stage. Rice made everyone aware of Young’s expanding bald spot. Young responded, “You wouldn’t say five words, but ever since ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ you won’t stop talking.”

Yes, John York was there. In the same room with Eddie. The new owner and his brother-in-law the old owner, two people we were told who didn’t get along, two people who had different ideas on how to run a pro football team.

But now John’s son, Jed, is in charge. And he was thanking his uncle, Eddie, for providing advice, apparently last year on when to get rid of Mike Nolan as head coach and bring in Mike Singletary. The family is together once more.

“We were always together,” said Denise DeBartolo York, John’s wife and Eddie’s sister.

She was distressed by what a certain columnist through the years had written to the contrary.

The idea, expressed more than once, by everyone from Willie Brown to Rice, is to get Eddie D into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

That may not be terribly easy, even if DeBartolo is deserving. Some voters will be hesitant because he was stripped of the Niners after illegally trying to obtain a casino license in Louisiana.

But this is a start. Just as the Yorks and DeBartolos showing unity is a start of a process to regain the Niners’ old glory.

“Eddie changed the world of sports for the better,” said Brown.

At least as far as Northern California is concerned.

Paul Anka, the singer and composer, the man who wrote “My Way” for Frank Sinatra, was a guest, bringing revised lyrics for DeBartolo, a long-time pal.

“Your football star,” sang Anka to Eddie, “you raised the bar, and did it your way.”

A way the Niners, very much in the family, would love to find once more.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Reunion-reminds-fans-of-Niners-glory-days-60502582.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

(ArtSpander.com Exclusive) The 49ers are making noise

SAN FRANCISCO -- The noise is there. It’s in the roaring of a crowd beginning to believe. In the ringing of a phone in a coach’s apartment at 2 a.m. In the footsteps of a running back as he darts 79 yards for one touchdown and sprints 80 yards for another.

The noise is there, 49er noise, reverberating through Candlestick Park, making people think, making people wonder, not ending any secrets but, still in a football season too young to fully understand, not eliminating all the doubts.

“Now everybody knows we’re for real.’’ Frank Gore said it. After he ran for 207 yards, including those two breakaways. “That was a great one, man.’’

Frank Gore was a great one. A great man. He sped through the Seattle Seahawks just often enough that, with an effective defense, the San Francisco 49ers could win Sunday, 23-10.

Could prove in a game that's supposed to be an early yardstick, against the team picked to win the NFC West, that the Niners indeed are for real.

They honored the past on Sunday at the 'Stick. Brought back former owner Eddie DeBartolo to celebrate his induction into the Niner Hall of Fame, named for his late father, Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. Mixed in with nostalgia was hope.

The Niners are 2-0, duplicating their start two years ago when head coach Mike Singletary was an assistant. And while Singletary insisted "the Niners must do a better job than we did today,'' one senses a different feeling about the 2009 team than the 2007 team.

Not a Super Bowl feeling, not yet, as in the Eddie D years, but a feeling of possibility, a feeling of anticipation. This is a better team than last year, than the year before, maybe than any year since 2002 when, under Steve Mariucci, the 49ers last qualified for the playoffs.

Gore is healthy again. Gore is in shape. Gore is the offense. “They can put an eight-man front,’’ said Jimmy Raye, the Niners’ offensive coordinator. “We’re not going to shy away. What we do is run.’’

Or if you’re Frank Gore, ring up Raye from a dead sleep a week ago Sunday night in the wee small hours. The Niners had beaten Arizona in the opener, but Gore had gained only 30 yards in 22 carries.

“He was bothered by the numbers,’’ said Raye, “the times he got hit in the backfield. He was feeling bad, wanted to know if he was missing some holes. He just wanted somebody to hug, rub and lie to him.’’

Gore wanted reassurance that he hadn’t lost the skills. Other excellent backs Raye had coached -- Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Curtis Martin -- also had their bad days and restless nights and needed a kind word, a reminder that even the best stumble and are not perfect.

“You have to remember (Frank) didn’t play much this summer,’’ said Raye of the exhibition games. “So he expected to jump out last week like he did this week, and when it didn’t happen, he basically just needed someone to talk to.

“I knew last Sunday night his week of preparation would be different this past week. This was more than I expected, but you can’t factor in two 80-yard plays.’’

The first, the 79-yarder, came late in the first quarter and gave San Francisco a 10-0 lead. The other was on the opening series of the second half. The Niners led 13-10 at intermission. Eleven seconds into the third quarter, they led 20-10.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before,’’ said Niners quarterback Shaun Hill. His job primarily is to hand off to Gore or Glen Coffee and occasionally throw passes. Short, don’t-take-a-chance-on-an-interception passes.

Hill was 19 of 26, but only for 144 yards. Nostalgia? Sorry, not with 256 yards rushing and 144 yards passing, not with the franchise of Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jerry Rice. But you utilize what’s available, and what the Niners have is one of the NFL’s leading running backs. And late-night conversationalists like Raye.

“He’s got great vision, great patience and is a great pass blocker,’’ Hill said of Gore. “The offensive line was opening big holes. It was fun to see from the back end, seeing the same thing that Frank was seeing.’’

A week earlier, Frank was seeing red. “I told (Raye) I was kind of frustrated,’’ said Gore. “I was upset that we just couldn’t get anything going, but I was happy about the win, though.

“I had been training so hard. Things just weren’t clicking for me. I got injured the end of (last) season. I told myself I would dedicate myself. Go back to training at the University of Miami. I told myself I want to be one of the top guys in this league. I ran the dunes. I did a lot of work.’’

If the work didn’t prove rewarding in the first game, it definitely did in the second. So did the commiseration with Jimmy Raye long past midnight. Call him anytime, Frank.