Mahomes does it to Niners. Again.

The Super Bowl. Again. The Kansas City Chiefs. Again. Patrick Mahomes. Again. Heartbreak for Northern California. Again.

This is the fact of sports: Sometimes the other guy is better. Sometimes the other team is better.

You train and work out. You try your hardest. And you lose.

So much excitement. So many dreams of glory. And then defeat. That’s the way it went for guys facing Roger Federer. Or women facing Serena Williams. Or NFL teams facing Mahomes in the biggest games.

No ifs. No might-haves. No, “They got all the good breaks.”

No blaming the offensive line or the fact that an injury caused Dre Greenlaw to miss the entire second half. Just Chiefs, 25, San Francisco, 22, Sunday in Super Bowl LVIII, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“Two good teams facing each other,” Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said honestly and sadly.

And the 49ers weren’t quite as good as Kansas City because of Patrick Mahomes at quarterback.

“He can pass, and he can run,” affirmed Niners linebacker Fred Warner.

Most of all he can beat you.

The Niners went far this season, and won the NFC Championship. But for Niner fans who carry in their head reminders of the glory days of the 1980s, that’s not far enough.

Strange, so strange, and so perplexing. This time the San Francisco defense was king. For a while. Until Mahomes, virtually unstoppable, knocked away the crown.

The anticipation kept growing as the Niners kept advancing. The Bay Area’s television stations were relentless in the promotion. Overkill is a way of life in the media.

America’s so-called favorite city and the city’s favorite sports franchise. Add in the bright lights and myths of Vegas, and well isn’t that a bit of perfection?

Yes, until game time. Until the Niners had trouble scoring and until Mahomes — the necessary evil in this plot — got up and lifted Kansas City.

“Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes are great players,” said Shanahan, who, when he was an assistant at Atlanta lost a lead in the Super Bowl to Brady, and as head coach of the Niners, has lost two leads and two Super Bowls to Mahomes.

He didn’t blame his guys, whether second-year quarterback Brock Purdy or veteran running back Christian McCaffrey, the offensive player of the year, or the special teams for a missed extra point. Which in the end didn’t really matter.

He simply gave credit to that quarterback, Mahomes, who produced a great ending for the Chiefs and a miserable one for the Niners and their followers.

“We are all hurting,” said Shanahan. Again.

Shanahan Back (pack) to the Super Bowl

Wonder if Kyle Shanahan still has that backpack? The green one, exactly the same as mine, the one I accidentally walked away with and caused a lot of temporary agony for Kyle. And me.

The biggest sporting event in America, yes, the Super Bowl, at times is responsible for stories that in fact grow from almost nothing to overwhelming.

Stories such as the one before Super Bowl IV of the quarterback Len Dawson hanging around with gamblers (before the NFL started hanging around with gamblers). Or birds’ nests in the practice facility before a Super Bowl in Houston.

Or (know) a sports columnist being accused of lifting a coach’s property to provide inside information to the opposition. 

The real problem, of course, is there are two weeks between the conference championships from which this year the Niners and Kansas City Chiefs emerged.

Nature abhors a vacuum, we’re told, thus aligning it with the idea that if there is nothing newsworthy at a Super Bowl, the papers and TV screens still will not miss a beat.

By now everyone knows Brock Purdy was the final selection in the 2022 draft. What we didn’t know for sure back in 2017 was who was going to be the next 49ers coach. The presumptive candidate was Shanahan, offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, who were going to play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

The game was at NRG Stadium in Houston. But media night was at Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros. Obviously, my target was Shanahan, who I located sitting on a low wall in the left-field bullpen.

I hurriedly plopped the green backpack with my laptop on the ground, next to a low wall that embraced the bullpen, and joined the group interviewing Shanahan, who was properly coy when asked about the Niners.

When all was said and done, I reached back over the little wooden wall snatched my backpack, and hiked a few steps towards an area serving as a temporary press facility. The first call I got was from Jarret Bell of USA Today. who said, “The Falcons are looking for you.”

Shanahan was in a semi-panic, not because he was worried the Patriots would get his game plan, but because there were several thousand dollars worth of Super Bowl tickets to be distributed.

When a Falcons staff member caught up with me he didn’t say hello, just “Where is it?”

I was more concerned about my computer. I never opened either backpack, the reason I didn’t know one from the other.

Instead of working on the story, I had become the story. I was accused of spying for Bill Belichick. 

A year later when the Niners made it to the Super Bowl, they would be up against Kansas City. I asked Shanahan if he would take the backpack. ”Yes,” he said, “and I’m not going to let you near it.”

A big night (yes night) for Wyndham at Pebble Beach

So the PGA Tour moves on to Arizona where presumably the golfers won’t  have to worry about soggy socks and storm warnings, and play will go the full 72 holes and conclude before dark.

Unlike the past weekend’s AT&T Pebble “Why didn’t we stick to a game that can be held indoors” Pro-Am?

True, the weather has been a major factor in the event  that began in the 1930s as the Crosby, but this year it was extreme to a point well, or well, is terror an exaggeration? Yes, but if you were getting pummeled, things were dicey. 

The situation at that good, old, seaside Pebble was no worse off than the rest of California, where (man the lifeboats) lowlands were flooded, hillsides washed away and trees were hoisted aloft onto roads by winds gusting into the 40s. Considering all that, it may be remarkable the tournament event was held.

Wyndham Clark was the winner. Or if you choose, the survivor.

Clark won the U.S. Open in June at Los  Angeles Country Club,  which, apropos of nothing but pertinent to many things, shows the man can play.  He certainly played Saturday, shooting a course-record 12-under par 60 at historic Pebble.

That gave him a 199 for 54 holes, 17-under par and a one-stroke advantage. The chance the fourth round might have to be pushed from Sunday to Monday placed Clark in a good position. The decision not to hold it, left him in a great position.    

They’ve played abbreviated AT&T's numerous times in the past. Dustin Johnson won at three rounds, but the decisions to reduce the number of holes came just before tee off or maybe late afternoon following round three.

This one, Sunday, came just before 6 pm, cocktail hour if you will. Some of the journalists were eating, not drinking, at a restaurant pub when one looked up from his iPhone and shouted, “It’s over. They called it off.”

Meaning all the 30-year old Clark had to do was sign his card and happily respond to questions after a Tour staff member notified him.

“Everyone was celebrating and congratulating me,” Clark said. “I even said to myself, ‘This feels like I just won the tournament,’ and yet we had another round to play. Today, waking up and they cancel the day, you’re trying not to go too far in the future. I get a call that we’re going to cancel and you’re the winner. It’s pretty surreal right now.”

Surreal or not, Wyndham Clark has the trophy and will have his 1st place check of $3.6 million.

You can buy a lot of umbrellas for that.

Clark an inch from a 59 at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH — On a day when the big concern at Pebble Beach was about the future, Wyndham Clark did something about the present.

Clark shot a 12-under par 60 Saturday in the third round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a course record.

And was within one inch, the distance his birdie putt at 17 halted short of the cup, of recording a magical 59.

“I hadn’t been in contention probably since my U.S. Open win,” conceded Clark. “To kind of have those nerves, and then obviously you’re chasing 59.” 

The U.S. Open was in June at Los Angeles. The ATT is in February on the  Monterey Peninsula where rain has been falling—it arrived again on  Saturday around 2:30 p.m. after play concluded—and according to forecasts will hit in apocalyptic proportions on Sunday.  

Which is the reason for the continual worry about what might happen. Will the course be flooded. Will competition need to be delayed? Will the tournament end on Monday? Or Tuesday (as last year and many years in the past)? Or not at all?   

PGA Tour officials will check the weather maps, the course conditions and decide early Sunday whether it’s go or no-go.

“We need to make every effort to play 72 holes,” said Gary Young of the Tour.

With 54 of those 72 completed, Wyndham—not unexpectedly after his 28-32-60, from two eagles, nine birdies and a bogey (on the par-3 12th)—is in front with a 17-under par 199.

Then comes Ludvig Aberg, 67-200, Matthieu Pavon, 66-201, Mark Hubbard, 65-202, and Thomas Detry, 69-202. 

Clark won twice in 2023, including the U.S Open at LACC, and then was chosen for America’s Ryder Cup team, which in early autumn was whipped by Europe. He hadn’t done much the start of 2024. Until Saturday.

Those 60s will get you on to any leader board.

“Probably what was going on internally,” said Clark, when asked what impressed him about his golf. “I started feeling the nerves at 10, and you know making that bogey putt at 12 was huge.”  

“But in my mind, I think in the past I would have kind of coasted and shot a nice 8-9 under. To keep the pedal down and to stay aggressive mentally was the impressive thing about myself. And then making all those putts was out of the ordinary, It was awesome.” 

The issue in golf, as in any sport, is to concentrate on the matter at hand.  Friday, Scottie Scheffler, confronted with a question about weather possibilities, said he was too busy thinking about how he might hit practice shots. In other words, what he could control, not about the havoc nature could create.

“As far as no round (Sunday),” said Clark, “I’ve definitely thought about it, with everyone saying how bad the weather is going to be. All right. Well, you definitely got to have the mentality that today’s the last day and go for broke.”  

He went, and almost broke 60.

At Pebble Beach, Detry is best in the world of golf

PEBBLE BEACH — The world of golf, indeed, is the world of golf, a place where it’s no less important to have a passport than a repeating swing and tournaments may need to distribute pronunciation guides along with yardage books.

Yes, there were three U.S. citizens scattered among the high finishers Thursday in the opening round of the UN — sorry, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler and Colin Morikawa; all Californians.

But they were as much the exception as the sunshine that was present and accounted for until late afternoon showers returned to Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill courses still soggy from an overnight downpour.

In first with a 9-under par 63 at Spyglass was Thomas Detry of Belgium (and the U of Illinois). After decades of almost becoming secondary to the celebrity amateurs, under the revised format, the pros were very much dominant.

Maybe not as many laughs—as mentioned, the prime attraction was no longer entertainer Bill Murray, but the world’s No. 2 ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.

He was in the lead for a while at Spyglass but after a penalized incorrect drop—the rule changed at the beginning of 2024, McIlroy shot a 69 at Spyglass.

Cantlay had  64 at Spyglass, which because it is on rolling hills and not alongside the Pacific, usually fares better in the rain. The low round at historic Pebble was by Matthieu Pavon of France, with a 65.

He won last weekend’s Farmers at Torrey Pines. Some 400 miles down the coast, where Detry had the lead with a hole to play in the 2nd round, but had golfer’s luck.  His beautiful pitch shot h to the 18th green rolled off and into a pond.

Here at Pebble Beach, this opening round was the foreign invasion, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina (66), Si Woo Kim of Korea (66), Ludvig Åberg of Sweden (68), and Justin Rose of England — the 2023 champion — also at 68.

“Good today,” said Detry. Then, more emphatically, “Perfect.”

 At least perfect enough to get in front with three rounds remaining.

He holed his approach on the 18th at Spyglass for birdied three which gave him the lead.

“I’m not going to lie,” said Detry of his failure to close the second round of the Farmers. “Last weekend was a bitter pill to swallow. I played some great golf, and I didn’t really have the finish that I wanted.”

In a tournament, only one person does, no matter which country he’s from.

A new pro finds out about Pebble—and wind

PEBBLE BEACH — That joke, about small golfer warnings? Nobody was laughing at Pebble Beach, particularly Nick Dunlap, the PGA Tour’s new kid on the tee.

“Different weather here than at La Quinta” said Dunlap who down in the warmth of the desert made history. “It’s windy and chilly here.”

Indeed. It’s AT&T weather here, hardly unusual on the Monterey Peninsula in mid-winter, where historically Mother Nature often is the dominant  personality. 

Dunlap, 20, should be the story. A week and a half ago he became the first amateur since Phil Mickelson in 1991 to win a pro golf tournament. Then, no surprise, announced he was going professional.  

Yet, as we well know, for the AT&T, the weather takes the headlines and the TV highlights. Among the notable comments from an event started in the 1930s as the Crosby Pro-Am was run by the late singer-comedian Phil Harris, who insisted after a deluge, “I’m going to get out of these wet clothes and into a dry martini.”

What Dunlap wanted to get into was the money list and standings for the Fed-Ex Cup. He was unable to collect the $1.5 million winner’s check for the victory in the American Express tournament. After all, there does seem to be some true difference between amateur and pro golf.

But he was wearing Adidas logos for a long while, and surely that wasn’t because of his sense of fashion

Dunlap, who took the U.S. Amateur last year, is the new face of golf, bringing in the curious as well as the serious.

There may never be another Tiger Woods, but that doesn’t mean someone like Dunlap won’t fill the grandstands as he fills his wallet.  

In interviews immediately after winning the American Express, Dunlap seemed both humble and perceptive. His two years at the University of Alabama were well spent learning to deal with people as they were learning to deal with breaking greens.

“Trying to figure out what I’m going to do with school, moving forward,” said Dunlap. “Whether to take a couple of classes or drop (out) for the semester.”

Dunlap is a winner. He also is a learner. There’s so much about the Tour and about life he must experience even though his unexpected breakthrough, which made him exempt on Tour and qualified him for the Masters and British Open, elevated him into a special category.

“Right now,” he said, “I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I know that in golf you have your ups and downs. Right now I’m on an up, which is awesome. That’s why we play golf. The downs make these times so great.” 

No matter how hard the wind blows.

The new AT&T: Rory McIlroy in place of Bill Murray

PEBBLE BEACH — The Pacific Ocean still is there, crashing against the edge of one of the world’s great golf courses.  And the threat of weather that so often has defined the tournament through the years remains on the horizon and in the forecast.

But so much—virtually everything else—has changed about the event that advanced from the Bing Crosby Pro-Am to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Basically, it’s gone from Bill Murray, who once tossed a large frozen fish on the 18th fairway to Rory McIlroy, who doesn’t throw out much more than compliments or criticism.

What in effect was a huge party of pars and laughs—chants from the gang at Pebble’s 15th tee—is now a good, old-fashioned competition among many golfers who conveniently avoided the AT&T because of the format and conditions.

Now, for this year’s event, which begins Thursday, as commercials have touted, AT&T has its finest field of pros ever, players such as Scottie Scheffler, No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings, and McIlroy, No. 2. 

Does that compensate for a lack of singers and comedians?

The first two days there will be numerous NFL quarterbacks, including Aaron Rodgers, who won the amateur title a year ago under the old format. But not many Hollywood types.

Will the revisions mean a lot? Who knows? They tell us the key to life is adapting. Fore!

Surreal comeback gets Niners to Super Bowl

It was a comeback that seemed as much surreal as successful, one that equaled the greatest in NFL postseason history and no less meaningful elevated them into the Super Bowl.

The 49ers were being overrun and overwhelmed in the NFC Championship Sunday by the Detroit Lions, seemingly destined to be left in the dust as well as the distance in their quest for the championship game.

They couldn’t stop the Lions on defense and couldn’t score against them on offense, behind almost from the opening moments and trailing by two touchdowns and a field goal as late as the third quarter.

But it changed so quickly, and for the home team, so magnificently. And there after key stops and against-the-grain maneuvers by nonconformist Detroit coach Dan Campell who defied basic football logic, going for it twice on fourth down and short—and failing—the Niners were 34-31 winners. 

They advance to Super Bowl LVIII on February 12 in Las Vegas against the Kansas City Chiefs, whose victory over the favored Baltimore Ravens earlier in the afternoon appeared to preview a Niners defeat.  

Not so fast. 

The defense started making tackles and quarterback Brock Purdy engineered a rally that would have made Joe Montana—a spectator at Levi’s Stadium—almost envious. San Francisco came out aggressively and determinedly after halftime—“We had no other choice,” said a weary head coach, Kyle Shanahan.

Campbell, the Lions’ third-year coach, had choices on fourth down—his reputation is that of a man who takes chances—and decided even with the lead to go for the first down instead of kicking a field goal.

The first time was with some seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Lions, in front 24-10, had a fourth and two on the Niners 28. Does a field goal give Detroit an insurmountable margin? An incomplete pass from Jared Goff gave San Francisco the life it seemed to lack.

The Niners kicked a field goal, and—which, yes, the Lions could have done—and now it was all different.

Early on, Goff, the kid from Marin County and Cal, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2016, was outperforming the Niners’ Brock Purdy, who as we know was the last pick in the 2022 draft.  

Purdy has been criticized—unfairly perhaps—for being a “game manager”, however that’s defined, and never bringing the Niners from behind to a victory.

That belief was erased emphatically as he produced the win. ”Brock was great,” said Shanahan. “He did it as much with his legs as with his arm.”

Purdy scrambled away from tacklers several times and completed 20 of 31 passes for 267 yards.

Still attempting to remain the low-key guy he’s been, Purdy talked about the blocking and the defense. Not until pressed, did he comment on going where so few get the opportunity, the Super Bowl.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

So certainly is Shanahan. Five seasons ago, he coached the Niners to a Super Bowl against, yes, Kansas City. San Francisco then was unable to hold a second-half lead in that game.

Shanahan, however, preferred to talk about what happened against the Lions.

“I’ve never been in a game like this,” he said.

He’s not alone.

Warriors return, honor ‘Brate’ and get a win

The questionable became the memorable.

The Warriors provided an emphatic answer to how they might respond after a period when mourning replaced practice, depression replaced basketball. 

Their beloved assistant coach, Dejan Milanović, died after suffering a heart attack eight days ago. Two games were postponed, and head coach Steve Kerr was uncertain how his team would react when it returned to the court. He found out quickly enough Wednesday night. 

We found out. 

The Warriors’ week started fast and barely stopped, defeating the Atlanta Hawks, 134-112 at Chase Center before a crowd that came to honor the return and stayed to celebrate the victory.

Pre-game was both somber and gratifying, with some tears supplanted by many cheers. Both teams grouped as tributes were read. The  Sero-Croatian and U.S. national anthems were played over the public address system.

Warriors players and others in the building wore black T-shirts with “Brate” printed on the back—Serbo-Croatian for brother, and what the 36-year-old-old Milanović seemed to call everyone.

On the front of the shirts was the outline of a heart, enclosing the initials “DM”.

What the Warriors wrapped themselves around was the type of shooting and defense that had a hint of those championship seasons from decades past.

Steph Curry scored 25 points, Jonathan Kuminga 25—he was a perfect 11 for 11 from the floor—and Klay Thompson had 24. Draymond Green rebounded, defended and passed as he once did and still does. It was a reassuring triumph for a team uncertain of its future.

“It was tough going out there,” said Curry, referring to the gloom and uncertainty of the previous week. “We had to make decisions.”

Maybe both about returning to the game they felt compelled to put aside as they attempted to deal with the tragedy and the style of basketball. Suddenly their lives had changed. 

Curry was enthused by Kuminga’s improved play, “He’s so talented,” said Steph, a man who well knows talent.

When Curry hit his first field goal of the night, he pointed to the sky, well, the Chase Arena roof. It was a gesture of defiance as much as glee. Steph was back. The Warriors were back. 

Now let’s go play the game as aggressively and as well as possible. Brate, or “Deki,” wouldn’t accept anything else.

The 49ers, Lions and an unchanging halftime score

I know the halftime score of the 49ers-Detroit Lions playoff game in 1957. I kept giving it to phone-callers years after it had been played.  

No internet in those days, very little TV coverage of the NFL, but far too many people involved in sports arguments, mostly at bars, a few at homes. 

And on the night desk at the San Francisco Chronicle, having arrived in 1965 with dreams of creating stories, was a relatively young guy consigned to the night desk, writing headlines and answering questions from callers.  

The most frequent of which had to do with the halftime score of that Niners-Lions contest. Which was 24-7, Niners.

Before, moments into the second half it was 27-7, and should have been even more. Sorry. I don’t believe in should-haves or could-haves.

Callers wouldn’t believe the score 50 years ago, maybe they still don’t. In sports, it either happens or it doesn’t happen. For the Niners in 1957, it didn’t happen.

I’ll cut to the chase. The underdog  Lions won 31-27. Heartbreak by the Bay. Explanations (excuses?) by the barrel. A region in dismay.`  

The Warriors ascended for a decade. The Giants won three World Series. Still deep down, historically (and hysterically), no franchise has been as popular as the Niners, who were born here in 1946, and never left, if you don’t include a slide down the Peninsula to Santa Clara.=

They owned the place. And also the legacy of disappointment.

Now there are Super Bowl trophies in the Niners offices and frequent references to Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Steve Young, Jerry Rice and others who helped win those trophies. 

Back then in the 1950s however, they were in a constant struggle to break the bonds, get over the barriers, and finally prove they belonged. For 30 minutes of what was called the Western Conference Championship, they definitely belonged.

This one, as all Niners home games, at the time, was at old Kezar Stadium located on the southeast corner of Golden Gate Park where there were so many local politicians invited, the late sports columnist Jim Murray said it was the only press box in the country to which you had to be elected.

The Niners had their “Million-Dollar Backfield” of Y.A. Tittle at quarterback, Joe Perry, John Henry Johnson and Hugh McElhenny (money was different then, but those guys were outstanding) and quickly dominated.

The placekicker was Gordy Soltau, whose son, Mark, was a sports writing (and phone-answering) colleague of mine, and was able to watch the Niners do what they couldn’t when his father played.

What happened the second half that day, Dec. 27, 1957, depends on whose words you find credible after a game Niners fans—they weren’t yet nicknamed “The Faithful”— found disagreeable.  

Only a thin board separated the two locker rooms at Kezar. The Lions players contended they heard the Niners whooping it up at half as if the game were over. That’s all Detroit needed to get inspired and get in front

Niners players, including Gordy Soltau, denied the charge. Whatever, the Lions rallied and the Niners came unglued.

And the halftime score was 24-7. No phone calls, please.

Niners, miraculously, pass their “gut check”

This one was part miracle, part courage. A football game that very well could have been lost, and maybe should have been lost but somehow, on a wet field, against an opponent who was a surprise, was a game that the 49ers won.  

Not as well played—full of mistakes and tension, rain falling to add to the scenario—but that was part of the reason the game was so enthralling and nerve-wracking. 

As the best sporting contests inevitably are.

And no less since the Niners, trailing most of the way, pulled out a  24-21 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium, rewarding…

Big plays, everywhere and anywhere, not the least which was the 6-yard touchdown burst by Christian McCaffrey with a mere 1:07 remaining that was the difference.

But that wouldn’t have meant much without Dre Greeenlaw’s interceptions or Jake Moody’s field goal in the falling rain or Brock Purdy’s leadership and completion on the final drive.

There was no Deebo Samuel, who was out most of the game with a shoulder bruise. There seemed no way to stop Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who kept finding ways to scramble for yards when he couldn’t find a receiver.

But among the Niners, players and coaches, there was a belief that somehow they, as good teams somehow do, would find a method to end up ahead, reach the NFC Championship and, yes, move one game from the Super Bowl.

“Everybody had a part,” said Kyle Shanahan, who was as relieved as he was delighted.

Purdy missed a few throws, but the cliché is when the weather is difficult and the opponent is stubborn, does a quarterback find a way to bring his team back on top? Purdy did. But obviously, he wasn’t alone.

Asked how he did what was required, completing six of seven passes down the stretch, Purdy, the last pick in the 2022 draft, was quick to credit others. “The defense and everyone.”

The 49ers were the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Packers No. 17. But Green Bay beat the Dallas Cowboys a week ago in the wild-card round, and the success made them more confident. 

“I knew they were good,” said Shanahan of the Pack, “but not until we started getting ready for them did I realize how deep they were.”

Deep and determined. Packers quarterback Jordan Love kept finding ways to scramble for yards when he couldn’t find a receiver.

The idea of Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur was to keep the football away from the explosive 49er offense and for a while—well, well virtually the entire game—that worked. The Packers opted to receive the opening kickoff—many times teams defer—and thus deny the Niners their chances. 

In the first half Green Bay had the ball 16 minutes 55 seconds of the possible 30.

However, the Niners made some big plays, the Packers missed a big field goal and eventually the better team, off its season record, made it to a fourth NFC title in five years.

A statistic tossed about on television was a Shanahan-coached team trailing by five points or more entering the fourth quarter of any game had lost more than 30 straight. Well, that is no longer pertinent.  

“This was a mental challenge,” said Shanahan, “a gut check.”

The Niners passed. Although, like any big exam, it required a high degree of patience. Did someone just exhale?

Is Warriors era at an end—along with others

End of an era. Such a short phrase. Such a poignant phrase.

End of an era. Three words implying change has arrived, perhaps for the better but almost always for the worst.

End of an era. Within days, hours really, Pete Carroll is dispatched by the Seahawks, Nick Saban retires at Alabama and Bill Belichick leaves the New England Patriots.

End of an era. The Golden State Warriors tumble from greatness into such pathetic efficiency, they virtually are out of games by the second quarter and the cheers that once filled their home, Chase Center, turn into boos. 

Nothing is forever. A cliché, a reminder. There’s always someone new, some new team, another young kid as we grow old. That’s sports. That’s life. That’s coaches stepping away or being shoved away. That’s people who fail to understand we’re not going to stay on top, if we ever were fortunate to get there.

In the last months, the New England Patriots, a dynasty, had disintegrated and could barely score, dropping their final game of the season 17-3.

The last few days the Warriors, a dynasty, have disintegrated. Sunday night, they allowed 46 points in the first quarter.   

Unbelievable is both an overused and misapplied word in sport, where to be accurate, nothing—rallies, blown leads, games in snowstorms—truly nothing on a field or a court of ice is unbelievable, improbable yes.

Some of these fresh-faced partisans, who only discovered the Warriors the last decade, perhaps thought they’d never lose. Then again few of us thought they’d ever lose in the way they’ve lost recently, blown out.

Their coach said the Warriors have lost confidence. Too many new players in the lineup, possibly, and no Draymond Green, whose leadership and emotion—but not his violence—is to return shortly.

Maybe this is a false hope. Maybe, with Steph Curry wearing down and Klay Thompson inconsistent, what the Warriors used to be they’ll never be again. That also could be true for the New England Patriots, with whoever is their coach.  

So much upheaval in so short a time, and so many questions about how we can adapt. Would we have imagined the Warriors could toss away an 18-point lead? Or that Bill Belichick, Nick Saban and Pete Carroll would say goodbye in such rapid fashion?

They’re no longer coaching, although stories persist that Belichick will be back somewhere soon. The Warriors continue to play, if in different circumstances.

The other night, with the Warriors farther behind than one never would have thought, there was a TV closeup of Curry whose facial expression seemed to be a blend of bewilderment and dismay.

He’s probably thinking, how could he keep at least one sporting era from ending with all those others.

Did missed kicks matter for Niners in a game that didn’t?

You say the Niners game Sunday didn’t matter, unless you bet the Rams, who were 2½ point underdogs (and won).

Or if you’re a 49ers rookie placekicker who suddenly couldn’t get the ball through the uprights. Perhaps. But it at least was somewhat unnerving, even with the top seed in the playoffs previously clinched.

True, it did matter for the Rams, who moved up a notch in the postseason seedings and after the comeback 21-20 victory at Levi’s Stadium, could face the Niners once more in two weeks. 

This time? No Christian McCaffrey, no Brock Purdy, and no Deebo Samuel for San Francisco, those guys taking a rest as the 49ers took no chances getting them hurt in the regular season finale. That was expected. Unexpected was Jake Moody missing an extra point for the first time after going 60 for 60 and also missing on a 38-yard field goal attempt.

“He never missed one all year,” Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said, defending Moody’s failure after the Niners’ second touchdown. “He’s done a hell of a job.”

That is correct, but so is the comment by former Niner Donte Whitner on Sunday’s post-game TV show, that the pressure builds in the playoffs, and a miss now very well could lead to a miss then—and elimination.

Not that Shanahan was likely to dwell on Moody’s fall from perfection, even though in the end it was the reason the Niners ended regular play with a defeat and a 12-5 record. 

Sam Darnold was the Niners quarterback and was effective enough to provide new hope that if something happened again to Purdy, knocked out of the playoffs last year by that elbow injury, Darnold would keep things going.

The irony, of course, is Darnold was a first-round selection by the Jets, who eventually traded him to Carolina, while Purdy was a final-round pick—last overall, “Mr. Irrelevant”—by the 49ers.

Purdy was on the scene Sunday, just not in uniform, although he did work out with his teammates before kickoff.

The best part of having the top seed in the conference and the bye in the first round of the playoffs is the opportunity to rest players who have been pounded and battered from September. The worst part, some say, is getting out of the weekly pattern.

The Niners, with Shanahan and numerous veterans, should be able to stay the course. They’ve been through the grind, dropped three straight games, then followed with five straight wins.

“Our goal was to get the No.1 seed,” Shanahan said “We did, and it was weird this past week, but I like how our guys handled it. A number of guys got better through the year. We still feel our best football is forward.”

A Tale of Two Rose Bowl streaks

PASADENA — Reynolds Crutchfield is his name, and on Monday, New Year’s Day 2024, he attended the Rose Bowl game here in his hometown for an 80th straight year.

Which is remarkable and admirable and puts me 10 behind the 93-year-old Mr. Crutchfield, who was a high school teacher and basketball coach. 

Behind in games, not years. 

And while I wouldn’t mind catching up in age (I’m more than 10 back of him in that statistic), I’m sure I’ll never equal his number of Rose Bowls.   

Then again, all he’d do was show up, enter the stadium and watch.

My resume is a little more complex and includes the selling of programs, working as a press box usher and writing stories and columns for publications as varied as the late Santa Monica Evening Outlook, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Oakland Tribune and of late my very own non-profit (but semi-rewarding) web site, artspander.com.

Those courageous and you could say magnificent men who climbed Everest and other great mountains had a ready answer when asked why: “Because they’re there.”

So to my connection to the Rose Bowl. This was before the majors came west. Before the NBA expanded. For a kid growing up in southern California virtually the only sporting event of importance was, yes, the Rose Bowl Game.

My first was Jan. 1954, Michigan State-UCLA in beautiful weather. My father, who had a mom-and-pop grocery store in the Highland Park district of L.A ., near Pasadena, dropped me off. I wore a white shirt and signed up to peddle programs. I made $10.

I even went to the end zone and picked up a small piece of the goalpost, which in those days was wood and traditionally brought down by celebrating fans.

No cell phones, no ESPN. For a kid in high school, this was nirvana.

As opposed to the next year, 1955. Of course I returned, but alas, for the first time since Stanford-Columbia in 1934 (no I wasn’t there, I wasn’t even in high school), it rained—a steady downpour.

People literally were giving away $20 tickets but the tickets went unclaimed. Hundreds of seats remained empty. It was Ohio State against USC, and even though the Buckeyes won, 20-7, their demanding coach, Woody Hayes, was in a snit because the USC band performed on the soggy field at halftime.

I’m emphasizing that the references here are only the Rose Bowl games that actually were played in the Rose Bowl. I conveniently skipped the one in 2021 that shifted to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, because of Covid restrictions in California.

Not sure if Crutchfield was there or not, and if he smartly avoided traveling to deep in the heart of what we know as Jerry‘s (Jones) World, whether he now really has gone to 80 in a row or 79?  

Or whether in the great scheme of things it counts?

What counted for me on Jan. 2, 1978, was getting from Denver to Los Angeles.

I was the Oakland Raiders beat writer for the Chronicle, and the paper’s sports editor was only concerned with me covering the game against the Broncos that day.

Not with my string of Rose Bowls.

The Broncos defeated the Raiders that New Year’s afternoon, in part on the controversial call on the Ron Lytle non-fumble for a score.

I met my deadline and dashed to the airport, somehow arriving in time for the Monday, Jan. 2 Rose Bowl. I was relieved and elated. Until the sports editor found out and threatened dismissal.

Hey, you have to take chances when you’re on a streak.

Michigan’s D made the stop that matters

PASADENA — You try against Michigan, you run into trouble. And you are also run out of the College Football Championship.  

In one of those games that had too many timeouts and not enough action, everything turned on the final play of only the second Rose Bowl ever to go overtime.

They now are 14-0 and it is because of their defense.                                                                    

They stopped Alabama quarterback, Jalen Milroe, around the two on a fourth and goal carry.

So the Wolverines, ranked No. 1 the past few months, defeated the Crimson Tide, 27-20, dealing another blow to the school that for so long dominated the college game. 

“We obviously were disappointed in the outcome of this game,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who for a third straight year will be kept from the place his team occupied for so long.

“The clock was running down,” said Saban about the way things ended, “and a couple of times we mis-executed.” 

That probably was because of the D, the part of a Michigan team that survived every opponent, and even the controversy created by coach Jim Harbaugh where he was accused of spying.

He was suspended for three weeks, but as you can see from his record it had as little effect on Michigan as everything else.

It wasn’t exactly three yards and a cloud of dust as was the situation with Ohio State under Woody Hayes, but Michigan played tough physical football on both sides of the ball.

What proved to be the difference was that Blake Corum ran 17 yards for the score that would win, contributing to him being selected as the offensive player of the game.

This has been a spectacular time for the Harbaugh family, who once lived on the San Francisco peninsula when father Jack was a coach at Stanford. A few days back, John Harbaugh coached the Baltimore Ravens over the 49ers, and now Jim leads his alma mater into the College title game.

“Happy New Year,” was the way a properly thrilled Jim Harbaugh, the Michigan coach, greeted the media. “A great way to start the New Year. That was glorious.”

Perfection so often is.

“Alabama had a great game plan for us,” said Harbaugh when told that until the final drive of regulation, the Wolverines had only 41 yards of offense in the second half.

A great game plan that wasn’t quite enough.

ESPN comments kinder to Niners than the game

What you heard Tuesday wasn’t quite bad as what you saw Monday. If you are a 49ers fan.

Yes, the result stayed the same, the Baltimore Ravens with a 33-19 victory that was as resounding as perhaps it may have been surprising.

But the comments the morning after on ESPN, especially from retired long-time NFL players-turned-commentators Shannon Sharpe and Jeff Saturday, offered a bit of perspective.  

If no particular advice on how to slow down the hype and excitement, nor stop Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, who despite Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey, may be chosen the NFL Most Valuable Player. As he was in 2019.

That video in the Ravens post-game locker room at Levi’s Stadium Christmas night, of Harbaugh calling out his athletes one by one and then, when Jackson was presented everyone chanting, “MVP, MVP, MVP,” was tough to accept for the Faithful. 

But accept it they must.

Amazing isn’t it how one game turns everything upside down and inside out? Purdy throws four interceptions. The Niners do little on offense and not much on defense.   

They led 5-3 in the first quarter—or was it the first inning?—against the Baltimore Orioles?

The ESPN guys wondered why the Niners kept throwing instead of going to the run with McCaffrey. Or how Purdy, who is in his second pro season, would respond to the worst game of his brief but until now golden career.

The 49ers are 11-4, the best in the NFC, and if they recover after this jolt and in order beat the very, very beatable Washington Commanders and then the improving LA Rams, the Niners will have home field throughout the playoffs and a first-round bye.

“We’re going to find out a lot about Brock Purdy,” said Sharp. “He’ll be helped by (Kyle) Shannahan and (coach) Brian Griese.”

Shanahan, of course, is San Francisco’s head coach, and he’s known as an offensive genius. But this time the offense was ineffective against the Ravens, who with tactics devised by defensive coordinator Mike McDonald were able to stymie every Niners drive—until Purdy was picked off.  

“The first one was his fault,” Shanahan said of Purdy’s interceptions. “The others were tipped balls.”

Purdy incurred a left-shoulder stinger in the fourth quarter, and with the Niners far behind was replaced by Darnold—who also had a pass picked off, five interceptions total for San Francisco.

Nine days ago, when the pre-game odds were favoring the Niners, Jackson, the Baltimore quarterback, whined that his team was being disrespected.

To steal a line from Edgar Allan Poe, whose 19th Century poem is responsible for the team’s name, Ravens, “Nevermore.”

McCaffrey, Purdy and the need for healthy D-linemen

The question was whether having two legitimate MVP candidates on the same team, the San Francisco 49ers in this instance, would prove to be a negative. Not in games, but in voting for the award.

Whether the ballots for Brock Purdy would cancel those for Christian McCaffrey or vice versa. That was last week.

Now there’s a larger question. Can the 49ers slow the Baltimore running attack when the teams meet Sunday night in what could be labeled a holiday gift from the schedule makers.

Or after a look at the standings, maybe called a Super Bowl preview.

The Niners, with their 45-29 victory over the sad sack Arizona Cardinals,  have the best record in the NFC, 11-3. And the Ravens, 23-7 winners over the Jacksonville Jaguars, also are at 11-3, best in the AFC. 

So, yes those would seem to be the favorites for Super Bowl LVIII (58 for us uncivilized folk west of the Roman Empire), that game is on Feb. 11, 2024, in Las Vegas.

But not so fast. There are several weeks to go in the regular season when noting what’s been happening too often, injuries might occur, and then playoffs. So nothing is certain.

Other than what transpired, the Niners, although winning, were unable to halt Arizona’s ground game as the Cardinals rushed for 234 yards — marking the most against SF this season.

The Niners were missing starting defensive tackles, Arik Armstead (foot, knee) and Javon Hargrave (hamstring).

And whether they’ll be back against Baltimore, which rushed for 251 yards against Jacksonville, becomes a large issue.

Shanahan on Monday was asked about the possibility of signing a quick fill-in, someone like Ndamukong Suh.

"Not yet," Shanahan said. "I mean, I'm not ruling out anything. We have guys on our practice squad, as you guys see, that we used last week. But that stuff, we also aren't exactly sure when Hargrave and Armstead are coming back. We do know they have chances this week, so there's a lot of variables that are playing together that we'll be discussing here the rest of the day, and tomorrow. And even if we don't make a move in any area, that'll probably be continuing throughout the year."

If the defense is troubling, the offense is reaffirming. The MVP mentions had their usual spectacular games, despite taking hits that forced them to be examined by medical staff or trainers. McCaffrey was out for four plays. Then Purdy, the quarterback phenom, missed two plays.

Some gasp from Niners personnel but that was about all. McCaffrey, who was diagnosed with a stinger in his leg, rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

Purdy, returning to the suburbs of Phoenix where he went to high school, completed 16 of 25 for 242 yards and four touchdowns. 

Magnanimously he also tossed in the thought of McCaffrey as the MVP.

Because of those two, other Niners on offense tend not to be appreciated. One, of course, would be Deebo Samuel who had four receptions for 48 yards, and 2 TDs.

McCaffrey became only the fourth player in NFL history with at least four seasons of 1,000 yards rushing, and 500 yards receiving. His NFL high of  20 touchdowns moved a bit closer to the franchise season record of 23 that was set in 1987 by, who else — Jerry Rice, now occasionally doing TV commercials for a South Bay insurance firm.

First he grabbed footballs. Now he tries to grab clients.

For Draymond, indefinitely is a long time

Indefinitely? That’s a long time. Maybe not as long as forever — which is a notch or two down the list — but long enough. Especially when your team seems very much to be running out of time.

The NBA responded to Draymond Greens’ punch — or episode if you like dancing around the issue — with a punch of its own.

A haymaker as they used to say on the Friday Night Fights, a knockout punch that knocked Green out of the opportunity to play basketball for well,  indefinitely.

And probably knocked his team, the now-bewitched Golden State Warriors, out of a chance to ever again win a championship.

The violation, a term that perhaps sounds more palatable than a blow to the face, came Tuesday night in yet another Warriors loss to the Phoenix Suns, this one 119-116.  

Green’s physical play is what helped make him an All-Star. And a pariah. Tuesday he went hard after the ball, smacked the Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic in the face, was called for a flagrant 2 foul and ejected.

Green has been there before, too many times including earlier this season when he was suspended five games for choking Rudy Gobert of the Timberwolves.

And running out of patience, NBA officials are intent on preventing Draymond — suspended four times in the last nine months, six times overall — from going there again.

In its news release Wednesday, the NBA alluded to Green’s “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.

Before he’s in a Warriors uniform again, Green must meet certain criteria specified by the NBA.  According to The Athletic, he will undergo counseling — remember the film, “Anger Management”? — that will include Green’s agent and representatives from the NBA and Warriors front office.

It has been the intensity and unhinged volatility that helped propel Green, now 33, to a $100 million contract while in the process of propelling the Warriors to four titles. But because he’s possibly lost a step while losing none of his determination, Draymond is more aggressive than allowed within the rules. He’s now compensating for what skill or speed has been lost by a recklessness that now has him on edge and off the court.

Draymond apologized for the way he pummeled Nurkic, who later was understandably irritated by Green’s battering ram maneuver, but Green didn’t complain. He knew well he had been illegally rough. Now, until pardoned by the league, whenever that comes, Draymond may be gone for a week or two.

Green has been more than a star defender and rebounder, through the years an emotional leader, ready to kick bottoms and kick the team into high gear.

His roles as defender and rebounder, and no less importantly willing accomplice to Steph Curry getting balls into the basket, are to be filled by youngsters Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis.

Immediately after the game, which left them with a 10-13 record, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said, “We need Draymond. He knows that.”

We all do, but it’s indefinite when they’ll have him again.

49ers, a new red (jersied) machine

The label was used originally back in the 1970s for the baseball team from Cincinnati. So pardon a bit of plagiarism for choosing to call the 49ers, in their home uniforms, the Big Red Jersied Machine.

We’re talking pro football. We’re talking big gains (the first play of the game was Christian McCaffrey sprinting 72 yards). We’re talking timely defense. We’re talking another five-game win streak. 

We’re talking a 28-16 victory over the Seattle Seahawks Sunday that elevated the Niners into a tie for the best record in the NFL. We’re talking about a coach, Kyle Shanahan, who was pleased but as every coach until the season ends, seeking improvement.

We’re talking a next game against the Arizona Cardinals, who at 3-10, are as bad as the 10-3 Niners are good. We’re talking a roster of  players who on offense remind us of the 1980s, the Montana, Craig, Rice, Clark, Young group about which John Madden in his role as TV an analyst would say again and again, “too many weapons.”

On this 2023 Niners team the offensive weapons include the almost-impossible-to-bring-down Deebo Samuel (two TDs Sunday), McCaffrey (145 yards rushing and one TD), and George Kittle (one TD).

And, oh yeah, we’re talking about the biggest surprise maybe ever, that quarterback guy Brock Purdy, who Sunday completed 19 passes in 27 attempts for 368 yards and two TDs.

The Purdy legend has been told many times but not enough for the 49ers Faithful, the last player picked in the draft — what were those scouts and assistant coaches looking for anyway? — who may be heading from the infamous Mr. Irrelevant to a more classy title, Most Valuable Player.

Another individual of value is Shanahan, whose decisions on personnel and game plans have been virtually unpredictable and eminently successful.

No, not every move works, but he has shown to be adaptable.

If something doesn’t work, then he’s very willing to try something else, although it’s hard to believe he would be willing to try a different quarterback.

“So many guys made big plays out of little plays,” a perfect summation of the reason the Niners kept getting into the end zone and when for a few moments they fell behind early in the second quarter, getting in front once more.

Shanahan’s specialty is offense — like the days of Bill Walsh. You almost can see the wheels turning in his brain, coming up with plays — but he well understands defense triumphs.  

Once more there will be a reference to the late John McKay, who went from a national championship at USC to become the first coach of the expansion Tampa Bay Bucs.  

“You win on defense,” said McKay. “If the other team doesn’t score you’ll never get worse than a 0-0 tie.”

The other team in this case, the Seahawks, did score against the Niners, but just enough to make the game interesting. Seattle had just 324 yards in offense, compared to 527.

And the linebacker Fred Warner had an interception, his fourth of his career, equaling the team record held by Keena Turner.

Big red machine, indeed.

Did Giants really have any chance for Ohtani?

San Francisco Giants fans have to look at it this way: In 10 years Shohei Ohtani again will be a free agent, and the team can make another worthless attempt to sign him.

Deep down where your frosty memories of a night game at Candlestick Park are hidden, you probably never really thought the Giants would get Ohtani.

That this whole come-on was a creation of some imaginative screenwriter.

The best attraction in baseball leaving southern California, with all those movie stars, sushi restaurants and LeBron James? No way.

This was just another case of the Dodgers finishing ahead of the Giants, which except for that rare year, 2007, has been a constant. And a pain.

The Dodgers didn’t need Ohtani, and the woebegone Giants did. As if in the game of baseball or the game of life, need is taken into consideration.

The L.A. media already are lording it over the unfortunate Bay Area, which in a matter of weeks has lost both a baseball team, the bewitched Oakland Athletics, and now any chance hopes for a man who pounds balls into the seats when he’s not pounding fastballs past confused batters.

“Can you believe it?” was the headline on the L.A.Times internet page minutes after the signing. “Shohei Ohtani, baseball’s new Babe Ruth is a Dodger.”

What we can believe is the Giants are headed for a season, when they’re doomed to be crushed by the Dodgers and stuck without any attraction.

When supposedly the Giants were a legitimate candidate in the Ohtani sweepstakes if ranking behind the Dodgers, Blue Jays and Cubs, new San Francisco manager Bob Melvin said the team needs star power.

But who do they acquire, and how do they acquire him? They made failed attempts to sign, in chronological order, Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge and now another, Ohtani. It’s like the boy who cried wolf (Ruth?) colloquially, ain’t nobody there.

Giants president Farhan Zaidi is well versed in analytics, but the people in stands — or the ones you’re attempting to get into the stands — are more interested in personalities, ball players with a tang, you might say,

That’s what made Ohtani so valuable. Not only could he perform, but he was fascinating, having come from a foreign land to dominate America’s pastime.

When Tiger Woods was a regular on the golf tour you needed to be in front of the TV screen any time he came to the tee. Same thing now with Ohtani, who can hit a home run with any swing.

Shohei is the showman, the guy every ball club wishes it had on the roster and now the Dodgers do

Tough luck to every other team in the National League, especially the Giants.