SB Nation User Blog: Persiflage

But here is another thing Nolan really needs to do: Root like crazy for the Raiders to keep losing...

Persiflage — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:19:41 -0000

But here is another thing Nolan really needs to do: Root like crazy for the Raiders to keep losing under new interim coach Tom Cable. Why? Because if Cable is a big success over the next several weeks after replacing the fired Lane Kiffin, and Cable is having that success right across the bay, it might convince 49ers management that a midseason coaching move can actually succeed.

Almost always, it doesn't. History proves this. Fans don't like to hear that. But facts are facts.

Football isn't like baseball, where a team can switch managers halfway through a season, see a big turnaround, and wind up in the World Series. That doesn't happen in the NFL. There are so many more moving parts — bigger rosters, more complicated X's and O's, more assistant coaches to coordinate.

That doesn't mean Nolan should get a free pass the rest of the way. It just means that if the 49ers were going to make a change, they should have done so last winter. And if they want to make a change soon ... well, they should probably just wait until next January, as well.

People want to believe a new head coach in October or November can work miracles overnight. Usually, it just results in a lousy losing team finishing up the season as ... a lousy losing team.

Since 1930, there have been 85 cases of an NFL team changing coaches in midseason. Guess how many of those changes resulted in that team making the playoffs?

The answer: three times. But zero times since 1961.

Mark Purdy - Nolan's Time Starting to Run Out

Is This True??? Could we get T.J. Houshmandzadeh this season?

Persiflage — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:51:11 -0000

I put a link in the fanshots, but here's another link from rotowire too -

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NFL&id=2552&line=126084&spln=1

Damn - what would an Isaac Bruce/T.J. Houshmandzadeh combo do for J.T. O'Sullivan? It sounds beautiful to me. Besides, T.J. is just being wasted on the Bengals right now.

I guess the one question I'd be worried about is what we would have to give Cincinnatti in return? How about an Alex Smith/Vernon Davis package? This little news blurb leaves me with a hundred questions actually. Sounds exciting. Sounds too good to be true. Sounds possible?

T.J. Houshmandzadeh to Be A 49ER?

Persiflage — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:49:14 -0000

T.J. Houshmandzadeh to Be A 49ER?

With the NFL's trading deadline less than a week away, there is already one big name that has hit the rumor mill.

There are reports that the San Francisco 49ers are interested in the Bengals T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Housh is a free agent after this season and there doesn't seem to be any way the team can keep him (other than using the franchise tag).

According to a league source, Houshmandzadeh's name has come up quite frequently during conversation at Niners headquarters in recent weeks. Apparently, 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz is enamored with Houshmandzadeh and may have learned some positive things about the receiver from a member of the Zampese family who Martz remains close to.

Housh tied the Patriots' Wes Welker for the NFL lead in receptions last season. Currently, he is by far the team leader in receptions (31), receiving yards (351) and touchdown receptions (three). He caught seven passes for 85 yards and two TDs against the Cowboys last week.

Despite being 2-3, the Niners have a great shot at winning the weak NFC West. The Arizona Cardinals lead the division at 3-2 but doesn't have the look of a runaway champion. The Seattle Seahawks are in shambles right now and the St. Louis Rams look like the worst team in the NFL. It is there for the taking and adding Houshmandzadeh to the Niners could put them over the top.

Bengie's Blog

Persiflage — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:55:30 -0000

I don't know how many of you have read this, but just wanted to post it to make sure -

http://bengiemolina.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/07/looking_forward_to_the_second.html

Molina wrote an article about 4 days ago about his expectations for the Giants for the second half of the season. Here are a couple blurbs from it -

On Zito - "I know some of you have lost confidence in Zito, but I have to tell you that what I've been seeing the last few weeks has been great. Don't look at the numbers. Just look at how he's pitching. He's been giving us a chance to win every time. He's a true professional and he's going to be fine."

On Their Development as a Team - "We have a lot of young players in the big leagues for the first time. They've gained a lot of experience these past few months and should have their feet wet now ... We are a tight team. We've developed trust in each other. That's how you become a team. You trust each other. If one guy is down, he taps the guy next to him to pick him up. Then it's OK, let's go. Not one guy has to be the hero. If one person tries to do it all himself, you're not going to win."

Check it out. It's encouraging to hear his attitude about things, especially since he's the guy all our pitchers are relying on.

MercuryNews - Mike Nolan on 2007

Persiflage — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:39:10 -0000

There's a pretty interesting article about Mike Nolan in the Mercury News today. Basically, it's saying what we all know - something good needs to happen in 2008 or Nolan is done.

http://www.mercurynews.com/sportsheadlines/ci_9980709

What's interesting is it has Nolan taking the blame on himself for poor coaching decisions -

Nolan was more candid than expected about what exactly created the train wreck of 2007. He mentioned the unusual situation of 10 players or coaches (including Nolan) being emotionally hit by the deaths of parents during the season. It had a collective downer effect, Nolan said. But without prompting, he quickly shifted gears.

"Some things we can control, some we can't," Nolan said. "The things we could have controlled, in my opinion, would have made a difference. Had we had better depth, for example at quarterback . . . and had we made a better decision at offensive coordinator, all those things . . . they tie together. Because in some other areas, we did extremely well."

Then at the end of the article, Nolan is asked about problems last season with Alex Smith -

What about any lingering friction between Smith and Nolan, who are still here? Both say the issue - which burst into the open when the quarterback said he thought the coach was undermining him with the team - is now a non-issue. Nothing to see here. Move along. But is that so?

"If you look back . . . I didn't like what happened," Nolan said. "But again . . . there are things I can say and things I can't. As much as I was communicating with him, somehow, we weren't communicating enough."

And this year? Nolan and Smith will tell you they are back on the same page. But the coach, speaking about what he expects to see from whichever 49ers quarterback wins the starting job, did not mince words.

"Every player faces stress in their job," Nolan said. "People are built differently. Some respond differently than others expect them to respond, especially in certain positions. If you're the head coach, you're expected to act in a way that's more responsible than, say, the equipment manager. Well, if you're the quarterback, then you're responsible to react in a way that's more responsible than, say, the kicker. I'm just saying, there's a rule about that."

What do you guys think? I think we should be able to avoid bringing the problems of last year into this one. At least Nolan and Smith have got to know what's at stake.

My Favorite 49ers Game - Oct 20, 1996

Persiflage — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:18:28 -0000

Editor's Note 11:10am - First off, I didn't even realize TO wrote a book (or at least had a ghost-writer write a book for him). Second, some great details that make this worth moving up to the front page. If you don't remember this game, maybe you have details of your own favorite game.

The Cincinnati Bengals against the San Francisco 49ers - Things are looking brighter for the Niners, QB Steve Young and RB William Floyd are both back after having to miss numerous games because of injuries. But soon in the first quarter, the Bengals take the lead making the score 7 to 0. The Niners # 2 wide receiver J.J. Stokes had broken his wrist that week, so rookie Terrell Owens was starting his first game. Niners Steve Young completed a first pass to T.O. only to have the Bengals safety strip the ball from his hands for a fumble. Five plays later, Cincinnati scores again, now it’s 14-0. Then they score again and it’s 21-0. And it looks like the game is over. Steve Young was hit hard in a sack in the second quarter and taken out of the game injured. Backup QB Elvis Grbac almost immediately hurts his shoulder and a limping Steve Young is forced to go back into the game.

The Niners finally score a couple in the second half, but time looks like it’s running out. T.O. described what happened next in his book “Catch This!” -

“In the third quarter, Young took me aside and told me that I had to get open, because with JJ out of the game, the Bengals secondary was putting all their attention on Jerry Rice. Nobody was going to be worried about me - until I made them aware of my presence on the field. If the Bengals could take Rice out of the game through double or triple coverage, we were in deep trouble, but if I could shake free, Steve wanted to get me the ball. “If you don’t step up now,” he said, “it’s going to hurt the team.”

Early in the fourth quarter, with the Niners trailing by seven, Young threw me a deep pass, but it was too far, and I couldn’t get under it. I was disappointed all over again but when I got back to the huddle, Steve said he wanted to try the play once more.”

SCORE: Bengals 21, 49ers 14 - TIME: 2 minutes and 8 seconds are left on the clock

T.O. - “When I saw the defender playing me on my outside shoulder, I adjusted and dipped to the inside, even though that wasn’t the route I was supposed to run. Steve saw me, made his own adjustment, and threw to where I was going. The ball was coming down toward me, right into my hands. I raised my fingers, blocked out everything else, and used all my concentration to focus on catching it first - and then preparing to get hit. But the hit didn’t come, and I kept running and running all the way into the end zone, a 45-yard reception and touchdown…”

Young’s 45-yard touchdown pass to T.O. tied the game, 21-21. But now the Bengals had the ball again.

When Dedrick Dodge intercepted a Bengals pass with the clock at 1:40, the magic that was San Francisco was finally starting to fill the hearts of all the fans.

FAVORITE GREATEST MOMENT IN SPORTS: The clock is at 1:08, and Steve Young limps and hobbles as fast as he can for 15 yards to make it into the end zone and wins the game. (On a side note: this was also with the help a block rookie WR Terrell Owens throws against Bengals CB Jimmy Spencer - it made you love your team whenever you saw Rice or T.O. throwing blocks for their scrambling QB).

Quotes from after the game -

“I know what it feels like to be a 49er now.” - Terrell Owens

“I’m as proud of (the players) as maybe since I’ve been here.” - Coach George Seifert

“To me, Terrell Owens is the kind of kid who, if you say something he doesn’t like, he’ll punch you in the face. He’s got a nastiness to him like John Taylor, and I like it.” - Steve Young

Niners 28, Bengals 21

About 2 weeks to go until Preseason Begins! We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Persiflage — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:18:38 -0000

About 2 weeks to go until Preseason Begins! We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

our current leader - at least he's going to (a) be replaced in '08, or (b) be forced to get better...

Persiflage — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:14:01 -0000

our current leader - at least he's going to (a) be replaced in '08, or (b) be forced to get better by competition

So, is Chris Arreola the U.S.'s next best hope for winning the Heavyweight Championship?

Persiflage — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:28:22 -0000

I watched every minute of the Thompson-Klitschko fight and even though every once in a while it looked like something really exciting was just starting to happen, then everything would always suddenly slow down again. Thompson basically just seemed to fight only defensively for the second half of the fight, and Klitschko just took his own sweet time in deciding when to finish him.

I'm just starting to get back into boxing. I used to watch it with my dad years ago and I have way too many friends who are stuck on UFC. Whatever. UFC sucks compared to boxing and always will. I'm reading up on Chris Arreola now and have seen him fight once before, he's a pretty likeable guy and looks like he has a lot in him. My dream fight is now seeing Chris Arreola vs. Klitschko, but what exactly does he have to do to get there.

I looked for any recent posts or threads about him but couldn't find any, so this one can serve the purpose. What do all you guys think? Have you been watching his most recent fights? What's the latest news of who's next? Can Arreola do it or is there some other American heavyweight who has a better shot?