Chris Henry has a long list of run-ins with the law off the field but he has a lot of talent on the field.  Do you think the 49ers should take a calculated risk on Henry and offer him a 1 to 2 year deal with minimal or no bonus money?  

Chris Henry Released

I'll take a stab at today's DLD...

The 49ers will pay tribute to Bill Walsh by wearing 1980's style jerseys in their opening game Monday night September 10th vs. the Arizona Cardinals.  Walsh tribute planned

Also in the above link it looks like Gore is seeing some action in camp as he got fitted with a cast.  

Gore ready to practice: Running back Frank Gore had his broken right hand placed in a cast Monday. He took some handoffs in the afternoon's no-pads practice and probably will be more involved in this morning's session, although he will not be subjected to contact. Gore probably will play in the last exhibition game at San Diego on Aug. 30.

Mike Nolan is concerned that Davis will cost the team with 15 yard penalties due to the emotion he displays on the field.  I hate the NFL has turned any sort of celebrating into a 15 yard penalty.  They truly deserve the term NO FUN LEAGUE Nolan concerned

"He is so passionate, so emotional about things," Nolan said of Davis. "The officials are going to have a tendency to throw a flag on it, because they think it's taunting. A guy that's as emotional as he is ... has to be very careful."

Montana finished with five touchdowns for 423 passing yards against the best defense in the land, and on the road, in a bloodthirsty stadium, a modern-day Colosseum.

Montana, as usual, said nothing I can remember after the game. He never did say much. But what a player. Looking back, I know that's the best I ever saw one of the top five quarterbacks ever play.

Looks like Joe Montana made quite the impression on Peter King.  Anyone else remember this game?  I miss the days of Montana and Lott and miss having an owner who cared as much as Eddie D.  What is your favorite 49ers memory?

Peter King Article

Anyone here get a copy of this mornings SJ Mercury News?  There's supposed to be an ad that tells you how to sign up for training camp tickets for Sunday, July 29th.  I believe the limit the number of people in attendance to 2,000 so going is a pretty big deal.  I don't get the SJ Mercury News so if someone has that information can you please post ASAP?  Thanks in advance! **Here's the code** 49sjmn

Chad Ford has given the Warriors draft an A.  Here's what Chad had to say.

Golden State Warriors                    Grade: A

Round 1: Brandan Wright (8), Marco Belinelli (18)

Round 2: Stephane Lasme (46)

Analysis: I think the Warriors made several excellent moves here. In exchange for Jason Richardson, they got a player with great upside in Wright, who will be at home given Golden State's up-tempo style. He also fits a need in the frontcourt.

Belinelli also will thrive with Golden State. He loves to let it fly and Nellie will let him.

But the biggest addition may have been one of subtraction. By sending Jason Richardson packing, the team created a whopping $10 million trade exception that they can use to lure a free agent via sign-and-trade or to help with a trade in the next year.

Chad Ford Article

The key to last nights deal is to give Mullin and Nelson time to complete the move.  The trade exception should not be taken lightly when analyzing last nights deal.  If we're able to get a player like Gerald Wallace or Ron Artest we'll have essentially traded Jason Richardson and a 2nd rounder for Brandan Wright and Artest or Wallace.  That would be an absolute STEAL.  Thoughts?

Mike Nolan will be allowed to wear a suit at all 8 regular season home games next season.  I'm happy the NFL will allow Nolan the opportunity to pay respect to his father and other who wore suits in the past.

Nolan to wear suits

After reading this article Oakland Trib Article where Vernon Davis suggests he could play WR I started thinking that it might be in the 49ers best interests to draft TE Zach Miller out of ASU.  I'll admit that I'm biased about Miller because I attended ASU and have followed his career closely but the more I thought about it the more it made sense.  We could use both Miller and Davis at TE when we decide to use the TE set.  When we decide to use only one TE we could line up Davis at WR and Miller at TE.  The other reason I believe this could be a good idea is others have stated there isn't much difference between the WR's in round 3-7 as those that will be taken in rounds 1-2 so we could use one of our later picks to draft a WR.  Does anyone else think this would be an idea worth taking an extra look at?

Lance Briggs is asking the Chicago Bears to either rescind the franchise tag they've placed on him or trade him.  What would you be willing to part with in trade for Lance Briggs and what type of deal would you want to sign him to?  With Adalius Thomas off the market and Joey Porter not looking like a likely target it will be interesting to see how Briggs situation evolves with Chicago and if they start to take offers for him.

Briggs Article

From Peter King's Monday Morning QB Article.

Here's the answer as to why Adalius Thomas chose New England over San Francisco.

The only other serious contender for Thomas' services was San Francisco. Everything about the 49ers interested Thomas, except the locale. "If it was all about money,'' San Francisco coach Mike Nolan told me Saturday, "I don't think we would have been outbid. But in the process of interviewing him Friday and him talking to me, I could see that some of the things I wanted to see happen weren't going to happen. I think geography had something to do with it.''

It was clear what he meant. If the 49ers were going to pay Thomas $8 or $9 million a year -- which the 49ers may have been willing to do if, like Clements, Thomas was willing to move lock, stock and barrel to the Bay Area -- it shouldn't be too much to ask that the player becomes a member of the community. Nolan likes his players to be in the area for the 14-week offseason strength and conditioning program, beginning March 19. He can't make it mandatory, but if a free agent tells him it's a problem, that's going to be a factor.

Thomas couldn't lie to Nolan, his former Baltimore defensive coordinator. He didn't want to move West, nor did he want to leave his family 3,000 miles away for four months. Thomas, from rural Mississippi, has grown to love the energy of the East, as has his family, and Foxboro was infinitely more preferable than Santa Clara.

"There was a good bit of interest from us,'' Nolan said, "but at the end of the day, New England's a better fit for him. What he wanted -- lifestyle, family concerns, a winning franchise -- he got in New England.''

Said Thomas: "I'm definitely a southern guy. I adapted to being an Eastern guy, and I like it. To adapt to the West, it would have been difficult, for a lot of reasons.''

Kings Thought's on the Ashley Lelie signing

g. Not a big fan of the Ashley Lelie signing. Mike Nolan and the Niners will be disappointed in his toughness, or lack thereof

Peter King's MMQB

SI.com's list of 10 most impressive at the Senior Bowl lists Okoye as the most impressive.  Nice to see there are other defensive linemen on this list as I believe it's an area we need to target this off-season.  Anyone follow CAL closely this year and have an opinion on Brandon Mebane?

1. Amobi Okoye/DL/Louisville: Okoye was the talk of the town this week. Weighing in at a chiseled 287-pounds, he displayed tremendous quickness and athleticism from the first practice. Okoye, a bright and articulate 19-year-old, also interviewed well for the teams that spent time with him.

Si.com Article

Antonio Bryant has been suspended by the NFL for 4 games.  He'll miss the last two regular season games and if the 49ers make the playoffs he'll miss up to two games.  If the 49ers do not make the playoffs he'll miss the first two games of the 2007 season.  Hopefully Arnaz Battle and others are able to step up and fill the void Bryant is leaving.

p.s. - It's great to see the 49ers now have a site on SB Nation.  I look forward to reading and contributing to this site for years to come!

Bryant suspended

If the proposed BART extension is built to Warm Springs how will fans get from that location to Cisco Field?  The distance will be about two miles which isn't that far.  I offer two solutions to the problem.

A.    Shuttle buses.  Create a lane that is used only for shuttle buses 2 hours prior to the start of a game and for 1 hour after a game is completed.  If you have this type of access to and from the park a shuttle ride wont last but a couple minutes which wouldn't be a huge inconvenience to fans as it takes a few minutes to walk across the current BART ramp in Oakland.
B.    Build a two mile monorail from the BART Warm Springs extension to Cisco Field.  This monorail could also be used to transport people to the shopping area that will resemble San Jose's Santana Row.

How feasible do you believe these two options are to create public transportation to/from the new ball park location?

Just sitting here watching Sports Center and they're reporting that Joe Torre will be replaced as New York Yankees manager by Lou Pinella.  Think this will be a move that lights a fire under the Yankees next year or a move that leads to a further demise?  I'm not surprised that George Steinbrenner would put the blame on Torre but at the same time I'm surprised he'd move this quickly.  Do you think Torre sits out for a year or longer or looks to fill a position like the Cubs or Giants?  The hot stove league will be extremely interesting this off-season but let's hope it doesn't start for us until after we clinch a WS title.

LET'S GO OAKLAND!

Looking at the important dates link on mlb.com important dates it shows the LCS beginning on Oct. 10th.  From this date can we predict the Oakland home dates (assuming we make it that far) as being Friday October 13th, Saturday October 14th, and Sunday October 15th?  I'm trying to figure out the dates so I know if I should buy tickets tomorrow morning.  I'll be out of town that weekend so if I'm correct on the dates it looks like I wont be going.  Can anyone confirm these dates for me?  Thanks in advance.

Looks like another player the Warriors were rumored to be interested in is off the market.  Al Harrington is the only FA worth looking at now.  Does anyone believe that Al Harrington will settle for a 1-3 year deal starting at the mid level exception since Atlanta seems to be dragging their feet on a sign and trade?

Wilcox signs for 3 years/24 million

With the news that the Baltimore Orioles wont be bringing back either Rafael Palmeiro or Sammy Sosa what would you be willing to spend for one season of Sosa?  His numbers last year were horrible but he's only 12 HR's short of the 600 milestone.  He would bring a lot of people out to games to see him pursue that mark.  If he were able to regain his power form he'd be the right handed power bat we've been looking for.  I'd take a flyer on Sosa for about 2.5 million.  Thoughts?