Niner Game
This bizarre stagger towards the playoffs is far more interesting than anything I can come up with baseball-related. Singletary hasn’t announced who his QB is this week. I sincerely hope it’s Alex Smith since I think he gives the team the best chance to win. I know he’s horrendous on the road, but he has an infinitely better chemistry with VD than T-Smith does. And with Crabtree doing absolutely nothing and a backfield made up of 2 back ups we simply HAVE to have at least one go-to guy this game. Plus, A-Smith actually, you know, knows all the plays in the playbook……….
If we do make the playoffs we get hosed in the draft– After New Orleans executes us we would pick #21 with the 20 non-playoff teams ahead of us. That means if Green Bay wins out to go 10-6 (but misses the playoffs) they draft in front of us. Hilarious……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good. While I can’t say that I’m rooting for a loss, i could see where I would enjoy it. Just to hopefully put an end to the sing experiment, give nate davis a shot in the final game (time to see what, if anything, he’s got) and get a higher draft choice so that we can get some db/dl/lb help. I was reading somewhere about how the ‘9ers might be better served to go to a 4-3 and it made some sense. They’ve got to get help at the db spot. T mays looked awful at coverage in the combine. completely clueless about how to turn and run with the receiver. so all that speed a waste. I’m sure that’s being addressed but it will be interesting to see how long it takes. lastly, i’ve been saying that they need a gm before they hire another hc, but I can’t envision who that would be. Does anyone know if there’s some up and comer with the pats/steelers/eagles/giants/colts? do you think maybe fisher has worn out his welcome in tenn?
excited to see belt/derosa and pablo in st.
Of course Alex should start, he’s the nly NFL QB on the roster…
and if you recall, they took NO to the “buzzer” and they’d be at home.
I think he should start too. I was saying that if they lose this, they ought to trot out n davis to see what he’s got at this point. I can easily see that, should they make the playoffs, they could be overlooked which would give them an opportunity to pull off an upset or two. also they’ll get to play that “no one respects us” bull shit that seems to fire up bad teams. And more so in the nfl, where playoffs are decided by one game and not series, any team can beat another on any given day and advance.
how’s the head?
My head? Had to up the decadron, some motor issues were resurfacing. But no active tumor, that’s good. Need the swelling to get under control.
isn’t that decadron hard on the system? Good news about the tumor though. You with a swelled head? imagine. that’s what happens when you’re always right (well some of the time anyway:). I hope you’re not double posting as Giant Head!
I agree that if they’re eliminated, go with Nate. But I’d really like to see Billick with Alex next year. It’s still astounding to me that they draft one of the best college spread QBs ever and don’t implement it. No good organization dictates philosophy if they don’t have the players to implement it. If they were just going to stick a guy under center to hand off and throw on 3rd and 6, Shaun Hill was the guy. Committing to Smith and then running the Neanderal II offense was dumb dumb dumb.
yes, any organziation that doesn’t fit their system to the talent they have is doomed to failure. If you have lemons, you make lemonaide. coaching 101. I thought sing was a decent hire at the time, though a rushed decision, but he’s totally lost me. He’s a bully and a punk and i have no use for either.
It’s a classic thing you see in coaches who are in over their head. They lash out in anger against their own team, because they feel embarrassed by their team. As John Madden said so well, in that game where Singletary was screaming at Alex Smith on the sideline: “That’s not coaching.” Madden is incredibly insightful at times. The coach’s job is to keep coaching, to TEACH. But the ones that don’t really know what they’re doing don’t have the knowledge to draw from, so what’s left to them? The rah rah stuff. Challenge the guys’ manhood. But at some point, players generally figure out if a coach knows what he’s doing or not.
Madden said it on his radio spot on 740 AM radio.
Bullock was certainly bowing down and smoking pole when he announced a recent 49er game. He would be a huge improvement over Singletary and is easily one of the best names out there.
Many think Madden is a blow hard but I have always liked the guy. Pride of Daly City and all. Plus I used to steal beers from his gazebo in d-ville. Iread once that he’s got a bunch of almond orchards in the central valley. Go figure.
Personally I would like to see Parcells come to the FO but don’t see it ever happening
Meant Billick. IPad is strange.
Sandra?
. . . and Jesse James.
do you let billick wear both hats? keep ballke as personnel guy? I don’t think their drafts are as bad as some would lead you to believe.
I think coach and GM should be kept separate. Just too much to handle in the NFL today.
i agree but is baalke (or however the f%^$ you spell it) the GM? I don’t think that’s his title. Promote him or leave him where he is but have him make personnel decisions. Back in the day, walsh picked them, mcvay got them and policy signed them. well ordered organization. I think I like billick more than chucky.
Padres sure are active. Just picked up C from Seattle. Their moves are like blind tosses at a dart board.
what the fuck is wrong with Chuck? Why does the Giants Blog have to get a thread going about this? I’ve even got a poll up! Chuck, where’s YOUR pole?!?!?!
Joe Martinez just got designated for assignment. We sent him and BowWow to the Pirates for Javier Lopez. What is it with us time and time again kicking the shit out of the Pirates on trades?!?!?!?
Probably closely related to how they haven’t had a winning season in 17 years. Or however long it has been.
Yeah, for whatever reasons, some teams haven’t been competitive since the ’94 strike.
Chuck’s pole? Oh gawd. Please no.
Javier Lopez with the Giants last year (including the playoffs): 24.2 innings pitched. 4 ER’s. 12 hits allowed. Not bad.
Good God, did I just ask where Chuck’s pole is? Ugh. The humanity!
Look’s ,like the Magic 8 Ball said “Reply hazy,try again”.
Hey Mike….Some good advice…Ask the 8 Ball if the start should be Alex or Troy not Smith or Smith.It will make your decision easier.
Jason La Canfora just tweeted that the Niners are going back to TROY Smith.
OC, Mike Johnson, just said *he* still doesn’t know who the starting QB will be.
With every fiber of my being; GO RAMS ! ! !
Whatever, just confirms that Singletary has no clue.
Flav, if you check my site, there IS a poll. Pull your head out and look . . .
chucksninerland.blogspot.com
Draft choice at this point matters little. All those high picks they had previously got them where?
Well, 5-9.
There is going to be a 10 game season (or no) next year anyway. The owners are pissed a knuckling under last go-around,. They are not going to concede anything this time around.
You shoulda put Nate Davis on your poll.
Or Vernon Davis or Eric Davis.And for more Smith’s how about Akili Smith or Justin Smith.
Why not just pull a rb and play them both? It couldn’t get any worse. The center gets to decide each snap who he’s gonna snap it to
Twin your 9:10 AM post was dead on!! I have been posting that Alex should be in the Shotgun/spread since he became a niner!! Everyone else said he needs to learn to QB from under the center!! I say tell that to Manning!!
And Helen of Troy it is
It SHOULD be clear that whoever the QB is, he’s not the main problem. Alex Smith’s success on opening drives and Troy’s success when he was “new” quite clearly show that the coaching staff is unable to counter the oppostion’s adjustments…
It is really hard to give a fuck about the Niners…I am more interested in the Warriors (finally catching some improbable breaks last night)
But I think they should take a flyer for one-year on McNabb and maybe clear out all these crap ass QBs and draft another this year. McNabb with what they have with their receivers and ruunning game shoudl be able to put up points consistently. They should have traded for McNabb in the first place last year…
The Pirates DFAd Joe Martinez to make room for Kevin Correia Martinez and Bowker went to the pirates for Javy Lopez (trade of the frickin year last year in all of baseball).
Pirates are accumulating Giants caste-offs, will Nate be far behind?
Steve Holm signs a minor league contract with the Twins.LOL Whitey keeps fending off all competition for the vital 10 games as backup C.
Giants need some competition for El Presidente in ST. The only big reason I can imagine to keep him is that Dirrty seems comfortable with him, and that gives Buster a rest every 5th game at most, maybe every 2nd Dirrty start, at minimum. His swiss cheez bat just seems too ridiculous to keep around for that, though. There’s gotta be somebody out there that is as good or near as good behind the dish, and can actually have productive ABs. Though the Cards have offered him $1M, Bengielena is still out there….
Stranger things have happened, but I don’t see Bengie coming back because of the way things ended. But who knows? If he were comfortable in that role and there were no other offers, sure, sure.
Darren Ford hitting .063 (32 AB’s) in Venezuelan winter league.Yikes! No wonder Bochy never let him bat in the regular season.
Ford’s final MLB line for the season 7 G, 0 AB, 1R, 2 SB, 1 CS.But that one run against the Rockies may have very well saved the season for the Giants.That 1 run makes the trade of Ray Durham to the Brewers for Ford a success, even if Ford never makes another appearance in a Giants uniform.
Given the logjam in CF and the plethora of CF prospects in the Giants system,Neal,Peguero,and Brown there’s a good chance that Ford will become another “Moonlight Graham”. But that 1 run….he will always be able to tell his grandchildren about, with a wink in his eye.
Fuck Whiteside, ANYONE would be better. Dirrrrty got away from that ridiculous “personal catcher” thing in August or so, it’s time to take the next step and just find a catcher who is competent who possesses a better bat than Whitey…..
We have a great pitching staff, we don’t need to tip toe around them finding the perfect receiver— just get a guy that they can live with who can hit a goddamn baseball……
Don’t see Alex going along with the charade if it was just to announce Troy would start. Singletary probably does have some cockamamie scheme for Sunday-which will of course backfire as the Smiths collide on a “QB Around” play..
I’m not so down on Whiteside [could be a psychotic fugue I’m in]. Might be my narrow and slim personal sample: he was decent defensively and offensively in the win against the Phillies I attended in August 2009, as was Zito. NEVERTHELESS, who is left as a catcher?! Not many, not many at all. I mean, really.
Kat, those what-if scenarios keep running through my head, not just involving Darren Ford. That’s why I continue to be totally and mystically and BASKINGLY impressed with our championship season, thoroughly and truly. It would not be hard to come up with a Top 10 What-If-This-Went-A-Different-Way list. E.g. Uribe’s homer against the Dodgers, the game I gave up on, only to see the results the next evening! How about that 13-or-more-pitch game-ending battle with Brian Wilson and some guy on the Astros whose name I forget, on a Fox Saturday game of the week? (He was released by the Astros days later.) How about half of our games with the Rockies?
Regardless of the outcome, I am really bummed about T-Smith starting this week. As I said, we have exactly ONE offensive threat right now: that’s Vernon Davis. And we have exactly ONE quarterback who has chemistry with him. That’s A-Smith….
Who gives a shit if T-Smith beat the Rams earlier this year. The ONLY chance the Niners have to get to the playoffs and actually beat NO is if A-Smith plays the next 2 games and the NO game. T-Smith has NO CHANCE of pulling that off.
Hopefully, Troy fucks up the first half badly enough and the NIners D holds the Rams somewhat in check that Alex can come in after halftime and win that game. And after he does that, who knows?
All I know is that if T-Smith somehow beats the Rams (and whoever QB’s the final game wins that one) there is ZERO chance that he beats New Orleans in the playoffs……..
And I completely agree with Twin’s POTD. A-Smith is so much LESS playing outside the spread offense. But he is still a competent QB who understands the playbook and who can read defenses….
Troy Smith, at this point in his career, can’t do either of those things……
I can’t see either QB beating NO. I haven’t followed NO, but think the Saints team that shows up in Jan will be a much more effective one than the team SF saw in Sept. On the other hand, SF is a mess, with key injuries, the QB uncertainty and a lame duck coach. I see it Saints 48, SF 10.
RT– Of course, they will probably lose— they’ll be 10.5 underdogs at home, that’s unheard of in any other first rd playoff game. But A-Smith gives them a SHOT at winning. The defense would have to step up huge, cause multiple TO’s, etc….But Troy Smith is just not an NFL QB right now. He doesn’t even know when to run which is the one fucking thing he’s should be good at.
Alex should have been the correct course to follow if Singletary had any vision of the next three games……
Personally I would stick with A Smith. I would like to believe they can turn it up the next 2 weeks and roll into the playoffs with some confidence and momentum. I’m just don’t think it’s realistic. Too many lopsided losses of late.
You guys are trippin , Alex Smith is a joke . If you havent figured that out in 6 years you should just stick to baseball . Troy Smith might not have a very accurate arm but its way stronger than A Smiths and Troy isnt afraid to throw the ball down the field . In one play Troy smith looked more natural at QB than alex has in 6 years ! Alex might have the tools on the practice field , and he might have a good game every once and a while hes a joke !! a (only one 300 yrd game in whole career)
*theres a but in there i left out
New Orleans has not really been that good all year- not just early, they’ve scraped out a few. They’ve barely beaten the Cowboys and Bengals lately, and both Palmer and especialy Kitna had good numbers. No way they’d blow out the Niners-with Alex.
same time i dont know U: shut the fuck up, trolliot.
alex smith starts in the next 7 years – ZERO , trolliot ? that take you all night to think of or did you get to bed by 4 ?
O/U on how much longerTroy is in the league: 1 year plus 2 games
Alex Smith: 7 years
This 49er talk is depressing. This xmas season is depressing. I hate xmas; always have since I turned 14. But you know, several times per day now I see somebody wearing Giants gear on the street, and my mood improves. (For example, I’ll be on the verge of flipping off some idiot for crossing in front of my car just as my light turns green, then I’ll notice his Giants hat, and I’ll cool down. Let it slide. That kind of thing.) And the Giants spirit is everywhere. Took my kid to dinner at Zachary’s tonight for his 20th bday. Big crowd, as usual. When we left, I heard a man say, fairly loudly, “Hey, step aside. Make way. Here comes a Giants fan!” (The kid was sporting his orange Marichal jersey and the basic black hat.) I will forever remember this holiday season as the WS special. Happy hollidays, flappers.
O/U, you do not know football. The OC and HC that Alex has had have never cut him loose. St Louis Rams had Bradford throw the ball 55 times in his very first game. Norv Turner was Alex first OC and that was his best year. Alex has had Crap OC and two Crappy HC. and then for a long time the Niners didn’t even have an OL so the QB was constantly running for his life!! Do a little research before you spew your crap here.
To get back to Baseball, I was flippin channels and came across the Natural. I love baseball movies.
Xoot: potd when j get to it tomorrow. Enough niner shit, I agree, it’s been beaten into the ground and there’s never any resolution. Kevin, there’s nothing better than a good baseball movie. It’s literally the exact opposite of a blog…
Here’s one of my favorite baseball movies:
man, that IS some baseball movie! cuh-razy!
Xoot: I love your post.
WTF? Is hopping on one foot holding the other one some kind of Korean insult? Or are they trying to remove their shoes to start kick-boxing?
Too funny
Zumie that is freaking hilarious.