Winning
I hate that word. Charlie Sheen ruined it for me with his obsessive hubris.
But there was a time when that’s all I knew. Joe Montana taught me that. Bill Walsh taught me that. Ronnie Lott. Jerry Rice. It’s a short list, but it was well taught.
First and goal from the 6….
I’m never gonna get over this….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I’ll go out on a limb and say that you’ll get over it. This was no worse than the 1983 NFC title heartbreak, or the Giants’ 2002 Game 6. The highs are highs, and the lows are lows for sports fans who are really into sports. We are not CASUAL fans, and wouldn’t want to be.
Time for baseball. Yes, tough loss for the Niners, to say the least. But the comeback almost made it feel like a win for me. I know, I know, that’s make-believe and pretend. Yet even many headline writers talk more of the 49ers surge than the Ravens win. Small comfort. Onto baseball.
Well said, sir. It’s painful for Niner fans, but there is respect out there amongst the multitudes for the fact the Niners made a comeback in the game.
You and Kokonuts are both right, of course. But I feel worse this morning than I did last night. Hungover.
This loss devastated me.
I agree, Flav…worse this morning than I did after the game. I just keep replaying that final Niner possesion, and cannot believe that Frank Gore did not touch the ball once. Even at 3rd and goal from the 5, I would have ran two running plays with Gore.
The positive is that the Niners are a relatively young team, and they have a ton of picks next year (this not even including if they trade Alex). They have additional 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th round picks. Here is a link that spells out their picks for next year…bottom line, they are in pretty good shape. That compounded with who returns next year, I like where they set.
I also like the current group driving the team. Jed as the owner, Baalke as GM, and Harbaugh as coach.
I do think the Ravens looked a bit more prepared and polished overall, but think the Niners have the better team, talent-wise.
Anyway…what a fucking heart-breaker, but proud of the team and where they have come in just a few short years, and am excited as hell about the future.
They’ll be back, and they’ll win it next time!
Having said that, I haven’t watched any of the post-game stuff, or any of the news reports, and would like to hear Harbaugh’s explanation for not fair-catching the final kick, and allowing a strong-armed QB a chance to fire it downfield for a possible pass-interference chance, and a chance to kick a FG, which seems more likely than a TD kick return at that point, probability-wise.
Bad taste in my mouth..just did not llike the play-calling there at the end, thought we should have pounded the ball three straight times. They were coming blitz the last couple of times and we jsut needed a couple yards each carry.
I also hated the two-pt conversion call, very low percentage success rate I think just throwing it up to Randy Moss. If they get those two points, they obviously just need a FG to tie….
I feel especially bad for my 13-year old, he for the first time has felt the crushing blow of defeat. He has had the glory of two Giant World Series titles and Kentucky winning the national championship last year, but he is heartbroken for the first time and could not go to bed until close to 1 am…
This reminds me so much of Braves fans Craig Patterson and his son in my book Baseball’s Starry Night. The difference was the father had to wake the kid up the next morning and tell him the bad news. But kids are more resilient than we are, aren’t they? I say that, even though losing the 1962 WS haunts me such that I dislike the Yankees more than the Dodgers.
As a Giant’s and Niner fan, I’ve been devastated by games over the years. This one destroyed me. Five Fucking yards.
Well we now now Colin is no Joe, but after 10 starts, I think we cant be unhappy with his performance and I think he will be the starter for a number of years. They should have a super-sized chip on their shoulder going into next year.
No excuse for letting Jacoby Jones get behind the secondary on a 3rd and 10 and that Culliver idiot does not make sure he tackles him on the ground and no excuse for letting him return it for 108 yards. Either play does not happen, I think we would have won our 6th super bowl.
I had to watch the second half on tape when I got back from a concert. But walking the streets near UCBerkeley at 9, we knew. It was just too quiet. Nevertheless, I had to get home without knowing for sure and watch. Not much fun when you know in your heart they lost. I kept wondering throughout the comeback how they were going to blow it. With first and goal, I thought for a second maybe its possible people in Berkeley could be that bleeping indifferent. Nah. Can’t be. No way. Red zone play has sucked all night. They are going to blow this.
The refs missed calls both ways, on the no-call at the end, I’ve looked at it several times, and while there was a hold, less obvious was Crabs using his left arm to try to push off. But the biggest reason for the failure at the end was the Raven’s defense-they forced the issue and Kap had no time to look anywhere but to his first option.
But blaming that play or even that sequence as to why we lost, is simplistic..there were many plays that led to them even having a chance to win and even more that contributed to losing…
Even Kap, as well as he played overall, was hardly blameless. He made same young QB errors that had a hand in the loss- and some great ones that helped them *almost* win..
Culliver- AHA! He may hate gays but he loves getting whipped…
Moss- give him a break. He was thinking about the economy. His uniform won’t need laundering..
Jimbo- O/U on when he has a coronary on the sidelines- October 2014, Game 3..
Roman- they say Smith may go where Roman goes. Alex says: “uh, where’s Hostler?”
But in the end-we lost. We weren’t the better team. Talking like that, and blaming the refs is loser talk. Time to look to next year already-they need more physical corners, a vet to back up Kap, probably a new kicker… there aren’t a lot of holes.
Who’s that receiver on the Ravens, Boldin? That fecking guy had glue on his hands. He juggled the ball and still came down with it. Sheesh. Especially one at the start of the game near the sidelines. I thought Flacco was throwing it away, and the guy caught it. Tough to beat plays like that. Our guys did not make those same “juggling act” catches — not as much. But I’m not a smart football analyst. Nothing more to say.
Boldin is special. Gets in the air and wrestles the ball from opponents. I admire his skill.
Spring training anyone?
There still the Warriors. 😉
And Sharks Flav!!! Triple happy face 🙂 🙂 🙂
The wife’s 7 layer dip was tasty. I was totally expecting that 2nd half comeback. Blaming the refs is lame. The ending of the game against ATL could have gone either way too and SF benefited from it. I hoped for a better outcome but thought the game was exciting.
I haven’t had chips with a 7 layer dip since their first Super Bowl. Man, the memories.You’ve got a mighty fine wife, Micah.
You should have seen her when we brought the dip to our neighbors party and the neighbor promptly scoped it into a bowl. I ate from the wifes beautifully arranged dish to keep the peace.
465 yards of offense says they did a lot of things very well, but not on those last ones you really needed….ravens coach says the blitzes were specifically designed to take away the run. Hey if they take away something they are giving you something else; SF couldn’t take advantage. Showed they belong tho, shutting down flacco in the second half a lot better. good ballgame. someone is always going to take the heat when you lose. Million different little things everyone could have done.
I still feel like I was kicked in the gut. As I said earlier…it seems the Ravens were more preparted/polished than the Niners. I think John Harbaugh out-coached his younger brother.
But I also feel the Niners are a better team, they just did not execute yesterday. If they played next week, I think the Niners win.
Regardless…time to move on.
Dubs are having their best year in a loooong time, Sharks are playing great, and ST is just around the corner. Play ball!
Yeah, my son was furious by half time, and beside himself after the KO return. He was ranting and raving. I kept telling him all we need is a score and a stop. He finally calmed down and watched as the Niners stormed back. As the game spun out of our grasp, he was pissed, but not overly so. He was getting an inkling of how hard it really is to get there AND win. Very somber car ride to school today. He said though, the real pisser is the Niners had the shot at winning it all this year AND last. Yup. I said the good news is, the Niners are a young team with a bright future.
Yeah, one key thing missing from the Niners is a big WR that can body up and catch balls. A Bouldin/Fitzgerald type. You look at WRs like Atl’s and wonder as they catch tough passes all over the field. Both VD and Crabs let balls clang off their hands. We already know about Walker. Ginn and Williams? A 4 and a 3. Moss is dead to me. What a total chickshit way to go. Tout yourself all week as the greatest WR of all time, and then lollygag your way through the Super Bowl. Unbelievable.
I wish my son was surrounded by Noner fans to commisserate Instead he is going to suffer with everyone around this area in DC rooting for the Ravens are at least rooting against the niners in his middle school…hopefully he is not getting razzed too hard.
Boldin continued the mauling our corners received in Atlanta. One of the announcers said he’s open when he’s covered.
Which brings me back to that last series- Crabs was the first look on all 3 three passes. VD HAS to be the first option down there.The blitz was the killer, though-which is effective against the run as well. John Harbaugh played it the only way they had a shot against Kap’s multi-skill set.
Rolling out down in the red zone should be done with misdirection. Otherwise you have all 22 guys occupying a small space and clogging shit up. I would have liked to see at least something from Gore. Or a chip play with VD.
Well, you’re right, it eliminates half the field to work with- but the Ravens were hardly disguising the blitz. They could have audibled out of the last two calls , and that 2nd TO hurt bad. We had 465 yards offset by many, many mistakes by many players and coaches.
the second time out was deadly. That was why I thought they should have run the ball three straight times with their jumbo package. If they did not score, they could have forced them to punt and kept maybe a minute left with that second timeout…but agree with you and others, I did not want to win on a ref making a call to win a super bowl…
also, the blitz was obvious, if they were going to throw, he should have been in a shotgun…
Yeah, the pisser to me was seeing the replay of the KO return, and seeing 2 guys clearly holding Walker.
I’m still pissed about the 1st half red zone time waste. They wasted 18 seconds to get a running play off, which burned off another 8 seconds. The 2nd half red zone offense was even worse.
Major disappointment in seeing the Niners mar their perfect SB record with this loss. The coulda, woulda, shoulda wont cut it in my mind. They squandered opportunities and were within one score of winning. That being said, the Ravens are the champs and I salute them. Actually, I have a little bit of affection for them in regard to them beating my least liked NFL team, the Denver Broncos. So again, I am disappointed in the Niners losing, but like most of you, I have moved on and am looking forward to what the Warriors can accomplish this year and more important, the Giants defense of their title. I have a new blog post about my New Zealand SB experience. I hope all of you are well. 🙂
BTW- I think Nantz and Michaels are the two best play-by-play guys. Nantz was solid but Sims is awful. I’d like to see Brad Nessler at Fox, he’s excellent.
Again agreeing with Twin, but not hard to do on this one…Phil Simms sucks. I thought he had some obvious anti-Niner bias. Like Joe Buck calling the World Series…
And Shannon Sharp’s Raven-love was a bit much to take.
You’ll get over it, BF. It’ll take a while. You’ll not forget, but you’ll get over it. When the loss is a close one, and there’s lots of shoulda, coulda, woulda, those are harder to take. The 2002 Angels game 6, natch, was way worse than this one IMO. We HAD that one. The first in 50 years. And, blew it. The ’89 Series where the A’s kicked SF’s butt, I got over that one pretty fast, plus the weirdness of the EQ, just made it forgettable to me fairly quickly. When you get mauled, you feel badly for a bit, then move on. Here, the Niners didn’t get mauled, but if you get down 28-6, it’s pretty tough to come back, realistically. They almost did, but they just made too many mistakes during the whole damn game. Ravens deserved to win, plus the blackout thing was just weird. I’m going to chalk it up to it was just a weird game, and wasn’t in the cards. If they get into the SB again in the next few years, then that’s the one they must win, having had this experience…
I agree… 5 yards to go and we pass the ball on every down? I wonder how Greg Roman is feeling this morning.. He pulled a ‘Tedford’ in the most important time of his coaching career.. I’ll never get over that.. Pass the Tums.
They ran the ball up the middle on the first play, on a straightforward handoff. A play that had little chance of doing much.
But I agree, overall. All 4 play-calls in that series were puzzling. And to end on a jumpball at the edge of the endzone? Good grief.
You’re right.. Then we go to fade routes? We can’t rely on low% plays at a time like that.. Anything else in the playbook would have been better than those calls. Damn.
Kap audibled to the fade route on 4th down, according to him. The call was a run/pass option.
“It’s something I audibled to at the line based on the look they gave us. It was cover zero. I was just trying to give him (Crabtree) a chance.”
That was the only fade. On third down Kap threw a short pass to Crabs that would have gained about two yards but he was blasted and couldn’t hold on.
Ah, it was an audible. Thanks TF.. I haven;t been paying attenetion to any post game commentary for my own sake.. This loss freaking hurts.. I’m sure the Sierra Nevada Torpedos are contributing to the pain today..
4 downs from the 7 yard line, you have to win the game. That’s not all on Roman, They needed that frigging time out. But hell, they still had *one*. After failing on third down and the Super Bowl on the line, use the last one, ferchristsake. And THINK about the call.Once the Ravens stopped them, the last TO was worthless anyway. If they *had* scored and the Ravens still came back and beat them, tip your helmet and go get drunk.
Just read some more on the last offensive series. According to Harbaugh, the last play was a run/pass option-Kap audibled out of it. Colin saw the blitz with man coverage and thought he could get it to Crabtree.I give the kid credit for putting it on himself.
Yes, there were the mistakes, but still, the game was still there for the taking. First and goal from the 7, followed by 2nd and goal from the 5. I think it was terrible coaching/play-calling at that point. I would have run Gore three times…and bet ya on 9 of 10 in that scenario…the Niners score. That or a very quick slant to Davis, etc. But I just thought the play-calling on that last drive really sucked.
Kap has got to get better about clock management.
I wonder how much of it is getting the play into the huddle?
I thought Flacco’s comments were interesting about comparing Cameron and Caldwell, and saying that Caldwell does a fantastic job of getting the play in, and that the difference between the two is that he (Flacco) has enough time to get a read on the D before the snap. I just wonder if something similar is what is going on with Kap and getting to the line and getting the ball snapped. Anyway, that is something that needs to be improved going forward, regardless of where the changes come.
Just got home. Watched those last 4 downs again to make sure I saw it right (since I was pretty hammered by the end of the game). I can’t believe Kap never tried a run and/or Frank Gore didn’t get a chance.
Three throws in a row to Crabtree? Time isn’t making this better, it’s actually making it worse.
There was a lot of bad analysis last night from Simms. The worst thing I heard him say was supporting the fake FG. I get that *if you’re gonna do it, that’s the time to do it.” But the kicker caught the ball at the 24 yard line. There is no way in any scenario that the fucking kicker is gonna outrun Patrick Willis for a 24 yard run. NO WAY. Even if he was fooled (which he wasn’t). He’d have to break both legs to not catch up to him. It was a terrible idea by John H. It had no hope of working…….
We all know how much Sims digs the 49ers. Fuck him. The fake FG was gutsy in that up to that point, our offense hadn’t done shit vs their defense. I thought it was dumb because it was 4th and NINE. The ball goes back 14 yards. Like Flav siad, you have to go 24 yards (whatever) for the 1st down. Plus you let your kicker get blasted into oblivion. As it was, we 3-and-outed, but still, if the Niners had won, that play would have haunted John’s ass.
The Niners actually seemed to be doing a better job of getting plays in than even earlier this year. When Kappy changes the call, there are usually still 7-9 seconds left. Time to switch up the play. The one time they burned the TO, it appeared they weren’t in shape for either play called. There was some time on the clock, but Kappy hit the TO immediately.
I thought it was 4th and goal when they did the fake FG. Just read that it was 4th and 9 from the 14 and he came up a yard short of the 1st down.
I still think it was a bad idea but not as bad as I thought it was when I thought it was 4th and goal……..
from mlbt-rumors
Giants Claim Tony Abreu
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 4 at 3:58pm CST]
The Giants claimed infielder Tony Abreu off of waivers from Kansas City, the Royals announced. The Royals had designated Abreu for assignment on January 25th to create room for another waiver claim, catcher George Kottaras.
Abreu, 28, appeared in 22 games for the Royals last year, playing second base, third base and shortstop. He spent most of the season at Triple-A Omaha and posted a .322/.347/.492 batting line with 36 doubles in 453 plate appearances. Abreu has a .252/.280/.355 batting line in 464 plate appearances over the course of four MLB seasons.
After Blanco and Arias I totally support 100% any pick up like this……
Matt Kemp a Niner fan?
No wonder the Niners crapped all over themselves. The fabric of the Niner universe was torn.
When in doubt, it has to be a Dodger’s fault…
http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/index.jsp#contentId=41376222
I’m happy for the Ravens. Flacco, Reed, JH, Rice, all those guys are competitors and deserve a SB win. Even Ray Lewis, who is a liar and, probably, a murderer is a guy I respect on one specific level. He leads men into battle (football version) and those guys would run through a wall for him. Despite his personal life which is suspect at best, he’s one of the all time motivational speakers I’ve ever heard. After their epic loss last year, despite my feelings about him personally, this is one of the best post game (loss) speeches I’ve ever heard (and the one he gave the Cardinal before their NIT win last year was right up there).
and though you’ve all probably seen both of these vids, here’s the pre-NIT Cardinal speech. There are leaders and there are followers. Ray Lewis, for good or bad, is a leader…..
Spring training, anyone?
We have Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown giving us the countdown today.
The hostess at my favorite Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto has 6 fingers on one hand (2 thumbs). It’s a trip and its rad all at the same time.
Two weeks ago I was jovial and hopeful and made a joke on Facebook about 6 Niner rings and her 6 fingers. Today, nothing is funny, I keep getting sadder by the hour.
First and goal from the 6. I’ll never get over this, I wish they’d lost 55-10, it would have been easier to tolerate utter failure than a win that was but a grasp away.
Flav, I agree with you about Lewis, but I will go one step further – There is redemption for everyone (at least if you believe the bible, then there is) and Ray Lewis has not provided any evidence to date, that he is not sorry for what happened a long, long time ago. Does this mean he is telling the truth when he says he was there, but didn’t participate in this person’s death? I have no idea. I can’t and I wont judge him. All’s I know is what he has said and the fact that he is a born again Christian. God knows the truth and if he is lying, than he will be judged accordingly and pay the price.
Consequently, I am happy for him and the Ravens, even though this loss hurts quite a bit.
I am impressed with the Oakland A’s signing Jed Lowrie. He is a player and if he can stay injury free, he will help them.
It’s an intriguing move. Oakland gave up Brad Peacock, who was traded for Gio Gonzalez, I believe. I was impressed w/ Peacock in the minors. Didn’t Magnus see him at Stanford?
I am not certain Pawlie – But yes, I believe he did go to Stanford and I know he grew up in Salem, Oregon.
Blade, when the feck are you leaving NZ? Tantalizing Thai beauties await you!
I have two weeks in Oz, then I am off to Bangkok (Feb 22nd). I am still waiting for your alter ego (Paul in Asia) to feckin’ respond to my messages about whether he will show up or not. Somethin’ about the Lunar holiday (or landing?) he is celebrating right now, so no idea if he is already making whoopee in some Asian hot spot.
Paul call home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grasshopper needs guidance in Bangcock. Umm, I mean Bangkok.
Blade, I’ve got a brief Skype window of opportunity now.
I am turning on right now.
His statements in the interview with Sharp were so preposterous, it’s hard to believe him about his innocence. Well,more than hard, impossible.The proof that he didn’tdo it is because “God never makes a mistake”?
“To the family, if you knew — if you really knew — the way God works, he don’t use people who commits anything like that for his good. No way. It’s the total opposite.”
Twitter says Giants picked up (claimed) INF Tony Abreu, released by the Royals. Ever fewer chances for a spot for TheRiot.
Probably “none chance”.
yeah, no relation to Dean Chance, either.
More baseball, as worthy distraction from The Hangover Day: keep an eye this spring on this kid Wil Myers, whom the Rays picked up from the Royals. He is being compared to Dale Murphy.
My condolences to all. Even though I’m not a big 9ers fan (actually have become less of a football fan overall the past decade or so), the pain here is clear and understandable. “1st and goal from the 6″… there’s that somewhat silly (but I enjoyed it anyway) baseball movie, Perfect Catch, with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon as a die-hard Red Sox fan, and when he’s feeling all depressed, he locks himself in his room and watches, over and over, game 6 in ’86: “the ball goes through Buckner’s legs!”. Craig, I hope that’s not you, years from now, unshaven and unshowered for days on end, watching again and again “1st and goal from the 6″….. 🙂
Yo, Steve, still thinking about it. And since I live in an “an Asian hot-spot”, I’m often already making whoopee… 🙂 I’m now on Tet (lunar new year) holiday for two weeks; new year’s eve is Saturday, everything shuts down for a week starting on Sunday. This was the time I was planning on going to Thailand for a week or so, but would really like to get there the weekend you’re there to meet up, and I can’t afford to to it twice… so, I’ll keep you posted. Problem is, holiday is over by then and I’ll be back at work, so will only have a couple of nights in Bkk. Stay tuned… enjoy your travels. And here’s to endless whoopee and minimal misery from the game yesterday.
Hey Paul! I just Skyped with Pawlie – amazing that you can see somone move and talk almost 14750 miles away. Wow! Yeah, I hope you are able to still make it Paul. Next stop for me is Oz on the 7th.
I am with craig on the 1st and goal. I am with snark on the holding call, but on a lineman, you can only see it for a moment on a replay but there is a 49er running towards the end zone with a raven behind him and both arms wrapped around the niner’s waist.
Edd, that’s the 2nd down pass to Crabs. Walker is held in the end zone. Crabs was held on the play as well. That was the play where VD was open for a moment.