A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

Pffffttttt…well, nectarine always tastes sweeter if you’ve known the bitter taste of defeat. And it get no more bitter than Kyle blowing yet another 4th quarter lead in a huge game. The play calling was terrible but sometimes something you want so badly just isn’t meant to be. Tartt dropped that ball and it forebode an unwanted destiny. The ghost of Kyle Williams……

But Niner fans should shed no tears. It wasn’t the end we dreamed of but it was a season we can be thankful for. We won’t have Jimmy to kick around anymore but Kyle will be here and he can take the punishment. There is hope for the future with Trey.

That was a fun season.

In lockdown mode today. Focused. This reminds me a little bit of 2014 Giants. I didn’t allow myself to get excited because I didn’t believe in them—at least, until we got to the World Series. Same thing with this Niner team. Didn’t believe. Still don’t know how they got here. For Jimmy, no matter what, all is forgiven. How great would this be?????

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I went for a run to burn off some nervous energy. That is Stanford Stadium back there.

If you drew a line from where I was through the tall tree on the middle-left and into the stadium you’d be sitting in the same spot me and my dad sat in 37 years ago for the Super Bowl vs the Dolphins. Man, I remember that day like it was yesterday. Our favorite sports teams are responsible for so many great memories, right?

I believe this is the 17th NFC championship game for San Francisco. Either that or this will be #18. Either way, to me, this isn’t about this one game. It’s the anticipation that we get all week. It’s the memories of the last 3 weeks AND what could happen if they win on Sunday. And if they do, after that, it’s another two weeks of hopeful dreams of destiny. That’s what is great about all this. Sure, it’s just one game on Sunday. But the excitement it fuels before and after it can last for weeks (and beyond).

I don’t have a great feel for what’s going to happen in this game. I think I’ve talked myself into them winning it. Either way, I will happily lock myself up in my house and settle in for another afternoon of excitement, stress, Jimmy induced misery and, hopefully by the last click on the clock, utter ecstacy…….

Can’t wait.

Truly, I don’t care that Bonds didn’t make it. For one thing, I’m not Barry Bonds. I’m sure this means much more to him than it does to me. And as a Giants fan I learned a long time ago that it was much more fun to count World Series trophies than dudes we got in the Hall.

There was a time I wanted to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame but that time has passed. It delegitimized itself by preposterously excluding the all time hit king and the all time home run king. Just let Cricket stars in from now on. Nobody cares what you do at this point…..

The weekend began with the #1 seed getting upset with a last second field goal by a rookie kicker who was carried off the field on the shoulders of his elated teammates….who could ever have imagined at the time that that game would turn out to be the boring one.

I’m sure there’s some recency bias in play here but I’m guessing we can all agree that was the most exciting weekend of football we’ve ever collectively watched. And how bout if you’re a Bills fan. Dear God. All that franchise does is lose Super Bowls and suck for years and then they get a performance for the ages by a quarterback who might not even be in the same species as Jimmy Garappolo and all they need to do is burn 13 seconds to reach peak nirvana as a fan base….and they can’t get it done.

Unreal. Stunning. We’ll never see another 4 games like that, ever.

Another guy I can’t ever complain about again: Robbie Gould. That was no chip shot in those conditions. This team is flawed and I haven’t brought myself to peak at the injury report yet. But goddamn that’s now THREE games in a row that delivered us some of the highest highs you can get from watching sports.

And then there’s this guy. Life of the unvaccinated sure looks rough:

Big weekend of football. I think the Niners get past Green Bay today but only because I see them running successfully. If that doesn’t happen, oh my, this could go the other way fast. As a joke I just asked my daughter if she wanted to watch the game with me. She laughed and said “Who are they playing?” I said “Green Bay.” She goes, “Green Day? They’re playing a band?”

Jesus how did i raise her this way? Oh well, she doesn’t like sports, I can’t complain about that.

And now, without further ado, I am releasing Big Flavor’s 4 game can’t miss parlay!

Tenn ML

Niners ML

Rams ML

Buffalo ML

If that hits, whatever, that won’t hit…..

Last night is a great example of why I am so happy it’s still not legal to bet on sports in California. Indiana was missing everyone: Sabonis, Brogden, Levert and Turner. The Dubs were locked and loaded with their guys. And at home. I watched the line slowly climb starting at 9. Then 11. Pacers guys were taking *out* tags all day long. The line hit 14. I was like *Damn! I could have had that at 9!*. I think it finally settled around -17.

Then Indiana goes and wins in overtime. LOL. Their collection of hodge podge journeymen and triers shot 43% from splashland while the splashers themselves shot 21% from the same distance. Klay and Wiggy themselves went 1-13.

No sport is weirder or wilder than the NBA in terms of random mid season outcomes….

Well that long weekend ended with a thud. I hate people that say a team didn’t come to play but that was just unreal watching all the things the Cardinals couldn’t get done.

Now the focus turns to Green Bay. Everyone says we can run on them and I’m assuming that’s a necessity if we want a chance of winning up there this time of year. The Rams can beat the Bucs. Are we looking at another trip to LA for the right to go to another Super Bowl?

Getting ahead of myself but still fun to think about….

That game, wow, what a game. never seen one like that and probably never will again. In the end it seemed like 2 teams just trying to lose. But we got the W. I have little expectation for the game in Green Bay especially if we are without out 2 best defensive players. But we live to see another game! And that’s what it’s all about. I need AZ to win outright to go 5-1 on my picks.

We have really gotten lucky on the entertainment scale with these last 2 games. Each unreal in their own right.

There is a LOT of football going on this weekend. These are my picks that I will weave through different 3 game parlays….

Niners money line. They can win this game on the OL and the DL. Dallas has stars but this is not a team that scares me at all.

Cinn -5.5. Bengals are a little like the Cowboys. They have lots of stars especially offensively. But they get to play a Raider team that just isn’t very good, in my opinion. Blowout looming.

Buffalo money line. If Belly can shut down Allen more power to him. I also don’t see a rookie QB, as decent as Jones has been, rolling through a road playoff game. Still, a game like this often ends on a FG. I wouldn’t give the points here I’d just take the Bills on the ML.

Philly +8.5. I don’t like Philly that much I just really don’t think it’s TB’s year and that’s a lot of points to give. Being on the road in Tampa isn’t that much of a detriment either. Philly will have to find someone to make plays, though. Maybe Bucs struggle a bit and Philly manages to cover.

KC -11.5. Lot of points but Big Ben is washed. I think KC rolls here and this is a place where home field advantage is huge.

AZ money line. I still can’t believe the Rams folded so badly last week. That reason alone is good enough to take AZ on the ML and we know for a FACT that there is no noticeable home field advantage for LA here. Soft fans, soft team. AZ running game + the electric Murray should be enough.

Those are my leans, who you guys like?

Watched the free episode #1 of Joe Cool. So *cool*. Might have to bite the bullet and subscribe to Peacock. Maybe it’s just the nostalgia of Niners/Cowboys talking but even just watching a show about him in college was emotional for me.

I think we take care of Dallas this Sunday, I really do. We can stop their run and then hopefully dial up enough schemes to keep Dak off balance. Just do whatever the Broncos D did to them Dak was lost in that game. Dallas has star players but they don’t play like a star team. They are very beatable.

Unfortunately this will be the first road game in a while where Niner fans don’t take over the stadium.
I’m not going to say I trust in Jimmy G but I think he can get this done. And if he has a bad game that’s ok. What he did last week was incredible.

Has anyone see the Joe Montana documentary? Everyone is raving about this. How can I watch it I can’t find it on netflix and after I check there I usually give up 🙂

The good news is that I don’t need to hand-wring anymore about Jimmy G. You don’t go 90 yards with no time outs in just over a minute needing a TD to save your season and get anything but mad respect from me. Trey’s time will come next year. JG earned whatever time he’s got with us this season. Man, that was equally the most infuriating and fun game I’ve watched in years…..

As expected, Top Jimmy is getting the start. I guess I’m ok with that. I mean, Kyle and the coaches are the ones who have been watching him all week. But this better be the right decision or I will rain down furious condemnation on them. If he’s tossing the ball around like some drunk sailor and they go to Trey at halftime I am going to be PISSED.

Just because the Niners *have* to win doesn’t mean anything except to a narrative. If they are going to have to trot out Mosley and Norman as the #1 corners, man, I just don’t see how they win this game. And then Four Fingered Jimmy is gonna have to try to keep up with Stafford? Again, this looks imposing, at best. If I were a man who gambles against his own team (um, I guess I do that when the time is right but not in a game this big) I’d probably hammer the Rams -4.5.

Quiet on the lockout front. Almost too quiet. Manfred did take some time out of doing nothing to have Ken Rosenthal fired for saying mean things about him. Big Flavor’s currently line on whether they start the season on time? I’ll say +150. Odds they start on time, -150. Thoughts?

It took a half to get going but watching Trey throw deep balls that Jimmy can’t (see: 1/20 Super Bowl) gives me hope for the Niners future. I wanted to see more running success but that’s his god given talent, it’s in there, that’ll come out in due time. At this point, unless Jimmy is completely healthy, I want to see Trey running this offense vs LA. Jimmy just has so many limitations (can’t move in pocket, weak arm, broken thumb) to watch his slog through that game…..

My twitter account has been suspended because I told John Hinckley Jr. that he should take the guitar he was playing and bash himself in the head with it. The Twitter Lord didn’t find that as amusing as I did. So, the year’s off to a bad start. Although knowing I irritated Hinckley enough to report me, I dunno, there’s a win in there somewhere….

Excited for the Niner game tomorrow. If you can’t beat Houston you don’t belong in the playoffs. And I’m really interested in seeing Lance’s development. That’s what he’s been doing all these months, right? I guess we’ll see….