Jim Harbaugh is going to be the 49ers new coach for the next five years. Great signing for a guy who is forever embedded in California going all the way back to High School, to coaching Stanford, and now his newest job as the 49ers head coach. Solid move by the coach for choosing the Niners over the Dolphins. It was a great move to stay where his family is, and even more so because he decided to go with the NFC West over the AFC East. I think he liked beating Pete Carroll so much in college in Pete’s last year at USC, he wanted the chance to do it twice a year in the pros. I’m not a big Niners or NFC fan, so that’s all I have to say about that, maybe By will have a post on it sometime later breaking it down, because it is the biggest thing they’ve done since they beat the Giants in the playoffs.
The Raiders fired Cable a couple of days ago as Mceezy already told us. I’ve let the feelings I had on the firing set in a little more over the last couple of days, because originally, I was pretty mad since the Raiders players seemed to respect Cable so much.
Now, I’m not quite as mad as the initial shock of the announcement. I’m thinking that Al hired on Hue Jackson as the OC last year, because he wanted to groom him into the next HC. Hue improved the offense by leaps and bounds this year by actually getting them into the endzone last season. I remember last year, we went through a three game stretch where all we managed were field goals, and watching the offense was painful more times than not. They might have scored a TD in that three game stretch, but it was a defensive one.
Anyways, my theory goes like this. Al was going to roll with Cable this year, and see how Hue did with getting the offense functioning like a real offense again. Both were reasonably successful, so no changes were made for the first half of the season. Al probably would’ve kicked Cable to the curb if had a crappy record at the bye week, but that wasn’t the case. Since they were still in the hunt, Al decided to let the year play out and waited through December to see if Cable could get them to the playoffs. He didn’t, and when Cable emphatically said after the season finale win over the Chiefs “we aren’t losers anymore”, that probably pissed Al off more than anything, and was the final straw in a tenure that had him switching QB’s, punching assistants, and receiving battery charges from ex-girlfriends. If they don’t hire/promote Hue Jackson who has the players respect already, then it will be another one of Al’s crazy decisions that I will never understand. The players overall were outspoken against the firing, but I think having a familiar face leading them next year would negate some of that negative energy. So the moral of this rant, if Al hires Hue then I’ll believe he really had a plan. If Al hires someone else, he’s should be checked back into the insane asylum.
The A’s new ballpark. The Oakland City Council approved spending ¾ of a million dollars into looking at a site in downtown Oakland for a new baseball only park for the A’s. I’m not really sure what this means, but I know there isn’t going to be a stadium anytime soon. I think this was a counter to San Jose trying to find a place to put the A’s, which Lew Wolff has longed for. It’s sad that the MLB still hasn’t concluded their research to decide where is the best fit for the A’s new park if there is one, after only two years of research. If they put me on that committee, I bet I could figure it out faster than two damn years!
Speaking of San Jose, how does the San Jose Hornets sound? It wouldn’t be possible till 2014 (when CP3 is gone), but Larry Ellison easily has the funds to buy the Hornets from the league and the wherewithal to make that move happen. He might do it just because he got punked when he was trying to buy the Warriors. It would be a pretty bold move to try to steal them away to San Jose, especially since the Warriors have as strong a fanbase as any in the league. I wonder if he’d just do it to take money and value away from Lacob and Gruber who bought the Warriors? Probably, because I think this guy HATES losing at anything, and I’m sure losing out on buying the Warriors is still eating at him. Five NBA teams in California seems like a little much, especially when three are in Northern California. I guess we will see how it all plays out, but I thought it was an interesting rumor nonetheless. The Kings are the most likely to move of the current teams here, so maybe there would still only be four teams in Cali if Ellison bought the Hornets.
The Lakers shenanigans leading to losing. I always love when Lakers fans start panicking after a few loses. I’m sure if I was a fan of theirs I’d be a little worried, but seriously, they still have the third best record in the west, so stop bitching Laker Nation. Even though their players are missing practices because of their IPhones, Ron doesn’t like the way Phil yells at him, and Odom is convincing teammates to sign waivers to be on his reality show, they shouldn’t be worried. They’ve gone through much worse with Kobe and Shaq, so they will right the ship. Last year just before the playoffs started, they played some of their worst ball of the season, and that sure didn’t seem to stop them from winning a championship. December and January isn’t the time to worry about the Lakers. This is a team that has been to the finals three years in a row. Sometimes you probably get bored during the season. I think that’s what is happening here more than anything…
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
January 7th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
chappy
So the $7-$8 million a year being offered by Ross and the Dolphins scared Harbaugh off then ?
And here I thought that Snyder was the only idiot NFL owner in the league !
tophatal ………..
January 7th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
49ers – I’m setting the Over/Under for Harbaugh’s tenure at +/- 2.5 years. I just think he’s one of those guys who’s better suited for the college game. I’m not sure if he can keep an NFL locker room together.
Raiders – They scored 410 points this season, more than double last year’s output of 197, so clearly Hue Jackson was a success. I still wouldn’t be surprised if Al has a trick up his sleeve though.
Hornets – The Bay Area has long supported two MLB teams and two NFL teams, so there’s really no reason they couldn’t support a second NBA team. Also, there’s already 5 MLB teams in CA, so 5 NBA teams seems doable.
Lakers – Who cares….
January 8th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
49ers – That’s a solid line. I could see it going either way. I thought Singletary was the right choice, but that was obviously wrong so who really knows. Plus, the York’s aren’t exactly the best decision makers…
Raiders – I’m REALLY scared of what that trick might be… For a long time he had a history of hiring from within, but jumped off that with Norv and Art Shell, but maybe he went back to his old ways with Cable and hopefully now Jackson.
Hornets – Touche, very good point. The thing is, how well are they supporting those teams? Kings, A’s, and Padres aren’t exactly filling the stadiums much.
January 8th, 2011 at 12:44 am
Congrats to both of us Chaps! I think we’re both happy with our new coaches!
January 8th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Well, we don’t have one quite yet, so hold off those congratulations until they have one! If it’s a shocker pulling someone out of nowhere, then you might end up feeling sorry for us haha.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:53 am
Re: Harbaugh, I’ve often wondered… if Urban Meyer, the coach of my alma mater, left the university to go 120 miles and coach the Bucs, my favorite NFL team, how I would feel about that.
Would I be happy about the move, be pissed, hate him, like him more? I mean, isn’t that what happened in the Harbaugh case pretty much?
As a Gator first and foremost, I can’t help but think I’d feel a little scorned. And Harbaugh didn’t even bring them a national championship.
January 8th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
Tough to say man. I’m more of a Cal guy than Stanford, and a Raiders guy much more than a Niners fan, so I guess I don’t know that feeling 🙂
In a hypothetical scenario though, I would be happy. At least your coach didn’t go to someone else in your division like Carolina, Atlanta, or New Orleans. It would be even worse if you were losing to him twice a year…
January 9th, 2011 at 10:42 am
I still don’t think it would sit well with me.
January 10th, 2011 at 11:22 am
Yeah, Chappy’s got a point there. It’s not like the 49ers hiring Ken Whisenhunt
Meehan
January 9th, 2011 at 9:38 am
chappy
Hopefully this’ll be something that York family can’t f_ck up with regard to Harbaugh now signing with the Niners as the coach ! Everything else that they’ve touched since Eddie DeBartolo had to relinquish control of the team has simply become sh_t and that has included the team and how they’ve essentially treated the fans over the years . Denise York and her husband John York know as much about the game as Palin does about the politics of Russia !
The Saints essentially became a dog fleas after that loss ! That defense was about as much use as used feminine hygiene product ! Since when did Marshawn Lynch become the second coming of Marcus Allen ?
tophatal ……………..
January 10th, 2011 at 11:21 am
Yeah, I think the Harbaugh hire was a good one, and the Cable firing was unjustified.
As for the Lakers, you shouldn’t have to rely on your Iphone in order to know when practice is. And Ron Ron can think whatever he wants, but Phil is his coach and it’s Phil’s job to give his players orders. What doesn’t he understand here?
I think the Hornets to San Jose would be a great move, and as of right now the city of New Orleans is a Saints town, end of story.
Meehan
January 10th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Did you see that choke move Ron pulled last night? Who says he’s mellowed out in LA!?! It just took him a little while to start acting like himself!!
And you are right, New Orleans isn’t a hoops town. It would be weird to have two franchises in San Jose, but those yuppies there have money to spend on going to the games at least…
January 10th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
chappy
Is there any truth to the rumor that the Raiders are about to cut Asomugha ? I know that they’ve rescinded the last year of his contract with him having failed to meet the incentives but now it’s getting downright ridiculous there if as being alleged they’re about to cut him .
And The Fallout Begins ………………
See link provided to view .
tophatal …………….
January 10th, 2011 at 5:28 pm
As I said over on your blog, it wasn’t really the Raiders choice to cut him. He was automatically cut from the language in his contract. I have a feeling we are going to move backwards a little with all this shake up, but wouldn’t be shocked if Al signed Nnamdi to be the highest paid corner in the league again even after they get a CBA in place…
January 11th, 2011 at 8:18 am
chappy
It takes two parties to agree to a contract so both knew what thye’d be letting themselves in for . That being said they spent over $30 million plus on Russell and got not one solid contribution out of his a_s in all the time he was with them . So how does not eating the last year of his (Asomugha’s ) deal make the situation any better ? What the front office will once again go the free agent route or try and pick up something through the draft ? Given their failures over the past few years which have been many how’d you think that’ll work out ?
I seriously doubt that they’ll do that at this juncture ij signing him to another high prived deal not with the current uncertainty around the NFL . Besides the team has to address the other players’ contracts that are up this season . And we all know they’ll be looking to get paid baaed on their performances throughout <a href="http://nfl.com/teams/schedule?team=oak" season .
tophatal ……………………..
January 11th, 2011 at 10:42 am
I was reading about the Asomugha contract earlier this year before the season ended, and basically it sounded like with two games left it was going to happen unless he got a couple of interceptions in the last two games. He didn’t because nobody throws his way anyways. Dwayne Bowe had 0 receptions, so it seemed like they knew he wouldn’t hit his incentives.
We’ll see what happens…
January 11th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
chappy
Problem being they loose him and the defense essentially becomes as porous as a sponge . And there’s no way in hell they can recover from losing him should that happen. There’s bound to be a number of teams with money to spend around the league that will be gauging the whole situation with a great deal of interest .
They knew ’bout the incentives and simply when he may or may not have hit them. It’s the same bull_hit that Gruden pulled with Jeff Garcia when he was with the Bucs and it ended up costing the player over $2 million incentives when they sat him out for the final two games of the season.
So where do you think ‘melo will end up ? If he goes along with Billups as part of a package deal then the Nuggets are essentially dead !
Prokhorov the owner of the Nets really wants to get the deal done but I’m not so sure he and coach Avery Johnson might give up as much as the Nuggets are said to want even if it’ll also involve players of the Pistons’ roster as a three team deal .
Sticking point so far is that ‘melo hasn’t signed the three year $65 milllion deal that’s said to be on the table that’d set the ball rolling.
tophatal ………….
January 11th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Their front seven is still solid, but losing him would be a big loss to the secondary. I’m not sure what will happen, all we can really do is wait and see. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of teams interested, but if Al throws out the kind of crazy money he did the first time around, it would be hard for Nnamdi to pass up…
I’m actually getting tired of the Melo talk. I’m glad the Nuggets told Prokhorov that they wanted this to be done out of the media, because I’m getting tired of the rumors. Wake me when they decide where he’s going.
January 11th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
chappy
From your lips to God’s ears because I’m sure that there are teams watching the situation carefully ! But like you’ve already said if the coaching staff feels that there are other needs on the team that need to be addressed then they might just pass on Nnamdi .
Which’d you hear rather talk on ‘melo or hearing ’bout ‘Snooki’ going down on some ‘guido’ ’cause that’s the only sh_t that’s now said to he happening in Jersey ! LOL,LOL,LOL !!! The Nets have been playing like a dog with fleas they’re simply scratch themselves all night long as they’re being beaten like crap !
tophatal …………….