Sports fodder for a Friday morning ... Worry about whether or not Tyler Lantrip can quarterback the Nevada Wolf Pack if you want to. But you'll only be wasting your time and energy. Lantrip's abilities to run the Pistol offense are only about the fifth or sixth most pressing issue on this team. It's not even in the top three concerns on offense after running back, wide receiver and offensive line. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back Vai Taua made the Pack running game one of the best in the nation the last four years. And that running game, which chewed up the clock and put points on the scoreboard, also covered up a ton of sins on defense. We'll find out this season if the running game's success was due to the many talents of Kaepernick and Taua or because of the offensive line and the system.
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Someone, please, tell the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers that the NFL lockout is over.
Both the Raiders and Niners have done practically nothing since the lockout ended while other NFL teams have raided their rosters. The Niners have lost (among others) Nate Clements, Aubrayo Franklin, Travis LaBoy, Takeo Spikes and Manny Lawson while Nnamdi Asomugha, Robert Gallery, Johnnie Lee Higgins and Thomas Howard have escaped Oakland. Doesn't anyone want to play in the Bay area anymore?
Both the Raiders and Niners, it seems, have been spending more time polishing their Super Bowl trophies than trying to improve their rosters this summer. It's been nearly a decade since either team has made the playoffs. We'll be saying the same thing a year from now.
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Does Jim Harbaugh have a legitimate chance to succeed with the 49ers? Before you answer that question, just remember the parade of once-promising coaches whose NFL head coaching careers have dried up in San Francisco since Steve Mariucci left in 2002: Dennis Erickson, Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary.
Those three went 45-82 (fill-in Jim Tomsula won the final game in 2010) over the last eight years.
The big issue in San Francisco right now is not whether Alex Smith or Kaepernick is the long-term answer at quarterback. The big issue is whether or not Harbaugh will outlast Smith or Kaepernick in San Francisco.
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Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees is being investigated by Major League Baseball because he supposedly played some illegal poker games (whatever that means) in a Beverly Hills mansion with some of his millionaire actor buddies such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Tobey Maguire and Matt Damon. What will we find out next, that A-Rod ripped that little tag off his pillows, stuck some paper items in his recycling bucket normally reserved for plastics and watered his lawn on a Monday when his address dictates that he only sprinkle on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays? Major League Baseball has bigger issues to worry about than A-Rod in a fancy hotel playing poker with Spiderman, the guy who drowned in Titanic, the star of Gigli and the talented Mr. Ripley.
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Is Randy Moss a future Hall of Famer? Of course. Just check out his numbers: 954 catches, 14,858 yards, 153 touchdowns. But would you want him on your team? Of course not. The guy ended up destroying almost every team he ever played on. He never cared about his sport or his teammates and coaches. His silly retirement this week shouldn't have surprised anyone. You also shouldn't be surprised if this so-called retirement is as fake as his pretend mooning of the fans in Green Bay a few years back.
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LeBron James tweeted this week that Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow "is a natural born leader."
Charles Barkley said recently that he is disappointed in the actions of his buddy Tiger Woods, that Woods' firing of long-time caddie Steve Williams was "the last straw." OK, if you had to choose one, would you rather have LeBron calling you a natural born leader or the lovable Mr. Barkley, Mr. Politically Incorrect, disappointed in your actions?
Seems to me Tiger and Tebow need to be a bit more picky when choosing their celebrity friends.
Just a thought: the talented Mr. Ripley and Spiderman will be looking for a new poker buddy sometime soon.
