Sports fodder for a Friday morning . . .
The Colin Kaepernick soap opera (As the Kap Turns?) just keeps getting juicier and more scandalous. The latest episode has the former Nevada Wolf Pack quarterback getting into a fight with ex-San Francisco 49ers teammate Aldon Smith after a practice last week. Smith, who was subsequently arrested and then released by the 49ers, supposedly also smashed Kaepernick’s car. The alleged Smith-Kap feud, according to media reports, started because Kaepernick is now dating Smith’s ex-girlfriend (radio host Nessa). This isn’t the first time Kaepernick supposedly got into a feud because he stole another athlete’s girl. Matt Barnes of the Los Angeles Clippers called Kaepernick a nasty name on Twitter and Instagram this spring for having a relationship with Barnes’ now ex-wife (Basketball Wives star Gloria Govan). We can’t wait for the new reality show Kap’s Girls Next Door.
. . .
Kaepernick is young, handsome, rich, charming and, by golly, he’s good enough, smart enough and doggone it, girls like him. We can criticize Kaepernick all we want but we’re all just jealous and would do exactly what he allegedly is doing if we could. But it’s time the soap opera stops. Kaepernick is close to becoming a cartoon character. Yes, it would be on the Adult Swim channel and air only after 10 p.m. but it would be a cartoon just the same. The 49ers have unraveled all around him this off-season. This is his team now. He’s the face of the organization. Jim Harbaugh is gone. Frank Gore is gone. The amazing defense is gone. The 49ers desperately need a leader. They don’t need a recurring character on TMZ. They also don’t need a quarterback who was once known for running the pistol offense turning into a guy who would likely shoot himself in the leg with his own pistol at a club.
. . .
Will there be any chance the Wolf Pack football team will lose to UC Davis in the season opener Sept. 3 at Mackay Stadium? There will be a better chance Kaepernick will join the priesthood. The Pack hasn’t lost to a Big Sky team since it lost to Weber State in 1993. And Davis, 2-9 last year, isn’t even a good Big Sky team. A loss to Davis would be the Pack’s most embarrassing defeat since, well, coach Frank Taylor informed the first Pack team in 1896 that a football has points on each end. If this was men’s basketball, they would call it an exhibition game. If it was baseball there would be 43 people in the stands at Peccole Park to watch it. If it was boxing, well, it would be illegal in 49 states (everything, after all, is legal in Nevada). But it’s NCAA football, where it can help you become bowl eligible, improve the head coach’s career record and ultimately get him a huge raise and also sell 20,000 or more tickets to open the season.
. . .
No matter what happens the rest of the season, San Francisco Giants fans have to be extremely proud of their heroes once again. The Giants have no right to be in the National League West Division race and wildcard race given all the adversity they have had to endure this year. Nori Aoki, Hunter Pence, Tim Hudson, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Angel Pagan, Jake Peavy, Joe Panik and Mike Leake and others have all been on the disabled list this year. The Giants have had one team on the field, one team in the hospital or sitting at home watching As The Kap Turns and one team stuck in traffic on I-80 coming and going between Triple-A Sacramento and San Francisco. This season is further proof Bruce Bochy is the greatest coach or manager in professional sports today and the back and shoulders of Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner are big enough to carry an entire team.
. . .
Former Wolf Pack first baseman Austin Byler might be playing for the Reno Aces at Aces Ballpark quicker than we thought. Byler, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 11th round draft pick in June, is arguably the best hitter in the Pioneer League this year for the Missoula Osprey. As of Thursday morning the Missoula Masher leads the league in homers (11), walks (34), doubles (20) and slugging (.738), is second in runs (43) and RBI (38), third in on base percentage (.468) and sixth in batting average (.342). He has six homers (three in one game on Sunday) and 12 RBI over his last five games. His average is 14 points higher than the .328 he hit at Nevada this past season. Byler is putting together the best season for a former Pack player in the minor leagues since Lyle Overbay hit .343 with 12 homers and 101 RBI for Missoula in 1999. Forget the pitchers. It seems the only thing standing in Byler’s way from putting on a Diamondbacks uniform in the near future is a guy named Paul Goldschmidt.
. . .
Are you really surprised the Buffalo Bills signed IK Enemkpali to a contract this week after Enemkpali was released by the New York Jets after punching Jets quarterback Geno Smith in the face and breaking his jaw? Why would you ever be surprised when one football player punches another football player in the face? It’s what they do for a living after all. Hey, at least he didn’t steal anybody’s girlfriend. And Enemkpali only did what every Jets fan wishes he had the guts to do. Enemkpali played against the Wolf Pack at Mackay Stadium in 2011 for Louisiana Tech and had five tackles. As far as we know he didn’t punch anybody in the face. That same year, though, he was pepper sprayed and shot with a stun gun after punching a police officer. Look out, Buffalo. IK is coming to town. Hide your quarterbacks.
. . .
The Los Angeles area might have two NFL teams by this time next year. The league is currently looking over proposals by the St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders -— three teams that used to call Los Angeles home ± to move to Southern California. It’s amazing L.A. has gone without NFL football for two decades. Then again, getting the Rams, Chargers and the Raiders might not really solve that problem, would it?
