Archive for March, 2009

Amputee to make MMA debut

By
Tim
Published: March 23, 2009Tags:

Normally, I don’t like it when someone with a disability achieves more than me. It makes me wonder what I’m doing wrong. But in this case, I’ve got to root for the guy, if only for his safety. Kyle Maynard, an amputee, will make his MMA debut at “Auburn Fight Night” on April 25.

When I first heard about this, I wondered how a guy could fight with just one arm. What a huge disadvantage that has to be. But I was wrong, he’s not missing an arm. He is missing his left arm and his right arm … and his left leg … and right leg. He is at a disadvantage the likes of which may never have been seen before.

Are we going back to the days of human cock fighting? I can’t envision a single way this guy can win. Let’s give him credit for trying, but let’s also not get the guy killed. He can’t punch, he can’t kick, it’s going to be tough to choke anyone, he can’t be too fast and I don’t know how he defends himself. Someone tell me one possible way this guy can win a fight. He would probably still kick my ass, but I’m talking about a professional fight.

He’s been denied a license to fight previously, and I’m not sure this should be allowed. And that’s not because I’m jealous. Not this time anyway. Good luck, buddy. Seriously. Pull off an upset win and I’ll put your poster on my wall.

49ers need to snap up Jay Cutler

By
Zuri
Published: March 18, 2009Tags: , , , ,


Hey Denver, your loss may be San Francisco’s gain. And I’m not talking about the Rocky.

If Jay Cutler successfully forces a trade because of Josh McDaniel’s first bungled player-personnel flap, I’m personally suggesting to Scot McCloughan that he should make a move on the 3-year veteran.

What’s more, I’m pretty sure that if the 49ers don’t make a move in the first round with a quarterback selection as expected and don’t find another “capable” quarterback in free agency, San Francisco is going to be doomed with the likelihood of a prolonged quarterback problem as Alex Smith and Shaun Hill battle it out for the top spot. I know Smith took his medicine last year getting benched, but his lingering presence is, at best, a distraction. At worst, drama.

Shaun Hill, for all of his positives and glowing record as a starter (7-3), is just not the man to carry the franchise to the next level. Now is the time during to build on a solid, new prospect. Cutler can be the man the 49ers always hoped for in Smith.

Cutler, or a young unnamed and undrafted quarterback, fixes everything that eviscerated under Mike Nolan’s power. The guy from Santa Claus, Ind., is coachable, he’s fairly precise (career 62.5 percent completion rate) and his faults haven’t been played out on the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle.

No, we’ve watched him dismantle the Oakland Raiders (in prime time) and lead a relatively successful career in the shadow of John Elway’s legacy. His 4,526 passing yards and 25 touchdowns were career bests last year — a pro bowl year.

Did I mention that he’s only 25?

I’m high on Cutler because he’s one of those 12 quarterbacks in the league with 100 percent ownership in fantasy football leagues. Hill would kill for 50 percent next season.

And you know what? After all that he’s done for his team and city, they’re treating him like he’s Alex Smith.

I’m flabbergasted.

You don’t bring in another quarterback when you’ve got a pro bowler on your team in the very same position. Repeat: You don’t bring in another quarterback when you’ve got a pro bowler on your team in the very same position.

What McDaniels did was a slap in Cutler’s face. For him to jockey for power at their recent meeting, when the feud was really about respect, is the infancy of idiocy.

Did he learn his people skills from Bill Belichick? I’d really like to know.

To solve Denver’s problems, which are not going to change without some furniture moving, and to quell the angst of this 49ers fan’s spirits, I suggest a trade of Smith and Cutler, with appropriate draft picks to measure the weight of the Broncos’ loss.

Smith would get the fresh start he deserves — as far away from my red and gold as possible — and Cutler will get treated with respect and dignity in a football town in need of a quarterback.

Oh, and Denver will get exactly what it deserves — another loss.

Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in The Union.

Spencer keeps getting better

By
Zuri
Published: March 14, 2009Tags: ,

It’s crazy how much I like Kings center Spencer Hawes. I remember very specifically the day he was drafted. I was driving home from work and turned on sports radio to have the draft read back to me. With the 10th pick in the draft, Sacramento selects Spencer “Noooooo!!!!!!!!!!! Not the white guy!!!!!!!!!” I screamed while pounding on the steering wheel, Hawes.

How wrong I was. You see, society has warped my mind into thinking that white guys aren’t athletic, and that’s simply not true. Shawn Bradley threw off the whole curve, is the problem. OK, and a lot of other clumsy guys. But Spencer isn’t like them. He’s got more athleticism than I thought he would, even at 7 feet, can score, pass and is getting better as a defender. He could’ve fit in nicely with the 01-02 Kings.

Hawes had a quiet rookie year, but showed promise, and is beginning to live up to it in year two with Brad Miller gone to Chicago. In 28 minutes, he’s averaging 10.5 points per game and 6.9 rebounds, and I expect those numbers to go up next year. The dude can play inside and out, as shown by his 28 three-pointers made this season, 35 percent (for a center). There aren’t a whole lot of 7-footers that can do that. As bad as the team has been (I think they’re 1-63), I still feel good about their future because of guys like Hawes.

They’re young, and still need to learn how to finish a game. That may be a cliche, but if you’re watching the games, you know how many ways they’ve found to blow it at the end – 5-second violations, backcourt violations, scoring on the wrong end of the court.

In an overtime loss to the Cavs last night, the final minutes of regulation into overtime included one dribble off the leg and out of bounds, two passes that went to nobody (one out of bounds, one saved), one horrible pass due to an elbow to the head from a teammate that led to the tying score, and two airballs. The final airball came on the final play of the game as Kevin Martin tried to draw a foul and couldn’t. They blew a double-digit lead midway through the fourth, and had no chance in overtime. They’re more of a first half team.

Niners still lack QB plan

By
Zuri
Published: March 11, 2009Tags: , , , ,

When Alex Smith restructured his contract Tuesday, there was a loud poofing noise that occurred at 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara.

It wasn’t the normal poof that occurs when you lose an idea, a dream or some really cool visual. On Tuesday, the poof in Santa Clara was the vanishing sense of a huge financial obligation once bestowed upon the 2005 No. 1 draft pick.

In many ways, the poof was the relief the 49ers had always desired from an overpaid bust. Smith was due nearly $10 million this year. That’s just unacceptable for a likely benchwarmer. But it was also the beginning of a very tough conversation the red and gold will have to have: What next? And even more precisely, who is next?

The recent addition of Damon Huard (50-of-81 for 477 yards passing in five games in 2008) doesn’t make this 49ers fan feel like the quarterback issue is solved. Nor does the idea of a new quarterback competition, a la 2008, in which Shaun Hill (7-3 as a 49ers starter) is challenged by Smith, of all people, make me feel as if something is being accomplished. It all looks like musical chairs.

The one thing general manager Scot McCloughan should think about going forward, with Mike Singletary at his side, is what will his long-term quarterback plan look like. Not just the every-year shuffle of “who is the next fix,” but who can be drafted, secured and/or stolen that management and players alike will want to build around.

Who, I say? Who?

The fruition of the 49ers’ plans will not begin to take shape until we have seen the first draft by McCloughan and Singletary. If memory serves me correctly, the last draft was non-sensical and totally devoid of the 49ers’ most prominent needs, a quarterback or receiver in the first round. That means first-round caliber. That means talented.

Maybe one will fix the other. Maybe the 49ers are banking on their latest wideout addition, Brandon Jones, to fill some invisible gap.

Maybe they don’t have a plan.

The obvious observation is that the plan was nonexistent up until negotiations began with Smith. The fact that he’s bought into this now yearly charade of competition is absurd. He needs to find the bottom of the depth chart and quietly disappear.

To note that there is quarterback competition reveals how flawed the plan is in its infancy. But again, this all can go down the toilet with one stellar pick at the No. 10 spot April 25. (Mark Sanchez more than likely will be available. Just do it. Just. Do. It.)

More than anything else, they need to find the one guy everybody will love and groom him like he’s the prince getting ready for the throne. Let Hill be the caretaker of the quarterback duties until he’s ready and let Smith date the clipboard. But no matter what the 49ers do, they have to formulate a winning plan and stick with it.

The last thing Singletary needs is to define his reign by Hill or some other toss away quarterback.

This column originally appeared in The Union.