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Dennis O'Donnell is the Emmy Award winning Sports Director at CBS 5 and the author of the Game Day blog. He's also the preseason play-by-play voice of the San Francisco 49ers and has been been repeatedly recognized by the Associated Press as the region's best sportscaster.
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Looking for a positive from the loss to Tennessee? Jason Hill. When an increasingly ineffective Isaac Bruce left the game with an injury Jason Hill finally got a chance and responded with a huge touchdown with Alex Smith ranging far to his right, running out of room and throwing a strike to a wide open Jason Hill. Hill later caught a second touchdown pass from Smith. Hill needs to play as the second receiver with Michael Crabtree. I was a big fan of Josh Morgan's but he's dropping too many passes, showing off, and losing his temper. Yesterday, it was Vernon Davis who actually had to pull Morgan away from a potential penalty and told him to use his head. Imagine that. This is obviously Isaac's last year so the 49ers need to figure out where they're headed with the wideouts. Jason Hill just gets open. That's what he does. He did it last year when they gave him a chance and he did it again today in his first extended playing time of the season.
As for Alex Smith, how can you call it anything BUT a setback? Perhaps the interceptions weren't his fault. Fifth Quarter analyst, Jeremy Newberry saw it differently, saying that Smith is getting the ball there too late and not looking for the safety. Alex made some nice strides since taking over for Shaun Hill. But Sunday was a real mixed bag. Keep in mind that Tennessee came in ranked 32nd in the NFL in pass defense.
So at 3-5 you do the math. I'm guessing 9-7 wins the division. That means the 49ers would have to go 6-2 the rest of the way with Arizona going 4-4 to force a tie. Assuming the 49ers beat Arizona in the rematch, San Francisco would win the tiebreaker.
I just got a call from Warriors management. They're changing their slogan to "It's a great GARBAGE time out."..C.C. Sabathia? How can you miss him?..Martina Navratilova compared Andre Agassi to Roger Clemens. Umm..no. Meth makes you skinny and lose your teeth. But somehow, Agassi just lost his hair. Seriously, folks, I was impressed with Agassi's confessions and his atonement, as he puts it.
See you on TV
We used to use Bill Romanowski as an NFL analyst on CBS5 before we finally relented to the negative reaction from the audience. I think it stemmed more from the face-spitting incident than anything else. Romo did a great job for us but the audience couldn't get past that infamous shot of the camera catching him spitting in the face of JJ Stokes on Monday Night Football. Players I speak with say that was nothing compared to what really goes on underneath the pile. Case in point? Brandon Spikes trying to gouge the eyes out of a Georgia running back last weekend. He's suspended for one half. But the most egregious case I've ever witnessed came tonight in Provo, Utah. New Mexio vs BYU. You've GOT to look this up on CBS5.com. A FEMALE player name Elizabeth Lambert from New Mexio pulled one player down by her hair, kicked and slapped others in one of the worst examples of sportsmanship I've ever seen. It got so bad that the production crew put an isolation camera on Lambert to keep track of her actions. Justice prevails, though, BYU won the game, 1-0.
Well..you didn't think Lincecum could beat everyone, did you?..
Don Nelson has come up with some diamonds in the rough over his two tenures as Warriors coach. Kelenna Azubuike is among the latest.
But Anthony Morrow is the best of them all. We've had him in the studio twice now and I'm impressed by his demeanor and maturity. But it's his shooting ability that sets him apart from the rest of Nellie's "finds." Morrow shot 10-12 last night leading Stephen Jackson to speculate that Morrow's "upside is scary." In his first NBA game last November Morrow set the NBA record by a rookie in his first game with 37 points on 10-15 shooting. Then he set the NBA summer league record his year with 47 against the Hornets. Morrow told me he's concentrated more on his defense than offense because that's the knock on his game. But his impact on offense can't be ignored any longer. Take last night. Warriors down 13 before Morrow comes in and changes the whole pace of the game. People speculated about the magic of Monta and Curry together, but it was Monta and Morrow last night. My new motto: Give me More-ow.
Godzilla is the perfect nickname for Hidecki Matsui because it represents an imposing figure not to mention his Japanese heritage and those lip-sync Godzilla movies. Any way we can shed the Kung-Fun Panda thing? Congratulations to the Yankees. Finally, money well spent.
It's 12:05am...What am I doing here? I'm goin to sleep..See you on TV.
Giants fans..what if? Watching the horrible Yankees pitching staff with the exception of C.C. makes me wonder where the Giants might have been with another bat or two. It's also a strong reminder that, despite public comments to the contrary, Brian Sabean has to get that bat one way or the other. Lets put it another way. Would you have parted with Madison Bumgarner for a slugger who took the Giants to the post season with the stipulation that he's under contract for a minimum of three seasons? Since free agent sluggers don't take kindly to AT&T park Sabean may have to make this choice. Either trade your best prospect for a top flight slugger or enter 2010 with what you had in 2009. Jason Bay to the Giants? Ummm...no. Sabean has tried and failed to convince sluggers to come here. For obvious reasons they refuse. The other option is trading Matt Cain. Whatever the choice, the 2009 series is proof that sluggers will take you a long way despite a mediocre pitching staff..just wondering if "Vallejo's C.C. Sabathia" has officially changed his name because there's not a sportscaster in the market who doesn't tie the city to his name. I sort of think "Marine World's C.C. Sabathia" has a better ring to it anyway..Pedro says he doesn't want to be one of those people who becomes famous after death. Apparently he doesn't think he measures up with Van Gogh, Anne Frank, and Jesus.
NFL. Everyone's on the shotgun bandwagon. I've actually heard analysts suggest it be used exclusively. Not me. If this were such an easy solution every team in the league would be doing it. Sort of how the NFL copied the West Coast Offense. While Smith mastered the art in college he wouldn't have the same success in the NFL long term because he needs play-action, especially given the offensive line. In short, lineman have to respect the 49ers running game by paying attention to the back while Smith drops back to pass. Why do you think you see so many play actions? It's designed to fool the the secondary, the lineman, and to buy time for the QB. Check it out this sunday and see how many you see in a given game. My solution would be to increase the shotgun to situational circumstances not limited to two-minute drills.
Cable TV News. Ok, off topic but I watch all three cable news networks. I'm sort of a news junkie when not doing sports. Why do Fox and MSNBC spend so much time criticizing each other? Constant childish potshots that make Spongebob's content seem more mature. (by the way, my son claims he has the authentic crabby patty recipe) Olbermann seems obsessed with it and it's too bad because he doesn't need to go there. He's all over Glen Beck who apparently is off the charts in ratings. I've watched Beck and that silly chalkboard he uses actually works. I'm going to suggest it to Hank Plante. And why does Wolf Blitzer have to say "we're joined by the best political panel on TV" every time he comes back from a commercial break? Hey Wolf, let the viewers be the judge. And since everyone else has had a chance, when does Laura Logan get HER own show?
I'm out..see you in MY Situation Room.
For a coach who's "not a moral victory kinda guy," Mike Singletary certainly sounded like it at today's press conference..The Staley injury was the big news today and it's one the 49ers will have a tough time overcoming the loss. The niners have lost both starting tackles within two weeks and despite the weak NFC West you can't band-aid that line for nine more games..Whatever happened to starting corners Dre Bly and Nate Clements?..Just wondering why the 49ers didn't go spread in the second half. I have never seen Alex Smith as comfortable, accurate, and strong-armed as he's looked in the past two games..Did you know: Ex-niner Jeremy Newberry is a race car driver and just got his pilots license. In fact, Newberry, who just bought an airplane, has a race coming up in Arizona and plans to do his first solo flight to the race track. Happy Landing..New Orleans is 7-0 and the scary thing is, this time they have a defense, scoring their 5th defensive TD last night . Should be a breeze through January..Looks the like cable's getting short on Tom.
If Reggie Jackson is Mr October does that make Chase Utley Mr November?..Is it just me or is EVERY hitter in the Yankees line-up better than the Giants? Forget it Giants fans, Utley isn't available until 2013..Yea, Pedro really made a bad career choice. Imagine the marketing campaign for Jason Bay at AT&T. Baysball anyone?
So now ESPN is painting Tom Cable as a violent, out-of-control psychopath on the verge of wiping out the planet at any possible moment. In fact, Hillary Clinton's focus has switched from Iran's radical nuclear ambitions to Cable's terrorist-like tendencies. After all, we had to stop Sadamn, we must do the same with Cable!
If you missed it, which I hope you did, ESPN's "Outside the Lines" went outside the lines of respectable journalism and trumped up a questionable segment that supposedly "examines Raiders coach Tom Cable alleged history of abusing women." In short, they have a police report of a jealous girlfriend with a motive, divorce documents from Cable's second wife which are contradicted by the wife's attorney, and a police report from 1989 when his first wife sought a temporary order of protection against Cable. Twenty years ago? You mean they couldn't get the yard nark's report of Cable bullying the 3rd grader in the lunch line? Wait..it gets better. "Outside the Lines" actually showed a love letter Cable allegedly wrote to his first wife. A LOVE letter! I can't make this stuff up, folks (I hope nobody every gets hold of a the song I wrote and recorded for an ex-girlfriend 20 years ago!)
For the record Cable has acknowledged striking Sandy Cable, his first wife, with an open hand. He says it was the only time he's ever touched women inappropriately. Which, of course, is one time too many. I don't condone Cable's actions in that incident. But ESPN is trying to connect the dots. Sure, I think he threw a right cross to the jaw of Randy Hanson. But the Hanson mugging is an incident which, according to all the NFL players I've spoken with, happens all the time. It has nothing to do with ESPN's weak connection to the past women in his life, all for the purpose of painting a picture of this violent creature we know as the Raiders football coach.
I don't know Tom Cable personally. I know a lot of people who DO know him and they speak of his good character. Jeremy Newberry told me Cable was like a father figure to him. Did he mess up twenty years ago? Yes, and he hasn't run from the truth. Did I mess up 20 years ago? Did you? To what extent? Will your love letters be uncovered and trumped up as evidence of the evil person that you really are?
I'm a big fan of ESPN and Outside the Lines. But this was a piece of trash.
Now, about Mamoud Ahmadinejad..
See you on TV.
Per the AP: "A jury in Helena, Montana found tho the make of Louisville Slugger baseball bats failed to adequately warn about the dangers the product can pose, awarding a family $850,000 for the 2003 death of their son in a baseball game." In short, they blamed aluminum bats for the death of their son because the Louisville Slugger didn't put a warning on the baseball bat.
OK. First off, as a father of two my heart bleeds for the family. I can not fathom what pains they endure on a daily basis, likely for the rest of their lives.
However, it was a tragic ACCIDENT. I grew up during the transition from wood bats to aluminum. Kids my age were thrilled with the new technology because we ALL KNEW the ball jumped off the bat. The aluminum bat doesn't break either, so if the economic benefits for little leagues was big then, it is immeasurable now. It seems the family wants wooden bats as a requirement for little leagues. Suppose a boy was killed by a broken wooden bat with a piece of the bat striking his heart? Who's to blame then? Louisville, because they KNEW bats could disintegrate into a million pieces? How many times have we seen it happen in the Major Leagues? Projectiles breaking off, flying like missles throughout the infield, past the pitchers mound, and into the stands. Tell me there wouldn't be a lawsuit and I'll show you a bridge on which wind forced the failure of a steel cable.
Blame Louisville? Blame McDonalds for the hot coffee. In fact, read on, courtesy of a few examples I found over the net:
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas: Awarded $780,000 by a jury after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. Why is this verdict surprising? The tot was none other than Robertson's own son.
A 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman was attempting to steal the car's hubcaps at the time.
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pa., $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her tailbone. How did the beverage happen to be on the floor? Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend during an argument.
In all fairness to the boy's family, their pursuit was not for financial gain. They wanted to prevent it from happening to other families. But wooden bats are not the answer just as aluminum bats are not to blame for the boy's death.
I want to know what you think. Check out the sports page and vote. was it the bat's fault or not?
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