Yes, I’m a baseball fan, and an ardent Giants fan going way back. But football is, was, and will always be my first sports love. The 49ers of my youth were juuust about to hit the big time when I became a fan starting in 1968 as a 7 year old. Dick Nolan had taken over, and he was installing his idea of the defense that his mentor Tom Landry was installing in Dallas. The Niners did have some recently drafted talent in Gene Washington from Stanford, and a solid 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust running game behind Ken Willard. That defense was very good, yet the offense never really got over the hump despite the efforts of Ted Kwalick, Washington, Dick Whicher and others. Plus, I was always a better football player than baseball player! Good field, no hit.
Anyhow, here we are at the precipice of a familiar cliff. 3 trips to the promised land, and 3 trips left agonizingly short. We’ve already talked about the draft needs and the free agents we should re-sign (Boldin and Dawson top my list, among others), the reasons we have come up tantalizingly close, and the ways to get better. This close to the end of it all is a terrible place to be. But here are the important upcoming dates for the 2014 NFL season:
Feb. 8-9
Regional Combine – Houston.
Feb. 17
Teams can begin designated free agents as “franchise players.”
Feb. 19-25
Scouting Combine – Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis.
Feb. 22
Regional Combine – Costa Mesa, Calif.
March 8-11
Teams can begin negotiating – but can’t finalize a contract – with the certified agents of players who will become unrestricted free agents at 1 p.m. PT on March 11. Before this time, teams must:
•exercise 2014 option clauses in the 2013 contracts of players.
•submit qualifying offers to their restricted free agents.
•submit a minimum salary tender to retain negotiating rights with players who have expiring contracts and less than three full seasons of experience.
•be under the 2014 salary cap.
March 11
Free agency begins.
March 23-26
Annual owners meeting – Orlando, Fla.
April 12-13
Super Regional Combine – Detroit.
April 21
Teams with returning head coaches may begin off-season workout programs.
May 2
Deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets.
May 7
Deadline for teams to exercise right of first refusal to their restricted free agents.
May 8-10
NFL Draft – New York, Radio City Music Hall.
July
Supplemental Draft
Teams report to Training Camp a maximum of 15 days before their first preseason game.
July 15
Free agents previously designated as “franchise players” must be signed to multi-year contracts by 1 p.m. PT, or they’re only eligible to be signed to one-year deals.
Sept 4
Kickoff!
Forty Niners Forever 
Funny as hell. The inherent flaws in our passing game ended the last two seasons badly, yet the fans still think we have a world-beater air attack that the coaches conspire every week to keep under wraps.
Funnier yet, if the same coaches and play callers aggressively pushed a weak passing game every week, accumulating a losing record in the process, those same fans would be crying for new coaches that share their superior understanding of how the game should be played. Not necessarily to win, apparently.
Generalize much?
The best W/L record in the league over the last three years of the “idiot” coaches says your way isn’t the winning way.
The top two teams in the league this year, in virtually everyone’s estimation, employing the same overall methods of offense and overall game plan to get there says your way isn’t the winning the way.
Unwittingly complimenting Nolan and Singletary saying they were trying to do the same thing albeit with less talented rosters.
Putting being right above all no matter how wrong it is requires a lot of pushing what’s obviously wrong but sounds good. Like Obama’s economy-wrecking freedom-squashing policies, and his puppets trying to frame yet greater unemployment as opportunity to pursue dreams or stay at home more.
They’re taking everything being American used to represent from you and you not only don’t know it, you don’t want to know it, because that would make you wrong, once again.
Super Bowl win or bust. Its our expectation for this team since getting back on track. Nothing wrong with that. So far- bust. Best W-L record irrelevant. Coaches cannot win the big game with their current approach. Next year we go 15-1 and lose in the SB is okay? Like hell. Improve the O esp passing attack w/ new/more coaching “Blood”. Otherwise it will be the same old same old in 2014: not quite good enough.
Ok to admit we’re not good enough (yet) to win at the highest level and that SEA has accomplished it. Improve our weakest unit by upgrading players and coaches
Wow, NoFear. you act like Obama isn’t like every other politician out there. You think he’s some sort of muslim overlord. Time to change the tinfoil. Yeah, the democrats want your freedom, your air and your guns and your car. Except none of that is happening. If you haven’t noticed, the economy is doing fine. Too bad that doesn’t follow your narrative.
Me saying what the coaches are trying to do is not a compliment. It’s a fact. You need to search for those among the JBS pamphlets and papa john’s pizza boxes.
Do you deny Singletary and Nolan played the same style of football? Is Harbaugh doing the same thing? Yes he is.
When was our last Super Bowl victory? Do you deny that we need to do a better job of passing the ball? Or is status quo fine for you? Besides, you are the one always spouting off how Nolan built the team. Now he didn’t have the horses? It is to laugh.
Nofear, so lets get this straight, you have an aging RB in Gore, a weak to good passing game. but the power running game got you there for the last two years, lets not make changes or improvements. That is just brilliant!!
It’s funny that there’s conspiracy theorists out there right claiming the 49ers got jobbed because the day before the game I was telling friends the NFL was rigged. Think about it – the rules are now so ambiguous that anything could be called on any given play. Networks are trying to combat this by bringing in their own retired refs to help explain the rules. In addition, and it’s something I’m skeptical of, the refs go under the hood to get information from the league. Who knows what kind of information they’re receiving under the hood? The NFL used to say they only had a minute under the hood to uphold, and more time to reverse, but that’s not being talked about much any longer. I don’t necessarily think the NFL has an agenda going into games, even though more money exchanges hand in Vegas, and via TV ratings now more then ever; however, if there was a full-blown conspiracy under the hood, you’d think something would have come out by now.
Owners always seem to catch the bad guys: Barry Bonds, the Black Sox scandal, Pete Rose, etc, but what if the owners are the bad guys? It’s not like the government is watching. It’s not like Sarbanes Oxley applies. There are no checks and balances keeping the owners and Roger Goodell, who I despise, in line. The owners wouldn’t allow corruption, but I also don’t think the York family has much pull in the NFL. The 49ers now have a huge stadium, dominate market in California, and an elite franchise, but Jed and Dr. York aren’t exactly big wigs in NFL circles. In addition, they’ve done all they can to tap their market. It’s like NFL market share will grow if the 49ers win the Super Bowl.
That said, I could totally see the NFL refs wanting to teach Harbaugh a lesson. During Harbaugh’s first year, Fox commentator Mike Herrara said Harbaugh needed to chill out. That was three years ago. The refs were aware of Harbaugh’s antics back then. After the first NFC Championship game loss, Harbaugh berated the officials for the Ahmad Bradshaw fumble non call. In the Super Bowl, we all saw him acting like a child signify a holding call repeatedly when Crabtree was mugged. I could see the refs anticipating Harbaugh acting the fool in the Seattle game, and wanting to teach Harbaugh a lesson. And I for one think Harbaugh needs to learn that lesson regardless what the officials are doing. Instead of going to war with the enemy, make them your friend.
Aside from all of this is the issue of Colin Kaepernick. A lot of people are talking about him. Let me ask you all this: Who else would you want out of the young up-and-coming qbs? Cam Newton? Russell Wilson? RGII.5? Ryan Tannehill? Sam Bradford? I get the running qb conversation, but Colin Kaepernick is the best out of all of them, by far. Kaep’s the man. Sure, he’s lost and lost again thus far, but he’s got a long, long career ahead of him full of learning and growth. Nobody can sling it like Kaep. Nobody can run like Kaep. The process of turning him into a pocket passer will come, slower than we’d all like, but it will come. And when it does, watch out NFL (as long as Harbaugh makes peace with the refs and Roger Goodell doesn’t doctor the ref’s information while under the hood). Goodell’s a bastard. No two ways about it.
“That said, I could totally see the NFL refs wanting to teach Harbaugh a lesson.”
100% agree. This is what I see too. Also agree that Niners are still not back in good graces of Goodell or NFL in general. Harbaugh has embarrassed / pissed off multitudes… and we need to score A LOT of points in our games to overcome it.
BTW Maiocco is of the opinion in the NFCCG there were “several” bad calls / blown calls (like roughing Dawson after hit to his plant foot) and (I thought the strip by Bowman non-call!) MM sez “No way it’s a conspiracy”.
BUT when bad calls / non-calls (SB anyone? Ahmad in NO? Whitners many ‘fouls’) become a pattern, a recurring feature what is that? Punishment ? Could be
I can’t point to one game the 49ers have won because of bad officiating. However, I can point to several they lost because of bad officiating – Seattle, New Orleans, Ravens, etc. It doesn’t go both ways. Harbaugh is getting a message sent to him and he’s not listening.
Spit I think so: “Harbaugh is getting a message sent to him and he’s not listening”.
Here it is in plain English: REFS: Jimi, fuck you. Lose the sideline tantrums or prepare to watch Carroll get 7 Super Bowl trophies, hotdog. Mugging Crabtree in SB = our finest hour; Ahmad flagged in NO? = big bonuses fer our crew on that one. Learn from yer bro and shut the fuck up asshole. Love, NFL Refs
Capice?
And thats another Coaching Issue. A very serious one if, as is likely, True. Easily remedied: Put a sock in it coach. Relax. As Boldin pointed out in CAR = You’re hurting the team
Problem is there were enough on both sides to go around.
This one’s for you NoFear.
http://www.wnd.com/2014/02/super-claim-god-intervened-in-super-bowl/print/
The gist is God punished Denver for trading Tim Tebow. Because you know, poor Tim has suffered so.
I checked and God wasn’t watching the Super Bowl. World Net Daily? Right.
The SNL skit where Jesus comes down to talk to Tebow while he was on the Broncos is pretty funny.
http://screen.yahoo.com/tebow-000000166.html
For you football addicts a new league is forming to play in the spring and early summer. Yeah I know …….it ain’t NFL ball. BLEEP!
Still you can pretend.
It’s almost Nate Davis and the Amarillo Venom time!
conspiracies, bad calls, blah, blah, blah. Mike Ditka was a screamer at the refs, so was Jim Mora of NO. were the refs teaching those guys a lesson? I don’t remember ever hearing about it. I think the refs for all sports teach rooking players lessons. Basketball is a prime example of it happening they call fouls on rookie players all the time. especially players that are complaining. I think instead of the Refs trying to teach a lesson to the coach, the NFL should just have the ref throw a flag for excessive complaining. Why punish the player for a idiot Coach??
I think the bad calls are God’s message to the Niners to sign Tim Tebow as their backup!
Right. I don’t remember this much hoowraw around Chucky Gruden when he stomped the sidelines. The reffing should be addressed, hell yes, but calls are dogshit both ways in most games.
New thread is up . . .