Singletary Drops the Hammer

Those of us that expected immediate change were brought down to earth this Sunday. There maybe a new coach in San Francisco, but the players and situation are more or less the same. It is neither reasonable nor rational to expect the 49ers to change overnight but we were hopeful nonetheless.



As far as Mike Singletary is concerned I like what I see. I can see an honorable man full of passion with a rich football history that demands respect. A reporter had said that his speech was so inspiring that they wanted to suit up and play some football. The issue here however is not one of passion, there are a-lot of things that need to be fixed to get where they needed to be and Mike Singletary did just that. He benched JT O’Sullivan after more of the same turnover story. Shaun Hill did pretty well and actually move the ball down the field pretty well for a backup. Perhaps the 49ers can take another look at Alex Smith since the money has already been paid. Vernon Davis has always been a problem and continues to be on and off the field. Mike Singletary wasn’t going to have any of it and sent him to the locker room. These “cancers” that erode teamwork need and appear to be slowly being dealt with. This is a man who knows what he is doing as he says, he’s from the old school.
I say this year we give Singletary a bye pass. Let him clean up and we may even pull a few wins once the team gels more. With the right personnel moves next year, I think Singletary can bring some old school thought to a team that has lost it’s winning roots.

Mike Singletary New Coach of the 49ers

I heard an interview today with Mike Singletary and he seems to be a standup guy, family man simply a gentleman. I don't know about being able to get to the playoffs, but I do have a good feeling for a win today against a struggling Seattle team. I hope that his experience as a player and as his preparation to be a coach can make the difference. It will not change JT and his woes. I think it will take a-lot more than a headcoach change but we can continue to hope!

49ers Woes Continue

I truly do not know what to say about my 49ers. In the last few years, we were building a stellar defense with key pieces such as Nate Clements, Patrick Willis, Manny Lawson and many more components. The York’s spent the money. This defense was shaping up to be one of the best in the NFL. This should have alleviated some of the pain of a struggling offense. This year with a few additions this defense was supposed to be feared, but it just has not been all that we had hoped for. However, the defense has been playing pretty well and maybe being asked to do more than they can do given how much time they are on the field.
Since Alex Smith has been trying to shoulder this team, he was not stellar on offense but he did mostly take care of the ball. JT O’Sullivan has glimmers offense in his long passes down the field, but his turnovers tend to overshadow those glimmers very quickly. There is really no need to go into the statistics; unfortunately it is time for the Shaun Hill era once again. Mike Shannahan knows that when the turnovers exceed about 2, that the teams chances of winning really decrease. If your turnovers go to 3 or even 4 then the chances are as good as winning the Wheel of Fortune in Vegas. Of course JT is not fully to blame, but his distrust of his offensive line is well understood. He can’t get comfortable in the pocket. He wants to make plays, doesn’t take care of the ball and he is darned if he throws and he’s darned if he doesn’t. This team is breaking down especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Calling for change isn’t going to do a whole lot this late in the season. We can have faith that the team will keep trying to make changes to shake up the mix on the field.

Surprisingly, the team has been in all of these tough games. If they watch their turnovers and get back to the basics of football, they may pull a few games out. It will be a struggle though with this upcoming schedule. Each game we take a few steps backwards it seems.
Looking back what was wrong with the Steve Mariucci team that was able to get to the first round of Playoffs every year? I know, the Bay Area is spoiled but I was happy watching that winning team. Jeff Garcia hand chosen by the late Bill Walsh at the helm, he was ugly when he played but he got the job done. Oh and he still is getting it done in Tampa Bay. Those days are long gone and we will be lucky to pull out a few more wins this year against some teams that are back on the up and up. A major shakeup maybe what is needed, especially at the most critical position in football quarterback. Maybe it’s not time for the Mike Martz offense. Maybe it’s time to go back to the West Coast offense with minimal down the field tosses. Stick with the running game, use Vernon Davis and yards after the catch. Time to Keep It Simple? Change something, because whatever it is, just isn’t working.

Latest News

I was not aware at the time of writing but Coach Nolan was fired. I personally liked the coach, he always said the right things. My question is were the players listening and rallying behind him? Sure Mike Nolan fired may not leave things in a better place but that's an unknown. Perhaps the Niners will rally behind a former football star in Singletary it is still to be seen. I will keep a watch and if the 49ers turn this around and get some wins it could be an interesting year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3654528

And now a dedication...



The airwaves have been putting blame all the way to the top of the organization to the owner level. I am all about focusing on things that you can change, since ownership is not one of them it is truly a moot point. I do agree with the airwaves that there are a-lot of things missing top to bottom in the once vibrant 49er elite organization. Where is the culture that was cultivated to build a winning franchise of years past? It takes passion, rallying behind a leader, believing in a vision, a mission a cause. Most of all it is about believing in yourself. Then all the pieces internally have to tie together to meet that goal. Hopefully the team can at least bring some stability to the coaching staff at the beginning of next season. There is so much talent on this team, it just needs to be mobilized, nurtured and focused on the goal of winning which is no simple task.

Photo from http://www.krdv.com/

Safeway $5 All American Sandwich Fridays!

The $5 All American 12 inch Sandwich is back at least today this Friday! 3 meats all the veggies you need need. If you are in Milpitas, ask for Connie at the deli she is the coolest sandwich maker you'll ever meet! I also found out that Monday's are $5 14" inch pizzas! Pepperoni or Cheese pizza your choice! Don't forget to go to the 48 hour sale as well this weekend!

Happy Birthday Ba-ba!!!

Wishing my Daddy a happy birthday! Thank you for spending quality time with me over the past months and loving me unconditionally! You're the #1 Daddy!

Love Your Lucky Charm,

Ava

New Journeys

I have been way too busy to have any coherent thoughts. It has been awhile since I locked myself down and burned the midnight oil like I did last week. Last week was a mixture between writing group and individual papers and focus on endless Microeconomics problem sets. I didn’t see anyone but Jeff in the library all week. After Saturday's finals, the family went off to Birk's Steakhouse, steak was pretty good. I had the rib eye and my father had the dry ages New York. Ava says "Grandma don't drink when you are stressed!"

I took a breather on Sunday briefly to watch the 49ers and the Broncos both get pounced on then it was cleaning my office to prepare for more studying. The 49ers were pretty solid until the 4th quarter. They don’t deserve the ripping the media is giving them. The offense is pretty decent in the first 3 quarters and the defense has been getting turnovers. JT is in his 6th start and the team is just getting too excited down the stretch. They are a young team. I am not sure what’s going on with the Broncos of late. Whatever it is, it is very sad when your backup Fantasy squad scores more points than your starters. We didn’t start Marvin Harrison, he finally has a great game, and we didn’t start Calvin or Andre Johnson who had decent games. We let go Vincent Jackson from SD who hasn’t been doing anything and somehow scores two touchdowns. I don’t know how Fantasy really works apparently!

This week is a week of new journeys for me. It is a time to refocus my energy into learning mode to catch up to the new challenges ahead. Another page another chapter on the long road in life. What I enjoy the most is the amount of learning that is happening in all aspects of life. That is when you know you are living life to the fullest. To new challenges!

Defending B Flight Champions!

It’s been about a year since Frank and I played in the Google vs. Yahoo! Badminton tournament and took the B flight trophy home. Since then, we have barely had the time to play any badminton which used to be a weekly occurrence. With Frank and his new Dream Dinners business, new wife and me with school, Ava and new journeys, we haven’t played any badminton at all. Nonetheless we weren’t going to miss out on the Google Badminton tournament. It was a chance to decompress from the stressful lives we have been leading to do something that we love to do. Rusty and out of shape, our game plan was not to sweat the mistakes and just have fun. We were also planning to look good in the debut of our custom made jerseys.

The day did not start well for me as I discovered that I was playing singles though I did not sign up to do so. I haven’t played singles since 1996 and was in no shape or form to play. I guess I needed the workout but did not expect to win and it was a self fulfilling prophecy. Ironically, my first opponent was one of the pair that stole the B flight doubles championship from Long and I about 2 years ago in this very tournament. I lost both singles games as expected and Frank pulled a great game 1 and lost in his second game as well.

Due to the low amount of players they merged the A – B Doubles flights together. We did not expect to advance on the A flight ladder and lost the first matchup and ended up on the consolation ladder which was at the B level. Frank and I played the first game with many unforced errors but we still found a way to pull out a win. We even played some fun games in between to pass the time. Our final matchup was against my original singles opponent and the guy who took the championship away from me 2 tournaments ago. The only difference was that his partner was upgraded and well so was mine. Frank and I knew we were in for the long haul and it was not going to be an easy win.

Then it happened. That magical moment when the stars align and everything is working at maximum efficiency. Like the moment when you say I do, see the birth of your child when you finally get that economics problem you’ve been stuck on. At last year’s tournament as well as this one we found “our zone.” The zone is like a game breaker in NBA Street, or the turbo button in a racing game; except this is the real deal. This is when we both want to win so badly, that our heart, passion, spirit, desire turn us into execution machines. Though not perfect, we played at a level much higher that what we should have been playing at given how little we’ve practiced.

Our drops were crisp with a punch, counter punch and an impossible cross court drop. The drives were targeted at the body of the opponent with speed and accuracy and repeated over and over again. The power smashes were relentless and placed on the edges of the court or through unimaginable holes in the defence. The serves usually a weakness were aced on the line, everything flowed and was perfect. So the vision of having fun and not sweating the mistakes, well just didn’t apply to this game. I for one was tired of losing that day and this game was a must win.

We pulled together and in holding the lead at lucky 28 we got nervous and allowed our opponent to slowly catch up. We huddled and said to each other to calm down and get the last scores we need and we took the game.

And the funniest part of this ordeal? We didn’t even know that was the final game. =) Ignorance is bliss I say, great game Frank, here’s to you partner! Let’s make the zone a consistent occurrence!

Left and Above: Alan and Franks champion jerseys custom made in Bangkok Thailand.