There is a very interesting three man quarterback competition occurring in San Francisco between Alex Smith, J.T. O’Sullivan, and Shaun Hill. All three quarterbacks have legitimate chances at the starting position for the 49er’s depending on how they perform during the pre-season.

       In the 49er’s first pre-season game between their crosstown rivals The Oakland Raiders, all three quarterbacks failed to reach the end-zone. J.T. Ossullivan surprisingly started the game over Alex Smith and threw some tough passes, including three strikes of 11, 22 and 20 yards to the rookie wide-receiver Josh Morgan (Virginia Tech),but he also committed two bad turnovers which resulted in a 51.6 QB Rating. Shaun Hill was given the most passing opportunities, but also finished with the worst overall rating at 40.2. He completed 10 of 20 passes for 83 yards, and was intercepted on an underthrown deep ball. Out of all the three quarterbacks, Alex Smith looked the best although that did not say much.The fourth-year 1st round pick by the 49er’s completed 5 of 9 passes for 51 yards and led his unit to a field goal. Smith was the only one of the three without an interception, leading to the highest QB Rating of 72.0. 

     Overall, Alex Smith still seems like he will be the starter at the beginning of the season, although I found it weird that the team did not start Smith. As a fan, I am giving Smith one more year to prove himself to the 49er’s, but if he does not look good half way through the season, they need to make a change. Lets hope the guy finally gets some confidence and leads the 49er’s to the playoffs!

Andris Biedrins

The Golden State Warriors dived deep into their pockets over the last couple of weeks and signed their two young prospects, Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis, to major contracts. Both players received 6-year contracts to stay with the Warriors. The Warriors had made it clear entering one of the most frenzied off seasons in the club’s history that re-signing its young restricted free agents was their top priority. Ellis was signed to a six-year deal worth $67 million on Thursday and Biedrins was signed Sunday night to a deal with the Warriors worth nearly $63 million. Biedrins was among a growing number of NBA veterans to attract big-money offers from clubs overseas, but the Warriors would not let their young Center go overseas so easily.

A great move by the Warriors to keep their young studs after both players had great seasons last year. Lets hope they continue to ball! Go Warriors!

Monta Ellis

Joe Blanton

Just when A’s fans had thought that they were threw with trading away their star players after losing their best pitcher, Rich Harden to the Chicago Cubs, another Oakland A’s player, Joe Blanton, was traded away to the Philadelphia Phillies last Thursday. The move left many fans wondering which player is going to be next and also when will this “moneyball” strategy stop. The A’s have slowly turned into a professional team that develops great players only to eventually trade them away to a better team. Going into the break, the A’s were in the playoff race, but now that they traded away two of their aces they immediately pulled themselves out of the hunt. It is very frustrating for Bay Area A’s fans to support the team because as soon as they build a relationship with a player, they end up being traded to another team. And now rumor has it that the A’s Closer, Huston Street, is allegedly being pursued by both the Chicago White Sox and the L.A. Dodgers. If the A’s keeps up this strategy of getting rid of their players, there eventually going to have no more fans rooting for them!!

Rich Harden

Pistol Pete Maravich

Before Allen Iverson had perfected the cross-over, before Jason Williams (a.k.a. White Chocolate) would throw his off the elbow pass, and even before Magic Johnson would drop his fast break no look dimes, there was Pistol Pete. The original ball handler, passer, and sharp shooter, Pistol Pete amazed crowds with his original style of play. The man could pretty much do everything and still holds the college record for the most points in a season. If you have never seen The Pistol play, here is a chance for you to see one of the most amazing basketball players the game has ever seen.

San Jose Sabercats

The former Arena Football League Champions, the San Jose Sabercats, are in contention again for back to back championships after defeating the Rampage of Grand Rapids, Michigan 81-55 on Saturday. The Sabercats, 13-5, will appear in the Arena Football League title game for the fourth time in seven years — including title wins in 2002, 2004 and 2007 on July 27th 2008 in New Orleans. The Sabercats will play a very good team in the Philadelphia Soul which is led by the MVP of the league in QB Matt D’Orazio who led his team to the Championship game by throwing eight touchdown passes to lead the team to its first appearance in the Arena Bowl with a 70-35 win over the Cleveland Gladiators on Saturday. But the Sabercats also have a great QB in Mark Grieb who was the MVP for the Champion Sabercats in both 2004 and 2007. The Cats hope that Griebs experience in the Arena Bowl will help the team secure yet another Championship.

Mark Grieb MVP

The Sabercats has been a positive spark for the Bay Area who has not seen a franchise be this successful since the great 1980’s 49ers franchise. Although arena football is not the most popular sport out there, the game is pretty entertaining with very high scores and exciting plays. If you ever get a chance, you should really attend a game. The tickets are very cheap and they usually get the crowd into the game by giving out gifts as well as allowing people in the stands to keep the footballs that go into the crowd. Its great way to get your kids out of the house and have some fun.

After the Golden State Warriors lost the bid for star free agent Elton Brand to the 76ers and also lost their star point guard Baron Davis from free agency, the Warriors acquired the other free agent from the L.A. Clippers, Corey Maggette off of free agency to a five year deal worth around $50 million today. The move made the Clippers organization look very foolish and not committed to winning a championship after not signing both players and left the teams new star free agent acquisition with little supporting cast. With the Clippers top scorer and rebounder gone (Magette: 22.1ppg, 5.6rpg), the Clippers are going to desperately need Baron to fill in Margette’s shoes. For the 76ers, acquiring Brand added size and support for an already experienced team that made the playoffs last year. Star power forward Andre Igoudala and point guard Andre Miller will flourish having Brand in the back court and will make an entertaining trio for 76ers…Given Brand stays healthy. For the Warriors, the transaction looks great and adds experience and athleticism to an already young and explosive team. Maggette will fit in perfectly to Don Nelsons run and gun offense and will be a great compliment to Steven Jackson and Monte Ellis. Only time will which team made the better move, but as of now the Clippers look like the biggest loser.

In my previous post, I discussed how the Sharks had lost a great player in Brian Campbell to the Blackhawks and that it would be tough for the team to fill in his shoes. Well, the Sharks must have been on the same page that I was on when they acquired two great defenders in Rob Blake from the L.A. Kings and also Dan Boyle from the Tampa Bay Lightning last week. Blake, an unrestricted free agent, signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Pacific Division rival San Jose Sharks. For many years, Blake had always performed pretty well against the Sharks and was always a crowd Non-Favorite. The Sharks also sought out another defensive men by making a trade to acquire Boyle in order to add more depth to their defense. The move sent defenseman Matt Carle, prospect Ty Wishart, a first-round draft pick in 2009 and a fourth-round pick in 2010 to Tampa Bay for Boyle and another defenseman, Brad Lukowich. Then, popular defenseman Craig Rivet and his $3.5 million salary was also traded to the Buffalo Sabres for a second-round pick in the next two drafts. Boyle is expected to play a role similar to the one Brian Campbell did before bolting for Chicago earlier this week. I feel that this was a great move by the Sharks because they are showing everyone in the league that they are serious and are gunning for another shot at the Stanley Cup. Go Sharks!!!

Michael Inoa

The Oakland A’s have finally made a great financial move by spending some money on a 16 year old Dominican Republic phenom, Michael Inoa. The 16 year old had a great day after signing a 4.25 million signing bonus, which is the largest amount Oakland ever has paid an amateur player, surpassing Mark Mulder’s $3.2 million in 1998. The bonus is also the most ever given to a non-Cuban prospect from Latin America, topping the $2.44 million the Yankees gave Wily Mo Peña in 1999. Inoa, who throws in the mid-90s and has a good curveball and changeup, had offers that topped $5 million from two other clubs, Texas and Cincinnati. But Inoa chose to be with the A’s because of the way they treated the young prospect (A’s owner Lew Wolff and general manager Billy Beane commissioned a private plane to the Dominican for a meet and greet several weeks before the July 2 signing date.) as well as Oakland’s good track record for developing pitchers. It was a great transaction for Oakland which should see the rewards for the move come into fruition a couple years from now… That is if they don’t get rid of him!

Its been a tough week for Bay Area Sports Fan’s. After the Warriors lost Baron Davis to free agency, another blow to Bay Area sports fans occurred after the Sharks lost arguably their top defensive man Brian Campbell to the Chicago Blackhawks. Campbell’s future with the Sharks had been in doubt in recent weeks because of a family matter that made proximity to Southern Ontario a factor in where he wanted to continue his career. This was a huge loss for the Sharks because in my opinion, the team was set up last year to contend for the Stanley Cup although they could not hold off the Dallas Stars. Now that Campbell is gone, the Sharks do not have a solid defender that could pass the way Campbell could. The team is going to have to look to acquire another defender similar to Campbell’s capability. The way it is looking though is that it is going to be another frustrating year for the Sharks in that they will reach the playoffs, but will not have enough depth to get to the Stanley Cup unless we acquire another top defensive men!

Warriors star point guard Baron Davis decided to opt out of his 1 year 17.8 million contract after claiming he would stay a week ago. The move came as a shock today since it seemed as though Davis wanted to stay with the Warriors for one more year. Rumor has it that the L.A Clippers are very interested in trying to acquire Davis which is where Davis was born and raised and was where he played both High-School(Crossroads) and College Basketball(UCLA). In my opinion, the Warriors need to try and offer the man some sort of contract because losing Davis will deeply hurt the Warriors. Baron has been the heart and soul of the Warriors team and has amazed the Bay Area basketball fans who have not felt the feeling of being victorious every since run T.M.C. The Warriors seriously need to offer him something attractive or we will lose the man that brought back basketball to the Bay!