My good luck accessories for the day.
Top:
- My lucky 49ers hat. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My dad bought it for me in San Francisco when I was a kid.
- My old 49ers pennant. Salvaged it from my parents’ house when they moved last year. Was hanging on the wall for a lot of good wins back in the day.
- Retro 49ers logo t-shirt. The Lady’s brother gave it to me for Christmas. I’ve worn it for each of this year’s playoff games so far. Seems to be working.
- My fuzzy red socks. Wore them during the NFC Championship and they won. Can’t jinx it now.
Bottom:
- Should the Niners need a boost late in the game, I’m not averse to donning my red onesie (with built-in butt flap!). Hopefully, they don’t need my help, but it’s all laid out and ready to go, if necessary.
Not shown:
- The red shoes and red sweatshirt I wore during the NFC Championship two weeks ago. The Niners went scoreless until I stripped off each, so they’re staying packed away.
Some amazing facts about San Francisco 49ers running back, and team backbone, Frank Gore:
- He’s just 5-foot-9, 217-pounds. (Ed. - That’s a big, powerful dude. When a guy that size gets low, and comes at you full speed, just ouch.)
- Gore turned 29 last May, which is typically the age when running backs start slowing down. But this season he ran for 1,214 yards and eight touchdowns, the rushing total the second-most in his career, and the touchdowns tying for second-most. His 8,231 yards rushing over the last seven seasons trail only Adrian Peterson (8,849) and Steven Jackson (8,416). (Ed. - He’s been a sleeper Fantasy gem for years, particularly during the recent dark age for the Niners when they were hardly included in NFL Offensive Juggernaut conversations and he might have been overlooked otherwise.)
- He tore the ACL in his left knee during spring ball following a solid freshman season at the University of Miami, but was back on the practice field late that fall. The next year he tore the ACL in his right knee, but returned to run for more than 1,000 yards the following season. Since entering the NFL in 2005 as a third-round choice, he has suffered abdominal strains, ankle and shoulder sprains, a hip pointer, a broken hand and bruised ribs, among other things. Yet he has missed an average of just under 1.5 games a season the last seven years. (Ed. - INSANE.) ”It’s truly remarkable,” says Broncos great Terrell Davis, whose career was cut short by a knee injury. “Guys typically don’t come back to be the same player after that type of knee injury, and you definitely don’t see many bounce back and have the type of career that Frank is having. When he had his second injury, I’m sure people wrote him off and said his career is over, or maybe he’d be just an average back at the next level. Now he’s one of the top three backs in this league.”
- Per a comment here, regarding the above point: “A ‘solid’ freshman season? On a team that had Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee and Najeh Davenport, all future NFL draft picks, he was the best running back on the team. A team of veterans wasn’t quick to play a true freshman but every time he got the ball it was like magic. As the season wore on he got the ball more and more, quickly supplanting future first round draft pick Willis McGahee as the second string running back. Averaging 9.3 yards per carry is more that ‘solid.’ Anyone who saw him run before his first ACL injury knows he was the best back ever to play at Miami. Although he’s a pro bowl NFL running back and among the top 5 in the league, he is nowhere near what he would have been had he been injury free. What he has done is astounding especially when you factor in his attitude and approach to the game and to life.”
Michael Strahan and Bill Parcells share a moment after a Giants-Cowboys game in 2005.
Photo: Doug Benc/Getty Images
Cute.
So they talk about heaven, and I don’t know what is waiting for me up there. But I can tell you this: Nothing will happen up there that can duplicate my life down here. That life cannot be better than the one I’ve lived down here, the football life. It’s been perfect.
Redskins wide receiver Gary Clark practices for the 1992 NFL Pro Bowl. Clark was one of many NFL players who wore Zubaz pants, the famous zebra-colored clothing line of the early ’90s. This Monday, Comerica Park will host Zubazpalooza II. For a $30 fee, fans receive a mezzanine ticket to the game against the Yankees and a pair of Tigers-colored Zubaz pants. Sadly, the event is already sold out. (NFL/Wireimage)
GALLERY: Zubaz and Sports | Classic Photos of the Washington Redskins
Giants Stadium, Christmas, 1978
Nooo-body
If you’re not wrapped up in this Niners team well then… you’re probably living on the east coast. When is this team going to get a prime time game already? Oh right, Thursday night is the Harbaugh Bowl which is sure to be a good time. Jim Harbaugh has taken basically the same 6-10 49ers of a year ago and have them playing quality team football. They have the opportunity lock up the NFC West before the month of November ends and he’s done all this without any locker room pants droppings at halftime.
This Niners team is a team. It’s a weird sentence but it’s true. They are the opposite of what Philadelphia was at the beginning of the season (sorry Eagles fans). Everything is about the team, then it’s about the team and then it’s about the team. It’s like they are all college friends — that defense is fraternity. And it’s all thanks to the new man in charge. Just look at the team’s rallying cry, it’s an old family saying Harbaugh brought with him to San Francisco. When Jim was a child his father, Jack Harbaugh, would ask the kids “Who’s got it better than us?” They would all answer in unison “Nooo-body!”
And from SI’s Peter King:
San Francisco could be playing to tie Green Bay for the league’s best record by nightfall. I haven’t been much into the Harbaugh Bowl thing, but it’s going to be fun. Saw a snippet of the NFL Network’s feature on the Harbaugh family that will run on the network’s pregame coverage Thursday, and it’s interesting how much of their football-coaching Dad the two boys have taken with them to the NFL.
Jack Harbaugh, schooled under Bo Schembechler, used to say to the boys that the three most important things in football coaching are the team, the team and the team. And so Jim Harbaugh put that on the wall of the team meeting room at the 49ers. And John Harbaugh, when introduced as head coach of the Ravens, repeated his dad’s mantra.
I’ve been so pleased with the performance of this team so far this season. Nothing that hasn’t been said already, but with the combination of a dominant run game, stifling, STIFLING defense (the numbers are insane: see takeaway ratio, rushing yards and touchdowns allowed), and meticulous, mistake-free ball on offense, the Niners are just playing some great old-fashioned football. They’re exciting to watch for the first time in a while. Looking forward to Thursday’s game at B’more.
Well done, Coach Harbaugh.
