Crabtree: Same As It Ever Was

Do YOU want to try telling this
guy he's not the starting nose tackle?

You have to give Michael Crabtree credit for being consistent. He will be missing a significant amount of training camp and preseason activities for the third time in three seasons. This year's excuse? An injured foot from the one minicamp the team was able to conduct back in June. To celebrate this accomplishment, the team has placed #15 on the physically unable to perform list until September 3.

For those of you keeping score, that means Josh Morgan moves up to the No. 1 spot on the wide receiver depth chart, followed by Ted Ginn at No. 2. It also means that, without another preseason under his belt, there's a very good chance that Crabtree and Alex Smith won't be on the same page when the regular season starts. Again.
Three years, three missed preseasons. Somewhere, Jerry Rice is shaking his head in disbelief.

On the bright side, the team has signed David Akers to replace oft-injured placekicker Joe Nedney. Nedney had a good run with the Niners, but the team was forced to bring in replacement kickers during the past two seasons when he was sidelined. I'd be a bit more excited about this about five years ago, but if Akers can stay healthy, he brings the ability to kick accurately in crappy weather.

For those of you keeping score, here's how things stack up for the Niners today:

• Starting positions lost due to free agency that have not been filled: Center, Cornerback, Linebacker
• Starting positions lost due to free agency that have been filled: Placekicker (Akers) Nose Tackle (Isaac Sopoaga)
• Starting positions lost due to injury/holdout: Wide Receiver, Halfback
• Underachieving Quarterbacks that won't go away: Alex Smith

The 49ers are actually looking worse on both sides of the ball right now than they did in 2010, a difficult feat for a 6-10 team. Aside from the placekicking position, which I'd consider a minor upgrade, there is NO improvement thus far on this roster! On top of that, they are out of the running in the Nnamdi Asomugha sweepstakes and still haven't re-signed Dashon Goldson.

I hope Oliver Luck will like wearing red and gold next year, because the only positive outcome that could come out of the upcoming season is the first overall pick in the 2012 draft.

Related story: Harbaugh's Rude NFL Welcome

One final note - looks like those ticket sales aren't going so well - Goldstar is already selling discounted seats for most of the 2011 season, including the home opener against the Seahawks.

Your Post-Lockout Checklist



Meet the new QB, same as the old QB.

Let's check in on the Niners two days after the lockout has ended, shall we?

• Lose your third-best defensive player and your starting center? Check.
• Throw $5 million at Alex Smith to return as starting quarterback while passing up on the opportunity to sign Matt Hasselbeck? Check.
• A holdout by your starting running back with two gimpy knees and a bad hip? Check.

Yep, things are going along just swell in Ninerland. While it seems that every other team is snapping up free agents during this weeklong frenzy, all the 49ers have managed to do is overpay for Alex Smith to return as the incumbent starting quarterback. Again.

By the way, you don't think that Frank Gore, who's been the only consistent offensive standout over the past 5-6 years, is looking at the numbers that Alex Smith just signed for and is thinking "you gotta be kidding me," do you? Nah, I'm sure his demand for more money is purely coincidental with the 49ers dropping $5 million more into Alex Smith's lap.

Football Is "Back?" What Did I Miss?

After 4 1/2 months of exhaustive coverage by every sports media outlet in the free world, the NFL lockout is over and football is "back."

Just another evening at the Goodell residence.

Back from what? Did I miss something? Aside from some minicamps and the preseason farce known as the Hall of Fame Game, is there anything that was really missed?

• The draft was held, business as usual, earlier this spring.
• Training camp is starting on time.
• Each team will still play (and collect ticket holders' money for) 4 worthless preseason games.
• The regular season will kick off as originally scheduled in September.
• The circle of life continues

The only thing I've missed this offseason is the respite from the Chris Mortensens, Adam Schefters, John Claytons, etc. that I normally get to enjoy during the slow months between the draft and training camp.

Everybody who is writing, texting and tweeting how happy they are for the lockout to be over today has been duped. Once it became apparent that too much money was at stake, there was no way the 2011 season wasn't going to be played in its full entirety. All of the sports media rank and file that's falling over themselves to herald the triumphant return of the NFL are forgetting that it was never gone in the first place.

Speaking of things that were never really "gone," welcome back Alex Smith.

And now, on to training camp...

Niners and Raiders - Roommates? More Like the Odd Couple.

Insert teams here.

I can't figure out what to make of the 49ers' and Raiders' recent discussions about sharing a new stadium. On one hand, it makes sense as the most likely scenario for both teams to receive enough funding to build a new facility (especially if they are depending on money from The League). On the other hand, I can't see the Raiders playing their home games across the bay in a region that has a fraction of the fanbase the 49ers still have (as much as the city of San Francisco whines about the 49ers belonging to the 415 area code, the majority of their ticketholders and fanbase come from the peninsula and south bay).

Let's suppose the 49ers and Raiders agree to become stadium co-owners. Realistically, where would this stadium be located? Aside from Treasure Island, is there any logical "halfway point" that makes geographic sense for both teams? Not really, unless you travel south to Santa Clara/San Jose. And if you think Al Davis and co. are going to put up $500 million for a new stadium in the Niners' backyard where the vast majority of Raider fans will have to travel a great distance to, you haven't been paying attention to the NFL for the past, oh, say 40 years or so.

If the Raiders and Niners become stadium partners, you can toss out the Santa Clara stadium and start from scratch. Again.

Update: Mark Purdy wrote an interesting article in the Merc this morning regarding possible locations - dig this:

One sure thing: San Francisco is not a viable option, despite what you may hear. Former 49ers executive Carmen Policy is being paid by a development company to spin positive pap about a potential stadium at Hunters Point Naval Shipyards, a windblown promontory where radioactive waste was once buried. Not surprisingly, York has put the Hunters Point option on the back burner and informed people that if the Santa Clara project ever collapsed, Oakland was the 49ers' next option, not San Francisco.