Bay Area Sports Blogging

There was a big media frenzy when the Patriots were caught taping call signals from the New York Jets at the start of the 2007 season. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell dished out $750,000 worth of fines and took away the Patriots' first round draft pick. Months later, a Boston Herald report cited an anonymous source's claim that the Patriots taped the St. Louis Rams' walk-through before Super Bowl XLII (2002), which gave the underdog Patriots the competitive advantage and allowing them to defeat the Rams.

Low and behold, fingers started pointing at Matt Walsh as the anonymous source. Matt Walsh worked as a video department employee for the New England Patriots from 1997 - 2003. Walsh, for his part, has said he is in possession of videos that the Patriots taped of opposing teams, but would not give up the tapes without some legal agreement with the NFL.

On Day 2 of the 2008 NFL Draft, San Francisco went with safe picks and also grabbed a couple local kids.

With the 75th overall pick in the 3rd round, the San Francisco 49ers selected DB Reggie Smith out of Oklahoma. This pick was the one swapped with the Chicago Bears as a penalty for the Lance Briggs tampering.

Reggie Smith is a CB-FS tweener. His speed is not that fast for a corner so he may end up as a free safety in the end. Someone to compete with Mark Roman.

With the 107th overall pick in the 4rd round, the San Francisco 49ers selected C Cody Wallace out of Texas A&M. Wallace would still have been available in the 5th round, but without a 5th round pick due to the Briggs tampering, the team was forced to pick him 4th.

Day 1 of the NFL 2008 Draft had one less than the record number of draft deals. Some teams moved up to grab their coveted players while other teams moved down to grab more picks.

Not surprisingly, no WRs were drafted in the first round as the draft class was stocked full of good offensive and defensive linemen. Eight offensive linemen and seven defensive linemen were taken in the first round.

The Niners did not stray from the trend of the day. With the 29th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers took Kentwan Balmer out of North Carolina.

The NFL Draft is a time of the year when fans of sucky NFL franchises can get excited about football. The draft gives teams with losing records a chance to turn their franchise around with some solid scouting and drafting. Unless you're the Niners, and you end up trading away your top pick to the New England Patriots, then get docked a draft pick because you got caught tampering with Lance Briggs' contract.

The San Francisco 49ers have 6 draft picks this year, with their first pick being the 29th overall pick. The Oakland Raiders have 5 draft picks, but only one pick within the first three rounds.

The San Francisco 49ers will have an interesting preseason this year. Each game carries a backstory that helps raise the game from a mere meaningless preseason game. The 49ers preseason will have the team facing off again the Oakland Raiders, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, and the San Diego Chargers.

The week 1 preseason game against the Oakland Raiders is a fan favorite. Bay Area fans love to see the San Francisco teams battling the Oakland teams, whether it be the 49ers vs the Raiders or the Giants vs the As. The cross-town rivarlies always sell out, even for exhibition games. Both teams are equally matched (equally sucky) so this should make for an exciting football game. Because of the close proximity of the two teams, fans from both teams should be well represented in the stands.

The NFL's Living Legend, quarterback Brett Favre, is said to announce his retirement. Even at the tender age of 38, Favre still had a cannon of an arm, which is a lot more than what I can say for Alex Smith. After 17 seasons and 275 consecutive starts, Brett Favre will walk away.

Bay Area fans probably remember Brett Favre best during the 1990s, when the Packers were consistent playoff opponents to the 49ers in the NFC. If Favre wasn't as good as he was, the 49ers could have easily won more championships in the 90s.

The San Francisco 49ers picked up the options for the 2009 and 2010 seasons for quarterback Alex Smith. What a dumb move, considering that Smith has not been named the starting quarterback for next season. Alex Smith will actively compete against Shaun Hill in training camp for the starting position.

This San Francisco Chronicle story reports that 2008 could have been Alex Smith's last season if the team had not picked up the option. Man, we were this close to getting rid of the chump. When the team drafted Smith, there were high hopes. There were also a lack of good quarterback choices in the draft. It was Alex Smith, or perennial benchwarmer Aaron Rodgers.

In case you haven't heard, the New York Giants have won SuperBowl XLII. Entering the game, the Giants were a 12 point underdog against the almighty New England Patriots and their undefeated season. Both teams didn't play well during the first three quarters of the game, but reality set in and both teams picked it up in the 4th. The game winning drive from Eli Manning and the New York Giants was incredible. This is the stuff legends are made out of.

After enduring almost 2 hours of pre-game shows, something started popping up in my head: Rose Bowl. Specifically, Rose Bowl 2006 between the USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns. There are a lot of similarities between that Rose Bowl and the recent SuperBowl, with the Patriots playing the role of USC and the Giants playing the role of Texas.