Lowell.Cohn: October 2008 Archives

Today Lowell and his college-age son Iggy debate Chris Mullin, pro or con.

Iggy,

This is a fair enough debate but it bothers me. I don't believe Chris Mullin needs defending, but here goes. I understand he did not start off consistently well as a general manager. Hello, Adonal Foyle, etc.

But people evolve and situations change. His work the last few years has been excellent. He got the Warriors into the playoffs two seasons ago. Last season, the Warriors won 48 games even though Stephen Jackson was suspended for the first seven games. The Warriors lost six of those.

The Warriors currently do not have a point guard or a star. This is not Mullin's fault. The team vetoed a deal that would have kept Baron Davis in Oakland and Monta Ellis fell off a moped and loused up his ankle.

I believe Mullin has developed into a first-rate executive and I also believe he should be treated with more respect by team president Robert Rowell. Mullin has been a great Warrior. Who in the world is Robert Rowell?

Dad

---------------------------

Dad,

You can go out of your way to highlight Mullin's accomplishments as much as you like, the fact is his track record is mediocre at best. He's the guy that signed Derek Fisher, Troy Murphy, and Adonal Foyle. Plus, he was the one who traded for Marcus Williams, who has already become a complete bust just one game into the season with the Warriors turning down his option for next year, ala Patrick O'Bryant a year ago.

Mullin is not a great GM, he's just the best one the Warriors have had in a while. So yes, I say get rid of the guy. If I were the owner, I'd fire him and I'd get somebody better, somebody like the guy up in Portland. Now, I'm not Chris Cohan or Bobby Rowell, so my ideas for a replacement don't matter. I don't think that "brain trust" over there can really find a guy who will do a better job than Mullin, which is a problem. But in a vacuum, forgetting that the Warriors real problem is ownership, yes, Mullin should be fired and upgraded. The Warriors need to stop settling for mediocrity.

Iggy

Don Nelson hates certain players. All coaches hate certain players, but with Nelson if you get in the hate category you never get out.

Nelson hates Marco Belinelli and he hates Al Harrington and Brandan Wright. But he really hates Marcus Williams, hates him to the max.

The Warriors just announced they are picking up contract options for next season on Wright and Belinelli. Good luck to Belinelli as he dies on the vine. But they refused to pick up an option for Williams. Not smart.

Granted Nelson hates him. Still, he's a point guard and the Warriors need a point guard. If the Warriors had picked up his option -- $2 million=chump change -- they could trade him to another team that needs a guard. They could have gotten something. Now they've announced to the league that he stinks and any team who wants him will wait till the end of this season to get him for NOTHING. Nothing is not good.

Chris Mullin announced these transactions in a team release. Maybe Mullin was behind these moves. I wonder. This feels more to me like Warriors president Robert Rowell, who is cheap and knows nothing about basketball. This feels like Rowell hiding behind Mullin's name to make the worst possible decision about Williams. 

I wish you could see the Warriors media guide. Page 5 is a full-page picture of Rowell. This picture comes one page before the picture of owner Chris Cohan, and Cohan doesn't even get a full page. The guide is saying that Rowell is the Warriors. Time to feel nauseous.

I got several emails and comments on this blog critical of my take on Mike Singletary dropping his trou at halftime in the locker room last Sunday. I welcome comments, even critical comments of my writing. But come on. No one can defend Singletary.

The criticisms of me took a few forms. I had praised San Francisco at the expense of Chicago -- and I still do. I mean, who would want to live in Chicago if you could live in San Francisco or the Bay Area? I admit my friend Ira Miller recently moved to the Chicago area and I'm still scratching my head.

Let me try this. The 49ers -- when they were the 49ers as opposed to the chumps they are now -- expressed something fundamental about San Francisco. A lot of people said they played with finesse. They played with a lot more than finesse, but finesse was a component. It meant brains, cunning, cleverness, imagination and beauty. Yes, beauty.

The Mike Ditka Bears were the exact opposite -- and remember Singletary is a product of the Ditka Bears. They were smash mouth and ferocious and they were known for defense more than offense. They were terrific. I'm not putting them down at all. I am saying they expressed something about Chicago and that's why Chicago fans loved them so much. Of course, they also loved the Bears because they won.

I wonder if Singletary can bring the Ditka mentality to a Bill Walsh area. It's fair to wonder that. I also wonder if dropping his pants is an indication that Singletary is tone deaf to what's going on around here.

And remember a current player almost certainly told the media about Singletary, ratted him out. At least one player thought Singletary taking down his pants was ludicrous.

Another criticism of me came in this form. People walk around nude in locker rooms all the times, so why make a big deal about Singletary?

I find this criticism disingenuous but I'll answer it anyway. Sure, guys walk around nude. An inevitable stage of getting undressed or dressed is the nude moment. It's unavoidable as you discover every day in the privacy of your own home.

Getting dressed or undressed is a lot different from the coach opening his belt, unzipping his fly and yanking down his pants to give his players a visual metaphor of butt kicking. What Singletary did is so Bears. It is crude and worse than crude, it's juvenile. And as metaphors go it's way too obvious and uninteresting.

If he keeps doing stuff like that the players will tune him out and he'll have no chance whatsoever of returning as head coach next season.

Ken Macha is a deserving major-league manager who did not have a job. Ken Macha had been out of baseball and that was a crying shame. His record with the A's was 368-260, a terrific record, especially with that cheapo organization.

Billy Beane fired Macha because they just could not get along. You expected Macha to get hired by another team right away, except it didn't happen.

Now the Brewers wisely signed him on, and we wish Macha well and know he will do a great job.

I'm sure that would be the headline in the New York Post, in big bold letters:

SINGLETARY GOES NUTS, DROPS TROU

He did just that, dropped his trousers at halftime last Sunday to show his players they were getting their butts kicked. He did this in all earnestness. He was a grown man with his pants down around his ankles and he honestly expected his team to take him seriously.

The 49ers admit this happened but assure us Singletary did not show his bare butt. That's supposed to reassure us, to let us know Singletary has a shred of sanity. In his first-ever game as head coach, a position he's craved for years, Mike Singletary dropped his pants and showed all the players his boxer shorts as a kind of visual aid. That sure made them play better.

So, I ask you, did Bill Walsh ever pull down his pants during a halftime rant? It's true he once pretended to be a bellhop but he most definitely did not drop his bellhop trousers. I was there and would have noticed the Walsh underpants. Hey, I'll go all the way. I'll say Walsh could have dropped his trou -- I don't think he did -- but he might have done it before a game for comedic value and to lighten things up. He would not have been serious like Singletary.

Or what about George Seifert -- was he a pants-down kind of guy? Not even Mike Nolan took his pants off, as far as I know. 

Good grief, this is San Francisco  not -- I know this is ticklish -- Chicago. This is a town known for subtlety and decorum. This is the 49ers not da Bears, not a slobbering Mike Ditka team. For all we know, Ditka routinely instructed his players by dropping his pants and that's how Singletary learned this as a motivational technique. For all we know Ditka routinely showed his bare tush.

Which brings us back to Singletary and Vernon Davis. Singletary went crazy because Davis committed a stupid penalty and cost the team 15 yards. Singletary went off on Davis and banished him to the showeres. Fair enough. Players need to learn Lesson One -- control your emotions.

Except Davis had seen Singletary drop trou a few minutes before he committed the foul, had seen Singletary incapable of controlling his own emotions. Maybe Davis felt confused about how to act. After the game, Singletary blew into the press room like a cyclone, screaming and apologizing and almost starting to cry.

Looked at in the context of the dropped-trou incident, you want to tell Singletary: control your emotions, man. You're the head coach and head coaches don't act that way. Be a model for your players.

Hey, I'm just thankful he didn't drop trou to the media. But it's still early in his tenure. That may come in a week or two.

It was after the Warriors lost their opener, after three Warriors played more than 40 minutes, after the players were so tired at the end they couldn't keep up with the Hornets. It was after Al Harrington took his shower and came to his locker and spoke to the media. His line was mediocre. He had played 42 minutes, after complaining about not getting playing time, after demanding a trade. He scored 13 points on 5 for 17 shooting. Mediocre. He had seven rebounds. Mediocre. This is what he said:

"What I said yesterday (about wanting a trade) is how I felt but I really just want to move on. I just want to focus on the team. There's other variables in the things I said. It's not just minutes and shots. Just to get that out there. I'm not selfish."

Q: Can things be salvaged here for you to stay?

A: Yeah, definitely. Anything could happen.

Q: Does this mean you want to stay?

A: I love the Warriors. Since I got here I love this team.

Q: What if I don't get the minutes?

A: As of right now I am. I don't want to talk about what if. In order for us to win I need to be more productive.

Q: Is there any timetable, ultimatum?

A: Nothing. Nothing at all.

Q: Is there too much said about a coach and a player?

A: Coach is cool. He has guys he talks to all the time. He has guys he talks to sometimes, but he's pretty cool.

Q: Does he talk to you all the time or sometimes?

A: When we cross paths we talk. There's never a day when we just don't speak to each other. It's always, hi.

OK, that was Harrington after the game. This was what Harrington told the Contra Costa Times the day before.

"I've told him (Nelson) twice since training camp has started that I don't want to be here. I don't think me and coach is going to work out, regardless of who's playing, who's not playing because I feel like he uses me in certain ways and I don't think it's going to change. We all know how Nellie is. We all know his history. If you're not one of his dudes, you ain't never going to be one of his dudes. And that's the truth."

Apparently, Harrington doesn't think he's one of Nelson's dudes. He also said this:

"I spoke to coach the other day. We had a pretty decent talk. He said things will be different. Like I said, that's just what he said. Do I believe it wholeheartedly? No."

Sounds like deep-seated resentment and distrust on Harrington's part. Look for a divorce sooner rather than later.

This is some pertinent dialogue from Don Nelson's pregame news conference for tonight's Warriors season opener. Ordinarily, these are casual news conferences - the coach say how well he expects his team to do. But Al Harrington has demanded a trade and everything is a mess.

Q: Will the Warriors trade Al?

A: Talk to Mully (Chris Mullin) about trades. Al and I had a conversation this summer where he asked if he could be traded. And I told him if we could get a good player for him we would look into it, that Mully and I would talk about it. That was the last I heard about it till today. Al and I met (Tuesday). The subject was never brought up between the two of us.

Q: Do you want him on the team?

A: Yeah, I like him.

Q: Why did he say he wanted to be traded?

A: He thought he was played inconsistently last year and he wanted to be on the floor more. I said, 'I don't think it'll be a problem this year. I think you'll be begging to come out.' That's what I told him again yesterday. I said, 'You've got the green light offensively. You can basically do what you want, what makes you feel good as long as you can play effectively.' I want him to rebound more and play better defense. He'll be on the floor a lot. I'm not very deep at that position at this particular time.

            Q: Do you have a problem with him?

A: Other than him wanting to play more a year ago. That was the only issue. We were a little deeper then. I played him in situations I thought he'd be successful and I played other guys in other situations. I thought he had a pretty good year.

A: "I asked if I could sub him. He said he couldn't go in because of his knee.

Q: It was not a matter of his not wanting to go back in?

A: As far as I know. He said he banged his knee. I said OK no problem.

Q: If you could get the right deal would you do the deal?

A: Sure if there's a player that makes sense. You could say that about anybody on our team. That's part of our business - trades. We'd need a good player. Al's a good player.

Q: Who's your best ball handler?

A: Baron Davis.

Q: How do you feel about this opener?

A: I don't like opening against anyone right now. It's just a scary moment because we're not sure who we are yet.

Let's see if we have this right.

As prelude to tonight's season opener:

Al Harrington says he can't play for Don Nelson and wants off the team.

Team president Robert Rowell seems like he's trying to force out general manager Chris Mullin.

Team president Robert Rowell is really putting it to injured star Monta Ellis.

Team president Robert Rowell gave a two-year extension to Nelson, although he hasn't given an extension to Mullin -- could be a big jealousy scenario here.

These actions set up the following fights:

Harrington vs. Nelson

Rowell vs. Mullin

Rowell vs. Ellis

Mullin vs. Nelson.

Way to go, Warriors

Today's Knucklehead Award goes to sideline reporter Danyelle Sargent of Fox Sports.

Before last Sunday's 49er game, she interviewed Mike Singletary about becoming head coach. This is what she said to Mike: "I hear that your mentor Bill Walsh was one of the first calls you made when you found out you had the job."

Singletary looked like he wanted to faint. And I must say, if Singletary has Walsh's phone number in heaven I wish he'd give it to me. I have a million things I want to discuss with Bill.

Sargent's adventure didn't end with the stupid question -- the stupidest question ever asked in the history of sports reporting in the United States of America?

You could see her talking to someone in her earphone. "What did I say?" she asked. "What was wrong?"

What was wrong. Oh please, Danyelle, find another line of work.

Fox never aired this bit -- call it an out take -- but other outlets did. Fox was outraged about the unauthorized use of this knucklehead interview. And although, a few days ago you could view this classic on the internet, to the best of my knowledge it's been yanked off. Too bad.

Fox has spun the issue, saying other outlets were not in their rights to air Sargent's blunder. As if that's the real issue. The real issue is she thinks Bill Walsh is alive -- somehow she missed the death.

Later on she came out and said she "misspoke."

Misspoke?

Misspeaking is when you say, "I'll meet you at 7 o'clock but you really mean 6." Misspoke is not when you say Singletary called a dead man. That's called being uninformed, unprofessional. Sargent is the same reporter who, on air a few years ago, used the F word when she thought her mike was off.

Thats' two collosal screwups in her young career. When she used the F word I wonder if she misspoke. Women reporters are fighting hard -- and well -- to get credibility in the sports world. Sargent threatens to set them back.

I caught up with Ira Miller, the dean of American football writers, late Monday and, as you can imagine, we talked about Mike Singletary and where the 49ers are headed.

Ira: I like what Singletary did with J.T. O'Sullivan and Vernon Davis. There's been ten years of laissez faire coaching over there. They got Mariucci who wants everybody to like him and then Dennis Erickson who I still think was a better coach than he was able to show with the 49ers. There were a lot of things beyond his control. And then this last guy he was worried about his tie being knotted right. Look, Singletary is a guy who played for Buddy Ryan and Mike Ditka. He's not going to be subtle. But he was a great player. Forty-Niner people would understand if we said Ronnie Lott is in charge. Ronnie took no crap from anybody and Singletary's not going to take it, either. He expects a certain standard. At the 49ers they're probably thinking, standard what standard?

Lowell: How will Singletary do as coach?

Ira: If we're talking won/lost I don't know. I don't think they'll win a lot of games and I don't' even know if strategically in a football sense he's the coach you'd want. He's the attitude they need. Nobody realized it but there was a toughness with Walsh and Seifert that's been lost. There's no accountability now. What do the 49ers stand for? I don't know if Singletary can win. They've got to go to Arizona, Dallas, Buffalo, Miami and St. Louis. What are we talking --  4-12, 5-11?  They're not going to be very good. But you have to start somewhere. They don't have a quarterback, no number one receiver, no number one pass rusher. Those are the things you start with in the NFL. You can't win without them. Quarterback and pass rusher those are your building blocks and they don't have them.

Lowell: Will Singletary survive to next season?

Ira: I have no idea. You're reading minds there.  The more interesting one is Scot McCloughan. Remember John York fired the last general manager (Terry Donahue) three months after extending his contract.

Lowell: What are your feelings about McCloughan?

Ira: I like Frank Gore and Patrick Willis, but tell me what else he's done. Look at the free agents he brought in. The day they signed Jonas Jennings I talked to one of the coaches in Buffalo, where they got Jennings from, and he told me Jonas Jennings will never play 16 games in a season. He's never come close. They gave ton of money to Nate Clements. What has he done? He's a really good corner but that's not where you win on defense. You win on pass rush. And they gave all that money to Justin Smith. He was a mediocre defensive end on a bad defense. Look at Alex Smith.

Lowell: Will Martz be back next year?

Ira: I think I've been pretty clear about Mike Martz. I don't like his style. If he has great talent, which he did at one point with the Rams, his up-tempo style is terrific. I remember going to practice at training camp with the Rams in August 2000. The ball never hit the ground. The pace of the practice was really impressive. Everything was boom boom boom. But he's got to have that talent. As head coach he was disaster as a game manager. As offensive coordinator he has great concepts if has two great wide receivers which he had, a great left tackle which he had, a great running back which he had, and he developed a quarterback. That was a very good team. They should have won the Super Bowl but didn't because of his coaching in part. He's not a great coach with mediocre talent. He's trying to get J.T. O'Sullivan to make himself a head coach again. Shaun Hill is a much better quarterback for the West Coast Offense and the West Coast Offense is a much better offense for what they have. They don't have a wide receiver who can stretch the field. They don't have an offensive line that can hold pass rushers out forever and they don't have a quarterback who's a great decision maker with great arm.

Lowell: Do they have the makings of a good team?

Ira: No. Could Joe Staley develop into a ten-year left tackle? Maybe. But you can't hide the quarterback in the NFL. You don't have to have great a quarterback. Tennessee is undefeated with Kerry Collins. But you can't win in the NFL without a pass rush. San Francisco is 31^st in points allowed. The only team that's allowed more points per game is Detroit. The 49ers are 21^st in sacks on defense. The offense is last in sacks surrendered - they lead league in turnovers with 20; the next sloppiest team has 16.

Lowell: What troubles you the most about the 49ers?

Ira: I'll go back to 2005 when I sat down with John York and questioned his need for football people in the front office, and he told me how great his people were. This is tenth year of post Steve Young Era and I remember thinking in 1997 and 1998 when Steve got healthy again he was the guy holding that team together. Once he was gone we saw what happened. The only bit of sunshine the last ten years was a couple of years when Bill Walsh rebuilt the roster. They do not have any football people in front office. As bad as the Raiders are, the 49ers are not much better. There's nobody there. If I hear one more word about this Paraag (Marathe) guy watching instant replay and helping with clock management I'm going to vomit. Stop. Get me football expertise in the front office. Get me people who know the league. I think there's got to be something to the Condoleezza Rice thing because it's so much like them and so stupid -- "This is a big name." Look around at the teams that are any good and make improvements and look at the structure of their front offices. Look at Miami with Parcells and look at Dallas without Parcells. The game is football. Bring me football people.

To read Ira's columns on Comcast.net, Google Ira Miller's Five Burning Questions and it will take you right there.

As you could tell by the previous blog I was disappointed in Mike Singletary, thought he had wussed out, thought he had caved into Mike Martz. You know what I mean. He yanked J.T. O'Sullivan from the game yesterday -- when he did that he was a hero -- and then today at his press conference he sounded like a standard-issue coach saying how he'll discuss the QB situation with Martz and get back to us, when everyone knew he should have named Shaun Hill the starter right then and there. Boo.

No discussion was needed. Just bench O'Sullivan that sloppy ball-dropping game killer.

So, I wrote a column chastising Singletary for not being a strong leader and sent it in. And a few minutes later the phone rang. It was the office telling me Singletary named Hill the starter for the next game. And then Matt Maiocco phoned -- he was on his way to Stockton to speak at a Niner club -- and reiterated the news.

Well, that changed everything. Singletary had made the right decision because Hill is a better game manager and will not throw games away. And because Singletary had established his independence and his authority over Martz. I don't know if Singletary will retain the job next season, but this is a good first step. He needs to be bold, to take chances, to put his stamp on the team. He didn't do it at noon. But he did it a few hours later. We grant a guy a few hours.

-- Lowell

As you can imagine much of the discussion at today's Mike Singletary press conference centered on quarterbacks. Who will be the starter after the bye, J.T. (Just Turn Overs) O'Sullivan or Shaun Hill? Singletary said he and Mike Martz still haven't decided. Too bad. Hill should be the starter because he's not as careless as JTO. Here are Singletary's pertinent responses. Maybe I'm misreading this stuff, but I think everything he says supports Hill's case.

Q: Who will be staring quarterback after the bye?

A: Coach Martz and I looked at the film together this morning and pointed out some things about both quarterbacks. We're going to continue to have conversations about that. We have some time to really reflect and decide. We'll make the right decision, whatever is best for the team.

Q: Martz has said J.T. O'Sullivan is the best quarterback. Is he wrong?

A: I don't say he's wrong at all. When you look at what J.T. has and his capabilities and the arm strength, all of those things you say, "Hey maybe that guy gives us the best chance to win." But you know as well as I do, you look around the league there are guys that are very talented. They can throw the right ball. They can throw every pass. They can throw every route. They're very talented very smart all these things but they can't play quarterback. J.T. has done a good job. He's just been inconsistent. Mike Martz' assessment I think was correct, but I think sometimes you go back and look at where is the team? Where is my quarterback situation? And you've got to make the best decision to make the right pick. Right now that's what we're talking about.

Q: Will you force a quarterback on Martz?

A: I don't want to do anything to inhibit the relationship that Mike and I have. It's not like I'm going to go in there and say, "This guy is going to be the starter like it or not. That's the way it's going to be." That's not going to happen. We're going to come to a decision and it will be unanimous.

Q: Has J.T. done a good job of managing the game?

A: If he had done a good job of managing the game then we wouldn't be talking about what we're talking about right now. J.T. sometimes, like a lot of quarterbacks, you get yourself in a situation where you want to win, you want to make a play, you want to make things happen and sometimes you do too much. Players, not only quarterbacks, it can happen to anyone.

Q: People cheered when you took out J.T. It might be disappointing to go back to him.

A: It's all about winning and regardless of who's out there, whether it's J.T. or its Shaun Hill if we win all is forgiven and you go forward. We come back from the bye week and he (JTO) goes out there on the field and they boo boo and he throws a couple of touchdowns and it's go get em JT. We all know how that works. That's the least that I think about. The most important thing is that we come to a decision about what is best for the last half of this season, giving us a chance to get into the playoffs and fight for a spot.

OK, there you have it, although I take issue about getting into the playoffs. Playoffs?

-- Lowell

This is about Singletary's book. It may seem like a small topic, but to me it's big. It reveals a portion of the character of this fascinating man who has burst into our lives -- and hopefully stays a long time. So here goes.

When Singletary was introduced last week as 49er interim head coach, he sat in a chair at the front of the room while Jed York made preliminary remarks. I looked at Singletary. I was trying to size him up. It's my job to size up people.

I noticed he held a black book in his hands and when he got up to speak he set the book down on his vacated chair. I assumed the book was a Bible because Singletary is religious, although I considered it strange for him to carry a Bible into that meeting. And then I forgot about the book.

Today at 12:15 p.m. Singletary conducted his first Monday news conference and again he brought the book with him. He carried it up to the lecturn and put in on the side of the lecturn. We asked him questions for 25 minutes or so and, of course, no one asked about the book -- not when Vernon Davis and J.T. O'Sullivan are such hot-button topics.

I kept looking at the book. It is large -- I'd say 8 1/2 by 11, or even bigger. It is covered with black leather and the tops of the pages are gold leaf. It is quite a handsome serious substantial book, and of course that is a perfect description of Singletary himself. I noticed a marker of some sort between two of the pages. When the conference ended I stopped Singletary and asked about the book and here is our dialogue.

Cohn: What is that book you're holding?

Singletary: This book? I record every conversation every day, every minute of the day.

Cohn: So, you'll go back to your office and write a little summary of what we talked about here?

Singletary: Yes. It sort of keeps me up with myself. It's a reminder. It gives a flow of where we are as a team. Where were we yesterday? Where were we at this time last week? It just keeps me on track of where I need to be.

Cohn: How many times a day will you make an entry?

Singletary: Every time I have a conversation.

Cohn: So, it could be four or five?

Singletary: It could be ten times.

That is fascinating to me and I hope to you. Singletary keeps a running journal of his football life. He may also do it for his personal life -- I didn't ask. He writes ten times a day, and you get a picture of him dashing into his office, putting down his thoughts in ink in his own handwriting and then going to a meeting and after the meeting again doing his writing. I once read that F. Scott Fitzgerald didn't feel he had fully experienced any moment until he wrote about it. I wonder if Singletary is like that. I wonder if among other things he's a writer at heart.

Someone from Niners public relations told me Singletary did not start writing his notebooks after he became head coach. As far as this guy knows, Singletary always has written in his book. So there is a book collection somewhere. Maybe some day a Singletary manuscript will be valuable -- an original Singletary.

All this tells us he is a serious, introspective, thoughtful man. It also tells us he's a bit eccentric. And he's a throwback to when people wrote in notebooks and not on computer screens.

-- Lowell

Mike Singletary's first game as 49er coach was one of the great coaching debuts in the NFL, and the Niners didn't even win the game.

He served notice that he is the boss. He needed to. The Niners are adrift and they need a tough guy with a clear sense of standards.They need a coach who takes no crap.

Singletary established his authority in two ways -- two fabulous ways.

1. With 25 seconds left in the first half he yanked J.T. O'Sullivan. He needed to. JTO was fumbling away the game and he threw an interception that got returned for a TD and Singletary could not wait for things to get better -- they wouldn't. So he confronted offensive coordinator Mike Martz -- Martz who a few days earlier said JTO was the quarterback, no questions ask -- and Singletary told Martz his guy was out.

By taking out JTO Singletary was putting Martz in his place and putting his stamp on the team. He would not tolerate careless quarterbacks. He would use Shaun Hill, a man with a weaker arm, because Hill manages the game better. And Singletary didn't care what Martz thought.

Here's how Singletary explained the move. "It's just one of those situations where you feel like you're going in the game and you want the best opportunity to win. If a quarterback is not playing well, he's just not in that rhythm and after a while his teammates can get frustrated. And some coaches can get frustrated. Rather than going there just say, 'You know what? Let's make a change and we'll revisit it later.' "

2. After putting JTO and Martz in their places, Singletary put Vernon Davis in his place. Davis symbolizes much that's wrong with the team. He's a highly-paid, high draft choice who does not play well enough. He is perceived as a mistake with hands of stone. He is perceived as Mike Nolan's mistake and Scot McCloughan's mistake. He is not Singletary's mistake. Added to his status as a mistake is his status as a me-first player.

He was me-first late in the third quarter when he caught a pass but slapped a defender's face mask -- stupid -- and got called for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. Singletary yanked him from the game and when Davis seemed nonchalant, seemed annoyed with Singletary, the coach kicked him off the field. "I told him that he would do a better job for us right now taking a shower and coming back and watching the game than going out on the field. Simple as that."

Good for you, Mike Singletary.

What Singletary did by his two bold moves was to show he's in charge -- even if he is interim. And he showed he has high standards for how to play football and the 49ers had better learn those standards and live up to them.

There's a new sheriff in town and people better pay attention.

-- Lowell

Good for you, Mike Singletary. Finally, someone yanked JTO, the most over-rated QB around. Singletary sent out Shaun Hill for the final 24 seconds of the first half serving notice on JTO, but more importantly on Mike Martz that Singletary is in charge and he won't stand for careless play. Finally a coach with standards. This game just got very interesting. Mike Singletary may be for real.

-- Lowell

I'm not kidding. A report came out the Niners are considering Rice as team president. What are my objections. Let me count the ways.

The Bay Area is fairly liberal and she ain't and hiring her might not be a good PR move.

If she's team pres and handles Niner affairs like she handled some of our foreign policy, look out.

And most important. The 49ers need a FOOTBALL PERSON to be in charge. I repeat -- FOOTBALL PERSON because, call me crazy, but the Niners are a football team. She is not a football person. She may be a nice person, a competent person, a lively person, a funny person, a stiff person, a smart person, but she sure is not a football person.

If the Yorkers hire her it is further proof they have no clue, which they don't.

-- Lowell

I think he is.

I've been reading the Warriors are negotiating a contract extension with Don Nelson. On the face of it, this seems strange because Nelson is getting older and you have visions of him retiring to one of his beach houses in Maui and spending his days smoking cigars, drinking scotch and communing with the dolphins. But the sources who say he's trying to re-up are good sources.

Which brings me to Mullin. Like Nelson, his contract is up after this season. I haven't heard any talk about Mullin getting an extension. Have you? Mullin has been good for the Warriors. He started a little bit shaky but came on strong. He got Baron Davis, for goodness sake. And he got the Warriors into the playoffs. He should be rewarded with a new contract now.

But Robert Rowell, Warriors president or whatever he is, doesn't appear to like Mullin. I was at the press conference two weeks ago when for no apparent reason and with no prompting Rowell ripped into Mullin. He said Mullin wanted to be lenient on Monta Ellis and Rowell didn't.

That is called gratuitous uncalled for ripping and it leads me to believe there's a rift between Rowell and Mullin, and Rowell is asserting his power. It leads me to believe Mullin is in peril.

I don't like it. Mullin has been a great Warrior and he deserves respect. What Rowell did was disrespectful. And who in the world is Rowell? From what I understand he's one of the San Luis Obispo pals of owner Chris Cohan. He's a small-time guy getting off on using his power. Watch out for him -- he could run off Mullin and he could ruin the Warriors.

-- Lowell

Before I get into it, let me explain how I came up with today's topic.

I read that Don Nelson, stuck for a point guard, is considering Stephen Jackson for the job. This is brilliant in a desperate way. Jackson does not have ball-handling skills and his game is to trail the offense, get the ball at the 3-point line and let it rip.

Still, Jackson is big for a point guard and will give the opponent lots of problems guarding him. Nelson is a genius at creating problems. This shows, again, how flat-out creative Nelson is and why it's so much fun to cover him. He also says the most outrageous things all the time. God, love him.

So, yes, Nelson clearly is one of the the most fascinating sports figures in the Bay Area. Who else? Well, Bill Walsh was ine but he's gone. Anyone else? Not either baseball manager. I mean, Bruce Bochy is so dull you want to faint and although Bob Geren is a nice man he seems to lack an essential personality. It's like someone stole his personality at birth. No college coach around here can compete with Nelson, although Mike Montgromery has his moments and Jim Harbaugh is, at times, wacky enough to make things interesting.

So, who else?

Al Davis, that's who. Whether you like him or not, Davis is totally intriging. He might be the most interesting sports figure in America. He deserves that honor because of all the good things he does and because of all the bad things. He is a mixture of good and bad. If Shakespeare knew him he would have written a comic-tragedy titled "Al."

Who's more interesting, Davis or Nelson? Well, Nelson, who appears like a simple farm boy, is Machiavellian and hard to read, a towering figure of ambiguity. But I give the nod to Al. He moved a team twice. That's clout.

-- Lowell

No excuse for a loss here. The Bruins have an erratic quarterback and a so-so running game. This is a game the Bears should win easily. If they lose they start slipping in the Pac-10. If they lose you wonder what's going on over there in Memorial Stadium.

Coach Jeff Tedford plays two QBs, which means he doesn't really have a starter. How did this come about? You wouldn't expect Tedford to put himself in this precarious situation. Last season was a disappointment. This one is not -- not yet -- but if the Bears lose to Cal it could be. Two disappointing seasons in a row and you have to ask if Tedford has lost his fire for the Berkeley program. We're not there yet. Right now we're just wondering.

-- Lowell

I had this from one of my sources and I pass it on to you. People speculate Mike Martz is angry because the Yorks passed him over as interim head coach in favor of the beginner, Mike Singletary. This seems to make sense but it is speculation.

My source tells me Martz is ticked off but not about getting passed over. Martz is frustrated because the Niners fired Mike Nolan. He and Nolan are friends and Martz strongly felt the team should have allowed Nolan to complete this year. Martz thought he and Nolan would do better as the season went along. My source also told me Martz is not as comfortable with Singletary as he was with Nolan. This makes sense. Nolan brought Martz to the team and Singletary did not. It remains to be seen if Singletary will mess with Martz' offense and, if he does, how Martz will react.

I personally don't believe the Niners should have retained Nolan but, clearly, Martz is a dissenting view. To get a good feel for where Martz stands read Matt Maiocco's blog which contains a transcript of Martz' remarks to the media today. Read between the lines and you'll see that Martz does not agree with Nolan's firing.

-- Lowell

Another terrific Bay Area sportswriter has started his own blog. In this case it's Eric Gilmore who, until recently, worked for the Contra Costa Times.

Eric is a shrewd analyst of sports and he's level-headed and really writes well. Plus he's a great guy and he's my friend.

Readers of this blog will notice I try to keep you up with Bay Area sportswriters who are now doing other things. I've clued you into Ira Miller and Geoff Lepper and now Eric. Geoff and Eric were let go by Media News in the general blood letting over there. In each case, the news organization lost valuable talented people. All newspapers are letting writers go, but Media News seems to hold the world's record for layoffs.

So, add Eric's blog to your reading list. He has a strong piece on Mike Singletary on the blog right now. His web address is http://bayareasportsbeat.blogspot.com.

-- Lowell

To begin with, the Seahawks are no big deal. MIke Holmgren is a lame duck coach and players usually underperform for a lame duck. And starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is hurt and may not play, and his backup Seneca Wallace is no big deal. And the 49ers already beat these guys.

So, San Francisco should win. Considering that, it's good that 49er management got around to firing Mike Nolan before, and not after, the Seattle game. It's awkward to fire a coach after a win, so this makes more sense. Will the Seattle game be a litmus for how good Mike Singletary is? Probably not. The guy has not had much time to install whatever he'll install. But at least the team can play with fire and try to hold a lead in the 4th quarter. If they do that, Singletary gets off to a reasonable start.

If they win, the Niners will have a 3-5 record and still be viable in the division. Strange world.

-- Lowell

Mike Singletary did not have one specific thing to say at his coming-out news conference. He had nothing specific to say about his butterfingers quarterback or his defense. He had nothing specific to tell people about how he'll turn things around and win games. Nothing.

What he said was he knows deep in his heart that he can be a winner. We are supposed to share this knowing. Why? I don't know Mike Singletary and there's no particular reason for me to have confidence in him. I know he talks a good game but can he coach a good game?

I also know head coaching is a technical job. I've heard people say a head coach merely is an administrator. Baloney. Show me an administrator-only head coach and I'll show you a guy soon out of a job. Bill Walsh worked on the offense. George Seifert worked on the defense. Jon Gruden works on the offense. They don't merely delegate. Get serious.

Singletary better show he knows the ins and outs of real football. He needs to show he knows more than speaking in deep tones. If he's only appearance with no football reality his act will get old in two weeks. It will get old with the players and it will get very old with the assistant coaches.

-- Lowell

I was at the Niner news conference introducing Mike Singletary. And I didn't like what I saw. John York threw his kid to the dogs.

Jed is 27, so he's not a baby. But he's completely inexperienced in the hard aggressive world of sports vs. media and he seemed somewhat scared, maybe scared out of his wits. The media hurled questions at him because he was the only member of management there. I started the hurling, I admit that. We needed answers about the team's plans and so do you.

Jed did the best he could, but his answers were vague, even silly. Asked what the team plans to do with its management structure -- will it bring in a football expert from outside? -- he said the organizations's plans don't extend beyond Sunday's game against Seattle. Wrong answer.

A team needs to plan more than five days ahead. It's the York's complete lack of a plan that has gotten them in this fix. John York should have been there to take the heat. John York should have been their to shield his son. Any father should do that for a child he loves.

-- Lowell

The Press Democract gave the Cohn Zohn a whole new format, matching the format Matt Maiocco has for his terrific 49er blog. I have no idea what's involved, but I'm told this is better for readers. My son Iggy and I hope you like this.

While I'm here on the first new blog of the rest of my life I' m going to leave a comment. Jose Canseco recently expressed regret for ratting out teammates and friends in his book, telling who used perfomance-enhancing drugs, etc. I assume that means he feels guilty. He should feel guilty. He hurt lots of good people and he did what he did for the wrong reasons. If he claimed he wanted to clean up baseball, he's full of baloney. He wanted to make money and he put his friends in harm's way to so he could profit.

I guess you call a guy like that a bum. He has remorse now because he's broke and he lost his house and he took so many steroids he has problems with his testosterone level. He is a mess. And, it's interesting, all his bad luck has been self-induced. I hope he can pull himself together. Mostly I hope his apology is sincere.

-- Lowell

If the 49ers lose to the 1-5 Seahawks next Sunday team management MUST fire Mike Nolan during the bye week.

There is no gray area. Nolan already is a losing coach and fans are screaming for him to get the axe. If he loses to Seattle, he will be a losing coach who lost to a horrible team, a team that's refusing to play for a lame-duck coach, and Nolan must go.

Firing Nolan after a Seattle loss would accomplish three things.

1. It would free the organization of Nolan and of the disappointing Nolan years.

2. It would ignite a spark on the team for the second half of the season -- not a big spark, a little spark.

3. It would give some other guy the chance to be interim head coach and show what he can do. If this interim is wildly successful, the team should consider him for next season -- consider him as one in a pool of head-coaching hopefuls. If the interim fails, bye bye and have a nice life.

Mark Martz should not be the interim. I used to think he could do it, but his offense is too risky -- too nuts, frankly -- to succeed in San Francisco or maybe anywhere. J.T. O'Sullivan is lucky he hasn't experienced extreme bodily harm under the Martz system, but that still could come.

Readers keep telling me they would like Mike Singletary to be interim in waiting. Sure. Why not? If Nolan gets fired let Singletary give it a shot. I don't think it will amount to anything, but he might surprise people.

But, OK, what if the Niners defeat the Seahawks?

This is the tough one. I say let Nolan finish out the season. I know this notion must disappoint fans who absolutely hate him. But going 3-5 with that hard schedule is not a sin, and sure I know some of the teams the Niners lost to were not at full strength, like no Tom Brady. But come on. If the Niners win on Sunday, I'd give Nolan a chance to finish out, to show definitively what he can and cannot do. If the final record stinks, John York fires him no questions asked. And then York goes in search of somebody really good, someone who's not a beginner, someone with an impressive body of coaching work.

-- Lowell

I love to write about boxing and I almost never get a chance these days. The sport is in decline more than ever and MMA is eclipsing it. But tomorrow night there is a real fight, a real fight between two good fighters and that is rare and that is terrific.

In case you don't know, former middleweight champion Bernard (The Executioner) Hopkins is fighting Kelly (The Ghost) Pavlik. Hopkins is 43 -- very old for a boxer -- and Pavlik is 26 and everyone is picking Pavlik because: he's younger, he probably has more stamina, he hits very hard with either hand and he takes a good shot. He's an exceptional prospect.

I'm picking Hopkins even though he's old. He is a clever fighter who negates another guy's strengths. And Pavlik isn't that clever. He is a tough guy who comes in straight ahead. Nothing to solve there. I don't think Pavlik will knock out Hopkins. He might wear him down. But Hopkins will hit him and I wouldn't be surprised if Hopkins knocks him out.

Of course, there is a subtext to this fight. Hopkins is African-American and Pavlik is white. American fight fans like a white hope, although the term White Hope usually applies to heavyweights. So, in that sense, Pavlik is good for boxing.

But Hopkins, in my book, is a top-ten all-time middleweight. I think he would have defeated Marvin Hagler, a great fighter. And this fight is at the strange weight of 170 pounds -- it's above middle but below light heavy. I think the weight will favor Hopkins. I say Hopkins produces one more great fight tomorrow night.

-- Lowell

It's not easy to say who's a worse owner, Al Davis or John York. One thing we can say for sure, neither one is hot.

Let's take this systematically. On the face of things, Davis is worse. Many consider him the worst owner in the NFL and look at the Raiders as the joke of the league. I am not here to dispute that view. Davis, according to conventional wisdom, is the worst kind of meddler. In spite of what he says, people think he involves himself in everything and allows his head coach zero autonomy. In addition, he's become a little weird and the players know that, and no really good coach would coach for him because things are so nutty at the Raiders. A real mark against Davis is that he couldn't coexist with Jon Gruden, the last good coach he had. He only can work with men who won't stand up to him, and when someone stands up -- Lane Kiffin is an example -- Davis drives him out.

This is not a good recommendation for Davis. I will add one thing, though. He got the Raiders to the Super Bowl after the 2002 season. That is something. That's a rather big something.

Now onto York. His critics are as appalled by him as Davis critics are appalled by Davis. I get tons of emails telling me the Niners never will turn things around until York sells. Lots of people hope he sells to a consortium involving Steve Young. A reader wrote this to me just today. "York's stewardship has been abysmal: no stadium, no good stadium plan, bad coaching, bad administration at the top. Unfortunate for a team with so much tradition."

I would add that York has been no better at hiring a head coach than Davis.

Well, you get the point. The 49ers are a lost cause as long as York and his bunch run the show. This puts the 49ers pretty much on a par with the Raiders -- two lost causes.

The only difference between Davis and York, as far as I can tell, is that Davis meddles more, inserts himself into the day-to-day workings of the organization. At one time, it helped when Davis got involved. That's not the case these days. So maybe York has it over Davis by his decision to stay away. Maybe.

I leave you with this insight. A few years ago I told Bill Walsh over the phone I had dinner at a restaurant in SF with John York. I said I liked the guy. Bill was quiet a moment. He cleared his throat. I waited for what was coming. "I'm sure he enjoyed your conversation at dinner," he told me. "But you wouldn't want to work for him."

Ooh.

-- Lowell

Cohn Zohn reader who signs his stuff 5decadefan gave me the lowdown on how to find Ira Miller's writing. I share it with you.

"You can get to Ira's column by googling 'Ira Miller's Five Burning Questions.' That will take you to the various columns he's been writing for Comcast and the links for his previous columns that are posted on the right side of the page."

Thanks 5decadefan,

-- Lowell

This is a sample podcast.