The day's look at sports

In the NFL, the 49ers' Mike Nolan continues to lobby Reebok for the "right" to wear a suit on the sidelines, like his dad, former Niners head coach Dick Nolan.

The younger Nolan, by the way, is probably more popular around here than un-defeatable Mayor Gavin Newsom. The 49ers, on the other hand, continue to be an organization of jokers off the field. A colleague in the business recently told me her struggles to get important phone calls returned are par for the course.

In the NBA, much is being made of Lebron James' dunk over Tim Duncan. But Warriors fans know, it doesn't even compare to Baron Davis' de-pantsing of Andrei Kirilenko earlier in the playoffs. Hell, Duncan didn't even jump. Red Herring today to those media boofs -- represented today, because he's a good sport, by Charles Barkley.

(I'm obliged to say that Barkley, though a knee-jerk loudmouth, is not exactly a hardened criminal like some athletes you may hear about.)

Okay, take care of those tootsies.

-Zed

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"The NFL, like life, is full of idiots."
-Randy Cross

This one's right up my alley

...Almost literally.

Yes, it's the growable mushroom house.

Where does he get this stuff?

Let's just say Google's targeted banner ads are even better than you think!

Odd Sighting of the Week:

A fun story over Thanh Long crab and garlic noodles for Mother's Day dinner last night. Apparently my sister went to an LGBT function recently (meaning lesbian, gay, yadda, and yadda) where she met, of all people, much-derided 49ers owner John York.

York was being led around by the fun-lovin', gay, proud new pappy and San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty (don't tell him I said so, but lose the goatee).

A big Red Fish out of water here, as the erstwhile bungler -- meaning York, of course -- was said to look extremely out of place, and more than a little stiff.

It's a great image. Yellows, purples, plenty of house music, and presumably dabbles of meth all around.

This man was born a stiff. Then he grew up to be a pathologist.

-Zed

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"Reeling and writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic -- ambition, distraction, uglification, and derision."
-The Mock Turtle, Alice in Wonderland

Earthquake rumblings fall through

It's unfortunate, I think, but talks between San Jose State University and the future San Jose / Bay Area / ?? Earthquakes appear to have died.

The Earthquakes, whose rights as a future Major League Soccer franchise are owned by Oakland A's honcho Lew Wolff, were trying to parlay a private real estate deal into a unique facility-share relationship with a state school.

I'm all for thinking outside the box (which is a penalty in soccer) but it appears this one was not meant to be. Wolff, whose fledgling 'Quakes share a South Bay office with the A's, has said all along he has other options, though this was clearly his favorite. Look out for more on how Wolff, a merely medium-sized magnate, tries to marry sports and real estate in a bid to make money from Silicon Valley interests.

For background: the Fremont A's are a done deal, and the Santa Clara 49ers a distinct possibility.

-Zed

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"People resent articulacy, as if articulacy were a form of vice."
-Frederic Raphael

The 49ers love everyone

...Which is why they're willing to move to Santa Clara, so Santa Clara can make $100 million in Niner-related economic impact. Is the Niners' claim valid? Doubtful. What evidence there is -- and it's admittedly ambiguous -- says teams, like Olympics, tend to make little or no money for their host cities.

On the other hand, the one thing you can count on about conventional wisdom, is that it will change before too long.

Download a .PDF of the report here.

-Zed

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"Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."
-Mae West