The sport world’s biggest single game is this weekend in Miami, Florida with the Saints facing off against the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.  If you are like me, which you probably are because you are at this site, you will be watching the Super Bowl for 15th straight time not caring who wins because the 49ers are not playing.   I will choose a team to win, I am going with the Saints, and there are the commercials to look forward to but in the end I don’t care who wins so long as it is an entertaining game.  With the two most high powered offenses in the NFL that propelled both teams to the big game I don’t think I will be disappointed.  Aside from watching the commercials, I came up with a drinking game for you and your friends to play while watching the game.  Cheers!

Take a drink of your beverage of choice when…

• Peyton Manning completes a pass to Pierre Garcon (cheers to Haiti)
• Drew Brees completes a pass to Reggie Bush
• Colts running back Joseph Addai runs the football (won’t happen much)

• there is a punt
• Archie Manning is shown on TV
• Eli Manning is shown on TV
• Kim Kardashian is shown on TV
• you see a “Who Dat” sign
• a beer commercial is shown
• a flag is thrown
• a CBS TV show is advertised. Take two drinks if it is for Undercover Boss.

Drink for five seconds when…

• an offense scores a touchdown
• a coach challenges a play
• Jeremy Shockey flexes his muscles after making a catch
• if the Colts Dwight Freeney plays
• they show Bourbon Street
• Hurricane Katrina is mentioned
• the Colts move from Baltimore is mentioned
• (during halftime) The Who’s Pete Townsend does the windmill on his guitar
• if it is raining at the start of the quarter
• a coach loses a challenge
• a player celebrates a TD with a spike, dunks on the goal post or does the Icky shuffle
• you see the Tim Tebow commercial

Take a shot of alcohol when…

• a team scores a TD on a kick-off or punt return
• the defense intercepts a pass for a TD
• the defense returns a fumble for a TD
• at halftime if the combined score of both teams is less than 14 points. (You will need it to stay entertained in the second half)
• if all the Kardashian sisters are at the game…double it if Lamar Odom is there.
• (during halftime) there is a wardrobe malfunction

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Over at NFL Mocks part of the Fansided.com Sports Network they recently released a new edition of April’s draft.  They have the 49ers selecting Rutgers offensive tackle Anthony Davis with the 13th pick which I agree with because it is a much needed upgrade the teams needs.  At pick number 16 they have Clemson running back C.J. Spiller being selected to be the number two man behind running back Frank Gore.  Spiller is a great running back and even though Glen Coffee was non-exist in the offense last year, especially when he started two games in place of an injured Gore, he still has the potential to be a featured back.  Coffee still has a long way to go before reaching that status but with his first year in the books he should develop more in the off-season and become the second running back they envisioned him as being last year.  Remember, Coffee only spent two years in college.  Check it out: NFL Mocks

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What You Can Do

The San Francisco 49ers were established in 1946 and were the city’s first professional sports team. Traditions run deep for many San Francisco families and residents from attending home games every Sunday to watching and cheering for the Niners at home or at their local sports bar with rituals ranging from the superstitious to the abnormal. What will happen to our beloved 49ers and the city if they move to Santa Clara or to another city? San Francisco and the 49ers are synonymous with each other. The 49ers are San Francisco and San Francisco is the 49ers. Our city and the residents blood runs Red and Gold. San Francisco and the 49ers have celebrated 5 Super Bowl Championships, 5 NFC conference championships, and 17 NFC West Division championships together. The San Francisco 49ers tradition and history will be lost if Jed York and his family have their way and move the team to Santa Clara.

Please join our Facebook fan page to help keep the 49ers in San Francisco and brain storm any ideas on pressuring Jed York to  KEEP THE 49ERS IN SF!

Contact the 49ers to voice your opposition of the move to Santa Clara:

(408) 562-4949   49ersfaninfo@niners.nfl.com

Mail in personal letters with your 49ers memories and stories. For more of an effect have your kids write a personal letter too along with a drawing they made to illustrate the point of keeping the team in S.F.:

Marie P. DeBartolo Sports Centre

4949 Jamestown Avenue, Room 400

San Francisco, CA 94124

Call, email and mail  Mayor Gavin Newsom to keep the 49ers in town:

(415) 554-6141     gavin.newsom@sfgov.org

City Hall, Room 200

1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

San Francisco, CA 94102

Contact the San Francisco Board of Supervisors:

Mailing Address for Board of Supervisors:

City Hall

1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl., Room 244

San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689

David Chiu (Board President)

Call: (415) 554-7450

Eric Mar

Call: (415) 554-7410

Michela Alioto-Pier

Call:  (415) 554-7752

Carmen Chu

Call: (415) 554-7460

Ross Mirkarimi

Call: (415) 554-7630

Chris Daly

Call: (415) 554-7970

Sean R. Elsbernd

Call: (415) 554-6516

Bevan Dufty

Call: (415) 554-6968

David Campos

Call: (415) 554-5144

Sophie Maxwell

Call: (415) 554-7670

John Avalos

Call: (415) 554-6975

Santa Clara City Officials:

Mayor Patricia Mahan and City Council Offices

(408) 615-2250

City Hall

1500 Warburton Ave

Santa Clara, CA 95050

Other Important Contacts:

Dianne Feinstein at: senator@feinstein.senate.gov

Barbara Boxer at: senator@boxer.senate.gov

Nancy Pelosi at: http://www.nancy@mail.house.gov

Edward DeBartolo Jr. at: http://www.debartolofamilyfoudation.com

SF Economic & Community Development at: oewd.org

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With the 13^th and 16^th picks in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft the 49ers are in a prime position to fill big holes on both offense and defense.  At this point itis hard to calculate exactly who will go when but with a need at offensive tackle and help in the secondary there are three players who should be around when the 49ers draft in the first round.  At pick 13 the Niners should go after their offensive tackle need by selecting USC tackle Charles Brown.  Brown has been solid for the Trojans starting every game the last two seasons.  He was originally recruited as a tight end but eventually made the switch to offensive tackle.  After redshirting as a freshman he saw action in every game as a backup appearing at offensive tackle as well as the special teams.  In his junior and senior year he started every game and earned a spot on the 2009 All-Pac-10 First-Team and was a 2009 Morris Trophy Winner and was invited to the 2010 Senior Bowl.  Brown can play at either left or right tackle but with Joe Staley holding down the left side Brown would start at right tackle.  The Niners need someone who can come in and be an instant playmaker and drafting offensive linemen gives you a high probability of that happening.  With the 16^th pick the Niners should draft either a cornerback or safety to help shore up a rising cast in free safety Dashon Goldson and to insert some youth into the secondary.  Either University of Florida cornerback Joe Haden or University of Tennessee safety Eric Berry should be available for the Niners when they pick at number 16.  My bet will be on Haden.  He has been solid in his three years at Florida starting 12 games as a freshman and every game his sophomore and junior year.  He finished his college career with 197 tackles, eight interceptions and three sacks.  He won a National Championship in 2008 and recorded 10 tackles with two pass deflections in the title game.  With last seasons starter Dre’ Bly aging it would be wise for the Niners to give cornerback Shawntae Spencer some shut down help as corners can also make an instant impact as a playmaker.  The draft is a couple months away with the NFL combine and other workouts ahead but the needs won’t change for the Niners from now until then.  Stay tuned.

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Kurt Schottenheimer, the younger brother of former NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer and uncle of current Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, has been hired as the new 49ers special teams coach after Al Everest was fired last week.  Schottenheimer brings 22 years of NFL coaching experience having been not only a special teams coach (Browns ’87-‘88, Chiefs ‘89-‘94) but has been in charge of defensive backs (Chiefs ’95-’98, Packers ’04), defensive coordinator (Redskins ’01, Lions ’02-’03) and the secondary (Rams ’05, Packers ’06-08).  It is great that Schottenheimer has so much coaching experience but if you take a look at the different coaching positions I listed you will notice the last time he was a special teams coach was 15 years ago in 1998 with the Chiefs.  Mike Singletary said that regardless of the fact that it has been so long since he last coached the special teams that to hire a good coach with so much experience is not a bad thing.  “If he was out of football for any length of time, that would concern me.  A good football coach is a good football coach. When you get an opportunity to hire a coach with the experience he’s had … that was big,” Singletary said.

Remember Singletary said something similar after hiring Jimmy Raye as the 49ers offensive coordinator who had 29 years of experience.  Depending on how you feel about Raye currently will probably factor into how you feel about Schottenheimer being hired.  The coaching experience is a plus for Schottenheimer but how long too long ago to hire someone to do a job that they have not done in 15 years?  I don’t know much about Schottenheimer and how much of a motivation type guy he is but in the end this might be a good hire.  The 49ers problems on special teams this year had to do more with the return game being ineffective rather than the former coach Al Everest.  Although his big blunder last year was in week 13 against the Seahawks when he called for a reverse punt in a critical part of the game that was botched on the hand-off.  The fumble set up the Seahawks for a go ahead touchdown dampened the 49ers playoff hopes .  Singletary commented on the Everest firing and said it had more to do with him personally than what he was doing as a coach: “I think Al was doing a good job during the year, but there were some things I had to deal with personally. It was just something Al needed to take care of. I had to let him go,” Singletary said.

With kicker Joe Nedney and punter Andy Lee having another great year the kicking side of the special teams are set.  The 49ers will need to find a returner for kick-offs and punts for them to rise from being at the bottom of the NFL in the return game.  Let’s hope Schottenheimer can identify some free agents or rookies in the April draft that will fill those two holes.

Here is how Schottenheimer’s special teams finished each year he was the coach:

Browns as special teams coach

1987: Ranked 24 out of 28 in the NFL ; Averaged 17.6 yards on kick-offs and 11.1 yards on punts; Zero touchdowns returned

1988: Ranked 6 out of 28 in the NFL ; Averaged 21.1 yards on kick-offs and 8.1 yards on punts; Zero touchdowns returned

Chiefs as special teams coach:

1989:  Ranked 23 out of 28 in the NFL ; Averaged 17.6 yards on kick-offs and 7.5 yards on punts; Zero touchdowns returned

1990: Ranked 27 out of 28 in the NFL; Averaged 17.0 yards on kick-offs and 6.9 yards on punts; Zero touchdowns returned

1991: Ranked 6 out of 28 in the NFL; Averaged 20.4 yards on kick-offs and 7.6 yards on punts; Zero touchdowns returned

1992: Ranked 20 out of 28 in the NFL; Averaged 18.5 yards on kick-offs and 10.3 yards on punts; 2 punts returned for touchdowns

1993: Ranked 13 out of 28 in the NFL; Averaged 19.4 yards on kick-offs and 9.4 yards on punts; Zero touchdowns returned

1994: Ranked 8 out of 28 in the NFL; Averaged 22.0 yards on kick-offs and 7.3 yards on punts; 1 kick-off returned for a touchdown

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