The susan miller daily district coach tournament

If you talk to Bay Rivers District field hockey coaches, you’ll often
hear three teams mentioned as championship contenders. In no
particular order, Grafton, Jamestown and Tabb. But one thing is
certain in this district — there are few easy matches, and
surprises do happen. Take last year. Grafton finished fourth during
the regular season and lost its first-round game in the district
tournament to York. But because four teams from the district advanced
to the Region I tournament, Grafton stayed alive. The Clippers then
had to win a third-place game in the regional just to reach the state
tournament. At state, they won twice before losing in the championship
match to Western Albemarle as time ran out. One of the biggest changes
in the district is at Jamestown, where former Granby coach Dawn
Andersonreplaces Shannon Freemanas the Eagles’ head coach. The Eagles
lost Daily Press player of the year Megan Matthews, the co-player of
the year in the state, and Megan McCorry, a second-team all-stater.
Back for another year are Christine Johnson, Nicole Segala, who is
rehabbing an ACL injury, and Tara Zimak.

Grafton has a host of returnees from its magical season, including
Christina Verhulstand Lindsay Leonard, both second-team all-district
players. Gone is all-state pick Denise Wagner. Tabb has only 10
returning players, including Kelsey O’Brien, Erika Euker, Colleen
Pattersonand Danielle Brookover, but won the Falcon Invitational. The
Tigers lost all-staters Elizabeth Conleyand Lauren Dibble. Will there
be a surprise team this year? York reached the district tournament
final last year, but lost to Jamestown. Susan Wikerhas departed as the
Falcons’ coach after her promotion to be athletic director at Tabb.
Former All-American Jacque Mayer, a York alumnus, returns to the
school as head coach. She lists attackers Jenny Morrowand Katelyn
Jenkins, midfielders Annie Brooksand Grace Davisand defender Ariel
Eure as players to watch. Lafayette, perennially near or at the top of
the district, is young this year, said coach Pat Thompson. Poquoson
coach Deborah Buntingsays her team’s outlook is “promising.”
PENINSULA DISTRICT

Just about every coach surveyed put Gloucester and Kecoughtan as the
teams to beat. That’s not surprising, since they are the most
consistent programs in the district. Gloucester has a first-year coach
in . He’s a veteran assistant at the school and has Shelly Milks,
Brittany Byrd, Christine Patterson, Sidney Dougherty, Kelsy Curtisand
Erica Priceback in the fold. The biggest loss was Courtney Poole.
Kecoughtan returns Shareyna Chang, who has committed to play at
Indiana, Courtney Rhoadesand eight other seniors who have been
together since the eighth grade. The entire team is back, except for
the graduated Samantha Applin. After that, you’ll hear Menchville,
Bethel and Woodside mentioned, while Hampton is surprising some folks
with a 4-3 record after the weekend tournament at York. Menchville has
a quartet of Joan Burleson, Jordan Snider, Sarah McKeeand Kara
Eckertback, while Bethel has only three seniors and could start four
freshmen. Cierra Whitted, Shelby Judkins, Heather Biasand Chrissy
Delagardellereturn.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Walsingham’s school record for goals is 46. Despite Friday’s 1-0 loss
to St. Catherine’s of Richmond, the 7-1 Trojans had scored 45. They
have at least 14 matches left. The Trojans are two-time Virginia
Independent Schools champions in Division II, but lost three starters,
including Jayme Varco, who is playing as a true freshman at
Louisville. Regan Murphyand Sam Earlyare Walsingham’s scoring leaders,
while Rebecca Johnsonand Ann Burton Gerhardtlead the defense. For more
on high school sports, see Lynn Burke’s blog at
HRVarsity.com/prepsplus

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your thoughts. We do have some rules of the road: no comments that
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The susan millers yards davis game

—North Carolina coach Butch Davis, who resurrected UM’s
program in the mid-1990s, returns to South Florida to face the program
he brought to championship form before leaving on the cusp of a
national title.

—The Tar Heels’ talented starting quarterback fractured an
ankle last week, leaving two backups who haven’t performed
particularly well.

—Miami wants to avenge a 33-27 loss last season at Chapel Hill,
N.C., where the Tar Heels took a 27-0 halftime lead and the Hurricanes
fell short of their comeback attempt.

“There’s a lot of stuff making us get excited about this game,”
UM linebacker Colin McCarthy said. “It’s not just Butch Davis
being the head coach and being down here. It’s not just the fact
that it’s the first ACC game and it’s at home. Every game
is a big game for us.”

Davis became the coach at UNC (2-1, 0-1 ACC) last season, when UM
(2-1) traveled to Kenan Stadium. The Tar Heels finished 4-8 (3-5 in
the ACC), a perfect opportunity for Davis to do his rebuilding magic.
And despite last week’s collapse against Virginia Tech, the
makeover seems to be in progress.

“We’re playing against a guy I really respect as a head coach
and as a person,” Shannon said. “I coached with him for years at
Miami. We were here together at Miami when we got Miami changed
around.

“He’s doing a wonderful job in North Carolina in getting that
program going. I cannot say enough about him.”

Davis, a skilled recruiter and defensive expert who, like Shannon, is
building with youth, has his hands full with challenges Saturday.
After sophomore quarterback T.J. Yates left the Virginia Tech game
because of the ankle injury, freshman backup Mike Paulus completed 3
of 8 passes, with two interceptions. The Tar Heels had four turnovers
and 14 penalties for 121 yards.

Davis said this week that he planned to play backups Paulus and
Cameron Sexton, a junior. Paulus has thrown nine passes this season.
Sexton started five games in 2006, losing four of those games. That
season, he was 57 of 136 for 840 yards and four touchdowns —
with eight interceptions. In 2007, Paulus threw one pass for 9 yards
in the opener, and he hasn’t played since.

“Sometimes players and fans and everyone else think, ’Well, OK,
all the burden rests on the quarterback,’ ” Davis said. “It
doesn’t. The success of your offense is a shared experience.
These two quarterbacks can throw the football. They’ll be
prepared to play.”

The Tar Heels are dangerous in other ways. They are fifth in the
nation in punt returns, led by special-teams phenom Brandon Tate. Tate
leads the nation in all-purpose yards (265.7 average), ranks second in
punt returns (31.1 yards a return), 16th in kickoff returns (28.2) and
17th in receiving yards (99). He is 36 yards short of the combined
punt- and kick-return record of 3,455 career yards, set by Deltha
O’Neal of California in 1999.

n this Oct. 6, 2007 file photo, Miami coach Randy Shannon, right, and
North Carolina coach Butch Davis greet following UNC won 33-27 in an
NCAA college football game in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Al davis sucks’s paterno penn state’s

Joe Paterno not happy with much from Penn State’s 45-3 win over state
rival Temple in the last game before Big Ten play.

Daryll Clark’s thigh was throbbing, bad enough to cause him to throw
two ”crappy” passes on Penn State’s first series of the second half.
As he headed to the sideline, the Penn State quarterback prepared to
be ”cussed out,” as he said, by his head coach. But wasn’t there,
having moved upstairs at halftime to rest his tired right leg. ”So I
was like, ‘well, at least I don’t have to hear him right now,”’ Clark
said. That soon changed. After Penn State’s 45-3 victory over Temple,
Paterno was in a foul mood, which likely won’t change as the team
begins preparing for its Big Ten opener against Illinois.

The Lions’ head coach had plenty to be edgy about: a sluggish team
that needed a quarter to respond; five fumbles (one lost) and a lost-
looking kickoff coverage squad; and a quarterback who overthrew a 6-6
receiver for his first interception of the year. ”A very, very sloppy
performance,” Paterno called it. But most of all, Penn State’s head
coach was testy over all the questions about his leg, which he, his
players and his son assured most certainly is not an issue.
”Absolutely!” the head coach shouted when asked whether he was
bothered that his injury distracted from his team’s win. ”I’ve got a
bunch of kids out there fighting all kinds of adversity with different
lineups, hanging in there together, and you’re worried about my leg.
Now, if you were a bunch of good-looking girls, I’d feel better about
it.” After the game, Paterno didn’t feel good about much of anything.
He limped into the interview room after spending the second half in
the coaches’ box to rest his sore right knee (not the one he broke two
years ago at Wisconsin). On Friday, Paterno told his team that he
didn’t think he’d coach from the sideline but ended up giving it a go
in the first half. According to players, Paterno has been limping
since hurting the leg doing his traditional end-of-practice onside
kick the Thursday before the season-opener against Coastal Carolina.
At halftime, Paterno went upstairs, where he sat with a microphone
that had two buttons: one for the offensive sideline staff and one for
the defense. He kept both busy. ”Trust me, if you were sitting next
to him in the second half like I was, you would know he’s OK,” said
son Jay Paterno, Penn State’s quarterbacks coach. ”But he wasn’t real
happy with what he was seeing.” Nobody was. Clark said the team began
the day in a funk that lingered from last Tuesday’s practice. The
Lions punted on three of their first four possessions, with the other
ending on Clark’s first interception of the season. On that play, he
threw over the head of Brackett, the team’s tallest receiver, by a
foot. ”How do you overthrow a 6-6 wideout?” Clark asked. Clark made
up for it 33 seconds into the second quarter, hitting Brackett (his
fourth option on the play) for a 20-yard touchdown. Evan Royster’s
32-yard scoring run (his seventh of the season) followed on the next
series, and Penn State went on to score four touchdowns in less than
10 minutes. But two keys to the turnaround actually came on defense.
Midway through the first quarter, Penn State defensive end Aaron
Maybin sacked quarterback Adam DiMichele and said he heard a sound.
DiMichele injured his right shoulder, did not play for the rest of the
game and will be out ”a considerable amount of time,” Owls coach Al
Golden said. Backup quarterback Chester Stewart jumped gamely into a
difficult situation but had trouble throwing the ball, which was
apparent on Penn State’s second key defensive play. In the second
quarter, Travis Shelton gave Temple a prime scoring opportunity,
returning a kickoff 74 yards to Penn State’s 26-yard line. Stewart,
who attempted one pass in Temple’s first three games, overthrew a
receiver on the next play, leading to an easy interception for Penn
State cornerback Tony Davis. That revived Clark, who completed a
49-yard pass to Deon Butler before scoring on a 17-yard draw play to
give the Lions a 21-0 lead. Two more scores put the Lions ahead 31-0
at halftime, making Paterno more comfortable about going upstairs.
”If it was 21-20 at halftime, he stays down,” Jay Paterno said.
”But you know? It was like taking the starters out.” After the game,
Paterno admitted that his leg aches but also said he’s ”probably
babying myself.” His son seemed to disagree. ”The guy just sucks it
up,” Jay Paterno said. ”He doesn’t take his pain medication like
he’s supposed to. He didn’t take if after the surgery . After about
4-5 days, he just stopped taking it. He’s not made of the same stuff
the rest of us are.” 610-820-6588

Al davis oakland raiders’s coach week game

Jason Taylor won’t be Dancing with the Stars or sacking for the
Redskins this week. The Pro Bowl defensive end is out after having
emergency…

WASHINGTON — Jason Taylor won’t be Dancing with the Stars or
sacking for the Redskins this week.

The Pro Bowl defensive end is out after having emergency surgery
Monday to drain a pocket of blood from his left calf, leaving
Washington to shuffle its defensive line for Sunday’s game against the
unbeaten Dallas Cowboys.

Taylor, who was inadvertently kicked in Washington’s 24-17 victory
over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, underwent a 20-minute procedure
at a Northern Virginia hospital, coach Jim Zorn said, and was released
in the afternoon.

“They went in and cut open that portion where the blood was pooling
and released that pressure. As soon as it released, the muscle went
back down to normal,” Zorn said. “They closed it back up, and he’s
going to be fine. Our problem is he’s going to be out for this Dallas
game, for sure. I can’t tell you beyond that.”

Taylor, who deflected three of quarterback Kurt Warner’s passes at the
line of scrimmage against Arizona, had his calf wrapped and played the
rest of the game after being kicked. “Later on that night it started
getting more sore,” Zorn said. “He started feeling a little bit [of
numbness] in his ankle.”

Special-teams standout Khary Campbell sat out the 29-24 victory over
the New Orleans Saints in Week 2 after he had blood drained from his
thigh with a needle. Taylor’s recovery could take more than a week
because “they had to open it up” with surgery, Zorn said.

Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin went over the injury report and his
team’s 24-23 loss to Buffalo before the questions predictably turned
to his shaky job status amid more reports his firing as coach was
imminent.

“This seems to be a common question here every day,” Kiffin said
Monday. “I’m going to kind of put it this way: Until I am told by Al
Davis that I’m not the head coach here anymore, we’re going to keep
plugging away the same way we have been.”

Kiffin, who said he has not talked to Davis since before the team’s
season-opening game Sept. 8, is maintaining some gallows humor.

“How about when you go for a jog yesterday and you feel like it’s
paparazzi because the TV cameras are following you and they’re asking
you if you’re still the coach of the Raiders,” Kiffin said. “I felt
like Brad Pitt.”

New England suffered its worst home loss in 10 years Sunday —
38-13 to the winless Miami Dolphins — but Patriots cornerback
Ellis Hobbs was amazed to hear the home fans booing as the teams left
the field for halftime.

“It amazes me how people react,” Hobbs said. “You would think that
this organization hasn’t won as much as they have and been successful
in the years that they have, and it’s a testament to how spoiled they
are where expectations are that high that we’re not allowed a bad
game.”

Detroit Lions vice chairman Bill Ford — son of owner William
Clay Ford — essentially said he’d fire team president Matt
Millen if it was his call.

“I think the fans deserve better,” Bill Ford said Monday, “and if it
were in my authority, which it’s not, I’d make some significant
changes.”

Asked by a reporter if he believed Millen should leave the team, Ford
said, “Yes, I do.”

Not that it’s a novel idea. The Lions are 0-3 and have the NFL’s worst
record (31-84) since Millen took over in 2001.

• Green Bay Packers CB Al Harris underwent additional medical
tests Monday amid a report he might have ruptured his spleen in
Sunday’s loss to Dallas. The National Football Post, a Web site that
lists Harris’ agent as a contributor, reported that the injury could
end Harris’ season but that Harris was seeking a second opinion.

• New Orleans TE Jeremy Shockey is expected to be out 3 to 6
weeks because of a sports hernia. Shockey is scheduled to have surgery
this week.

• Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel said backup QB Brady
Quinn will get increased first-team reps this week and, if necessary,
could replace struggling quarterback Derek Anderson on Sunday.

• Buffalo starting FB Darian Barnes will have tests on his
injured right foot, leaving his status uncertain. Bills coach Dick
Jauron didn’t discuss the nature of the injury.

• Pomona (Calif.) Superior Court officials say former NFL kicker
Tony Zendejas has pleaded not guilty to charges that he drugged a
woman at his Southern California sports bar and raped her.

Al davis oakland raiders’s al raiders he’s

In The Princess Bride, Westley only had to make it through the Fire
Swamp once. But San Jose Mercury reporter Tim Kawakami has to brave
the danger that is the Oakland Raiders’ Alameda headquarters on a
regular basis, and that’s much, much worse. It’s not an easy job, but
it’s never boring. By now you’ve probably seen the video of , which
has become a viral superstar in the few short hours it’s been up
today. Herrera offering to punch Kawakami, and the reporter replying
that he’d “love to own a piece of the franchise” has become the quote
of the month so far.

But what was it actually like to be in the eye of the NFL’s most
dysfunctional hurricane? When will Lane Kiffin actually be fired? And
most importantly, just when does Al Davis arrive for work each day? I
talked with Kawakami about all of this — turns out he lives just
down the feeway from me — and more. Let’s talk silver and black
and blue, after the jump.

Tim Kawakami: Not really. But things are not going well with the
organization. They have a head coach they don’t like, and tensions are
high. (Raiders front office personnel) are thinking about their
loyalty to Al, so tempers are on edge. They can’t yell at Lane Kiffin,
so they yell at me. It’s not surprising. But although I wasn’t
shocked, something of this nature rarely happens. You can never really
be prepared for it.”

I wrote a column describing how a Raiders official distributed printed
copies of an ESPN.com article critical of Kiffin to the press, and the
question I asked Kiffin at the press conference centered around that.
That’s when Herrera interrupted and began yelling. I didn’t mention
Herrera’s name in the article, but I will now. Since he started
yelling in front of five cameras, I guess it”s OK to have it out
there. And he did distribute it. Others blogged about it before I ever
wrote it.

Not at all. You can see in the video that he has this look on his face
that seems to be saying, ‘See? Look everybody, this is what I have to
put up with here every day.’ In fact, Lane called me today to
apologize for what happened. But I told him that I don’t need an
apology, and certainly not from him, who had nothing to do with it.

Not angry at all, and you can see that on the video, I think. It was
like it was in slow motion, like I was in the middle of a hurricane. I
was trying to be calm. The video is out there for everyone to see and
judge for themselves.

Kind of crazy. I have to say that there are certain members of Raiders
Nation who are not happy with me right now. Al Davis loyalists will
support him to the bitter end. And hey, I salute Al. I don’t agree
with a lot of his decisions, but I’ve said before that he’s
accomplished more in his life than I ever will, and that’s a fact. But
a lot of people have written in support of the way I handled myself.
Some Raiders fans have said that they were embarrassed over what
happened.

Al’s still a sharp guy, and he knows football, but the energy level
just isn’t there the way it used to be. Things don’t go at a normal
speed at Raiders headquarters. Al wants to fire him, but at the same
time he has to figure out what to do afterward, and he’s not ready for
that yet. He’s got to hire someone else, and that’s not an easy thing
to do when you don’t get to work before 4:30 p.m. each day.

No one’s ever seen him at the office before then. I KNOW that he’s not
there in the mornings. So he may sit at home and plot his moves until
3 a.m., because he’s a night owl, but at home there’s no one to talk
to about it. Things get done when you’re in the office in the morning
working the phones, and that’s hard to do on Al’s schedule. By the
time he gets in, the day is over.

Al knows football. But he’s also paranoid; he’s into conspiracy
theories about himself. He was that way when he was 40, but even more
so now. And the ability to think around that gets harder as he gets
older, so that effects his judgment. Also, he used to have people
around him who were good at public relations. Guys like Bruce Allen,
who were there during the Gruden years. Allen was a real people person
and could help Al deal with the outside world. But Bruce is gone now.
Al has absolutely no one around him who is good in dealing with
people. It’s just Al in the darkness now.

Do you know the Deng Xiaoping story? That’s the infamous one, I guess.
It was at the press conference announcing the hiring of Kiffin.
Afterwards I was talking to Al, and remarked that I thought it was a
strange hire, given that Kiffin was so young and had no head coaching
experience. Al didn’t like that, and said: ‘I’ll bet you don’t even
know who Deng Xiaoping was.’ I was like, what? What does that have to
do with anything? Al pressed it. ‘Who is Deng Xiaoping?’ So I thought
for a minute, and said, ‘Well, if I’m not mistaken, wasn’t he the
General Secretary of the Chinese government during the Tiananmen
Square massacre?’ And Al repiles, ‘But what can you tell me about him
other than that? See? You don’t even know anything about your own
culture.’ I said, ‘Al, I’m Japanese-American, not Chinese.’ And Al
said, ‘Ohh, geez. I bet you’re going to kill me on that now.’ It all
happened in front of about 20 reporters, so I didn’t have to.

Well, I’ve covered the Philadelphia Eagles with Buddy Ryan, the Los
Angeles Rams with Chuck Knox, the Lakers, the 49ers, the Warriors, but
nothing’s been like this. Covering the Raiders is like covering
boxing. You just never know what’s going to jump out at you. What
happened Monday just illustrates what’s going on there in vivid
fashion. It’s a peek behind the curtain. You never really know what
you’re going to see.

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Raiders coach kiffin in al davis oakland raiders

Raiders Coach Lane Kiffin talks to assistants in the booth during
their 24-23, last-second loss to the Bills at Buffalo on Sunday.

Raiders Coach Lane Kiffin talks to assistants in the booth during
their 24-23, last-second loss to the Bills at Buffalo on Sunday.

Oakland’s young coach is still reporting to work, but he and owner Al
Davis haven’t been speaking, and his firing appears inevitable.

Lane Kiffin might be standing on the plank, but the Oakland Raiders
have yet to ask him to walk it.That’s what the young coach said
Monday, at least, when asked about reports by Fox-

Sports.com and ESPN that he had already been informed by the Raiders
that he will be fired as coach.”I have not been told by Al Davis that
I’m not the head coach, so until he tells me directly we’re going to
keep plugging away,” Kiffin said at his regular news conference.
“There’s so many conversations that go on around here. . . . If we
believe everything that was said around here, we’d be in a lot of
trouble as a team.”The Raiders are coming off a 24-23 defeat at
Buffalo, where they nearly pulled off an upset before their defense
imploded down the stretch. The Bills scored 17 points in the final
eight minutes of the game to overcome 16-7 and 23-14 deficits.

Stay up to the minute about L.A.’s home teams and Olympians. We’ve
already done the search for you.

Britney Spears– pop princess or pop pariah — has listed her Beverly
Hills Post Office home for $7.9 million.

Raiders kiffin it’s in al davis raiders

For the record, the Oakland Raiders attempted a 76-yard field goal on
Sunday, and if that ain’t a What-The-Fuck-Do-I-Have-To-Lose-I’m-Toast-
Anyway moment for their head coach, I don’t know what is. Seventy-six
yards. To paraphrase some politician, that’s the longest Hail Mary in
the history of football or Marys. In other words, expect Lane Kiffin
to be stuffing Raider towels and assorted small toiletries into his
suitcase as you read this; he’s probably already fired. But you know
what? It doesn’t matter.

I attended the game and witnessed something I never thought I would.
Me, wearing a 49ers hat, walking unmolested through the parking lot,
past several tailgating Raiders fans who didn’t even seem to notice. I
even stopped and chatted with several notorious members of the Black
Hole, who were actually courteous and polite. They offered me grilled
sausages, and root beer. Root beer, not regular beer; or you know,
heroin. Raider Nation seemed disconnected and listless. Costumes were
slipshod, and taunting was non-existent. , in which the Raiders blew a
15-0 halftime lead. The Raiders, it should be noted, wore white
uniforms at home for the first time ever. The Raiders in white! It’s
over; the heart has been ripped from this fan base, and that is sad
indeed.

Of course it’s nothing a five-game winning streak won’t cure. But
don’t count on that, at least while Al Davis continues to suck blood
from the living. Right now the big excitement is the speculation on
who will replace Kiffin. The smart money has him being replaced today
or tomorrow, this being the bye week. Ray Ratto of the San Francisco
Chronicle , with poor, unfortunate James Lofton leading the pack.

Of course we could all wake up on Tuesday and find that Kiffin is
still the coach. Anything is possible at this point. Did you know that
those Raiders fans also offered me salad? With Honey Dijon dressing?
It’s over, man.

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O’sullivan martz 49ers in al davis raiders

(09-21) 19:45 PDT — Mike Martz, as usual, chose not to speak to the
media after Sunday’s game, in which the 49ers Martz-inized the Detroit
Lions 31-13.

Just kidding. Martz is keeping a low public profile. But he was fired
by the Lions after last season and I’m going to guess that in the four
nanoseconds between the game’s final gun and the revving up of Martz’
brain to prepare for next week’s game, Mad Mike had a moment of
satisfaction, mentally smoking a cigar in the blink of an eye.

Same for quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan, another Lions cast-off, who, if
he keeps playing like he did Sunday, and loses 30 pounds, can go
trick-or-treating as Joe Montana.

O’Sullivan did speak to the media, but also declined to gloat, even
with his 123.3 passer rating, two touchdown passes, zero interceptions
and one sack.

At least one 49ers’ player called Martz a genius Sunday. I don’t know
if O’Sullivan is a genius, too, but he’s smart enough to know he’s
still on probation, 2-1 as a starter, and both wins are over teams
that charitably can be classified as succotash.

There’s no reason for O’Sullivan or Martz to pop off now. But here at
hyperbole central, we’re calling Martz and O’Sullivan the Redeem Team.
Two lost souls, rejected by the same lousy team, their careers on the
wane, check into adjoining rooms at the Last Chance Motel, and
suddenly they are kicking rear ends and taking names.

It should be obvious now that this is all a plot. Matt Millen, the
Lions’ general manager, seven-plus seasons of terrible general
managing, has a grand exit strategy.

First, he sent Martz and O’Sullivan packing. They go to San Francisco,
prove themselves as a dynamic duo for the 49ers. Next offseason,
Raiders boss Al Davis, realizing he needs help, hires his former
linebacker Millen as general manager, Millen signs Martz as head coach
and O’Sullivan as quarterback. Raiders trade JaMarcus Russell for two
or three fine receivers, and away we go.

Think back. At what point over the last few seasons was there this
much excitement and hope, however qualified, in 49erland?

“He’s a football genius, he’s showed that his whole career,” wide
receiver Arnaz Battle said of Martz.

Battle said it took him awhile to adjust to Martz’s eccentric,
demanding, perfectionist ways, but now he gets it. On Sunday, Battle
caught three passes for 22 yards. Distribution is one key to 49ers
success. With no favorite receiver (and no star), Martz/O’Sullivan
throw to anyone and everyone, so defenses can’t focus on one guy.

“(Martz) is a coach who has a presence,” center Eric Heitmann said.
“He demands so much of his players. He’s a brilliant coach, his plays
make sense, his schemes make sense. The volume (of plays) can be
overwhelming, but each play within itself makes sense.”

Martz, Heitmann said, is extremely organized and disciplined. And: “He
talks to us like we’re people, like we’re human beings.”

Admit it, 49ers’ fans, you were skeptical when coach Mike Nolan
announced that J.T. O’Sullivan had won the starting quarterback job.
Maybe you figured Martz had slipped something into Nolan’s Ovaltine.

But after three games, you’re thinking, hey, it kind of makes sense.
If Alex Smith (remember him?) were healthy right now, would you want
to see him start next week?

On Sunday, O’Sullivan was borderline sensational. Maybe there is
something to be said for a 49ers’ quarterback knowing his offensive
coordinator by name. O’Sullivan already has spent time soaking in what
the other 49ers’ offensive players are learning.

“There are a lot of things (unique about Martz),” O’Sullivan said,
“but the things I appreciate the most are the levels of excellence
that he expects out of himself and out of all of us. Through that, it
is the details that he demands from each position. Compound that with
the aggressiveness …”

And a quarterback who can put Martz’ thoughts into actions. After
watching Sunday’s game, it’s hard to believe that O’Sullivan sat every
game in Detroit last season behind Jon Kitna, whose passer rating
Sunday (61.3) was half of O’Sullivan’s.

O’Sullivan underthrew one long pass to Vernon Davis (who earlier was
unable to catch a catchable deep ball), but otherwise pitched as
spectacularly as Tim Lincecum.

O’Sullivan even ran for 32 yards, and on two or three of the runs, he
went Steve Young, eschewing the quarterback safety slide.

Definitely. Because now O’Sullivan’s got people thinking crazy
thoughts, and he’s being controlled by a madman, and who knows where
that can lead?

Not many homes in Northern California have basements that area under
the main floor, below ground level, that builders leave…

In a Union City factory that twists out 150,000 pounds of Red Vines
licorice a day, plant manager John Nelson is betting that…

The al davis raiders million team raiders

The 49ers and Raiders ranked 30th and 31st, respectively, out of the
32-team league, with only the , at No. 32, ranked lower.

Forbes valued the Oakland Raiders at $861 million, up 6 percent from a
year earlier, with 2007 revenue of $205 million and operating income
of $27 million.

The team is owned by Al Davis. A former assistant coach with the ,
Davis became head coach of Raiders for three seasons in 1963 and
bought an initial stake in the team in 1966, becoming managing general
partner.

That same year, Oakland opened at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum,
now McAfee Coliseum. The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to
1994, and then returned to Oakland.

The 49ers are valued at $865 million, up 8 percent from a year ago.
Forbes put the 49ers 2007 revenue at $201 million and operating income
at $4.1 million. The team is owned by Denise DeBartolo York, whose
family bought it in 1977. The 49ers first played in 1946.

Team values in the Forbes report are based on market size, brand
management, stadium deals and the portion of the franchise’s
contribution to the revenue shared among all 32 NFL teams.

Al davis raiders’s millen ford team

Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford Sr., the grandson of automobile
tycoon Henry Ford, likes to stay in the background.

That’s why it wasn’t surprising that when Ford finally fired Lions
general manager Matt Millenlast week, he didn’t hold a news
conference. Ford simply issued a statement saying, “I believe that
this decision is in the best interest of this organization.”

Nobody would argue with that statement, which came two days after
Ford’s son, William Clay Ford Jr., said he’d fire Millen if he had the
authority to do it.

The problem was hiring Millen in 2001 and sticking with him all these
years as the Lions posted a 31-84 record.

In this age of parity – or maybe it should be called mediocrity – it’s
not easy to lose that many games. But Millen, a former player and
broadcaster, was totally unqualified for the job.

Former coach Steve Mariucci said on the NFL Network: “Keep in mind, he
had never been a coach, never been a scout, and never had any
management experience at all. He didn’t have the background or
qualifications to jump into personnel nor take the time and interest.”

One of many Millen’s mistakes was hiring Mariucci to be his head coach
in 2003. Mariucci was fired 11 games into the 2005 season after
posting a 15-28 record.

The unanswered question is why Mariucci decided to work for Millen in
the first place, but coaches have trouble passing up jobs.

Millen replaced Mariucci, an offensive coach, withRod Marinelli, a
defensive coach. That was an example that Millen never seemed to have
a philosophy for what kind of team he wanted.

And then there were all the bad draft picks, notably quarterback Joey
Harrington and wide receiver Charles Rogers at No. 2 and No. 3 in 2002
and 2003, respectively.

Millen was so unpopular in Detroit that fans honked their horns as
they drove by the Lions’ facility to celebrate when the firing was
announced.

The problem, though, is that while Millen is gone, Ford remains.
Unless he sells the team, the situation might remain almost hopeless
because Ford shows no sign of knowing how to pick the right people.

Instead of hiring Millen, Ford could have promoted Kevin Colbert, who
was on the Lions’ staff in 2000 when the Pittsburgh Steelers hired
him. All Colbert did was build the Steelers’ 2005 Super Bowl
championship team.

In the interim, Tom Lewand, chief operating officer, will run the
business side, and Martin Mayhew, the team’s assistant general
manager, will run the football side.

Lewand and Mayhew tried to put a positive spin on the situation and
said they weren’t giving up on this season. But the odds are that the
Fords will clean house at the end of the year and bring in a big name
like Bill Cowher to give the team some credibility.

Ford bought the team in 1964. The Lions have yet to win a title during
his tenure. They won three championships in the 1950s before he bought
them.

Lane Kiffin, who’s the Oakland Raiders’ coach on a week-to-week basis,
survived last week’s loss in Buffalo, but it’s only a matter of time
before ownerAl Davis fires him. Meanwhile, the Raiders continue to be
a soap opera.

In the latest episode, team official John Herrera got into a
confrontation with San Jose Mercury News columnist Tim Kawakami during
a Kiffin news conference.

When Kawakami mentioned at the news conference that the Raiders were
distributing an anti-Kiffin column to reporters, Herrara started
screaming that the columnist was a liar and interrupted the news
conference. Cameras were rolling, and a clip of the incident is all
over the Internet.

Kawakami is no stranger to the madness surrounding the Raiders. When
Kiffin was hired, Kawakami questioned the coach’s lack of experience.
So Davis asked Kawakami who Deng Xiaoping was. Kawakami was puzzled
about how that was relevant. But when Davis pressed the matter,
Kawakami said he was the General Secretary of the Chinese government
during the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Davis replied: “But what can you tell me about him other than that?
See? You don’t even know anything about your own culture.”

When a team makes a mistake signing a free agent, officials don’t tend
to blame themselves for a bad signing. They blame the player for not
performing up to expectations.

The latest example is Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland, who publicly
knocked former Jaguars wide receiver Ernest Wilford last week.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Ireland said, “We
actually need him [Wilford] to step up more. Yeah, I’m disappointed,
to be honest with you.”

The Dolphins believed Wilford would be a starter and gave him $6
million in guaranteed money, but he was demoted after dropping passes
during the preseason and has one catch for 15 yards.

Although Wilford wasn’t noted for dropping passes with the Jaguars, he
doesn’t have the speed to be a big-play receiver, and the Jaguars
weren’t willing to pay him what the Dolphins did. Since Jacksonville
had plenty of salary-cap room, that should have been a red flag for
Miami.

Since the St. Louis Rams are 0-3 this season and 3-16 over the last
two years, it’s not surprising that coach Scott Linehanbenched Marc
Bulgerfor Trent Green. It’s a panic move, but Linehan is in danger of
losing his job.

Running backSteven Jackson said on his radio show, “He’s [Bulger] our
general,” and the team shouldn’t bench him after giving him a $65
million contract extension before the 2007 season.

Another player who does is wide receiver Torry Holt, who said he was
“shocked” by the move and said he apologized to Bulger because the
receivers didn’t do more for him.

Bulger declined to comment, but he doesn’t have to say anything.
Things can’t get much worse for the Rams.

“I can’t think of a worse night I had after a ballgame since the loss
in Foxborough in ’03.” – Indianapolis Colts GM Bill Polian complaining
about the officials’ calls during a loss to the Jaguars last Sunday.

Follow Times-Union sports editor Chet Fussman through a typical day in
the craziness of the sports department.

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