WEDNESDAY:

GUESTS:

STEVE YOUNG 5 PM

HENRY SHULMAN AND ANN KILLION 6 PM


TOPICS:

-HOF voting - Your in or out one vote.....stats don't change ....and it's not about stats--it should be really hard to get in --Raines on 9th try -what changed?  - First ballott guys are the only HOFers

in: Bonds, Clemens, I-Rod and Hoffman -Bagwell and Raines were really good not HOF -Shound;t need to check the numbers for HOFers...

-Shanhan wants power and it looks like he'll be the Belichick of the 49ers ---Sjanny, the GM and Jed and Parag --Parag has been a pain, cost them McDaniels.... He diodn't like the order apparently...

-Warriors:
*Russ will get his and lose...
*What if the Durant, Harden, Westbrook, Ibaka Thunder




HALL OF FAME VOTING: 

-Listenng to someone make the case for Billy Wagner made me puke......You shouldn't have to look at ERTA+ and all that crap......Tell em the name---I'll tell you if he's in and only the first ballott guys are Hall of Famers....One year ---In or out? 

-Did stats chnage after they retired? 
-You ethier are or are not and the first ballott guys are the real Hall of Famers....It isn't the Hall of really good....
-It should be near impossoibel to get in....

This year: Bonds and Clemens, Ivan Rodriguez (First timer, will make it next year) , Trvor Hoffman... Edgar Martine ---DH is a postion just like K and P in football,...and he's maybe 2nd best behind Ortiz...that's it..--Don't care about the numbers...5 years left for Bonds and Clemens--Not that Piazza and Selig are in --they should be in --it's a joke 

-Raines is on his 10th year --Did his stats chnage? 
-Bagwell went 55-59% for 4 years, 71% last year - What changed? (He was a rumored steroid guy) 
-Vlad Gurerero --Not a hall of famer...
-=Manny Ramierez only 24% ---He's a Hall fo Famer...Quirky but HOF...





49ERS: MARATHE, NOT JED IS THE ISSUE ---WASN'T THIS GUY DEMOTED NOT LONG AGO?

-HOW WILL IT BE SET UP? SOUNDS LIKE 
-Jed
-Kyle 
-GM
-Marathe

Marathe reportedly killed McDaniels interest when it became claer pecking order was behinf Jed AND Marathe.....

-Only way they get Shanhan is if he's the captain of the ship, he has final say on personel matters

Not long ago, the interest of Kyle Shanahan in the head-coaching job in San Francisco was lukewarm at best. It has heated up considerably this week.

Shanahan’s spike in interest in the job resulted from the lack of interest that multiple others had, either in coaching the team or in taking the G.M. job.

It began with Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard. Regarded as the team’s first, second, and third choice for the job, Ballard wasn’t interested. He asked the team to deny the request for permission to interview him for the job, apparently in order to avoid the impression that he generally isn’t interested in an opportunity for advancement.

Next came Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, who didn’t want the job, either. Other candidates for the G.M. job either declined an invitation to interview or withdrew after interviewing.

The decision of Ballard and Caserio to pass on the job apparently contributed to the shift in agenda from hiring a G.M. first to hiring a coach and G.M. who will work together well. As potential members of a tag team began to bow out (starting most prominently with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels), that plan changed as well. When Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable withdrew, it left Shanahan as the only candidate.

Shanahan will benefit from that situation, significantly. He’s expected to be the highest-paid first time head coach in league history, and he’s expected to have final say over the roster and the draft. Next, he’ll be directly involved in the General Manager, which makes Shanahan the clear-cut captain of the S.S. 49er.

So how did it get to this point? Despite the widespread popular belief that the 49ers are currently the most dysfunctional team in football, the thinking in league circles is that, with some tweaks, the G.M. and coaching jobs could be desirable. The impediment to attracting their preferred candidates isn’t owner Jed York; apparently, it’s Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Football Operations Paraag Marathe.

Marathe is, as a practical matter, the Russ Brandon of the 49ers. The only difference is that the 49ers make no secret of Marathe’s influence over the football operations.

From his online bio: “On the team side, Marathe reports directly to 49ers CEO Jed York and has a significant role in major strategic decisions for the club as Chief Strategy Officer. He also continues in his long-respected role as the team’s chief contract negotiator and salary cap architect, while overseeing the team’s football analytics department.”

Put simply, Marathe has influence, along with the ear of ownership. He’s been there for 16 years, and he has transcended the bubble of accountability in which coaches and General Managers reside. And that’s precisely the kind of dynamic coaches and General Managers try to avoid.

Shanahan is embracing it because, as his final package will demonstrate, he leveraged the team’s desperation to his full advantage. Moving forward, however, it’s an elephant in the room that may be serving as an oversized anchor.

SILVER ON HOW SHANHAN BECAME 49ERS GUY: 

The 49ers are expected to offer Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan their vacant head coaching job, and Shanahan is almost certain to accept the position, according to sources familiar with both parties' intentions. Because of NFL rules, the two sides cannot formally agree to a deal until after the Falcons' season is over, but barring an unforeseen change of heart on either side, Shanahan will eventually be signed to a multi-year contract.

Shanahan, according to sources, will get to help pick the 49ers' next general manager, with Green Bay Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst the leading candidate.

The situation played out over the last several days, as 49ers CEO Jed York traveled to Seattle to interview candidates for the team's coach and GM vacancies. On Sunday, the day after the Falcons defeated the Seahawks in a divisional-round playoff game, York interviewed Seattle offensive line coach Tom Cable for the coaching position.

The next morning, news broke that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels -- considered one of the top remaining candidates, along with Shanahan and Cable -- had pulled his name out of contention. As York conducted back-to-back interviews Monday with Trent Kirchner and Scott Fitterer, the Seahawks' co-directors of player personnel, he felt increased urgency to reach out to Shanahan and convey his intention to offer him the job.

That essentially short-circuited the candidacy of Cable, who after learning early Tuesday of the Niners' intention to hire Shanahan -- and the coach's apparent willingness to accept the position -- prepared to pull his name from contention. However, Cable received a phone call Tuesday afternoon from 49ers owner Denise DeBartolo York, Jed's mother, who spent an hour interviewing him for the head-coaching position.

By that time, Kirchner had already withdrawn from consideration from the GM position -- because he had also learned of the 49ers' impending deal with Shanahan. Kirchner strongly preferred to work with Cable as his head coach, a view shared by Fitterer and one other prospective general manager candidate initially sought by the 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard. The interview with Ballard never happened because the Chiefs reportedly blocked it; a source says the team gave Ballard a salary increase in response.

Cable, according to sources, called Jed York on Tuesday and told him he was no longer a candidate -- because, like Kirchner, he had become convinced that a 49ers/Shanahan deal was a foregone conclusion.

Another person who hoped to work with Cable was prospective defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, who was fired as the Jacksonville Jaguars' head coach in December. Bradley, who is also being courted by newly hired Los Angeles Chargers coach Anthony Lynn for the team's vacant defensive coordinator position, was waiting to see whether Cable would get the 49ers job. After Cable pulled out, the 49ers reached out to Bradley to see if he had interest in coming to San Francisco as Shanahan's defensive coordinator, but he rebuffed the team's advances.

Once the Falcons' season ends -- either after Sunday's NFC championship Game against the Packers at the Georgia Dome, or after Super Bowl LI in Houston two weeks later -- the 49ers will be free to sign Shanahan, and he'll presumably join them in conducting second interviews with some of the remaining general-manager candidates.

Along with Gutekunst, Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf and Minnesota Vikings assistant general manager George Paton are viewed as the most likely candidates to pair with Shanahan, according to a source familiar with the 49ers' thinking. The 49ers have also interviewed ESPN television analyst Louis Riddick and Arizona Cardinals vice president of personnel Terry McDonough. Indianapolis Colts vice president of football operations Jimmy Raye III and Carolina Panthers assistant general manager Brandon Beane.

GM update: 

pecifically, the Niners will not invite Panthers assistant GM Brandon Beane, Seahawks co-director of player personnel Scott Fitterer, Colts vice president of football operations Jimmy Raye III or ESPN analyst Louis Riddick back for second interviews, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).

Even before San Francisco eliminated those four from its GM mix, each seemingly had slim odds to land the role. Packers director of college scouting Brian Gutekunst emerged as the favorite earlier this week, and the Niners will also reportedly hold second meetings with Green Bay director of football operations Eliot Wolf and Vikings assistant GM George Paton next week. Those interviews will take place in Atlanta, where Kyle Shanahan coaches. The current Falcons offensive coordinator is the only candidate left for the 49ers’ head coaching position, and he’s set to help the team’s management pick a GM.

Along with Gutekunst, Wolf and Paton, Cardinals vice president of player personnel Terry McDonough is still in play, per Barrows. However, the 49ers have not yet requested another sitdown with him.

The fact that Kyle Shanahan is the only head coaching possibility remaining in the 49ers’ once-deep pool of candidates gives him significant leverage, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Along with helping the 49ers pick their next general manager, which he’ll do next week, Shanahan is expected to become the highest-paid rookie head coach of all-time, according to Florio. Moreover, Shanahan – not his GM – will likely have final say over the roster and draft in San Francisco.

One problem the 49ers have encountered during their head coaching search is the amount of influence that CEO Jed York’s right-hand man, Paraag Marathe, has over football matters, relays Florio. While it won’t bother Shanahan enough to avoid taking the job, Marathe’s presence could become an issue down the line, Florio suggests.

In the improbable event Shanahan turns the Niners down, it would be catastrophic for a franchise whose reputation has been in serious decline since it parted with Jim Harbaugh a couple years ago, observes CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora. The 49ers have fired their post-Harbaugh head coaches, Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly, after one season apiece and a combined 7-25 record. And those two were not coveted around the NFL when the 49ers hired them. Rather, the team had to settle in each case, and things could get even worse this year if Shanahan stays in Atlanta and San Fran has to go back to the drawing board as February approaches.

WARRIORS: 

-Thunder tonight -- Ho HUm....

Slaters's peice on Durant -Westbrook (Wed), Harden (Fri) and Ibaka (Sunday) .....

Could the trio have really stayed together? Could it have financially worked? In their early 20s, could all three have been willing to absorb all the potential sacrifices, from the endorsements to the shots to the money? Could Westbrook and Harden, who are 1-2 in the NBA in time of possession per game — 9.0 minutes for Harden, 8.7 for Westbrook — have shared the load? Could Durant, one of the most gifted scorers in history, still have gotten his deserved chunk of the pie? Could a 27-year-old James Harden still be satisfied in a Sixth Man role? Could all that have really worked?

“I think he’d have stayed in that role. I think so,” Durant said. “He’d have still been a really great player. You look at it, a lot of people wouldn’t have looked at him as a Sixth Man. He’d have been better. I think he’d have been better. Obviously I’m sure he loves what he’s doing now, but if we would’ve won a championship, I think the perception of him would’ve just been as a great player. ‘He’s the heart, he’s what makes us go.’ That’s what his label would’ve been, instead of just Sixth Man. He would’ve probably been the best Sixth Man that ever was.”

Durant paused, looking frustrated at himself for even entertaining the question.

“But don’t even worry about that,” he said. “I don’t even want to talk about that.”

These days, Durant tries to stay in the present. He focuses on the Warriors and says he doesn’t watch much basketball. But he’ll always carry around his past. Three reminders come this week. Durant’s Warriors face Westbrook’s Thunder on Wednesday, Harden’s Rockets on Friday and Ibaka’s Magic on Sunday.

Westbrook arrives averaging an Oscar Robertson like triple-double: 30.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 10.3 assists. Harden’s season has been equally as eye-popping: 28.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 11.7 assists. Even for a guy who tries to limit his basketball intake and push past his past, it’s hard for Durant to ignore.

“I just look at the numbers, man,” Durant said. “I see it here and there. This (stuff) is ridiculous.”