The Giants Win the Pennant. Again. Again.

Do you remember when the Giants didn't win the pennant 3 times in 5 years?

Me either.

I Pick Football Games, Week 7 2014

Last week is here.

23-39

Hawaii +5 SD St loss
Miami +2 NIU loss
akron -3 Ohio loss
Iowa +4.5 Maryland loss
GT -2.5 UNC loss
WMich +1 BGSU win
SMiss +10 NTex win
WKy -6.5 FAU loss
Iowa St +2.5 Tex loss
2-7
25-46


16-21

Jets +9.5 NE win
Titans +5.5 Wash
Jags +5.5 Cle win
Cin +3 Ind loss
Mia +3 Chi win
4-1
20-22

The 49 Greatest San Francisco 49ers Ever.

Probably, there should be a list of the 49 greatest San Francisco 49ers of all time.

The games played is regular and post season as a 49er. List is through 2019.

Let's start with the ten who just missed, were the gold rush to have occurred in 1859 this group would have made the list.

#59 John Ayers G 1977-86 157 games
Starter at left guard for the first 2 Super Bowl Champions

#58 Bubba Paris T 1983-90 130 games
Starter at left tackle for 3 Super Bowl Champions.

#57 Ray Brown G 1996-01 102 games
Split career pretty evenly between Niners and Redskins, 6 year starter at left guard for those Mariucci clubs.

#56 Ricky Watters RB 1992-94  50 games
I originally thought 100 games would make a good minimum, but that cuts off too many who should be considered, including Watters, who scored 32 touchdowns in his 50 games as a 49er.

#55 Tim McDonald S 1993-99 123 games
Played more games, and not by a little bit, as a Niner than a Cardinal, although probably more impactful for Cardinal history.  Starter for the 5th Super Bowl Champion

#54 Don Griffin CB 1986-93 128 games
Starter for almost his entire NFL career, including the back to back Niner Super Bowl Champions.

#53 Derrick Deese T 1994-03 146 games
Starter at left tackle for a half dozen years with the Mariucci clubs.

#52 Forrest Blue C 1968-74 101 games
Starter at center for a half dozen years for the early 70s Niners.

#51 Bruce Bosley C/G 1956-68 164 games
Starter in the interior line for a decade.

#50 Tommy Hart DE 1968-77 146 games
Defensive end starter throughout the 70s; those early 70s Niners were good all around clubs

The ten who just missed are down, here are the 49 greatest 49ers ever.

#49 Fred Quillan C 1978-87 153 games
8 season starter at the pivot, including the first two Super Bowl teams, career 49er.

#48 Ken Willard FB 1965-73 130 games
9 year starter, greatest fullback in 49er history.

#47 Dwaine Board DE 1979-88 128 games
Starter at right defensive end for the first two Niners Super Bowl Champions; double digit sacks three straight years.

#46 Merton Hanks S 1991-98 137 games
32 picks as a 49er, starter for the 5th Super Bowl Champion next to Tim McDonald.

#45 Dwight Hicks S 1979-85 105 games
34 picks as a 49er, starter for the first 2 Super Bowl Champion teams.

#44 Guy McIntyre G 1984-93 160 games
Six seasons as a starter at left guard, 3 SB rings, starter for the back to back teams

#43 Billy Wilson WR 1951-60 101 games
50 touchdowns for this career Niner.

#42 Abe Woodson KR/PR 1958-64 89 games
One of the great return men in NFL history.

#41. Jeff Garcia QB 1999-03 77 games
For a stretch of a couple of years, comparable regular seasons with any QB who has ever worn Niners uniform.

#40 Garrison Hearst RB 1997-03 79 games
Averaged 4.7 yards a carry and scored 27 touchdowns as a Niner.

#39 Ken Norton ILB 1994-00 122 games
Seven year starter, including the 5th Super Bowl Champion; played more games as a Niner than as a Cowboy.

#38 Michael Carter DT 1984-92 133 games
Three SB rings, dominant nose tackle on the third SB winner.

#37 Dana Stubblefield DT 1993-97, 01-02 121 games
One of the most dominant players in league during his first stint as a Niner, starter for 5th Super Bowl Champion team.

#36 Eric Wright CB 1981-90 118 games
2 time Super Bowl starter, dominant corner for the second World Champion team.

#35 Navorro Bowman LB 2010-2017 97 games
Arguably the best linebacker in football in his mid 20s, along with Willis had Lambert/Ham level of production for brief time.

#34 Len Rohde T 1960-74 213 games
Career Niner, starter at left tackle for a dozen seasons.

#33 Matt Hazeltine OLB 1955-70 179 games
Dozen year Niner starter.

#32 Charlie Krueger DT 1959-73 203 games
13 year starter, career Niner.

#31 Brent Jones TE 1987-97 163 games
Career Niner, starter for three Super Bowl Champions.  Greatest TE in 49er history.

#30 Keena Turner OLB 1980-90 169 games
Career Niner, starter for three Super Bowl Champions.

#29 Keith Fahnhorst T 1974-87 203 games
Career Niner, 10 year starter at RT, started for the first two SB teams,

#28 Jesse Sapolu C/G 1983-97 192 games
9 year starter, including 2 SB teams.  Greatest center in Niner history.

#27 Steve Wallace T 1986-96 181 games
8 year starter at LT, including 2 SB teams.

#26 YA Tittle QB 1951-60 114 games
A Hall of Famer, but wouldn't be for just the 6 seasons as a Niner starter.  Only 2 seasons where he threw more scores than picks as a Niner. Led league in TD passes in '55 and completion percentage in '57.

#25 Justin Smith DE/DT 2008-2014  118 games
Seven year starter, 43.5 sacks as a Niner, dominant force on the line.

#24 Frankie Albert QB QB 1946-52 93 games
Niners first QB, led league in completion percentage twice, touchdown passes twice, quarterback rating twice.

#23 John Taylor WR 1987-94 138 games
Caught game winning score for third SB win.  52 career TDs.

#22 Joe Staley T 2007-19 197 games 
A starter for his entire 11 Niner career, at left tackle after his rookie season.

#21 Harris Barton T 1987-96 157 games
Career Niner, 10 year starter at right tackle, starter for 3 SB Champions

#20 Gene Washington WR 1969-87 129 games
9 year Niner starter, 60 TDs.

#19 Dwight Clark WR 1979-87 144 games
Scored biggest TD in NFL history.  51 career TDs.

#18 John Brodie QB 1957-73 206 games
Career Niner, a decade as the starter, led league in completion percentage 3 times, yards 3 times, touchdowns twice - but had more career picks than touchdowns.

#17. Hugh McElhenny RB 1952-64 94 games
Hall of Famer, 52 touchdowns, 4.9 yards/carry for his Niner career.

#16 Frank Gore RB 2005-2014  156 games
80 touchdowns (rushing/receiving/regular and playoffs) 4.5 regular season yards per carry

#15 Charles Haley DE/OLB 1986-91, 98-99 116 games
Starter for the back to back SB Champs, 74 sacks for the Niners.

#14 Randy Cross G/C 1976-88 198 games
Starter for first three Niner SB teams; best interior offensive lineman in Niner history.

#13 Bob St. Clair T 1953-63 120 games
Hall of Fame career Niner, best offensive lineman in Niner history.

#12 Dave Wilcox OLB 1964-74 158 games
Career Niner, Hall of Fame starter for virtually his entire career.

#11 Bryant Young DT 1994-07 219 games
Career Niner, started every one of those 219 games.  92.5 sacks.

#10 Terrell Owens WR 1996-03 130 games
85 touchdowns, led league twice in six years as Niner starter.

#9 Patrick Willis ILB 2007-2014 120 games
Starter in every game he played in his Niner career, one of the best defensive players in league virtually since day 1.

#8 Roger Craig RB 1983-90 137 games
82 touchdowns, starter for 3 Super Bowl Champions, 3 TDs in Niners second SB win.

#7 Jimmy Johnson CB 1961-76 218 games
Hall of Fame career Niner. starter at left corner for 13 years, 47 picks

#6 Joe Perry RB 1948-60, 63 159 games
83 career touchdowns, 5 yards a carry for a Hall of Fame career.  Led league in touchdowns 3 times, yards rushing 3 times, yards/carry once.  Greatest running back in Niner history.

#5 Leo Nomellini DT 1950-63 175 games
Career Niner, Hall of Famer, 13 year starter, one of the greatest interior defensive linemen of all time.

#4 Ronnie Lott S/CB 1981-90 143 games
59 picks, starter for full decade long Niner career, including first 4 Super Bowl teams.

#3 Steve Young QB 1987-99 172 games
286 TDs, passing+rushing,  157 starts as a Niner.  Led league in completion percentage 4 times, touchdowns 4 times, quarterback rating six times.  6 TD passes in 5th SB win.

#2 Joe Montana QB 1979-92 186 games
305 TDs, passing+rushing, 158 starts as a Niner. Led league in completion percentage 5 times, touchdowns twice, quarterback rating twice.  4 Super Bowl wins, 13 TD pass+rush 0 Int.

#1. Jerry Rice WR 1985-00 261 games
14 year starter, 206 touchdowns, Led league in touchdown receptions six times.  33 super Bowl receptions, 7 TDs. Greatest football player who ever lived.

2014 NLCS Prediction

I turned 44 a couple of weeks ago; this is not a sentence I've written too many times in my life:

The San Francisco Giants are going to the World Series.

How certain am I?  Not very, say 55/45, but the Giants are the better club.  Better pythag in the regular season, better bats, Wainwright's questionable health maybe means better starting pitching, maybe a deeper pen, a better manager for what limited value that holds.

Those advantages are all fairly small, the Giants have a dead spot at the top of the lineup, were Wainwright 100% that would give the Cards both the best starter and reliever in the series, the Cardinals have home field advantage (is there going to be a Michael Brown protest inside the stadium? Will outside protests be covered by Fox?).

But the Giants, not by a huge margin, but its a non zero one, are better.  So I'll pick them.

Giants in 7.

Okay, not 7, if it's 7, that means Game 7 is the same time as Niners/Broncos, and I don't have the bandwidth for that.

Giants in 6.

2014 ALCS Pick

Baltimore over Kansas City in 6

I picked the Orioles to win the pennant when the postseason began, they and the Angels had pretty healthy pythagorean advantages over the rest of the AL field, both have enough injury issues to mitigate those gaps; enough that while I picked the Angels to beat the Royals, it was not with any confidence.  Had Oakland won the knockout game, I would have gone with the A's.

The Orioles just have too much of an offensive advantage to pick against; this is a team that hits the ball against a team that doesn't.  They've both got good defenses, good bullpens, the Orioles have a rotation advantage but the Royals have the best single starter.  Managers only really matter on the margins, but we've got margins here, Baltimore's got maybe the best manager in the game and the Royals probably the worst.

I'm for Kansas City; as a Giants fan, I'd definitely rather play them.  But as I did before the postseason began, I'm picking the Orioles to win the pennant.