GameDay: The View From The Booth - 8/23/11
CBS 5 Sports Director Dennis O'Donnell hosts "Gameday" every Sunday night at 11:30pm and offers his unique sports analysis here.
San Francisco (CBS 5) – We had a pretty good view of the mayhem taking place during Saturday night's game, or was it MMA at Candlestick? I'm still not sure. At one point, one of our cameramen remarked that he could find a fight at any moment from his shooting position. The production truck showed us video we shot of one of the longer fights. Fifteen rounds by my count.
2 Shot, 1 Beaten At 49ers-Raiders Game
Of course, then comes the Monday morning quarterbacks. In the aftermath of the tragedy at Dodger Stadium I was less critical of law enforcement, or lack thereof, because you can catch some of the criminals some of the time, but you can't catch all them all of the time.
On Gameday last night I recommended three fixes to the senseless violence:
1. Cancel the Oakland Raiders vs San Francisco 49ers match up
2. Disallow 49ers/Raiders attire (I could never figure out the "colors" thing. "Hey, you're wearing red and gold, or silver and black... that deserves 4 bullets"
3. No alcohol, period.
49ers To Curtail Tailgating; Preseason Game vs. Raiders May Be Dropped
Other views from the perch: At one point in a commercial break I commented to my broadcast partner Tim Ryan to take a glance at Taylor Mays whose uniform looked like it just came out of the wash. He was clearly being held out of the game because he was about to be traded. We found out today he's headed to Cincinnati for a late round pick. Last year's coaches told me Mays struggled in a disciplined coverage scheme. At USC, he could basically roam free and look for someone's head to remove. He never adjusted to the NFL's zone coverage, at least with the 49ers. Last year's D-Coordinator was critical of head coach Mike Singletary who threw Mays into the starting line-up. But shortly after the season, he said it was immature to give up on Mays, saying it takes 3 years to develop. Well, now Cincinnati only has to wait two.
The young QB: He's smart, stands tall in the pocket, pickin' up the game plan quickly. But he comes from a spread offense, so he's got to learn the pro style.
If you think I'm talking about Colin Kaepernick, I'm actually recalling what they said about Alex Smith as a rookie out of Utah. Curb your enthusiasm. When I suggested to Tim Ryan that the 49ers throw in some wildcat formations for Kaepernick during the regular season, (he ran for 4,000 yards in college) Ryan pointed out that Kaepernick is too tall, runs to high, and that he'd get killed.
Overall: Still not convinced on the offense, but the "D" looks NFL ready. THEY DID STOP DREW BREES! Then, of course, the Raiders starters. And Fangio hasn't unleashed the dogs. Who will thrive? Donte Whitner.
Did you just hear that? The Giants just backed into my car on their way to first place.
See u on TV.
