Well the SF Giants are watching the playoffs, the formerly top-10 Cal football has been exposed, and the Warriors have injured their best player. It must be October. But there are some almost exciting things happening in the Bay Area, including the rise of Mike Singletary’s 49ers and pleasantly pleasant Stanford football resurgence. You guys I’m sure have a lot of questions, and I have lot of half-thought out answers.

You watch more Giants baseball than anyone else I know.  What is the REAL cause of the Giants demise down the stretch in the playoff race?

Bruce B. – Sausalito, CA

 Well there are myriad of reasons the Giants didn’t make the playoffs, with the most obvious being that no team with Rich Aurilia and Fred Lewis should be allowed in the playoffs.  But the real reason, the secret reason Giant fans don’t want to talk about, is … Pablo Sandoval.  That’s right, everyone’s favorite panda is the real reason the Giants didn’t make the playoffs.  In the stretch run of August and September, Sandoval lost the ability to hit with runners on.  He still hit for average and hit plenty of solo homers, but he made an out almost every time a runner was on.  It was like he was doing a Fred Lewis impression or something.  Now I don’t blame the Panda, as he has carried the Giants offensively for the better part of the year and is still a very young, great, developing player, but he had the chance to save the Giants season on more than one occasion, and he didn’t.  I mean when any team is behind, all you can do is try to get runners on with your best hitter up, and the Giants did that more than one would think.  Oh and on a more general level, it would have been better if ownership could construct a lineup with MAJOR LEAGUE HITTERS.  We’ll get’em next year Pablo, keep ya head up.

Who was your favorite Giant this year?

Matt C. – Marin, CA

Most people will say either Tim Lincecum or Pablo Sandoval, and a few will say Matt Cain.  But I will go off (I mean ‘on’) the beaten path and say Tim Lincecum.  He’s baseballs’ best bargain at $650K, and he looks like the freshman pitcher in ‘Dazed and Confused’ (BTW loved Ben Affleck in this and ‘Mallrats’.  Love the douchey Affleck).  I was there for the Lincecum 15 strikeout game against the Pirates.  Most exciting game I’ve ever been to.  It’s amazing to see a crowd go from ‘enjoying a baseball game’ to ‘I’m seeing something special’.  The electricity was palpable, people were going crazy after strikeouts in the sixth inning.  We were high-fiving after every strike thrown.  The pure ‘baseball’ moments he provides can’t be matched in other sports.  The Giants pitching performances have been magical this year with the Randy Johnson 300^th win, the Sanchez no-hitter, the Cain and Zito lockdown shut-outs.  And I want to give some side-dap to Jeremy Affeldt, the best stopper reliever in the league.  He brought double-plays like Lady Gaga brings strange outfits.

I love, love, love Stanford football, but don’t live in the area any more.  I heard you went to UCLA-Stanford this last weekend.  How does Stanford look?

M. Madsen – Santa Monica, CA

In a word, the Stanford Cardinal is ‘not good’.  They don’t suck like the UCLA team they beat, but they aren’t good.  They had a good game plan, and were aided by an injury to UCLA’s best secondary defender, and they ran at will.  But they aren’t good.  If you look at the stats you’ll see that Stanford running back Toby Gerehart obliterated the UCLA defense and that the Bruins generally had no answer.  But as a fan of the opposing team, I was noticeably more impressed with freshman quarterback Andrew Luck, who reminded me of young Jake Locker from a Washington a few years ago.  He was mobile, athletic, and made crisp, smart throws.  I’m not sure he’ll be a great pro, but he looks like a guy who can thrive in college.  Stanford is now 3-0 in the PAC-10 and 4-1 overall.  I’m not feeling the Rose Bowl for Stanford, but a second or third place finish isn’t out of the question, as they haven’t played USC, Cal, Oregon, or Oregon State yet.  Stanford has gotten better under Jim Harbaugh, so I would feel ok about them if I was a fan.  Better than I would feel about Cal.

*A quick side note:  My buddy and I took the Caltrain to the special ‘Stanford’ stop in Palo Alto for the game.  There was a gentleman in a wheel chair who was not allowed to get off the train here because there was no wheelchair access.  THAT IS AN OUTRAGE!  Instead they have barely a station and part of it is like unpaved black-toppish thing that had a three-foot dropoff from the train (no step).  Me and my friend basically had to do Jack Bauer-style jumps to even get off of the train there at Stanford.  So if anyone out there needs a Civil Rights cause, here ya go.  Get on it.

** You can get general admission seats for $12.  Great deal.  You can sit really, really close to the field in the end zone.

With the injury to Darren MacFadden, ARE the Raiders the worst team in the NFL?

J. Gruden – Tampa, FL

Are they the worst franchise in football?  No question.  They have a crazy and possibly senile owner, a terrible (and violent) head coach, a fat quarterback with a bad haircut, an injured star running back, young receivers who can’t catch, a shaky offensive line (that actually misses Robert Gallery), a dangerous and decrepit stadium, blacked-out home games, no hope for the present or the future, no first round draft pick next year, no HBO in the locker room, they scored three points per game against Oregon and USC in the last two weeks, and have the ugliest girls in the Pac-10 (wait I think I got off , track somewhere).  But are the Raiders the actual worst team in the league?  No I think Raiders on field product is better than the Bucaneers and the Rams, who started former Cal star QB Kyle Boeller against the 49ers last week.  And now we’ve come full circle.  Here’s my rating system on terribleness.  Would I be surprised if the Raiders went to Tampa and beat them?  No.  Would I be surprised if Tampa came to Oakland and beat the Raiders?  Barely.  Would I be surprised if the Rams beat anyone?  Yes, yes I would.

Are the 49ers for rizzle?

T. Short – Oakland, CA

First of all, rizzle = real (to all my non-street savvy readers).  Against my better judgment, I’m a believer.  They really need to improve their offensive line, but yah they have some veteran leadership, a smart, practical quarterback, disciplinarian head coach, legitimate defensive stars, and non-blacked out games.  I doubt they’ll win the Superbowl, but they look like a competitive playoff team who will greatly benefit from the addition of Michael Crabtree.  Oh and I think there’s a decent chance Vernon Davis turns the ‘corner’ this year.  I’ve been pleased with his play thus far.

Give me a reason to watch the Warriors this year.  I’m feeling apathetic towards them.

D. Nelson – Piedmont, CA

There are very few reasons to root for the Warriors (2 Anthony’s and a Curry), but more than a few reasons to watch.

1.        What will Stephen Jackson do this year to outshine Legerrette Blount’s punch after the Oregon-Boise game?

2.       How many opposing players will put up 50 points on the Warriors?  My over under is 8.

3.       They are the league’s skinniest team.  You can feel buff while watching them.  Or you can subtly make your girlfriend feel fat (but not in a way that gets you in trouble).  So it’s a win-win.

4.       The development of the Anthony’s. 

5.       You really, really miss Del Curry.

6.       Jamal Crawford is gone.

7.       Basketball fundamentals killed your father and you like to watch the Warriors get revenge on them.

Well I’m going on vacation next week, so I’ll leave with my final thoughts on the A’s, even though no one asked about them.  I love Raj Davis, Trevor Cahill, and Brett Anderson.  They have the feel of a team two years behind the Giants, but with less money and fans, but smarter management.  Hope everyone is enjoying baseball playoffs.  I’m picking Cards over Yanks this year.