By PHIL BARBER
We, collectively, will write about the Harbaugh brothers until your eyes develop cataracts and you beg us to stop this week. But I want to add one observation, because until today, I had never interviewed Ravens coach John Harbaugh in person.
The popular perception is that Jim is the prickly brother (especially when dealing with the media), while John is cuddlier and more affable. Watching John at the podium at Media Day this afternoon, the gap was even larger than I expected.
To be fair, I did not sit in on Jim Harbaugh’s session at the Superdome. Perhaps he was Good Jim today, and had the scribes eating out of his hand. We haven’t seen him like that much lately, though. He has been terse and combative and generally uncooperative.
John Harbaugh was the complete opposite.
Someone asked him about his faith in God, and he talked of it openly. Someone asked him about his parents, Jack and Jackie, a subject that has been trampled to dust, and he worked in a sound bite: “Who’s got it better than Jack and Jackie Harbaugh?” Someone asked him about family meals at the Harbaugh home, and he was expansive. (Even then, the brothers were fighting over a bowl.)
Here’s a good measure of John Harbaugh. After he had labored at the podium for perhaps 40 minutes, a Japanese crew pushed forward and asked Harbaugh how meaningful it was to face his brother in the Super Bowl. It’s a question he has probably addressed 40 times, in one shape or another, over the past couple of weeks.
Here’s his answer: “It’s gonna be incredible facing each other on opposing sidelines. I think anybody that has a brother would understand this. I don’t care what country you’re from, what culture you’re from. Anybody that competes against their brother probably understands exactly what we’re gonna be going through. And I would like to add, my daughter at St. Paul’s Girls School in Baltimore, Maryland, is taking Japanese. She’s been taking Japanese since her first grade year. So we are planning a trip to Tokyo, and she will be right there by our side, doing all the talking for us.”
The Japanese crew then requested that Harbaugh look at the camera and tell the hosts, who had not arrived in New Orleans yet, to get their butts over here. “The two celebrity hosts?” he asked. “What are you waiting for? Hurry up. We’ve got to talk some Japanese.”
Baltimore got the better talker. Sunday, we’ll find out who got the better football coach.
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Bragging rights for the Super Bowl between brothers is the ultimate family prize. If the 49ers win the toss, take the ball in the endzone, and never look back. Grind them into submission.
3 and out first series easy.
First, as they say on ESPN that I no longer have any interest in. Older and experienced will win Superbowls more then the grasshopper that Jim Harbaugh is. CK has to experience the difficulty it is to not get a Superbowl or he’ll have a swell head that he won’t want another one. But odds this, this is like the Rams that lost to Tennessee then beat Tennessee, just like the 49ers lost to Bal and will probably win to ‘avenge’ themselves and break old poor Ray-Ray’s heart into a million pieces and drive people like myself to question why God does this.
No clue what you’re saying but if you’re a Niner fan – right on! ;)
I wanna know why your God hasn’t asked you to leave this forum Darren? I wanna know what we did to deserve this?
I wanna know why God hasn’t asked you 49ers fans to remember the old days when football was football with Walsh, Eddie D, Montana, and great players. The passes that were thrown were great. The 49ers haven’t passed in ages. No longer will we have 300 yard games. No longer will WRs be a contribution. Gore will be asked to run 30 times a game. WHen will the 49ers stop playing like a high school team?
First punishment and then reward Rocket… Guess he’s the punishment lol but,seriously Darren, GO AWAY!!!
That’s kind of misleading. We’ve never seen a Niner team with 300+ yards each game.
Montana and Young came close once. 1982 for Joe and 1995 for Steve. Their average per game was somewhere in the low 290s if I recall correctly. I just looked this up about a month ago – not some random fact I would normally remember. :P
Darren I think the VOICES are taking over good luck !!!!!!!!!!!!! SPECIAL K SUPERBOWL MVP mark it down !!!!!!
That’s OK, I never went to Disneyland and I can see why when they put up a picture of CK. Guess I’ll have to avoid that for a year more and wait for a better picture, like one of Russell Wilson or Tony Gonzalez if he stays in football, but if I were him, he should go to Green Bay.
Darren…
Bill Walsh revolutionized the game .. that is undisputed ..
Today .. Harbaugh, Roman, and … yes .. Colin Kaepernick,
has ALSO revolutionized the game … !!
I don’t understand why you cry about passing yardage .. or ..
the fact that the Niners “cheated” Alex .. and you don’t see the forest through the trees !
The most important stat in the game of football is …
the “W” ..!!
And it doesn’t matter HOW they achieve it !
Also … they’re not playing high school football, either ..
They’re playing 49er football !
S-o-o-o … either STFU .. and enjoy it .. (and quityerbitchin’)
or … GET A LIFE !
Darren,
You complain about the 9ers not throwing the ball like they did when Montana played. Check your history. Compare Montana’s carrer stats to CKs and you will be suprised. Montana averaged like 210 yards a game. Guess what CK averages more. Dont forget the rushing yards and TDs he makes. I’m not saying that CK is better than Montana but you are very confused. FYI, CK is leading the league in yards per attempt since he became the starter. He doesnt throw over 300 yards becasue he hasn’t been asked to. Also if you combing his rushing and passing yards agains GB in his very first playoff start he had a combined 450 total yards. Who complains when their QB has 450 yards of total offense?
How many High School teams do you know who have made it to Superbowl much less an NFC or AFC team for that matter?
Your analogy appears a bit skewed when you bring high school football into the vernacular. Like MWNiner alluded too. The job of quarterback is not given to the guy who is popular with the cheerleaders like in high school. Like any other business you hire the one that gets the job done.
I also feel for Alex because the breaks have not gone his way and do also believe he is a great player. The 49ers don’t need just the great players. As any other team they need the best man for the job. Right now it’s CK.
Who knows, CK may burn out for one reason or another and Alex will wind up the hero but for right now CK is the best.
If you really love the team you will wish them the best and not live in the past.
I just miss the old days of WCO. I don’t know what you call this, but it’s not WCO. It’s like seeing JT O Sullivan launching big passes or Shaun Hill that can’t throw to Troy Smith that don’t know what he’s doing. There were days Rice, Taylor, Streets and others caught the ball effectively. We need somebody other then Crabtree for now he’s going to get doubled up and V Davis has to stay and block so where is the no. 2 WR? I know and got a feeling the 49ers are going to win. But I still feel it’s going to be like 6 to 3. That’s just a terrible Superbowl to win like that, 6 to 3.
Darren
What is wrong with you? It’s a serious question. Are you really, really sad about something or are you a bit slow?
Surely you are aware that Kaep has the strongest arm in the league as well as leading the league in accuracy since he started 9 games ago. Surely you are aware that he accounted for 444 total yards and 4 TDs in the Packers game.
Do you know these stats? If you do, then why do you put up such ridiculous comments? Kaep is the best 49ers QB since Montana. Crabs is the best receiver since Rice. Vernon is the team’s best TE ever and Gore is the team’s all-time leading rusher.
So why, Darren, if you’re not dumb, if you’re not clinically “slow” do you insist on commenting with such ill-informed views. It is hard to take you seriously. Your posts seem intended simply to give rise to reactions in others. That’s not cool.
Any chance you might start commenting with any iota of reality? Any chance you might try to add something to the discussion, rather than just trying to get under people’s skin?
If you’re truly “slow,” then go to google and try learning some new ideas about the 49ers. Your ideas do not fit reality and they give rise to these suspicions about your ability to cope in a world populated by people of even average intelligence.
Mr. Everything, how can you sit back and tell me this is a perfect season? that’s like thinking your window is perfectly clean without the speck of dirt or fly stuff. I just prefer we pass more. I don’t like the running game. I know for a fact Craig, Waters, Hearst never ran themselves ragged each year. The number balanced: 1000 yard RB and a QB that threw 4000 yards a year. OK, maybe what I READ doesnt’ tell the whole story. Maybe a highlight of what CK did doesn’t tell the story either.
I can’t help but be reserved with the tattoos he has. Then he’s constantly evasive to the media. OK, maybe you can say that media and professional teams don’t get along, but I prefer a QB that has eye contact and answers the questions to the best of his ability, that’s all.
I’m agreement that we probably will win the Superbowl. I just don’t feel changing the Qb should reward the team, that’s all. I’m not saying arrest Harbaugh or throw CK out of the state. I just want an explanation on why it was done. All the 49ers are doing is Smithgating the whole thing and if they think they’ll trade Smith without a fight, think again. I hope Smith pulls such a stink if the 49ers try to unload him that they will have to release him.
Whoa there Mr E
Crab is not the best 9er WR since Rice there was this one guy TO maybe u heard of him? Before becoming an assclown in philly/dal/cin/buf TO was a beast on the field and has numbers to back that up. before this year crab had a 12 td in 4 career years (thats 1 season’s worth for TO)
Steve Young was also not too shabby with MVP seasons and a SB record 6 TD so lets hold off a bit on crowning Crab and CK but this sunday they can take a huge step in that direction.
Speaking of coaches, 49ers heritage and the Art of Winning, Seth Wickersham of ESPN recently wrote an excellent article on on Bill Walsh in his later years and the writing of his dissertation “Finding the Winning Edge”. For those who may have missed it, here’;s the link:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8865286/former-49ers-head-coach-bill-walsh-first-book-lives-super-bowl-road-map-espn-magazine
Apparently .. Darren wore out the welcome mat over at
the Bee-blog, and he seems to be doing the same thing, here !
Mood..
thanx for the link !
Yeah, he committed virtual suicide at the Sac Bee. Now he’s to ashamed to show face there, so the loser is on here with the same tired garbage.
I still think its Sarah Palin
No, the fans of ESPN are so flag happy that it’s like visiting Syria so I’m not hanging around there. Look, maybe I set the bar high on the 49ers, but i go with what I have seen in the past. now maybe at times I mix up a viewpoint, but i have seen Montana/Young/Garcia put up numbers and you are correct, they didn’t throw 300 yards all the time, but you also can’t hide the fact that we had games where the QB led by example and had big numbers. I don’t see that out of CK because we run more then we should pass the ball. If CK can’t produce passing numbers, not running numbers, passing numbers, either he has a problem, we got a problem with personnel which is understandable, or harbaugh for some bizarre reason, doesn’t want his Qbs to succeed, which is then called holding them back. If ALex Smith goes to whoever, puts up numbers, that’ll prove that Harbaugh failed him like Nolan and Sing. What Harbaugh is doing to me is too much high school and no emphasis of an NFL team. Just remember, what can work in one year can fail in the next year as there is something called adapting, and when teams start to adapt to CK, to our running, then he better start passing.
As for anywhere else I post, least the people on the Bee got better manners then some of you have to another 49er fan. The Bee may have changed, but I’m still around, so please stop WHINING of I say this and I say that. Dang people, it’s called counterpoint. Ever heard of Hannity and Combs and Siskel and Ebert?
If it’ll make you happy, I got no choice anymore but to flush my morals down the toilet and embrace a man that stole from another and he’s going to be rewarded for it. I feel bad people like you were raised so wrong to not question what was done to Smith and not feel sorry for him.
Whatever you do, just don’t engage the troll. Responding to his posts obviously excites him and motivates him to post more jibberish!
Roger Jordan, over and out. Avoid the troll, got it. WHo are we talking about again?
23jordan is talking about you (Darren) idiot
Who cares whether Jim plays nice with the media, except maybe the media. He wasn’t brought in to be a PR dream, he was brought in to coach and win. So far, done and done.
Double D (Dumbass Daren) strikes again! What a moron this guy is!
Yup, no Niner “fan” would root for the team to lose.
how is it you’re covering the 49ers in the superbowl and you’re not sitting in on the head coach’s press conference?
i’m hoping as a group we can lockout this Darren fool, simply dont talk to him like he doesn’t exist. kinda like staying away from the booger eating kid in elementary school
Let me know if it works, OK? Remember, if you win the superbowl, you’re not going to go back. CK won’t last in the league for long as QBs like him need to pass like Peyton Manning. How else has a man like Manning lasted all this time? Anyway, I’m treating Feb. 3rd as a normal non sporting day. If you win or lose either way, congratulations. Enjoy the * on your Superbowl trophy like the Rams. But I’m still counting on a clean sweep of the NFC West in the Superbowl: Rams, Arizona, Seattle, maybe SF, 0 and 4 like the Buffalo Bills.
hey Everyone DARREN IS A TROLL STOP FEEDING THE TROLL. Ignore him, if he doesn’t get fed he goes away.
agreed
Amen
Seriously! You know he’s delusional when he put Rice, Taylor, and Streets in the same sentence of “great” WRs we’ve had! What a fool!
How is it trolling when you won’t answer his questions or engage in conversation? A real fan would be trying to help out another 49er fan that’s lost his identity. York has ruined the team and taken them from San Francisco.
I have no idea why they’re like this. Maybe they need some good music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlIq_kYuhI0
Grant
Your weblog has been infiltrated by an invasive parasite. Are you and the IT department powerless to eradicate the problem?
please eradicate this nuisance
anyone know when Grant comes on? would like to complain to him about this fool.
I think I’ll go talk to his father about you as you seem scared of a little conversation and a viewpoint.
ignore….
Who are we talking about ignoring again? Oh, I get it now. We need to ignore DC9er. OK, got it buddy. I shall never commence with you again, but please stop mentioning my name as it doesn’t make the problem go away. You know what to do that’s very simple, and yet you jump off sides once again.
Grant,
I agree, this clown is killing the Super Bowl vibe.
I agree about the superbowl vibe. Denver and NE would’ve been better opponents. 6 to 3 Superbowl.
Rules have not been broken. Look people, you want to win, fine, I’m giving you the win, but it doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. I watched how the Rams won it and if you want to win like they did, nothing more to be said. This is the 49ers YOU want. I don’t. Don’t pester Grant like Sando gets pestered on what is said/not said.