Left out: Southpaw quarterbacks nearly extinct

This is my December feature. Provo, Utah. Fall of 1980. BYU offensive coordinator Doug Scovil calls 18-year-old Steve Young into his office and breaks the bad news. “You’re not going to play quarterback here,” Scovil explains to the future Hall of Fame quarterback. “I don’t coach lefties. It ain’t happening.” Scovil suggests Young play safety instead. Scovil believes Eric Krzmarzick, a right-hander, is BYU’s quarterback of the future. Scovil becomes…

December 25, 2014
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49ers GM Trent Baalke, pass or fail?

This is my Sunday column. What about Trent Baalke? Sure, the 49ers probably will dump Jim Harbaugh at the end of the season. His quarterback isn’t improving and his offense stinks and he ticks people off. We get all that. But what about Baalke? Who’s to say the Niners won’t dump him, too? What makes him worth keeping? Let’s evaluate his contribution to the franchise. Let’s figure out how many…

December 6, 2014
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Ira Miller on the 49ers – this season and 1981, a conversation

I did an interview with Ira miller, who, as you know, was the 49ers expert in the ’80s and ‘90s. He’s retired now, living in Illinois. What follows is the full transcript of our phone interview. A shorter version ran in the Press Democrat but did not get put on the web. If it gets posted later today, I also will put that on the blog so you can see…

January 7, 2012
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