A More Confident Tiger Returns to Pebble Beach

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Tiger Woods during the final round of Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on January 29, 2012 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Golf's most popular — and vilified — player is back at Pebble Beach this week, confident he can continue to resurrect his life and game.

Despite failing to win a PGA Tournament for two years, Woods has been in the hunt in his last four events and says he's finally healthy and relaxed.

Hard to believe it's been more than a decade since Tiger last played at Pebble Beach. Unhappy with celebrity-filled, six-hour rounds, bumpy greens and over-eager fans, one of whom bumped into him coming off the 18th green, injuring his knee, Woods returns to the AT&T Pro-Am with a different attitude.

Looking comfortable and newly clean-shaven, Tiger said he's excited about the tournament and, although the gallery can be a distraction cheering every putt for four days, "it's interesting, but you get used to it, like you do playing in the lead foursomes or pairings in other tournaments."

Tiger says the changes he's made in his game "took time, but's he's starting to see results." Of course, Pebble Beach is where Woods played his finest tournament, winning the 2001 U.S. Open by fifteen strokes.

Now, at age 36, he says he's more sore after playing games with his young son and daughter. Given the calamitous scandal that cost him a marriage, reputation and a good chunk of a once glorious career, a few aches and pains after a round of golf probably hurts so good.

Dropped Passes Tarnish Brady's Legacy

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Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots walks off the field after losing to the New York Giants by a score of 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium on Feb. 5, 2012 in Indianapolis

Legends are hard to build and even more difficult to live up to.

Just ask Tom Brady.

After completing his 16th straight pass, a third quarter touchdown to Aaron Hernandez that gave the Patriots a 17-9 lead, New England failed to score on its final four possessions.

Instead of being lauded for breaking Joe Montana's Super Bowl record for consecutive completions, Brady has to endure a second heartbreaking title game loss to the Giants that, fairly or not, undermines his legacy.

Would Brady be held in higher regard if Hernandez and Wes Welker didn't allow perfect throws to slip through their hands in the game's waning minutes? Or if the Pats recovered any of three Giants fumbles, including Brandon Spikes' fourth-quarter strip of Ahmad Bradshaw at New York's 10-yard line?

Fortuity shined on the Giants at Indianapolis much like it did in the NFC Championship, when Bradshaw's apparent game-changing fumble was recovered by the 49ers but negated by an official's quick whistle.

Sports are filled with quirky plays that define careers and the fate of organizations. Brady and the 49ers learned that the hard way.

Super Bowl Features Several Players with Bay Area Ties

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Tom Brady, the New England Patriots starting quarterback, answers questions from the press during a media availability session for Super Bowl XLVI at the University Place Conference Center & Hotel on February 1, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Need a local angle to enhance your Super Bowl viewing pleasure? Four players from each team have Bay Area connections, led of course by Tom Brady.

The former Serra High star who grew up in San Mateo idolizing Joe Montana not only shares Super Joe's record of 16 postseason wins, but a New England victory Sunday will place Brady alongside Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks with four Super Bowl victories. Different eras, different challenges, but Brady's career stacks up with the best of them.

Head to head with Montana, Tom has a higher completion percentage (64%-63%) thrown more touchdowns (300-273) and fewer interceptions (115-139). Considering he's only 34 and plays on a Patriots team that set an NFL record, winning ten games for a ninth straight season, Brady could have rings on both hands before his career is over.

Meanwhile, all the other players with Bay Area ties are in their first Super Bowl. Patriots defensive tackle Gerard Warren who spent three seasons with the Raiders has waited 11 years to play for a championship. Giants quarterback David Carr, a 49er in 2010, has been in the league ten years. Center David Baas and tight end Bear Pascoe also left San Francisco for New York. Baas starts for the Giants alongside one-time Raiders guard Kevin Boothe.

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Commentary: A's Are Sacrificial Lambs

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A's owner Lew Wolff.

Hope no longer springs eternal for the Oakland A's.

Mired in a seemingly perpetual rebuilding mode, owner Lew Wolf said the team's decision to trade three All Stars for prospects is directly related to the Athletics' unsettled stadium situation. At the club's Fan Fest Sunday, Wolf, reflecting on his boyhood days in St. Louis said, "I knew every day Stan Musial would be around whether they would win the World Series or not. That's a nice, warm comfortable feeling. We're going to get that feeling one of these days, but in order to do it, you have to have revenues to justify that."

Despite receiving upwards of $20 million in revenue sharing from baseball's more affluent franchises, the Athletics barely turned a profit in 2011, and their team payroll will drop to between $50 and $60 million in 2012 from $66 million. While Wolf insists the A's can't be financially successful playing at O.co Coliseum, the last multipurpose (baseball and football) stadium in the country, the facts don't bear that out.

Between 2000 and 2006, the A's made the playoffs four times, averaged 95 wins per season and drew more than 2 million fans five times. Not coincidentally, after saying goodbye to stars Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez, Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, the A's made the playoffs just once, with attendance declining in six straight seasons. In 2011, despite bargain-basement ticket prices, the A's drew only 1.4 million fans, far below the American League average of 2.3 million.

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Warriors' Coach Getting More Creative

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Head coach Mark Jackson of the Golden State Warriors yells to his team during their game against the Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena on January 14, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

There's little chance the Warriors will make a magical 49ers-like turnaround this season, but Mark Jackson's leadership style compares favorably with another star player turned rookie coach: Jim Harbaugh. San Francisco's playoff roster included a dozen rookies plus a handful of free agents as Harbaugh proved true to his word of building a team based on merit, not reputation.

Last night, Jackson, tired of watching Golden State blow 4th quarter leads in three straight games, benched starters Andris Biedrins and Dorrell Wright down the stretch in favor of reserves Epke Udoh and Brandon Rush who responded by helping to finish off the Trailblazers, 101-93. Udoh smothered Portland's likely All Star forward Lamarcus Aldridge while Rush showed poise and toughness at both ends of the floor.

"I don't owe minutes to anyone", said Jackson, who calls himself a "flow coach." Trusting his instincts over the stat sheet, Jackson also played rarely used center Jeremy Tyler, who responded with five points in seven minutes. The 20-year-old rookie has been playing well in practice, and Jackson said, "It was a great time for me to reward him. It was good for him to get a taste of real basketball."

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Niners Need to Re-Sign Defensive Stars

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Hakeem Nicks of the New York Giants makes a reception in the second half against Dashon Goldson of the San Francisco 49ers during the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park on January 22, 2012 in San Francisco, California.

Updated Jan. 26, 2011, 8:47 a.m.

As much as the 49ers are rightfully proud of their unexpected ascension into the ranks of the NFL elite, the best is yet to come if they heed the lessons of the 2011 season.

In their two playoff games, San Francisco's much ballyhooed defense was torched for 778 yards passing and six touchdowns by Drew Brees and Eli Manning. Admittedly, you don't face Super Bowl winning quarterbacks very often, but defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's insistence on keeping safeties Dashan Goldson and Donte Whitner in a "cover-two" formation made the 49ers too conservative and predictable.

Even though the 49ers registered nine sacks against the Saints and Giants, Brees and Manning all too easily picked apart S.F.'s zone coverage, completing 72 of 121 passes (60%). Re-signing free agents Goldson, Carlos Rogers and Ahmad Brooks will be as important as turning up the heat on opposing quarterbacks in 2012.

Want to see how it's done? Break out the film of Sunday's blitz-happy AFC Championship game with the Ravens harassing Tom Brady (five sacks, two interceptions) and Patriots defensive mastermind Bill Belicheck doing likewise to Joe Flacco (three sacks, one interception).

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Niners Couldn't Match Giants' Firepower

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rank Gore of the San Francisco 49ers runs the ball in the second quarter against the New York Giants during the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park on January 22, 2012 in San Francisco, California.

Bemoan Kyle Williams' two botched punt returns all you want, but the 49ers season came to an inglorious end mainly because they couldn't match the Giants firepower.

While Eli Manning was lighting up the San Francisco secondary for seventeen passing first downs, connecting with Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks fifteen times for almost two hundred yards, Alex Smith completed exactly one pass to a wide receiver: Michael Crabtree's 4th quarter three-yard catch. Smith looked anxious and played erratically primarily because of New York's fierce pass rush and smothering secondary.

Stunningly, Crabtree, who was unable to get separation from the press coverage of New York defense, complained about not getting more opportunities to make plays. The 2009 No. 1 draft pick had more chances against the Saints and caught four balls for a mere 29 yards while dropping three others. The 49ers have two of the league's most explosive tight ends in Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker. But after losing Josh Morgan, Tedd Ginn Jr. and Braylon Edwards to injuries, San Francisco was left without a top-flight wideout to stretch the field.

At best Crabtree is a complementary, possession receiver. At worst, he's a me-first underacheiver who will have a long off-season to polish his game and attitude.

49ers Will Have to Win Ugly

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NaVorro Bowman #53 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after making a tackled against the Arizona Cardinals at Candlestick Park on November 20, 2011 in San Francisco, California.

Mother Nature must be a 49ers fan.

Rain that is expected to drench Candlestick Park for Sunday's NFC Championship game not only benefits San Francisco's ground and pound offense, it should also slow down the New York Giants fierce pass rush and explosive passing game.

Although Giants star receiver Hakeem Nicks insists he has the advantage of knowing where he's going on a muddy field, the 49ers are obviously more familiar with the slick Stick than the Giants who played only three games on natural grass fields all season.

The 49ers are also likely to play a variety of zone coverages to prevent Eli Manning from launching his patented deep balls to speedy receivers Nicks, Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz. Ironically, Jim Harbaugh, who was criticized early in the season for being too conservative on offense, now looks like a prophet because the 49ers are at their best in a two-tight end, two back set. That run-first formation not only gives Frank Gore or Kendall Hunter the best chance to find daylight, it also makes it harder for the Giants talented defensive ends Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Jean Pierre-Paul to get to Alex Smith.

Last weekend, Alex defied all odds in winning a shootout with Drew Brees and the Saints. The 49ers cannot expect, nor game plan for Smith to do it again.

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