SF Examiner: 49ers could feel some growing pains this season

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Perspective is a word fans do not like and often don’t understand. They are looking for wins and championships, not explanations or reference points. Yet for the 49ers, in what surely will be a transition season, perspective may become the saving grace.

Jim Harbaugh has arrived ...

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Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: At Stanford, it all starts with with Luck

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

"Athletes at Stanford are not heroes." A sociology professor at the university, one Sanford Dorenbusch, said that to Sports Illustrated in 1972 when the mood in America, trying to extricate itself from Vietnam, was very unheroic and the mood at Stanford was not much different than it is now.

The school takes itself seriously, selects its students carefully and deals with athletic success in a blend of pride and embarrassment ...

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Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Quarterback questions loom for Bay Area football teams

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Yes, as Jim Harbaugh pointed out, we love talking about the quarterback position. Why wouldn’t we? Arguably, it’s the most important in any team sport. It’s the position that wins games. Or loses them.

We know quarterbacks. We’ve watched Joe Montana and Steve Young and Jim Plunkett. What we don’t know, after six seasons, is whether Alex Smith...

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Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: New 49ers, Raiders leaders have their work cut out

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

New coaches and old stadiums. The Black Hole and holes to fill. Pro football is back by the Bay — dare we say welcome? — and now that the talk has shifted from lockouts to wideouts, the major questions are whether there will be a last hurrah for Al Davis and the Raiders and a first hurrah for Jed York and the 49ers.

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Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Young Cam Rides Old Mo to No. 1

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

Count this one for Old Mo, as in Momentum. Once it started for Cam Newton, it was unstoppable. The negative became trivial, the assets became overwhelming.

We love to jump on bandwagons, especially those driven by a kid who couldn't do much right — other than win football games — and now can do no wrong.

The last few days, Newton being chosen No. 1 in the draft was ...

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