SF Examiner: Patriots' Tom Brady was almost a San Francisco 49er

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

INDIANAPOLIS — It could be better for Tom Brady. He could be playing for the 49ers, his team when he was a kid. Such a Niners fan.

“I’d run around the parking lot at Candlestick in my Joe Montana jersey or Steve Young jersey,” Brady said. “Throwing the ball. There were some great times.”

These aren’t bad times. On Sunday, for a fifth time...

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Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company

RealClearSports: Super Bowl Media Day: Senseless, Harmless

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- “Name the Kardashian sisters.’’ Was that an order? Or a request? Rob Gronkowski sat and thought. Maybe better than being asked what kind of tree he would be if he were a tree. But not by much.

Super Bowl media day, when 100 football players, if not all at once, and 100,000 journalists, cameramen and assorted mountebanks -- well, more like 3,000, but it seems like 100,000 -- gather to annoy each other.

“Kim,’’ began Gronkowski, the Patriots’ tight end. “Khloe ...“

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© RealClearSports 2012

RealClearSports: For 49ers and Ravens, Timing Is All Wrong

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Something was going to happen. Eli Manning made that observation. Something always does happen. Football, like life, is about timing.

Football, like life, also is about accountability.

Eli and Tom Brady are going to another Super Bowl, verification of their skills and, on pass patterns, their timing.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2012

RealClearSports: Raiders Not Equal of Patriots Yet

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

OAKLAND, Calif. — Team efficiency showed up again. One game's mistakes for the New England Patriots became the next game's corrections, the way the Oakland Raiders became the Pats' victims Sunday.

And, no, the balance of power in the NFL is not about to change.

Whatever this matchup proved...

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© RealClearSports 2011

RealClearSports: Greatness on a Monday Night

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

It was Jimmy Cannon who wrote that it all comes down to man being great at something. He was referring specifically to Joe Namath, but the words are inclusive in sports, and the idea must be expanded to include women.

In the end, after the scandals and the embarrassments, the games and those who play them at the highest levels are what keep us from turning away, from giving up. We’re stubborn and maybe stupid. We’re also dreamers.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011