How did you find your favorite restaurant or coffee shop or night-time establishment? You probably felt at ease the first time you walked in there. You didn’t have to work at being comfortable, it just fit. And those places that you go to sometimes that are pretty good? You like them fine, but they’re missing something, and you’d rather go to your favorite. And that, my friends, is why the 49ers fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks…
You may wonder about the analogy, but it makes sense. (At least to me, and I’m the one making it.) The 49ers defense was pretty good most of the season. but when you’re trying to find that edge that puts you over the top to win a Super Bowl, “pretty good” isn’t going to be enough. Wilks starting the season calling plays from the booth and then moving down to the field amongst the players midway through was a huge red flag. The players subtly questioning what they were doing in press conferences was another. And when you are the 49ers defensive coordinator and Nick Bosa and Fred Warner aren’t fully on your side, you have a problem. And then there’s giving up 150 yards rushing in each playoff game…
To go back to the analogy, Steve Wilks is the restaurant that says it’s a sports bar and doesn’t have nachos on the menu. I never order nachos, but they should always be a choice, especially at a sports bar. And Kyle Shanahan is looking for the defensive coordinator that hands him an appetizer when he sits down just because he’s glad to see him…
There’s also lots of "the 49ers lost because the players didn't know the overtime rules and the Chiefs talked about it several times with their players" chatter. Well, the guy who scored the game winning touchdown, Mecole Hardman, didn't know he had just won the Super Bowl until Patrick Mahomes told him. So get outta here with that nonsense…
The Grateful Dead set the record for most albums to hit the Billboard Top 40. No, this is not a throwback. If you are not familiar, the Dead continue to release “new music” every three months even though Jerry died 29 years ago. Because nearly all of their concerts were recorded, they now have this thing where their archivist picks a concert out of the archives, and it gets released. (When in doubt, they seemingly just pick yet another show from 1977, widely considered their best year.) It used to be called “Dick’s Picks” after their first archivist, Dick Latvala, and that lasted 35 concerts. Now they’re called “Dave’s Picks” after their current archivist, David Lemieux. And Volume 49, from Stanford’s Frost Amphitheatre in 1985, debuted at number 25 on the charts this week, breaking a tie with Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra for most charted albums. The Dead now leads with 59 charted albums to 58 for the two kings…
Because the cult of the Grateful Dead is still strong and record stores are all-but-vanished, most of “Dave’s Picks” have hit the Top 40 because the Dead sell it as a subscription model. You sign up to get all four “Dave’s Picks” and they just send them to you four times a year- yes, actual 4-CD box sets (even though they are all available on your favorite music streaming service as well). So all the subscriptions count as first-week sales every time. Using that “one weird trick,” 39 of the as-of-now 49 “Dave’s Picks” released since 2012 have hit the Top 40…
At least that’s (sort of) “new music.” While Elvis and Sinatra obviously hit the charts plenty during their lifetimes, the almost-endless repackaging and re-releasing of songs you’ve already bought a dozen times has helped goose their standings on the chart. The latest Elvis album release is yet another version of the “Aloha From Hawaii” concert (how many “deluxe editions” can you have???) and Sinatra’s is called “Platinum,” with a few outtakes thrown in amongst the standards…
Sometimes it’s nice just to have a little something to make you feel better- like a free dessert or releasing another compilation album. It makes you feel like you’ve done something, right? Well, new Lakers guard Spencer Dinwiddie gets a bonus if the Lakers win the NBA title: one dollar…
If the defense holds on 4th and 1 in OT, no one questions Shanahan's decision to receive the ball. Sigh...
However, Wilks might still have been out as defensive coordinator for the reasons offered. Not the right fit. Happens in the working world. And, Shanahan recognized that and is moving forward.
Like the 49ers unloading Trey Lance. Not the right fit. Remove the potential controversy and move forward. And, Lance was not the second string QB in Dallas--he was the 3rd string QB.
Like favoring tour favorite restaurant regularly...
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