Steve Young on Rick Reilly: 'You Didn't Just Say That'

Rick Reilly's ego-driven antics on Monday Night Football created the now infamous Steve Young "death stare" that has captivated the sports world over the past 24 hours.

Young was simply doing what we all were thinking at the moment -- "Bro, really?"


If you missed it, ESPN cut to the Monday Night Football postgame show a little early than the analysts had thought, and the world witnessed columnist Rick Reilly motion to host Stuart Scott saying "Can you say i had this first on Twitter?"

What was worse than Reilly's over-anxiousness to be the first to report the news of Roethlisberger's injury was the fact he was actually not the first to to report the news at all. In fact, he was simply regurgitating other media outlet's news, as documented by Deadspin.

Young's reaction to Reilly was instant TV magic:

Young then appeared on KNBR on Wednesday for his weekly segment.

First question: What was the deal with the death stare?

"It was not a death stare. It really was a 'You didn't just that.' We didn't know we were on camera. It was more like a 'you're crazy' type thing more than i was upset about it."

Reilly has fully received the brunt of the whole debacle with numerous jabs from credentialed members of the media that have grown to become quite hilarious.

Just had some Thai food. I know this because Rick Reilly reported it first on Twitter.
— Dan Rubenstein (@DanRubenstein) November 14, 2012

Make sure I get credit for having this first: Rick Reilly hoodwinked ESPN out of $10 million and ESPN is dumb/stubborn enough to do it again
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) November 13, 2012

Congrats to Rick Reilly for breaking Petraeus affair, D'Antoni hiring, Marlins trade and results of my wife's ultra-sound. #that'sjournalism
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) November 14, 2012

It has also sparked a questioning of ESPN's journalistic integrity, which has significantly wained in the past couple years with programs like First Take and their constant refusal to credit other media outlets.

Reilly was more concerned with the fact he had the story first on Twitter, which shows where a brilliant journalistic mind like Reilly is at this point in his career and where ESPN's priorities currently reside.

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San Jose Sharks' Marleau Responds to Roenick's Bashing in New Book

At this point, it is pretty obvious Jeremy Roenick has a personal vendetta against San Jose Sharks' former captain Patrick Marleau.

Roenick's book "J.R.: My Life as the Most Outspoken, Fearless and Hard-Hitting Man in Hockey" took some shots at Marleau once again, after the two have shared some words in the past.

First of all, if that title does not scream "look at me," I do not know what does.  Second of all, here is what Roenick's book had to say about Marleau.

“One night I even went to his home to discuss the struggles he was going through. It was around Thanksgiving. I was with my family at home. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the team and how dominant the Sharks could be if Marleau would realize his potential. After thinking about it all day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I left my family, climbed into my car and drove to Marleau’s home. My intention wasn’t to yell at him. I wanted to inspire him, to let him know that his teammates were behind him. I went there to tell him that I believed he could be one of the league’s very best players if he just altered his game slightly. He needed to play with more of an edge. He needed to show some bigger balls when the game was on the line.

“What no one seems to understand is that I believe Marleau is a special talent ... Marleau frustrated me when I played with him because I wanted more from him. He was earning $6.9 million per season and I just didn’t believe he brought the superstar effort that you would expect from that caliber of player.

“I tried to tell him that that night, but I could tell 10 minutes into our conversation that I was wasting my time. He considered my arrival at his house an intrusion. He listened to me, but he never did anything to change the way he was.”

Strong words, as you would expect from a memoir of that title, but straight to the point nonetheless.

Here is what Patrick Marleau told the San Jose Mercury News' David Pollak on Tuesday.

“He’s got his own agenda,” the 33-year-old former Sharks captain said. “He’s saying stuff so people watch. I understand that. I don’t have to like it or agree with it, but he’s trying to get viewers like you’re trying to get people to read the paper. I don’t take it personally or anything like that.”

“I don’t know what people are expecting, but I think I show emotion – I score goals, I show emotion,” Marleau said. “If a team’s trying to get after the top players and you show that they’re getting to you, that’s one aspect of it too. There’s different ways to skin a cat.

“There’s other players that are regarded as great players for the way they handle themselves – they don’t get up too high or down too low,” he continued. “There’s going to be critics – they have to pick at something and they’ll pick at that.”

Rest assured, the exchange of words will not stop, but are either of them wrong?

It is pretty obvious Roenick is trying to sell his book through a little controversy, but he is right about Marleau showing no emotion -- something many have mentioned in the past. Roenick is not the first one to say that.

Marleau has always had the potential to be one of the best in the NHL, but if we have not seen him fully break out now we will probably never see it.

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Report: San Francisco Giants Interested in Hunter, Victorino

The San Francisco Giants are looking elsewhere to fill their void in the outfield presumably left by Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman, the Giants have shown interest in free agents Torii Hunter and Shane Victorino. The interest is presumably in response to
the team being unlikely to sign both Cabrera and Pagan this offseason.

Pagan is keeping his options open with the free agent market and is expected to receive a good amount of interest from other teams this offseason.

Cabrera's departure from the Giants late in the season is sure to make the team less likely to sign him, although his price tag seems feasible for teams (around $7 million).

Hunter visited the Tigers on Tuesday and has said that he would like to sign sooner than later, while Victorino would have a familiar face in the Giants' outfield with Hunter Pence. He is also the speedy center fielder that the Giants are looking for this offseason.

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Report: 49ers' Alex Smith Expected to Start Monday vs. Bears

Expect Alex Smith back under center for the San Francisco 49ers Monday night game against the Bears, despite the concussion he sustained in Sunday's tie vs. the Rams.

According to CSN Bay Area's Matt Maiocco, if Smith is cleared to play he will start for the 49ers, and all indications point to Smith being cleared to play.


Jim Harbaugh had this to say about Smith's situation on Monday:

"(He's) doing much better, had a good night's sleep last night," Harbaugh said. "And symptoms are positive today. He's visiting with a neurologist later this afternoon."

"Our doctors were good," Harbaugh said. "They were very proactive on that hit. They watched it on the monitors, and Alex had no symptoms after that hit. He was cleared to play. And then it appears it was the quarterback sneak, where he comes up and had blurred vision and that's when we brought in Colin immediately.

 Judging by the way Colin Kaepernick played on Sunday, albeit under intimidating circumstances, it would not take much for the 49ers to play Smith on Monday Night Football.

However, Harbaugh and his staff have encountered quite a predicament this week.  Smith is not likely to practice the entire week, and with Kaepernick healthy it would behoove the 49ers to have a full week of practice with a definitive starting quarterback before encountering the most impressive defense the 49ers will face all season in the Bears.

As Maiocco mentioned, Harbaugh is not likely to reveal much this week, other than revealing whether or not Smith will be cleared to play on Monday night -- which should be revealed within the next couple of days.

The speculated "quarterback controversy" between Smith and Kaepernick could work in the 49ers' favor in this instance. Smith is obviously the 49ers' undoubted starter, despite a rather impressive game by Kaepernick given the circumstances.  The Bears will not know which quarterback to prepare for this week, and given Harbaugh's reluctance to reveal anything to the media, Chicago may not know until game-time on Monday.

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Report: San Francisco Giants Interested in Nick Swisher

The San Francisco Giants have reportedly shown interest in Yankees' free agent outfielder Nick Swisher, according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman.

Swisher is considered one of the bigger targets in a very weak free agent market this offseason that includes the likes of Josh Hamilton and B.J. Upton, among others.


Heyman is reporting that the Mariners, Orioles, Phillies, Braves, Nationals and Giants have shown interest in recent weeks.

Swisher is expected to receive around $12 million per year for three to four years and has already turned down a one-year offer from the Yankees.

Swisher hit .272 with 93 RBI and 24 home runs in 2012 in the hitter-friendly new Yankee Stadium.

He played for the Oakland Athletics from 2004-2007.

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San Francisco Giants, Jeremy Affeldt Agree to Three-Year Deal

After days of rumors and speculation, the San Francisco Giants have made the deal with reliever Jeremy Affeldt official, as first reported by CBS Sports' Jon Heyman.

The deal is reportedly for three years and $18 million.

Affeldt did not give up a run in 10.1 innings of relief in the entire 2012 postseason on the Giants' way to a World Series title.


Affeldt is just one of the Giants' three key free agents this offseason. Marco Scutaro and Angel Pagan are expected to be a little harder to sign than Affeldt, considering Scutaro's outstanding end to the regular season and stellar postseason. Pagan is least likely to re-sign with the Giants, as he is expected to have several teams lining up for a speedy lead-off hitter that can play center field and hit for moderate power.

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Golden State Warriors' New San Francisco Arena Could Make Millions for City

Estimates that San Francisco city coffers would receive almost $54 million in one-time revenue and up to $19 million a year from a new waterfront arena that the Golden State Warriors want to build are "reasonable" projections, according to an analysis released Friday.


But that money is based on having events at the multiuse arena more than half of the year, a frequency opposed by some nearby residents concerned about traffic, cleanup and crowds spilling into their neighborhood.

"Besides the actual programs themselves, there's also the staging, which means even more days," said Barbara Inaba, a neighbor. "I don't know how all of these people are going to get into this arena."

Reimbursing the Warriors for $120 million in construction costs to rebuild Piers 30-32 for the $1 billion arena project would also slice the ongoing revenue the city would see to about $14 million a year, plus there would be a 13 percent interest rate on construction costs not initially reimbursed, according to the new report by Board of Supervisors Budget and Legislative Analyst Harvey Rose.

Read the rest of the story at SFGate.com.

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