FOOCH NOTE 2:00PM - I just received an email with a final statement from Mike Nolan.  I think this is a solid expression of how most of us feel about Mike Nolan.  I think we'll wrap up the day with the Coach Nolan appreciation thread.  The final statement from Nolan:

I want to thank the York Family for the opportunity to coach the San Francisco 49ers.

It is the responsibility of the Head Coach to build a foundation and an environment for success.  In many area’s we were, although it is winning that ultimately determines success.

I also want to thank our players for their dedication and willingness to work hard.  Even during the toughest of times they remained strong and fought through it.  It is difficult to put into words my respect for guys that played for the 49ers over the past 3 ½ seasons.  They have my complete respect and admiration.  I am forever indebted to them.

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Before everyone explodes in negativity, I wanted to have a place where people can openly state their appreciation for what Nolan has done for this team since he came on.  Yeah, record-wise this team is not where we had hoped it would be, but the organizational turn-around has been pretty amazing.  You're a fool if you think this team is less entertaining than when Nolan took over.

Under Nolan, the team brought in Gore, Davis, Willis, and Lawson.  Despite Alex Smith's demise, they have drafted some pretty solid players.  They've also managed to bring in some pretty good to excellent FA:  Bruce, Spikes, Clements, Allen (he was good for one year!).  While the team isn't playing well, they are no longer the AAAA team that Nolan took over.  And despite what you think about JT O'Sullivan, I think it's safe to say we'd all rather have him than Tim Rattay?

Nolan brought respectability within the organization.  I admire his hard-nosed type of attitude towards coaching, despite his in-game flaws.  He brought in good-character guys, which is an underrated thing to have, as we see TO, Ocho Cinco, etc. mouthing off every other day on Sportcenter.

I do think firing him was the right move, and I'm looking forward to the Mike Singletary era.  However, I think Nolan needs to be given credit for the massive organizational turnaround that has happend in the past few years.  Unfortunately, his time with the 49ers will forever be linked with the Alex Smith debacle.  For both player and coach, it was an unfortunate mix of the wrong situation with the wrong team at the wrong time.

Thanks, Mike Nolan.  I hope you get another chance somewhere, in a better situation.

YES!!!

It seemed improbable, but the 2008 World Series will be without Boston, LA, LA (b), and Chicago!  What a glorious weekend.  I honestly am shocked that Tampa was able to pull out Game 7.  After the stomach-punch of Game 5, I didn't think there'd be any way Tampa could pull themselves together to beat the Sawx.

My question is: now that the hated teams are out of the playoffs, and we have a World Series matchup that doesn't include a high-profile media team, will you be watching, and how much?

I'm one of the many people that have always said, "One day, I'll write a book when I have the time," but never get around to it.  It seems like it would be a lot of fun, but that time just never presents itself.

One of my friends has suggested in the past to participate in NaNoWriMo.  I was curious if anyone here has participated in it, or plan to do so?  I know many of you are aspiring writers/journalists, so I figured I'd spread the word and see if we can get a few McCoven to give this a shot.

Also, any ideas for a story would be welcome!

Edit: for those of you who are unfamiliar with it...

Many of us are already thinking ahead to the future of this team's QB situation.  JTO is a nice, exciting stopgap, but I think we would be hard pressed to find anyone that thinks he is a long-term solution.

Reading Peter King's MMQB, it sounds like Kerry Collins is sober, in better shape (both mind and body), and has no interest in being a backup QB.  He hits free agency this year, and I'd like to discuss the possibility of him being a 49er next year.  I'm certainly not advocating a large contract.  I'm thinking a 2-year deal with a reasonable amount of money considering his age and limitations.

This, of course, is only part one of my solution.  The #1 priority of this team would have to be drafting a QB that could potentially be a long-term solution.  Don't ask me who this would be, as I don't pay enough attention to college football to say who that QB would be.  However, the development of this QB would be much different than the Alex Smith Debacle.

What Collins would provide is a steady performance each week.  From what I've seen, he's pretty accurate (career 55.5%), and while his TD/INT ratio seems to be close to 1.0 every year, I think he could be a very good mentor to the new draftee.  He doesn't get rattled easily, has a good arm, and I think his style of play would fit the Martz offense pretty well.

Another option, of course, would be to just let JTO be the "mentor/stopgap" for the new QB for a couple years.  I wouldn't be 100% opposed to this, however I don't know if I necessarily want JTO instilling his tendencies on a new QB.  Plus, he's not that experienced anyway.

Did anyone listen to THE LAST BRIAN SABEAN SHOW OF THE YEAR!!1 yesterday? I was almost crying myself to sleep last night knowing I wouldn't be able to hear
Ralph ask moronic 5 minute questions to Sabean on Thursdays until April of '09.

Anyway, one of Ralph's moronic questions struck me first as a no-brainer, then made me think a little more, and I thought I'd see what the McCoven thought.  In asking about Nate's role on the team next year, Ralph flat out said that he likes Nate better than Freddy.  My initial reaction was ,"WTF, Freddy was awesome for a whole year in replacing the greatest hitter of all time".  However, I know many of you think Freddy's year was more of an abboration than anything, and that he'd come back down to somewhere in the area of .270/.320/.400.  I also know many of you aren't real high on Nate's potential either, but Ralph seemed to think he was good for 20+ HRs.

I'm still going with Freddy as a better long-term player, but I think given the chance to play full-time, Nate may prove to have a pretty similar batting line to Freddy, albeit probably a lower OBP b/c of the whole not-walking-much thing.