CATEGORIES

NEWS & NOTES

NEWS & NOTES

John Mara has that special feeling

Giants owner confident in Judge-Jones duo

CEO Joe Judge brings a new energy to Giants

On the first day of the 2020 training camp, the presence of head coach Joe Judge was immediately felt. He raced from one field to another as he barked orders, instructed players, and yes, he dropped numerous expletives to get his point across.

AROUND THE NFC WEST

The NFC West division was tough enough already. But after the 49ers and Seattle Seahawks combined for three playoff victories last year — and the Los Angeles Rams also would have advanced to the postseason if the NFL’s new expanded playoff format had been implemented last year — the wild West looks even tougher this year, universally considered as the toughest division in the entire league with the Arizona Cardinals also an up-and-coming team. The NFC West promises to be a veritable battle royale this season, and here’s a look at what’s new and what’s different from last year while reviewing San Francisco’s three divisional rivals moving into the early stages of the 2020 season.

SAME OLD JIMMY?

49ers, Garoppolo still strong in belief QB will be better

TOP 5 Rivalries

Over the course of the team’s 75-year history, the 49ers have developed and cultivated some of the more heated and iconic rivalries in NFL history, several of which have remained strong over many decades. In an unusual scheduling quirk, San Francisco will face each of its top five historic rivals during the 2020 season, and several of those games could have playoff implications while each promises to add another memorable chapter to storied competitions. Here are the greatest rivalries in 49ers history, each of them featuring unforgettable moments in team lore, with the week San Francisco plays those rivals this year in parentheses along with the best games ever in each rivalry.

STOCK UP STOCK DOWN

STOCK UP STOCK DOWN

STARTING OUT

Defending NFC champs have big turnover in opening lineup

Resilient 49ers have been here before

FIRST DOWN

A new kind of gameday experience

As he enters his 32nd season covering 49ers football, The Niner Report’s Craig Massei has attended virtually every 49ers home game of the 21st century. But never one quite like San Francisco’s 2020 season opener against the Arizona Cardinals. Amid the fallout from historic wildfires that burned throughout Northern California, the enduring effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic and pervading issues of social justice, the game experience at Levi’s Stadium — and throughout the NFL, for that matter — promised to be uniquely different than during any other time in the team’s illustrious 75-year history. And it was. Here’s a narrative chronicling the events and atmosphere surrounding the start of the most different and strange of all 49ers seasons.

Breaking the Waves

What has life under lockdown taught the greatest surfer on earth? That switching it up was exactly what he needed.

CASE CLOSED!

COLLECT AUCTIONS SEES 1986-87 FLEER BASKETBALL CASE BRING NEARLY $1.8 MILLION

FULLY LOADED Fernando Tatis Jr. does it all

Stop me if you have heard this before: Baseball is in trouble. The game has lived through more than its share of scandals, work stoppages, and demographic challenges. And that was just in 2020.

LOOKING BACK...AND AHEAD

2021 TOPPS BASEBALL SERIES 1 CELEBRATES 70 YEARS OF THE BRAND’S RELEASE

CASE CHASERS

In an industry inundated with autographs and patches, today’s hottest case hits include neither.

ARCHIVING HISTORY

AS IN THE PAST, 2020 TOPPS ARCHIVES MIXES OLD AND NEW

MAJORS: TAKE FANS OUT OF THE BALLGAME

Players adjust to games without fans in the stands

PLANTING THE SEEDS

The top 10 incoming freshman classes for college programs since 2000

COLLEGE RECRUITING: VIRTUAL REALITY

Despite the inherent drawbacks of video scouting, many college recruiters say lessons learned during the pandemic will continue to be applied when things return to normal

MINORS: ONGOING DEVELOPMENT

Minor league players experience instructional league vibe while working at alternate training sites

ONE For All

Wholesale minor league reorganization is only one part of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s “One Baseball” vision to integrate baseball from the major leagues to the youth level

BUSINESS: AN INSPIRATION TO OTHERS

Brandon Bellamy is set to become the first Black majority owner in professional baseball in more than 30 years

Five major shakeups that could be coming to the minor leagues in 2021

Major League Baseball shocked the baseball world last October when its intention to scale back and reorganize the minor leagues was first reported.

DRAFT: VALUE PROPOSITION

The teams that secured the most and least draft value relative to predraft prospect rankings

COLLEGE: FANTASTIC FIVE

Standout players from wood-bat summer leagues

A SIMPLE QUESTION WITH COMPLEX ANSWERS

Determining the value of minor league teams is at the heart of PBA dispute between MLB and the minor leagues

Ranking the roster

SCOUTING REPORT

BOWMAN DRAFT COMING IN DECEMBER

2020 Bowman DraftBaseball is home to the first cards of June’s draft picks in their MLB uniforms. It also has all the usual features of the main Bowman line including Chrome cards, autographs and lots of Refractors.

THE SALE

The record sale of a 2003-04 LeBron James Upper Deck Exquisite Rookie Patch AU rocked the headlines

JOHN BARTLETT

It was a couple of guys you may have heard of – Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo – that inspired Jonathan Bartlett in his efforts at becoming what he calls a “realistic painter.”