Panning for Nuggets

...because too many refs mimick Hellen Keller

Although the 9ers lost by a considerable margin to a superior Pittsburgh team Sunday, the game really was much closer than the scoreboard suggested. We'd like to think that it was all head ref Gerald Austin's fault for his dick-slappingly egregious incomplete call on a Vernon Davis catch that would've given SF first-and-goal in the red zone at a crucial juncture of the ball game (And he even reviewed the play! Goofy ol' Gerry must've sipped out of his warm milk thermos and slept for the 3+ minutes he was under there).

But we don't make excuses. A loss is a loss. Davis is now out for two weeks with a sore knee after being boned repeatedly by Austin's goons. 95% of the receiving corps are either part or full-time stone masons. Alex Smith's completion rating would be 10-percent higher if he didn't have to play the role of a little schoolboy throwing a tennis ball against a brick wall. But we digress, D-Jack better wax his grudge and step up huge against his old team Sunday.

Words to live by: "Don't cry about the ball and not catch the ball," coach Mike Nolan. (though his message may get through to the players a little clearer should he revert back to blazers over the shirt and tie, rather than his recent trend of windbreakers.)