Ladies and Gentlemen Pioneers, welcome back! Let’s talk sports. My photo editor is going to get a kick out of this one.

The San Francisco 49ers (against my preseason judgement) are good. They’re darn good. They’re 8-1 good (that has to make the Dallas Cowboys giggle just a little). First in the NFC West good. They stand second only to the Green Bay Packers who are 9-0. In case you didn’t know, the Cowboys are the 49ers’ only loss this season. There you have it people. I conceded my preseason predictions and said the 49ers are a good team now.

Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has turned the ship around right and put together what was an abysmal tenure under Mike Singletary and created a defense that is ranked 11th in the NFL with the league’s best rushing defense allowing an average of 73.2 yards on the ground.

However, that secondary has to be shored up; the unit, led by DB Carlos Rogers, has given up an average of 260.3 yards through the air. That’s not going to get the job done if you want to beat the likes of the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers averages 312 yards through the air per game.

The biggest surprise here in my opinion is the leadership of QB Alex Smith.

During the offseason, Smith—instead of sitting at home wondering about his next pay check—had invited and directed players to practice and work out at USC’s Spartan Stadium to stay in shape and learn the plays. Alex Smith isn’t a flashy QB, but Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman has put together a scheme that fits hits skills—and it isn’t a deep ball. It’s a run first short to medium range pass offense that gets the chains moving.

The emergence of a formidable defense has kept this team in games and has intimidated others. Defensive Coordinator Dick Fangio has done a wonderful job in reshaping the 3-4 scheme to a 4-3. It’s worked. Also, with the departure of LB Takeo Spikes to the San Diego Chargers, LB Patrick Willis has taken charge of the young defense—by the way, the team’s average age is 25 years, and made them the talk of being top of their class.

Quick Hits:

NBA-Officially voted to recertify Monday. Looks like no pro basketball this season.

NCAAF-Stanford fell out of the running for the BCS title game with a stunning loss to the Oregon Ducks this week. LSU stands alone as OK State is making their run for that title game as Alabama sticks in a close third. Mizzou has voted to move from Big XII to SEC.

MLB-St. Louis Cardinals named Mike Matheny skipper after Tony LaRussa reitres. Free Agents of note: 1B Albert Pujols, 1B Prince Fielder, SS Jose Reyes, SP Mark Buehrle, SP C.J. Wilson.

Thanks for reading.

–Todd