The Zulewski report By Tom Zulewski October 12, 2010     49ers fans jumping off band wagon for Giants: I can remember a time when if you mentioned the San Francisco Giants to someone they'd just laugh at you. This was around the mid 80s before former Giants manager Roger Craig took over the team in 1986 and before that the Giants were managed by Frank Robinson and later Jimmy Davenport in 84 and 85. This was also around the time that the 49ers were going after their second Super Bowl in 1984. Fast forward to 2010 the 49ers have not been in the playoffs since a couple guys named Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens were playing catch with each other in the early 2000s but that was the last flash of anything that anyone could remember resembling a post season team. The 49ers under former head coach Mike Nolan sniffed playoffs once but fell short and under head coach Mike Singletary last season maybe gave the 49ers some hope and they met the challenges last season starting with quarterback Shaun Hill who later gave way to current quarterback Alex Smith. There was hope in Smith last season but when that fell apart this year everyone seems to have given up on the season and on Singletary and Smith. The 49ers after losing four straight couldn't wait any longer and had to show they meant business and went out and fired offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye. The ax fell at the wrong time and wrong place. Raye was not at fault for the way Smith or the way the offense was going. As Raye said after his departure this was not a Jimmy Raye offense but a Michael Singletary offense. Singletary is a defensive line coach if anything and not an offensive coordinator which led many of the 49ers woos and loses. With the last loss against the Eagles last Sunday and the baseball Giants winning to advance to the National League Championship against Philadelphia there won't be much of a contest on who gets the television dollar when the 49ers host the Raiders this weekend at Candlestick and when the Giants open on the road against the Phillies at Citizens Bank. The gap will be tremendous and it's something that no one really wants to talk about. It reminds me of the times when you didn't dare talk about how bad the Giants were and that no one was going to see the team in the 80s until Roger Craig took over and made them a competitive team later to be managed by Dusty Baker and now Bruce Bochy whose made them competitive. You go around the City and no one talks about the 49ers and they certainly don't sound as hopeful as team CEO and owner Jed York who said this week after the team chalked up it's fifth loss that the 49ers were going to win the division. In the history of the NFL a team that has been down 0-5 has never come back and won the division. So what York is promising is not only short of impossible but historic. The 49ers would have to win every game for the rest of the season starting this Sunday against the Raiders which would make them 13-5 at season's end and probably would make Singletary coach of the year if they pull it off. The morale in the 49ers dressing room is shot and it seems like there's no hope for a team that was in disarray after two 49ers including running back Glen Coffee retired. There was talk that these players could no longer tolerate Singletary and his military type style of coaching. Singletary's school of thought is if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen but some players think that's the old school way of coaching and some believe that the players are dogging some of the games particularly the game after the 49ers lost to the Seahawks on opening day when the 49ers played the Kansas City Chiefs and lost by a landslide. The Giants story is simple here's a team that barely hung on to edge out the Braves and advance to the NLCS. The fans all over the City are putting up pennants, posters and anything Giants up in their windows or on themselves. If you were to wear anything that's 49ers people would snicker. For the folks wearing 49ers fan gear at this point in the season they're just hoping that the Niners can squeeze out a win just so some of the laughing would seize. The Raiders might be their best chance. Tom Zulewski files the report each week on Sportstalk radio

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