Sports

Leading Off: 49ers fans love Kap, but Wilson better now

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• Sunday’s showdown at Candlestick Park between the 49ers and Seahawks features two of the NFL’s most exciting young quarterbacks. But while the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick has been up and down, Seattle’s Russell Wilson is being mentioned as an MVP candidate. In Monday’s surprisingly easy 34-7 victory over New Orleans, Wilson completed 22 of 30 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns, and his passer rating of 108.5 is second only to Denver’s Peyton Manning. Can Kap outplay Wilson this weekend? Sunday can’t come soon enough.



• Last season, Bartolo Colon was the A’s ace, a Cy Young Award candidate after going 18-6 with a 2.65 ERA, and Grant Balfour was the stud in Oakland’s bullpen, saving 38 games. But the past means little today. The A’s opted to replace Colon with Scott Kazmir, who went 10-9 for Cleveland, and Balfour with Jim Johnson, who saved 101 games for the Orioles the past two seasons. The shrewd A’s appear to have upgraded with both moves, especially considering Colon is 40 and Balfour is 35.



• Think you know everything about the 49ers? Check out “100 Things 49ers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” by Dan Brown, a reporter for the San Jose Mercury News. Some Davis folks may remember Brown, a 1992 UCD grad, from his stint as sports editor of the Enterprise when it had one of the best small-paper sports sections in the country. Brown will make an appearance at the Avid Reader on Second Street in Davis on Saturday at 1 p.m. He will be joined by Amy Gutierrez, a 1995 UC Davis grad and author of a children’s book, “Smarty Marty’s Got Game.” Yes,

that

Amy G, from Comcast’s Giants TV broadcasts.



– Tom Couzens

tcouzens@sacbee.com

Today’s poll

If you’re building an NFL team, which quarterback would you most want?

• Colin Kaepernick



• Robert Griffin III



• Andrew Luck



• Cam Newton



• Russell Wilson



• Other



To vote, go to

sacbee.com/sports

Wednesday’s results

Does Jeff Kent deserve to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

• Yes, first ballot: 35%



• Yes, but not this



year: 21%

• No, he’s not a Hall of Famer: 44%



Total votes: 138

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