San Francisco, CA
Ex-pro Chad Johnson thinks he knows how to beat 49ers’ Fred Warner
Since his huge performance in Sunday’s 42-10 win against the Cowboys, Warner has been the subject of high praise from teammates, the league and even upcoming opponents. It’s all been well deserved, as he racked up eight tackles, an interception, a sack and a forced fumble. However, the best thing that’s been said about the 26-year-old defensive standout came in the form of a backhanded compliment.
Warner was a guest on Tuesday’s episode of “Inside the NFL,” where former All-Pro wideout Chad Johnson, one of the show’s panelists, got his chance to speak to the linebacker. Johnson started off as complimentary as everyone else has been this week, comparing Warner to all-time great linebackers. Within seconds of the high praise, the man formerly known as Chad Ochocinco then turned around and started to brag about his own skill set.
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“You are what people call a generational talent,” the ex-pro said. “You are one of the best. You will go down as one of the best, similar to Ray Lewis, similar to Dick Butkus. You’ve set the standard on the inside linebacker position right now in the NFL.
“But I think you are lucky in the fact that I don’t play in today’s game. You’re lucky I don’t play in today’s game based on what I would have done to you coming through the A gap, B gap or C gap. Because I played running back before I went to receiver. And I know you’re good at scraping. I’m just telling you what would’ve happened. It’s physics. Because of physics, I know you would have lost that battle with all due respect to you.”
Warner, along with the show’s other three panelists — former NFL players Ryan Clark, Jay Cutler and Channing Crowder — thought Johnson’s pivot was hilarious. The linebacker even replied, “The way you set that one up was perfect,” with a big smile on his face. Johnson responded with “It’s all love.”
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While it’s true that fans can only hypothesize how a battle between Johnson and Warner would have gone down — especially since Warner has yet to face anyone this season who’s as good as Johnson was in his prime — they can make an educated guess based on one of Johnson’s more memorable moments on the field involving an aforementioned all-time great linebacker.
In the 2009 season opener, Johnson famously tried to hit Ray Lewis with a blindside block during a two-point attempt toward the end of the game. Unfortunately for Johnson, Lewis hardly noticed him and knocked the receiver on his backside. The former Bengals star then had to explain what happened to the trainers who looked after him, and the whole incident was captured on camera because Johnson was mic’d up.
Though Johnson swore as recently as last year that he always beat Lewis in the middle of the field, it’s hard to imagine Warner versus Johnson going much differently from that clip.
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San Francisco, CA
San Francisco hotel workers approve new contract, ending 3-month strike
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Hilton hotel workers who have been on strike for the past three months voted Tuesday to approve a new union contract.
The approval by Unite Here Local 2 in San Francisco settles the last of three hotel strikes in San Francisco this year, union officials said.
The strikes at Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton hotels throughout the city began in the fall. Marriott workers reached agreements on Thursday, with Hyatt doing the same on Friday.
San Francisco Hyatt Hotel union workers unanimously approve new contract
The Hilton agreement is the same as those ratified by striking Hyatt and Marriott workers last week, according to Ted Waechter, spokesperson for the Unite Here Local 2 union.
The agreement applies to about 900 workers, 650 of which have been on strike for over three months, according to Waechter. The hotels include the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and about 250 workers at Hilton’s Parc 55 hotel, who had been prepared to go on strike.
All the deals with hotels include keeping the workers’ health plan, wage increases, and protections against understaffing and workload increases.
Many of the 2,500 hotel workers had been striking for about 93 days, picketing daily in Union Square, which is the site of a Hilton and the nearby Grand Hyatt on Stockton Street.
SF Hyatt Hotel union workers on strike to vote on ratifying tentative agreement for new contract
“These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up,” said Bill Fung, a housekeeping attendant at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 29 years. “We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”
Hilton media representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie on Tuesday issued a statement welcoming an end to the strike, saying it came just in time for the holiday season and allows workers to return to work for key events such as the JP Morgan Health Care Conference and NBA All-Star Game.
Unite Here Local 2 represents about 15,000 hotel, airport and food service workers in San Francisco and San Mateo counties and represented the striking hotel workers.
Copyright 2024 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. Is prohibited.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Giants Gold Glove Catcher Projected For Huge Season
The San Francisco Giants have made some huge offseason moves already and hope they aren’t done just yet, but as is the case for every team that doesn’t win the World Series, the most important development will have to come from within.
One player who took a huge step from 2023 to 2024 and will try to improve even further in 2025 is Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. After a beyond solid rookie season in 2023 in which he finished in the top-ten for the National League Rookie of the Year, Bailey won a Gold Glove in 2024.
While the offensive output was similar to his rookie season and not anything to write home about, there’s confidence the bat will come along for the 25-year-old.
In an article naming breakout stars in 2024 who are due for a huge season in 2025, Bailey was one of the first names mentioned by Will Leitch of MLB.com.
“Bailey led all players in Statcast’s fielding run value metric (plus-22), and FanGraphs, which factors pitch framing into its WAR calculation, had Bailey third among catchers with 4.3 WAR,” Leitch wrote. “At age 25, Bailey already has won as many Gold Gloves as Posey — now his team’s president of baseball operations — did over his whole career.”
Leitch pointed out that Bailey has established himself to be San Francisco’s catcher of the future, something that seems undeniable at this point. If the former first-round pick can develop his bat to the point where he is hitting at least close to the same rate as he was raking in the minor leagues, he will have a chance to become one of the best catchers in baseball.
Through 218 games over his first two seasons in MLB, Bailey has posted a batting average of .234, an OPS of .640, slugged .348, and has hit 15 home runs and 94 RBIs. Certainly not numbers that will blow you away at the plate, but his defense has more than made up for it and allowed the Giants to be patient with his bat.
In 193 minor league games since being drafted No. 13 overall in 2020, Bailey hit .251 across all levels and had an OPS of .779. He also showed an encouraging level of power with 25 home runs, but has struggled to replicate that in the big leagues thus far.
Having already established himself to be one of the best in the game on defense, Bailey will have a chance in 2025 to enter the upper echelon of catchers across the game if he can have the breakout season he appears poised to.
San Francisco, CA
Christmas gifts arrive early for children at San Francisco hospital
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