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2B Daily News – Tuesday, July 26, 2011 Harbaugh gears up to get GIANTS going with Niners at last SANTA CLARA (AP) — Jim Har- baugh is suddenly experiencing all the anxiety that comes with being a first- year NFL coach. One who has been forced into hurry-up mode because of the lockout. This isn’t so different from his Stan- ford days, preparing college players in a matter of weeks. Just higher stakes, of course. After the national hype surrounding his hiring more than six months ago — he was wooed away from the Orange Bowl-winning Cardinal on a $25 mil- lion, five-year deal to replace the oust- ed Mike Singletary — Harbaugh final- ly gets to begin for real with a franchise counting on him to turn things around at last. And right away after the embar- rassment of eight straight seasons without a winning record and no play- offs since 2002. ‘‘Hello, it’s on,’’ a smiling Har- baugh declared Monday upon taking the podium in the team’s defensive meeting room. ‘‘Yeah, I’m nervous. I’m worried. That’s a part of my job to be that way. Me personally, it keeps me on my toes. Anxious, all those feelings, to get started and get going. That’s the good news: We can now start.’’ As one of a handful of rookie head coaches, the former NFL quarterback also will be a mentor to the QBs. Among one of the team’s first orders of business in a busy week will be bring- ing back 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick and free agent Alex Smith. The incumbent Smith, who gath- ered players together this summer for what was deemed ‘‘Camp Alex,’’ has been declared by Harbaugh as the favorite to win the starting job. That after Smith struggled through an inconsistent season and fell out of favor with Singletary last year and wasn’t even expected to be back with his only team. Everything changed with the work stoppage and the delay of free agency. Smith will compete in camp with rookie second-rounder Colin Kaeper- nick, the former Nevada star who is coming off surgery on his lower left leg. David Carr is the other quarter- back in the mix. The 49ers can begin negotiating with free agents as soon as Tuesday morning, when rookies and undrafted free agents will begin signing their contracts. Other players on the roster can also report Tuesday, but must first take a physical before working out at the team facility. Smith could agree to terms on what is a reported one-year deal but must wait until Friday’s first day of free agency for it to become formal with the league. ‘‘My mind is made up. It’s been made up for a long time. I’m not going to wait for anything,’’ Smith said earli- er in the day following a workout at nearby San Jose State. ‘‘I’m ready for this to start. I’m just waiting for that opportunity. I’m sure it’ll be pretty quick. I’m sure it’ll move pretty fast.’’ There are so many questions at this stage, such as what kind of shape play- ers will be in when they report to team headquarters Thursday ahead of Fri- day’s first practice that will be helmets- only. Padded practices start Sunday. In Harbaugh’s case, there will be plenty of meeting and greeting to do in the early days. He estimates there are between 10 and 20 players he is yet to see in person. He has spoken to a num- ber of his players by phone, and spent much of Monday checking in with them. ‘‘It feels more like football talking to those guys, even on the phone,’’ said Harbaugh, hired back on Jan. 7. ‘‘I can’t tell you how good it’s going to be having those guys in the building, face to face, knee to knee, smelling their breath, just getting to know them, let them get to know me. That’s what I’m looking most forward to.’’ Running back Frank Gore is one of the many players Harbaugh is eager to see. San Francisco will need a big comeback year from Gore, a two-time Pro Bowler who went down with a season-ending fractured hip in a Mon- day night game at Arizona on Nov. 29. Gore, who avoided surgery, ran for 853 yards and three touchdowns in his sixth NFL season and caught 46 pass- es for 452 yards and two TDs. Gore’s 24 100-yard rushing games are the most in 49ers franchise history. Closely monitoring players will be paramount. ‘‘Everybody’s got to do just a great job of teaching and understanding where guys are,’’ Harbaugh said. ‘‘Because guys are going to come in tiptop shape, there’s going to be some guys that come in close to tiptop shape and you just don’t know. There’s the unknown with every single guy on your team, with every rookie free agent, drafted guy, that you sign. You just don’t know. ‘‘So the idea of the unknown, now you know why I’m nervous. You know why I’ve got some angst on a lot of dif- ferent fronts.’’ Pacific 12 Conference likes its show (MCT) LOS ANGELES — Hollywood loves a feel- good story, so it makes sense that Pacific 12 Confer- ence officials have chosen the Fox Studio lot for their annual football media day. Commissioner Larry Scott can stand before the cameras on Tuesday morn- ing and talk about a record- setting $3 billion television deal. He can remind every- one about bringing Col- orado and Utah into the fold and establishing a confer- ence championship game. "I feel very good about the last year," Scott said. "There's just a lot that is exciting." But the silver lining comes with a few dark clouds — and they loom directly over the Pac-12's marquee football programs. With USC entering a second season under an NCAA bowl ban and Ore- gon embroiled in controver- sy over payments to a recruiting service, the inau- gural title game might have to settle for the conference's third- and fourth-best teams. "I don't think anyone would say it's an ideal situa- tion," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at Oregon. "When your product is in question, it certainly creates a chal- lenge." And that's where bad news edges in on Scott's otherwise sunny message. "No one likes a cloud of accusations and questions about integrity," he said. "That's not the Pac-12 brand." The NCAA is investigat- ing Oregon for a $25,000 payment to Willie Lyles, a Houston-based talent scout. Football programs often rely on scouts to evaluate high school prospects, but it turned out that Lyles provid- ed little in the way of useful information. He did, howev- er, have close ties to a top recruit, Lache Seastrunk, who ultimately signed with the Ducks. If Oregon is found to have paid Lyles to help secure Seastrunk's commit- ment, that could constitute an NCAA violation. Athlet- ic department officials have repeatedly declined to com- ment. "It's an awkward time because nothing is coming out of the Oregon camp other than news of them hir- ing expensive attorneys," Swangard said. While no wrongdoing has been proved, the contro- versy — along with USC's unsuccessful appeal of NCAA penalties stemming from the Reggie Bush scan- dal — has cast the Pac-12 in a bad light. As for the potential matchup in December's title game, Scott chose not to look that far ahead, saying: "That's hypothetical, getting way out in front." Marketing experts believe the commissioner is better off focusing on all that has gone right for his con- ference. "One basic rule of public relations, you're always looking for things that bring attention to your brand," said George Belch, a profes- sor at San Diego State's MBA sports management program. "I would think the conference will really be playing up the addition of two new teams and all the big changes." While Scott failed to lure Texas into a proposed super- conference, he has created a stir with other moves. The former pro tennis executive was hired in July 2009 — more than a year before the conference's pre- vious broadcast deal expired — which gave him time to launch a marketing blitz aimed at raising the Pac-12's national profile. There was a bicoastal media tour and a slick video celebrating the expansion. Scott hired the high-pow- ered Creative Artists Agency as a consultant and assembled a staff that included marketing expert Danette Leighton and for- mer Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg. "He brought profession- al-grade business practices to amateur sports," said AJ Maestas of Navigate Mar- keting, a Chicago-based firm. "He started to push the envelope." During the television negotiations, the Pac-12 relied heavily on CAA and persuaded ESPN and Fox to up the ante in a joint effort. The resulting 12-year deal is worth about $225 million to the league annually. That's almost four times the amount of the previous contract and slightly more than the Southeastern Con- ference ($205 million) and Big Ten ($220 million) are getting from their broadcast- ers each year. "The Pac-12 should not be where it is," Maestas said. "They're outperform- ing their natural order." The deal looks even bet- ter because the conference was able to retain the rights to enough content — espe- cially in football and men's basketball — to stock its own broadcast and digital networks set to launch next year. And the membership is happy because of Scott's insistence on revenue shar- ing. "We move away from an era when the Los Angeles schools got a bigger piece of pie," Swangard said. "Now there is a model where each of the schools benefit ... it elevates everybody." The Oregon professor and others believe there is enough good news to bal- ance, if not outweigh, the negative. They also suspect that attention will shift to the field once games begin. "Fans are pretty amazing in what they focus on and how forgiving they can be," Belch said. They will be watching to see if Oregon can repeat last season's run to the Bowl Championship Series cham- pionship game and if Utah can make the transition from the Mountain West to a higher level of competition from week to week. They will be keeping an eye on Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, an early Heisman Trophy candidate. That should leave Scott enough of an opening to remain largely positive. The commissioner foresees a happy ending to his script. "In many respects, I believe we're only at the beginning," he said. "The next year is going to be just as exciting." (Continued from page 1B) coaches, front-office staff, investors and family mem- bers. "Oh, it went great," said Bochy, reached on his cell phone as the team boarded a train to Philadelphia. "Certainly, we were all honored to be there. It's quite a privilege. We enjoyed a special season, and no doubt, this is one of the most special moments we've had." What did Bochy and the President discuss while they waited to be intro- duced? Maybe how to fix the debt crisis? "We talked about base- ball, about golf a little bit," Bochy said. "He asked where I was from. We talked about the team, and of course, Willie Mays was there." Mays received two standing ovations, one when he entered the East Room, and the other when Obama introduced him. The "Say Hey Kid" was impossible to miss. So was bearded closer Brian Wilson, who traded in his infamous spandex tuxedo he wore to the ESPY awards earlier this month. Wilson still man- aged to arrive in style, his hair spiked and fat pin- stripes running down his blue, Dick Tracyesque suit. "And then there's the guy with the beard. Where's he?" Obama said, to laughter. "I do fear it. " Obama joked that his wife, Michelle, was relieved that Wilson would grab the White House fashion headlines for the day. Bochy expressed relief that his eccentric closer left the spandex at home. "I'm very, very, very thankful to Wilson for not wearing that," Bochy said. Lincecum wore a plush, black velvet sportcoat, but that wasn't what made it easy for Obama to pick him out of the crowd. "I see him back there. Recognize the hair," Obama said. "When Tim entered the draft five years ago, nine teams passed him over before the Giants picked him up. Nobody thought somebody that skinny, with that violent a delivery, could survive without just flying apart. "... America learned some- times it's a good idea to bet on the skinny guy." The festive crowd included Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whose Congressional dis- trict includes AT&T Park, along with a host of San Francisco city officials past and present. Current mayor Ed Lee was joined by Lieutenant Gov. Gavin Newsom, former mayor Willie Brown and Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Giants president Larry Baer reminded Feinstein that during her mayoral term, she put Prop W, the first ballpark measure, on the ballot in 1987. "It lost, but it got the ball rolling," Baer said. "I told her, 'We've come a long way since 1987.' If we don't get the ballpark, we don't go to the White House as the San Francis- co Giants." Baer was struck by the number of high-ranking political officials in the room, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, a native of Monterey, Calif., and a lifelong Giants fan. "When you think about it, San Francisco is really the source of what is dri- ving government in this country," Baer said. "They have been part of our inner circle. "And it was pretty cool that President Obama was the one to receive the Giants. Not to make any political statements, but he probably reflects the area and its sensibilities better than another president might." Left unsaid: The Chief Executive that Obama replaced, George W. Bush, once owned the Texas Rangers — the team the Giants defeated in the World Series. The White House visit wasn't easy to arrange. President Obama's sched- ule couldn't accommodate the Giants when they played the Washington Nationals earlier this sea- son. (As it turned out, the Giants were in the District May 1, when the President announced that special forces had killed terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden.) So the Giants gave up a rare day off, traveling east one day early to start a series in Philadelphia Tuesday night. They arrived at their Washing- ton, D.C. hotel after 3 a.m. Monday and were suited and ready to go by the early afternoon. The entire active roster made the trip, including players like rookies Bran- don Crawford and Bran- don Belt who weren't in the major leagues last sea- son. Jeff Keppinger, whom the Houston Astros traded to the Giants last week, had to buy a suit for the occasion. Baer said there was no discussion about leaving new players back at the hotel. "There's a serendipity to it," Baer said. "Yet there's melancholy as well for the guys who aren't here this year." In addition to Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe, who signed with other clubs over the offseason, the team also was missing several players on the dis- abled list: Buster Posey, Freddy Sanchez, Jonathan Sanchez and Pat Burrell among them. Baer said those players were invited to attend and had to make a personal decision on whether it would impact their rehab work. In Posey's case, he had surgery on Friday to remove screws that had stabilized three torn liga- ments in his ankle. Will Kuchins, 16, who grew up in San Mateo, rode the Metro from his home in Potomac, Md., with his two younger sib- lings in the hopes of catch- ing a glimpse of the Giants. He stood with his face pressed against the gates. "Wilson and (Pablo) Sandoval got off the bus and waved to us," Kuchins said. "I hoped one day I'd see this. It's pretty cool." Beckham expects ManU’s best against All-Stars NEW YORK (AP) — David Beckham didn’t need to be educated about Manchester Unit- ed’s motivation heading into Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game at Red Bull Arena. The L.A. Galaxy star, capped 115 times for England’s national team, expected the English Premier League champi- ons to come out full blast against his All-Star teammates. ‘‘When you play at that level,’’ Beckham said, ‘‘you approach every game the same — to win. Man U didn’t come here to have a nice holiday and run around the field. They want to get their fitness up and they’re playing to win.’’ United has accom- plished much on its U.S. tour. Starting with a 4-1 win over New England and continuing with a 7- 0 romp over Seattle and Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Chicago in the U.S. Cup final, Manchester United has outscored the league 14-2. Wayne Rooney has four of those goals. ‘‘Basically, it’s all about getting our fitness in and getting ready for the season,’’ the Reds forward said. With the MLS draw- ing more European talent and an overall improved quality of play, manager Alex Ferguson said Wednesday’s game against a team that fea- tures the MLS’ leading scorer, Thierry Henry of the Red Bulls, should be formidable. ‘‘The MLS is much stronger now,’’ said Fer- guson, whose team beat the All-Stars 5-2 last sea- son. ‘‘There’s more play- ers now. ‘‘We’re winning games comfortably, but it’s been difficult. Seattle was really a false result. We created eight chances and scored on seven. Normally, you hope for 25 percent, 20 percent. At the end, it was a real slaughter, but it wasn’t the case.’’ United actually fell behind the Chicago Fire 1-0 in the first half, but came back in the second. ‘‘In the second half, we had to step up the performance level,’’ Fer- guson said. ‘‘Those teams have definitely improved, especially since six or seven years ago.’’ Mexican goal-scorer Javier Hernandez made his Man U debut against the All-Stars last year. Chicharito hasn’t played on this American tour as Ferguson attempts to rest him after having played the 2009-10 season for his original club, Chivas of Guadalajara, then the World Cup before he joined the 2010 summer tour. He could get signifi- cant time against the All- Stars, however. ‘‘We need to play a good game because they’ve got so many good players,’’ Hernan- dez said of the All-Stars, who will be without Galaxy and U.S. national team star Landon Dono- van as he sits with a groin injury. ‘‘The only thing I need to do is work hard every day. Just keep improving and doing my best.’’ The concept goes for the rest of the squad, too, as they attempt to defend their Premier League crown. The Reds were also runners-up to Barcelona in the Euro- pean Champions League. ‘‘There’s always a demand for us to do well,’’ Ferguson said.