Stuff we bought on Amazon this week:
Welcome to Niners Talk with John, Tim and Brian. This is our first podcast detailing how the three of us have come to be Niners fan, how serious we are about being Niners fans and how the three of us felt about the 2022 season. We finish it up with stuff we bought from Amazon.
Transcript:
2022 Season Review and Recap
John Cashman: Hello everybody, and welcome to Niners talk. I’m John joined by my brother Tim, and my brother from another brother, Brian.
Tim Cashman: Brother. From another brother. Brother From another brother, yes. To, to quote the great movie Clueless. This is California, not Kentucky.
John Cashman: Yes, brother from another mother, Brian.
Brian Caynan: Hi.
John Cashman: Welcome to our inaugural podcast. We would love it if we would leave us a review, give us a like, or subscribe, but, you know, how are you feeling, Tim? How are we feeling today?
Tim Cashman: Uh, we’re feeling good. We’re feeling that it’s Friday. We’re feeling that training camp is just a month away, and we’re feeling like football needs to get here soon, because even with baseball, the Giants making a nice run right now.
Feel like we’re a little bit of a sports desert. Yeah. Brian, how you feeling?
Brian Caynan: It’s right before the holiday weekend. I’m feeling good. It’s hot out here in California today, but, yeah, I’m surviving.
John Cashman: Yeah, I just, I’m feeling pretty good. It’s, you know, like you said, a holiday weekend, Friday night. Uh, plus we’re going to talk a little niners.
So today we are talking, about the season. 2022 recap and our intro to the podcast. And really this is going to start with how we became Niners fans. And Tim, we’ll start off with you. How did you become a Niners fan?
Tim Cashman: Well, I became a Niners fan just, by growing up in the right place at the right time. Growing up, just north of San Francisco, a little town called Sausalito.
One of my earliest memories, is the 49ers in 1981, making their, epic Cinderella run. And being in the living room with all the family and our tiny little television on the TV cart that we used to be able to wheel around with the rabbit ears that we had to adjust just so. Watching, the catch and the Superbowl after that, it just, it’s been year in, year out, a constant niner fanaticism.
John Cashman: And on a scale of one to 10, what is your fandom?
Tim Cashman: Well, John, you need to give me, a benchmark on what, a 10 is? Is a 10 that I watch every game, or 10 is that, you know, I’m stalking George Kittle.
John Cashman: I would say 10 for stalking George Kittle. Okay.
Tim Cashman: So I’m going to give myself a seven. I’ll give myself a seven.
I don’t know what George Kittle had for breakfast. I don’t know what his girlfriend looks like, and I don’t know his address. I certainly watch every game, every preseason game. I try to read up as much as I can on, training camp, even the mini camps. So, yeah, I’ll give myself seven and a half.
Plus, my basement is just, is decorated with Niner’s paraphernalia.
John Cashman: I would also say that George Kittle is married. He does not have a girlfriend. We do not want to cause rumors where there are, that’s,
Tim Cashman: that’s why I’m a seven and a half. If I was an eight, I would’ve known that like you’re
John Cashman: You are more like a nine and a half.
But that’s neither here nor there. Brian, how’d you become a Niners fan?
Brian Caynan: Let’s see. My dad moved here from, from Asia in the late sixties. And then he was just telling me about the Niners being a constant doormat in the seventies to the, to the Cowboys. And, I guess when they got really good, as Tim was saying, in the, in the early eighties, that’s when I think everybody in the Bay Area jumped on the bandwagon.
So ,I’ve been a 49ers fan ever since, I think the first game that I honestly remember watching on TV was probably the Super Bowl against the Bengals. That’s the first game I honestly remember watching. But then after that it was so easy. I think anyone living in the Bay area to want to follow the 49ers. I know they won five Super Bowls and in the span of what, 15 years.
So yeah, it was a great experience and great time. So that’s how I became a fan. And yeah, we’ve been fans ever since.
John Cashman: And what would you say your level of fandom is?
Brian Caynan: Well, it’s got to be below Tim. If we’re gonna say Tim’s a seven and a half, then that means
John Cashman: Yeah. Tim’s not seven Tim’s a nine and a half
Tim Cashman: Come on, I’m a conservative. My estimate was conservative.
Brian Caynan: If I was to rate you, Tim, you’d be a 10 because you know almost everything and anything that it has to do, with the Niners and I’ve seen your basement.
Tim Cashman: Thanks. I don’t get out a lot. I don’t meet other people really. I probably should, you know, get another hobby, but, you know, I appreciate you saying that.
Brian Caynan: I would say my fandom is probably closer to an eight. If we put Tim at a 10, because that’s what I believe he is, I would probably be an eight. Although, you know, I do have season tickets to the Niners, so, but I only go, honestly, maybe two games a year and probably two games on the road a year. I don’t go that often but yeah, I would probably rate myself an eight, John?
John Cashman: Well, for me, I mean, obviously my brother and I grew up in the, the same household, so, we definitely started becoming fans at the same time. But, for me, where it really kind of struck home, um, was when we found out that there was this thing called the junior 49er minor Club.
And if you went to this place in San Francisco at a certain day and a certain time, they had these booster like folks and you got free tickets to the Niners game. So we went, we got our free passes and then we go to the game and it’s against the Los Angeles Rams. And I dunno, Tim might remember this better than I do.
It was the first time they beaten the Rams in like forever or the first time they beat ’em two times in a row or something like that.
Tim Cashman: So to test my level 10 of fandom, John in 1981, the 49ers beat the Rams, , for the first time in nine tries, and was the first time, I believe, since 1965 that swept them, in the season.
So, there you are, but no, please go on with the tickets because there’s a good story behind the tickets.
John Cashman: So, we get these free tickets, and we get to Candlestick Park. And I’d had never been to Candlestick Park, other than a baseball game. And the baseball game, there’s good seats everywhere.
I Candlestick game was a big bowl, you couldn’t not see the field. So we get there and what I didn’t realize was at Candlestick, they had this thing that went out towards the 50.
Tim Cashman: Like these portable standards, these 10 portable stands that came out, you know?
John Cashman: Yeah. And our tickets were in the corner by the portable stands, so we could only see to like the 20 yard line on one side. Everything else was blocked.
Tim Cashman: We had no idea what was going on. I mean, this is before the jumbotron. So the only thing you knew that if the crowd yelled, something good happened.
Yeah, or somebody, you know, would have one of their radios and they’d say, oh yeah, the Rams did this and the 49ers did that. You’re like, great.
John Cashman: I’m like these, this is why these tickets are free, because they’re horrible. This is where they, right. But, but the Niners play. The Rams.
It got really tight. We saw a touchdown. It was right in front of us. I was eight. Tim was six, but, the feeling was awesome. You know, candlestick had that, that unique smell and its only candlestick, like stale hot dogs and beer, and peanut shells.
And then the last play of the game was also right in front of us as well. And Tim, you probably remember this better than I do, the Rams were driving and the Niners defense broke up the last play, which I think is what it was, and I remember the Rams were like, kind of bummed.
Tim Cashman: Would, would you like me to tell you how it ended?
Brian Caynan: Do you just remember this from memory or is this like, where’s this coming from?
Tim Cashman:, Some of it from memory and some, going back and, you know, reading way too many 49er books. I’m not saying too, there’s no such thing as too many 49er books.
But also, with the magic of YouTube, you can find the game. And what had happened was, there’s two things that happened. One was about the day, maybe two days or about one day before the Rolling Stones had played a concert at Candlestick and the field was in terrible shape from the concert. I guess people just ripping up the turf, so, I think the kicker was, it might have been Frank Corral.
I don’t remember the, the kicker’s name, but he had a chance to tie it at the end and the field around where the infield was, where they would slot over on the south end of the stadium. The sodding was so bad that Corral just could not get solid footing, and he missed the field goal that would’ve sent the game in overtime and. 49ers win.
There was also a great game by Fred Dean. He had his coming out a game against the Cowboys a couple weeks before, but I go back and watch, the highlights and you just saw what a dominant force he was. I know we’re getting into the weeds a little bit on 49ers trivia, but yes, I do remember the terrible seats that you couldn’t see past the 40 yard line.
John Cashman: And, , and then yeah, apparently Fred Dean was at the game and we didn’t actually see it. So anyway, but that’s how I became a 49ers fan.
Brian Caynan: If you go look on the on the internet and just see the old configuration of the stadium, it was terrible. I just kind of remember that.
You’re right. They did share the baseball stadium with the giants. So all the sight lines were off. I remember seeing those portable grandstands come out and you guys had the worst seats I can imagine.
Tim Cashman: Oh, they were horrible.
John Cashman: It was like, so bad. Anyway, but that was my very first Niners game.
The very first time I became a real fan. And I would say my fandom is about a nine. It’s wavered over the years during like the dark ages before Harbaugh came back. It was down in the threes. Like, I’m like, I don’t even know what they’re doing, but you know, it’s now up to a nine because the niners are good.
Brian Caynan: Let me ask you guys one more thing. So, were both your parents Niners fans, like, were they like diehards?
Tim Cashman: My mother was on Sundays, yeah. Our mother was more of a football fan growing up in Columbus, Ohio. She had watched Ohio State Football and Woody Hayes, so she came out with a better understanding of the game.
My father was much more of a baseball fan. But he’d still watch the 49ers. But , you know, growing up Catholic, we’d always have, you know, church on, you know, Sunday morning. But when Sunday, when mass ended, we would come home and we would have this huge spread of food, for the 49ers game.
And that just became a thing. It was just a Sunday ritual and the fact that the 49ers were so successful. Just a lot of wonderful memories, all through the eighties of, Sunday afternoons in front of the television.
Brian Caynan: That’s funny. Like my dad was the first 49ers fan in our household, and that’s how me and my brother became Niners fans.
And then it’s now since passed to my mom, who’s a big time niners fan too. She’ll religiously watch every game. She’ll walk around. She has little superstitions of where she’ll be or where she’ll stand, when she’s watching these games or what she’s holding, you know?
Tim Cashman: And I think it’s only weird if it doesn’t work.
John Cashman: That brings us to another thing, of how Niners talk actually started between the three of us.
So, Tim, do you want to tell us?
Tim Cashman: Yeah, I think, like you John, we followed the Niners and we follow them through the nineties and we followed them through, the dark years of Dennis Erickson and Mike Nolan and Mike Singletarry. I think two things were kind of tough for me to keep following them was now I live on the East coast and I just wasn’t in a position to be able to see the games until I was able to get Sunday ticket. So, I kind of, you know, dropped off. I had to kind of follow them through the Internet and so forth. But when Harbaugh, when Jim Harbaugh became head coach, and they had their run in 2011 and they made it all the way to the championship game.
They played the new New York Giants in the regular season, and it was a nationally broadcast game and. I was at home and it just had a sense, a feel. That game just had a feel to it that, I’ll call it a vibe that I had not been part of in so many years. It was an October game at Candlestick. The shadows of the stadium were coming across the field.
It was a tight game, but it was an exciting game, and it was just the 49ers were trying to establish themselves against, the giants who were juggernaut. And the three of us just started texting, during that part. And that eventually became Niners talk. And here we are 12 years later, still talking about the Niners now, you know, making trips to various stadiums to see them and it’s just, a great thing to watch every game and follow the draft, to the playoffs. And, and here we’re now doing a podcast.
Brian Caynan: Tim was texting me separately and then Tim was probably texting you separately and then it kind of just merged together where, well, you know, we’re all talking about the same thing.
We’re all griping or loving the same thing, so let’s just put it all together in one little chat. And that’s how it. Got started.
John Cashman: I was actually in Miami, watching the game. I was in a hotel, because I had a meeting the next day and, you know, I was like, I’ll throw in the Niners Giants game.
And Niners actually had a pretty decent winning record. And I kind of noticed them because they had beaten. The Lions, before the Lions were supposed to be pretty good, but I remember Harbaugh coming off the field like slapping the, the Lions coach and the Lions coach took issue with it. I’m like, I kinda like this Harbaugh guy.
And then with the Giants, I’m like, wow, this is a good football team. And then D was playing awesome, and Patrick Willis was all over the place and it was just, it was like back to. Fun football. And of course that season just became magical because we didn’t expect anything out of it. And they beat the Saints, they go to the NFC Championship game, and yeah, and then they go to the Super Bowl next year.
So that’s really, I think, how Niners talk started. One thing that my brother and I do every now and again, which we’re also gonna do on this podcast, So we have this little saying that we say to each other. So I go, Hey, Tim. Niners!
Tim Cashman: Niners! And do you wanna tell that word or should I?
John Cashman: Yeah. What that comes from is Robin Williams. He had this bit, that he did live from, rainbow Room in San Francisco.
What he did, this whole thing where he showed the Niners, sat the entire crowd was like Niners!. And he’s like, what? I like the team. And, everybody loves the 49ers, but he does this bit where it’s like, you don’t remember the Niner were bad.
John Cashman: So that’s where Niners comes from.
Tim Cashman: He also said, I think he, one of his also bits was, you know, we used to have a quarterback who go up to the center and go, why haven’t you called me?
John Cashman: So anyway, Niners, Tim Niners, Brian. So we should, probably talk about, 2022. So overall thoughts on 22? Brian?
Brian Caynan: Successful season in the fact they navigated their way and they made it to the NFC Championship game. If I remember correctly, they didn’t start off too well.
They were probably what, a game under 500 or something. But, they came through and they did have a couple changes in quarterback from Trey Lance going down to Jimmy G, going down, to Brock Purdy. So, I think overall a successful season. You know, obviously in the Bay Area here, the expectation is always quest for six.
So, you know, they had that 10 years ago and they just feel like it’s been unfinished business ever since Harbaugh came. I think we all thought this was the year. 2022 was the year, and it just didn’t happen. So overall, a successful season, if I have to look at it from a bird’s eye point of view that we did pretty good.
We saw some great games. The Niners pulled out some great victories, but it just didn’t come through in the end. And, and, you know, I’m sure we’ll talk about the NFC Championship game, but I think overall successful in the fact that they made it as far as they did. But you know, let’s see what happens again in 23.
John Cashman: Tim what were your thoughts on the 2022 ?
Tim Cashman: If I were to summarize 2022 as the 49ers, I think, the title would be Next Man Up. The Niners.and I think this speaks to their organization. They were very high on Trey Lance coming in. Of course, he gets injured in week two. Jimmy G comes in, he plays until the Dolphins game, and he gets hurt and then Brock Purdy comes in.
So the question was how long can they sustain this? I mean, are we gonna see. Brock Purdy exposed as the rookie as Mr. Irrelevant? But unfortunately, you know, the Niners just frankly just ran out of quarterbacks. I was pretty taken with how they could bring players in like a Brock Purdy or how Jimmy G can come in having literally no training camp, no preseason, and come in and perform.
And then also bringing in someone like ChristianMcCaffery, who take a couple weeks for him, but all of a sudden we get into the Rams game that they play down at SoFi Stadium and he throws for a touchdown, he runs for a touchdown, he catches, and all of a sudden how fast he gels.
So, I think that speaks a lot to the organization. Ultimately they fell short against the Eagles, but I think it just shows, you know, the Niners have a lot of firepower, but I think the overall culture in that organization comes from the top down, and I think that’s why the Niners are going to continue to be successful for the near future.
John Cashman: For me, the 2022 season was fairly successful and compared to the 21 season, which was such a rollercoaster. You know, we were up, we were down. You know, it was like, it was just crazy. But this season, started off a little on the slow side, but then, I mean, they just went on such a run at the end.
They looked so dominant. And you know, you just go and you think, okay, well, they had some bad luck in the NFC championship and they just, they just don’t get there. So, you know, all in all fairly successful season. You just can’t argue with the last three out of four years in the NFC Championship and once they’re in the Super Bowl, I mean, that’s, that’s pretty good.
Cleveland hasn’t been the AFC Championship for don’t know, I think I was, I think it was Jan, January of 88.
Tim Cashman: I think was the last time. No January of 1990.
John Cashman: When Elway broke them?
Tim Cashman: Uh, no, that was the drive was January of 87 and then there was the fumble, which was January of 89. And then they played, , Well, actually no, It was, I’m getting my years that mixed up. 87 was the drive, 88 was the fumble. 90 they played again. And, the Browns and the Broncos played each other again in January of 1990.
The Broncos won, but then they got their hides kicked by the 49ers in Super Bowl 24. Anyway, uh, yeah, Cleveland, uh, so yeah, go, go to your point as I digress down Cleveland Brown’s history. Absolutely right. Obviously, you know, we all would’ve loved to see a six Super Bowl, but, you know, the 49ers year in and year out, with the exception of 2020, they’ve been contenders.
John Cashman: So, Tim, do you have a favorite game?
Tim Cashman: From 2022? Um, yeah, I’m gonna go with, it was week 15. It was a Thursday night game against the Seahawks in Seattle. And I think favorite game because of, you know, the Seahawks rivalry and the Niners have had not much success over the last 10, 12 years in Seattle.
Brock Purdy goes in, performs, very well. He and George Kittle, I think he had two touchdown passes to Kittle, but we found out later he was really playing hurt. And I felt that that established himself as, not only somebody who can perform when they’re in a lot of discomfort, but perform in a very tough place to play.
So I think with that idea, I’ll circle the Seahawks games. One of my favorite games. Brian, what about you?
Brian Caynan: I’m looking through the schedule here. There’s so many to choose from. I think for me, I’m gonna say the October 30 game against the Rams at SoFi Stadium. So I think they beat them 31 to 14.
I think that was the start of that, of that winning streak. So, um, I remember like the week before they just got destroyed at home by the Chiefs. Yeah. And week eight, they go to LA where they’ve been pretty good as of late, and that’s the start of that winning streak and hey beat ’em 31 to 14.
So that to me is one of, I think one of the turnaround games of the season where we just played really well and that was the game, I think where they got CMC right.
Tim Cashman: That was his kind of his coming out. He played against the Chiefs, but you know, he was only on the field, you know, for this or that.
And, and you know, I mean obviously he wasn’t, which Patrick Mahomes went. Patrick Mahomes. So anyway. Yeah.
John Cashman: Well, for me, my favorite game was when they went to Mexico City for an away game against Arizona Cardinals and it was anything but I mean, it was basically a home game for the Niners and the Niners just obliterated the poor Arizona Cardinals.
I mean, it was just, It was so bad.
Tim Cashman: I’m cutting in here. John, one of my favorite moments was, you know, George Kittle, you know, has, there was, there was a Mexican wrestler who George Kittle, you know, says, well, you know when I get a first down and I do that little move where he kind of points, he’s like, no, I got it from this wrestler in Mexico.
And in the pregames, he runs over, gives the guy a big hug. The guy gives kittle a wrestling mask. Yeah. And it just, it just, I kind of felt at that point, I think the game’s already won.
John Cashman: Yeah. Won. I think Kittle had two touchdowns that night, right?
Tim Cashman: I think so. You know? Yeah. I know he had least one. I don’t remember if it was one or two,
John Cashman: But it, I mean, it was just like, they was just going up and down the field. It was, it was just one of those, oh, this is a fun game to watch. It’s not stressful at all, which leads me to my next thing, which was the most stressful game. And for me, my most stressful game was actually the one I saw in person, which was in Vegas with my brother.
And, we’re down, we had pretty decent seats off of the 20, probably about halfway up in the club section. And so we can see just about everything, but we were surrounded by Raiders fans. And it was such a back-and-forth game. It went into overtime. And of course we had to wait for Robbie Gould to kick a field goal.
But yeah, that was the most stressful one because it was just, we were there in person and the Raiders were playing it like their Super Bowl. and Jerrod Stidam had a great game, but the Niners ended up pulling it out.
Tim Cashman: Devante Adams went nuts.
John Cashman: I still don’t think it was a catch, but it was. He was amazing that game. So Tim, what about you? Most stressful game?
Tim Cashman: My most stressful game. I’m gonna, since you said the Raiders game. I’m gonna go to, divisional playoff against Cowboys. They had two very good teams that were evenly matched. Dak Prescott, you know, mobile quarterbacks had given the 49ers fits for years, and Dak was no exception.
He had multiple chances to either take the lead or push the game into, , maybe even overtime, but the 49er defense kept standing up and standing up. But Cowboy defense, I thought Michael Parsons played probably the best game of of the year going against McGlintchy.
And it was a hard fought game that even when the Cowboys had the ball on their own, I think 10 or something. With only a few seconds left, I kept thinking, this game’s not over. This game is only gonna be over when the clock hits zero. And they tried really strange play at the end where they spread the entire field and, forty niners ended up pulling it out.
But that to me, was the most stressful game because I, I just think it was such a tight game between two very evenly matched football teams.
Brian Caynan: Let’s see, since you guys picked those games, I’m gonna go with a loss as the most stressful game. And I know this was a game that you guys went to, but this is the game after Trey Lance got hurt.
So week three at Denver that was the game, I think, where every 49 years fan. Expected the Niners to win and Yep. You know, with all the firepower at that time, no CMC yet, but that was a game you just thought they were gonna win and they were just gonna come out and just destroy the Broncos.
But it was anything but, I think they had a seven point lead in the beginning with a touchdown, and then just right after that, just it felt like Jimmy G , couldn’t get the offense going, and if I remember correctly, wasn’t there like a safety or something?
Tim Cashman: Uh, it was, yeah, it was, it was, I mean, the final score was 10-11.
Give you an idea of what kind of game it was.
John Cashman: So my aunt lives right outside Denver, and when the schedule came out, she said we should come out for the game. I have tickets. I’ll give them to you. You can stay at our house. Just come out and we’re like, all right.
So, Tim was kind enough to cash in some miles. And gets two tickets on United and we’re about two weeks out and my aunt says, where are you guys gonna sit? I’m like, what do you mean? Well, well, I’m going the game like.
Tim Cashman: with all due respect, she is in her eighties, and she might be listening to this, so, um, so let, let’s just be nice and just say, Hey, you know, we we’re both employed.
We could afford to buy our own tickets. Yeah. But yeah, I was a little like, oh, okay. That’s a change in the itinerary. I
John Cashman: But Tim and I ended up getting great seats. Underneath the 49ers coaching box and just to the left of Greg Papa, who we got a picture with and I think was happy that somebody recognized him.
Like, Hey, that’s Greg Papa San Francisco! He looked at me and was like okay.
Tim Cashman: For those who don’t know who Greg Pappa is.
John Cashman: Greg Papa is the radio, play by play guy for KNBR. So, we were right underneath the 49ers coaching box, and I wanted to put up a sign and put it on the window that just said, call the right play.
And my brother’s like, don’t you dare. And to this day, I think if I had done that, we would’ve won.
Tim Cashman:, I think to this day, John, if you had actually done that, I would’ve called security and said he’s affecting the game plan. I would’ve completely sold you out as my brother saying, he’s affecting the game plan.
You need to get him outta here. John will meet you at the car. By the way, that alone puts me at a 9.5 for my 49ers fandom that I would sell on my brother to not affect the offensive game plan.
John Cashman: You might have actually gone to 11 on that one, so,
Tim Cashman: So
John Cashman: Um, yeah, so that brings us to the least favorite game.
So, for me my least favorite game was the one where it just put me into the most foul mood. And that’s when they lost to the Falcons because they had lost Emanual Mosley for the season on a kind of inconsequential play in Carolina. They come out, well, one of the few times they’ve ever come out flat.
They just never looked in the game. They had turnovers. It was just, they just looked like they were coming off a road trip. They just looked bad. And I was like, what are you guys doing? It was just like, Ugh. And it was just one day, like, you know, get through Monday, listen to the Here’s the Catch podcast during my run, reset.
I forgot who we played next, we played the Chiefs. Oh, well that didn’t really help my mood either, but that was my least favorite game. Well, here’s what happened when the Chiefs, we got Christopher McAfferty, so my mood improved from there. So, Brian, did you have a least favorite game from last year?
Brian Caynan: Well, I mean, it’s easy to say the NFC Championship game, but I was actually gonna say the Chiefs, because we talked about the Broncos, we talked about now you just talked about the Falcons. I was gonna say the Chiefs because the expectation was when they traded for CMC that week. Okay. we have the horses to compete with Patrick Mahomes and, and Travis Kelce.
And you thought it was gonna be a better game. You thought it was gonna be, or I thought it was gonna be a better game. I’d be more competitive and I think it was probably for the first half, if I remember correctly. But then, Mahomes just turned it on in the second half and just killed us.
Tim Cashman: I know Brian just mentioned it, but I gotta go NFC Championship and, you know, not so much that the 49ers lost was that, , when Purdy went down and Josh Johnson comes in, you thought, okay, well maybe they can, maybe the defense can just play lights out and Johnson can use a couple of scoring plays.
But when Johnson went out and Purdy went back in and you and I watched it, just thinking we have no chance to win. And when you’re watching the game like that at that as far into the season as you were, but a chance to go to the Super Bowl and not feel that the 49ers could even take a shot, that was just it.
It felt like my soul had been sucked out just because it’s like, yeah. It’s like a baseball game. It’s like, try to go win. Oh, by the way, your wife field is your starting pitcher. So you just ken they really had no chance to win , and nothing against the Eagles.
The Eagles are, you know, a fantastic ball club. You know they gave the Chiefs, everything they could handle in the Super Bowl. I just would’ve loved to have come out and say all the Eagles beat us. I, I’d rather just been, you know, the Niners given their, all the Eagles getting their aall and, you know, by the third quarter you’re just like, that’s it. That’s the season.
John Cashman: Yeah, it was definitely a letdown.
Brian Caynan:, I remember in that game they had that, if we’re gonna talk about that game, the play that was not ruled a catch, or that was ruled a catch, like, I think it was right in the first series of the game from
Tim Cashman: Philly.
What do you guys First series? Yeah. Yeah. The first series.
Brian Caynan: So I mean, that’s one that every 49ers is gonna hang their hat on.
Tim Cashman: Yeah, but you could say that. I think Shanahan should have thrown the flag. I think some people from, you know, upstairs in the coaching booth should have buzz down to Shanahan and say, “Hey, throw the challenge flag”
But that didn’t happen. But that’s not the reason the 49ers lost. I mean, the 49ers lost is because, the Eagles made more plays than they did, and we didn’t have a quarterback. I don’t wanna be the guy who’s gonna say, Hey, one play would’ve decided.
We don’t know that. We’ll never know that. Yeah.
John Cashman: So, but I think Tim, I know one game , was memorable. Which
Tim Cashman: was the Dolphins game.
John Cashman: Why was it so memorable, Tim?
Tim Cashman: So, for those who live outside the Bay Area, that’s just myself and my brother. We have to just subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, which is now on YouTube and not on, DirecTV anymore. But anyway, so I’m watching the Dolphins game and you know, I’m always a little uptight when I watch the 49ers.
And I’m on record as saying this, I have shown them my stress levels from my smartwatch, through my app. And, you see them skyrocket during the 49ers games, just along with my heart rate. So, yes, there is an emotional attachment to the 49ers, but anyway, so the 49ers and the dolphins are going, back and forth and of course Garoppolo gets injured and I immediately jump on Twitter and what is Niners Nation saying?
What is the Athletic saying? What is anybody saying? And everything is just like, it looks bad, ankle not good. His season’s over. And you know, at this point we’d already lost a quarterback. We’d lost Trey Lance, so, Who the hell is Brock Purdy? And I just lost it. I’m done. I’m not watching this team anymore.
And I’ve only done that, you know, maybe 20 or 50 times in course of my lifetime, of being a 49er fan of saying I’ll never watch this team again. So I turned the game off and I went into another part of my house, which, the shades were drawn and it was very dark and it’s December in Virginia so it’s cold and gray and everything just, just reflected my mood.
So I sat there for about 10, 15 minutes and said alright, I’ll check to see what’s going on in the game. So I pulled out my smartphone, get on ESPN, I go to ESPN Gamecast and I see, all right, well, Niners are making a game of it. All right, well, Niners are starting to win. All right, Niners got a turnover. So one would think that at this point I would get up out of this very dark somber room and go in and turn the game back on with, N F L Sunday ticket, which costs around $350 or something to that effect.
No, I decided to stay in this darkened room. I guess because I felt like I needed to have my mood reflected even more so, and I just kept refreshing Gamecast. For over two and a half hours and they won. And so that’s, there you go. But it’s not weird if it works. But I will, I’ll say this, the next game I didn’t put on Gamecast, I did watch the next game on Sunday ticket.
But you know, if you’re looking for a return on investment on Sunday ticket, I am probably not the case study to exemplify that.
John Cashman: And just so you know, from, from my own personal recollection, I think the Niners are undefeated when Tim has given up on them. Cause I can think of the Bengals last year and the Miami Dolphins this year anyway.
But moving on, one of the things we’re gonna do each week is talk about good shit and bad shit. And we’re always good as optimists. Gonna talk good shit first. And really the big one for me is obviously C M C. You know, I have always been a fan. He went to Stanford. He was awesome when he was played for the Panthers.
We played him twice, when he was with the Panthers, and he was great. You know both times, the Panther were just horrible. So I remember, it was about 11 o’clock at night, maybe it was a Wednesday. And I was looking at Bleacher Report to see what had happened. And I was looking to see if anybody had written something on the Athletic, cuz the Niners article started to come out, pretty frequently and all of a sudden was breaking news.
Niners trade for CMC. I’m like, what?
I get on the text string with you guys and Tim had already gone to sleep and Brian was of course still up because he is on the west coast. I’m like, holy shit, we got CMC. But he was all that he was cracked up to be and still is.
And I remember, you know, obviously the game with the Rams, but really where I thought he is really something special was, and we watched him against the Raiders, was how patient he was running through some of these holes and you could see how patient he was and it all of a sudden just explodes through.
And I’m like, he is just, I don’t know how, if Bobby T helped him at all, but he really was, for me, was one of the biggest, high points of the season. Brian, what about you? Some good shit from 2022?
Brian Caynan: Who? I would have to say Brock Purdy, he was the one we did not expect to produce. For the Niners. And then, you know, obviously with Jimmy, and Trey Lance going down and he showed wonders.
He was able to get the ball to the receivers and it looks like he’s made a pretty good connection with Kittle. So yeah, that was probably some good shit this year, Brock, he really gelled well with the team and he showed, and he’s proven himself to be a leader and a play caller.
And he’s led them in, in games. The team’s given him a lot of respect and that’s kind of one of the reasons why if he’s healthy, he’ll be the starter next year.
Tim Cashman: I gotta go Nick Bosa and I gotta pinpoint one play in particular, it was week 12 against the Saints, Niners are up 13 -Nothing.
There’s about four minutes left. It’s fourth down. And Bosa comes in for the sack, but that’s not really the crux of the play it’s just how Bosa anticipated the snap. So when the play actually happened, I thought he was offside, the announcer thought he was offside, but when you go back and look at the replay, he anticipates the snap so well and is so fast off the ball that the tackle, the left tackle had no chance.
Bosa comes around, makes the sack and the 49ers win 13, nothing. That play just epitomizes what a talent Nick Bosa is.
John Cashman: Yeah. I mean, and again, obviously defensive player of the year, hopefully there’s a bookend this year. I mean, obviously with Hargrave joining us is gonna be big when that gets into more next year and the defense.
For me on the good shit is, is the offensive line. You know, last year about this time, the big concern was Alex Mack retired, Lincoln Tomlinson had gone to the Jets. Aaron Banks was a mystery and, you know, we Burford and Brunskill as right guard and actually ended up being a strength.
You’ve always got Trent Williams, but Aaron Banks played, played really well. Jake Brendell was an AllPro alternate and, between Burford and, Brunskill had a really solid offensive line that was able to, for the most part, protect the quarterback and obviously provide a lot of running room for CMC and Jordan Mason and Elijah , and Juice. So, yeah, I think the offensive line was really just, really good stuff that happened. Tim, anything else that that comes up with
Tim Cashman: on some good shit? Well, I just, I think I, I’ve already said, I think just the perseverance of the 49ers. I mean, how many teams?
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team in NFL history. That has gone through three quarterbacks and reached the NFC Championship. Yeah. So I think, that alone just says, Hey, this is a system that works, has it achieved, you know, the, the ultimate of the Super Bowl? No. But this is a team that can continue to put itself in position to achieve that, and that’s all you can ask for as an opportunity.
John Cashman: Yeah. I’m also gonna put another piece of good shit out there, which is Brian Grisie You know, to your point of the three quarterbacks mm-hmm. You know, I do you get there with the three quarterbacks without a really good quarterbacks coach, like Grisie, and I didn’t think much of the higher, but he did great.
So, Brian, any other good shift from last year?
Brian Caynan: Well they did have a 12 game winning streak, so that was pretty impressive. You know, after the Chiefs game, they won the last eight regular season games and then they won their first two playoff games. So that’s pretty good
Tim Cashman:. I’ll throw one more in there. You said, you know, some good stuff. Well when you’ve got colleagues you work with who are Cowboys fans, and you come in on Monday, January 23rd and you see ’em in the office, and the one thing that just comes into your mind is strut, just strut.
You don’t even need to say a word, just strut.
John Cashman: You the cowboy are gonna win Super Bowl next year
Tim Cashman: Oh, I know. The Cowboy was gonna Super Bowl. All right,
John Cashman: There’s always two sides of the coin, so we gotta talk some bad shit. And for me, it was the first game of the season, the monsoon in Chicago. And it was like, are you freaking kidding me?
You, they just looked a little bit off. Greenlaw had, I don’t know how many times he knocked somebody out of bounds and threw a flag. Deebo fumbles. We were trying the Trey Lance experiment of running between tackles, which didn’t really do so hot. And of course Justin Fields just finds Dante Pettis all by himself in the rainstorm.
That was just like, this game’s just not happening for us. And. Like I do every year. I go down my brother’s and let’s just say, it was not a happy mood. So Brian, any bad shit on your radar?
Brian Caynan: , Well, we talked about the playoff loss, so that would probably the biggest dodoo on, on the, on the season for me.
But, you know there were some really good wins and some like really awesome plays, and you know, we brought in McCaffrey and we have Kittle, but to me, I think, I’m still just gonna linger on the fact that we lost that NFC Championship game.
Well, we probably could have won it as long as we had some quarterbacks, but that’s my, that’s my bad shit for the 22 season.
Tim Cashman: Yeah, I think, you know, we, we’ve talked about, the NFC championship, we’ve talked about the, the quarterbacks going down. I’m gonna go with somebody I had really a lot of eye hope for in 2022 and it did not work out unfortunately. And that’s Javan Kinlaw. I thought, you know, after his surgery and his rehab, that he was gonna be able to come back and really be a force in the middle. And we saw some flashes against the Bears in week one but it just never came together and we saw very much that championship.
He was just really not able to hold his ground and he was getting moved around quite a bit. I know he is a good guy. I know he’s been through a lot and he’s been trying to rehab it, but it just did not come together so, I don’t see him staying with the Niners. I do hope that, you know, whatever the next chapter for him, is, that he is successful.
John Cashman: Yeah. I also wanted him to shut up Grant Cohn.
Tim Cashman: Well, you said it, but I didn’t, but yeah, I was right there with you. I really wanted to see him just to, you know, just to say Yeah. In your face Pal. But, you know, uh,
John Cashman: anyway, that, that brings us to kind of the end. And one thing we do every week, is we talk about the stuff we bought on [Amazon, because it’s sponsored by stuff we bought on Amazon. When you click one of the links below. So this week, what did we buy on Amazon? So, for me, we bought more gibits for Crocs. So I have two little girls. We’re in the summertime now.
Tim Cashman: I don’t know, gibits. I know what that isin
John Cashman: It’s a little do dads that you stick into the holes of Crocs that make them more unique. That’s it.
Brian Caynan: You can do like a rainbow or like a Disney. A Disney character princesses.
John Cashman: Yeah. So we bought Sponge Box Gibbs. I think we, yeah. And we’re brought to you by Gibbs, which will soon be in a landfill somewhere in Eastern Pennsylvania.
Tim Cashman: Tim, oh, well this week is brought to you by Tesla Model three air filters. Because when you want your inside of your Tesla smelling good and not from mold, , you need to get a new Tesla model three air filter.
And that’s all I got.
John Cashman: Okay. Does it smell better?
Tim Cashman: It does. It does. Now it’s not the new car smell, but it is the neutral smell. There you go. It’s not the, I left these shoes smelling. I left a pair of shoes out in the rain all night kind of smell that I had previously
But it’s a good smell. That’s good. Neutral’s fine on that note. Yes. Let’s go to, let’s go to Brian.
Brian Caynan: All right. Well and speaking of hygiene and, and keeping things clean, I do have , a teenage son, so I did buy him his first shaving kit this week from Amazon. Harry’s sponsored by Harry’s, razors and shaving cream and after shave
John Cashman: Nice. Does he have like four, like four Whiskers where he is like, I get that one today. Gotta get that one today.
Tim Cashman: Well, I mean, you guys, you guys all remember it looks like,
Brian Caynan: , you know, a little hair down below, uh, growing on your chin. Yeah. So,
Tim Cashman: yeah. Looks like an armpit hair. So, uh, good. Yeah.
John Cashman: What am I gonna have?
Tim Cashman: Not for a while? That takes time.
John Cashman: All right. Well, Niners Nation. Thank you for tuning in.
Tim Cashman: Next week we’ll discuss the first time each of us tried to shave and the results in my case. There was a little bit of what I think everyone did. Yeah. All I know is I, this is awful. All I know is that mom gave me one of her like, you know, big lady leg shaving razors that, here you go.
And off I went and out came the Neosporin very soon after that. Yeah. With shaving cream or no shaving cream. Oh, oh no. They were shaving. There was what my dad, whatever, buy from Thrifty Drugstore when that was still in existence. And it was something like Barbasol all extra foamy, thick, tough beard.
Yeah. It’s probably banned now, so, but I flatted it up and we were gonna get those four whiskers. Got a question for you too. Oh, can’t wait. And then we gotta wrap this up cause I don’t like where this conversation’s going. Yeah. Fire away.
Brian Caynan: One question for Tim. Why don’t you, when we have our Niners talk text, text message, why don’t you text us back during game days, during like the actual game, what are you doing?
What are you doing in, in your man cave?
Tim Cashman: I’m stressing in my man cave. Usually pacing, usually sitting and being very, very, very tense.
John Cashman: Brian, I’ll relate a story Yeah. To you on having watched many a game with my brother. So I came down for the NFC Championship against the Packers, and.
The Niners, obviously during that game, and especially in the first half are literally running away with it. My brother didn’t say anything. He didn’t move from the couch. He didn’t say a word during the entire first half. I mean, the Niners were rolling. And at the end of the first half. He looks at me. He goes, that’s the best first. Since since 1994. I’m like, oh you speak!
So, yes, that’s, that’s what happens. He’s just he’s, he’s tuned in. Guess that’s the best way I can put it.
Brian Caynan: Alright, so if we were to rate ourselves, I would think Tim would be the most negative person. John is the most optimistic person, and I am somewhere in the middle of those two. John, you’re trying to bridge the gap.
John Cashman: I mean, let’s just say when Josh Johnson came in, I’m like, okay, maybe there’s a chance.
Tim Cashman: So was like, oh, it’s over. Give it up.
John Cashman: Anyway, on that note, thank you Josh Johnson for being a niner for just a little while. And, we’re gonna wrap it up. But thanks for tuning in and we’re looking forward, , to having you listen to our next podcast where we’re going over the season.
2023, season. So peace out Niners Nation.
Stuff we bought on Amazon this week:
