Blog Hog: Class Act

Well, Dear Criss, I can't tell you how sad I was to hear tonight that Bill Walsh died. It was like someone said something that just didn't make sense. I had known he was very sick, but how is it possible that the man leading The Drive from the sidelines had to call it a day so soon?

Last Christmas, I got the 49er dvd set that broke down the whole team history. And while I knew the stories, it was like watching a favorite movie again. And to actually watch him demonstrate years later on Joe Montana how each play was broken down, it just made me really realize how much more of a genius he really was in developing a whole offensive scheme that won multiple Superbowls and countless games - not only for the Niners, but for every other team that copied the West Coast offense.

What a guy. It's amazing how many head coaches once coached under him: Shanahan, Holmgren, Green, Seifert... And imagine Rice, Montana and Young without him. No way.

So God bless his family. The NFL just lost a real star.

Roxy

Photo: Jeff Chiu, San Francisco Chronicle