Q&A with 49ers' beat writers Matt Barrows & Matt Maiocco by Brian Davis
October 30th 2010
Ahead of Sunday’s must-win game for San Francisco, beat writers Matt Barrows (Sacramento Bee) and Matt Maiocco (CSN Bay Area) spoke with Brian Davis about Britain, baseball and the 49ers’ chances...
Football Diner: How are you both enjoying England so far?
Matt Barrows: Enjoying it? I wish I had a bit more free time to do some fun stuff and hopefully that will occur this weekend!
Matt Maiocco: Yesterday I got out a bit and had a walk around with my colleague Mindi Bach. We probably walked about four miles around London and had a good time. It’s beautiful, a great city.
Football Diner: Indeed, we saw the video piece on CSN Bay Area of you guys watching the Giants playing in game one of the World Series in a London hostelry...
Matt Maiocco: Ha! Yeah that’s right, I’ve spent a lot of time in that establishment watching the Giants the past couple of nights.
Football Diner: So you now know what it’s like to be an American sports fan living in the UK? Welcome to our world - up at 4 or 5 am and then heading off to work a couple of hours later.
Matt Maiocco: Yeah, I get it! A little bit wired now myself!
Football Diner: Has the hospitality here in the UK been good so far?
Matt Barrows: The hospitality has been excellent, everything in the hotel has been very nice, everyone at The Grove where the 49ers practice have been great. I think Britain has really represented itself well as far as its reputation towards hospitality is concerned.
Football Diner: Although the ‘quiet drink’ watching the Giants game didn’t quite go to plan. You were hoping to slide into the bar, watch the Giants game and get out, right?
Matt Maiocco: All the people in there were pretty much Americans watching the game at 1 am. I was surprised in that bar at how many people have evidently come over from California to watch the football game. I think everybody booked their flights when they thought the 49ers were gonna be good so there was a lot of grumbling about the 49ers in that bar, and a lot of celebrating the San Francisco Giants.
Football Diner: Do you think the 49ers can take something from what the Giants are doing? San Francisco was down for a few weeks but the Giants’ World Series appearance must be making everyone feel a lot better...
Matt Maiocco: Yeah I think what the 49ers have taken away from it more than anything else is that all the attention has been on the Giants, so maybe there hasn’t been as much scrutiny in the Bay Area and as much criticism of the team just because the Giants have deflected all that. It’s a very positive mindset right now for Bay Area sports fans, though once the Giants’ season is over the attention then goes back to the 49ers and I’m not sure the 49ers are gonna like all that attention. They’re 1-6 and who knows where they are destined for. This isn’t the kind of season anybody expected.
Matt Barrows: Maybe the biggest Giants fan should be Mike Singletary, because I think it’s an awful lot of scrutiny that would have gone to him and maybe some of the pressure from other columnists and commentators that he needs to go isn’t there right now - everybody is in either San Francisco or Arlington, Texas dealing with the World Series instead.
Football Diner: How do you see this game panning out, what’s the key to the 49ers getting the win here?
Matt Maiocco: It’s such an unknown because until two days ago, the 49ers didn’t even know who their own quarterback was going to be, and I’ve only seen him throw a handful of passes out there. I think the idea is to minimize the impact of the quarterback, and if it’s a rainy game I think that plays into their hands because the Broncos can’t run the ball, their offense is set around the passing game. The 49ers’ offense is not set around the passing game, but one thing I’ve learnt with the 49ers is anything can happen.
Football Diner: And if the running game is central to winning, could we see Anthony Dixon and Brian Westbrook finally getting more time?
Matt Barrows: We’ve been hearing the Dixon/ Westbrook thing for a little while now, it’s a refrain that the coaches have been saying since August and hasn’t really come to fruition. But I agree with you, I think getting Westbrook in there while hammering away with Frank Gore early on is a good move. You know, a change of pace guy like Westbrook could make the difference. I think it’s going to be in the teens as far as scoring, so if Westbrook can make that big offensive play at the key time then we’ll win the game. Let’s just hope Westbrook shows up and makes that play.
Matt Barrows: Enjoying it? I wish I had a bit more free time to do some fun stuff and hopefully that will occur this weekend!
Matt Maiocco: All the people in there were pretty much Americans watching the game at 1 am. I was surprised in that bar at how many people have evidently come over from California to watch the football game. I think everybody booked their flights when they thought the 49ers were gonna be good so there was a lot of grumbling about the 49ers in that bar, and a lot of celebrating the San Francisco Giants.