Dave Smith

As a long time fan of heavyweight contender Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola, I was excited to hear about his chance to fight Vitali Klitschko for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Chris and his trainer, Henry Ramirez, have been frequent guests on my show over the years and both are great guys who deserve the best….

Henry was a fan of my radio show long before I’d ever heard of Arreola and was a regualr caller for years; from topics ranging from boxing to basketball….

And Ramirez had done a magnificent job moving Chris along, matching him right and honing his skills until he became the #1 ranked heavyweight in the world….

The one concern, though, was Chris’ lack of discipline outside the ring and tendency to gain weight….

Henry was always concerned about The Nightmare’s lack of discipline and did everything he could, but ultimately it’s up to the fighter to take responsibility and keep his eye on the big picture….

When the fight was signed, I said I liked Chris’ chances if he got his weight in the 230-235 lb. range, but gave him no chance if he came in the ring at 250+….

So when they weighed in on Friday and Arreola tipped the scales at 251, my heart sank; because I knew it was all over….

During the pre-fight show on HBO, it was revealed that Chris began training camp at 292 lbs, which is inexcuseable. He should have been training, dieting and staying alcohol free BEFORE camp, in anticipation of the biggest opportunity of his life….

Then, during his interview, he actually said the following: “If Michael Phelps can smoke weed and still break records, why can’t I drink beer?”….

When I heard that I knew Chris just doesn’t get it….

After the fight, when you’ve won the ultimate prize in sports, you can drink all the beer you want. But until then, you have to eat healthy, train hard, keep your weight down, quit partying and stay away from alcohol….

He should have reported to camp at 251, trained down to around 230 and come into the ring fit, quick and ready to become the first Mexican-American Heavyweight Champion….

Instead, he came to camp around 300 lbs. and the fight was already lost….

Because of Klitschko’s tremendous size, athletic ability and reach, the only way to beat him is to get inside, work the body and apply constant pressure. But in order to do this, you have to be in great physical condition. You simply cannot be overweight and expect to break Klitschko down….

So with Chris slow and out-of-shape, his only chance was to swing for the fences and hope to catch Vitali with a haymaker. But every time Arreola plodded his way toward Klitschko, Vitali simply moved to the side or clinched….

Has Chris been in better shape, he could have moved his head, cut off the ring and thrown combination after combination….

Neither Klitschko brother likes to back up and don’t like to exchange, so a fighter like The Nightmare had the style to defeat him….

But only if he was in supreme condition….

After 10 rounds of slowly trying to walk Klitschko down and throwing one punch at a time, Chris had taken a tremendous beating and there was no need to go on….

Because Arreola has tremendous heart and still thought he could win, he wanted to continue, but Ramirez told the referee the fight was over and his fighter had taken enough….

I know Chris was furious and wanted to finish, but Ramirez did the right thing….

This is why Henry is a rarity in boxing; a trainer who actually cares about his fighter and has his best interests at heart. I’m sure it was tough for Ramirez to throw in the towel, but Henry showed how much he cares about Chris’ long term future….

Again, Ramirez is a first class trainer and highly respected in the game, but ultimately it’s going to be up to Chris. He’s a grown man and only he can make the decision to clean up his life and get into top physical condition….

This means no partying, eating right, no alcohol, getting to sleep early and never allowing his weight to go above 250 lbs….

In fact, he should already be in the gym and learned from this experience. If I were Arreola, I’d have been on the treadmill the next morning; beginning the process of re-dedicating myself to the sport….

But if he continues to drink, party and eat unhealthy food, he’s never going to reach the ultimate goal. And that will be a shame, because he is such a warm hearted, funny, class guy….

He would make a great heavyweight champion, because of his engaging personality, kind nature and exciting style. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s Mexican-American….

I’ve loved getting to know Arreola and wish him the best; and it’s certainly not too late. He’s under 30 years of age, hits hard, loves to fight, has a great heart and an excellent trainer….

Now it’s time to look in the mirror and ask himself just how badly he wants this….

So it’s up to you, Chris. Is it more important to party and drink, or become the Heavyweight Champion of the World?

Even thought the 49ers are 2-1 and look like a playoff team, I’m still fuming about how Mike Singletary’s coaching blunder cost them a game against the Vikings on Sunday….

Last week I wrote a column praising him for turning around the attitude and character of the team and I still feel that way. But his conservative offensive philosophy and refusal to play to win is distrubing….

With 1:44 remaining and the 49ers leading 24-20, San Francisco had the ball at midfield with a golden opportunity to close out Minnesota, go to 3-0 and put a stranglehold on the NFC West….

Since the Vikings had three time outs remaining, it was imperative for Singletary to do whatever it took to get a first down. The only thing important in this situation is converting a first down. Field position means nothing and forcing the Vikings to use all their time outs is useless if you do not move the chains….

There’s a reason Brett Favre is going to the Hall-of-Fame; there’s never been anyone better at moving his team down the field quickly in the closing seconds to pull out a win….

So if I’m Singletary, I’m pulling out all the stops to get that first down. I’ll call a reverse, throw downfield, use a trick play or maybe run onto the field myself; whatever it takes….

Instead, Singletary called three consecutive running plays up the middle; which burned a total of eight seconds. Naturally, Minnesota was in an eight-man front, expecting the run, and the 49ers had no chance to get a first down….

I don’t care if it’s Frank Gore, Al Gore, O.J. Simpson, Jim Brown or Walter Payton; you’re not going to run the ball successfully against an eight-man front….

Up to that point San Francisco was 0-10 on third down conversions, because of Singletary’s neanderthal play calling. If you do not have the defense on their heels and wondering what you’re going to run, it’s easy for them to stop you….

Especially when you refuse to take any chances on third down….

After the 49ers first running play was stuffed and Minnesota quickly called a time out, I was on my feet calling for Singletary to call a play action pass on second down, which would have been wide open. Not only did the Vikings have eight in the box, they were also creeping everyone else to the line of scrimmage to stop the run….

Vernon Davis was open all day and a play action fake and throw to him would have been a guaranteed first down. And even if the pass was incomplete and the clock stopped, it wouldn’t have mattered; because if you ran the ball the Vikes were going to call a time out anyway….

After the second down play was again stuffed, I was literally begging for a pass play. Again, a first down wins the game and nothing else matters. If you move the chains you win; if you don’t, that SOB Favre gets another chance and you’re going to lose….

After the time out, when Singletary and the staff had time to plan something to win the game, they again handed off and the play went nowhere….

At this point, the names I was calling Singletary are unprintable….

As I watched Favre drive Minnesota down the field, my only wish was to somehow get my hands through the television screen and around Singletary’s throat….

So it was no suprise when Brett threw a strike into the end zone to win the game with two seconds remaining. In fact, I would have been shocked if he hadn’t….

After the game, Singletary parroted all the old school coaches bulls*** about “trusting his defense” and “forcing Minnesota to use all of their time outs,” but I wasn’t buying any of it….

He also said “both teams played well, someone had to lose and unfortunately it was us. Hopefully we’ll remember this bitter taste, learn from it and improve.”….

Just hold up a mirror, Mike, because this one is on you. It’s not on the players, the officials, the coaching staff or the result of the football gods looking down on Brett Favre….

Here’s what he should have said: “First of all, I would like to apologize to my team, my coaching staff, all the fans and the 49ers organization for not giving my team the best chance to win. I got too conservative in my play calling on that last series and promise to learn from this and not make the same mistake again.”….

Hopefully he’s not too set in his ways and realizes you can’t allow Hall-of-Fame QB’s extra chances to beat you….

You’d think after getting embarrassed last week in Seattle the USC brain trust would have learned their lesson and opened up the offense; especially with the return of Matt Barkey from his shoulder injury. Sure, Aaron Corp was horses*** last week and thankfully won’t ever see the field again, but the conservative play calling did him no favors against UW….

All week long, Pete Carroll accepted some of the blame for the miserable performance and promised to throw downfield a little more, and in the first quarter he was a man of his word….

Barkley looked sharp, threw two beautiful TD passes and Troy was up 20-0 afer the first 15 minutes…..

After that, however, the brakes were puy on the offense by Carroll and offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates and over the final three quarters the score was 7-7. You read that right, Washington St. played Troy on even terms for the final 45 minutes….

Argualby the worst team in a BCS conference, the Cougars held USC to a measly 156 yards rushing and 27 points; which does not bode well for the rest of the Trojans season….

Another disturbing thing is Washington apparantly isn’t any good, based on their getting thumped 34-14 at Stanford on Saturday….

So UW gets hammered at home by LSU, embarrassed at Stanford and actually wins against USC? Not looking good for Troy to run the table and play for the national championship in January….

I know Cal was destroyed at Oregon, 42-3, but they’re not that bad and were probably caught looking ahead to this week’s game at home against USC. Everyone will be picking the Trojans to bounce back and pound an overrated Golden Bears team, but if Troy continues to play conservatively and depends on the defense to win the game they’re going to leave Josef Stalin Stadium with their second loss of the season….

And Carroll will have a decision to make about Bates….

When I watched Oregon go the entire first half without a first down against Boise St. in their opening game a few weeks ago, I wondered if new coach Chip Kelly might be in over his head….

Since then, however, Kelly has lived up to his reputation as a spread option genius as the Ducks have lit it up. The players are buying into the system, Kelly has made adjustments and Oregon is now a great offensive team….

Jeremiah Masoli, who looked so bad against Boise, was nearly perfect against Cal and looked as though he’d been running this offense for years….

The balance between run and pass, combined with creative play calling and the option, iis fun to watch and USC is in deep trouble when they travel to Eugene later this season….

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; they’re not going to win this weekend on Karl Marx Field if they don’t produce mor eoffense and take some chances downfield….

Can you imagine the scene in Berkley if the Bears defeat USC?….

The communists up there will celebrate as if Lenin and Stalin came back to life and were back in power….

Who knows, maybe the party up there will spread all the way to their bosses in Moscow and Red Square will be rocking….