Will 49ers Dog It With Erickson in Charge?

Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle commenting on new 49er Coach Dennis Erickson: “How loose is Erickson’s ship? When he coached the Seahawks, TV cameras caught three players eating hot dogs in the third quarter of a preseason game against the 49ers. Erickson said he might fine the players but added, ‘I don’t have a hot-dog rule.’ ”

More Erickson: Skip Bayless of the San Jose Mercury News ridicules the hiring, saying: “This choice is so out of character for a team built on character -- so baffling and deflating -- that it makes you step back and wonder if the 49ers didn’t hire the wrong Dennis.

“What happened to Dennis Green, who took the Minnesota Vikings to two NFC championship games? ... As an NFL coach, Dennis Green makes Dennis Erickson look more like Dennis Miller.”

Trivia time: When UCLA won its first NCAA basketball championship in 1964, what was its overall record?

Time for a change? Stephen A. Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer would like to see a change in the NBA All-Star game format -- the United States versus the World: “After a weekend of three-point contests, slam-dunk competitions and goodness knows what else, the reality is that the NBA’s All-Star weekend is all smoke and mirrors....

“International players would make good opponents, and an international All-Star game falls in line with the NBA’s wish to go global and the Americans’ desire to see what really stirs their juices: competition.”

A different dog: The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held this week at Madison Square Garden. Says David Letterman: “Usually, the Knicks are the only thing that rolls over and plays dead in the Garden.”

It figures: After San Antonio’s Tim Duncan had 17 points and a career-high 25 rebounds in a 67-65 victory over Miami, teammate Steve Kerr said: “It reminded me of my girl’s YMCA games. Everybody misses all their shots and the tallest girl gets all the rebounds.”

Raise a glass: Japanese forward Naohiro Takahara, who plays for German soccer team Hamburger SV, has promised more than 400 liters of free beer to fans at the club’s next match on Saturday. A Hamburg brewery gave Takahara the beer after he had scored his first goal for the team Sunday during a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich.

Looking back: On this day in 1995, Connecticut was voted No. 1 in Associated Press’ top 25 and joined the school’s women’s team at the top. It was the first time men’s and women’s teams from one school were ranked No. 1 in the college basketball polls.

Trivia answer: The Bruins were 30-0, climaxed by a 98-83 victory over Duke in the title game.

And finally: After seeing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ highlight film, Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times said he wished it had drawn more of a contrast between the Super Bowl champs and the chumps the Buccaneers used to be.

“Talking about the Bucs’ title without talking about how far they’ve come,” says Shelton, “is like talking about Cinderella without mentioning she used to do the dishes.”