Opponent’s grab in low places irks Davis
San Francisco 49ers rookie right tackle Anthony Davis claims to have been violated by a very personal foul during a loss to Kansas City on Sunday.
Davis was whistled for a personal foul during the team's third loss but said it was Chiefs defensive tackle Shaun Smith who should have been flagged for illegal use of hands.
"He tried to feel me," Davis told the San Francisco Chronicle. "That's weird, right?"
Perhaps Davis should have worn a larger cup to protect himself.
The penalty came at a bad time for the 49ers, who trailed 10-3 early in the third quarter. They had just converted a first down, but Davis' penalty put them in a second-and-22 situation after the 49ers had reached midfield.
San Francisco coach Mike Singletary takes a tough stance on personal foul penalties but was sympathetic toward Davis' reaction.
"After a while, there's only so much you can take," he said.
This might not be the first time Smith grabbed for more than a football in a pileup. Last week Cleveland Browns center Alex Mack accused Smith of grabbing his private parts.
According to the story, Mack was so angered by Smith's actions that he started to chase Smith toward the Chiefs sideline before turning around because Cleveland's punt team was coming onto the field.
■ FANS SHUN RAYS -- Had Tampa Bay clinched a spot Monday in the baseball playoffs, the Rays could have spent a minute with each fan.
Perhaps fans didn't believe the Rays would beat Baltimore -- which they didn't -- because the announced crowd was only 12,446. And the Rays' 93 wins were tied with the Yankees for second most in major league baseball.
Star third baseman Evan Longoria was not happy with the turnout.
"In 2008, when we clinched, this place was packed ... what else do you have to do to draw fans in this place. It's actually embarrassing for us," Longoria said.
Martin Fennelly of The Tampa Tribune explained, "When is he going to understand you can't try to clinch on a school night around here?"
That meager crowd made Saturday's announced house of 16,961 for UNLV's victory over New Mexico look good, considering the game at Sam Boyd Stadium was played for the title of worst team in the Mountain West.
■ HOT ANTHEM RENDITION -- Several in the crowd of about 40,000 at the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway whistled their way through much of the national anthem.
And they weren't whistling Dixie.
The crowd -- especially men -- rose to the patriotic occasion by "wolf whistling" while the group Strawberry Blonde -- which features men's magazine covergirl Angelica Bridges -- poorly sang the anthem. Had a barbershop quartet done an equally poor rendition, they would have been booed.
The Blondes' vocals were secondary to male members of the crowd because women were barely wearing flesh-colored, low cut mini-dresses.
COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
