Harbaugh brothers prepare for Thanksgiving battle

Personally, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh likes the idea of spending Thanksgiving night with his older brother, John, the Baltimore Ravens' coach.
But there isn't much sentimentality when it comes to a strategic, coaching standpoint.
After winning their eighth straight game Sunday, the 49ers (9-1) must take a cross-country flight and play four days later against the Ravens (7-3).
"It's very considerate of the NFL to reunite us brothers on Thanksgiving," Jim Harbaugh said. "It's going to be very tough on the team. No question we drew the short end of the straw on this."
This will be the first time two brothers have faced off as NFL head coaches.
But as Jim Harbaugh made sure to note, this is also the first time since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule that a team (his 49ers) will have to travel three times zones to play on Thanksgiving.
The 49ers did, however, travel to Dallas for Thanksgiving in 1972 and claimed a 31-10 victory. This season's team is 4-0 in trips to the Eastern time zone.
"Not a lot of time to think of the warm and fuzzy reunion, or the nostalgia of it all," Jim Harbaugh added. "There's work to be done."
Although the sibling rivalary has turned this into the ballyhooed "Har-Bowl," their defenses are among the league's elite. The 49ers rank first in fewest points allowed, the Ravens rank third.
"It's two teams with quite a lot at stake," John Harbaugh said. "It's two teams that play a very
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similar style of football. It's going to be a great night. It's going to be a great night for football. If you're a football fan, I wouldn't think you'd want to miss this game."
John, 49, is 15 months older than Jim, who turns 48 on Dec. 23.
John has taken the Ravens to the AFC playoffs in each of his three seasons as coach, and Jim believes that success helps how others perceive his potential as the 49ers' first-year coach.
Jim also gave thanks to his older brother for how he "knocked down hurdles for me really my whole life." That extends to their days in grade school, when teachers would rave about John and expect the same results from Jim.

Coca-Cola trucker vs. driver merging onto the freeway

Q I know this is a long missive, but thanks for doing what you do. I miss The Queen, whose commuter column ran in the Contra Costa Times but has been replaced by your column. I'm glad she has gone on to other royal pursuits. I know you have your critics for being too "big picture," but lots of us drive lots of miles on lots of different roads, so I appreciate knowing what else is going on regionally, not just in my backyard.
Candy McCorkell
Lafayette
A My column now runs every Monday and Wednesday in Bay Area News Group publications in the East Bay, while it runs six days a week in the Mercury News and online. Each Monday and Wednesday, I'll devote more time to traffic issues in the East Bay or to topics that are of interest to all motorists, no matter where they live. So fire your questions my way.
Q About the car vs. the Coca-Cola big rig incident where Melissa Roman said the truck cut her off as she merged onto Highway 24: You told the woman and other readers exactly what to do and how to report an incident like this. I had this sort of experience three times since I started driving back in the Dark Ages. Those experiences have changed how I drive. I keep a notebook and pen in the door pocket of my car, and when I see someone being a really bad driver, I start taking notes as best I can, thinking
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that if I come upon an accident further up the road, I've got something for the CHP to work with.
Candy McCorkell
A I admire your grit, but keep your eyes on the road. And a tip: Some drivers -- me included! -- keep tape recorders in their car to take notes.
Q In my humble opinion, I found the response to this discussion about the Coca-Cola truck cutting off a driver on Highway 24 seriously lacking. The only element addressed was calling the "how am I driving" number with Coca-Cola or the CHP. Merging is a paramount issue, and your forum could be helpful in reinforcing the driver's handbook. I am 99 percent certain that merging vehicles have to yield the right of way to vehicles already on the freeway. It may be nice and courteous to work with merging vehicles, but it is not the law.
Joseph Rock
Hayward

Great weather, great play, but change is predicted

The opening round of the Presidents Cup lived up to its hype yesterday. And although the American Team finished with a 4-2 advantage over their International counterparts, the more than 17,000 people who turned out at Royal Melbourne, on what was a perfect day for golf, would not have walked away disappointed.

The weather provided very similar conditions to what the players had encountered during their practice rounds, which the American team took full advantage of.

There were plenty of surprises, too, but none more so than in the Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker match. Everyone thought it would be a lot closer than it turned out to be, but when Adam Scott and K.J. Choi reached seven up through 12 holes, they walked away with the win. When it came down to it, our guys were playing better than Woods and Stricker were. They were using their course knowledge and knew where the flag placings are going, where to hit it on the greens, and obviously things went right for them.

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While the US will enter today two points ahead, courtesy of wins to Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk, and Hunter Mahan and David Toms, it's still a close contest as predicted.

But today we're expecting a much warmer day, which will probably mean a northerly wind. That is a totally different direction to what the players have had to contend with so far. This means they'll have to take totally different lines off the tees and use different clubs. It's going to require a different strategy altogether.

That's where the International Team's course knowledge will come into its own and hopefully they can win back a few points.

The format for round two is four-ball, where both team members in each pair will be playing their own ball. Basically the better ball, or the most birdies, goes down on the card.

With changes made to the pairings in both teams, there will be plenty to watch.

For those who are planning to come out and enjoy an even warmer day today, play has been brought forward to 9.35am because of the predicted late change in the weather.

Woods, Stricker thrashing not enough as cup swings US's way

GREG NORMAN has admitted his International team blew the chance of a strong start in the Presidents Cup after the US made two last-gasp saves to seize a 4-2 lead in the competition at Royal Melbourne.

Despite a crushing early defeat of Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, the US's top pairing at the previous Presidents Cup, the team found its way to the lead when Australian pair Jason Day and Aaron Baddeley could not close out their match against Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar.

Baddeley, playing his first team competition, scuffed his tee-shot with a three-wood on the 18th hole after missing a two-metre putt for par on the 17th that would have completed the match. The Victorian had to be counselled by Norman in the team room afterwards. ''I said: 'Look, just keep your head high. Just suck it up. It's over and done with','' Norman said.

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Midway through the afternoon it appeared the Internationals, who have won the cup only once, were headed for a 3-3 result in the six foursomes matches. In particular, the 7 and 6 eclipse of Woods-Stricker by Adam Scott and K. J . Choi appeared to be a significant result.

Scott's sizzling performance came after the simmering drama over the relationship of his caddie Steve Williams with Woods, his former employer, with Williams stoking the fire this week in a controversial television interview.

The crowd cheered when Woods and Williams shook hands on the first tee, apparently anxious for them to get on with the golf.

''There's some great things Steve and I did and that's how I look at it,'' Woods said. ''I know he probably looks at it differently than I do, but hey, life goes forward and I'm very happy with what we've done in our career together.''

Ultimately Woods and Stricker were thrashed by Scott and Choi, the match done by the time they completed the 12th hole, but it ended up being the only victory of the day for the Internationals. In perhaps the best contest of the first day, Americans Bill Haas and Nick Watney cobbled something from nothing by squaring the match with Geoff Ogilvy and Charl Schwartzel, while Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson flogged Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa.

''We enjoyed our little celebration there when the match was over,'' Scott said. ''But really our focus is looking ahead now.''

Norman was disappointed with the result, which continues a pattern of International teams falling behind early. ''My guys felt like they let a few matches slip away, no question about it,'' he said. ''But they understand - it's the game of golf. It does happen. Their heads are really held high.''

Royal Melbourne's greens ran at 14 on the stimpmeter and tortured most of the players yesterday.

But it was good day for golf in Australia, with a big, enthusiastic crowd of 17,178 lining the fairways, many of them following the Woods match. Roars echoed around the old course. A strong north-west wind forecast for today's four-ball matches could make life a little tougher again for the players, the matches brought forward by two hours to avoid the likelihood of an afternoon thunderstorm.

Norman split up Choi and Scott, putting the Australian with South Korean rookie Kim Kyung-tae. The Americans have put Dustin Johnson with Woods and they will play Baddeley and Day