Barry Tompkins: 49ers offering Bay Area fans hope as year ends

And you think Santa Claus is tired.

As I recall, he was in and out of here without anybody seeing him. And that ain’t easy where we live. Not only don’t we have a fireplace, thus no chimney. And those drain pipes can give anybody a nasty rash.

And from what I hear, he had several stops to make. But at least he’s got help. We don’t.

I did call Taskrabbit asking for a few elves to help clean up around here — of course they were booked in June. The bad news is, so were the reindeer.

So, as you read this, my wife and I are up to our ornaments in wrapping paper, leftover crab, and remnants of gifts that were purchased “just because” and will likely never be seen by human eyes again. I put a bow on my head just to get a giggle out of my wife and she returned me.

I’m also more than ready to turn the calendar page on the sports world. Quite frankly, I even forgot to watch the Warriors’ Christmas Day game against the Dallas Mavericks and our old pal Klay Thompson. How’d they do?

And as tempted as I was to watch the Dallas-Washington NFL game, I decided to take Dottie — our four-legged daughter — to the dog park. Perhaps not as popular as the NFL but at this point of the season, far more compelling. Like the Commanders, Dottie’s working on getting quickly out of a four-point stance.

The year for our Bay Area Sports teams is coming to an end with hope. With concerns. And with “What the hell is going on here.”

I’ll begin with the “hope” part. I’m thinking the San Francisco 49ers had a brief but inspiring Christmas celebration. And they were the ones that probably hired all the elves to pick up after them.

This, after all, is a work week for the Niners who this year have defined the words “over achievers.”

I have to begin with Kyle Shanahan. He’s not likely to win coach of the year honors in 2025, but to these eyes, he gets the vote as the coach who managed to squeeze the most blood out of a turnip in the NFL.

And he had help. His Sancho Panza, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, has somehow turned a defense devoid of its two best players into one that, despite not posting noteworthy numbers, has consistently done enough to win a game.

It’s not about overpowering anybody. It’s about scheme. About knowing what’s coming next. About making adjustments. And about putting players who might not quite yet be fully baked as NFL defenders, into situations that they can understand.

The day is coming where a good coordinator like Saleh will be paid commensurate with his ability. I have a thought about that. And please understand, like everything else this Christmas season — it’s returnable.

Being a great coordinator and being a great head coach are two different jobs. It’s like an architect and a contractor. The architect, the head coach, provides the grand plan and the concept. The coordinator builds the damn thing. And Saleh has built a defense with the use of a very small tool box. Keep the man. Pay him.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you the 49ers are destined to be Super Bowl champs. But I’m also not going to sit here and tell you they won’t.

Now to the concerns.

What’s going on with the Golden State Warriors?  Well, part one is that they can currently only be classified as mediocre. I never thought I’d see players (or a player) turn on Steve Kerr. Even the media — who the coach thoroughly understands and who is the most press-friendly human in America — has decided that it knows a bit more about how to fix this team than he does.

So, we’re left to scratch our collective heads and say, “whazzup?”

Here are the knowns:  Jonathan Kuminga, for better or worse, is currently an anchor that can sink the ship. The W’s will trade him even if they receive a vat of chopped liver and a 2073 second round draft pick in return.

Right now the W’s have about seven versions of the same guy and four people who could segue to the golf Senior Tour almost as soon as they retire. In the case of the current makeup of this team, less can actually be more. But a rim-protector who can rebound wouldn’t hurt.

The bottom line is the best teams right are way younger. And not incidentally — currently more talented.

And finally, the “what the hell is going on” part.

These are your San Francisco Giants. And I want to be quick to add that I remain a Buster Posey guy. I’m hopeful that the front office gives Buster enough money to rebuild a pitching staff — both starters and relievers — get an every day squad on the field that can catch the ball, throw the ball, and run the bases. And it probably wouldn’t hurt if they could strike the ball squarely with a bat on occasion, too.

And, in the process, build a minor league system that means you don’t have to herald Adrian Hauser as the key newcomer who can turn the pitching staff into the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Adrian Hauser? Look it up.

That’s all I’ve got on this day after the day of giving. With hope that tomorrow and the next couple months are days of getting.

Barry Tompkins is a 40-year network television sportscaster and a San Francisco native. Email him at barrytompkins1@gmail.com.