San Francisco Chronicle Sports - Spoken Edition

Dylan Graham has seen the change. The Las Lomas-Walnut Creek quarterback was on the 2016 team that went 0-10. Former coach Doug Longero returned in 2017 and the team improved to 4-6. During the summer, the Knights worked hard to continue the turnaround. Then came the test. Trailing 7-6 at Acalanes-Lafayette midway through the fourth quarter of the season opener, the Knights were driving but then stalled. Facing a 4th-and-12 at the Acalanes 45, Longero called timeout.

DeMarcus Cousins got a kick out of his first telephone conversation with Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “Right before we hung up,” Cousins wrote on the Players Tribune, “he goes, ‘So you’re gonna make me actually have to coach this year, huh?’” Kerr was joking, of course, but there’s a kernel of truth in there. The Warriors need challenges in the worst way, from Kerr to his staff to the team’s veteran core.

CARSON, Los Angeles County - As first- and third-round selections in this year’s draft, offensive tackles Kolton Miller and Brandon Parker figure to be part of the Raiders’ plans for years to come. Their first time starting together on the Raiders’ line Sunday showed they still have room to grow.

Brandt Snedeker squandered a tantalizing chance for his 10th career PGA Tour victory Sunday in Napa — and Kevin Tway took advantage to nab his first. Tway made birdie on the third playoff hole to outlast Ryan Moore and win the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort. Tway coaxed home a 9½-foot putt on No. 10, after Moore missed his birdie attempt from just off the green. Tway, 30, is the son of Bob Tway, an eight-time tour winner including the 1986 PGA Championship.

After four games, the 49ers are on pace to allow 44 passing touchdowns and have four interceptions this season, but help might be on the way. Here comes … cornerback Greg Mabin to the rescue? Mabin, 24, is an unlikely candidate to assist the struggling secondary, but the twice-waived 2017 undrafted free agent unquestionably provided a lift in the second half of last week’s 29-27 loss to the Chargers. On his first snap, Mabin stopped running back Melvin Gordon for a two-yard gain.

The Grade 1, $301,035 Rodeo Drive Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita was a “win and you’re in” event for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Vasilika won, but she’s not in, according to trainer and co-owner Jerry Hollendorfer. “We have to do our homework and see what kinds of horses are coming, because there will be some monster horses coming from Europe,” Hollendorfer said. “We’re also not sure about the 13/8-mile distance.

I have dusted off my couch and heated up my popcorn machine in anticipation of Wednesday’s titanic wild-card clash, A’s vs. Yankees in New York. I don’t root for teams, but I do root for good stories, and the A’s are the best story in baseball. As former A’s executive M.C. Hammer would say, you can’t touch this. But one cautionary note: Do not fall for the big lie. The A’s phenomenal success this season doesn’t prove you can win without spending money.

If someone was going to invent a carnival-midway thrill ride based on an NFL player, he or she probably would go with Marshawn Lynch. “Daddy, Daddy, can I ride the Beast Mode?” “Uh, I don’t know, son. Sure, it looks exciting, but that’s the ride where everyone else on the ride gets to pound on you. Besides, it looks creaky and unreliable.” The Raiders rode the Beast Mode on Sunday. It’s the kind of ride with a slow build.

Now that Eric Reid has signed with the Carolina Panthers, will those nuts who support the protesters finally be forced to admit that all the talk about players being blackballed from the NFL was hysterical, trumped-up baloney? Sorry. If anything, Reid’s signing highlights how political his long freeze-out really was, and how politics is keeping Colin Kaepernick unemployed. It’s still all political. Follow this: The only offers Reid got were from the 49ers and Panthers.

The specter of Jimmy Garoppolo will haunt the 49ers for the rest of the season. Unless the 49ers rally behind C.J. Beathard and win the Super Bowl. It was disconcerting to see Garoppolo, red jersey No. 10, hovering over the shoulder of tight end George Kittle on Wednesday as Kittle chatted with the media in the locker room.

Every once in a while, The Chronicle Top 25 football rankings come down to a judgment call. On Friday, then-16th-ranked Freedom-Oakley beat then-No. 4 Antioch 14-7. Earlier in the year, Antioch won decisively at California-San Ramon, which earlier won decisively at Freedom. All three teams have one loss. So what to do with them? We gave Antioch the nod at No. 8, followed by California at 9 and Freedom 10. Seems odd, since Freedom just beat the Panthers.

There is a distinct Steph-Curry-and-2014-15-Warriors vibe in the air in Kansas City. Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes plays the role of Curry. Remember how Curry took off as a superstar that season when he was handed the keys to rookie coach Steve Kerr’s dynamic new offense? Mahomes is doing the same thing, exploding on the NFL by executing the genius schemes of Andy Reid.

At first glance, it looked like a hiker on the trail ahead was “taking a nap,” said Renee Casterline, who was 60 miles from completing the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail last week. “I was coming downhill, saw something in the trail 30 or 40 feet ahead,” Casterline said. In refracted light, a mix of sun and shade, it was difficult at first to make out the object. “At 25 feet, I saw legs across the trail,” Casterline said.

Mystery of the Month: Did the Raiders chop-block the other Bay Area pro sports teams with an act of shameless grandstanding? That’s the way The Chronicle’s Matier & Ross presented the situation last week, and I have found no evidence to overturn their judgment. The deal: The Oakland school district bungled its way to a large budget shortfall, forcing the death of several high school sports.

What you get: World-class views and picnic sites, easy walks and a wild-card adventure for kayaks under the Golden Gate Bridge can put Fort Baker on the map for all. Fort Baker is set along the deep cove located just inland from the northern foot of the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin. Add it up: Landmark views, easy to reach, good parking and free. What you see: From the bay’s shoreline, you can turn to your right toward the entrance to the bay and gaze up at the Golden Gate Bridge.