A friend of mine had an inside look at Jim Harbaugh and Alex Smith at the AT&T golf at Pebble last month. On Tuesday of that week, Giants and 49ers have a history of playing each other in golf for charity. For the Giants it was, Krukow (Kuiper caddied for him), Dave Fleming, Will Clark and Matt Cain. For the 49ers: Alex Smith, Harbaugh, Jerry Rice, Harris Barton, Dwight Clark and Brent Jones.

“They were like rock stars,” my friend said. He said Cain’s drives were beyond belief far. After one particularly long drive Harbaugh jokingly felt Cain’s arm muscles. Smith’s drives were not far behind Cain’s.

“Harbaugh and Smith barely left each other’s sides,” my friend said. “Looking at them, you thought they would be together the next 10 years. That’s how close they seemed — nothing could ever come between them. And now this stuff with Manning is happening. That’s business.

“Alex caddied for Harbaugh down there. Let’s put it like this — you’re doing a guy a real favor when you caddie for him. You’re saying, ‘I like you. I’ll carry your clubs.'”