Short-attention-span reading, and writing . . . Does Manny Pacquiao, the power-packed super-featherweight fighter and Filipino national hero, monitor the Mercury News sports blog? I wouldn’t have thought so. I couldn’t imagine . . . But just for fun, I asked Pacquiao if it was surprising to hear that our site was stampeded with responses after I asked readers whether I should write about his pay-per-view rematch Saturday night against Erik Morales in Las Vegas. “I knew that,” Pacquiao said this week. “I know I have many fans there.” At least I think he said that. And I think he understood my question. It’s all up in the air, though, given the fading quality of his cell-phone reception as he journeyed from Los Angeles to Vegas, given that he isn’t quite fluent in English and given my limited ability to be coherent in any language. • Yeah, I know: Someone probably told him about the blog responses. But it’s still a weird new age — from my stupid typing on a Web site to scores of raging responses to Pacquiao, days before the bout. “This fight is very big and important to me,” said Pacquiao, who lost a close unanimous decision in a blistering bout with Morales last March. “It’s very important to me because of the honor of our country.” Pacquiao had a lot go wrong in the first Morales fight — he was in the middle of splitting from his manager and promoter and he suffered a bad cut over his right eye in the fifth round that left him vulnerable to Morales’ snapping left jab. • Manny, since that sledge-hammer left hook of yours has been featured in so many thrillers, could you become a full-fledged crossover star with a big win Saturday? “Oh, I’m not expecting that,” Pacquiao said. “I’m not going to be a star here. But God is great. I would like to thank God for giving me this experience.” He meant the boxing career, I assume, and not the conversation. • News note: Al Saunders spurns Al Davis’ entreaties and accepts a lucrative deal to become Joe Gibbs’ offensive coordinator. Reaction: Including defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the Washington Redskins have two assistant coaches with more credibility in the locker room than a Raiders head coach could ever have. • Louisville’s Bobby Petrino? Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt? Good luck, because we all know that Al picks his coach last and fires him first. • Nothing against Mike Nolan, but: We were told that the 49ers conducted the smartest, most thorough coaching search in history last January. So how come, with 10 openings, the two other finalists — Mike Heimerdinger and Jim Schwarz — didn’t receive a nibble this January? • That one-game suspension for Baron Davis is much too harsh, if you ask me, and I am not exactly Davis’ buddy these days. Davis deserved a technical foul for shoving or hitting Luke Ridnour in the chest Monday. He might’ve deserved an ejection. But Shaquille O’Neal did the same thing or worse to rookie Andrew Bynum on Monday, and got nothing but a technical. Davis, meanwhile, is out for tonight’s game against Cleveland, which comes before a pivotal Sunday-Monday back-to-back with the Clippers. If the Warriors lose tonight, it could set up a killer three-game spiral, but as long as O’Neal is OK, I guess it’s no big deal.
