Month: November 2013

Bulls pick the Condors apart, win 5-1

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By Kahlil Najar

The San Francisco Bulls’ (5-10-1-1) easily handled the Bakersfield Condors (3-12-0-1) and got themselves back in the win column with an easy 5-1 win.  Tyler Gron led the Bulls as he scored twice and had an assist and Brett Findlay, Dylan King and Dean Ouellet each contributed with a goal of their own. Tyler Beskorowany was great in net as he stopped 27 of 28 shots.

The Bulls hadn’t scored a goal in a week until Dean Ouellet took a shot from the left faceoff dot to beat Condor netminder Chet Pickard for a 1-0 lead in the first. The Condors tied it up 8:53 into the second when Defenseman Chris Collins split two defenders and got the puck past Besko and make it 1-1. The Bulls then scored four unanswered goals to seal the victory. Tyler Gron went a coast-to-coast and gave the Bulls a 2-1 lead.

Dylan King and Brett Findlay scored for the Bulls in the third and Gron sealed the win with his second goal of the game with a little less than four minutes left.

The Bulls return home tomorrow to face the Condors again. Wednesday night is also the first ever bobblehead giveaway for the Bulls and they’re giving away a miniature Pat Curcio statuette to the first 1,000 people.

Agnos ramps up anti SF arena support with grass roots campaign

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by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos who said that the Golden State Warriors new arena proposal for downtown San Francisco at piers 30-32 would be a real estate money grab and he is correct and in this world you really can’t criticize people for wanting to make money and you look at all the sports teams today and their in business to make money and I use sports teams as an example because most people root for a team passionately not realizing it’s a business.

So of course they want to make money like Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber, the question would be how much is the public going to have to contribute to make that money, that’s the big argument. They want to put that arena in that area that’s fine they want to foot the cost and they want tax payers to come in and supplement that. Agnos says that and also building on piers 30-32 is going to be a problem in terms of aesthetics and the environment, “they want the prettiest place in the city, I can’t blame them. But it’s the wrong site for a good team” said Agnos.

You can’t blame the Warriors for wanting that location and that’s a magnificent view looking onto the Bay and the bridge which the plan is to build a large window looking out onto the bay where basketball fans can see that wonderful view during the game. The development would come with two luxury hotel towers at least ten stories high, a 16 story luxury condominium complex across the Embarcadero, plus retail stores and a 500 space garage.

Agnos 70 who is campaigning to community groups at least two to three times a week is catching the attention of neighborhood groups around the city as the Warriors new arena proposal is the hottest San Francisco political issue. Agnos called the Warriors downtown arena the “perfect storm” for gridlock on the Embarcadero and that it’s being proposed by Warriors billionaire owners Lacob and Gruber who Agnos says don’t have the city’s best interest at heart but this is all about profit and affordable housing you can forget that.

“There’s no sense being in second, there’s no sense in doing something unless you’re going to do it right” said Lacob. The Warriors no doubt will be fronting their share of money for the build but there is little doubt that public tax payers funds would go into paying for the Warriors arena. The Sacramento Kings are using public funds for their new downtown arena set to break ground in downtown Sacramento next year the funds are reportedly coming out of the general fund and will be repaid with parking lot receipts and sales tax from tickets sold at Kings home games.

Warriors spokesman Nathan Ballard who is strategizing the project on the political side said “Art Agnos is a very smart guy and he knows that if the election were held tomorrow the Warriors would win it.” Agnos is running a grass roots campaign ran with a clipboard for notes and promises from the community that oppose the building at the waterfront they would support Agnos in stopping any kind of new development at piers 30-32. The proof is in the pudding after San Francisco propositions B and C lost in the October 2013 election last month to develop condominiums at the piers and the election wasn’t even close.

The San Francisco business community was out in full force behind the development effort with Mayor Ed Lee, former mayors Gavin Newsom and Willie Brown and the higher ups from the Chamber of Commerce. Although no one from that camp admits it Agnos played a huge part in getting the development proposal to get voted down and much can be said the same for the newest proposals for a new arena coming from the Warriors.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Warriors new arena proposal in San Francisco for Sportstalk Radio

Cardinal routed in Brooklyn

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Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

By Jeremy Kahn

Traveling across the country proved to be difficult for the Stanford Cardinal in the championship game of the Progressive Legends Classic.

Lamar Patterson scored 24 points, as the Pittsburgh Panthers never trailed in their two games and won the championship in a 88-67 victory over the Cardinal at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Jamie Dixon’s team also got help from Durand Johnson and Talib Zanna each scored 14 for the Panthers, who improve to 6-0 on the season.

Dwight Powell led the Cardinal with 20 points, while Anthony Brown scored 16 and Chasson Randle added 10, but the Cardinal fell to 5-2 on the season.

Despite Powell grabbing a game-high nine rebounds, the Panthers out rebounded the Cardinal 34-30 and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, while the Cardinal pulled down eight offensive boards.

The Cardinal cut the Panthers lead down to 11, but the Panthers got a big three and a free throw for a four-point play to put the Panthers up by 15 and they never looked back.

Stanford Makes It Four Straight with win Over Purdue

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By: Joe Lami

Stanford started their week in Mexico with a win against Purdue on Tuesday.  The Cardinal took on the Boil Makers as part of the Hardwood Tournament of Hope. This is the first time that Stanford has played a regular season matchup outside of the United States, they have played tournaments in Alaska, Hawaii and even the Virgin Islands, but never outside the United States.  Purdue was coming into the contest with a perfect record of 4-0 and the rank of the 16th best team in the country.

Stanford beat Purdue by the final score of 86-69.  With the win, Stanford is now 1-1 against ranked opponents, with the only loss of the season coming to number one ranked Connecticut.  The Cardinal had the five-point lead going into the half, and were able to extend the lead to 17 by the end of the game.

Chiney Ogwumike lead the team once again with 22 points.  For the second straight game she was unable to record a double-double.  This was after she started the season with four straight.  The Boil Makers held Ogwumike to eight rebounds.

Guard, KK Houser had a great game for Purdue, she led the Boil Makers with 20 points in the 31 minutes she played.  Courtney Moss had 12 points herself and was the only other player for Purdue to get to double-digits in scoring.

The win for Stanford gives head coach, Tara VanDerveer, win number 899 in her career.  “I know that everyone keeps reminding me of it (win #900), but I look at it as Florida Gulf Coast is our next opponent and we are going to watch video on them tonight and prepare for them like any other game” said VanDerveer on not looking to far ahead towards win 900.

Stanford will try to get VanDerveer win number 900 on Wednesday, as they continue their play in Puerto Vallarta where they take on Florida Gulf Coast.

A-Rod on Bud Selig for not showing at hearing “cowardly stance”

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That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

NEW YORK–Yankees star Alex Rodriguez has a high powered attorney Joe Tacopina and Tacopina is advising A-Rod and he’s a high price attorney whose advising A-Rod and he’s charging about $1000 an hour in a very high profile case. I can say in one sentence for A-Rod to win he would have to come back a and play as long as he’s not playing the commissioner is winning it’s as simple as that. A-Rod is not getting any younger and he needs to play. You can make a case that it was an injustice that he was suspended 211 games.

As comparing other players like Rays pitcher Joel Peralta or the A’s pitcher Bartolo Colon who were suspended 50 games and we can say that was a good argument that it was unreasonable but like I stated here before that baseball commissioner Bud Selig wants to get rid of A-Rod completely and he doesn’t want A-Rod to play again and Rodriguez got advised by his attorney and he’s not dumb to run the case himself and has spent a lot of money on his lawyers he’s trying to portray the public relations game and saying the commissioner had to show up at his hearing.

The commissioner didn’t have to show up and he never shows up for the trail and the commissioner doesn’t have to and this is a P.R. campaign on the part of A-Rod and the pressure is on A-Rod the commissioner already made his case that the owners are happy with it. This week there have been rumblings that Peralta got a big deal and got millions of dollars from the Detroit Tigers and some executives said that looks kind of looks weird that we are rewarding people who were suspended for PEDs use and I use the word momentum and the momentum is against Rodriguez right now.

A’s will be at Coliseum until at least 2015: The main factor for going to see the A’s at the Coliseum if your an A’s fan you can still take BART to Oakland you don’t have to wonder “where are the A’s playing tonight?” basically we know that the A’s are going to play at the Coliseum for the next couple of years and we all knew that but it’s official they signed that lease. However after 2015 all bets are off this is the significant news and if you can read between the lines and I really believe this and we were talking about A-Rod not getting any younger and nobody is and nobody can stop the time clock and everybody has a birthday every year.

The A’s owner Lew Wolf is up there in age and this is it he won’t say this but if we can play devil’s advocate here Wolf is saying with this lease folks I’m going to play in Oakland two more years and after that if we don’t get a resolution to move to San Jose I’m going to sell this team and I really believe that’s what’s going to happen. So Wolf is basically buying two more years in Oakland that’s all he’s doing.

The A’s have a tremendous potential and it was 1968 when they moved to Oakland and the East Bay is huge now. The city of Fremont has 210,000 people and you add San Leandro and you got all the way up to Albany and Richmond and the East Bay has millions of people and a lot of them live here. As a matter of fact Silicon Valley has moved to parts of Fremont and Fremont is called Silicon Valley East. There are some companies that have moved into Fremont because there is more room there.

The point is that the East Bay has the money, the people, they can support the Oakland A’s.

Will Manny Pacquiao go broke? Boxing star Manny Pacquiao could be headed to the poor house according to reports saying the Pacquiao owes the Philippine government $50 million in back taxes from the tax year 2008-09. Pacquiao says he will pay it all back, Pacquiao says he’s ready to help typhoon victims by rolling up his sleeves and do the dirty work of the clean up. Pound for pound Pacquiao is the highest profile boxer in the world and the recent typhoon he’s trying to do as much as he can.

Pacquiao is at the point where he’s borrowing money he has to pay a lot of money $50 million in taxes but you make that type of money and he made lots of money and he’s wearing big shoes. He just won his crown defeating Brandon Rios a few days ago the Mexican challenger and he’s going to do what everybody else does and you know the old saying “nothing is for certain except death and taxes” we all die and we pay taxes. So Pacquiao he’s boxing and he’s making his money in dollars.

He has to pay I feel sorry for him but not financially he’s a millionaire many times over but he also has to realize that he has to pay taxes like everybody else.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio

McGloin, Raiders head to Big D for Thanksgiving Day Showdown

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
OAKLAND — Following a heart-breaking 23-19 loss to the Tennessee Titans Sunday at O.co Coliseum, the 4-7 Raiders travels to Dallas on a short week for a Thanksgiving Day game against the 6-5 Cowboys Thursday. Oakland watched the Titans come from behind twice and score the go-ahead touchdown with 10 seconds left to go in the game.
After starting the game a little shaky (one interception and four batted balls), quarterback Matt McGloin finished the game 19 of 32 for 260 yards passing and one touchdown.
McGloin was on fire in the second half, completing 11 of 15 passes for 155 yards, and went 4 of 4 for 74 yards culminating into a 27-yard touchdown pass to Pro Bowl fullback Marcel Reece that gave Oakland the lead 19-16 late in the fourth quarter.
Running back Rashad Jennings has been a big boost to the Raiders ground attack since taking over for the oft-injured Darren McFadden.
Jennings surpassed his career high for total yards in a season in the second quarter, finishing with 16 carries for 73 yards and four catches for 49 yards for the game to give him 790 total yards for the season.
Another bright spot from the crushing loss to the Titans was the play of linebacker Nick Roach.
Roach finished the game with 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Roach, a free agent signee from the Chicago Bears in the off season, surpassed the 100 tackle mark for the first time in his career, and set a career high with 102 tackles this season.
Oakland may have their hands with a Cowboys team that are coming off a big 24-21 NFC East divisional win in New York against the Giants Sunday.
Dallas (6-5), are lead by quarterback Tony Romo.
Romo engineered a 14-play game-winning drive by converting two critical third down passes in the fourth quarter.  The Cowboys’ quarterback leads the NFL’s fifth ranked offense, placing fourth in touchdown passes (23) and eighth in passing yards (2,915) and will pose a challenge for the Raiders’ 25th ranked passing defense.
For the season, Oakland’s defense has only surrendered four touchdowns in the first quarter.
Wide receiver Dez Bryant is unquestionably Dallas’ biggest deep threat and trusted big-playmaker. Bryant has 61 catches for 835 yards (13.7 yards per catch), and eight touchdowns. Expect Raiders’ cornerback Tracy Porter to follow Bryant for most of the afternoon.
Dallas sports the NFL’s worst defense, ranked 32nd overall, giving up 432 total yards per game this season.

Michael Duca on the NCAA

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by Michael Duca

LAHAINA, Hawaii–The Golden Bears came out a little edgey in their win over Arkansas 85-77 on Monday night at the Maui Invitational, maybe they were just nervous. The combined records of these two teams in that tournament on before Monday night 30-0. So it’s hard to decide who your favoring. They had a scuffle early on in the game in the sense the Bears were not hitting shots and not making the plays that they wanted to make and it had been rehearsed all week in practice.

It was rehearsed in practice which was a long week of practice and Cal head coach Mike Montgomery said that the team pretty much forget everything they practiced for all week in the first five minutes of the game. A couple of things happened first of all they did start playing the way they were coached to play and the other one that made a huge difference in the past forward Richard Solomon had managed to collect two fouls early in the game and then sit down here Solomon collected a third foul early in the second half.

Montgomery sat Solomon down and in came Roger Moute a Bidias at forward and said to the freshman “you know how to do this I have to trust you and get out there and play” and play he did he played with three fouls for much of the rest of the game and Moute a Bidas fouled out in the final 1:10 of the game collected 11 points and had more than a dozen and half rebounds after that point and began and basically to took over the floor.

The Bears faced Syracuse on Tuesday and their best known for their two-three zone defense and they play that two-three defense better than anyone else in the country. Cal faced them in the NCAA Tournament and did not do well at all and Monty is hoping that those players can carry over because one of the reasons they did not do well is they didn’t really attack the weaknesses of that two three zone.

There aren’t that many of them because the Orange have guys that are 6’8 and 6’9 out on the wings and they make it difficult but their are seams in a two three zone. There are places where you can take the outside it’s going to be up to Cal’s front court to really take advantage penetrating that zone and hit some higher percentage shots.

This was a closer game than the tournament was last year even though they don’t have Alan Crabbe and Crabbe was probably their best outside shooter threat they’re a more veteran club despite Crabbe’s departure and with the inside presence of both Crabbe had a tremendous game and Solomon had a terrific first half on Monday night that indicates that they could play competitive against this Syracuse team.

Michael Duca covers Cal basketball for Sportstalk each week

Kings Trade for Power Forward Derrick Williams

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

If you thought the Sacramento Kings new ownership and management were just going to struggle through the season until the draft, you were wrong. The Kings have sent Luc Mbah a Moute to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Power Forward Derrick Williams.

“We’re excited to acquire a player with Derrick’s skillset,” said D’Alessandro. “He will add size, length and serve as a scoring threat in our frontcourt. We also want to thank Luc for his contributions during the short time he was a King. We wish him the best.”

Williams was the second overall draft pick in the 2011 NBA draft. Much had been expected of Williams, but he was never able to settle in at one spot long enough to thrive. The Timberwolves tried him at Small Forward, but that did not pan out. He was moved back to Power Forward, but that put Williams up against Kevin Love for playing time.

Williams did show he can be a force at the four spot when Love was out due to injury. His point production and rebound totals went up exponentially with his increased playing time. Williams wanted out of Minnesota in order to go to a team that would up his time on the floor.

Williams is 6-8, 240 pound forward. He is averaging 4.9 points (35.2 FG%, 13.3 3PT%, 87.5 FT%), 2.4 rebounds and 14.7 minutes of playing time per game. His playing time should increase rapidly as the Kings look for answers at the Power Forward position.

Mbah a Moute was a real key in executing this trade. The Timberwolves are looking for a greater defensive presence on the floor. Mbah a Moute is capable of defending the small forward and the guards. He was making an impact on defense for the Kings, but Sacramento needs additional scoring up front to take some of the pressure off of DeMarcus Cousins.

Kings fans should get their first look at Williams on Friday night when the LA Clippers come to Sleep Train Arena.

Step up in competition? Cal’s prepared in win over Arkansas

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By Morris Phillips

Ricky Kreklow has suited up and managed to play just 14 times since he transferred from Missouri to Berkley three seasons ago.  Forced to sit and watch in his transfer year, then frustrated by his nagging injuries and frustrating to the coaches who knew how his scoring ability could positively affect the team, the redshirt junior had been the missing  ingredient needed to transform the Cal Bears into one of the nation’s better offensive teams.

On Monday afternoon in Maui, Kreklow may have officially added his talents to the mix.

Kreklow boosted the Bears with a career-best 17 points as Cal pulled away in the second half in their 85-77 win over Arkansas in the Maui Invitational tournament opener.

The Bears shot 53 percent in the second half, enjoyed a healthy edge 48-32 on the glass, and trailed only twice all afternoon.  Arkansas’ final lead was 35-34 and the Bears responded with a 13-4 run in the ensuing three minutes.   The Razorbacks forced 18 turnovers but couldn’t shoot well enough—35 percent in the first half, and 37 percent for the game–to threaten Cal in the final 15 minutes.

The Bears will face No. 8 Syracuse on Tuesday in the Maui semifinals at 4pm.  No. 18 Baylor and Dayton will face off in the nightcap.  The Flyers rallied to upset No. 11 Gonzaga, 84-79.

Cal moved to 5-0 on the young season and passed their most significant test to date after wins in four matchups with teams in the bottom third of Division I.  The Razorbacks of the SEC fell to 3-1 after notable wins over SMU and Louisiana-Lafayette.

Five Bears scored in double figures led by David Kravish with 19.  Jabari Bird and Justin Cobbs added 15 points each.  Richard Solomon had 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in just 20 minutes of action due to foul trouble.

Michael Qualls led Arkansas with 21 points off the bench, and Bobby Portis scored five points to lead the Razorbacks’ starters.   Qualls and Anthlon Bell—who added 16 points—started Arkansas’ first three games, but came off the bench against California in a team-mandated disciplinary move.

Cal won’t see the same Orangemen that ended in their season in the NCAA tournament second round last spring.  Of Syracuse’s top scorers, only C.J. Fair remains.  Fair had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the Orangemen’s 85-77 win over Minnesota.

Kaepernick rebounds in 49ers’ easy win in D.C.

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By Morris Phillips

The most non-descript Monday night win in 49ers history?  It felt like it.

Colin Kaepernick bounced back with a three touchdown passes and a career best quarterback rating while the Redskins had their poorest performance in Coach Mike Shanahan’s estimation since he came to Washington in 2010 in a cross country snoozer that went to the 49ers, 27-6.

“Going into this one, it was by any means necessary and our guys rose up to the challenge and got it done,” Coach Jim Harbaugh said.

San Francisco reclaimed the final spot in the NFC playoff picture with five games remaining and enjoyed a relatively stress-free night in Landover, Maryland ahead of  pivotal games that will likely be a lot more dramatic than this one.

After a competitive first half, the 49ers ran away as the Redskins went limp, totaling only 30 yards of offense after halftime.  Robert Griffin III’s miserable sophomore season continued and the 49ers’ defensive front seven closed down Alfred Morris’ running lanes.  Griffin 17 pass attempts totaled just 127 yards and one interception, and Morris had 52 yards on 14 carries.

“We haven’t been dominated like that since I’ve been here,” Shanahan said.

“We’re all frustrated,” Griffin III said.  “Everybody is tired of losing.”

Vernon Davis and Anquan Boldin–aided by Kaepernick and his 235 yards passing—provided all the fireworks, combining for nine catches, 164 yards and all three touchdowns.  Davis and Boldin have all of the 49ers’ receiving scores this season, which means they welcomed the news that Michael Crabtree will make his season debut on Sunday against the Rams in a late announcement made after the game.

The 49ers’ response to a two-game losing streak was workman-like and rooted in San Francisco’s collection of Pro Bowl-level talent on both lines compared to Barry Cofield, a 8th year defensive lineman with an above modest 6-year, $12 million deal signed in 2011, listing as the most notable, starting offensive or defensive lineman in the Redskins’ current starting lineup.

Washington lost a third consecutive game and fell to 3-8 one season after the Redskins won the NFC East.  The 49ers improved to 7-4 and remained tied with the Cardinals behind the 10-1 Seahawks in the NFC West.  The 49ers see all three divisional opponents in the final five weeks with the final game at Scottsdale against the Cardinals looming largest.  And their play on Monday suggested that the team may be closer to playing its best football in the season’s final quarter.

LaMichael James provided a 32-yard kickoff return and a 40-yard punt return as the 49ers enjoyed a healthy edge on special teams.  James’ big punt return set up Davis’ 1-yard touchdown reception five plays later that put the 49ers up 24-6 with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter.