Month: November 2014

Raiders demolished in Gateway City

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By Jeremy Kahn

After winning for the first time in 368 days, things possibly looked began to look up for the Oakland Raiders; however in their next game, they returned to mediocrity.

Tre Mason scored two touchdowns, and Shaun Hill played a tremendous game and the St. Louis Rams simply throttled the Raiders 52-0 at the Edward James Dome.

Mason got the Rans on the scoreboard on the Rams first series of the game, as he took a Hill pass and scampered 35 yards to give the Rams a quick 7-0 lead.

On their next possession, Hill himself got into the end zone, as he scored from two yards out to increase the score up to two touchdowns.

After their third consecutive three-and-out to start the game, the Rams took advantage once again, as Tavon Austin made it 21-0, as he scored on a 18-yard run.

The Raiders then held the ball for over six minutes, but were forced to punt again and the Rams made quick work of yet another Marquette King punt.

Mason made it a four touchdown lead, as he took the handoff from Hill and ran right thru the Raiders defense for an 89-yard run just 12 seconds after the King punt.

This was the second worst loss in the Raiders 55-year history, falling three points short of a 55-0 loss to the Houston Oilers in 1961, the second year of existence of the franchise.

Derek Carr went 24-for-39 for 173 with two interceptions, before being replaced by Matt Schaub in the second half.

Schaub went for 5-for-9 for 57 yards passing and an interception that was returned 43 yards to the end zone by Trumaine Johnson.

Hill went 12-for-15 for 178 yards passing with two touchdowns passing, and that two-yard run in the first quarter.

The last time the Rams held a team scoreless was during the 2006 season, when they shutout the Raiders at the Coliseum by the final score of 20-0.

To matters even worse for the Raiders, this was the Rams biggest defeat in their 78-year history, only trailing their 59-0 victory over the Atlanta Falcons during the 1976 season.

After scoring touchdowns on their first five possessions of the game, the Rams kicked a field goal to give them a 38-0 lead at halftime, their most points in a half in team history.

In 1980, while playing the Green Bay Packers at Anaheim Stadium, the Rams scored 37 points.

Darren McFadden led the Raiders rushing game with 27 yards on the ground on 11 carries, while Maurice Jones-Drew carried the ball just five times and gained 21 yards.

No Cousins, 23 turnovers leads to Kings loss versus Memphis 97-85

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 97-85 on Sunday. The Grizzlies came into the game with the best record in the league at 14-2. The Kings started the game with record of 9-7 but had to play Memphis without their star center DeMarcus Cousins who was scratched due to a virus.

It was a tale of two halves for the Kings against Memphis on Sunday in Sacramento. In the first half, Sacramento turned the ball over 13 times and those mistakes were good for 18 Grizzlies’ points. Couple the turnovers with a lack of defense that allowed Memphis to shoot 56.5-percent from the field and it was no wonder the Grizzlies lead the Kings 58-42 at the half.

The Kings started the second half with a Ben McLemore nine foot jumper and it felt like a different team was on the floor for Sacramento. Then at the 10:51 mark of the third quarter, center Ryan Hollins was called for a personal foul and picked up his second technical foul of the game that came with an automatic ejection. With the Kings already without Cousins, it felt as if the team had been dealt a death-blow.

The Kings did not give into despair. Instead, they stepped up their game behind the inspired play of Reggie Evans and reduced their turnovers to just four to crawl back into the game trailing the Grizzlies 74-65 at the end of the third. Twice in the quarter the Kings cut the Memphis lead to just seven points. Sacramento shot just 36.8-percent in the quarter but they held the Grizzlies to just 33.3-percent from the field. The Kings outscored the Memphis 23-16 in the quarter.

The Kings cut the Memphis lead to just three points off a Carl Landry jump hook off a rebound with 9:12 to go in the game. The Grizzlies upped their lead to six points and the Kings cut it back to three points off a McLemore one footer with an assist from Landry. From that point, the Kings suffered from poor shooting and  four additional turnovers as Memphis upped its lead for an eventual 12 point victory.

After the game, Kings Head Coach Michael Malone said,”The play of Mike Conley and Tony Allen took the Kings out of their offense early in the game. Turnovers kept coming from over-dribbling. I’m happy we got back into the game.” It was obvious that he was unhappy his team had lost the game.

As a team, the Kings shot 47.1-percent from the field but they allowed Memphis to shoot 48.1-percent. The Kings shot just 09.1-percent (1 for 11) from beyond the 3-Point line. Some well timed 3-Point baskets would have helped the Kings in the second half. The Kings shot just 66.7-percent (18-27) from the free throw line. You cannot miss free throws when your team is trying to come back from a 16 point deficit.

Rudy Gay lead the Kings with 20 points. Reggie Evans scored 17 points and hauled in 20 rebounds in his role off the bench. Ben McLemore posted 18 points while Darren Collison added 16. Omri Casspi and Carl Landry had six points each.

Memphis was lead in scoring by forward Zach Randolph who scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half to go with 12 rebounds. Marc Gasol added 18 while Tony Allen had 13 points. The Memphis starting five all scored in double figures.

Michael Malone said he told his team, “… walk out of here understanding that we have a lot of work to do, but being 9-8 and having played the toughest schedule and the most road games in the NBA – we have a lot things to feel good about. We’ve only played one game against the Eastern Conference. That’s not trying to give them a false sense of security or accomplishment, but they’re 9-8 against the schedule that we played, which shows that they do deserve some credit.”

The Kings return to action on Tuesday night when they host the Toronto Raptors.

Fab Five: Warriors Sweep Five-Game Road Trip With Win Over Detroit

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

Make it a perfect five for the Golden State Warriors, who completed an undefeated quintuple-city road trip Sunday with a 104-93 win against the Detroit Pistons. Saginaw, Michigan Native Draymond Green collected a team-leading 20 points for Golden State. The Michigan State alum hit 5 of 8 from beyond the three-point line. Marreese Speights followed up his Friday night breakout with a 12-rebound performance to hand the Warriors (14-2) their ninth-straight victory.

The Pistons (3-14), losers of eight straight, took a 24-21 lead in the first, but the Warriors dominated the second fourth of play with a 32-16 run to etch out a 53-40 halftime lead. The Pistons cut the lead by two following a 31-2 scoring edge in the third, but 22 points a side allowed the Dubs to cruise to the 104-93 win.

As a team, the Warriors shot 46.8 percent from the field. They limited the hosts to only 33 of 91 from the field for a 36.3 shooting percentage. Golden State turned the ball over 16 times, but went to the free throw line 27 times, hitting 21 from behind the charity stripe. The Motor City side struggled from behind the line, hitting just 16 of 24 free throws.

The Pistons back court combo of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (23) and Brandon Jennings (22) combined for almost half the Pistons’ points. Pitching in along with Green for the Warriors were Stephen Curry’s 16 points over a limited 28 minutes and Klay Thompson’s 15. Curry collected a double-double, dishing out 10 assists, but left the game early with a sore left ankle. X-rays taken Sunday were negative.

The Warriors return home for a brief two-game homestand, starting with Tuesday night’s tilt against the Orlando Magic then a Thursday showdown with Anthony Davis and the Pelicans. After that, the road beckons once more, with the Warriors starting a two-game roadie against the Chicago Bulls.

NCAA Commentary: Bo knows the door Nebraska fires coach; Cal misses the bowl; Top ranked women’s hoop polls

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by Michelle Richardson

Pelini shown the door at Nebraska: To be honest I’m torn by the decision that Cornhuskers Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst’s made to fire head coach Bo Pelini who had brought back success. Pelini leaves Nebraska with a record of 9-3 (5-3 in the Big 10). This is the most success they’ve had since former head coach Tom Osborne left.

I also understand why too Pelini was really never a good fit even though he was a good coach, he’s one of those Youngstown boys he’s an Ohio guy. He was good but Nebraska just didn’t fit well with him. The players are not generally happy about this. Don’t think Pelini won’t get another job.
It was time for the Cornhuskers to go another direction but Pelini didn’t do a horrible job.

Pelini kept the Cornhuskers relevant there’s something more going on that’s not being talked about internally in Nebraska. This is kind of leading to their struggle, Pelini always had the team in the hunt and they have always been competitive under him. I honestly wish him luck and there will be a lot teams wanting to interview him.

BYU (8-4) 42 vs. Cal (5-7) 35 no bowl for Cal: The blame for this loss lays at the feet of Cal and going cheap in looking for a head coach. You want to be in the big time but you don’t want to spend the money on a big time coach. Cal head coach Sonny Dykes did a great job at Louisiana Tech but he was not ready to come to Berkeley or the Pac 12.

Dykes definitely wasn’t ready for the Pac 12, Cal is just a laughing stock of the Pac 12. They really are and Dykes is not the right fit. Basically when he was hired he was another guy who not ready to make that jump. Cal needs to decide if they want to be competitive or not and I can understand if you have student athletes who have bad academics blah, blah, blah.

The school is trying to become competitive, the Pac 12 is trying to become part of the Big Five. Cal is going to have to spend the money to get the right coach. If I were running Cal I would be looking to hire a coach who is coming from an NFL system and what I mean by an NFL system I mean coming from the NFL. Simply put Dykes is not a good fit for Cal football and now the team is going to miss their second straight bowl game opportunity.

Women’s top rated basketball teams: The AP Poll has rated South Carolina as the top women’s team in the country and the USA Today poll has rated Notre Dame as the number one rated women’s team for this week. I’ll be honest with you South Carolina should be number one in the USA Today poll too. This is a team to beat do not drink the Kool Aid on UConn.

South Carolina and head coach Dawn Staley their time has come and So Carolina is the team to beat but that’s why they play the game. All I know is everything I see from South Carolina Staley has molded this team and she is getting the best and the brightest. She has got the number one blue chipper in the country who is also a native of South Carolina.

The AP top ten is South Carolina, Notre Dame, UConn, Tennessee, Stanford, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Duke, Kentucky and Maryland. Maryland just got knocked off this week they might not be in the top ten for long but maybe this is why their in the top ten right now. Just note that this is going to be a great season for the Gamecocks women. Their definitely going to earn their stripes.

Michelle Richardson does NCAA Commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Bears wilt in the fourth quarter, drop season finale to BYU and fail to gain bowl eligibility

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By Morris Phillips

Gifted a third chance to gain a sixth win, bowl eligibility, and an important exclamation point to a bounce-back season, the Cal Bears came up short, losing to BYU in the final moments of their season finale at Strawberry Canyon.

Like just about everything that has gone on inside the Cal football program over the last three seasons, the result was hard to swallow.  The Bears failed to win any of their final five home games, and in addition, simply didn’t play well against rivals USC and Stanford in their previous two games.  But against BYU, the Bears were in a nip-and-tuck battle, holding seven-point leads in the second and third quarters, only to come up short when Christian Stewart connected with Jordan Leslie for a 38-yard touchdown catch with 2:39 remaining in the game.

Making the result even more painful was Cal’s final drive in which quarterback Jared Goff threw incomplete into the end zone on his final four attempts.  Trying to maximize his opportunity to tie the game and send it into overtime, Goff threw to talented, red zone receiver Kenny Lawler on all four plays.  But BYU proved capable, breaking up all four plays and fighting threw the fatigue of defending Cal on 14 snaps in the final minutes of the game.

“We didn’t have any timeouts left, so they had a good feeling that we had to pass the ball,” Goff said.  “They played good coverage and dropped a lot of people.  I was trying to find a hole in there, trying to throw it up to Kenny and see if he could make a play.”

“At the end of the day, our guys in the secondary made plays,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall recounted.  “We dropped eight four straight times.  We got just enough pressure, the secondary held and made critical plays at the right time, and that’s what I’ll remember.

In contrast to BYU’s heroic last stand, the Bears allowed Stewart to throw two fourth quarter touchdowns to basically, wide open receivers to propel the Cougars to a fourth-straight win.

“To come up short is real disappointing,” Stefan McClure said.  “But I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates—just the way they fought every single game.  We fought all the way to the last play.  We went out swinging.”

The Bears finished the season (5-7, 2-5 in the Pac-12) with losses in six of their final seven games after a promising 4-1 start that included wins over Northwestern and Washington State.  But few of the Bears’ successes happened in front of their fans at Memorial Stadium.  Instead, Cal suffered narrow losses to UCLA and BYU at home as well as lopsided performances against Washington (31-7) and Stanford (38-17).   Against BYU, the Bears entertained with 566 yards in total offense, and did so by running 1o1 offensive plays, which should have crippling to the BYU defense.

Instead, the Cal defensive group grew tired, allowing 540 yards and the two critical, fourth quarter touchdowns.

“We were close this year at times to really becoming a good football team, but ultimately just couldn’t,” Coach Sonny Dykes admitted.  “We made too many mistakes to overcome it, and that cost us tonight.  We gave up too many big plays, defensively.  We had a hard time stopping them at the end of the ballgame.  I think it’s pretty obvious what we have to improve.  We’ve certainly got to get better on the back end of our defense.  We know that.  We’ll work very hard to do that with our players.  We’ll address some of those issues with recruiting and just continue to develop the players we have.”

It just now, the Bears will have to do all that beginning with spring practice, as the 12 to 15 additional practices and additional game at the end of this season have evaporated.

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Coverage in Ferguson My disappointment with the media

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

As I watch the unfortunate events in Ferguson, Missouri, right after the Grand Jury rendered its verdict, it is sad to see the many minority businesses in Ferguson that were burned to the ground by vandals,”mom and pop”stores that depend on day-to-day business for their survival. The people causing the problems are not demonstrators, they are criminals, people that take advantage of these situations to commit crimes, we see them in every city, anarchist, communist, plain thieves and thugs.They only know one thing, to steal and destroy, they do not respect anybody.

But the media is portraying what’s happening today as a Civil Rights issue, and granted there is still racism in this country,(USA 340 million people of all races, only an imbecile would believe there is no racism) but this is not the 1960’s(after all this country elected its first black President not only once, but twice) and I am old enough to remember the 60’s.

As a teenager in Miami, I used to ride the Miami-Dade County buses, and I saw the signs at the door of the bus that said “colored must seat in back”. As a young teen many times I sat in the back with the black people, in a way as a silent protest. I detest racism, just as much as communism and fascism.

But watching the US media, it is so obvious, that the majority of the media, is very dishonest. Yes, we should care about the loss of Mike Brown’s life in Ferguson, at the hand of Officer Darren Wilson. I was not there as a witness, so I can only go by the decision of the Grand Jury. We are a country of laws, and we must abide by those laws.

I might not like the Stop sign one block from my house, and there is little traffic there, but I stop there all the time. Many young black men are dying victims of crimes in this country. However, the media seldom reports on the dozens and dozens of black kids that are killed by other black kids every day in cities like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, or the 72% of African-American kids that are born to wedlock. We never see Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson addressing those growing problems. What, they do not count?

Ratings (especially on TV) are paramount for these networks, without ratings there is no sponsors, and no sponsors means no broadcast.

So it is more “sexy”to cover black vs white and white vs black crime, and television in particular, exploit this to the maximum. These shows, in my opinion, are a tremendous dishonesty on the part of the media. Back in the 1970’s I was already doing Sports, but I also covered hard news. I remember in 1974 or 1975 traveling to Salinas, California to interview César Chávez of the United Farm Workers, in one of his famous marches; by the way he was against illegal immigration, he wanted his people/workers to raise their living standard as part of the UFW and I remember he told me illegal immigration was not good, he was running an organization of braceros/migrant workers. I covered many hard news stories like the San Francisco Supervisor Dan White assassination of the Mayor of San Francisco George Moscone, I covered Patti Davis and the SLA, and many other stories during that time.

I am glad I do not cover hard news anymore. Sports offers a different point of view it is pure entertainment, somebody wins, somebody loses every day,(except Fútbol-Soccer and thank God I do not cover that) no controversy there. Politicians “spin”everything, but if the 49ers lose 45-10 nobody can spin that. So, Sports will always have much more integrity.

As I watch this chaos in Ferguson develop I have nothing but dislike for the way most of the media is running this “show”; and I hate to say it, it is only a show for them, the more people are killed the more fires are lit, the more businesses are destroyed, the better television it makes, and the better ratings, sick but nothing but the truth.

CNN goes into “Breaking News” if a cat is on top of a tree in Atlanta, and doesn’t know how to get down. One old saying in television newsrooms I remember as I worked there, has not changed: “if it bleeds it leads”.

I am also old enough to remember when The New York Times was a newspaper of value, of integrity, worthwhile of reading everyday. Today’s NYT is not even a shadow of the NYT of 30 or 40 years ago.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Jump Out to 4 Goal Lead, Hang On to Win

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– Before Saturday’s 6-4 win over Anaheim, the Sharks were not sure whether or not Logan Couture would be able to play. “This morning I woke up and my eye was swollen, I could barely see out of it, so I knew something was up,” he said after the game. Considering how Couture played on Saturday, maybe he should consider wearing an eye patch before all of his games, to mimic a pregame eye problem.

After the game, Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said of Couture’s performance:

I thought he had a hell of a game, probably his best game of the season in my opinion. He was all over the puck, he played well defensively, he looked really good.

Couture and Patrick Marleau ended the game with two points each while Wingels earned the first star and four points for the game. They were the most effective line in the game. Antti Niemi made 30 saves on 34 shots (seemingly all in a frenetic third period), and Tomas Hertl’s backhand goal ended up as the game winner. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf scored three of the Ducks’ four goals.

The Sharks started very well, but ended the second period and started the third in a muddle. With the Ducks closing in, McLellan used his time out. In those seconds, Wingels explained, the coaches reminded to team to get back to the way they started:

What made us effective in the first two periods? Playing a north-south game, that was being physical, getting in on the forecheck and creating pressure. I thought when they did score, we kind of started circling a bit, taking pucks east-west.

Clearly, the reminders worked.

The first goal of the game came from Logan Couture, midway through a grinding first period. The puck bounced a bit in front of the net and it was on a second or third bounce that Couture put it over the prone Ducks goaltender. Wingels and Marleau got the assists on the goal.

Almost two minutes later, Ducks forward Matt Beleskey tied the score on Anaheim’s fourth shot of the game. Defenseman Hampus Lindholm’s shot from the blue line traced a line of four players all stacked in front of Niemi, making the shot very difficult to see. Beleskey tipped it in to score his 11th of the season. Assists went to Lindholm and Devante Smith-Pelly.

At 12:41, Justin Braun went to the penalty box for delay of game, taking the first penalty of the game. Perhaps disatisfied with a waste of a perfectly good lead, Logan Couture promptly took it back with a short-handed breakaway, made possible by a fallen Duck at the  blue line. Couture was patient and precise taking the shot, scoring his tenth of the season.

With just over a minute left in the period, Matt Irwin drew a high-sticking penalty on Jakob Silfverberg. At the time, the Sharks were pinned in their zone and they needed a break. The break they got, and a power play goal as well. With 13.6 seconds left in the period, Wingels and Pavelski moved the puck into the zone, then passed it to Joe Thornton in the opposite corner. He passed it back across the blue paint to a waiting Pavelski.

The period ended with the Sharks leading 3-1, and leading in shots 14-5.

Almost three minutes into the second period, Tommy Wingels tipped a Patrick Marleau shot from the blue line to stretch the lead out to 4-1. It was Wingels’ seventh of the season. Assists went to Marleau and Justin Braun.

The Sharks’ fifth goal came from Tomas Hertl, after he collected the puck along the wall when Josh Manson tried to clear it. Hertl punctuated the goal with a little stick handling in front of the goalie, with James Sheppard acting as a screen. That was it for Ducks’ goaltender Frederik Andersen. Jason LaBarbera came on in relief.

The Ducks used their time out, and seconds after play resumed, the players were piled up in the corner for some fisticuffs. James Sheppard, Matt Irwin and Tomas Hertl were all in the thick of it. In the end, Hertl and Sheppard were in the box for the Sharks, while Devante Smith-Pelly and Matt Beleskey went for the Ducks. The Ducks got a power play out of it as Sheppard received and extra two minutes for boarding.

The Sharks killed the penalty off and the ice opened up until Mike Brown was called for closing his hand on the puck. That was 9:37 in to the second.

With 3:33 left in the period, John Scott was called for hooking. The Sharks did a good job of clogging up the neutral zone and kicking the puck back out when the Ducks did dump it in.

Back at even strength, Ryan Getzlaf carried the puck over the line and passed it to Corey Perry as he bore down on the net. A nifty lift put it over Niemi’s pad and gave the Ducks a boost.

At the end of the second period, the Sharks led 5-2 and shots were 26-19 Sharks.

After the game, Logan Couture commented one of the Sharks’ more glaring bad habits this season:

For some reason this year we’ve just been getting away from it for periods at a time, letting the other team get back in games and take it to us. And that’s exactly what we did, we turned pucks over, we.. I don’t know, it’s tough to understand why we do that but luckily we were able to survive it.

Seconds into the third, Corey Perry cut the Sharks’ lead to 5-3. Matching penalties to Mike Brown and Patrick Maroon followed shortly after, putting the teams four on four. After a save and a fairly spectacular second save, Antti Niemi was beaten again, this time by Ryan Getzlaf. The assist went to Corey Perry. With the gap closed to one goal, McLellan used the Sharks’ time out.

The next good chance for the Sharks came from the Sheppard-Hertl-Nieto line, after the Thornton-Pavelski-McGinn line pushed the action back into the Ducks’ zone for a bit. The Sheppard line had a couple of good chances, both featuring shots from Hertl after strong work along the walls from Nieto and Sheppard.

A penalty to the Ducks came at 6:30 of the period. Renee Bourque went for hooking Nieto. Little came from that, though Niemi had to make some good saves on more short-handed chances from the Ducks. By the middle of the period, the shots were 31-30. At 10:13, Mike Brown went back to the box for hooking.

The Sharks survived a broken stick for Vlasic, then escaped to the Ducks’ zone for a game of catch. Another trip up and down the ice, another short-handed chance, and Matt Nieto drew a penalty on the Ducks, negating the last 18 seconds of the Brown penalty, and putting Ryan Kesler in the box. The Ducks did not get a shot on goal during that power play.

The power play generated three or four shots for the Sharks, and kept the Ducks busy for a spell.

The Sharks earned another power play with just over two minutes left in regulation, when Josh Manson went to the box for hooking Tommy Wingels. The Ducks pulled LaBarbera to even things up. With 26 seconds left in the power play, Matt Nieto scored into the empty net after Tommy Wingels got the puck to him with a neat pass. It was Wingels’ fourth point of the game. It was Nieto’s second point of the season.

Tommy Wingels led the Sharks in hits with seven, Tomas Hertl led the team in shots with five. Brendan Dillon led the team in blocked shots with four, but he and his defense partner Brent Burns both finished with minus two ratings.

Frederik Andersen made 14 saves on 19x shots, Jason LaBarbera made 15 saves on 15 shots for the Ducks. Corey Perry led the Ducks in shots with six, Tim Jackman led in hits with five, Mat Clark led them in blocked shots with three.

Mirco Mueller, Matt Tennyson and Barclay Goodrow were scratched. Tyler Kennedy also did not play.

The Sharks next play the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, December 2, at 7:30 PT in San Jose.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The ballad of Billy Beane fallout of the Donaldson deal and Perpetual rebuilding

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–On Friday November 28, the day after Thanksgiving and commonly known as Black Friday, A’s General Manager and co-owner Trader Billy Beane struck again. He traded the biggest star he had left, to the Toronto Blue Jays, All Star Josh Donaldson, for a bevy of players.

The Oakland Athletics won the 2012 and 2013 American League Western Division, but this year after trading his clean-up hitter Yoenis Céspedes to the Boston Red Sox for the great Jon Lester, the team finished in second place and was eliminated in a one-game playoff against Kansas City, who eventually won the American League pennant.

On July 31(trade deadline)the Athletics traded Yoenis Céspedes to Boston for left handed pitcher Jon Lester. On November 28, the team traded All Star third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays for infielder Brett Lawrie, shortstop Franklin Barreto, pitchers Kendal Graveman and Sean Nolin.

Donaldson who received the call by General Manager Billy Beane said he was “shocked”. “It doesn’t make sense to me,” outfielder Josh Reddick said. “We traded our best player the past two years.” It seems like we’re going into a rebuilding drive. Brett Lawrie is the only player that is coming from Toronto among those traded to Oakland that has experience at the major league level, he is a solid fielder, a very intense player that can play third base, but also is very injury prone. On the positive side for the A’s, Lawrie is also 4 years younger than Donaldson. Barreto is a long way from making it to the major leagues and the other two pitchers are also prospects not close to the majors.

Josh Donaldson, who originally began as a catcher, has been a solid third baseman for the Oakland Athletics, specially becoming well known across the country during the past two seasons. This year Donaldson hit 29 home runs and drove in 98 runs, in 2013 he had an even better year finishing with a .301 average and was part of the solid one-two punch in the A’s in the A’s lineup hitting ahead of Céspedes. José Bautista the Blue Jay slugger is one of the happiest people after learning of this deal. Josh Donaldson’s swing is almost a replica of that of Bautista, and they are very good friends.

With this trade the Toronto Blue Jays got even stronger in the Eastern Division, where the Red Sox are re-loading for 2015. The A’s system of moving bodies around continues. It was quite interesting during the media conference call with Billy Beane, one reporter asked the A’s General Manager, about the A’s having the money but not spending it. Beane dismissed the question by tweeting saying it was the first he’d even heard of it, so it had no bearing on the deal. According to Forbes(the people that know about money) and at the beginning of the 2014 baseball season, the Giants’ primary owner, Charles Johnson, is baseball’s richest owner. Forbes estimates his worth at $7.5 billion.

The A’s? Their operating income was $27.4 million, seventh highest in the majors. The magazine said the A’s “play in one of the most antiquated ballparks in baseball and are profitable only because of the league’s revenue-sharing system.” The attendance for the A’s last season was over two million, for the first time since 2005, when they became the first Bay Area major league team to go over 2 million.

So the Athletics Carousel continues, like the famous entertainer used to say “around and around it goes, where does it stops? nobody knows”. An old time A’s fan told me right after the deal: “man, it is tough to buy any new jerseys of A’s players, they are here rented no more than three years”. I told him, we will always have Coco. (Coco Crisp). Coco is the older statesman of the Oakland Athletics.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for A’s baseball and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Speights’ Fourth Quarter Onslaught Takes Sting Out Of Hornets

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The Golden State Warriors stayed scolding hot, coming from behind 106-101 on the road against the Charlotte Hornets for their eight-straight victory. Marreese Speights topped the Warriors (13-2) with 27 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, to salvage the Dubs chances on a night when the starting five under performed.

Speights hit 12 of 20 field goals, was a perfect three for three from the free throw line and added five rebounds in 23 minutes of work against the overmatched Hornets (4-13). The Warriors needed every ounce of effort considering Stephen Curry hit only 1 of 10 three pointers in his 26-point homecoming performance. Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson also struggled, going 7 for 22 from the floor.

As a team, the Warriors hit 42 of 99 attempts, but went 15 for 16 from the charity stripe. Brian Roberts was the only Hornet to crack the teens in scoring, collecting only 20 points. Center Al Jefferson pitched in 18 points, while Cody Zeller added 15. Zeller completed the double-double on his 14 rebounds. Warriors starters Draymond Green (10) and Harrison Barnes (9) led the visitors in boards.

Golden State found themselves ahead 28-24 after one quarter, but were outscored 31-21 in the second to find themselves down 55-49 at the half. The differential didn’t change after 36 minutes of play were in the books with both teams producing 25-point third quarters. Speights’ huge fourth quarter capped a 32-21 Warriors fourth quarter run for the victory.

The Warriors take Saturday off for travel, heading to Detroit for a Sunday showdown with the Pistons. A win in Motown would make Golden State a perfect 5-0 on its current road trip. They’ll return home for a pair midweek before hitting the road again for a Saturday matchup with the Chicago Bulls.

Parker leads Spurs past Kings 112-104

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

spurs 112814

by Charlie O. Mallonee

There were too many 3-Pointers, too much dribble penetration and too much Tony Parker for the Kings on Friday night in San Antonio as the Spurs downed the Kings 112-104.

The Kings entered the game at a great disadvantage with DeMarcus Cousins out due to a virus and with Rudy Gay and Darren Collison playing at less than 100-percent. Gay (Right Achilles Tendinitis) and Collison (Left Quadriceps Contusion/Strain)  had missed the games in Houston and New Orleans.

The lack of Cousins and the lack of defense was the story of why the Kings lost. Without Cousins to fill the lane on defense, the Spurs controlled the paint scoring 56 points in high percentage territory. The Kings allowed San Antonio to shoot 51.2-percent (42 for 82) from the field and 50.0-percent (12 for 24) from beyond the 3-Point arc. Sacramento gave up 35 points to the Spurs in the second quarter.

The Kings tried to make up for their lack of defense by playing offense with reckless abandon. Sacramento shot a 50.7- field goal percentage (38 for 75). They shot a season-high 60.0-percent (6 for 10) from 3-Point land. The Kings were very productive from the free throw line hitting on 22 of 26 (84.6-percent) attempts. Even with those incredible stats, the Kings could not overtake the Spurs.

Rudy Gay lead the Kings with 28 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and one steal. Ryan Hollins scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds as he filled in for Cousins at center. Darren Collison posted 15 points but had just two assists and turned the ball over three times in his 34 minutes on the floor. It was apparent that Collison was not playing at 100-percent.

Ben McLemore came alive for the Kings in the third quarter and finished with 14 points. Carl Landry recorded a double-double coming off the bench with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“Turnovers and no defense is the reason we lost,” said Kings Head Coach Michael Malone. Malone pointed out that the Spurs connected on 12 3-Pointers mostly off relentless dribble penetration. He also was concerned about the 20 points San Antonio scored off of the Kings’ 15 turnovers. Referring to his team’s lack of defense Malone said, “(I) never know which team is going to show up.”

Malone did mention Ryan Hollins and said he was proud of Hollins’ effort in the game.

Tony Parker lead the attack for San Antonio with 27 points and eight assists. He shot 10 for 17 from the field in his 38 minutes on the floor. Tim Duncan dropped in 18 points along with eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Kawhi Leonard put up 19 points and was four for six from downtown.

The Kings finished the four game road trip with a record of 2-2. Sacramento now comes home and will play 10 of their next 11 games on their home floor. They have just four games on the road in the month of December.

The Kings will play the Memphis Grizzlies at home in Sacramento on Sunday afternoon. The Kings will be seeking revenge for the stinging 111-110 loss to the Grizzlies back on November 13.