Month: March 2018

Kings fail to put two good games in a row as they fall to Jazz 98-91

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Kings came into Saturday night’s game against the Utah Jazz coming off a 116-111 overtime victory against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night. The victory improved the Kings’ record to 19-43.

The Jazz also came into the Golden 1 Center coming off a 116-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to improve to 32-30 on the season.

The Jazz won the tip-off and score six points early in the first quarter. The Kings, though, would battle themselves back to a tie game at six points apiece with 8:20 to go in the 1st.

The Jazz also went on a little run with the Kings not hitting any of their shots. The score was 20-13 with 2:40 to play. Vince Carter would be fouled with 1:34 to play in the first. He made both free throws. The Jazz would add a few more points and finish the first with a 25-17 lead.

The Jazz opened up the second quarter in a forceful manner. With six minutes left, the Jazz had already scored 15 as opposed to the Kings’ eight. The Kings failed to capitalize on opportunities in the second quarter that led to good looks for the Jazz. The Kings also threw the ball around that cost them possessions. The Kings would manage to put some pressure on the Jazz. De’Aaron Fox, Zack Randolf, and Bogdan Bogdonovic would all put up points to get the Kings within nine points for a 52-43 deficit going into halftime.

The second half commenced with the Kings’ sloppiness with the ball. The Kings had 10 turnovers midway through the third quarter. Those 10 turnovers led to 12 points.

Buddy Hield was able to hit a three and Skal Labissiere was able to throw down a dunk to pull the Kings within single-digits as the Jazz continued to lead 69-56. Labissiere would be fouled with 1:51 to go in the third. He made both attempts to help the Kings get closer, but the Jazz enlarged its lead to 75-61. The Kings then managed to put up four more points before the end of the quarter to get them within nine with 12 minutes to play in the game.

The Jazz opened the fourth quarter with a three to make it 78-66 with 10:37 to play. Frank Mason hit a long-range jumper to bring the Kings within 11 at the seven-minute mark. No team really made any ground on the other to this point in the fourth. The Kings would take a timeout with 2:36 to go, trailing 94-83. The Kings really had to go to work at this point if they wanted to make this a close game. Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a three to make it 94-86 Jazz with 1:25 to play in the game. The Kings were unable to muster a much-needed comeback and eventually fell to the Jazz 98-91.

Notes:  De’Aaron Fox led all Kings with 17 points. Bogdan Bodanovic had 15 points.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 27 points. Skal Labissiere had 12 assists. Ricky Rubio added six rebounds.

Next: The Kings stay home in Sacramento to host the New York Knicks Sunday at 6:00 pm PST. The Jazz go home to host the Orlando Magic at 7:00 pm MST on Monday.

Hoesen scores two goals, Earthquakes kick off 2018 with 3-2 win over Minnesota United FC

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By Alexandra Evans and Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Earthquakes kicked off the 2018 season with a 3-2 win over Minnesota United FC at Avaya Stadium.

The Quakes made solid attempts to score early in the first half. Nick Lima attempted a shot within the 12-minute mark, and Danny Hoesen bumped the ball with his head 15:54, but Minnesota goalkeeper Matt Lampson managed to catch both.

A little over halfway through the first stanza, the Quakes scored two back-to-back goals. Within the 27-minute mark, Hoesen received a pass from Vako Qazaishvili and kicked the ball to the upper right side of the net, too high for Matt Lampson to catch. Almost immediately after, Qazaishvili took a pass from Chris Wondolowski and netted another, sending Lampson into the net with the ball.

Hoesen was loaned to the Quakes last season by FC Groningen (Dutch football club), though, he secured a permanent deal with the team on December 29, 2017.

“I had some space, and I was a little bit surprised with [the goal]. But also credit to the guys around me for making great runs, we’ve been working on that [in practice],” Hoesen said after the match.

In an attempt to retaliate, Minnesota’s Sam Nicholson took a shot at the Quakes’ net within the 43-minute mark, which was saved beautifully by Andrew Tarbell.

After 45 minutes and a two-minute stoppage of play, the score was 2-0 Earthquakes.

Tarbell made a save on a breakaway shot three minutes into the second half, and Hoesen got his second goal of the night within the 59-minute mark when he whizzed the ball past Lampson’s right side, which was too quick for him to catch.

Minnesota made a late comeback, getting their first two goals at the 81 and 84-minute marks, respectively; courtesy of Kevin Molino. Christian Ramirez assisted Molino’s first goal, Ramsus Schuller on Molino’s second.

Quakes head coach Mikael Stahre earned his first MLS win in his first season with the team.

“That was fun,” Stahre said of the win. “At the end of the day, it is about winning, and we did tonight. That is the most important thing.”

GAME NOTES: Jimmy Ockford, a former Seattle Sounder, made his debut with the Quakes when stepped in for Yeferson Quintana, who sustained an injury, almost 10 minutes into the second half. Avaya Stadium sold out for the home opener; a total of 18,000 attendees.

UP NEXT: The Quakes will travel to Kansas City to face the Sporting KC on Saturday, March 17 at 5:30 pm PST.

Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball Podcast with Matt Harrington: The Sean Miller story was the biggest distraction on Stanford’s road trip

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zimbio.com photo file: Arizona Wildcats’ head coach Sean Miller made his return to the bench last Thursday against Stanford. Miller has denied that he offered to pay Wildcats’ Deandre Ayton $100,000 to come play for the school.

On the Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball Podcast with Matt Harrington:

Stanford’s timing to be at the University of Arizona last Thursday was all the rage in the news and sports media world. UA is under FBI investigation and the Wildcats head coach Sean Miller, who is accused in a wiretap, according to ESPN; that he offered Deandre Ayton $100,000. Miller did not coach last week Saturday against Oregon, but his return to the bench Thursday was one for the books.

Before the media scrum who were trying to get a quote from Miller reporters even from major news organizations were covering the Miller story and it was Miller’s first game since the story broke and all reporters wanted to know if Miller did offer Ayton $100,000. Miller put out an statement saying that the allegations were false and concocted. That he was being defamed by ESPN and that he never offered any money to Ayton. Ayton also said that he never got an offer of any kind from coach Miller.

Daniel has details of Stanford’s trip to Arizona last Thursday which was a media circus on the podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Cardinal survive wild finish to topple Sun Devils 84-83 in season finale

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, March 3, 2018

TEMPE, Ariz. – Playing in the Pac-12’s version of a home-away-from-home game, Phoenix native Dorian Pickens torched the Arizona State Sun Devils (20-10, 8-10 Pac-12) with 20 second-half points as the Stanford Cardinal (17-14, 11-7 Pac-12) hung on for a wild 84-83 win at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday afternoon.

“It was one of those things where (the emotions of coming back home) doesn’t really hit you until after the game,” said Pickens, a former Pinnacle High School graduate. “In the pregame, I’m just thinking about my teammates and trying to get the win. We were able to do that and my teammates helped send me out the right way.”

“It felt great to be able to come back home and come out of it with a victory. I had a lot of people here, maybe 20, 25, a lot of friends and family, and all of the above!”

On his offensive exploits in the second half, Pickens said, “I just wanted to be more aggressive, around the perimeter, especially.”

“He’s just a big-time player,” Cardinal Coach Jerod Haase said of Pickens. “It’s not really a surprise, but a great feeling to see him do that, especially at home in front of family and friends.”

“To win on the road against a team like (ASU) meant a lot.”

Reid Travis scored 24 points (8-of-14 field goals) and grabbed 14 of Stanford’s 45 rebounds. Kezie Okpala added 18 points and 10 boards for the Cardinal, who hit 51 percent (27-of-53) from the field.

Going into Saturday’s regular season finale, Travis was averaging 22.3 points and 10.0 rebounds in his last four games.

Travis described the final five minutes as “hectic. I wish we would have taken care of the ball a little bit more, but we got stops when we needed to, so I couldn’t be happier with the way we finished out the game.”

The victory gave Stanford a shot at finishing in the top four of the Pac-12 standings and a first-round bye in the conference’s upcoming postseason tournament in Las Vegas.

“In the non-conference, we battled and stuck together, which was really cool,” Haase said. “After the loss at home to Cal, our team has done some nice things. I think there’s still a long way to go with our quality of play, but the mental side, the competitiveness, is really cool to see as a coach.”

“Regardless of where we wind up, we’re going into (the Pac-12 tournament) excited.”

The Sun Devils, who struggled in conference play after a blazing start, look for redemption in the Pac-12 tournament. Tra Holder led ASU’s balanced attack with 19 points, followed by Shannon Evans II with 17 and 14 points each by Kodi Justice and Remy Martin.

Holder, Evans and Justice each hit three 3-pointers as the Devils were 10-of-27 behind the arc.

“This game is who we are,” ASU Coach Bobby Hurley said. “We have an amazing will to win, and character. The make the plays we made and claw our way back, we gave ourselves a chance to win.”

“I love my chances with the group I have against whoever we play in the postseason in Vegas and in the NCAA tournament.”

The Cardinal led by 19 points less than four minutes into the second half after opening the half with a 15-1 run after leading 40-35 at the break. But with basketball being a game of runs, Arizona State battled back with a 16-4 run, capped by Kimani Lawrence’s layup at 12:45, pulling the Devils to within 59-54.

“In 20 or 18 minutes against a team like this, there was never a comfort level at all,” Haase said. “Our guys stayed steadfast, continued to score on the offensive end, and we got enough stops on defense.”

Hurley said, “We got behind and always fought to get back in it. I thought the difference in the game could be as simple as the last four minutes of the first half, and we had empty possessions where we didn’t make shots that we usually make.”

“To start the second half, we didn’t have enough energy and (Stanford) was able to generate the lead that they did.”

Over the next three minutes, the Cardinal pushed their lead back to 11 on a Pickens 3-pointer, but ASU battled back again. Kodi Justice drained a 3 with 3:05 to play as the Sun Devils used a 5-minute, 16-7 run to cut their deficit to 79-77.

Another 3-pointer by Justice with 1:13 remaining tied the game at 82-82, but Arizona State could never surge ahead while both teams struggled at the free throw line down the stretch.

Daejon Davis, playing with four fouls, hit a jumper at :42 to break the deadlock, and on the ensuing possession, Justice missed a pair of free throws with :20 left. Two seconds later, Pickens missed two free throws, and after Josh Sharma missed a layup, Justice sank 1-of-2 foul shots to cut Stanford’s lead to 84-83 with 5 seconds remaining.

“Daejon has done so many great things throughout the year and he made a key basket late again,” Haase said. “For a freshman, he has a level of poise and calmness about him that, I think, spreads to the rest of the team.”

After Travis turned the ball over on an inbound play, ASU had one final possession, but Martin missed a short jumper as time expired.

“We made some mistakes, but they made some too,” Haase said. “There were some tough shots, some tough 3s. I thought we played with a great deal of poise and I thought this game would have a lot of ebbs and flows. And it did.”

The Pac-12 Tournament starts Wednesday in Las Vegas.

San Jose State ends regular season with 83-61 loss to Air Force

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State Spartans entered Clune Arena on Saturday afternoon for yet another Mountain West matchup against the Air Force Falcons.

In case you missed it, SJSU picked up their first conference win of the season with a close 64-62 win over the Utah State Aggies at the Event Center on Wednesday night. It was also SJSU’s first conference win at home since February 18, 2017, and first win over USU in San Jose since 2008.

Jaycee Hillsman and Keith Fisher III contributed to most of the Spartan offense in the first half. Hillsman and Fisher III had all 10 points for the Spartans, but there was too much offensive pressure from the Falcons, especially from senior guard Jacob Van. The Spartans trailed by five, 15-10, at the 11:34 mark.

Fisher III had 10 points at one moment in time, but he managed to connect with a long-range jumper to pull the Spartans within 11 with 6:38 left. This was an even deeper deficit, but at least the Spartans tried their best to get back into the game.

The Spartans trailed the Falcons 50-26 at the end of the first half. Fisher III led all scorers with 14 points and five rebounds. Meanwhile, Air Force was 10-18 from the 3-point line.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Hillsman and Noah Baumann forced the Falcons to a call a timeout. Though, SJSU still had a long way to go in redeeming themselves as they trailed the Air Force 57-38 at the 15:20 mark.

The Spartans cut the lead by 20, but continued to trail the Falcons 81-61 with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Air Force dribbled out the final 15 seconds and Falcons coach Dave Pilipovich shook hands with Spartans coach Jean Prioleau as Pilipovich’s team cruised to a 83-61 win at home.

The Spartans finished the 2017-18 season with a record of 4-25 overall (1-17 MW) while the Falcons ended the season 12-18 overall (6-12 MW).

Notes
Spartans’ starting lineup: Oumar Barry, Jalen James, Keith Fisher III, Jaycee Hillsman and Ryan Welage.

Falcons’ starting lineup: CJ Siples, Jacob Van, Trevor Lyons, Ryan Manning and Frank Toohey.

Up Next
The No. 11 Spartans take on the No. 6 seed in Game 3 of the First Round of the Mountain West Tournament on Wednesday, March 7 at 4:00 pm PT.

San Francisco Giants Podcast by Michael Duca: Melancon feels better and it’s assured he will have a better season; Sanchez will see a lot of Sacramento this season; Lots of flu this spring, but Pence will be just fine

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photo by eastbaytimes.com 2017 file photo: San Francisco Giants reliever Mark Melancon gets ready to deal as he prepares for 2018 in the hopes for a better season than last year

On the Giants podcast with questions for Michael:

1 Giants pitcher Mark Melancon says he’s feeling better and is confident he can finish games. Do you think he has it in the tank to have a better year this year?

2 The ninth inning is on the line. Giants manager Bruce Bochy is confident that Melancon, who signed with the Giants for $62 million for four years and finished with a 4.50 ERA last season, can do the job this season.

3 Melancon, who had pronator surgery, says he looks forward to returning to the mound in 2018 and wants to put 2017 in the rearview mirror.

4 Giants catcher Hector Sanchez is trying to land a roster spot, but with some of the National League’s top catching talent of Buster Posey, Nick Hundley, and Trevor Brown. it looks to be San Francisco’s top three catchers going into 2018, and Sanchez short of hitting like Lou Gehrig, this spring looks to be headed for a whole lot of Sacramento.

5 The flu has been an epidemic for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had 20 players affected and had to say away from the clubhouse. The Giants more fortunate just to have outfielder Hunter Pence out with the sickness and is expected back soon. Michael says that the epidemic has hit it’s peak and should be tapering off in the coming weeks.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Curry tweaks ankle, but Warriors hold on for 114-109 win over Hawks

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors finished the three-game road trip in Atlanta as they beat the lowly Hawks, 114-109, but it was not easy. The Warriors won their fifth game in a row since the All-Star Game and thought that the Hawks would be a pushover. The Hawks had different thoughts, and they gave the Warriors all they could handle before going down.

Warriors star Stephen Curry tweaked his ankle in the first quarter. He played the second quarter and dazzled the crowd as he scored 15 points. He played about five minutes in the third quarter and Warriors’ head coach, Steve Kerr, took him out of the game for precautionary reasons. The Hawks won the third quarter and the game went down to the wire. The Hawks had the ball with six seconds left in the game and could have tied it if they could make a three-pointer. Fortunately for Golden State, Andre Iguodala stripped the ball from Kent Bazemore and sprinted down the court and finished with a dunk to seal the victory.

The Hawks were very competitive in the first quarter as they kept pace with the Dubs. The Warriors led by seven, 23-16, but went cold as the Hawks took the lead, 30-27, when they went on a 16-4 run. Iguodala made a three and Nick Young followed with a three of his own to regain the lead 33-30. The Hawks made a free throw and the period ended with the Dubs ahead 33-31.

The Warriors decided that they would establish superiority in the second quarter. Curry got hot as he scored 15. Young made two more threes, and Durant was solid with 12 points in the first half. The Warriors outscored the Hawks, 29-19, and finished the half with a 12-point lead of 62-50. The Dubs went to the locker room knowing that they own the third quarter and felt they were about to blow out Atlanta.

In the third quarter, Atlanta matched the Dubs shot-for-shot. Fans have to remember that the NBA is a very competitive league and even lowly teams can rise up and beat the elite teams if they catch them on an off-night. The Warriors led their guard down, and the Hawks won the quarter 34-28 to close the gap to just six points when Hawk guard Dennis Schroder nailed a three at the buzzer. The Dubs lead 90-84 at the end of three quarters.

The Warriors increased the lead to fourteen 101-87, and it looked as if they were going to cruise to victory. They were able to hold the Hawks off, but with 2:18 left in the game and leading by eleven 111-100, the Warriors went cold.  In addition, they started to make bad decisions and turned the ball over several times to give the Hawks life. They failed to score a point until there were just 18 seconds left in the game. The Hawks went on a 9-0 run to make it a two-point game. The Hawks fouled Durant. If Durant makes the two free throws, it would have sealed the win, but Durant made just one, and that gave the Hawks hope that they could tie the game. The Warriors played great defense as Iguodala bottled up Bazemore and made the steal and ran the court and finished with a bucket to ice it for the Warriors.

The final score was 114-109.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improve to 49-14 while Atlanta drops to 19-44.

With his first three-point bucket in the first quarter, Stephen Curry reached the 200 mark for the sixth season in a row. He’s the first player in NBA history to accomplish that feat.

Even though he missed most of the second half, Curry tied with Kevin Durant for the scoring lead. Curry and Durant each tallied 28. Draymond Green scored just two points in the game, but he helped out with nine assists and seven rebounds. Klay Thompson chipped in with 15, and Nick Young added 16.

The Hawks were led by former Warrior Kent Bazemore along with Dennis Schroder. Bazemore tallied 29 and Schroder kicked in 27. John Collins had 16, and Taurean Prince recorded 15.

Curry felt that his ankle was fine, and he wanted to continue to play, but the Warriors’ coaching staff had other ideas.

“Basically their call,” Curry said. “Frustrating, but big picture, I understand…I don’t think it’s going to be anything that will keep me out.”

Kerr said Curry was “limping a little bit” in the third quarter, leading to the “precautionary” decision to take him out of the game for good.

Andre Iguodala had this to say about the steal that won the game: “Kent lost the ball, and it just fumbled to me.”

Kerr said the steal was “a hell of a play, an attacking, defensive play. Pretty impressive basically just to take the ball from Kent and go down and finish the game…That was amazing.”

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face the Brooklyn Nets at Oracle Arena Tuesday night March 6th at 7:30 pm PT.

SJ Barracuda snap four-game losing streak with 2-1 overtime victory over Condors

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Rourke Chartier isn’t Superman, but he was a super hero for 4,994 screaming kids on Cuda Classroom Day with his game-winning goal in overtime to give the San Jose Barracuda (23-22-3-3) a 2-1 victory over the Bakersfield Condors (21-21-8-1) and snapped the Cuda’s four-game losing streak on Friday afternoon at SAP Center.

Chartier’s heroics came after taking a feed from Adam Helewka and firing home a shot past Condors goalie Laurent Brossoit (6-5-3) into the back of the net at the 3:04 mark of the overtime period. Chartier has been playing some solid hockey for San Jose since coming off injured reserve, where he missed 30 games.

It looked like Bakersfield was going to spoil the party when they opened up the scoring just 11 seconds after the opening faceoff. Zach O’Brien won a battle along the left boards and was able to make a pass over to a wide-open Joey Laleggia in the middle of the slot. Laleggia skated in all alone on Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (15-11-2) and snapped a shot past Bibeau for his ninth goal of the season.

The Cuda had three chances to tied the game late in the first period. Helweka missed a penalty shot at the 14:45 mark. Caleb Herbert’s shot hit off the post with four minutes left in the first period. Brandon Mashinter received a gift from Brossoit when he turned the puck over right to Mashinter’s stick five feet to the left of the net, but the Cuda forward wasn’t able to cash in on his golden opportunity.

San Jose’s woeful power play would get them on the board in the secod period. Rudolfs Balcers received a pass from the behind the net and fed it out to an open Julius Bergman at the right point, who blasted a shot past Brossoit for his seventh goal of the season to tie the game up at 1-1. Calvan Fitzgerald also received the secondary assist at the 10:15 mark.

The third period featured a parade to the penalty box as both teams combined for nine penalties as things got chippy out on the ice. The Cuda squandered a 5-on-3 power play opportunity early on in the period when Caleb Jones and Brad Malone both went to the sin bin for high sticking 46 seconds apart. San Jose also couldn’t capitalize on the power play with just over two minutes to play in the third period when Bakersfield’s Eric Gryba was called for slashing.

Bibeau earned the win making 23 saves on 24 shots to snap his own personal losing streak. Brossoit suffered the tough luck loss, stopping 35 Cuda shots on 37 attempts.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was a dreadful 1/10 on the power play, while Bakersfield was just as ineffective, going 0/6.

This was the first annual Cuda Classroom Day. The game featured captain John McCarthy’s first game back with the Cuda since returning from the Olympics as a member of Team USA in Pyeongchang, South Korea. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! There were two fights in the first period. Emerson Clark and Even Polei scrapped two minutes into game. Jon Martin and Keegan Lowe dropped the gloves at the 8:35 mark of the first period.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda continue their four-game homestand when they take on their Southern California rival Ontario Reign on Sunday afternoon at the SAP Center. Face off is scheduled for 12 pm PT.

NHL Podcast with Joe Lami: Kane the spark that lights the offense for Sharks; Carolina’s Williams two goals leads to win; Iafallo’s two goals help Kings comeback in win

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photo from the torontosun.com: The San Jose Sharks Evander Kane (9) embraces teammate Joe Pavelski (8) after Pavelski’s second period goal in the Sharks win past the Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center on Thursday night

On the NHL Podcast with Joe:

1 The San Jose Sharks lit up the lamp against the Chicago Blackhawks in a 7-2 win on Thursday night at SAP Center scoring four goals in the second period

2 What’s the difference of the improved Sharks offense? Joe says and most will agree Evander Kane. Kane’s presence even though he hasn’t scored a goal yet has made all the difference with ability to stay around the net and help detract the goalie’s attention on him while the rest of the offense finds a way to score.

3 The Hurricanes up ended the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1. The Canes Justin Williams scored twice and the Canes Jordan Staal is back in the line up.

4 Alex Iafallo got two goals to help with the Kings comeback from two goals down in a 5-2 win past the Columbus Blue Jackets

5 Tampa Bay continues to roll with a 5-4 victory over the Dallas Stars. Corey Conacher scored at 4:19 of the overtime on Thursday night and the Bolts have won five out of their last six games

Joe Lami does the NHL podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: World Series Champion Houston Astros to Visit the White House

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Photo credit: @KPRC2

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

The Houston Astros are scheduled and have accepted to visit the White House by invitation of President Donald Trump on March 12. The Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in a very exciting seven-game World Series to win their first title ever. The team began with the name Colt .45s in 1962 and later changed their name to the Houston Astros in 1965 when they began playing in the Astrodome. In 2013, the Astros moved from the National League to the American League. The previous World Champion Chicago Cubs (2016) visited the White House by invitation of Trump on June 2017.


Recent visits from other sports: On October 2017, the Stanley Cup Champions (2016) Pittsburgh Penguins visited the White House by invitation of Trump, and on April 2017, Trump hosted the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. The NBA champion Golden State Warriors did not attend this week, declining their invitation after winning the NBA title last season.

The first known official team meeting between a President and an organized baseball team at the White House was on August 30, 1865, when President Andrew Johnson met the Washington Nationals and the Brooklyn Atlantics. The Atlantics won the title of the National Association of Baseball Players. In 1924, the Washington Senators were the first professional baseball team to visit the White House hosted by President Calvin Coolidge.
As far as the other main three sports: the NBA was founded in 1946. In 1963, the Boston Celtics became the first NBA champions to visit the White House upon an invitation from President John F. Kennedy, a Massachusetts native. The NFL was founded in 1920. The Pittsburgh Steelers were the first Super Bowl champions to visit in 1980, when Jimmy Carter was President. The NHL was founded in 1917. The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins broke the ice for the NHL as guests of President George H. W. Bush and were the first NHL team to visit the White House.

Baseball teams were the first to accept invitations to the White House, and since then, it has become an American tradition. The protocol is for the White House to extend an invitation to a team–usually a champion–the team can accept or decline, or the White House can also cancel a team visit for any reason, and do not have to explain why. The White House also can re-schedule a visit.

In the past, teams have accepted and visited, but some members of those teams have decided not to go. It is usually left to the individual decision, and that is the way it should be. Nobody should be forced to attend or feel pressure not to attend. Athletes are also protected by the First Amendment. After all, we’re still a country made of individuals, not groups, at least not until the robots take over. Is it that important? Not at all, more symbolic, and in good sportsmanship than anything else, and nobody should lose any sleep over it. I sure don’t. It is like throwing the Ceremonial First Pitch at a baseball game, or playing or singing the National Anthem prior to a sporting event. It is just another photo-op.

It is said that President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 clemency to a turkey recorded in an 1865 dispatch by Washington reporter Noah Brooks, was the origin for the pardoning ceremony. This might be the oldest ceremonial tradition at the White House. To this day, no turkey has demonstrated against the pardon.