Month: March 2022

MLB and Players have tentative agreement; Owners need to ratify new CBA

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From left to right pitcher Andrew Miller, Tony Clark executive director of the baseball players association, Bruce Meyer chief union negotiator, and New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer were the core union negotiation team as they are seen here in Jupiter FL on Tue Mar 1, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Major League Players Association and Major League Baseball have come to terms and have reached an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will run until 2027. After 99 days of a baseball lockout at 12:37 pm PST on Thu Mar 10th both sides had a handshake and got a deal done. One more step is needed and that’s 23 votes from the owners side to ratify the deal.

The new deal was passed by the union 26-12. 20 votes were the minimum to pass the agreement on the union side. MLB announced that the lockout will be lifted and spring training will commence immediately and opening day is scheduled to start on April 7th once the owners agree to the new deal.

Trades and free agencies will begin and player deals will be in the works according to MLB. Clubs can start calling players from South America, Central America, Japan, Korea and other places to come back and report to camp.

MLB teams will play a 162 game schedule. Spring Training will run from approximately next Tue Mar 15th until April 6th. The work stoppage was baseball’s first since 1994-95 when the baseball strike canceled the 1994 World Series.

The lockout began Dec 2, 2021 and there no talks by the owners and players. Things sprang into action during the last week of February and during negotiations some meetings lasted until 3:00AM it was a good three weeks of negotiations and at some points it looked as talks would stall and it looked like they would get a deal done.

Amongst some of the agreed bullet points:

#1 Collective Bargaining Tax $230 million in 2023 and runs up to $244 million in the final year of the CBA

#2 $700,000 MLB minimum salary and tops out at $780,000 in the final year of the new CBA.

#3 The pre arbitration bonus pool $50 million.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said that lost games would be made up as part of a doubleheader during the regular season which was suppose to start on March 31st.

Jerry Feitelberg is an Oakland A’s beat writer and podcaster

Cal Bears/Pac 12 Tournament podcast with Morris Phillips: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas; Cal eliminated by WSU in first game of tournament

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California’s Lars Thiemann (21) tries to get around the Washington State Cougars defense at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas in the first game of the Pac 12 Tournament on Wed Mar 9, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Cal Bears/Pac 12 Tournament podcast with Morris:

#1 It’s been a long season Morris and its come down to this a first game loss of the Pac 12 Tournament to the Washington State Cougars (19-13) for the Cal Bears (12-20) a seven point 66-59 loss for the Bears.

#2 We know you’ve said it all season with this loss did it just come down to a lack of talent or the Cougars just had enough offense to make this work on Wednesday night.

#3 How disappointing does this have to be for Cal head coach Mark Fox having finished the season eight games below .500 and being eliminated in the first game of the Pac 12 Tournament.

#4 Once again the ball was going to Jordan Shepherd who led Cal with 19 points Cal also outscored the Cougars in the second half 39-34 but time just ran out for the Bears.

#5 For coach Fox talk about some of the things that he needs to work on, put together to get this team ready for 2022-23 and who do you see coming back for next season?

Morris Phillips filled in for Michael Duca who did the Cal Bears basketball podcasts Fridays during the 2021-22 season with Morris at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Kings Sabonis missed from Wed game against Nuggets for bumping ref on Mon; MLB and players meeting late into the night

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The Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (10) is fouled by the New York Knicks forward Julius Randall on Mon Mar 7, 2022 at the Golden One Center in Sacramento (AP News file)

Tony Renteria on Headline Sports podcast:

#1 Tony, the Sacramento Kings (24-43) Domantas Sabonis bumped an official after being called for a technical foul for verbally arguing after being called for a foul against the New York Knicks. Sobonis served the one game suspension on Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets (39-26).

#2 The Major League Baseball lockout talks went into the early morning hours of Wednesday at 3:00 AM. The one positive side showed that union officials walked to the MLB conference room. MLB said that if a deal was in place by Tuesday there would be a 162 game schedule. No deal was done but it was said that MLB might consider make up games to make up the 162 game schedule.

#3 Tony, MLB has come up with a plan that will finance Florida and Arizona employees for wages lost during spring training at the Grapefruit and Cactus league venues. The fund of $1 million will cover grounds crew, security, concession, engineers and more. There was no word if MLB employees of individual teams would be covered.

#4 Tony, talk about the gain for the Denver Broncos in picking up former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson on Tuesday night. Will this be a step in the right direction for the Broncos to punch their ticket for making post season. Also does Wilson have two or more years left in the tank?

#5 Former New England Patriot and Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady said he would like come out of retirement and take a pay cut and join the San Francisco 49ers to end his career. Ironically his former back up quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is on the trade block. Could Brady join the 49ers?

Join Tony R for Headlines Sports Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Short Stay In Vegas: Cal can’t keep up with Washington State in 66-59 Pac-12 Tourney loss

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By Morris Phillips

Several of the elements Cal needed to extend their stay in Las Vegas were present on Wednesday. The key ingredient–made baskets–was completely absent.

The Bears shot a dreadful 31 percent from the floor, missing 16 3-point attempts, in a 66-59 first round loss to Washington State at the Pac-12 Tournament.

“Offensively we seemed to be out of rhythm and didn’t shoot it well in the first half and so we dug ourselves too big of a hole, eventhough in the second half we played a little bit better,” coach Mark Fox said.

Down the stretch Cal stayed within reach, and cut their deficit to six with 23 seconds remaining, but the Cougars–near perfect from the foul line–held them off.

Efe Abogidi led WSU with 19 points, five rebounds and Tyrell Roberts added 14 as the Cougs advanced to a quarterfinal meeting with UCLA on Thursday.

The Bears (12-20) finished their season with losses in five of their last six contests, and took their 20th loss in the finale. They also saw the college careers of Grant Anticevich and Jordan Shepherd, two of their key contributors, come to a close.

The first half contained enough Cal errors to create the hole Fox eluded to as the visitors shot a chilly 23 percent while allowing the Cougars to expand their lead in the last two minutes. Joel Brown attempted to give the Bears a defensive leader, but he only lasted nine minutes before it became apparent that he should not play any further with his knee that foced him to miss the regular season finale an issue.

Meanwhile, Abogidi with his lengthy arms and quickness seemed to slither around Lars Thiemann for a memorable layup, and leading scorer Michael Flowers put Jalen Celestine on skates with some playground moves.

But WSU wouldn’t pull away as Cal’s edge in rebounding, as well as their deliberate pace kept the high-scoring Cougs from gaining any offensive consistency. With 7:35 remaining Celestine’s layup kept the Bears within range, down 49-41.

“They bothered us with their physicality and they got on the glass, but our zone defense was pretty good and we hit our free throws,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said.

Facing WSU’s zone look, the Bears couldn’t find their offense or get any closer. Anticevich (2 for 12) and Shepherd (6 for 17) finished with subpar numbers and no one else stepped up. Defensively, Abogidi’s quickness put Cal in a predicament as Theimann wasn’t quick enough to defend the 6’8″ forward which necessitated Fox to commit Anticevich to cover him. That ultimately kept the Cal senior from having an impactful evening with his scoring.

The Bears will have a new look in the upcoming season without Shepherd and Anticevich, and with the return of the injured Andre Kelly in question as well. Fox has vowed to extract an offensive leader from the graduate transfer market to lead the Bears in 2022-23.

Kings make run at Nuggets in third quarter but can’t catch Denver 106-100

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Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic makes for the hoop against Sacramento Kings center Alex Len (right) at the Golden One Center in Sacramento on Wed Mar 9, 2022 (AP News photo)  

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings (24-44) were back in action on Wednesday night in Sacramento. The Kings welcomed the Denver Nuggets (40-26) into town. The Kings last played on Monday night which turned into an ugly blowout to the New York Knicks. The Kings played a solid first half against the Knicks, but fell apart in the second half to lose the game 131-115.

On Wednesday, the Kings were hoping for a different outcome against the formidable Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets beat the Kings 106-100 on Wednesday night. Lets take a look on what led to this result.

In the first quarter, it was the Nikola Jokic show for Denver and the Trey Lyles show for the Kings. Jokic started the game by scoring 15 points in the first quarter as his counterpart at the center position Trey Lyles scored 12. The Kings were outscored 31-29 in what was a competitive first quarter. The second quarter got ugly for the Kings.

In the second quarter, Nikola Jokic coninued to pour it on the Kings scoring nine points to get his total at halftime to 24 points. The Kings defense struggled to contain the Nuggets at large as they allowed them to score 31 points in the second quarter. On the other hand, the Kings offense didn’t pick up the slack on the offensive end.

The Kings scored 21 points in the second quarter to take a 63-51 deficit into halftime. Trey Lyles had a quiet second quarter but led the Kings in the first half with 14 points. The Kings were within striking distance if they could get back on track on the defensive end.

In the third quarter, De’Aaron Fox had his best quarter of the game. De’Aaron scored nine points in the third to lead all scorers. Nikola Jokic was hot on his heels but only managed seven points, Overall the Kings outpaced the Nuggets by the toon of 26-17 to get the game into toss up territory for either team to win. Could the Kings win the fourth and beat the favored Nuggets?

In the fourth quarter the Kings weren’t able to get the job done. It was a nail biting finish, but the Kings came up short by the final of 106-100. The Kings fought hard in the final quarter, but Nikola Jokic proved too much to overcome.

The Kings were outscored 26-24 in the final quarter as they just couldn’t edge the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic showed why he was the MVP of the league last year and is the leading candidate this season. Jokic finished with an impressive 38 points and 18 rebounds. For the Kings, De’Aaron Fox led the way scoring 32 points and adding ten assists.

Up Next: The Kings will look to rebound in their next games on Saturday against the Utah Jazz in Utah.

Chemelvski’s OT heroics propel Barracuda 4-3 over Reign

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Left winger Timur Ibragimov (67) and the San Jose Barracuda defeated the Ontario Reign at the Toyota Center in Ontario on Wed Mar 9, 2022 (file photo from nhl.com)

by Marko Ukalovic

ONTARIO, California— Sasha Chmelevski scored 62 seconds into overtime to give the San Jose Barracuda a 4-3 overtime victory on Wednesday evening at Toyota Arena.

Chmelevski’s 11th goal of the season was set up Santeri Hatakka, who played in his first game since being sent down to Cuda.

San Jose has won two games in a row as they try to climb out of the cellar of the Pacific Division. Ontario had its five game winning streak snapped.

Ontario drew first blood in the second period on Brayden Burke’s sixth goal of the season at the 2:30 mark.

San Jose answered back with the first of Jasper Weatherby’s two power play goals at the 6:00 mark.

Martin Frk gave the Reign the lead with 51 seconds left in the second period on the power play with his team leading 31st goal of the season.

The Barracuda scored two unanswered goals in the first six minutes of the third period to gain it’s first lead.

Weatherby scored his second power play goal of the game 30 seconds into the third frame.

Then at the 6:00 minute mark Lane Pedersen scored on the power play, his second goal in back to back to games.

Ontario scored the equalizer at the 16:42 mark when Samuel Fagemo scored his 19th goal of the season.

‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk finished the evening stopping 27 of the 30 saves to earn the victory. Reign goalie Matthew Villalta made 26 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 3-for-4 on the power play. Ontario was 1-for-2.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

1) Chmelevski 2) Fagemo 3) Weatherby

UP NEXT: San Jose host the Stockton Heat on Friday 3/11 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: It’s also March Madness at the baseball negotiating table; Lakers Westbrook wife wants fans to stop all the verbal shaming at games

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MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred seen addressing the media on Tue Mar 1, 2022 at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter FL site of the Lock Out negotiations (AP News photo)

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong:

#1 Fans polled blame the lock out on the owners by 45% and 34% say they didn’t know and 21% blame the players.

#2 Amongst one of the hottest buttons in the talks is the Collective Balance Tax the union didn’t budge from it’s $238 million to a $263 million tax growth. The league proposed a slow climb on the CBT starting at $220 million to $230 million. Four owners have voted no on the players proposal and it’s been the sticking point in these negotiations.

#3 On Sunday MLB negotiations the players did permit a 14 second clock for the pitchers to throw with the bases empty. A 19 second clock with runners on base, larger bases, both sides are close on the draft lottery and no shift.

#4 Los Angeles Lakers Russell Westbrook’s wife Nina has just about had enough of fans calling Russell out of his name at games and she said she has stopped bringing the children to the game to hear the awful things the fans call Russell as she said on Twitter.

#5 San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Poppovich tied former Golden State Warriors head coach Don Nelson for the most regular season wins in NBA history 1335 and needs one more Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night to break the all time wins record. Some of the players he coached have called him one of the best coaches of all time.

Join Jessica every other Wednesday for Headline Sports podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Last-second shot by Keefe helps Cardinal stun ASU 71-70 in Pac-12 tourney

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Stanford’s James Keefe (22) shoots a game-winning shot against the Arizona State Sun Devils at the Pac 12 Tournament in Las Vegas on Wed Mar 9, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Wednesday, March 9, 2022

The good news for Stanford: It gets to continue in the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament in Las Vegas. The bad news: The Cardinal get to play top seed and No. 2-ranked Arizona in the quarterfinal round.

Stanford stopped a late-season nosedive on Wednesday when James Keefe converted a short jumper as time expired, providing the Cardinal with a stunning 71-70 opening round win over favored Arizona State.

Going into the tournament, Stanford (16-15) had lost five straight and seven of its last eight games in the regular season. The Sun Devils (14-17) came into the tournament on a roll, having won four straight and seven of their last eight.

Keefe’s shot, which bounced around the rim and backboard as time elapsed, capped a 16-1 run that erased a 14-point Cardinal deficit. The Sun Devils were up 50-33 at 13:35 of the second half before a 13-3 Stanford run pulled them to within seven at 7:47.

Two more 3-pointers and a dunk by Kimani Lawrence put the Devils back up by 14 with three minutes remaining.

Spencer Jones sank a 3-pointer that pulled the Cardinal to within 70-69 with 37 seconds to play. Stanford chose not to foul, and after Harrison Ingram got the rebound off a miss by ASU’s Jalen Graham with nine seconds remaining, he headed up court but had the ball stripped in the lane.

Keefe picked up the loose ball about ten feet away from the basket and hoisted a desperation floater with a half-second showing on the clock that found the mark.

Jones made six 3s while scoring a career-high 26 points for Stanford. Keefe finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while making seven of eight from the field. Brandon Angel added 15 points.

ASU lost to Stanford for the first time this season despite tying the Pac-12 tournament record of 15 3-pointers, set by Stanford against Arizona State in an overtime game in 2013. The Sun Devils were also 11 of 33 on 2-point field goals and three of seven at the free throw line.

DJ Horne led the Sun Devils with 21 points, including five treys. Marreon Jackson had 14 points, including three 3s, and Jay Heath made four 3-pointers for 12 points.

As the tournament’s top seed, Arizona drew a first-round bye and will tip off with the Cardinal Thursday at 12 noon PST.

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: MLB No Deal Around and Around It Goes

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Chief union negotiator Bruce Meyer, center, and general counsel Ian Penny, right, seen after negotiations at the Major League Baseball offices leave for the day in New York on Wed Mar 9, 2022 (AP News photo)

MLB: No Deal – Around and Around it Goes…

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Major League Baseball Commissioner Mr. Rob Manfred, Jr. spoke today after many days and hours (some that went from day to night) on the latest situation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which should be re-named (in my opinion) The Collective Bargaining Disagreement. This is what Mr. Manfred just told the baseball world this afternoon from New York City.

Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. issued the following statement today:

“In a last-ditch effort to preserve a 162-game season, this week we have made good-faith proposals that address the specific concerns voiced by the MLBPA and would have allowed the players to return to the field immediately. The Clubs went to extraordinary lengths to meet the substantial demands of the MLBPA. On the key economic issues that have posed stumbling blocks, the Clubs proposed ways to bridge gaps to preserve a full schedule. Regrettably, after our second late-night bargaining session in a week, we remain without a deal.

“Because of the logistical realities of the calendar, another two series are being removed from the schedule, meaning that Opening Day is postponed until April 14th. We worked hard to reach an agreement and offered a fair deal with significant improvements for the players and our fans. I am saddened by this situation’s continued impact on our game and all those who are a part of it, especially our loyal fans.

“We have the utmost respect for our players and hope they will ultimately choose to accept the fair agreement they have been offered.”

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Baseball Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Warriors were playing so bad they almost needed Will Ferrell’s help

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Actor Will Ferrell takes some practice shots Rick Barry style in front of Golden State Warrior guard Stephen Curry before their game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Tue Mar 8, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Warriors podcast with David:

#1 Actor Will Farrell took his act to the floor of Chase Center in San Francisco and took pre game practice with Golden State Warriors (44-22) superstars Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. It must have work Golden State had a five game losing streak going and all that laughing and getting loose helped the Warriors defeat the Los Angeles Clippers (34-33) Tuesday night 112-97.

#2 Dave, talk about that surprising top three of scorers for the Warriors on Monday night Jonathan Kuminga with 21 points, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole both finishing with 20 points.

#3 It’s off to Denver and the Nuggets (39-26) who are playing in Sacramento tonight and will face the Warriors on Thu Mar 10th at Ball Arena in Denver. The Nuggets have now won nine out of their last ten games and got a big win over the Warriors on Monday night 131-124. The Warriors will be really going after the Nuggets on Thursday night.

Join David each Wednesday for the Warriors podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com