That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: What will happen in today’s Super Bowl XLIX

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez and Jerry Feitelberg

Super Bowl Sunday is huge and it’s big but for me it also is huge because it marks the time for the beginning of baseball season as spring training will be getting underway in Arizona. This is going to be a great Super Bowl. These are two excellent teams the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, I’m giving the edge to the New England Patriots because it’s their Super Bowl and the Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is looking for that fourth Super Bowl. A win today will tie him with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw who have four wins each.

The Seahawks have one of the best defenses that we’ve seen in a longtime, the defense puts pressure on the offense their front four supply that pressure and you can see what happened last year when they just shut the Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning down. They shut the Broncos offense down last Super Bowl. They can do it again if New England has trouble blocking these guys and they can’t adjust to their schemes it could be a long afternoon for Brady.

The Patriots were the last team to win two Super Bowls in a row in 2004 and 2005 and the Seahawks are trying to win for the second time in a row. It’s tough in any sport to win two in a row, the Pats in their passing game have very complicated passing games and the defensive backs are going to have to adjust to it. The Patriots will put three guys on one side and will run underneath they have wide receiver Danny Amendola and their tight end Rob Gronkowski who’ll they’ll look to.

In the first half if Seattle can get down to Tom Brady and sack him a couple of times and send him a message early things could change in a hurry but for some reason you get the feeling Brady is going to have a very good game. Brady is a household name in this country unfortunately that deflated ball incident it was kind of weird and they haven’t blamed anybody yet. I’m afraid it’s going to be a ball boy to blame.

Then again nothing might not happen in Deflategate, it appears that its much ado about nothing, the league will say nothing happened. There is too much money involved this is a big show for the Seahawks and Patriots. It’s going to be close to 120 million people watching the whole game and over 150 million watching parts of the game. As far as commercials are concerned the first Super Bowl was in 1967 a 30 second commercial was $40,000, the 1967 household yearly income was $7,200.

The TV network is getting $4.5 million per 30 second commercial for this Super Bowl, some of the spots are good Pepsi has been good over the years, Budweiser has had some nice commercials. It should be interesting to see how it goes and you might have some of the high tech companies with their commercials it should be a fun afternoon of checking out the Super Bowl ads.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez and Jerry Feitelberg did commentary on Super Bowl XLIX for http://www.sportsradioservice.com to hear the rest of their podcast please click below

San Jose Sharks & NHL Stadium Series preview podcast by Mary Lisa Walsh

The NHL Stadium Series which features the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks at Levis Stadium will face off on Saturday February 21, 2015. The game marks the first time in Northern California history or Sharks history for that matter that an outdoor game is being played. For many of the Sharks players it is their first time skating outdoors in an NHL outdoor game and for some of the Kings it’s their second adventure. Sharks beat writer Mary Lisa Walsh discusses the match ups and the environment of the outdoor game on her podcast below.

Stanford Cardinal basketball commentary & podcast: Stanford looking for their third straight against Wash St tonight

by Matt Harrington

PALO ALTO–The Arizona State and Stanford Cardinal game on Sunday the one that they whomped on ASU with a 89-70 win it was almost a 20 point win that was a big bounce back game for the Cardinal after losing to Arizona Thursday after winning the nine game stretch at Maples. It was going to be a question of how do the leaders of Stanford step up? How do the veteran players the guys who have been on the farm for awhile how do they step up.

The game against ASU was a game that they really needed to respond and looking at the three starting seniors Stefan Nastic, Anthony Brown, and Chasson Randle and what they put out in that game on Sunday in front of the Sunday faithful of 4,009. Brown 21 points, Randle 21, and Nastic 20. It was the first time in 18 years that three members of the Cardinal put up 20 plus points in a game.

It was a big bounce back game, a big game for the leaders to step up and assert their dominance and that was a great way for the Cardinal to put their loss to Arizona and start going forward in Pac 12 play. Stanford’s win over Washington 84-74 on Wednesday it that tough part of the Pacific Northwest. It was a tough game for ASU who are near the bottom of the standings with a record of 11-11.

This is a good chance for Stanford (15-5) who face one of lower out of conference teams (the Cougars) with a record that’s below than some of the few Pac 12 teams that’s sitting under .500 in terms of an overall record. Stanford who beat Washington have critics thinking the Cardinal are one of the premier teams as Washington (14-6) had 15 wins at the time and that they were going to be a powerhouse going into Pac 12 play.

Stanford might be overlooking Washington State a little bit that’s going to be at their own peril, it’s tough to get wins in the Pacific Northwest against these Washington Schools at home if your not bringing in your best effort. The Cardinal really has to be focused and continue all the things that they did against Washington in that victory last Wednesday.

The Cardinal need to keep shooting the ball the way they’ve been shooting, the last two games they were shooting over 50 percent that’s just a crazy figure their converting on more than half the shots to take in the Pac 12 that’s a lethal team. Stanford I wouldn’t say has a cakewalk game over Washington State but it’s a game that they should win.

Matt Harrington covers Stanford basketball listen to Matt’s podcast on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Super Bowl XLIX commentary & podcast: Birth of baby and Super Bowl weighs on Sherman’s mind; Jurors can watch Super Bowl but walk out if TV talks about Aaron Hernandez

by David Zizmor

The Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman is scheduled to be at the Super Bowl in Glendale, it’s pretty tough to skip a Super Bowl and it’s obviously tough to skip the birth or your child and you can’t skip the birth of your child but you do know exactly when the Super Bowl is going to happen. Sherman is schedule to be at the Super Bowl on Sunday crossing his fingers that his wife will wait and the baby will wait.

Other than that there’s not a whole lot that Sherman can do and it’s not really up to him when that baby comes and it’s due any day now and it could very well be on Super Bowl Sunday there’s not a whole lot he can do. When it’s the Super Bowl you go to the Super Bowl until you know otherwise. We’ll see what happens there’s not a whole lot that can be done and it’s just the way it is.

Without Sherman in the Seahawks line up if that were to happen your talking about a legitimate shut down corner whose the best in the game if not the best. The only other guy who might be in that category is cornerback Darrelle Revis from the New England Patriots. You take a guy away like Sherman your definitely handicapping the Seattle defense.

The Hawks certainly have a deep defense so they might have some guys on the bench that can come in and play adequately but it’s never easy to replace a Pro Bowler and expect similar results. You can get lucky but the thing with Sherman is that he eliminates one side of the field with the defense. You can trust he’s going to cover his guy on his side meaning that it’s much more likely the ball is going to go the opposite way to focus your defense to really take advantage of that.

Aaron Hernandez jurors are allowed to watch Super Bowl but must walk out of room if name is mentioned on TV: Former Patriot Aaron Hernandez is on trial for the June 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd who was dating Hernandez’ finacee’s sister. The jury in the murder case was told by Bristol County Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh that jurors could watch the Super Bowl but must walk out of the room and distance themselves from any TV conversation regarding Aaron Hernandez if the subject comes up.

It’s very unlikely that it will come up but you never know a lot of weird controversies surrounding the league this year have happened with former Baltimore Raven Ray Rice (domestic violence), Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson (child abuse), San Francisco 49er Aldon Smith (DUI and TSA issues), former 49er Ray McDonald (domestic violence and sexual abuse allegations), and Deflategate.

There’s so many different things going on Hernandez going in for a murder trial is one of the bigger things that has happened related to the NFL that’s happened in the last several years. It wouldn’t be shocking if that did come up in the telecast as the Patriots are his former team and are playing in the Super Bowl. How the jurors in this case can just excuse themselves for the moment when the announcers say “Aaron Hernandez” during the broadcast is anybody’s guess.

Maybe the jurors should watch the game with the sound off that seems like the obvious solution but then again I’m not the judge. Hernandez is a troubled guy, he’s been this way since college and he was a known risk when the Patriots signed him. He obviously has a lot of talent but he also has a lot of problems and a lot of teams when they pick guys like that they can fix them but Hernandez is clearly beyond fixing.

David Zizmor is covering Super Bowl XLIX for http://www.sportsradioservice.com hear the rest of David’s commentary in the podcast below

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Super Bowl XLIX the inflated Ball Super Bowl

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

All the projections point to the largest audience in the history of American television this Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona, when the reigning NFL champion Seattle Seahawks(14-4) face the New England Patriots(14-4). Drama all over the place surrounds the biggest sporting event in the United States, this Sunday, as the Seattle team tries to become the first team in 10 years to win back-to-back Superbowls. And who was the last team to accomplish that? How about the New England Patriots, they won it in 2004 and 2005.

Superbowl XLVII Seattle won going away over Denver 43-8 and 112.2 million people watched it on television. Previously i9n XLVII Baltimore beat San Francisco in a thriller by a 34-31 score. Super Bowl XLVIII breaks the record set by the 2012 Super Bowl. That game averaged 111.3 million viewers, narrowly topping 2010’s 111 million. So what would it be this Sunday,115 million?

My fearless prediction for this Sunday, Patriots 37 Seahawks 30

SUPERBOWL TIDBITS

-152 million people in the US will watch at least part of the game

-For the first time something will make more money in 2015 than the movie “American Sniper”

-Las Vegas Odds are in favor of Seattle’s Richard Sherman playing the game, even as girlfriend might be giving birth to their first baby

-Thirty seconds commercial sold for $4.5 million. First Superbowl, (1967) a thirty second commercial sold for $40,000 (Household income in 1967 in USA was $7,200)

-Budweiser commercials always deliver and this time save dogs. Wait for the “sexy” Carl’s Jr commercial, is worth it

-The country of Ecuador for the first time, will have a commercial in the Superbowl. Hola Ecuador!

-On Monday, next day after the game, a group of politicians will introduce a bill in Washington, to make Superbowl Day a Holiday in the US. Isn’t it already? Well that’s D.C.

-Katy Perry will perform at half time, and she will not have a wardrobe malfunction. Phoenix native and country star Dirks Bentley will perform before the game.

-New England Quarterback Tom Brady (Bay Area guy) will win the MVP, with normal inflated balls

-After this Superbowl ends, and one day after Major League Baseball Spring Training ends in late March, only “Motel 6” will have rooms available in the Phoenix area.

-Will be televised to 198 countries in 25 languages.

-Over 4,000 credentials issued to members of the US and world media. Not all are sportscasters, since the event transcends sports.

-Hooters in downtown Phoenix, will make more money this week than in the previous 4 months.

-For the first time flags in Spanish will be sold in Phoenix: El Supertazón XLIX !

-It will not snow in Boston while the game is played in Phoenix

-The median age of The Super Bowl viewer in 2014 was 43.7, a slight increase from the previous year 43.5. (Nielsen)

-35 million more women than men, will watch and remember the commercials

-2,500 less people will die in the roads in the US during the game

-Radio stations carrying the Superbowl, will have twice as much of an audience, during the game, than at anytime during any of their most listened shows.

-328 million gallons of beer will be consumed in the US during the game

-1 billions chicken wings will be consumed in the US during the game

-28 million pounds of potato chips will be consumed in the US during the game

-8 million employees will not show up Monday to work

-Countries where Football doesn’t mean Soccer= 1 The United States of America

-Best thing about the Superbowl?

Enjoy the game, I am going to the movies, there will be nobody there. I will wait to see the two million highlights during the week

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary weekly for http://www.sportsradioservice catch his podcast from Scotts Seafood in San Jose on March 23rd

Super Bowl XLIX commentary & podcast: Journalist calls for Skittles boycott for Lynch presser; NFL might fine Lynch over Beast Mode hat

by David Zizmor

Ed Sherman a journalist with world wide readership is calling for the boycott of major Seattle Seahawks Marshawn Lynch sponsor Skittles who as Sherman says sponsors Lynch and his media hating ways. Sherman is asking for a worldwide boycott on Skittles because of the way that Lynch has treated the media during media day on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Super Bowl in Phoenix. Sherman over estimates how much people care about what Lynch has to say.

I have a hunch that people like Skittles a lot more than they like that journalist, come now seriously here’s the thing whether or not that Lynch says anything he’s getting the most media attention for saying nothing that anybody has ever got. He’s saying nothing and the world is hanging on every word and nothing comes out of his mouth.

It’s absolutely absurd meanwhile every other player for the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots that participated in media day and they said nothing. They didn’t say a damn thing that’s worthwhile listening to all they were doing was yapping away for an hour and a half in front of the media. The only difference was they were attempting to say something and they said nothing.

That’s what I said on Tuesday that media day was kind of a joke, it’s a relic from years past when the Super Bowl needed hype which was about four years ago.The league doesn’t get rid ofit because every media person wants to go to the Super Bowl so this is their excuse. You look at any other guys on any of these teams. Like a Doug Baldwin of the Seahawks a perfectly good guy who went to Stanford and he had interesting things to say.

You put these guys in front of a microphone during media day at the Super Bowl they’re not saying anything interesting because the media doesn’t ask them any interesting questions and the questions that the media are asking aren’t even interesting. It’s dumb stuff like what ice cream cone flavor you like the best. When they ask them about the game all you get are canned answers that are nothing but clichés about “oh we have to play the game one play at a time” or “the field was 100 yards long, we have to score as many touchdowns as we can” nobody cares what these guys have to say because we know the answers already.

Lynch is getting all this attention because at least it’s interesting, it’s different and if he’s not saying anything to the media for whatever reason and I still don’t entirely don’t understand the reason behind his comments whether he’s uncomfortable or he’s just mad and angry at the media. The fact of the matter is if he said anything it wouldn’t be worth anything worth listening to because none of these guys say anything worth listening to.

David Zizmor is covering Super Bowl XLIX for http://www.sportsradioservice listen to the podcast below

Sacramento Kings commentary & podcast: After the Malone firing and current seven game loss streak Ranadive strategy being compared to Maloofs

by Jeff Hall

CLEVELAND–What do you say about fans, callers to talk shows and some critics comparing the wins and loses of the Kings and the firing of ex-coach Mike Malone from old owners the Maloof Family to the Ranadive organization in terms of the way the team is ran? I hope that this is not a comparison, I would hate to see an evenly matched situation if Ranadive starts behaving like the Maloofs. It did have that appearance after Malone was fired and the team started to take a turn for the worst. Everybody is scratching their heads about those arrangements and nobody fully understands the firing but it is what it is and you can’t really change it and the Kings are going forward and it would be up to Kings general manager Pete D’Alessandro.

The game between the Sacramento Kings and the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night saw the Raptors hit 17 three pointers which helped bury the Kings 119-102. DeMarcus Cousins the Kings top player scored only 13 points said that his focus was on defense and part of defense is protecting the ball as the Raptors capitalized on the Kings turnovers all 18 of them so much for defense and the Kings were missing the ball on the offensive end.

The weight of the team is on Cousins shoulders and has been on and there is no doubt about it that Wednesday was probably one of his worst games of the season 13 points, four rebounds, and he was in foul trouble in the third quarter and had to go to the bench. Taking a guy like Cousins out of the game is a big part of the Kings offense and part of their success.

This type of performance was not really shocking as the Kings have been struggling though out the season and they’ve been trying to get ball control and it’s been like that through out most of this season and that’s why they’ve lost a lot of basketball games. They’re a good basketball team they just can’t find a way to win games and turnovers are a big reason.

The big cause of the Kings problems are ball control and the Kings struggled with ball control all season and the other thing is the Kings have struggled in games when games have been close. In a close game they seem to have a way to put a game away and you can almost count on games when they won’t win. The Kings came out flat to begin the game and they were in Toronto after flying in from New York where their game with the Knicks was canceled due to the snow blizzard there.

You would expect the Kings with the extra rest to come out hotter on Wednesday but they didn’t they went 0-6 on their first field goal attempts. The Kings are not really sure what their goal is at this point and in a season like this you want to close on a high note and get ready for next season. As far as picking up the pieces the Kings don’t really know how their going to do that and with the Cleveland Cavaliers as their next opponent it doesn’t help matters. Are the Kings going to be a defensive minded team or are they going to be an offensive fast break team, the Kings haven’t seen success on any side of the ball and the Kings need to figure something out and it’s going to come down to the coaching staff.

Jeff Hall covers Sacramento Kings basketball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Super Bowl XLIX commentary & podcast: Marshawn “I’m here so I won’t be fined” Lynch joins the media day circus

by David Zizmor

“I’m here so I won’t be fined” was his answer to every question Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch told reporters at media on Tuesday, Lynch was fined $100,000 last year during Super Bowl media day for not appearing and not doing interviews. Marshawn is Marshawn it’s really hard to tell if he’s doing this because he doesn’t like the media.

The other reasons that Lynch is treating the media this way it might some condition and makes him kind of shy in public speaking or some clinical diagnosis is the best way to put it. There might be some reason that he hates the media, when Lynch played for the Buffalo Bills five years ago one of the reasons he left was he felt like the team was not using him properly.

He didn’t just leave he forced the trade and he felt like the team wasn’t treating him properly he also didn’t feel like the local media was treating him properly. It’s still a mystery why he would still be upset at the media because the Seattle media hasn’t been bad to him. If anything they’ve embraced Lynch, they’ve embraced the Skittle, the Beast Mode, he’s certainly a cult hero in the Northwest.

So it’s not known why Lynch would have any predisposition disliking the Seattle media that being said this is the first time he’s been kind of short with the media and it won’t be the last. Will the NFL fine him? Who knows he’s saying something to the media in a way to get around the fine that he got last season for not showing up to media day.

The league might see through this type of interview and say “hey you just can’t say that and expect to get away with that at least be slightly cooperative and say something not necessarily meaningful but at least say something that at least answers the question. We’ll see what happens on that. Lynch he’s a character this is his way of dealing with the media.

Assuming it’s not clinical, hopefully Lynch will come around and speak his mind at some point with someone he likes than the crazy people at media day. Let’s be fair media day is kind of a circus act, your at the Super Bowl and your at media day there will be 20 percent real football reporters and 80 percent complete clowns. People who are from local media are there more for the spectacle of it than the actual football angle of it.

David Zizmor is covering Super Bowl XLIX for http://www.sportsradioservice.com catch his podcast below on soundcloud

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: MLB Commish wants to get A’s Stadium issue solved very soon; San Jose to appeal lawsuit in U.S. 9th Appeals Court

by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–Jack London Square would be the ideal location for a new Oakland A’s Stadium as Major Baseball League Commissioner Rob Manfred said he would like to see the A’s get a new stadium in short order. The Jack London location would be the ideal location but as we know we don’t live in a perfect world. It’s not a surprise their not going to be in San Jose who just recently lost a lawsuit to Major League Baseball to obtain the right to move the A’s to San Jose and now the city is prepared to appeal the case in the U.S. 9th District of Appeals Court.

Oakland’s new mayor Mayor Libby Schaaf says she would entertain the idea of a new stadium for the A’s but also Schaff said that she will not allow one dime of public funds to be spent on the new stadium. To take this issue with San Jose further, San Jose is not even in the picture, so you have the choice of rebuilding the Coliseum which actually is an ideal or Jack London Square.

I was told years ago by the most unlikely source former A’s outfielder Rickey Henderson who came in the pressbox in Oakland and told me after I asked him about the problems in the Oakland Coliseum. Henderson said, “look man all they have to do is rebuild this place and make it look like it was before.” They built that cement monstrosity called Mount Davis in centerfield and that’s due to come down.

Maybe it should be named Rickey Henderson Park because Rickey was the first guy who told me that and that wasn’t a archaic idea but it makes a lot of sense. The A’s won’t be able to move out of Oakland, there’s not going to be any contraction in other words the A’s aren’t going to be dismantled. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred likes the idea of a new stadium in Oakland, the A’s aren’t going to relocate.

So what do you have? You have two locations the one now at the current Coliseum site, or possibly Jack London Square. Schaaf is optimistic I don’t blame her she wants to start off on the right foot and she wants to keep the A’s in Oakland. The City of Oakland is going to lose the Warriors that’s a given in a couple of years or so. The Raiders who knows, so the city of Oakland if it’s the Mayor or a politician are the best threat you have to keep the A’s they can also try and generate more revenue.

The A’s play 81 home games compare to 10 home games for the Raiders and 40 or so in basketball and now A’s owner Lew Wolf said that they would build a new park but they never said they would build it in Oakland. They said they would build it in San Jose or if they can’t they would rebuild the Oakland Coliseum or build at Jack London Square.

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

Super Bowl XLIX commentary & podcast: Which head coach is considered the biggest cheater Carroll or Belichick

by Daniel Dullum

GLENDALE AZ–Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll also has had his share of tricks up his sleeve as head coach at USC and in Seattle. Carroll in June 2010 saw the NCAA put a two year ban on USC and they eliminated the college’s 30 draft picks for allowing USC running back Reggie Bush to receive gifts, Bush also got free housing for his parents, and reportedly tons of money under Carroll’s watch.

Carroll and the Seahawks were fined for $300,000 for holding contact practices during training camps in August of 2014 the NFL has banned any contact mini camp practices for the 2015 season for the Seahawks and players will be paid for the missed practices.

For New England head coach Bill Belichick, he and the Patriots were fined $500,000 in 2007 by the NFL and had their first round draft pick taken away for taping the New York Jets assistant coaches and stealing their signals from the sidelines. The video recordings of the stolen signs were confiscated by the NFL and the Spygate scandal was almost in the rearview mirror until this month when Belichick and the Patriots were accused of deflating up to 11 footballs during the AFC Championship game in which they demolished the Indianapolis Colts.

Belichick said that no rules have been broken, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady insists that he knew nothing about any wrong doing. You got to believe somebody had to know what was going on because quarterbacks have a preference for how they want the ball. Brady had to be doing this but he insists that he hadn’t and Belichick had chose to throw his quarterback under the bus which is kind of cool.

The whole thing looks to be orchestrated by Belichick to take the pressure off everybody else and go about the business of preparing for the Super Bowl. What this does is plays in the heads of everyone involved and he’s giggling all the way to the war room and it’s like a red herring I’ll throw this out there to give everybody something to chew on while were actually working on our game plan.

During media day this week there are going to be extra questions about Deflategate there’s going to be at least half a dozen questions on all of that and it deflects away from the business at hand and therefore their not talking about it as much. Their able actually to focus on the game itself. Carroll and the USC Trojans were penalized for allowing Bush to house his family and he received cash. All that stuff that Bush received was a huge no no and besides the fine to USC also Bush was forced to return his Heisman Trophy.

Daniel Dullum is covering Super Bowl XLIX for http://www.sportsradioservice.com