Author: lleonardbw

NBA Playoffs report: Spurs can put it away;Clips Rivers calls out officials;Turning up the Heat;Pacers try to avoid game 7

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by David Zizmor

San Antonio vs. Portland: The Trailblazers are not a bad team they have a lot of the pieces to make the team run in the future their an inexperienced team and going up against a team like the Spurs who have all the experience in the world are a fantastic team in their own right and it’s a really a rough road for Portland.

Portland did pull off a win to avoid a sweep in Portland over the Spurs with a 103-92 victory, the Spurs are ahead in the series 3-1 with game five coming up on Wednesday night in San Antonio. So you have to think that the Spurs are going to wrap this one up.

The Spurs don’t want to have to go back to Portland, the Spurs like we’ve been saying all along they are an older team, so the more rest they get before the Western Conference finals it’s better for them so it’s likely they’ll wrap this one up tonight.

Oklahoma City vs. LA Clippers: You hate to see games this big decided by officials, referees usually should try to make themselves scarce towards the end of these games. If there’s an obvious foul and obviously you call it most of the time in these close and late situations the refs tend to put their whistles away.

Officals in crucial situations don’t call ticky tack fouls that’s not what you want to see, in this situation you have a three point play and the call goes to the Thunder on a questionable call and everybody is going to be up in arms. It’s one of those situations where the ref is putting themselves right in the flow of the game.

The call changed the potential outcome of the game and the Thunder have to make those free throws and your talking about a very good player taking those shots and it wasn’t particularily difficult to see the Thunder hurting in that situation. This was really going to be a very entertaining series and the Thunder are up by one game 3-2 with game six on Thursday night.

Miami vs. Brooklyn: The Nets are a good team their not a glamorous team and to beat the Heat in a seven game series like this you have to be approaching greatness among the great teams in the league. That’s why the Nets were able to push the Heat to seven games.

The Spurs are a great team and they could end up playing a great team like Miami over a seven game series. The Nets have a lot of great players and they have a lot of great players who are well past their prime. Maybe they can turn it off for a night or two in the post season but to sustain enough to win a seven game series is an awful lot to ask of Nets players like Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett,Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.

Without Brook Lopez who the Nets lost much earlier this season they just didn’t have a defensive presence or a guy in the middle to really change how Miami would have to play in this kind of a series. More power to the Nets and to beat a very good Toronto team in the first round and they got a win off of Miami in the second round but if this series goes six games I’ll be surprised Miami should wrap this up in five games.

Indiana vs. Washington: This will be interesting because we’ve been talking about the Pacers and how poorly they’ve been playing you got remember the first series and how the Pacers played against Atlanta. The Pacers are stumbling and this isn’t limited to the post season this is something that has been going on for several months now.

Let’s track it back now, in the first series against the Hawks they struggled and the Hawks are not even a good team at all and in the Eastern Conference their just worthy of an eighth seed and the Pacers are just hanging on by the skin of their teeth. In this series against Washington aside from the first game they Pacers played pretty well.

As we’ve said all along the offense has a lot left to be desired but the biggest development in this series is Roy Hibbert the Pacers center was among the best centers in the league for most of the season until the end and he was a non factor against Atlanta to the point that he was benched for the last few games. The Pacers lead the series 3-2 with game six on Thursday night.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Feitelberg report: Prop B passage would shut down Giants parking lot A developement hopes

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The San Francisco Giants hopes to develop retail and condos on parking lot A at AT&T Park might be all but a memory with the very probable passing of Proposition B a city initiative that limits any buildings to 40 feet or less. Niether the Giants or San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee are taking a position in the June election on Prop B.

The Giants had hoped for developments on the 27 acre property of two 380 foot towers, ten commmerical and residential buildings that would house 1,000 units, the Giants wanted to add another 280 feet to the towers.Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos who opposed any development that exceeds the height limit on the Waterfront said that the Giants proposal at the time was “Donald Trump style planning.”

It is the long shot hopes (behind the scenes) of the Giants who have not come out against the measure publicly, that it would not pass so they would not have to go to the voters for any development approvals but that’s real long odds as Prop B is predicted to win convincingly.

Agnos, former San Francisco Board of Supervisor president Aaron Peskin and Prop B campaign co-chairman Jon Golinger took their fight to City Hall to get the initiative on the ballot when the Warriors were in the planning stages to build at Piers 30-32 a new arena and have a luxury condo tower and hotel built across the street from the arena.

With that in mind Waterfront residents with San Francisco voters in tow took more than the minimum amount of petition ballots needed to put Prop B on the ballot, according to some reports it was almost double the minimum amount needed to qualify for the June election.

The Warriors shortly thereafter took the cue and realized that this was not a fight that they wanted to have with the San Francisco voter and made their land purchase from Mission Bay land owners Salesforce and purchased the property for the Warriors new arena without objections from the residents, Agnos, Peskin, or Golinger.

The Giants still wanted their retail, commericial and residential property development on Lot A but also realized by not opposing the measure that they didn’t want to take on the San Franisco voters. In talks with residents and downtown workers, some said that the underlying arguement against the development was also because of gentification and that they questioned how much affordable housing from the condos would be available something that Agnos had asked about a few times much to the sound of crickets.

The strong arguement that defeated waterfront development will always be height limits as neighbors argued they wanted a strong protection of the views of the Bay Bridge, Bay and East Bay. What was surprising was when Lee, the Giants, and the Warriors, actually thought they could get these projects done after the loss of last November’s election propositions B and C the Washington 8. Washington 8 was set up to develop retail and condo towers by the Ferry Building.

Washington 8, both Props B and C lost by a large margins and shortly thereafter the Warriors went big on the new arena idea at Piers 30-32 but after this recent Prop B campaign it’s very likely any future developements will have to be approved by the voters.

Jerry Feitelberg is covering the arena developemnts of the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:Texas’ Yu Darvish can’t figure out Latino batters in near no-hit bids

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–In just his third season in the Major Leagues, Texas right hander Yu Darvish has not been able to pitch a no hitter in three different occasions, because of Latino hitters.

Here is the actual list for Yu Darvish, who in the past two season 2012 and 2013 has struck out more hitters than anybody in baseball.

-August 12, 2013 Minute Maid Park, Houston(9th inning) Darvish came within one out of a no hitter, but Houston catcher Carlos Corporan(Puerto Rico)hit a Home Run.

-April 2, 2014 Minute Maid Park, Houston(9th inning)Darvish came within one of a “perfecto” but Houston’s Marwin González(Venezuela) broke it, with a single.-

-May 9, 2014.Fenway Park, Boston(9th inning) Darvish came within one out of a no hitter,but Red Sox David Ortíz(Dominican Republic)broke it with a single.

In three different occasions, in less than two full seasons, Yu Darvish no hitter or Perfecto, has gone Sayonara against Latino hitters.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Vice President of the Major League Baseball Latino Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders draft analysis: Oakland heavily relying on Carr being their future at quarterback

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by David Zizmor and Stefani Rebekah Black

ALAMEDA–The Oakland Raiders were one of the few teams in the NFL draft that picked the least amount of players. In the second round the Raiders picked at number four, quarterback Derek Carr out of Fresno State and if that name sounds somewhat familiar that’s because Carr is the younger brother of former number one overall pick David Carr who was with the Houston Texans and is currently a free agent.

David wasn’t able to do that much and it’s hopeful that Carr won’t suffer that same fate for his sake he’s kind of fortunate the Raiders are looking to get someone in the starting role for the future and Carr is a strong candidate for the position maybe for next year after getting some experience.

The Raiders want to give Carr a little bit of time to learn the playbook and get him acclimated to the NFL and maybe Carr will play a few snaps at the end of some games this season but it’s not likely you’ll see a whole lot of Carr outside of the preseason.

Carr is a guy out of Fresno State who is very good and has a good arm with good decision ability and because his brother is in the NFL he knows a lot of the pit falls and hopefully he can avoid them. Is he the quarterback of the future? The Raiders hope so, the abilitiy to be that quarterback is there and the Raiders have to nurture him in the best possible way.

In the third round at number 17 offensive guard Gabe Jackson from Mississippi State was selected, the Raiders are looking to fortify their offensive line, if you remember in free agency the Raiders spent a lot of money on offensive tackles on the right and left side of their lines. They added another piece to the puzzle with the drafting of Jackson.

Jackson is rated one of the best guards out of the draft this year and he’s been called a mauler by scouts and analysts by all reports he should definitely help the Raiders offense. They were really having a tough time protecting the quarterback last season and with all these additions to the offensive line hopefully the Raiders will be a little more stable.

In the fourth round at number seven the Raiders selected defenisve tackle Justin Ellis from Louisiana Tech and at number 16 defenisve back Keith McGill out of Utah. Ellis is just a wide load he reminds you a little bit of Ted Washington. Ellis is not quite as heavy as Washington and Washington might have been listed at 350 pounds but you can bet he was never less than four bills.

Ellis has got good quickness, he is going to hopefully blow up the interior of the offensive line when he comes or at least hold the run game. The Raiders are not drafting someone who sacks the quarterback all that often but Ellis is a guy who definitely is going to be a presence.

McGill is a big cornerback at 6’3 and 230 pounds, he’s very big for a corner, McGill had some off field issues but as some people say that’s just part of being with the Raiders but you have to care about the off field issues these days.

Ellis is big he can hang with a lot of recievers and he’s going to get a technique that’s going to be a little more refined but he’s a good pick for the Raiders and the secondary definitely needed some help. The rest of the Raiders picks were all in the seventh round they traded away all their fifth and sixth picks.

The seventh round picks for Oakland at number four defensive back T.J.Carrie out of Ohio and defensive end Shelby Harris selected at number 20 out of Illinois State.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

49ers draft analysis: Ward was surprise pick will get corner position; lots of corner picks

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by David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The draft is over the 49ers first round pick Jimmie Ward who was selected at number 30 he’s listed as a safety and that was a bit of a surprise when he was picked. The more we learned about him he was not going to be a safety. Maybe three or four years down the road for Ward but for right now he’s going to be playing nickle corner, slot corner and if you watch the tape of Ward he’s a physical very capable coverage corner.

Ward can play in that tight slot and he will be very good and a good number of draft analysts who talked about this over this weekend have talked about the 49ers selections and have given it sneaky A plus grades and Ward was someone that no one was talking about and the Niners took him.

In the second round at 25th pick another good pick the 49ers selected running back Carolos Hyde out of Ohio State and no one suspected that the 49ers were going to select a running back but that’s what they did and everybody thought the 49ers were set at running back with Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter, Marcus Lattimore, LaMichael James. Anthony Dixon left via free agency this off season so they were a little bit short and there has always been questions about James.

Drafting Hyde really makes it obvious that James won’t be around much longer for the 49ers, Hyde is a big bruising back he’s one of these guys at 6’1 at 220 pounds he’s a short yardage back that the 49ers haven’t had in several years. The Niners have had trouble in short yardage situations and Hyde is coming in to address that particular weakness.

In the third round the 49ers selected offensive center Marcus Martin at number six, Martin from the Pac 12 out of USC and a lot of the analysts said this was the best center out of the entire draft and getting Martin out of the third round a lot of them say this was a steal and it doesn’t matter Martin is the guy to have.

It’s a position out of need for the 49ers Jonathan Goodwin who left the 49ers via free agency so Martin can definitely fill that void. You might see him competing with Daniel Kilgore who the Niners drafted a few years ago. Kilgore is suppose to be the starting center and Martin was the starting center for USC for several years.

The Niners in the third round selected inside linebacker Chris Borland out of Wisconsin at number 13 he’s there so the 49ers have a little breathing room for Novarro Bowman he suffered that horrific injury in that playoff game against Seattle. You can expect Novarro to be back sometime in the middle of the season.

With the kind of injury he had its no telling how long his recovery is going to take, he could be back by the middle of the season and he might not be. The 49ers don’t have a crystal ball and their protecting themselves by selecting Borland at the linebacker position.

Borland plays on instinct and he’s not super duper fast the way that Patrick Willis is, Borland has great instincts for the ball he’s always around, he’s a tackling machine he was the Big Ten defensive player of the year. We’re not sure if you’ll see Borland at starter you might see more of him on special teams.

Brandon Thomas an offensive tackle at number 36 in the third round out of Clemson he was also hurt and he was selected at the end of the third round. Thomas is not going to play for the Niners next season he’s going to be on the injured reserve list. He’s a guy with what they did for Lattimore and tackle Tank Carridine last year.

Their essentially red shirting Thomas and their picking guys who are really, really good, and would have picked guys who would have been high draft picks if they weren’t injured and their letting them recover and learn the offense at a much more reasonable pace. Thomas is a guy who’s going to be a long term solution.

In the fourth round the Niners took wide receiver Bruce Ellington out of South Carolina at number six, he’s very fast, at SC he did a lot of kick returning and a little bit of punt returning but he’s comfortable fielding punts. So the 49ers picked him more as a special teamer a guy who returns punts and kicks.

Ellington has great speed and the Niners definitely need that, they don’t have that with their current guys. Speaking of wide receiver the 49ers made a trade that might be more impacting than any of these draft picks they traded their fourth round pick next year in 2015 for Stevie Johnson from the Buffalo Bills.

Johnson is a guy who’s had over 1000 yards receiving for three out of the last four seasons and he was dinged up last year and didn’t get many reps and the Bills went and drafted Sandy Watkins with the third overall pick so they gave away Johnson to the 49ers. Johnson is a San Francisco native so this is homecoming for Johnson.

The 49ers drafted a handful of cornerbacks and the 49ers in the fourth round picked Dontae Johnson a defensive corner out of NC State at number 29. He’s probably the most prominent one, the one thing you look at with the Niners with the corners they picked they went with bigger guys and the 49ers went with bigger and more physical cornerbacks.

The rest of the 49ers selections in the fifth round at number ten defensive end Aaron Lynch was selected out of South Florida, at number 30 Keith Reaser defensive corner out Florida Atlantic University, in the sixth round at number four defensive corner Kenneth Acker out of SMU, in the seventh round at number 28 defensive tackle Kaleb Ramsey out of Boston College.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NBA Playoffs report: Spurs now one away from moving up;Nets give Heat run for the money

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by David Zizmor

San Antonio vs. Portland: The Spurs are the favorite going into this one and they have the level of experience over the last 15 years that Portland does not. The Trailblazers are certainly a good team and you can’t ignore them but at the same time the Blazers have very little post game experience.

Their just figuring things out and the Spurs while they have had a bit of a tough time against a very good Memphis team in the first round they have so much experience to ignore them. To watch these guys Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili they put on a clinic.

With the way the Spurs are playing it’s not even a contest, the Blazers are trying to play up to the level but they just don’t have the firepower or the experience to hang with the Spurs, the Spurs are coming off one of the most successful wins in team history and they beat the Miami Heat last year in seven games.

Oklahoma City vs. L.A.Clippers: This is one of the most entertaining series of the four right now, OKC has a slight advantage right now, OKC when they have the home court they have the better advantage. OKC doesn’t have the same kind of distractions that the Clippers do and the Thunder have been there.

You have to remember OKC was favored to make it to the finals last year until Russell Westbrook went down in the playoffs. Westbrook is one of the best players in the NBA, the loss of Westbrook last year really derailed the Thunder’s hopes.

Now they face this Clippers team which they match up against fairly well, when the Warriors played the Clippers the W’s were down and the W’s Andrew Bogut was out for the series and they lost Jermaine O’Neal in game six and the Warriors just didn’t have the front court to handle the big guys for the Clippers. OKC doesn’t have that problem they have Kendrick Perkins up front, they have Serge Ibaka those guys play defense on the front point guys.

Miami vs. Brooklyn: In Saturday’s game three the Miami Heat had such an awful third quarter and lost to Brooklyn 104-90 the Heat lead the series 2-1. Miami had an awful third quarter where they scored 14 points and they really couldn’t recover and it was just too big a deficit to make up even for LeBron James.

It’s unfortunate for the Heat they get a stinkbomb but Brooklyn is a team that has played very well, now as everyone says the old saying goes the playoff series never starts until someone wins a game on the road. Nobody has won a game on the road in this series.

At this stage if the home court advantage holds then it’s Miami’s series and Brooklyn has had a very good series. They’ve had great players with guys who are going to go to the Hall of Fame but the Nets just don’t have the stamina to go through a seven game series with Miami.

Indiana vs. Washington: Don’t count out the Wiz, they’re kind of like the Cinderella story in the post season. They’re good enough to beat Indiana especially considering how poorly the Pacers have played over the last three or four months. Indiana’s poor play in the first round against Atlanta was not a fluke.

Washington had an awful game three against Indiana losing 85-63 they lost by 20 and scored only 63 points in a really ugly contest. Washington is a decent team but their a number five for a reason and it’s because their inconsistent and sometimes their shots comes and goes. The other night it was not falling but John Wall and Bradley Beal their pretty good shooters for the Wiz.

No matter what you say there are nights that nothing works and the other night for the Wiz was one of them. Let’s be fair their offense might not be strong these days but the Pacers still have a good defense and thats part of the reason whey the Wiz struggled.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Larry Leavitt on the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Rangers played for keeps to stay alive;Bruins-Habs face off for game 6 Mon

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by Larry Leavitt

Los Angeles vs. Anaheim: The Ducks are trying to get the feeling on how the Kings are defending them and trying to pick them apart. The Kings are managing the games really well so it’s not getting out of hand with too many fights and physicality. The Ducks are letting a lot of the good checks go and there have been a lot of hitting and there have been a lot of bad penalties.

The officals have been allowing these two teams to play a lot of trash hockey, both of these teams are very quick. The Ducks are resting goaltender Fredrick Andersen with a lower body injury which is the knee, the Ducks have called up goalie John Gibson from Norfolk of the AHL affiliate.

Anderson had been doing well he actually started the playoffs, as far as players go, they’ll just have to wait and see how their going to fill in the holes and you know the Ducks have been able to fill in the holes very well. All their bench players have been called up and have been asked to play and they have really stepped up which they showed in game three.

Minnesota vs. Chicago: The Wild who caught up to the Blackhawks to tie the series at 2-2 after being down 2-0. They have some superstars on the team but it’s not the team. Every player on the the Wild from the first line to the fourth line are contributing and their all playing hard.

For the most part people thought the Blackhawks were going to roll over Minnesota. This isn’t the case the Wild are a powerful team that came out to play, there was a boarding call that was supposed to be called against the Hawks but the officials didn’t call it.

It’s intresting to see how the defense plays and if a real good team is a playoff team if they play hurt they play good hurt. So that’s how good of a job that Minnesota has been doing. The Hawks Brandon Bolig who is serving a two game suspension for boarding Minnesota defenseman Keith Ballard at 2:47 in the second period of game four puts the Hawks a man short. The Hawks are very deep, they’ve been there and done that and this suspension will not hurt the team.

Montreal vs. Boston: The Boston Bruins have gone up 3-2 on Saturday night with a 4-2 win, the Canadiens said they have to come out next game on Monday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal and have to turn things around and even this series up again.

For game four the Bruins slipped a puck by the Habs goaltender Carey Price in the overtime to even the series at 2-2 but on Saturday night the Bruins won in convincing fashion with no dramatic comebacks by the Canadiens at the Fleet Center losing by two goals.

The Bruins in game five had Boston’s Reilly Smith score his fourth playoff goal in the second period on a power play at 1:04 and Jerome Iginla scored his fourth playoff goal at 1:36 and the Bruins at the end of the period took a 3-1 lead and they never looked back.

NY Rangers vs.Pittsburgh: The New York Rangers play at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night for game six with the Pittsburgh Penguins in front 3-2. The Rangers played a beautiful game in Pittsburgh for a 5-1 win in game five and the key to that game was the Rangers were up 2-0 and they picked up a goal and within 15 seconds they picked up another goal.

The Rangers put their foot on the peddle and and stayed on it, the Pens are a star studded team and their not going to be discounted here. This is one of those series that has been the most interesting, the Rangers if they can come back they come back as underdogs.

Larry Leavitt is covering the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

SF 49ers draft day: Ward at pick number 30 hopes to bring some safety to San Francisco

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by David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The 49ers had their pick on Friday and they had the number 30 pick there was a lot speculation that they might trade because that’s what they’ve done in the last few years. If you remember last season they traded up from the number 31 spot to number 18 in order to acquire Eric Reid at starting safety.

This year there was some speculation since they have 11 picks and they don’t have 11 roster spots that again they would try to trade up to target a wide receiver or a cornerback. There hasn’t been enough time since the first round of the draft if the Niners tried. One thing that we do know if they tried they failed and were not able to trade up.

The bottom line is they did select safety Jimmie Ward from Northern Illinois and if Northern Illinois sounds familiar its because they had a great season last year and they lost in the bowl game. Nevertheless their one of the better teams in the NCAA.

Ward was the reason their defense was really strong, he played safety if you look at his size, weight, and height, he doesn’t look like the typical safety he’s kind of on the small size as far as safety he’s probably 5’10-5’11. He hits big, for a guy his size,but if you watch some of the film on Ward he definitely plays like a cornerback.

Ward is kind of a corner whose playing safety, the Niners are doing two things, they picked Reid last year after Dashon Goldson left for Tampa Bay. This season Donte Whitner left for Cleveland and the Niners signed free agent Antoine Behtea away from the Indianapolis Colts.

Bathea got a couple of years deal and he’s not going anywhere right away but he could eventually. He’s not a spring chicken, he’s a guy who’s got a few more years left in the tank. At 5’10-5’11 Ward he may not be necessarily a safety but he’s a guy who can step in and play corner, nickle, and slot, and if they want to take advantage of his safety abilities then perhaps what they intend to do is drop him into the safety spot.

Maybe when Bathea leaves the 49ers a few years from now Ward would be the guy whose the aire to his position. That might be what it is, and there will be more forthcoming information from 49ers General manager Trent Baalke and head coach Jim Harbough at that future time.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders Draft day: Raiders have big expectations for Mack at linebacker

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by David Zizmor

ALAMEDA–It’s time for the NFL draft which means speculation galore and the Raiders had the number five pick and there was some thought that the Raiders would try to trade down. That they would try to stockpile some more picks. While they do have their first round pick they still do not have their full compliment of picks in the whole draft they only five or six selections.

For a team that needs a lot of help a few extra picks would help them out, no the Raiders did not trade down they stood pat at number five which was probably smart because this draft was considered to have six blue chip players. At number five the Raiders were considered to get one of them.

Nobody knew who that would be depending on how all of the picks shook out as it stood the Raiders ended up getting offensive linebacker Khalil Mack from Buffalo University and if your wondering what’s the deal with U of Buffalo? I can’t think of a player that came out of there.

There was a good reason for that, they were in division two until less than ten-15 years ago, and even then they were a really bad program until just a few years ago. This is a university that has been working to put itself on the map. It certainly is not one that everybody had heard of outside of upstate New York.

Mack considered the best linebacker in the entire draft and he was a guy who some people thought might go with a number one spot or maybe the number two it just didn’t work out that way. This is a guy whose a three down linebacker and he can play in any scheme whether there’s a four three or three four.

He can rush the passer he can block, he can tackle in the run defense, he can play pass defense. He’s a very good player and hopefully he doesn’t bring back memories of a previous Raider linebacker drafted in the top ten by the name of Rolando McClain.

McClain was a complete and total bust, Mack doesn’t seem like he would be in that category. There is a lot of factors that go into whether a guy would end up being a bust or not. Part of that is whether he gets good coaching,whether he gets good support around him.

Mack seems to be a good kid, playing at Buffalo he certainly got a chip on his shoulder because lets face it if you play at Buffalo you don’t get a lot recognition. When McClain was in college he was at Alabama everybody was singing his praises and he heard it a little too loudly and took advantage of his position.

David Zizmor covers the NFL for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Larry Leavitt on the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Hawks up on Wild, Habs can go up by 2, Pens one more for round three

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by Larry Leavitt

Los Angeles vs. Anaheim: The big four Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and L.A. they’re all still in and they’ve all been in it in years past and there’s probably a reason. So if you watch their style of play they sure look like they can be in it for the long haul too.

Drew Dougty of the Kings is impressive the minutes he put into a game is what is so impressive and he plays the most minutes of any NHL defenseman and it’s just not eating up minutes, it’s quality minutes. Dougty is a tough defenseman, he moves the puck well, and the Ducks in this series have been trying to hammer him because he was hurt at the end of this season.

The Ducks are really going out of their way to hit Dougty but he seems to be chugging along and the Kings in general just have a tough, tough team all around. The best part about the Kings right now is they have people who are out hurt and people who are filling in.

There has not been a drop in quality of play, their keeping their standards high, their going out and playing a team game. It’s not an individual it’s very much a team game. Heat flying one through four and quality attacking lines, quality defending lines, the Kings are playing a well rounded game.

Minnesota vs. Chicago: The Chicago Blackhawks are expected to carry the series because their so deep but who’d expect Minnesota to go down 2-0 and they did. Minnesota came back and won the third game and then the Wild and Hawks have an exciting game coming up.

Minnesota is just one of those teams that really don’t have that star power on every line. They have a lot of superstars on the team but the people who are there are doing the job and doing the job well and they just hang around and wait for that opportunity and when they get it they go for it.

They played a really well defensive game obviously because they won 4-0, this series can go either way. Minnesota can keep playing in their style that got them here and Chicago has trouble scoring it can go either way.

Boston vs. Montreal: I have been following Montreal pretty much all year, and I’m impressed with their team their a very well rounded team this is what you need for a playoff. Goaltending is what cost them to win the playoffs and Carey Price is an awsome goaltender and he’s doing really well right now.

The Canadiens are catching the Bruins at a good time, the Bruins don’t seem to have the jump that they’ve been known to have at playoff time. They’re still playing physical, they’re still playing hard and the thing with Boston is they can turn it around real quick and get some quick goals on you.

The Canadiens if they want to win this series they have to play a full 60 minutes with the Bruins you can’t have a let down stretch on the ice because before you know it, they can put two or three on net pretty quick.

NY Rangers vs. Pittsburgh: The Rangers are the underdog in this series by far right now, the Penguins are such a well rounded team and when you got that team in front of you you can’t say their not going to be there at the end. The Rangers put up a fight and their playing a good game they just need to get the breaks.

The Rangers need those things to go their way and work out for them and their not getting the lucky bounces and before you know it the Penguins have put the puck in the net. The Rangers are not completely out of this but the Pens certainly look like the dominate team for this series.

The Rangers head to Pittsburgh for game five of the series and the Pens can wrap it up with one more win as the Pens lead the series 3-1.

Larry Leavitt does commentary on the NHL on http://www.sportsradioservice.com