Author: lleonardbw

Puig’s Los Zetas connection has his family, teammates and himself walking on eggshells

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by Jerry Feitelberg

SAN FRANCISCO–The Los Angeles Dodgers who have just completed a three game series at AT&T Park on Thursday left town but with them the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas is tracking the movements of Dodger outfielder Yasiel Puig. It was Los Zetas who helped traffic Puig in America after assisting Puig and his family to America from Cuba with the promise of 20 percent of what Puig’s earning would be the gang aims to collect according to ESPN magazine.

That would lead to a huge piece of the pie whereas Puig is earning $42 million on a nine year deal he signed with the Dodgers last season. Puig’s start is much different from last year where he broke in as a sensation and was selected to the All-Star game last season representing the Dodgers.

This year with all the possible violent repercussions of Los Zetas and their possibly tailing Puig, he has hit a lowly .250 with only one homer and five RBIs. Puig in Thursday’s game had only a hit in four at bats he might have had more on his mind than just swinging and trying to make contact with baseballs thrown to him.

The cartel is expecting Puig to pay up and the king pen of the operation is reportedly a Miami businessman who has hired the Los Zetas. It was reported that the cartel had actually either showed up in the cities where the Dodgers were on this last Dodgers road trip starting April 11th in Arizona and this week in San Francisco or they have been tracking his movements carefully.

They had made their presence known according to reports from the Los Angeles Times and it was reported that the Los Angeles Police and Major League Baseball security have been shadowing Puig everywhere he goes on the road and at home in L.A. for his protection.

There has never been so much security around a ball player since former Atlanta Braves and baseball home run king Hank Aaron who was chasing down Babe Ruth’s home record back in 1974. During the home run chase of 74 Aaron was incurring many racist death threats if he was to break Ruth’s record. Aaron was also shadowed by police and security everywhere he went.

ESPN reported that human traffickers have threatened Puig since assisting Puig from Cuba to America back in 2012. Puig 23, according to the L.A. Times and ESPN is an example of “the complexities of illegal human trafficking rings that continue to shuttle Major League prospects off the island.”

The human traffickers who smuggled Puig out held him captive in a hotel in Isla Mujeres which located off the coast of Cancun. At the time the human traffickers were shaking down the Miami businessman and another human trafficking group rescued Puig which was a rival trafficking gang that smuggled Puig to America and the Dodgers had signed Puig shortly thereafter.

Puig’s safety is constantly a concern and according to news reports the cartel wants it’s money and is turning the heat up on Puig. The Miami businessman who wants a cut of Puig’s money is Raul Pacheco who has a record for burglary and fake IDs according to ESPN magazine.

What makes this more frightening is the fact that Puig’s smuggler whose name is Leo was found dead shot 13 times. There also have been civil suits filed against Puig adding up to $12 million and another civil suit filed against Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman for $18 million in a Florida civil court.

Meanwhile it was reported that Dodgers fans are at low risk from any kind of violent threat at Dodger Stadium but Dodger security can not make any gaurantees, however L.A.Times writer Jessie Katz said “the idea that Dodger fans or Dodger teammates would be in any kind of imminent harm I find that as a little bit farfetched.” Dodger Stadium like other professional sports venues are now using metal detectors on all fans, media and front office people before they enter the venue.

Jerry Feitelberg is a talk show host on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: African American player numbers at it’s lowest 7% on 67th anniversay of Jackie Robinson

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

#42 Honored today at all MLB parks on it’s 67th anniversary

ANAHEIM–All Major League teams today will honor Jackie Robinson’s legacy as the first African-American player in Major League Baseball, by wearing Robinson’s number 42.

Sixty-seven years after Jackie Robinson played on April 15, 1947 at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn. Brooklyn Dodgers played the Boston Braves.

Jackie Robinson batted second in the lineup, played first base, and got a hit in three at bats. The attendance at Ebbets Field, 26,623, Dodgers won the game 5-3.

Here below the lineup for the Dodgers on that historic day:

Eddie Stanky 2B

Jackie Robinson 1B

Pete Reiser CF

Dixie Walker RF

Gene Hermansky LF

Bruce Edwards C

Spider Jorgensen 3B

Pee Wee Reese SS

Joe Hatten P

Starting today’s action in Major League Baseball among the 30 teams, there are a total of 67 African-American players, 7.8% of all players, with a high of 18.7% in 1981, according to the Society for Baseball Research(SABR).

Three teams today do not have an African-American player on their roster, Arizona Diamondbacks, St Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants. The 7.8% percent today is the lowest since 1958.

Major League Baseball is trying to revitalize the game among young African-Americans across the country. With six urban academies, there are 220,000 kids playing in reviving Baseball in Inner cities programs.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Vice President of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Angels and A’s get set for rival series; 49ers need some serious damage control

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–The Los Angeles Angels are in the middle of a six game home stand and are opening up a series Monday night with the Oakland A’s. The Angels just completed a series with the New York Mets. It’s been a little bit cold at Anaheim Stadium but they expect temperatures to get up in the mid 80s for the series.

The Angels just hit five home runs on Sunday against New York and the Angels blasted former A’s and Angels pitcher and now Mets starter Bartolo Colon who won 18 games last year for the A’s and was their All-Star pitcher. Colon got lit up for 11 hits, nine runs all earned, and walked a couple of batters in five innings of work.

The Angels went yard with three consecutive home runs in the first inning off Colon, hit by L.A.’s Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and Raul Ibanez. It was the first time the Angels hit three straight homers since 2009. So the A’s and Angels get together and their rivals and it’s a big contrast between these two teams.

The Oakland A’s never had a big payroll and they have to face teams with big payrolls in the Western Division. The Angels have one of the largest payrolls in baseball and they haven’t won anything in a awhile. The A’s have a big contest in Anaheim and it all depends on the pitching and we know the A’s have good young pitching so this series could be one of the best yet this month.

49ers Aldon Smith update: I’m sure Dr.Harry Edwards who specializes in those social programs for the football teams like the 49ers and works in psychology might be one for this situation with Aldon Smith and what he did was very stupid.

You have to be intoxicated to make a bomb threat at the Los Angeles Airport and that is what Aldon Smith is accused of saying. After 911 and even before that the last thing you want to do is scream is “bomb.” This act is beyond stupidity of an imbecile, the 49ers have a lot of problems with players with off field conduct issues, Chris Culliver (hit and run and brass knuckles), Colin Kaepernick (suspicious conduct), and now Smith and the bomb threat.

Kaepernick was not indicted but this is not good publicity for the 49ers or the NFL and the team just paid over a $1 billion for the new stadium that opens this August. This is not good for the club and I don’t know what their going to do with all these off field problems and this is not just one player it multiple players. It’s a big problem especially in a sport that you don’t play everyday but the news keeps going about them everyday.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for Angels baseball and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk radio

Sharks commentary: San Jose hitting it’s stride winning four of last six games going into post season

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by Larry Leavitt

GLENDALE AZ–The San Jose Sharks have taken care of the business at hand with a win on Friday against Colorado. In the Colorado game the Sharks were sparked by the return of Tomas Hertl. Hertl’s return not only energized the fans but actually energized the players.

The injury to Hertl was not that serious to keep him out for a season because it wasn’t a fully blown ACL it was torn legaments in the knee and the surgery and recovery went well and everybody heals differently and there’s no time table on how somebody will feel. So they have to wait and see how much Hertl would have to put into working back to playing condition and how well his body recovers.

Hertl’s recovery from surgery and all of the work of trying to get him back into shape has been successful and once he started skating they watched how he reacted to that. There is a lot of unknowns to the next step and it wasn’t on the radar when Hertl was going to come back and how soon. It was a pleasant surprise and it was nice to see that big smile on his face upon his return last Friday.

The Sharks have played really well at home against the Anaheim Ducks this season it was a tough loss on Wednesday in Anaheim and they actually played pretty well in the Honda Center but when the Sharks get ready for these playoffs which is about to start the post season is a whole different animal.

To honest it was a little disappointing in the last five or six games previous to Friday night with the Sharks they didn’t seem like they were coming together as a team as they should be. In getting ready for the playoffs they got themselves into a lull and didn’t control some of the games they had lost. Having watched Friday night’s game it was really encouraging and Saturday even more so.

The Sharks brought a lot of energy in the building and a lot to the team and Sharks goalie Alex Stalock stopped some amazing shots against Colorado, the Sharks who are in the playoffs played a Coyotes team on Saturday that were not in the playoffs and in this game they didn’t want to get anybody hurt.

The Sharks are going to the playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings and the Ducks are going to play Minnesota. Had the Ducks lost against the Sharks on Wednesday night the Sharks would have won the Paciifc Division and the Ducks would have played the Kings. The Sharks would have had to play the Minnesota Wild and the Ducks and Kings would have faced off against each other.

The Sharks winning gave them a much better advantage spending less time flying and traveling as they face the Kings in L.A. and the Ducks now will have to travel to Minnesota during the first round of the playoffs.

Larry Leavitt does commentary on Sharks hockey for http://www.sportsradioservice.com each week

Warriors report: W’s will need tight strategy in the paint to shut down Clips Griffin and Paul in post season

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–It’s always nice to beat the Lakers when you clinch for a playoff and for the Warriors it was nice to beat the Lakers when you do it on the road at the Staples Center where the Lakers have been so successful. This is historic, the Warriors haven’t made the playoffs in back to back seasons in more than 20 years and it’s a really big deal.

As Stephen Curry said after the game on Friday night the ticking off of particular goals and one of them is they have to sustain success and going to the playoffs consecutive years is another step in that direction to become a contender. It’s a really big deal and you can’t down play this enough.

For the Warriors to acheive back to back playoffs is an important milestone for the Warriors and it’s a great step in the right direction for this franchise whose goal it is to be a contender and their one of the destination teams in the league and the Warriors are well on their way to doing that. The win on Friday only puts them in a position to clinch a sixth seed in the Western Conference.

It’s not official yet things could change given how the Warriors and the Trailblazers have played in the last three or four games. The Warriors still have a chance at clinching the fifth spot but if the season ended today and most likely it will end like it is today the Warriors will have the sixth seed.

That means they’ll play the Clippers and that is bound to be a crazy good first round match ups it will probably will be one of the marquee match ups in all of the playoffs as they’re fantastically fun teams to watch. On the Warriors side you have the Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Clay Thompson who can shoot from long range.

The Warriors also have Andre Iguodala, David Lee, Andrew Bogut, Harrison Barnes, all these quality scoring players who just put it on the line everytime they go out there on the floor. On the other side of the ball you have the Clippers who have been playing fantastic basketball the second half of the season.

Doc Rivers came over from the Celtics to coach the Clips and has done an amazing job of making this team live up to it’s potential.The Clippers Chris Paul even though he missed about 20 games earlier in the season is finally back at full strength as we all know he’s one of the best point guards in the NBA and Blake Griffin has taken his team up to another level. Griffin won’t win the MVP but he’s going to be the third or fourth guy in balloting which is a big accomplishment.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk radio

Michael Duca on A’s and Giants: Pablo will have to bring up numbers to get asking price; Donaldson was deliberate than thoughtless

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by Micahel Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–You have to remember everything that happens in contract negotiations is behind closed doors such is the case of Giants third baseman Pablo Sadoval. Giants general manager Brian Sabean has said he has stopped taking Sandoval’s agent Gustavo Vasquez’ call. Everything that’s said is private and the rest is public posturing on both sides.

Nobody knows what really is going on in the Sadoval negotiations and it’s my understanding that both sides of the conversations had agreed that opening day would be sort of the cut off. I heard Giants VP of Operations Bobby Evans talking about this on opening day on Tuesday basically saying that Sandoval has the opportunity to go out and earn himself a big deal for his performance this year.

The basis of that thought process is the Giants have had five years of Sandoval and they had two years of extraordinary Pablo and three or ordinary Pablo. Evans said if you want five more years of Pablo all we can do is look back at the last five years and say which of these guys are we signing? The great two years or the mediocre three?

It’s because you pay for those things, the Giants would like to see Pablo get through an entire season maintaining the lower weight to see him go out and perform consistantly. If he can go out and approach the game mentally and he has the self discipline to maintain that weight their not going to have a problem paying him.

A’s hitter Josh Donaldson forgot the code of ethics: How many times have I said when you hit a long foul ball which Donaldson did against the Twins and Twins pitcher Glenn Perkins you can kind of watch it but you watch while your moving down the line. You don’t stand in the batters box and admire it before you take off.

I know if you hit it that far your either are going to cadillac around the bases or you don’t have to go anywhere. Nevertheless show some kind of respect for your opponents and that’s not the kind of player that Donaldson is and it kind of surprised me with the whole bat flipping and admiring a long foul ball thing he had going on Thursday.

Then Donaldson gets badly fooled on a breaking pitch and strikes out flips his bat and you might have got away with flipping the bat, you might have got away with admiring the long foul ball but your not going to get away with both admiring the foul ball and flipping the bat.

You put two of them together and now it looks more deliberate than thoughtless, it’s a matter of respect for the game. Donaldson admired a long ball he hit but he also has to show them how big you are when you fail like when Donaldson struck out.

Michael Duca does commentary on the Giants and A’s each week for Sportstalk radio

49ers report: Kap is now being investigated for suspicious activity according to Miami cops

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by Ken Gimblin and David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–Miami Police who filed a report earlier this month on April 1st say that San Francisco 49ers star quarterback Colin Kaepernick and former 49er and current Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Richard Lockette are being investigated for a suspicious incident that involved a female who was in the same hotel room with Kaepernick and Lockette at the time.

Quintin Patton a 49ers wide receiver from last season was also named as a “person involved” at the Viceroy Hotel. The woman was making drinks for the Kaepernick, Lockette and Patton and said she felt “light headed” and went to the bedroom and laid down. She reportedly was naked and that Kaepernick was not in the room when she asked where Kaepernick was to Lockette and Patton.

The police report said that there were no sexual relations that took place during the alleged time of 9:00PM to 12 midnight. A police report was filed two days after the alleged incident described as a black female that Kaepernick has sexual relations with in the past.

Lockette shared a house with Kaepernick during the season before Lockette was cut from the 49ers. Police say the female went to visit Kaepernick at the Viceroy resort and said she made drinks for Kaepernick, Lockette and Patton she claimed that she smoked marijuana with the three from a bong and that the female drank shots with the three.

The female said she felt lightheaded and went to bed and lied down, the report said that Kaepernick allegedly undressed her but the report said they did not have sex. The female asked Patton and Lockette where Kaepernick was and Patton and Lockette closed the door.

The female later awoke in a hospital bed and that is where she was questioned about what she might have remembered last before ending up in the hospital. The female said she didn’t remember anything after Patton and Lockette closed the bedroom door.

There has been no report of DNA samples, no charges made by the female or the Police and any report from the hospital that would tie sexual relations with Patton, Lockette or Kaepernick to the female.

The 49ers organization is fully aware of this incident, “the 49ers organization is aware of a report regarding Colin Kaepernick and are gathering facts” said 49ers General Manager Trent Baalk.

Kaepernick is making $973,766 this season and is in the last year of his rookie contract, Kaepernick and his representatives are scheduled to meet with the 49ers to talk about a contract extension that would make Kaepernick one of the richest quarterbacks in the NFL.

Kaepernick was in Miami working out at Bommarito Performance Systems in North Miami Beach. Kaepernick was conditioning with Lockette, 49ers running back Frank Gore and linebacker Nick Moody plus other NFL players.

Ken Gimblin and David Zizmor are talk show hosts on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Warriors update report: A Lacob A’s purchase could be his gift to Oakland for moving Warriors to the City

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by Ken Gimblin and David Zizmor

OAKLAND–If Joe Lacob and the Golden State Warriors were able to purchase the Oakland A’s and move them to the Howard Street Terminal at Jack London Square and build a new stadium at the Jack London Waterfront. The A’s are valued at a baseball modest price of $500 million and it would be Lacob’s tribute to the city of Oakland in saving the A’s from leaving town while he plans to take the Warriors to San Francisco.

Lacob is a work in progress on two fronts as the Warriors are in a political battle to try and defeat Proposition B the San Francisco Waterfront height requirement that limits the size of any development over 40-105 feet on the city’s Embarcadero. The voters will be asked in June if the height limit shall be enforced as the Warriors are looking to build a brand new arena at Piers 30-32 but they have been met with much opposition in the Embarcadero neighborhood. Prop B is most likely to pass if put in front of the voters in the San Francisco June election.

Meanwhile Lacob has approached A’s owner John Fisher about the sale of the A’s and Fisher has made it clear that the A’s are not for sale something that Fisher’s business parter Lew Wolff has indicated. Wolff who has stated several times that Jack London Square is a not a viable site for the A’s and he would like to move the team to downtown San Jose but with the Giants territorial rights in place the A’s are bound in Oakland and Alameda County.

The only question that has remained is how long will Fisher and Wolff hold out at the Oakland Coliseum, the management and players have complained about the sewage, water, rain drain, locker room issues at the park just for starts and the A’s want out of the Coliseum. When asked about building a new stadium at Jack London Square and the Howard Street Terminal Wolf said that Jack London Square is not a viable location for the A’s and the A’s have their hearts set on moving to San Jose.

Meanwhile San Jose Mayor Chuck Reid and the city are suing Major League Baseball for the league to clear the territorial rights of the Giants and allow the A’s to move to San Jose. That the A’s have said they want to move to San Jose and that MLB should not allow the Giants to stand in the way of the move. But none the less the document stating the Giants have territorial rights makes it clear the A’s can not move to San Jose.

This brings Fisher and Wolff right back to the drawing board and at some point will the A’s realize that running around on a hamster’s wheel or another Ground Hog Day at the Coliseum continue? Then they might realize they have to live with the Coliseum (that’s the only way they’ll be able to keep the team) or will they sell it to the highest bidder who will keep the team in Oakland and build a downtown stadium for the team.

The Warriors could be one of two major suitors to buy the A’s, the other interested parties are Dryer’s Ice Cream and Clorox. The A’s are concerned about corporate sponsorship but these suitors seem to believe if they can purchase the A’s they also can take care of corportate sponsorship in Oakland.

In the meantime for Lacob he will have to wait to see when and what Fisher and Wolff will do as they bide their time in the rickety Oakland Coliseum a place they want to vacate as soon as possible. If they continue to spin their wheels they might have to face that day when they must sell the A’s and the Warriors for one would be a fitting customer knowing all that Lacob has done in owning sports franchises.

David Zizmor covers the NBA and Ken Gimblin is covering the arena developments for the Warriors and the Sacramento Kings for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Stanford’s year was monumental after getting to the semi finals three straight times

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–Stanford will always be noted for their great achievement for reaching the NCAA semi finals three times in a row although they lost to UConn all three times but they lost to a team that was either near perfect or perfect in the case of this year.

Reaching the Final Four in the first place was tough to achieve, it’s tough to win and look at how many teams in college there are and what the odds are, the Sweet 16 and all the other dances that go on. It’s very tough for Stanford to get that far but congratulations to the Cardinal for what they accomplished this year.

Just getting to the Final Four that is quite an achievement for the ladies of Stanford. Not many schools can claim they went to the semi finals three years in a row like the UConns of the world. Then there’s the men’s game where Kentucky and UConn have been there before.

For the women to make it three times in a row it’s an eye opener and this is our school in the Bay Area to have made it that far. Cal is another great school in the Bay Area a great place for learning and a great place for sports. So three times in a row to make the Final Four that doesn’t happen very often in college sports and the Stanford women did it.

Los Angeles hit with a series of tremors: I was in my hotel in during the Mariners and Angels series about a weeek and half ago and I remember the beginning of a video tape that was played with Dodger great Vin Scully at the microphone on it announcing the Dodgers game when someone was at the plate and Scully said, “here’s the pitch and we’re having a tremor and here’s a ground ball to second” he just mentioned it so casually and it was so funny.

“We’re having a tremor” and he didn’t panic or anything and kept announcing. My broadcast partner Jose Mota was with the Angels doing the broadcast of the Freeway Series against the Dodgers on English TV and he felt it at Dodgers Stadium. I didn’t work that game because I didn’t do the Angels pre season but Mota told me it was quite a jolt.

There is also a lot of people who said they didn’t feel anything so it’s kind of strange it’s an old park, Dodger Stadium know as Chavez Ravine up there on the hill overlooking L.A. It was scary there were a number of after shocks in the L.A. area but nothing like the one in Chile thank God that one was an 8.2 earthquake that triggered a tsunami.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Vice President of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week on Sportstalk

Michelle Richardson on the NCAA Championship finals: Stanford women one and done with UConn; had a great run

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by Michelle Richardson

UConn 75 Stanford 56: The Stanford Cardinal went into the Final Four and wanted to push for a victory this time and got to the NCAA finals but again failed for the third straight time since getting into the semi finals since 2010. It was too much Huskies for the Cardinal as the Huskies top scorers Breanna Stewart finished the game with 18 points and for Stanford Amber Orrange led with 16 points.

“It wouldn’t be fun if you didn’t beat teams that were any good” said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma “I think Women’s basketball needs rivalries like this,teams that aspire to be great and want to win championships”

Stanford star Chiney Ogwumike said it was an exciting year and her last at Stanford, “it’s been an amazing remarkable experience to have Stanford on my jersey one last time.” For head coach Tara VanDerveer it was just a tough game offensively and that the shots were not falling for the Cardinal, “we knew the biggest challenge for us was to score, we worked hard defensively, had a lot of good stops. Their size, when they went big, their size is really disruptive. Probably more than anything, they have very skilled players, play very well together” said VanDerveer.

Notre Dame 87 Maryland 61: The Fighting Irish’s Kayla McBride’s offense kept things going for Notre Dame with her 28 point leading performance. She was a one woman performing machine with those Harlem Globetrotter’s type behind the back dribbles and passes and quick cross overs before hitting the bucket.

For Maryland Brionna Jones finished with 16 points for the top scorer in the loss. For McBride in her senior year this is the one that makes her graduating year sweet finishing up a season in the Final Four with a big win “it means a lot as a senior, I am so proud of this team. We went through a lot of adversity, especially after losing Ace. We’re going to go in and look at the film and be ready for the game” said McBride.

Kentucky-UConn NCAA Finals: Willie Cauley-Stein of the UConn Huskies sat out of the semi finals game on Saturday. Cauley-Stein hurt his ankle in the tournament and made it worse playing on it against Louisville in the Regional semi final win and sat out in the win against Michigan last week.

The Huskies have proven one thing that they know how to do it without him and their prepared to play Kentucky without Cauley-Stein and that’s basketball. That’s the way the game works, one player can not decide whether their team is going to win or not.

This is the second time in the title in three years that Kentucky got here and two years ago they got here with a group of Freshman led by former Wildcat Anthony Davis who is now with the New Orleans Pelicans. The Wildcats now have their own crop of freshman and all we can say this game is really going to be very interesting on Monday night.

The Wildcats have a 29-10 record and the Huskies have a 31-8 record and the last time the Wildcats got in the finals they pretty much finished perfect and blanked everybody for the whole season. This game should be a razor thin margin win for either team it’s evenly matched and should up end being the best of the finales.

Michelle Richardson covered the NCAA for Sportstalk and will be back in the fall