Author: Sports Radio Service

Noah Baumann named Student-Athlete of the Month

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Photo credit: 247sports.com

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State men’s basketball player Noah Baumann was named as a Student-Athlete of the Month for January, presented by O’Connor Hospital.

Baumann opened up Mountain West play with a bang as he averaged 11.0 points per game in the first eight games of conference play. He was the only player on the men’s basketball team to start in every Mountain West game in January. Baumann, who’s known for his lethal 3-pointer, shot 41.3% from beyond the arc in January. The Phoenix, Ariz., product finished the month with back-to-back double digit scoring efforts against Air Force (12) and Utah State (15).

On January 16, Baumann had one of the best games of his career as he tied the school record with seven 3-pointers made and finished with a career-high 29 points, the most points scored by any Spartan this season.

San Jose State football announces 2019 schedule

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

Six home games spread from the last Thursday in August through the Saturday after Thanksgiving, no more than two consecutive weeks on the road, a first-time non-conference opponent in Arkansas and two bye weeks are ahead for San Jose State football in the 2019 season.

San Jose State opens in CEFCU Stadium on August 29, against Northern Colorado of the Big Sky Conference in a non-conference home game.

San Jose State’s other five home games are with Tulsa of the American Athletic Conference on September 7 and Mountain West opponents New Mexico on October 5, San Diego State on October 19, Boise State on November 2 and defending conference champion Fresno State on November 30.

“We have a schedule that will be exciting and challenging for our players and coaches and attractive for our fans. Right now, we’re in our winter conditioning program; spring practice will start in a month; and the season will be upon us quickly. I can’t wait,” said San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan, now in his third season leading the Spartans.

San Jose State’s first road game of the season will be at Arkansas on September 21. San Jose State is playing against its first SEC opponent since Auburn in the 2015 season. The Spartans’ other regular-season non-conference road game is at Army West Point on October 26. The game will be San Jose State’s first trip to play a football game in New York and second of the four game home-and-home series with the Black Knights.

The Mountain West schedule has the Spartans on the road at Air Force on September 28, at Nevada on October 12, at Hawaii on November 9 and at UNLV on November 23.

There are bye weeks on the weekends of September 14 and November 16.

After playing the 11th toughest schedule in 2018, according to the NCAA Statistics Service, San Jose State faces six teams that played in a bowl game a year ago.

The “early bird” season ticket renewal period begins online February 6, and runs through March 6.

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Michael Duca and Morris Phillips: Bears came close, but Okpala and Cardinal turn it up a notch

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californiagoldenblogs.com photo: The Stanford Cardinal and Cal Bears do battle last  Sunday  at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley

On the Cal Bears podcast with Michael and Morris:

#1 Another tough loss for the Cal Bears (5-16) on Sunday afternoon at Haas Pavilion as the Bears lost to the visiting Stanford Cardinal (11-10) 84-81.

#2 The Cardinal’s KZ Okpala led with 30 points and eight rebounds. He was hard to contain for the Bears all afternoon.

#3 Okpala had his 12th game scoring 20 or more points last season. He scored 20 or more points eight times. He’s been a force and had given the Bears fits to contain him.

#4 According to Stanford coach Jerod Haase, Okpala has some more developing to go. He’s working out just fine and provided the nine of the last 19 points of the game that really put a crimp in Cal’s game.

#5 The Bears are in Oregon (13-9) for Wednesday, Feb. 6th. Morris sets up that game.

Morris and Michael do the Cal Bears podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Will 49ers waive territorial rights to allow Raiders to play in the City?

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San Francisco Demons XFL file photo: AT&T Park football configuration during the 2001 season of the XFL San Francisco Demons. The Oakland Raiders and San Francisco will share the park during the 2019 season.

By Joe Hawkes Beamon

SAN FRANCISCO — Plans by the Oakland Raiders are on the drawing board and sources say it’s very close that an agreement between the Raiders and San Francisco Giants will be hammered out. Matter fact it’s understood there is an agreement on the table as of Monday morning.

If an agreement is made it’s almost assured because of the smaller size of Oracle Park compared to the Oakland Coliseum the Raiders would most likely sell out every home game plus the idea that it’s the Raiders last season in the Bay Area and many Raider and NFL fans will want to take a last look at the team before they leave.

At issue is the San Francisco 49ers who have territorial rights in San Francisco and will they allow the Raiders playing in San Francisco. The 49ers are said to be studying any possible financial loses if the Raiders play in the city. The 49ers who play in Santa Clara a good hour drive from the City may ok the deal as the Raiders will play their last season in the Bay Area at Oracle Park.

The 49ers are looking to see what they would benefit from the deal from having the Raiders playing in San Francisco and that the 49ers may ask for a cut on tickets and TV shares from the Raiders if they waive their territorial rights. The 49ers have not commented on the Raiders playing in San Francisco and negotiations are still on the way.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that he wanted the Raiders to make a decision as to where they will play as soon as possible. The NFL wants to begin making the schedule for the 2019 season without further delay.

The Raiders who chose not to play at the Oakland Coliseum anymore after the city of Oakland filed a lawsuit against the team in December. The Raiders had a tentative deal with the Oakland Coliseum and withdrew after Oakland filed the suit stating that the suit was over the relocation to Las Vegas calling the deal “illegal” the city of Oakland is seeking million of dollars from the Raiders and the NFL.

For football Oracle Park would seat up to 40,000 fans. Oracle Park hosted football when the XFL’s San Francisco Demons who played there in 2001, The California Mountain Lions in 2009 of the United Football League, Cal in 2011, NCAA bowl games the Shriners, Diamond, Kraft and Foster Bowls in 2002 to 2013.

Patriots win sixth Super Bowl, hold off Rams in defensive battle

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Photo credit: @Patriots

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, February 3, 2019

Down at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots combined their offensive efforts to become the first teams to go three quarters in a Super Bowl game without a touchdown.

That changed in the fourth quarter, when New England running back Sony Michel scored the first touchdown of Super Bowl LIII, a 2-yard jaunt that put the Patriots up 10-3.

One field goal later, the New England Patriots made a 13-3 lead hold up despite a late Rams charge and defeated Los Angeles to win their sixth Super Bowl. It was the Patriots’ second NFL championship in three years and their sixth since 2001.

Veteran quarterback Tom Brady did not receive the game’s most valuable player award — that went to Patriots’ wide receiver Julian Edelman, who racked up 141 receiving yards.

Seventeen years ago, the Patriots shut down a high-powered Rams offense in a Super Bowl. New England did the same thing in SB LIII, holding the Rams to an average of 3.4 rushing yards per carry and quarterback Jared Goff to 229 passing yards and no touchdowns. Goff was sacked four times.

In the first half, all six of the Rams’ drives ended with a punt.

Los Angeles tried to answer, but with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter, Goff was picked off by the Patriots’ Stephen Gilmore deep in New England territory. That play led to Stephen Gotkowski’s second field goal of the game, a 41-yard effort that gave the Patriots a 10-point advantage with 1:12 left.

The Rams’ offense, which was essentially shut down for most of the night by the Patriots’ defense, briefly came to life. With 5 seconds left, the Rams’ Greg Zuerlein missed a 48-yard field goal attempt, as Los Angeles hoped to make it a one-possession game.

New England opened the scoring on Stephen Gotkowski’s 42-yard field goal with 10:29 left in the second quarter. That accounted for the lowest halftime score in Super Bowl history since SB IX in 1975, when Pittsburgh led Minnesota 2-0 at the break.

The Rams tied the game at 3-3 in the third quarter on Zueriein’s 53-yard field goal.

In the record books, Rams punter Johnny Hekker launched the longest-ever punt in a Super Bowl – 65 yards, even if it took a 27-yard roll to do it. Elias Sports Bureau reports that Los Angeles also set a Super Bowl mark for consecutive punts to begin a game — eight. Zuerlein’s 53-yard field goal was the first from beyond 50 yards in 15 years.

Patriots Coach Bill Belichick became the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl at age 66. Brady, at age 41, is the oldest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl, passing Peyton Manning, who won the title with Denver at age 39.

Brady is also the all-time leader in individual Super Bowl wins with six, passing Charles Haley.

At halftime, Maroon 5 paid tribute to SpongeBob SquarePants. Adam Levine removed his shirt to display his tattoos, providing more excitement than the first half offered. Rapper Big Boi made an appearance, and rapper Scott concluded the halftime show by performing “Sicko Mode” before falling backwards into the crowd of unpaid volunteers.

On social media, fans expressed their displeasure with the halftime show, many calling it “the all-time worst ever halftime show.” No memory, apparently, of the days of marching bands.

NHL podcast with Daniel Dullum: Sharks take out a very improved Coyotes team; Hawks get some daylight win; Who are these guys? Flyers win 7 straight; plus more

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Photo credit: azcentral.com

NHL podcast with Daniel Dullum:

1 Who would have thought — Sharks and Coyotes in key Pacific game

2 Blackhawks tip Wild in OT, have difficult decision to make on future

3 Flyers on a roll — beat Edmonton in OT for seventh straight win

4 Antoine Vermette retires after 14 NHL seasons

5 RIP Andy Hebenton — one time NHL record holder for consecutive games played

Daniel hosts the NHL podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose State drops 12th in a row after 67-56 loss to San Diego State

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball had yet to win a conference game and the fiery San Diego State Aztecs proved to be another tough opponent for the sluggish home team Saturday night at the Event Center.

Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau went with a starting lineup of Noah Baumann, Seneca Knight, Craig LeCesne, Ashtin Chastain and Michael Steadman.

SJSU jumped out to an early 3-0 lead as LeCesne hit a 3-pointer just 36 seconds into the first half. But SDSU took over for quite a while as four of their players (Matt Mitchell, Jalen McDaniels, Jeremy Hemsley and Devin Watson) hit back-to-back 3s in a span of two minutes and 44 seconds. The Aztecs continued pouring in the points as McDaniels knocked down two  jumpers, but the Spartans put an end to the Aztecs’ 13-0 run as Chastain made a layup at the 14:18 mark.

Not only that, SJSU inched their way back into the game. Steadman made a layup, Brae Ivey hit a 3, Knight added a layup, and then Chappell hit a 3 to make it a 1-point game with 7:38 left. The Spartans temporarily took a 17-16 lead on Chastain’s layup, but Hemsley hastily responded with a 3 for a 19-17 Aztecs lead with 5:46 left. Watson knocked down a jumper to extend the Aztecs’ lead to 21-17 with 4:58 left.

The game remained in a back-and-forth affair to close out the first. Ivey knocked down a jumper, Aguek Arop knocked down a paint jumper and Steadman made a layup. However, SJSU was unable to carry a lead to the locker room at halftime as they trailed 25-21. SDSU definitely benefited from Watson’s layup, which extended the lead to 25-21 with 1:13 left.

It was all SDSU to start the second half. McDaniels knocked down a jumper and a paint jumper in a span of 36 seconds. It was SJSU’s turn when Ivey knocked down a jumper at the 18:19 mark. The Spartans went on miniature runs that helped them inch their way back into the game in subtle ways. But the Spartans turned the ball over three times in two minutes with 7:21 left.

Fast forward to the final media timeout of the evening. SJSU trailed 57-44 with four minutes left. The Spartans were still in it, but they had their work cut out for them. The Spartans went on a 6-0 run, thanks to Knight’s 3 and LeCesne’s pair of fastbreak free throws and then a free throw.

The game didn’t really end as a back-and-forth affair. If there was a silver lining for SJSU, it’d be Baumann’s 3 with 10 seconds left. But Baumann wasn’t enough to save the day for the Spartans, who lost 67-56 and dropped to 3-18, 0-9 MW. The Aztecs rose to 13-8, 5-3 MW.

SJSU kicks off a two-game road trip next Saturday against the Boise State Broncos at 11:00 am PT.

Barracuda sweep Heat with 4-2 victory

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda proved why they are the best team in the AHL. They had an answer for every Stockton Heat goal and swept the two-game home and home series with a 4-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at the SAP Center.

San Jose (25-8-42-4) drew first blood with a buzzer beater at the end of the first period. On the power play Calvan Fitzgerald sent a pass over to Kyle Woods with a few seconds remaining and Wood’s one-timer from the point went off Heat goalie Tyler Parsons’ (6-5-1) pad and past his five-hole into the back of the net with one-tenth of a second left on the clock. Anti Suomela received the secondary assist on Wood’s fourth goal of the season at the 19:59 mark.

Five minutes earlier, Stockton’s (18-21-4-1) best chance to get the game’s first goal belonged to Alan Quine and Buddy Robinson as they skated in on a 2-on-0 opportunity but would make one pass too many any Robinson’s shot on goal was quietly handled by Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (9-5-5) and the Heat were left frustrated.

Stockton tied the game up in the second period. Curtiz Lazar fed a pass over to Anthony Peluso and his fired a slap shot past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (9-5-5) that hit off the cross-bar and into the back of the net for his third goal of the season at the 7:41 mark.

San Jose regained the lead when Jeffery Viel fed a pass over to spring Evan Weinger, who raced into the Heat zone, split two Stockton defenders and beat Parsons with a wrister to the short side of the net for his eighth goal of the season at the 11:58 mark.

Despite being out shot 12-8 in the middle frame, San Jose headed into the second intermission with a one-goal lead.

In the third period, Stockton continued their success on the power play as they tied up the game in the first five minutes. Rourke Chartier was stopped on a short-handed 2-on-1 break by Parsons, who then fed the puck up to Ryan Lomberg. Longberg found Spencer Foo and Foo’s wrist shot sneaked inside the near post past Bibeau for his 12th goal at the 4:48 mark.

It wouldn’t take long for San Jose to regain the lead as Calvan Fitzgerald, who just came out of the penalty box was at the right place at the right time as the puck came right to his stick from Dylan Gambrell and skated in and fired a slap shot past Parsons for his third goal of the season at the 7:23 mark.

Jon Martin wrapped up the game for the Cuda with an empty-net goal at the 18:57 mark. The unassisted goal was his eight goal of the season for Martin.

Bibeau made 28 saves on 30 shots to earn his 10th win of the season. Parson stopped 28 of the 31 shots he faced in suffering the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/1 on the power play. Stockton was 1/2.

Cuda defenseman Jacob Middleton played in his 150th AHL game.

Alex True and Lazar exchanged fisticuffs with two minutes left in the second period.

San Jose wore a throwback jersey of the Kentucky Thoroughblades, one of the former minor leagues affiliates of the San Jose Sharks from 1996-2001.

Former San Jose Sharks Evgeni Nabokov and Dan Boyle served as honorary captains.

San Jose is 16-6 against Stockton at SAP Center.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Iowa Wild on Tuesday, February 5 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Lightning and Isles go 0-0 in regulation; Caps snap 7-game skid; Canes’ Martinook scores gamer

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thehockeywriters.com photo: Tampa Bay Lightning’s Victor Hedman scores on New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss.

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and the New York Islanders Thomas Greiss were top stars as both teams played to a 0-0 regulation battle and forced a shootout when Victor Hedman scored the game winner for Tampa Bay.

#2 The Washington Capitals tipped the Calgary Flames 4-3 Evgeny Kuznetsov got the go ahead goal with 57 seconds left and the Caps snapped their seven game losing streak.

#3 Carolina rolled over the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2. Jordan Martinook got the go ahead goal for the Hurricanes. It was Martinook’s first go ahead goal since signing an extension with the Canes.

#4 Viktor Arvidsson scored twice for the Nashville Predators and the Preds scored all of their four goals in the third period to top the Florida Panthers 4-1.

#5 The Pittsburgh Penguins Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel each had two goals in their victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night 5-3. The Penguins Teddy Blueger pick up his first NHL goal and the Pens goaltender Casey DeSmith saved 37 shots.

Matt Harrington does the NHL podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: With 30 games left on the schedule, Sharks could coast to postseason

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mercurynews.com file photo: Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi (27) looks to score Calgary Flames goaltender Mike Smith (41) in a Nov. 11 game at SAP Center. The Sharks are hoping to catch the Flames for first place in the Pacific Division

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 It’s down to just 30 more games after the NHL All Star break as the Sharks most likely will coast to post season.

#2 The Sharks will be playing in their 14th playoff in 15 seasons in April quite an accomplishment for the franchise.

#3 The Sharks are scheduled to play 15 of it’s next 25 games in San Jose and can take advantage of home ice.

#4  The Sharks goaltender Martin Jones hopes to improve his goals against 2.98 going into the second part of the season. He’s had a game where he gave up six goals in a Sharks 7-6 win January 22 against the Washington Caps.

#5 Sharks host the Arizona Coyotes last time the clubs met Jan 16th the Yotes got a two goal win over the Sharks 5-3. The Sharks again are looking to protect the front of the net but also Jones looking to shut the Coyotes offense down.

Len Shapiro does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com