Author: Sports Radio Service

Bryant belts two home runs and Gausman picks up 12th win; Giants beat Mets 7-5

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San Francisco Giant hitter Kris Bryant hits a two run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning one of two home runs in the game against the New York Mets. Mets catcher James McCann can only watch after Bryant hits the big fly on Mon Aug 16, 2021 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Kris Bryant looks to be everything the San Francisco Giants (77-42) expected him to be when they picked him up during the trade deadline in July. Bryant hit two home runs and the Giants needed each of those homers to get a 7-5 two run win over the visiting New York Mets (59-59) on Monday night at Oracle Park.

The Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford continues to swing a hot bat with four hits. Crawford who signed a $32 million two year deal has now hit .427 in his last 28 games. Crawford also has had some key defensive play at shortstop that has supported some of the pitching in closing up some tight innings.

Brandon Belt who came in as a pinch hitter hit a home run. Belt has been on a tear since the Giants last road trip in Milwaukee last week where Belt hit multiple home runs in that series. The Giants with the best record in baseball have won 16 out of their last 21 ball games. The Giants are maintaining a good distance on the second place Los Angeles Dodgers with a four game lead in the National League West.

Bryant commented after the game the reason why he’s hitting so well it’s contagious and that the offense is not letting the opposing starters take them out of their game early the Giants on Monday night scored twice in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings and the Mets scored three times in the top of the fifth for a 4-3 lead the Giants picked up insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh and it was Bryant’s two home runs that stood up and made a difference.

The Giants also had to marvel at the fine pitching of starting pitcher Kevin Gausman who went five innings, five hits, three earned runs, two walks and the seven strike outs were key on keeping the Mets off the bases. “This was the best we’ve seen him in quite some time,” said San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler in the post game presser. “The fastball had a ton of life on it and the velocity was up. The split was much better. His mechanics were good.” The win was good enough for Gausman to improve his record to 12-5.

On Tuesday night the Mets will start right hander Marcus Stroman (8-11 ERA 2.79) and for the Giants Logan Webb (6-3 ERA 2.96) a 6:45 pm (PDT) first pitch at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Charlie O: Kevin Gausman gets the call tonight against Mets

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Kevin Gausman (left) San Francisco Giants starting pitcher tonight shares congratulations with LaMonte Wade Jr after Wade hits a two run home run on Wed Aug 11, 2021 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Oracle Park in San Francisco as the Giants host the New York Mets (AP News photo)

On the Giants podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie, Alex Wood raised his win total to ten games with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies the Giants (76-42) win the rubber game on Sunday and lead the second place Dodgers 4.5 games.

#2 Giants pitcher Alex Wood went 6.2 innings six hits, two earned runs, one walk, and six strikeouts.

#3 The Giants Tommy LaStella three hits and two RBIs whose been contributing big for the Giants offense on Sunday.

#4 LaMonte Wade Jr made a seventh inning throw to the plate to help save the game and Wade Jr has been doing great thing at the plate with a .250 average, 50 hits and 15 home runs.

#5 Meet the Mets: The New York Mets (59-57) come to Oracle Park and will start Rich Hill (6-4 ERA) and for the Giants Kevin Gausman (11-5 ERA 2.29) 6:45 pm (PDT)

Charlie O is filling in for Morris Phillips for the Giants podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Barbara Mason: Peters with two HRs helps Rangers defeat A’s; A’s open up three game series in Chicago tonight

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Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Manaea gives up the big fly a two run homer to the Texas Rangers DJ in the first inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 Barbara a tough series in Arlington again the Oakland A’s lost two out of three the A’s are now three games out of first place in their chase of the Houston Astros.

#2 The A’s starting pitcher Sean Manaea gave up three runs in the first inning to the Rangers who jumped all over the A’s for seven runs and seven hits five innings.

#3 The DJ Peters hit two homers for the Rangers, Peters hit the fourth longest home run against the A’s at Globe Life Field that went into the second deck in left center field.

#4 Manaea has been struggling now 8-8 allowed 15 runs in his last 11 innings in his last three games.

#5 The A’s open up a four game series in Chicago against the White Sox on Monday night, the A’s will start Frankie Montas (9-8 ERA 3.98) and for the White Sox Dallas Keuchel (7-6 ERA 4.51) 5:10 pm first pitch.

Barbara does the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Las Vegas pulls off a dramatic come from behind win against Washington 84-83

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Las Vegas Aces A’JA Wilson led the Aces with 20 points and a double double against the Washington Mystics on Sun Aug 15, 2021 at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas (image from @LVAces)

Las Vegas Pulls Off A Dramatic Come From Behind Win

By Barbara Mason

June 5th in review: The last time the Las Vegas Aces and the Washington Mystics met was on June 5th and the Aces narrowly won that game by the score of 96-93.

Right now the Aces have a record of 16-6 and the Mystics have a 8-11 record. After their last meeting the Las Vegas Aces were slightly favored to win this game.

Being favored doesn’t always translate into a win as Las Vegas was soon to find out.

Sun Aug 15th game recap: Sunday’s game was a shocker at least in the first quarter. The Mystics outscored the Aces 27-15 and while it did get better in the second quarter Las Vegas was playing at a steep deficit.

At the half the Aces trailed by the score of 50-35 in a first half drubbing. A’ja Wilson had only scored 7 points in the first half and there were no double digits to be had by Las Vegas. On the other hand the Mystics Tina Charles and Myisha Hines-Allen both had scored double digits. Charles had 16 points and Hines-Allen with 10.

The Aces had a lot of trouble getting going in the first quarter and even though they played fairly even in the second quarter they were clearly behind the eight ball in this game, struggling mightily. We have seen them in the past come from behind and win and they would need all onboard to come away with a win in this game.

As the third quarter wore on it became evident that the Aces were in deep trouble as the Mystics continued to pour it on showing now signs of relinquishing the lead. The Aces did outscore the Mystics in the quarter but only by a single point and they would a whole lot more in the fourth quarter to get by Washington.

As we have seen before, Las Vegas began to pour in on in the fourth quarter. There was just under five minutes left in the game and the feisty Aces had pulled to within six points 76-70.

With 4.6 seconds left on the clock Las Vegas took the lead 84-83. A failed shot by the Mystics Ariel Atkins gave the Aces the improbable win.

Las Vegas got a very slow start in this game but they were gangbusters at the end. A’ja Wilson finished with 20 points, Liz Cabbage had 17 and Jackie Young had 14. While it was an amazing comeback, the team does not want to fall behind in a game the way they did in this one anytime soon.

Next up for the Aces will be this Tuesday when they will again take on the Mystics. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Wood wins his 10th of the season defeats Rockies 5-2

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San Francisco Giants starter Alex Wood throws against the Colorado Rockies line up in the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Aug 15, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Two of the biggest plays of the series finale between the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies came within minutes of each other.

Lamonte Wade, Jr., threw out Elias Diaz at the plate on a Connor Joe base hit that preserved the Giants led to end the top of the seventh inning and then Kris Bryant came off the bench to reach on a botched fielding play between Joe and Garrett Hampson that allowed Bryant to reach on a fielding error, as the Giants defeated the Rockies 5-2 before a crowd of 33,337 at Oracle Park.

Bryant reached second on the fielding error, then he gave the Giants a two-run cushion, when pinch hitter Austin Slater doubled in Bryant.

After Darin Ruf, the third pinch hitter in a row for the Giants was hit by a pitch on his elbow guard, Tommy LaStella singled to load the bases, and Wilmer Flores singled in Slater for the second run of the inning.

Brandon Belt was unable to drive in a run that could have broken the game wide open, as he flew out to Joe in left field for the first out of the inning. Just like Belt, Brandon Crawford was unable to help out at the plate, as he struck out for the second time in a row.

Robert Stephenson was able to get out of the jam, as he got Mike Yastrzemski to pop out to Ryan McMahon to end the threat.

Alex Wood pitched the first 6.2 innings for the Giants, as he gave up two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out six.

It was the 10th win of the season for Wood, who raises his record to 9-0 in games following a loss and the Giants are now 11-0 as a team in games Wood starts following a team loss.

With the victory, the Giants are now 40-18 at home this season, the best home record in the major leagues and just ahead of the Chicago White Sox, who are 40-21.

This was the Giants seventh win in a row in day games, and have won nine out of their last 10 games in day games.

The Giants finally got to Rockies starter Jon Gray in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Curt Casali singled to centerfield to score Yastrzemski, who led off the inning with a single, then stole his third base of the season. Following a walk to Wood to load the bases, Wade, Jr., struck out for the first out. Tommy LaStella hit a two-run double that just missed being a grand slam by inches to give the Giants a 3-0 lead.

Gray went 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out five and saw his record fall to 7-9 on the season.

Diaz got the Rockies on the board in the top of the seventh inning, as he singled to score Hampson. Charlie Blackmon came off the bench to single Yonathan Daza to get the Rockies within one run; however, Dominic Leone was able to get out of the jam, when Wade made that great throw to get Diaz to end the inning.

NOTES: Jay Jackson was reinstated form the injured list prior to the game, while Sammy Long was optioned to Sacramento. Luis Gonzalez was recalled from Sacramento and placed on the 60-day Major League Injured List, as he recovers from right shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum.

This is the Giants second best start thru 118 games since the team moved to California in 1958, trailing only the 1993 team that was 79-39 thru the same amount of games.

UP NEXT: Kevin Gausman takes the mound on Monday night, as he searches for his 12th win of the season, while Rich Hill will go for his seventh win of the season for the New York Mets. This is the beginning of a stretch that the Giants will see each other six times over the next 9 games, that concludes on August 26 at Citi Field in New York.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with Joe Hawkes: Lance looks ready throws for 128 yards; Garoppolo looks sharp in his short stint

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Play of the game, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Trent Sherfield (left) sprints down field for an 80 yard reception the Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Mike Hughes (21) and safety Devon Key (24) give chase after a brilliant pass from quarterback Trey Lance (AP News photo)

On the 49ers podcast with J Hawkes:

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance show some elusiveness, Lance went 5-14 for 128 yards and a touchdown. He had some good throws that were dropped by the receivers he could have had eight completions if the receivers had caught the ball.

Lance’s 80 touchdown throw to Trent Sherfield was a good play, Lance’s throw was a dart it had a little wobble to it but it was a good throw. Lance had some great aggressiveness good play calling. Lance pretty played the entire second quarter after quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo quarterbacked one series. For Garoppolo played for ten snaps Garoppolo in his time under center in the game looked good going 3-3 for 26 yards and was able to get the ball out of his hand quickly.

The receiving core there are guys who are trying to make the roster Jauan Jennings had a nice catch on a ball that was throw by quarterback Josh Rosen in the second half the pass was a little high. Jennings one reception and 26 yards in the contest, Wide out Charlie Woerner caught one for 34 yards and didn’t score, and Trent Sherfield one reception and 80 yards and one touchdown.

Join Joe Sundays for the 49ers podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Big error costs Giants winning streak to Rockies 4-1

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Colorado Rockies centerfielder Yonathan Daza gloves then drops the ball on a San Francisco Giants Tommy LaStella base hit in the bottom of the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-On the night when Evan Longoria returned to the starting lineup for the San Francisco Giants, it was a costly error by another Giants infielder that eventually cost them their six-game winning streak.

Ryan McMahon hit a ball that Donovan Solano was unable to corral for an error, and that allowed Trevor Story from third base and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Giants 4-1 before a crowd of 32,282 at Oracle Park.

Brendan Rodgers led off the inning with a single that extended his hitting streak up to 16 games to lead off the inning, then Trevor Story singled and then Charlie Blackmon walk to load the bases with nobody out off of eventual losing pitcher Dominic Leone. C.J. Cron then drove in the eventual game-winning run, as he was able to leg out ball that was handled by Brandon Crawford, who flipped the ball from his glove to Solano for the first out; however, Cron was able to the throw to first base.

Leone went 0.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and walked one before being replaced by Jose Alvarez, as he fell to 2-2 on the season.

Solano then made the fielding error that extended the inning, as Story scored from third base with the second run of the inning.

Cron gave the Rockies an early lead in the top of the second inning, as he led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run off of starting pitcher Sammy Long.

The Giants tied it up in the bottom of the second inning, when Solano singled to centerfield and Longoria scored the tying run. Longoria reached on a fluke hit base hit that saw Cron unable to catch the wind drawn pop-up.

Long went two innings for the Giants, as he allowed one run on two hits, walked one and struck out four.

Zack Littell, who picked up the save on Friday night came on to replace Long and he went the next three innings, allowing just a walk and striking out four.

Kyle Freeland pitched the first six innings, allowing one run on five hits, walking one and striking out two and won for the fourth time on the season.

The Rockies added on an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning, as McMahon grounded into a fielders choice that saw Crawford tag out Cron.

NOTES: With Longoria being activated from the 60-day disabled list and being recalled from his rehabilitation assignment. Long was also recalled from Sacramento and too make room for Longoria, Thairo Estrada was optioned to Sacramento, and Jay Jackson was placed on the injured list.

With Longoria returning to the Major-League roster, the Giants now have every position player from the Opening Day roster back, with the exception of Mauricio Dubon, who is in Sacramento for the first time since April 21, when Solano hurt his right calf and was placed on the injured list on April 22.

When Wilmer Flores hit his three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning on Friday night, it was the 15th home run of the season for Flores and he is the sixth different Giants player with at least 15 home runs this season, joining Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, Lamonte Wade, Jr., and Mike Yastrzemski. Since moving to San Francisco in 1958, the Giants have never had more than six players with 15 plus home runs in a single season.

This was only the second loss of the season to the Rockies at Oracle Park, as the Giants are 7-2 in their home park this season, with Sunday being the last game in San Francisco this season.

The Giants still have to travel to Colorado twice more this season, as they are only 1-2 there this season. Over the last month of the season, the Giants and the Rockies play there six times.

UP NEXT: Alex Wood looks for his 10th win of the season, as he takes the mound on Sunday afternoon. While the Rockies will send right-hander Jon Gray to the hill, as he looks to even up his record at 8-8 on the season.

Oakland Gets Past the Rangers 7-3 in Game Two

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Oakland A’s Matt Chapman (left) hits the first of two home runs against the Texas Rangers in the second inning gets congratulations from third base coach Mark Kotsay (7) at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Sat Aug 14, 2021 (AP News photo)

Oakland Gets Past the Rangers 7-3 in Game Two

By Barbara Mason

Saturday night the Oakland A’s took on the Texas Rangers in Game Two of their series. After a rough game yesterday laden with errors Oakland really needed to clean up their act and get back on track. There is no way the A’s should be losing to the Rangers although during this season Texas has seemed to have Oakland’s number at times.

A clean game void of errors should be the pathway to the A’s first win in this series.

Oakland got off to a good start in the first inning when Jed Lowry singled driving Starling Marte home jumping out to a 1-0 lead. The Rangers would tie up the game in the inning 1-1. The good news was that the A’s did not fall behind in the early innings.

In the second and the sixth innings those home runs started coming in. Matt Chapman had one in the second and Matt Olson had a home run in the sixth inning for a 3-1 lead. The Texans answered and tied up this game 3-3. After six innings this game was closely contested.

The A’s had scored in three innings but really got going in the seventh inning. Two more home runs, one by Mitch Moreland and Matt Chapman had his second homer of the game. The A’s were really rolling at this point. Marte doubled and Olson singled as well in this taking the lead 7-3.

It was a quick eighth inning as relief pitcher Yusmeiro Petit took care of business in short order. The A’s were three outs away from the win and tying up the series.

The Texans could not contain those Oakland home runs and in the ninth inning Seth Brown knocked another one out of the park. This was a season high five home runs for the A’s as they led 8-3. They had scored in five different innings.

Oakland cleaned up those errors, they had a great defensive game and those home runs made all the difference in this A’s win.

Game Three is scheduled for 11:35 AM with the A’s looking to win the series. Sean Manea is set to take the mound for the A’s while the Rangers Kolby Allard will get the nod for Texas.

Earthquakes extend unbeaten streak in scoreless draw with Whitecaps

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Vancouver Whitecaps defender Javain Brown and San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Shea Salinas (6) get tangled up in first half action at Pay Pal Park in San Jose on Fri Aug 13, 2021 (AP News photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Earthquakes are going to wonder what could have been.

Missed opportunities were the theme of the night as San Jose ended up with a 0-0 draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Friday evening at Pal Pay Park.

San Jose extended the league’s longest unbeaten streak to eight games. Vancouver extended its own unbeaten streak to six games with its fifth consecutive draw.

The first half featured 11 combined total shots with San Jose winning the edge 7-4 over Vancouver. The Quakes also had a slight edge in possession in the first 45 minutes, 51.2%-48.8%.

San Jose (5-7-7-22 points) had its best chance of the first half in the 31st minute. Jeremey Ebobisse, who made his first start for head coach Matias Almeyda, received a cross from Luciano Abecasis and his sliding shot from a tough angle was knocked over the net by Whitecaps goalie Maxime Crépeau.

Vancouver (3-7-8-17 points) had their chance in the 27th minute when Déiber Caicedo serviced a ball in the middle to Ranko Veselinovic, whose header was stopped by Quakes goalie JT Marcinkowski.

In the second half San Jose controlled the play and had numerous scoring chances when they had the ball deep inside the box. However, most of those scoring chances ended in a turnover with mistimed passes and a few instances of hesitation by the Quakes.

Almedya looked for a spark from his offense in the 59th minute when he substituted in All-Star Cade Cowell and Marcos Lopez.

“I think the two outside players put in a huge effort,” said Almeyda. “The idea was to put in Cade (Cowell) and (Carlos) Fierro to get more energy and to win out wide. We wanted to win the game. There was a clear message regarding the subs.”

San Jose had its best chance of the match in the 62nd minute. Oswaldo Alanís found Ebobisse open on the right wing from just outside the box. Ebobisse made a move to the inside before firing a shot that Crépeau got a piece of with his left hand and the ball caromed off the right post.

“We took the risk (on being more aggressive on the attack) that could have hurt us on a counter (attack). But we ended up playing with almost all of the forwards that we have. We weren’t able to win but we still added points,” Almeyda said.

Both Marcinkowski and Crépeau finished the match with three for three on their save attempts. Marcinkowski has three shutouts this season and seven for his career.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with seven corner kicks. Vancouver had just two.

San Joes is 8-10-10 against Vancouver, including a 5-1-7 record at home and a 4-1-3 record at PayPal Park, in the overall series.
The Quakes have now allowed one or fewer goals in seven consecutive matches.

Forward Andy Rios made his 50th MLS appearance, entering the match in the 77th minute.

UP NEXT: The Quakes conclude its three-game homestand when they host Minnesota Unites on Tuesday 8/17 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

Field of Dreams Game; Most Watched game in 16 years

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The Field of Dreams in Dyersville Iowa on Thu Aug 12, 2021 hosted by Major League Baseball featuring the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. The most watch game in 16 years. (photo from Fox Sports TV)

Field of Dreams game. Most Watched game in 16 years.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary.

By Amaury Pi-González

Fox’s Field of Dreams game that aired last night (Aug 12th) on the FOX network was the most watched regular season baseball game in the US in 16 years.

Years past Major League Baseball games were played in different countries. MLB has played regular season games in: England, Japan, México, Puerto Rico, Australia. The game has become more international than ever, and there is nothing wrong with that. We live in a smaller world with social media and instant communications; everybody is more “tuned-in” than ever before. In some of these games outside the US, the game was the season opener.

It is worthwhile to remember that this great game of baseball that we love was originally invented here in the United States of America. There was nothing wrong, but a touch of genius by The Commissioner of Baseball and the powers-to-be, to come up with the idea of a Field of Dreams game, at the same location where the popular 1989 movie of the same name took place.

In the small country town of Dyersville, Iowa, in the middle of the country. The #1 corn producer in the country, Iowa was the scene for the game this Thursday, a total Home Run by all involved.

Baseball is the ultimate team sport, but at the same time, it emphasizes individualism, like no other sport. When a hitter stands alone at the plate, he stands there, trying to hit the ball and help his team into victory, which is exactly what Tim Anderson did in the ninth inning.

The Field of Dreams game was a total success and shows how great baseball can be. The romanticism and escapism of the location (a field build next to the original field and house, where the movie was filmed) was an awesome thing to see. FOX TV carried the game and spectacular shots, specially doing the sunset with a sky that could have been painted by sports painter-artist LeRoy Neiman.

“It was a small movie” said star of the film Kevin Costner, who is the first to say, it has become a film that forever will be a reminder of what baseball can do. He said: “A movie where there was no car chase, no love scene, but the final scene was a man playing catch with his father.”

Any of us who had played baseball from little league to high school or beyond, understand the love involved of playing catch with your father. That connection that is forever connects us all. One of the most poignant scenes was prior to the game, when Kevin Costner came out of the corn field followed 30 seconds later by players from both teams, New York and Chicago, walking slowly and shaking hands with Mr. Costner.

The television production was supreme, in a surreal setting in the middle of a corn field, where an 8,000 seat baseball park and diamond was build. Two Major League teams, contending to go deep in October, the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, played an exciting game, a “traditional” nine innings game like it would had taken place in the 1920’s with uniforms of that time. Then a Hollywood ending when the lead changed twice in the ninth, culminating with the dramatic home run to right field by Tim Anderson, the leader of this White Sox team, their shortstop and leadoff hitter.

The main reason this was a total success? The players loved it, and let’s face it; the players are the key part of the game, which is what people come to see. The players were truly enjoying this game, they were smiling, they were talking, they seemed to be part of ‘taking it all in’ the whole experience. Most of these players where little boys, some not even born, when Field of Dreams first came to the screen 32 years ago.

Commissioner of Baseball Fred Manfred told everybody, “This will not be the only time”. This was a great idea by MLB, to marry the nostalgia and romanticism of a great baseball film-story to a real baseball game, not an exhibition, but a game between two contending teams in a typical American setting, a small town in the Midwest. Norman Rockwell would have loved this. Burt Lancaster was there in spirit.

This Field of Dreams game sends us all back to the days when baseball was the National Pastime.

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