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Marshawn Lynch: Enough Said

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Photo courtesy of Seattle Times

By Joe Hawkes

Marshawn Lynch, who has carried Seattle to its second Super Bowl appearance with his ferocious running this season, has been getting some flack by members of the press for abruptly ending his press conference after six minutes on  Tuesday and Wednesday during Super Bowl media access.

My advice is this: deal with it.

Lynch is a running back that is like no other and doesn’t need to speak or brag that he is a top-ten running back in the NFL. Nor does he need to grant every reporter access into his inner-circle and ask questions if he is uncomfortable.

Lynch is a man of few words that flat out lets his game do the bulk of his talking.

Case in point by Lynch’s spectacular 2013 season in which he finished in the top-ten among running backs in rushing yards (1,257), touchdowns (12), and carries (301) while playing all 16 games, a rarity for running backs in the hard-hitting NFL.

Then Lynch really turned it on in the playoffs.

Against New Orleans in the NFC Divisional round, Lynch steamrolled the Saints rushing for 140 yards (a playoff career-high and Seahawks record) and two touchdowns on 28 carries in Seattle’s 23-15 victory.

Then against the hated NFC West division rival the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, Lynch thumped San Francisco with 109 rushing yards, one thunderous 40-yard touchdown run, on 22 carries leading Seattle to a 23-17 victory and the NFC crown.

The 109 rushing yards Lynch racked up was the first time that a running back gained over 100 yards against San Francisco all season.

Lynch’s dominance in the regular season and postseason (with the help of a punishing and hard-nosed defense), were clearly the talk of the NFC and football world when Seattle touched down in New York Sunday.

For Seattle to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy Sunday night after what should be an excellent game against the AFC Champions, Denver Broncos, Lynch will have to turn in a career performance on the biggest of stages. The Super Bowl has a way of humbling you in a New York minute and if you aren’t focused and prepared, the Super Bowl can be unforgiving.

We know that Lynch oozes confidence, but what Lynch must continue to run with that “Beast Mode” mentality that make opposing defensive backs cringe when linebackers miss tackling the 5’11, 215-pound bulldozer from Oakland, CA.

It’s no secret that Lynch will have all eleven members of Denver’s defense (along with millions of fans on Super Bowl XLVIII Sunday) watching his every move. If you are a defense, you will be ok with allowing two to three yards a carry by Lynch, its the10 to 15-yard runs that you need to concern yourself with.

If Lynch gets through Denver’s front seven on a consistent basis Sunday, it’s almost certain that Seattle will have a fighting chance at delivering the Pacific Northwest its first major world championship since the Seattle SuperSonics took home the NBA title in 1979.

Sixty minutes in the Big Game with Lynch carrying a city and a region on his back toward a championship: enough said.

Bulls End Season Early

Published on by philliptorres2013Leave a comment

By: Phillip Torres and Kahlil Najar

SAN FRANCISCO-The San Francisco Bulls, ECHL affiliate of the NHL San Jose Sharks, ended their season early after just 40 games. The franchise called it quits after a season and a half in San Francisco, playing their home games at the legendary Cow Palace.

The San Francisco Bulls sent out an email to its season ticket holders and loyal fans about the unfortunate news that the Bulls are ceasing operations. In the email, President and Head Coach of the Bulls Pat Curcio stated the following:

“We want to thank all of our fans for your support and loyalty over the last two seasons, It’s been such a memorable time here with you in San Francisco, and we’ve especially appreciated all of your positive feedback over the past week.”

Th Bulls were hoping to gain new ownership that would either keep them in San Francisco, or either move the team to Fresno or even Oakland. Once the deal could not be worked out, the Bulls had to cease operations on January 27, 2014.

With the season ending after just 40 games for the Bulls, the Sharks affiliate finished the season with a 15-20-5 record. The Bulls had made the playoffs in their inaugural season last season, and were on pace to doing so again this season. But, the team simply did not have the financial stability to keep things going.

Pat Curcio also said in the email, “At this point, the best thing to do financially is to reluctantly end the season. We will miss playing here, miss our fans, and miss this city.”

Curcio was the person responsible for bringing hockey back to the city of San Francisco, unfortunately, it only lasted for a season and a half. 

 

 

Cal’s big rally not enough in loss at UCLA

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By Morris Phillips

Cal and UCLA couldn’t point to this game as being their finest moment, but no doubt the Bruins’ moments lasted a little bit longer than those of the Bears on Sunday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA hung on to beat the Bears, 76-64 as Cal’s big, second half rally from down 19 points early in the second half fell short.

The Bears saw their unblemished Pac-12 record take a hit in Los Angeles with losses at USC and UCLA over the weekend.  In 80 minutes of basketball, the Bears never led and poor shooting stood out at the biggest culprit.  But with the Arizona schools coming to Berkeley this week, the Bears can point to their six-minute rally as a building block to recapturing their stature within the conference.

“After digging a hole, we finally started getting some stops,” Coach Mike Montgomery said of his Bears.  “We started getting out on the break and all of a sudden we came to life.  We have to have more people involved.  The ball has to move.”

The Bears shot 34 percent in the first half against UCLA, then committed three turnovers and missed their first four shots after the break.  Down 11 at the half, then down 51-32 with 15:25 remaining, the Bears finally showed some life.

A 20-4 surge brought Cal within three with 9:17 remaining, but that was as close as they would get.  UCLA responded with a basket from Bryce Alford and regained a double-digit lead on Jordan Adams’ bucket with 3:38 remaining.  The Bruins made 10 of 12 free throw attempts after that to hold on down the stretch.

“Our transition defense stepped up and we have to credit that for the win,” UCLA Coach Steve Alford said.  “When Cal got it down to only a three-point deficit, we made key plays to get back into a groove and give us some momentum.”

Freshman Jordan Mathews led Cal with 18 points.  Justin Cobbs added 14 points, and Richard Solomon had nine points and 14 rebounds.

David Wear led UCLA with a career-best 18 points and seven rebounds.  Kyle Anderson had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Bruins.

Jabari Bird keyed the Cal surge with all of his 12 points in the rally.  Bird hadn’t done much since returning from his ankle injury but this outing might lead to better performances for the highly-touted freshman, but only if he can reconcile his three-point shooting.  Bird and sophomore forward Tyrone Wallace combined to miss 11 of their 12 3-point attempts as the Bears found no comfort from long distance.

The Bears (16-4, 5-2) return to Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night when they face the Arizona State Sun Devils at 8pm.

Big OT by Randle sparks Cardinal past USC

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, January 26, 2014

Chasson Randle got it done in overtime Sunday, scoring seven of his 17 points in the extra period as Stanford slipped past Southern California 79-71 in Pac-12 men’s basketball at Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Road victories have been hard to come by for Stanford when it makes its annual LA road swing. This win was just the second in the Cardinal’s last 18 road games against UCLA and USC (0-9 against the Bruins and 2-7 against the Trojans since 2006). Last season, Southern California swept the series against the Cardinal by a total of three points.

Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell added 16 and 14 points, respectively, for Stanford (13-6 overall, 4-3 Pac-12). Anthony Brown pulled down eight of the Cardinal’s 38 rebounds while accumulating six assists and scoring 11 points.

Byron Wesley topped USC (10-10 overall, 1-6 Pac-12) with 18 points, followed by J.T. Terrell and Pe’Shon Howard with 13 points each and Strahinja Gavrilovic with a career-high 12.

The game was tied at 61-61 at the end of regulation. Stanford took a 61-56 lead when Huestis canned a 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the second half. USC responded with a five-point run on a 3-pointer by Howard and two foul shots by Wesley in a 12-second span in the last 33 seconds.

Stanford had one more possession, but an unforced turnover by Brown forced overtime.

Stanford surged ahead for good by scoring the first four points of overtime – a free throw by Brown and a Randle 3-pointer. Cardinal reserve John Gage scored the next four points, making it 71-64 with 2:26, effectively putting the game out of reach.

This week, Stanford hosts Arizona on Wednesday and Arizona State on Saturday.

(TAGS: Stanford,Cardinal,USC,basketball)

Sharks rally to beat Wild at home

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By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (34-12-6) hosted the Minnesota Wild (28-20-6) at the SAP Center in San Jose on Saturday night. The Sharks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Wild 3-2 in Overtime. Joe Thornton scored two goals, including the game winner in Overtime at 3:30. The sellout crowd of 17,562 witnessed a great game in the Overtime thriller.

Matt Cooke gave Minnesota the early 1-0 lead when he scored his eighth goal of the season.  Brad Stuart missed a pass and the puck deflected off the boards and Cooke scooped up the loose puck and put it past Annti Niemi at 9:33 for the unassisted score.

Keith Ballard scored his first goal of the season and his first score in 115 games to extend the Wild’s lead to 2-0 at 4:16 in the second period. The assists were earned by Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville.

The Sharks got on the board midway through the second period with a goal from Joe Thornton. Thornton scored his seventh goal of the season on a check shot that flew in the upper right corner of the net.  Joe Pavelski and Matt Irwin assisted at 11:12 to cut the lead in half at 2-1.

Less than one minute later San Jose tied the game after Patrick Marleau knocked a wrist shot into the net at 12:01 Tommy Wingels and Irwin earned the assists on the game tying goal.

The third period was a defensive struggle as both teams were held scoreless and the score remained tied 2-2 at the end of regulation.

Thornton hit the game winning shot at 3:30 to carry the Sharks to a victory, their 34th victory of the season. Pavelski passed the puck to Thornton in the left circle where slapped a bullet into the net for the game clinching goal.

The Sharks will be back on the ice on Monday when they host the Los Angeles Kings. The puck will drop at 7:00 PM. 

Parker leads UCLA rout of Cardinal

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, January 23, 2014

Tony Parker scored a season-high 22 points and snared six rebounds for UCLA Thursday, leading the Bruins to a 91-74 men’s basketball rout of Stanford in a Pac-12 game played at Pauley Pavilion.

The loss snapped a three-game Cardinal winning streak, and gives the Bruins nine wins in their last 11 outings against Stanford. In fact, the Cardinal have lost nine consecutive games at Pauley Pavilion, a streak that goes back to 2005.

Jordan Adams added 19 points for UCLA, followed by Norman Powell and Kyle Anderson with 13 each and 10 from Zach Levine. Anderson also had 10 assists and seven boards.

The Bruins improved to 15-4 overall, 4-2 in the Pac-12.

Dwight Powell led Stanford (12-6, 3-3) with 17 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. Chasson Randle, who battled through 3 of 16 field goal shooting, finished with 14 points and four assists. John Huestis added 13 boards and four assists to go with 12 points, and Anthony Brown also finished with 12 points for the Cardinal.

Stanford took its last lead on the game at 23-21 on a John Gage 3-pointer in the first half. From there, UCLA went on a 21-8 run and led 42-31 at halftime. The Cardinal never got any closer than 10 points in the second half.

The Cardinal’s LA road trip continues with a Sunday afternoon date at Southern California.

(TAGS: Stanford,Cardinal,Pac-12,UCLA)

Statement from SF Bulls CEO Angela Batinovich

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

SAN FRANCISCO- Press release from SF Bulls CEO Angela Batinovich:
 

“Thank you for your support during this time, we appreciate all of the encouragement from our fans.
 
“During the ECHL Mid-Season Meeting, the Commissioner and Board of Governors granted our request for additional time to complete negotiations that would allow for the transfer of the San Francisco Bulls to a new ownership group. 
 
“We are hopeful that these negotiations will be completed within the allotted time, and we currently have no intention to cancel any games.”

49ers’ road magic runs out in the NFC Championship game

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By Morris Phillips

SEATTLE–For the third straight season, the 49ers swallowed a very bitter pill.

Despite leading at halftime and 17-13 after three quarters, the 49ers are headed home and the Seahawks are headed to New York after a tough, painful 23-17 loss in the NFC Championship Game at Century Link Field.

Colin Kaepernick appeared poised to deliver a second straight Super Bowl berth, but was picked off twice in the fourth quarter including a seemingly accurate throw to Michael Crabtree in the end zone with less than a minute remaining.

Accurate but redirected at the last second by a lunging Richard Sherman and then snatched by hustling linebacker Malcom Smith to effectively end the 49ers’ season.

“Well, I told y’all that Crabtree was mediocre at best, so I would never let him catch a game-winner on me,” Sherman boasted.  “This is a joke, right?”

“Ball thrown to Crab that really could have gone either way,” Coach Jim Harbaugh recounted.  “If that goes about an inch or two Crabtree catches it for a touchdown and we win but Richard Sherman made a terrific play.”

Behind Sherman’s braggadocio and Harbaugh’s matter-of-fact observations was a terrific football game, worthy of the NFL’s biggest stage and in doubt until the game’s final moments.  A statistical dead heat, the game came down to turnovers—not only the ones committed by Kaepernick, but also the one that wasn’t on the play that ended the season of 49ers’ All-Pro linebacker NaVorro Bowman.

With the Seahawks driving in the red zone early in the fourth quarter, Seattle’s Russell Wilson threw middle to Jerome Kearse who got to the 1-yard line where he was stripped by Bowman.  But in snatching the ball Bowman brought the full weight of Kearse down on his leg causing a visually gruesome injury that had the linebacker writhing in pain while lying on his back with the ball.  But when Marshawn Lynch grabbed the ball, the referees inexplicably gave the ball back to the Seahawks.

And while the 49ers recovered a fumble by Lynch on the next play to end the threat, the 49ers’ play went from potentially super to emotionally spent a flip of a switch.  Two plays later, Kaepernick was picked off by Kam Chancellor and the Seahawks managed to add the field goal for a six-point lead that they seemingly had firmly in hand just a minute prior.

“We had like two or three chances at the end,” Crabtree said.  “We just couldn’t capitalize.’

The 49ers needed to avoid a slow start that doomed their two previous trips to Seattle.  They did that by stripping Wilson on the game’s first play from scrimmage and cashing the turnover into a 3-0 lead.  Then in the second period, with Kaepernick enjoying a big first half running the ball, the 49ers turned to Anthony Dixon, who flew in on 4th and goal to go from the 1-yard line.

In the third quarter, Kaepernick bought time rolling right and found Anquan Boldin in the end zone for a 17-10 lead.  But the Seahawks responded on the Doug Baldwin’s huge kick return and the San Francisco lead was trimmed once again to 17-13.

Russell finished 16 for 25 for 215 yards and a 35-yard touchdown that came with the Seahawks attempting to draw the 49ers offsides on fourth down.  But when the encroachment resulted in a penalty, Wilson didn’t blink, catching Kearse streaking toward the end zone and connecting for Seattle’s first lead, 20-17 with 13:44 remaining in the game.

Kaepernick threw the damaging picks, but he proved worthy of the big stage.  The third-year signal caller ran for over 100 yards in the first half, only to see his kneel down to end the half take his total below 100.  Still, Kaepernick  was despondent afterwards, blaming the loss on himself.

“I didn’t play good enough to win.  I turned the ball over three times.  I cost us this game.”

Besides Bowman’s injury, the 49ers lost guard Mike Iupati and would have had neither guy had they advanced to the Super Bowl.  But the 49ers didn’t advance, but rather gained a long off-season to reflect on how close they came and trying to regain the motivation to go deep in the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

“That’s always going to be our mindset,” Frank Gore said.  “We play to try to get to the Super Bowl and win.”

It’s just not now and not this season for the frustrated 49ers.

“We still have a great team,” Vernon Davis said.  “We got here and didn’t quite pull it off the way we expected to.  But like I said before, I’m excited about next season because of the guys that we have in this locker room.”

 

 

 

Bulls Win A Thriller Against Rival Thunder In Shootout 3-2

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Photo Courtesy Stockton Thunder
Photo Courtesy Stockton Thunder

By Kahlil Najar

STOCKTON – The San Francisco Bulls (15-20-4-1) beat the Stockton Thunder (20-13-0-5), 3-2 in dramatic fashion that saw the Bulls score the tying goal in the third period and win a shootout. The Bulls Sebastian Stalberg shined bright for the Bulls as he scored the equalizer and the winning goal in the shoot out over Brian Foster. Bulls goalie Tyler Beskorowany stopped 34 shots on the night  including the big stops in the shootout on J.P. Burkemper and Matt Bergland.

The Thunder got on the board first when Shawn Boutin took a nice shot from the point and beat Besko who was being screened hard by a Thunder player. There were four penalties in the first including matching fighting majors on Bigos for the Bulls and MacLeod for the Thunder. Macleod was also charged with an Illegal check to the head.

The Bulls tied it up in the second when Jordan Morrison scored his 11th goal of the season off of a rebound that bounced off Foster. Dale Mitchell and Dean Ouellet received assists on the goal. For Ouellet this upped his point streak to six games in a row. With less that five minutes left, the Thunder regained the lead when Matt Bergland beat Besko on a nice pass from Greg Miller and brought it to a 2-1 game after two periods.

The third period saw both teams come out aggressive and saw three penalties called on the teams including a pair of roughing minors only 51 seconds into the period. Sebastian Stalberg tied the game with 6:38 left in the game when he followed his shot and gathered his own rebound and beat Foster to make it 2-2. Both teams turned up the heat as Riley Brace and Garet Hunt displayed when they got unsportsmanlike conduct penalties with three minutes left in the game. Foster and Besko were able to turn away 30 total shots in the period and take the game into overtime.

In the extra period the Bulls gave Stockton a chance when Kyle Bigos was called for tripping but the Bulls were able to hold them off and take the game into a shootout.

In the shoot out, Dean Ouellet and Stalberg scored for the Bulls and Besko stopped four of the the five Thunder shooters and gave the Bulls the 3-2 victory.

The Bulls now have a long 11-day holiday until they return back inside the Cow Palace on January 30th when they take on the same Stockton Thunder. Time of game is at 7:30pm.

Sluggish start, big finish for Cal in rout of WSU

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By Morris Phillips

Having turned their season from barely relevant to NCAA worthy all within a tidy five-game win streak, the Cal Bears couldn’t have hit the Haas Pavilion floor on Saturday with any greater motivation to keep things moving.

But for much of the first 20 minutes, the Bears were stuck in the mud.

“We were not ready to play,” Coach Mike Montgomery admitted.  “I don’t think there’s any question about that.  I don’t want to take anything away from Washington State.  They came out aggressive.  They played hard.  We weren’t ready to play.  You could tell.”

“We came out a little relaxed today, and like I said we weren’t moving, we were standing around in the perimeter.  So he just said, ‘you guys earned this 4-0 record, don’t give it up now,” Justin Cobbs recounted.

Cal’s sluggish start along with Washington State’s inspired play gave the Cougars a 18-10 lead early.  But the Bears found some motivation, starting sharing the basketball, scored the next 14 points and rolled to a 76-55 win that kept them undefeated in Pac-12 play at 5-0.

Cal can’t fast forward to March, but what they’ve accomplished in their winning streak can’t be minimized.  The Bears, along with No. 1 Arizona are the only remaining undefeated teams in conference play, in what figures to be a four or five NCAA-bid league.  So if the Bears don’t challenge the Wildcats for the league crown—and they’ll get their initial shot at Arizona on February 1 at Haas—a .500 showing over the final 14 games could be enough to merit a spot in the field of 68.

Not bad for a team that looked at lot more like UC Riverside than “UC us on Sportscenter?” back in December.

Once the early doldrums ended, the Bears showed off their crisp ball movement and one end, and credible defense at the other that have been the hallmarks of the winning streak.  WSU was limited to 27 percent shooting in the second half as the Bears outscored the Cougars 42-22 over the final 20 minutes.  Offensively, the Bears’ nifty passing allowed them to compile 20 assists on their 29 made baskets.

The combination turned a competitive ballgame into a rout in a hurry.  The Bears opened the second half by scoring 20 of the first 24 points, capped by Jordan Mathews’ breakaway layup that put Cal up 54-37 with 11:15 remaining.

The Bears were led by Cobbs with 16 points and seven assists.  Cal also got 13 points from Tyrone Wallace and 12 from Richard Solomon.

The Cougars got 18 points from Que Johnson and 17 from D.J. Shelton.  WSU played without leading scorer DaVonte Lacy for the fourth straight game due to a rib injury.

Up next for Cal is a disjointed trip to Los Angeles for a meeting with UCLA on Wednesday, then back to Berkeley for classes Thursday and Friday before returning to the Southland for a matinee with USC on Sunday.