Islanders hand Sharks sixth straight loss 4-1 on Pride Night

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The New York Islanders center Kyle Palmieri (21) celebrates a goal with center Brock Nelson (29) as the San Jose Sharks goaltender Kappo Kahkonen (36) and defenseman Derrick Pouliot (55) look on at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 18, 2023 (INDTVUSA photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, March 18, 2023

While the San Jose Sharks celebrated Pride Night by wearing special warmup jerseys prior to their game on Saturday against the New York Islanders supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, Sharks goaltender James Reimer chose not to participate.

In a statement, Reimer cited religious beliefs, saying, in part, “I have no hate in my heart for anyone, and I always strived to treat everyone that I encounter with respect and kindness. … I strongly believe that every person has value and worth, and the LGBYQIA+ community, like all others, should be welcomed in all aspects of the game of hockey.”

Sharks captain Logan Couture said Reimer had the right to make his own decision, saying, “Every individual has a choice and he made his.”

On the ice, the Sharks scored first, but the Islanders eventually won 4-1 at SAP Center. New York improved to 36-27-8 (80 points), while San Jose lost its sixth straight game and fell to 19-37-14 (52 points).

After Kevin Labanc scored his 12th goal of the season at 7:31 of the first period, it was all Islanders. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the equalizer at 16:08 on a shorthanded goal, and Kyle Palmieri’s 12th goal of the season at 2:18 of the second period put New York ahead to stay.

Ryan Pulock scored the third Islanders goal at 5:24 of the second, and Zach Parise netted his 18th goal at 5:19 of the third period to complete the scoring.

Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen made 29 saves on 33 Islanders shots. New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced.

The Sharks hit the road north of the border next week, with stops in Edmonton on Monday, Vancouver on Thursday, and Calgary next Saturday.

Warriors Continue Losing Ways drop 29th road game to Memphis 133-119

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Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) defends against Golden State Warriors center Kevin Looney (5) during the first half at Memphis on Sat Mar 18, 2023 (AP News photo)

Warriors Continue Losing Ways drop 29th road game to Memphis 133-119

By Barbara Mason

The Golden State Warriors (36-36) continued on what has been a most disappointing road trip dropping the first two games, one against the Hawks and the first game of this recent trip to the Los Angeles Clippers. Tonight they faced another very tough opponent in the Memphis Grizzlies (43-27) and once again lost another road game 133-119.

Memphis is a power house sitting in second place in the Western Conference. These two teams do not like each other and have clashed all season. Golden State continues to struggle on the road and are facing some major challenges right now as the season begins to wind down.

Game recap: The Grizzlies jumped all over Golden State in the first quarter leading after the first twelve minutes 33-23. The second quarter was a close one with Memphis coming out on top 38-36 and leading at the half 71-59. The Grizzlies outscored the Warriors from beyond the arc 60% to Golden State’s 40.%.

Jonathan Kuminga kept the Warriors competitive in the first quarter hitting three shots from beyond the arc and finishing the half with 15 points.

The Warriors got within striking distance in the third quarter, and with 6:54 left in the quarter trailed by four points 80-76. Golden State worked hard to get oh so close only to let the Grizzlies off the hook. With 5:17 left on the clock in the quarter Memphis was back on top 90-76.

It’s just so hard to understand how so much can go wrong so quickly and then in a blink of an eye, get back within six points with 2:26 left in the quarter. The Warriors were showing a lot of fight but their play was just so inconsistent. Every time they got close, Memphis put the stops on Golden State.

After three quarters, the Warriors had cut the Grizzlies lead to four points 104-100. Jonathan Kuminga was having a terrific game with 24 points and 7 rebounds through three quarters.

The Warriors got close at times in this game but could not push it over the top. The Grizzlies handing the Warriors their third loss on this road trip. The struggles for Golden State continue as the team is now 36-36 and hanging by their fingernails onto a playoff spot tied for sixth with the Mavericks.

Jonathan Kuminga finished with 24 points, the high tonight. Also off the bench, Jordan Poole had 21 points. It was a slow night for Stephen Curry with 16 points and Klay Thompson with 14.

Monday night the Warriors will take on the Rockets in Houston. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 PM.

Rough first half leads to loss for Earthquakes 3-0

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Earthquakes Twitter. The Earthquakes huddle up before a game.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

On the road the Earthquakes came out with a disappointing performance and dropped their first game of the regular season 3-0 against St. Louis.

For San Jose JT Marcinkowski got the start while for St. Louis Roman Bürki was in between the pipes.

Penalty trouble came early in this match for San Jose as at the 14th minute Rodrigues was given a yellow card on a foul.

At the 29th minute of the match the Earthquakes subbed in Michael Baldisimo for Carlos Gruezo.

The scoring got started at the 34th minute as forward Nicholas Gioacchini scored his first goal of the season.

The foul trouble continued in this game as Miguel Trauco was given a yellow card at the 40th minute on another foul.

Three minutes of extra time was added in the first half and João Klauss capitalized on the extra time scoring for St. Louis and making it 2-0.

At halftime the Earthquakes made a couple substitutions as Paul Marie came on for Miguel Trauco and Benjamin Kikanović was subbed on for Tommy Thompson.

Not long after being subbed in Kikanović was also given a yellow card on a foul as well.

At the 58th minute another substitution was made as Tanner Beason came on for Rodrigues.

The 64th minute saw more foul trouble for San Jose as Cade Cowell this time was hit with a yellow card.

While the beginning of the half saw the Earthquakes getting a few chances later in the half at the 68th minute of the match Tomás Ostrák scored for St. Louis putting the game away.

The win for St. Louis was historic though as they are the first expansion team in MLS history to win their first four games of their existence.

Looking at some quick number the possession percentage in the match favored San Jose at 55.1% to 44.9%. The shots in the match favored St. Louis 20-13 with shots on goal also favoring St. Louis at 8-2.

As noted throughout this recap in total San Jose took five yellow cards while St. Louis was only given one.

The Earthquakes next game will be against Toronto on March 25th at 7:30 p.m. at home.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: 2023 WBC Great Ratings

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Team Venezuela’s Jose Altuve gets hit on the fingers on his right hand and had to leave the game during an at bat against Team USA at LoanDepot Park in Miami during the World Baseball Classic on Sat Mar 18, 2023 (AP News photo)

2023: World Baseball Classic Great Ratings

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The World Baseball Classic tournament began in 2006. Major League Baseball wanted to manufacture a World Cup Soccer-like event after baseball was dropped from the Olympics. It is now played every four years.

The current 2023 WBC has been exciting reporting a substantial increase in ratings on television and sold-out baseball parks from Miami to Phoenix and also outside the US. The attendance had increased by 24 percent, in last Tuesday’s night semifinal 1.7 million on MLB Network was that network’s most-watched non-playoff game.

 The Japan-Korea game drew a 44.4 rating in Japan, a higher rating than any sport featured in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Korea, and the Dominican Republic all saw significant increases in viewership numbers for the 2023 WBC.

Some wonder about countries like; Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Perú and other South-American countries. Those countries are heavily into Fútbol (Soccer, in the US) and they do not really follow the game of baseball as these other countries in the WBC, such as; Australia, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Japan, Dominican Republic, Venezuela,  México, Colombia, Panamá, Nicaragua and of course the United States of America, where baseball was born.

Also, other countries participating in 2023 are Chinese Taipei, South Korea (where they have professional baseball leagues)  Great Britain, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. In the case of the Netherlands, some of their best players play in the major leagues and come from the small Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curacao, and Saint Martin, all part of The Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The popularity of baseball in Latin America continues to be as passionate as ever, especially since some of the great superstars in Major League Baseball are Latino players and should not go unnoticed by baseball teams here in the US, the strong Hispanic audience, the largest minority in the US.

According to the US Census data, there are 62.1 million Hispanics living in the US (many reports say it is close to 75 million) because lots of people do not register/take part in the Census. There are an estimated 11 to 15 million Hispanics who live in the US who do not have the documents necessary, however, those people are part of the economy of the US

The four remaining games of the World Baseball Classic at LoanDepot Park in Miami have been sold out, The ratings and the popularity during this tournament is growing like never before.

Catch Amaury Pi Gonzalez and Manolo Hernanez Douen for all the Oakland A’s play by play in Spanish on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and That’s Amaury News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NCAA Tournament/Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Robeson: VanDerveer ready to lead Cardinal in round 2 vs. Ole Miss Sunday

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Stanford Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer as seen coaching against the Sacred Heart Pioneers on Fri Mar 17, 2023 at Maple Pavilion is set for the next challenge against the Ole Miss Rebels Sun Mar 19, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the Stanford Cardinal podcast with Michael Roberson:

#1 Michael, the Stanford Cardinal (29-5) handled the Sacred Heart Pioneers (19-14) rather handedly 92-49 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and they did it without high scorer Cameron Brink.

#2 Haley Jones picked up where Brink left off leading with 17 points Haley’s been a go to all season long.

#3 On defense the Cardinal held the Pioneers to 18 points in the first quarter, 8 points in the second quarter, 11 points in the third quarter, and 12 points in the fourth quarter.

#4 Michael, how important of a win is this for Stanford considering they opened the tournament without Brink and had to create plays and win that opening game.

#5 Michael, Stanford will carry on for their next opponent and their opponent will be well aware of the kind of season Stanford is having.

Join Michael Roberson for the Stanford Cardinal podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Flyers Tippet scores 1st NHL hat trick; Leafs Reese scores two goals to beat Canes; plus more NHL news

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Philadelphia Flyers’ Owen Tippett reacts after scoring his third goal in an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres, Friday, March 17, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Matt Harrington:

#1 The Philadelphia Flyers Owen Tippett picked up his first hat trick on Friday night for a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at Wells Fargo Center. Tippett has been on a roll scoring a goal in his last six games and has 31 shots on goal during those six games.

#2 Zach Aston Reese scored two goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Scotiabank Arena Friday night. Reese in his 293 game career scored his fourth two goal game but never scored a hat trick.

#3 The St Louis Blues Sammy Blais scored twice against the Washington Capitals at Capital Center Friday. Blais was picked up in a deal from the New York Rangers on Feb 9th and has scored four goals in his last five games.

#4 Max Jones scored the tying goal to make it 4-4 and the Anaheim Ducks picked up a three goal 7-4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Friday night. Jones stole the puck from CBJs defenseman Andrew Peeke at the Columbus blue line and Peeke broke away to score the go ahead goal to make it 5-4.

#5 The San Jose Sharks are excited and expecting big things from William Eklund. Eklund scored San Jose’s only goal and on a penalty shot. Eklund has two goals in two games. He could be the catalyst the Sharks have been looking for.

Join Matt for the NHL podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com Saturdays

Cardinal cruise past Sacred Heart 92-49; Stanford moves to second round Sunday vs. Ole Miss

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Stanford forward Francesca Belibi (5) shoots against Sacred Heart center Kelsey Wood (34) during the first half at Maple Pavilion in Palo Alto on Fri Mar 17, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Friday, March 17, 2023

Even without the services of star center Cameron Brink, No. 1-seed Stanford had little trouble rolling over No. 16-seed Sacred Heart 92-49 in Friday’s opening round of the Seattle 4 Region women’s basketball tournament.

Brink missed NCAA tournament opener with what was described as
“a non-COVID=19 illness.” Specifics about Brink’s illness have yet to be disclosed and there’s no timetable for how long she will be out of the Cardinal lineup.

Brink confirmed on an Instagram post that she has been experiencing a stomach virus that has been going around the team over the last few days, adding that “I’ll be back asap.”

Haley Jones stepped up and led the Cardinal (29-5) with 17 points while grabbing six rebounds and shooting 7-of-12 from the field. Francesca Belibi added12 points and ten rebounds for Stanford, which shot 49.3 percent (37 of 75) and outrebounded Sacred Heart 57-28.

Hannah Jump also had 12 points for Stanford, Indya Niyar had 11 and Lauren Betts added 10. Talana Lepolo contributed seven assists and three steals.

Ny’Ceara Pryor was the top scorer for the Pioneers (15-14) with 12 points.

The Cardinal faces Mississippi in the second round on Sunday 6:30pm tip off.

The luck of the Irish not on the side of the Barracuda as they lose at home 6-2

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Thomas Bordeleau skates in to the Stars end.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- Saint Patrick’s day was not kind to the Barracuda at home as they lost to the Texas Stars by a final of 6-2.

For San Jose Strauss Mann got the nod to start while Remi Poirier was in-between the pipes for Texas.

The Stars in this one quickly found themselves down a man as Riley Barber was called for a slash just 4:04 into the game.

San Jose’s penalty kill was up to the task and did not give up a special teams goal.

Two more penalties were called in the first period one against each team but, all were killed off.

The first goal of this hockey game took a while to come but 19:42 into the period Curtis McKenzie scored his 17th goal of the season giving the Stars the lead.

That ended up being the only goal of the first with the shots at the end of the period favoring Texas 13-12.

In the second the teams continued to exchange penalties with Adam Raska taking a penalty and Rhett Gardner taking the other.

While the Stars could not score on their power play the Barracuda did as Danil Gushchin tipped home a shot from Martin Kaut tying the game up at one.

Not long after the goal the Stars responded as less than three minutes later Riley Tufte scored his 13th goal of the season to take the lead right back.

Late in the period though with less than a minute left Jeffrey Viel battling out front found the loose puck and shoveled it home tying the game at two.

The shots at the end of the second favored Texas 31-20.

Despite the late goal in the second the Barracuda did not come out looking great as just 45 seconds in Riley Damiani scored for Texas making it a 3-2 game.

The quick goal seemed to rattle San Jose as less than five minutes later Riley Tufte scored extending Texas’s lead to 4-2.

The scoring slowed for a bit on both sides but 15:19 into the third Matej Blumel scored his 19th goal on the year pretty much putting the game away.

San Jose did pull their goalie but Curtis McKenzie put away any hope of a comeback by scoring on the empty net to finalize the score at 6-2.

The shots at the end of the game favored Texas 47-34.

The three stars of the game were 1st: Riley Tufte 2nd: Artemi Kniazev 3rd: Danil Gushchin

San Jose’s next game will be tomorrow at home against these same Stars at 6 p.m.

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Kings first winning season in 17 years

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That’s the money smile as Domantas Sabonis hits the floor in the first half against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Thu Mar 16, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the Kings podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 The Sacramento Kings (42-27) clinched their first winning season in 17 years with a 101-96 win over the Brooklyn Nets (39-31) at Barclays Center on Thursday night.

#2 It was the first time that the Kings have finished above .500 since the 2005-06 season when they earned a 44-38 record. 

#3 The Kings made the playoffs eight straight times under then-head coach Rick Adelman, the last being in the 2005-06 season, but had a losing record all the other years since moving to Sacramento.  

#4 Sacramento led by as many as 17 points, and the Nets made a comeback effort in the second half that came close but fell short. De’Aaron Fox had 18 points. Kessler Edwards contributed 10 points.

#5 The Kings (42-27) are second in the western conference. They continue their road trip on Saturday against the Washington Wizards. Tipoff is at 5 p.m.

Join Jeremiah Salmonson for the Sacramento Kings podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Road Loses Continue To Pile Up For Warriors – Lose To Hawks 127-119

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Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, right, shoots a 3-point basket against Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins during the first half at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Fri Mar 17, 2023 (AP News photo)

Road Loses Continue To Pile Up For Warriors – Lose To Hawks 127-119

By Barbara Mason

Friday night the Golden State Warriors (36-35) met the Atlanta Hawks (35-35) at State Farm Arena. The Warriors dropped the first game of this road trip to the Los Angeles Clippers 134-126. Every road loss pushes the Warriors further and further away from their ultimate goal a playoff spot.

At home the Warriors are the number two team shooting from beyond the arc but on the road they make whoever they are playing look like world champions. The differential is uncanny as the Warriors seven wins on the road this season and they didn’t get their eighth road win against the Hawks losing 127-119.

Game recap: The Warriors got off to a good start in the first quarter taking a 16-4 lead in the opening minutes. With three minutes left in the quarter the game was tied at 27 and the Hawks had turned this game completely around leading after the first 12 minutes 39-31. There was a bit of trouble brewing after the first quarter for Golden State.

The Hawks continued to lead through most of the second quarter. With 3:25 left in the first half, the Warriors trailed 61-58 and were looking to take the lead into the locker room. Golden State could not get anything going even though they had more rebounds and more field goals.

They struggled from beyond the arc and that was the difference. The Warriors shot at 26.3% while the Hawks had a 39.1% winning the battle from outside. The Hawks led after two quarters 71-66. The Warriors also had nine turnovers in the first half. The Golden State starters all had double digits with the exception of Jonathan Kuminga who was right on the edge with eight points. The Warriors had some work to do in the second half in this must win game.

The Warriors continued to trail in the third quarter. While they did have numerous open shots not a lot of them were dropping. At 5:42 in the third quarter the Warriors trailed 89-77 in yet another shocker on the road. The Warriors were having a miserable three-point shooting night. After three the Hawks led 104-96.

The Warriors did pull to within one point in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter but just could not get over the hump. Golden State was 11 of 40 on three’s a shocking stat.

This was a collective horror show for the Warriors. The three’s failed hitting 11 of 40. They are now seven and 28 on the road. Six players had double digits in the game with Stephen Curry hitting the high with 31 points. Kevon Looney had 16 rebounds and 18 points. Golden State will have to pull it together as they head to Memphis tonight.

There will be little time for the Warriors to digest this one as they take on the Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow with tipoff scheduled for 5:00 PM.