Tag: NFL

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Native American groups glad Cleveland removed offensive logo from uniforms and caps; After domestic violence charges, Osuna settling in at Astros; plus more

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On Headline Sports with London:

The Cleveland Indians have removed the offensive Chief Wahoo logo from their caps and uniforms and replaced the logo with the block C. Native American Nations are relieved and glad that the racist logo had been removed. Cleveland said the removal was because the team wants to go in different direction in their marketing.

The Houston Astros’ controversial acquisition of pitcher Roberto Osuna has raised questions about his domestic violence charges and what impact it will have on the Astros clubhouse? Apparently whatever clubhouse issue that might have been was resolved after Osuna recorded his first win Monday night against the San Francisco Giants.

The NBA schedule is ready and has added LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to play the Golden State Warriors on Christmas day.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has thrown his support in for LeBron after Trump questioned LeBron’s intelligence. The story was national headlines last week and Rodgers said he’s all behind LeBron for his interview with CNN’s Don Lemon.

The WNBA doesn’t get too much national headlines, but they did this week when the Las Vegas Aces canceled their game against the Washington Mystics. The Aces tried flying to Dallas to get a plane to Washington, but were delayed at both Vegas and Dallas. The trip took them some 26 hours to get to Washington. The Aces got to their hotel some four hours before tipoff and said it wasn’t safe to play with no sleep and decided against playing the game. The WNBA ruled that it was a forfeit and a loss in the loss column for the Aces.

Headline Sports podcasts can be heard with London Marq each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

4 Things to Watch in 49ers’ Preseason Game vs. Cowboys Thursday

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By: Joe Lami

The 49ers open up their pre-season on Thursday night against the Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium.

Here are four things to watch out for.

Jimmy Garoppolo
If you have a ticket to the game, be sure to get there early for the 7:00 p.m. kick-off because you will see the starters in action for at least part of the opening quarter. On Tuesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed plans to play all starters, including Jimmy Garoppolo, “We’ll treat him like what we’ve probably done more in the past. He’ll play somewhat into the first quarter. We’ll see how long the opening drive is.”

Going into his first full season as a Niner, all eyes will be on Jimmy G to see if he can return with the magic he closed out last season with. Things look promising too, as Garoppolo appears to be gaining confidence in his receivers in training camp. The connection with Marquise Goodwin appears to be back from last season, as the two have been working on deep routes the last couple of days and look as comfortable as ever.

Pierre Garcon was injured early in the season last year and wasn’t a part of the five straight wins led by Garoppolo as he is beginning to get chemistry with the sophomore starter.

The Secondary
The 49ers’ will be without Richard Sherman on Thursday night and will have to wait until the last pre-season game to see him play at Levi’s Stadium.

Instead, Jimmie Ward will get the start for the 30-year old, who suffered a grade-one hamstring sprain last week. The 49ers’ secondary has improved, but still appears to be the weak spot on the defensive side of the ball. Any progression from last season will be an excellent start for the team that surrendered the 22nd most passing yards in the league last year.

Draft Picks
The rookies have looked pretty good in camp so far for the red and gold, and Thursday night will be their opportunity to show the rest of the Red and Gold faithful.

First-round pick, right tackle, Mike McGlinchey is expected to play the most reps out of the starters to gain confidence and get more looks at the NFL level.

“He’ll be out with the starters to start. Then, we’ll see how it goes, how many reps we get. For the most part, we do it with most rookies. Even if he’s a starter, we might play him a little bit more,” explained Shanahan on Tuesday.

He’s going to have the crucial job of help protecting Garopollo this season after the 49ers’ line gave up sacks on 7.09% of pass attempts last year (19th in the NFL).

49ers’ third-round wide receiver, Dante Pettis has been very noticeable at camp thus far and could become an exciting option for the 49ers’ passing attack. However, the knock seems to be the smaller framed pass catcher doesn’t like going over the middle. Shanahan doesn’t see it that way. Shanahan said, “I think he’s a guy who doesn’t take hits much, and it’s not because he’s avoiding them because he’s scared. It’s because he’s a good athlete and he can control his body and can get himself in good positions.”

The New Helmet Rule
Introducing the “use of helmet” rule, which states, “It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent.”

The rule becomes controversial because of “ejection standards” defined as when “a player lowers his helmet to establish a linear body posture prior to initiating and making contact with the helmet. A player needs to have a player delivering the blow needs to have an unobstructed path to his opponent, and the contact has to be clearly avoidable.”

Based on a video published in June, a play becomes ejectable when the targeting player appears to be the second or third man in trying to deliver a bone-crushing hit to finish off the play on an already wrapped up player.

These rules will take time for not only fans to get used to, but players as well; as the NFL tries to make tackling safer.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon: What to expect of Carr under Gruden; Also, a look at the special teams

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On the Oakland Raiders podcast with J Hawkes:

This Friday, the Oakland Raiders open the preseason against the Dallas Cowboys. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden looks forward to seeing how his players developed from training camp and into the preseason. Raider quarterback Derek Carr will under Gruden’s watchful eye. Will Carr feel the pressure of trying to improve over last season or with Gruden keeping close tabs on the starting quarterback?

The kicking team has a new face lift with punter Johnny Townsend. He’ll be joined by kicker Eddy Pinero and punter Andrew DePaolo. Joe takes a look at each of the special team members and how they’re ready for the 2018 season. In these preseason games, we’ll take a look at the expectations from coach Gruden.

Joe Hawkes Beamon does the Raiders podcasts each Friday, and on Thursdays, catch Tony Renteria for the Raider podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

49ers and Ticketmaster extend partnership

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By: Ana Kieu

Ticketmaster, the global market leader in ticketing, recently announced an extension of its official partnership with the San Francisco 49ers. Every year, more than 660,000 football fans attend games at Levi’s Stadium, and Ticketmaster will continue to serve as the official ticketing partner for the 49ers, providing both season ticket holders and single-game buyers with a safe and secure marketplace to buy, sell, and transfer verified tickets on Ticketmaster.com and 49ers.com.

“Our organizational commitment to provide our fans with an enhanced gameday experience featuring the best technology available led us to be one of the first teams to use digital ticketing technology,” said Jamie Brandt, 49ers’ Vice President of Sales and Service. “Being based in the innovation capital of the world, renewing our partnership with Ticketmaster was a given, as they have consistently delivered platforms that improve not just the fan experience, but team and venue operations, as well. We’re thrilled to continue this partnership and we look forward to even more innovations from Ticketmaster.”

In 2018, the 49ers and Ticketmaster will roll out a new Member Credential for 49ers’ season ticket holders, providing them with the most efficient ticketing experience to date using a single scannable barcode to make stadium entry easier than ever for all home games.

Since opening in 2014, more than 2.5 million fans have entered Levi’s Stadium to attend 49ers games using Ticketmaster. Under this renewed partnership, 49ers fans will continue to access verified tickets on their mobile device, download them to a digital wallet, receive personalized event notifications, and enjoy a streamlined venue entry experience.

“We’re proud to continue our partnership with one of the most innovative and forward-thinking teams in all of professional sports, the San Francisco 49ers,” said Greg Economou, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Sports for Ticketmaster, North America. “With this renewal, 49ers fans will continue using the best technology available, which creates a more personalized and engaging live experience at Levi’s Stadium. Ticketmaster shares the 49ers commitment of innovation and looks forward to seeing our platforms continue to give their fans the best live experience possible.”

The 49ers have long been an early adopter of Ticketmaster’s innovative products. In 2014, the 49ers helped launch the mobile platform VenueNext, integrated directly with Ticketmaster, to provide real-time insights and analytics to the 49ers and Levi’s Stadium resulting in an improved experience for fans. With VenueNext, fans can receive notifications on available ticket upgrade offers, the most efficient parking and entry options at the stadium, and place food orders to be delivered to their seat.

Ticketmaster and the 49ers have been partners since 1999 and revolutionized the live experience with the opening of Levi’s Stadium in 2014.

Fans can access resources such as mobile ticketing tutorials and step-by-step screenshots at https://www.49ers.com/tickets/mobile. These resources will be important as Ticketmaster and the 49ers look to educate fans about mobile ticketing during the 2018 season.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Did Urban Meyer know about the domestic abuse all along?; MLB players need to do tangible things to prove they’ve moved past racist tweets; plus more

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On the Headline Sports podcast with London Marq:

#1 How much did Ohio State’s former head coach Urban Meyer know about his assistant coach Zach Smith’s domestic abuse towards his ex-wife Courtney Smith? Enough says Smith. She said she was friends with Meyer’s wife and addressed these issues to her and also knew for a fact that Meyer knew domestic abuse was going on with Smith attacking his wife.

#2 How will this impact and damage the Ohio State program as the regular season kicks off at the end of this month? With Meyer on on paid leave and Smith gone, will this scare off recruits and students planning to attend Ohio State this school year?

#3 The New York Yankees’ Sonny Gray said his racist tweets in 2012 were just an “inside joke.” Gray says he doesn’t feel that way today and that was something he was joking around with with a friend. Gray got booed during his last appearance for not only pitching bad, but heard fans calling him out about his racist tweets as he was smiling and leaving for the dugout after being pulled.

#4 In just a week, four MLB players with four racist tweets, Milwaukee Brewers’ Josh Hader, Atlanta Braves’ Sean Newcomb, Washington Nationals’ Trea Turner, and Gray had racist tweets uncovered. The question is, would these four players prove that their not racists now by taking on issues in the community by asking publicly “why isn’t there enough African Americans in Major League Baseball?” or “Why do most MLB teams not travel their Spanish play-by-play radio announcers and just have them limited to just home games or just weekend broadcasts?” These would be considered tangible projects. These players can take on if they were really sorry about what they said.

#5 EA Sports apologized for editing out the name of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick out of the Madden 19 NFL game in Big Sean’s song “Big Bank.” Sean had tweeted that Kaepernick’s name was left out of the game song that he lent to. EA Sports did a “oops my bad” and said they would put Kaepernick’s name back into the song, going forward with the new editions of the EA Madden 19 games starting August 6th.

Listen to the London Marq headline sports podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Will the Raiders deal Khalil Mack?; Mack was a hold out, but Gruden wants him back in camp

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On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony:

Khalil Mack was a hold out during training camp, and on Wednesday, the top story coming out of the Oakland Raiders was putting Mack on the trade block. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said last season Mack didn’t even pick off a pass until the 14th week of the season.

Gruden went on to say that the Raiders weren’t very good on defense last season. Gruden was hoping that Mack gets back in camp. Gruden said the Raiders need a better pass rush. The Raiders finished in the bottom 10 in the NFL on defense. The question is–will the Raiders trade Mack?

Join Tony for the Raiders podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Giants to sell 125 lithos of Dwight Clark and Willie Mays holding their famous catch photos

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On the SF 49ers podcast with David:

The San Francisco Giants have announced that they will sell a limited amount of autographed lithographs of the late 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark and former San Francisco Giant legend Willie Mays, who is holding up his photo of making his catch in the 1954 World Series. The lithos are $487 each and there are only 125 available.

The 49ers have three tight ends in camp: George Kittle, Garrett Celek, and Cole Hikutuni. With a limited amount of tight ends in camp, can the 49ers open the season with only three tight ends?

David Zizmor does the 49ers podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsadioservice.com

Is it August yet? San Jose State and others gather for Bay Area Football Media Day

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By: Ana Kieu

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — College football is just around the corner, and we’re less than five weeks away from the San Jose State Spartans’ season opener versus UC Davis on August 30. But, like you should already know, San Jose State isn’t the only Bay Area college football team, as the Stanford Cardinal and Cal Golden Bears sort of dominate on the other side of the Bay. Also, the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are the main attractions, as they’re NFL teams that may be dawdling right now, but they’re chock-full of history. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at all the football teams the Bay has to offer–whether they’re good, bad or just okay.

California Golden Bears
Last season, the Golden Bears, who compete in the Pac-12 Conference, were led by first-year head coach Justin Wilcox and played their home games at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif. The Bears finished the 2017 campaign with a 5-7 record (2-7 Pac-12), which wasn’t that bad; but there could always be room for improvement.

Oakland Raiders
The Raiders recently confirmed that they’ll relocate to Las Vegas in the near future, and the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. will just be the home of one team, the Oakland A’s. Anyways, the Raiders’ fan base is very loyal, and I’m pretty sure their fans will travel to Vegas when they can. The Raiders, however, finished the 2017 campaign 6-10 and missed the playoffs, so it’s time for the team to click-clack boom, diversify their rushing attack and improve their defense under the guidance of returning head coach Jon Gruden, who previously coached the team from 1998-2001.

San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have a lot to prove, and this year should be a difficult test for general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was arguably the biggest hero towards the end of the 2017 campaign as he helped the 49ers win five games for a 6-10 record. After that, Garoppolo signed a 5-year, $137.5 million contract extension, which made him the highest-paid player in NFL history at the time. Now, the 49ers have to stay healthy and amp up their offense.

San Jose State Spartans
Oh, where should I start when it comes to the San Jose Spartans? I know, I’m an alumna who was fortunate to cover my alma mater, but there’s a laundry list of items for this team to work on. The youth movement under first-year head coach Brent Brennan was certainly a positive, but the Spartans finished the 2017 campaign with a 2-11 record (1-7 MW) and need to rebuild its secondary, then find ways to stay consistent.

Stanford Cardinal
The Cardinal–coached by head coach David Shaw–is yet another team in the Pac-12 Conference and they play their home games at Stanford Stadium. The Cardinal finished the 2017 campaign with a 9-5 record (7-2 Pac-12). The Cardinal is a pretty good team, but in college football, the offseason antics appear to be almost endless.

Notes
Washington Redskins long snapper and Cal alum Nick Sundberg turned 29 on July 29.

San Jose State has 66 freshmen and sophomore on its roster. With 14 remaining starters and 40 overall letter winners, San Jose State was selected by a media poll to finish 6th in the MW’s West Division. In addition, webflyer.com confirmed that San Jose State will have less than 7,000 air miles of travel for its 5 road games with air travel and a 300-mile round trip to Fresno, Calif. this coming season.

Stanford center Jesse Burkett was named as the Cardinal’s National Scholar-Athlete nominee. Also, Stanford star Bryce Love was named to Walter Camp Football’s Player of Year preseason watch list. Love is a human biology major and an aspiring pediatrician.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Carr looking to overcome last year’s injuries; Lynch expected to have big season; plus more

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On the Raiders podcast with Tony R:

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is looking at improvements over last year and who got injured last season. Will Carr be under pressure to impress head coach Jon Gruden coming into this 2018 season? Carr is backed up EJ Manuel and Connor Cook. Tony takes a look at how much confidence does Gruden have in Manuel or Cook in case they’re called into duty if Carr is out?

Running back Marshawn Lynch didn’t hit 400 yards in either 2015 or 2017, but Gruden knows that Lynch has game and will utilize Lynch who will get more carries this season. At wide out, Amari Cooper, Jordy Nelson, Martauis Bryant, Ryan Switzer, and Seth Roberts are in the wide receiver core and we take a look at how Gruden sizes up his receivers.

Gruden is hoping that Carr can get time to throw how much confidence does he have in his offensive line to get Carr time?

Tony Renteria takes an indepth look at Raiders football each week on the Oakland Raiders podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Is Jimmy Garoppolo’s rumored girlfriend Kiara Mia going to ruin his image?

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By: Ana Kieu

Whether or not you’re a San Francisco 49ers fan, you probably know all about quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has an all-around good guy type of aura around him…or so they say.

Garoppolo managed to stay out of the tabloids during his three-year tenure with the New England Patriots from 2014 to 2017. But, now, the 26-year-old made shocking headlines after recently going on a date with porn star Kiara Mia in Beverly Hills, California.

Of course, TMZ was the first to break the out-of-place story, but still. What happened to Garoppolo’s reported ex-girlfriend, Alexandra King? The former couple became Instagram official in February, hung out at Disneyland in March, and King even responded to an Instagram question from a fan that she hoped to be married to Garoppolo in five years. We don’t know yet, but hopefully, something will come up on this attractive pair that apparently went their separate ways.

Anyhow, Mia looked really giddy with Garoppolo on their post-ESPY’s date last Thursday. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as a veteran porn star likely wouldn’t friend-zone a young stud like Garoppolo. According to TMZ, Kia said that there would be more dates with Garoppolo, so it doesn’t look like a casual situation is the correct label for the pair.

You might recognize Mia’s previous work, as she starred in a porn spoof on “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” back in 2015. But, if you don’t know her, that’s okay too. Just know that Mia’s 14 years older than Garoppolo. So if Garoppolo is looking for a woman with experience, then he’s found the right person in Mia.

Like some of us, you might be wondering if Kia is going to ruin Garoppolo’s image and scare away some of his existing and future sponsors? When it comes to the sponsors, it’s likely not going to happen, unless if the company is very family-friendly. When it comes to Garoppolo’s image in general, that’s going to depend on the person, as everyone has their own opinion.

Personally, I don’t think this particular relationship is going to ruin Garoppolo’s image nor is it going to last long, but only time will tell. Also, I’d like to add that if you’re going to judge Garoppolo based on his personal life, you might want to treat other powerful men the same way, like, say, President Donald Trump. Just saying.