Tag: Sports radio

Headline Sports podcast with Charlie O: Michael Jordan was offered a chance to play with the Oakland A’s in 1994; plus more headlines

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Former Chicago White Sox Michael Jordan taking an at bat against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley before swinging for an RBI double in 1994 (cbssports.com file still)

On Headline Sports with Charlie O:

#1 The Michael Jordan documentary “Last Dance” has been the talk of the sports town. With it’s well received viewership on ESPN at 6.1 million viewers some of the topics have been interesting and extraordinary.

#2 The one story that stands out is when Jordan had retired from the NBA to play baseball in 1994 Jordan got an offer from then former Oakland A’s general manager Sandy Alderson who asked Jordan’s agent at the time if he would be interested in joining the A’s on their Major League roster. Jordan in double A for the Birmingham Barons declined saying he was loyal to White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and didn’t want to upset the big leaguers who worked hard to get to the show by skipping grades to get to the A’s.

#3 Charlie how crucial is it for the state and the Sacramento community to have the state paying the Sacramento Kings $500,00 a month to rent Arco arena as a field hospital for incoming Coronavirus patients.

#4 Charlie could you fill us in on the MLB video game tournament that will be televised live and will there be a lot of ribbing and joshing amongst the players during a tournament like this?

# 5 Former Los Angeles Dodger play by play announcer Vin Scully certainly hasn’t lost his sense of humor after taking a tumble at home saying he’s done with head first slides.

#6 Charlie can you tell us about the Boston Red Sox losing a draft pick for sign stealing and that the penalty was far less than the penalties the Houston Astros got.

Join Charlie for Headline Sports every other Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Patriots sign Lee for one year; Steelers sign Dupree for a year as NFL gets busy

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Marquise Lee joins the New England Patriots after playing only six games over two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars due to multiple injures (espn.com file photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 The New England Patriots signed wide receiver Marquise Lee for a one year deal coming from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Lee signed a $34 million deal with the Jags in 2018 but had a series of injuries ACL, MCL, and PCL that allowed him to see action in six games for three catches and 18 yards.

#2 Lee will be joining wide out Julian Edleman, N’Keal Harry, Mohamed Sanu, Damiere Byrd with a line up like that how complimentary will the Pats look going into August?

#3 Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Bud Dupree has signed a deal for $15.8 million but is negotiating a long term deal with Pittsburgh, Dupree will have the second highest salary to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who is earning $23.75 million. Dupree and TJ Watt together totaled 11.5 sacks, 16 tackles and 17 quarterback sacks.

#4 Hall of Fame broadcaster of the Los Angeles Dodgers Vin Scully has been reported to be resting comfortably for a fall at his home. Scully is 92 and is in the Ford C Frick wing of the baseball hall of fame. Scully retired from broadcasting in 2016.

#5 The idea of using a four man outfield might be the way of the future as the Tampa Bay Rays used the strategy against the Atlanta Braves Ozzie Albies in the last few games of spring training before the ordered Covid-19 shutdown suspending baseball with Albies at the plate the Rays had second baseman Mike Brousseau play in right field with three other outfielders. Albies line to Randy Arozarena in left center for the out and the planned worked.

Join London each Friday for Headline Sports podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

49ers draft two players Thursday that could help right away in Round One

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Defensive tackle of the San Francisco 49ers Javon Kinlaw who was selected out of South Carolina seen here during his collegiate days (AP Photo)

By Joe Hawkes
SRS Contributor

Armed with two first-round picks (No. 13 and No. 31 overall) heading into the 2020 NFL Draft, the talk that the San Francisco 49ers would select a play-making wide receiver with their first pick was a forgone conclusion.

After swapping the 13th pick with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who was selecting 14th overall), the 49ers selected South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw on Thursday night. San Francisco also acquired the 117th pick (fourth-round) in the deal from the Vikings, although they also had to surrender a seventh-rounder to complete the deal.

The 49ers have now drafted a defensive lineman in the first round in five of the past six drafts.

Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has a new weapon to deploy on opposing offenses.

Kinlaw can help San Francisco right away, filling a void that was left after the team decided to trade defensive lineman DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts last month. In exchange for Buckner, the 49ers received the No. 13 overall pick from the Colts.

A native of Trinidad, Kinlaw is still a newbie to the game of football. Kinlaw spent most of his childhood homeless and moved around often. After playing in junior college right out of high school, Kinlaw’s road navigated to South Carolina where he would played in 37 of 38 games and was named a team captain.

The 6-foot-5, 324-pound Kinlaw finished his collegiate career with 82 tackles, 10 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and eight passes defensed in three seasons. He was named a first-team All-American after totaling six sacks and six tackles for a loss as a senior with the Gamecocks.

Later in the first-round, San Francisco made another deal, trading away the No. 31, No. 117 (acquired from the Buccaneers) and No. 176 to the Minnesota Vikings for the No. 25 pick. With that pick, the 49ers selected Arizona State wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

In a draft that is rich with talent at wide receiver, the 49ers selected the 6-foot-tall, 205-pound Sun Devil product that has a gigantic 81-inch wingspan making his catch radius seemingly endless. Most draft experts has Aiyuk as an above-average route runner with the burst to separate from man-to-man coverage. Aiyuk could face some trouble early adjusting to the NFL, but should flourish as he gets comfortable in 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense.

With the loss of veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders in free agency to the New Orleans Saints in the offseason, Aiyuk gives franchise quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo another pass-catching threat.

Aiyuk, who is a native of Reno, NV, attended Sierra College in Rocklin, CA before moving on to Arizona State, where he caught 98 passes for 1,666 yards and 11 touchdowns in two seasons in the desert.

 

Headline Sports podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s players wondering what could have been; 49ers looking for a wide receiver in draft; plus more

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Marcus Seimien of the Oakland A’s one of many players on the A’s left wondering of a season that could have been? (AP file photo)

On Headline Sports with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry there’s no doubt about it the Oakland A’s were really looking forward to playing this season with some key players that could have lifted them to post season with the likes of Matt Chapman, Marcus Semien, Matt Olson, and Jose Luzardo. They could only what could have been?

#2 The San Francisco 49ers plan to go big in the first round of the draft tonight. They also might make a trade according to general manager John Lynch as Lynch said the Niners lost a great player in DeForest Buckner.

#3 The 49ers in the last 17 drafts have drafted a wide receiver you can almost count on the 49ers drafting a wide receiver tonight again.

#4 Minor league baseball is looking to cut 42 teams before the Covid 19 shutdown. Now with the shutdown MLB is considering cutting 42 minor league teams it came down to a matter of economics.

#5 Jerry California or New York is standing pat with the shutdown and social distancing but places like Georgia where the curve has not gone down they plan on opening up this Friday. Is this a responsible or irresponsible decision on the part of the Georgia Governor Brian Kemp?

Join Jerry every Thursday for Headline Sports at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Marko Ukalovic: What a Brady-Gronk reunion means for Bucs; Jordan’s Last Dance draws 6.1 million viewers; plus more

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Rob Gronkowski (87) and Tom Brady (12) are excited to be reuniting in Tampa Bay this season after Gronkowski signed a deal with his new team the Tampa Bay Bucs (yahoo.sports.com)

On Headline Sports pod with Marko:

#1 What does it mean for the Tampa Bay Bucs and their quarterback Tom Brady to have tight end Rob Gronkowski uniting with Brady for this season.

#2 Gronkowski has not played since 2017 how ready do you see him after a two year layoff?

#3 Marko talk about ESPN’s “Last Dance” documentary on the Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan’s last championship with the Bulls. The documentary got 6.1 million watching.

#4 Minor league baseball is planning to eliminate at least 42 teams which would include the San Francisco Giants minor league affiliate in Keizer Oregon and the Oakland A’s affiliate in Burlington VA.

#5 The San Jose Giants single A club is a huge part of the San Jose community how do you see their security as a minor league organization avoiding the chopping block.

Marko Ukalovic does Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Baseball Si, Bullfights No

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Illustration of a bullfight in Cuba (image from wikiwand.com )

Baseball Sí Bullfights No

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-González

Cubans that came to the US to study in 1860 were introduced to baseball and right after the Spanish-American War in 1898 (US fought to help Cuba gain its independence from Spain-1902) Cubans learned to play the game from American soldiers.The Cubans accepted the US game and since then it has become Cuba’s passion.Cuba was a colony of Spain from 1492 to 1898.In other words since Christopher Columbus discovered the island during his first trip toward the New World.

Bullfighting was present in Cuba during its colonial period (Spain brought it to the island as well to most of Latin America) but the United States military under pressure of civic association and because Cubans never really took-on to bullfights which they considered a degrading spectacle and was abolished by the US military after the Spanish-American War in 1901.

Cubans then adapted the game of baseball as their #1 pastime. Since Cuban independence in 1902, to date, Cuba has banned bullfighting, however,today in Latin America México, Colombia,Peru and Venezuela and some others still have bullfight arenas and scheduled bullfights.

Bullfighting never really re-appeared in Cuba.However,on August 31,1947 a Sunday in La Habana at the Gran Estadio del Cerro (today Estadio Latinoamericano where baseball is played) a total of 30,000 people witnessed the demonstrations of Mexican Matadores,Fermín Espinosa, and Silveiro Pérez aka “Armillita”. It was not “pure”bullfighting,because you could not stick(Picadores)flags to the bulls or kill them. It was the only way the authorities agreed to invite the Mexican Matadores to the capital of Cuba.

But baseball flourished in the largest island in the Caribbean. It was in 1874 when the Cubans build their first baseball stadium in the Matanzas province. La Liga Profesional Cubana de Béisbol (The Cuban Professional Baseball League) was in existence from 1878 until 1961,when the Fidel Castro communist dictatorship banned all professional sports from the island.

From 1871 to 1961 the main teams in that most famous Cuban Pro-League were: Almendares,  Habana,Cienfuegos and Marianao. This Cuban league was the earliest baseball league founded in Latin America.Right after Cuba other Latin American countries learned baseball.Cuban promoters and players took the game to, México, Nicaragua, Venezuela and others who started their own leagues in the 1880s.

Although I have never seen a live bullfight in my life,I have been lucky as a kid growing up in Cuba to have seen a lot of the great Cuban and American baseball players of that time,in that old Cuban Professional Winter League. Like Orestes Miñoso, Luis Tiant, Sandalio(Sandy) Consuegra, Julio(Jiquí)Moreno, Octavio”Cookie”Rojas, Frank Herrera, Mike Fornieles, Julio Bécquer,Edmundo (Sandy) Amorós, Camilo Pascual, Pedro Ramos, just to mention a few, as well as American baseball stars that played for those teams in the 1950’s and until 1961: Jackie Brandt, Brooks Robinson,Bob Shaw, Jim Bunning, Bob Allison, Al Spangler, Bobby DelGreco, Billy Muffett, Bill Werle. Also many African-Americans played in Cuba like Monte Irwin and Don Newcome

According to the Havana Times. All official sports events have been canceled until April 30th at least, in response to the global Coronavirus pandemic.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Michael Duca: A look at some of the greatest pitchers to ever play the game

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Former Dodger pitcher Juan Marichal (right) and former Dodger catcher John Roseboro (left) pose in this 1980s photo

On Headline Sports with Michael Duca:

#1 MLB.com has been running a lot of trivia and a look back some of the best players over the years. We’ll start with former San Francisco Giant and Hall of Famer and everybody’s favorite Juan Marichal he had five seasons of 20 or more wins and 13 of them was with the Giants.

#2 Was former Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale most feared because of the kind of pitches that he can throw or was it because he can come inside and knock down a hitter?

#3 St Louis Cardinal Bob Gibson he was a force out on the mound and he seemed like another pitcher that could throw high and inside if he had to. Was he a lot like Drysdale that way?

#4 He had three 20 game winning seasons and was a pitcher that kept hitters off balance it was that kind of motion that forced him to retire early but when Sandy Koufax retired he went down in MLB history as one of the greatest pitchers in the game.

#5 Former San Francisco Giant Gaylord Perry had two 20 game winning season for the Giants if someone would ask what Gaylord’s best pitch was everyone knew the answer even though Perry would give you a different answer.

Michael Duca does Headline Sports each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: Shutdown will most likely cancel almost half of the sports schedule; Marlins Jeter will not take a salary during shutdown; plus more

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file photo from Miami Herald: Miami Marlins owner Derek Jeter announced that he will not take a salary from the Marlins and that his baseball operations staff will be paid through May 31st during the epidemic

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara:

#1 Barbara the Coronavirus epidemic will most likely cancel 47% of all sports with only 53% of all sports taking place this year.

#2 There are a number of CEOs taking a cut in pay and Miami Marlins owner Derek Jeter is no different Jeter who earns $5 million annually says he will forego his salary until the epidemic is over. Jeter also informed employees of the operations staff they will be paid through May 31st.

#3 The Louisville Slugger factory that produces Major League Baseball bats will shut it’s doors until the epidemic is over. Louisville said they have furloughed most of it’s employees. Louisville CEO John Hillerich IV said that he hopes they can stay solvent before they run out of cash.

#4 The WNBA’s Stephanie Dolson of the Chicago Sky said that her entire family has Covid-19 virus. Dolson said she came down positive and her mother had to be hospitalized for four days. Dolson thanks the health care workers at the hospital as her mom is back home safe and sound.

#5 The WNBA’s Commissioner Cathy Englebert said that the WNBA and NBA might play doubleheaders in the same building Indiana, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York and Phoenix share the same building with an NBA team. Englebert also said that the Coronavirus epidemic “will change sports forever”

Check in each Tuesday night for Barbara and Headline Sports at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A look back on the best ever team in Bay Area baseball history

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Oakland A’s left fielder Joe Rudi makes an ice cream cone catch in the webbing of his glove for a spectacular defensive play in the 1972 World Series (file photo from pinterest.com)

On Amaury’s podcast:

#1 Amaury you were very fortunate to see some of the best teams in your broadcast career in Bay Area baseball the Oakland A’s teams from 1972-74 rivaled even some of the great Yankee teams of the 1950s as the A’s had won three World Series Championships in a row.

#2 The A’s had a pitching staff that were made up of a number of 20 game winners through their World Championship years on the 1972 team they had just one 20 game winner Jim Catfish Hunter who was 21-7, followed by Ken Holzman 19-11, John Blue Moon Odam 15-6, Vida Blue 6-10, and a great reliever Rollie Fingers 11-9.

#3 Those World Series teams had some serious hitting too for that 1972 team that got it going Reggie Jackson who had a great hitting season but was injured for the World Series, Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, and Mike Epstein.

#4 Who could forget some great highlights of the 1972 World Series with the ice cream cone catch against the wall by A’s left fielder Joe Rudi and striking out Reds catcher Johnny Bench during an intentional walk.

#5 One of the other great moments in the A’s World Series was in 1973 when Willie Mays returned to the Bay Area after being traded from the San Francisco Giants to the New York Mets the previous year and was introduced in game one in front of the A’s fans in Oakland to a standing ovation.

Join Amaury for Sportstalk each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Place Your Bet? Las Vegas Casinos back in May

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Roulette Wheel (photo from ebay.com)

Place Your Bet? Las Vegas Casinos back in May

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

Amaury Pi-González

If New York is the ‘city that never sleeps’, Las Vegas is the ‘city that never stops gambling’. The two cities have a couple of things in common when it comes to closure, (1) The famous New York gangster Bugsy Siegel was the first to open a huge hotel-casino in the strip. The Flamingo in 1946. Although it was not the first it was the most famous. The first casino ever on the strip was the Rancho Vegas in 1941 a smaller type of gambling establishment. (2) The largest economic fallout for Las Vegas was September 11,2001 when terrorist attacked New York’s Twin Towers.. And for those that like this type of stuff, Las Vegas was also closed (but not this long) when President John F.Kennedy was assassinated in 1963

Because of Covid-19 pandemic, Las Vegas has been closed. But now Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak who closed all nonessential businesses for 30 days including all casinos and later extended the closure to the end of April might be ready to open this next month. Billionaire Steve Wynn owner of Wynn Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas(as well as other locations)says he is ready to re-open. Wynn has continued paying all his salaried, part-time and hourly employees until the 15 of May,which is costing the company approximately $3 million per day or $180 million for two months according to Matt Maddox,CEO of the Wynn company.

As of today Nevada had 3,728 cases of Covid-19 and 155 deaths.They are not on the top ten of cities in this regard.They are one of a bunch of States that are opening-up slowly for business.That is the plan by the medical experts on their three Phases plan made public by Dr.Deborah Birx last week.

The White House appointed world-renowned global health official and physician Ambassador Deborah Birx to the Office of the Vice President to aid in the whole of government response to COVID-19 as the Coronavirus Response Coordinator.She is working with longtime friend and associate Anthony Fauci MD. Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases. They have known each other and have worked together for over 40 years for various administrations.

Never in history Las Vegas has been shut down this long. This is a huge economy fallout in the billions of dollars. By far the largest economic fallout for Sin City. Las Vegas has 150,000 hotel rooms(more than any other city in the US) and Las Vegas is the #4 most visited city in North America; only New York #1, Miami #2 and Los Angeles #3 have more visitors each year. Once a little oasis for people traveling between Chicago and Las Vegas,today this desert city is a world destination.

Place Your Bet? No Sports-Books. 2020 could be the worse year in the history for Las Vegas. Even with the opening of some of the Hotels and Casinos as well as other businesses the loses will continue, especially as long as most professional sports leagues remain inactive. Their sports books generate more in revenue, especially March Madness and the Superbowl.

Captain Renault(Claude Rains)to Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) “I’m shocked,shocked,to find there is gambling going on here!” (Casablanca 1942) At Rick’s Café Américain”

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com