Vintage Giants

By Steven II

 

On Saturday April 20^th, Tim Lincecum made his fourth start of season and was coming into the game 1-0 with a staggering 5.62 ERA. But on that day, we saw the vintage Tim Lincecum. He struck out eight batters, surrendered only four hits while walked 2 batters and got his second win of the season. It was his longest scoreless outing since last July 14. And guess who was behind the plate catching for Timmy, yes MVP Buster Posey. Much speculation has been made over these two young superstars the past year. Rumors had it that they didn’t see eye to eye. Regardless of the reasons for that, Lincecum and Posey worked in such perfect harmony Saturday night that there’s little doubt we will see these two pair up again soon.

As for the bullpen, it was another stellar performance. Jose Mijares entered for Lincecum in the seventh and retired pinch hitter Mark Kotsay on a fly ball to strand two runners. Then, Santiago Casilla induced an inning-ending double play after walking his first batter in the eighth, and Sergio Romo shut things down for his eighth save. That was no small thing, as Romo was coming off a five-day layoff.

Home Opener

The San Francisco Giants home opener was tonight and it was awesome. Bruce Bochy kicked off the event by walking out the 2012 World Series trophy and setting it next to the 2010 trophy. Then Tim Lincecum, Sergio Romo and a few other players went an hung the new championship flag. To top off all the festivities the Giants walked out of there with a W. I know it’s early in the season but they are now 3-1 and tied with Colorado for first place in the NL West. No team in Major League history has ever won it all three out of four years. The Giants are poised for just that. 

I feel blessed to be working with the teams that I love whether they win or lose. They just happen to be winning. It is a great time for Bay Area sports. The Giants won the World Series, the 49ers were one play away from winning the Super bowl and both the Warriors and the Sharks are heading into the post-season.  It is a great sight when you run into four or five people you went to college with working at a game and pursuing their careers. San Francisco State kids are everywhere.

By: Jeff Hogg

Edwin Peabody

Last Backyard Radio show

            During our last show on March 22^nd, the very first topic we covered was about San Francisco Giants Catcher/First Basemen Buster Posey. The argument of which position he should play more of this season was the topic of our discussion. Steven, Jeff and I believed that Buster Posey was very valuable in both areas of the game but overall we chose that he play more at the catcher position. We also had Steven’s brother in law Joe actually call in and discuss this topic with us, giving us his opinion of the subject. Joe countered our argument by suggesting that Buster Posey play more in the first basemen position, which definitely began an interesting conversation between the four of us. Steven thought it would be a good idea to analyze some of the past games during last year’s world series to which the giants won. When looking back at those games it was notice that Buster Posey was very reliable with his play calling and was a huge factor in why the giants won the series. After bringing this point up to Joe, he eventually changed his opinion to believing that having Posey as the catcher, game caller, would be very beneficial to the giants.

            Also, considering that the NCAA tournaments were underway, our next topic was about the letdowns in men college basketball. Steven asked a very interesting question that got Jeff’s attention and mine. The question of rather let downs were a good thing or bad thing in college sports was asked by Steven. We all came to the conclusion that let down in college basketball was a great thing. Let downs make the tournament more fun and interesting. It is great to see the underdog snatch a victory over the team that was supposed to win.  In addition, during breaks we made sure to play nice selection of Friday night hip-hop music music.

Things to look forward to next show

This week coming up, we will be talking about the newest events in sports and the hip-hop music industry. We are also hoping to have another special listener call in to join our conversation.

Opening Day

By Steven Lentz II

Spring Training has come and gone and Major League Baseball is officially starting with Opening Day on Monday (April 1). So get your game faces on and let’s play ball!

Opening Day baseball goes back more than 130 years and is considered as America’s National Pastime. With countless baseball fans known to recognize this unofficial holiday as a good reason to call in sick at work or be absentee from school (as most teams typically play their home opener in the afternoon) and go out to the ballpark for the first of 162 regular season games. Teams' home openers serve as the only regular season games during the year in which the entire rosters of both teams as well as coaches and clubhouse staff are introduced to the crowd prior to the games (for the rest of the year, ballparks only introduce the starting lineups).

Raising the Championship Banner

This only happens for one team each year and showcases to the home fans and people watching on TV that they were the best team in baseball. Fortunately for San Francisco Giants fans, we raised the championship banner in 2011 and another this coming Friday they will raise another championship banner.

Skipping school/work

It's a day many will use as their one personal day a year, or call in "sick." The kids will also be home "sick" from school. I think they call it the one-day flu. But, what bosses and teachers don't understand is that it's a tradition for many families to go to their teams' opening game. I for one have been going to opening day for the past 4 years.

So sit back, grab a cold one and enjoy baseball.

Last Nights Exiting Win

The Golden State Warriors finally pulled through with a big "W" lastnight against the New York Knicks during our show and we did not get a chance to bring you the news. This was the re-match from a couple of weeks ago when Steph Curry had a career night in Madison Square Garden scoring 54 points. He did not go 50+ but he did tally 26 points and the Warriors did walk out of Oracle arena with a win, which Warrior fans would take any day. David Lee also returned to the line-up adding another 21 points.

There was a controversial flagrant foul in which a Knicks player, Smith, was ejected. He blatantly and intentionally fouled a Warrior player for no reason. Carmello Anthony was all but shut-down scoring only 14 points. The game was a 29 point blow-out with the final score Warriors 92 Knicks 63. This was not just a win, but the biggest land side win of the season for Golden State. With playoffs not too far away, the Warriors need to continue playing like they did last night against playoff caliber teams and they need to avoid close heart-wrenching losses like they experienced the two previous games. They need to take this win and build some momentum going into the playoffs.  

- Jeff Hogg

Update on Recent Radio Show

Edwin Peabody

                                                        Backyard Radio

An update on our last radio show Friday, March 8^{th Steven} and I discussed a few controversial sports topics, 1^st topic was, who was the best NBA best duo in the league currently? LeBron James and Duane Wade? Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard? Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook? Or Tony Parker and Tim Duncan? Steven and I thought long and hard about the answer to this very controversial question. We also had very special listeners, who happen to be Steven brother in Law tune in with us from 9-10 on KSFS media.net, chiming in on the conversation, and giving his opinion on the topic. After analyzing the stat of all the players, together we all came to the conclusion that LeBron James and Duane Wade were the best NBA duos as of right now but we also made it very clear that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were very close to stealing this title from James and Wade. As far and Tony Parker and Tim Duncan goes, they were placed in category of being the best duo in overall time but not currently. Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howards stats did not look convincing enough to receive the title.

            We then got in to our 2^nd topic, which was on thee first female being allowed to try out for the regional combine as a field goal kicker, Lauren Silberman. Lauren did not do as good as she expected being that all three of her field goal kick attempts did not exceed 20 yards, also managing to hurt herself on her last kick attempt. Steven and I gave our valued opinion on this topic debating whether Women are physically able to compete against men or join me in Co-Ed professional Football. Joe also was very helpful in this discussion providing information on Lauren’s history in sports to which me and Steven knew very little. Together we came to the conclusion that a woman participating in professional football with or against men was not a good idea. Next week, Jeff, Steven and I plan to have more interesting sports topic and great music to listen to so tune to backyard Radio from 9-10PM on Friday.

The Valley of the Sun

By Steven Lentz II

While I was in Scottsdale, Arizona this past weekend for spring training I had the privilege to attend two games. The first was on March 1^st when the San Francisco Giants played against the Oakland A’s at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium. This stadium has been around since 1964 and is now the spring training facility for the A’s.

I thought this stadium was a little small compared to the Scottsdale stadiums. The scoreboard is small and hard to read and it provides minimal information. But the atmosphere was great and even though it was the A’s stadium, the Giants fans owned the park. The best part of this day was the Giants beating the A’s 13-9.

The last game was at Scottsdale Stadium, which is the exclusive home of the San Francisco Giants. Located in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale. This gem of a ballpark lets fans soak up the sun while checking out the amazing view of Camelback Mountain. With a capacity of 12,000, Scottsdale Stadium is one of the larger venues in the Cactus League with a feel that brings fans closer to the action than they have ever been. The game was packed throughout the stadium as the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 9-7.

All in all, both stadiums were fun and I enjoyed my first spring training experience and would recommend anyone who is a baseball fan to check it out Phoenix, Arizona.