Iowa Barnstormers Playing Today

Who said Arena Football won't fly?  Yes, those are ole skool fighter pilot goggles painted atop the Barnstormer helmet.

Today's Iowa Barnstormers game against the Philadelphia Soul started out with a tipped ball interception by the Barnstormers and ended with a crazy extra point fumble return that wasn't.  The game is currently viewable on ESPN in its entirety.  Watch if for no other reason than to checkout those modern day throwback fighter pilot uniforms.  When you absolutely miss watching NFL football, there's the alternative football league.................the AFL.

Iowa Barnstormers vs Philadelphia Soul

Curry & Co. - Nothing But Net(s)

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors won game 4 to tie the playoff series against the L.A. Clippers 2-2.  It was all about the Warriors fast pace pressure style of play that pushed the Clips into comeback chase mode early.  

Led by Curry's 33pts, the Warriors played Warrior ball and dominantly entertained the Oracle Arena crowd.  Shout out to Warriors enforcer, #23 Draymond Green. While Curry set the pace, Draymond set the punch.  

The Clippers can't help but be affected in one way or another by all the talk about their owner's recent racist remarks.   Its a shame and a black eye on the franchise and the league, but the games must go on. And on they'll play as game five tips off Tuesday (4/29) at 7:30pm at the Staples Center Arena in Los Angeles .

As for today's game, it was Steph Curry leading the way once again, hitting 7-14 3-pointers and just being Flame On from start to finish. Curry set the tone and the Warriors to a man delivered.  Its called leadership. 

Hats off to coach Mark Jackson for pointing the way, sticking with what worked and keeping the team energized to the end.  Without Jackson, the Warriors would be unprepared and ill-equipped defensively. After all these years, they've learned how to start and finish as a team. Thanks Coach!

Steph Curry visited Tanzania, Africa  in the summer of 2013 to the season in an effort to assist in the fight against Malaria. During the 2012-13 season, every 3pt shot that Steph made donated three malaria nets to the cause.  His NBA single season three-pointer record of 272 saw 816 bed nets delivered to help hundreds of families avoid malaria infection.  The Nothing But Nets campaign is a United Nations Foundation program.

Final Score
Clippers 97
Warriors 118



Sports Illustrated Article: Curry Slaughters Grizzlies

Silver & Black Building Blocks

We All We Got!

They say the Oakland Raiders were given the toughest strength of schedule for the 2014 season. So what else is new?  The NFL hasn't done the Raiders any favors since the AFC/NFC merger, there's no reason to look for any now.  We should welcome the match-ups given us this coming season.  Let the statisticians crunch and compare numbers from a prior season, the Raiders only need concern themselves with the current season and its current opponent for that particular week period.

Because on any given Sunday a team can be beat regardless of past or present win/loss records.  So bring on past conference and super bowl contenders, the silver and black will put them through the test.  

And when all is said and done it'll be the team with the will and strength to pull out a victory on that day.  Screw the strength of schedule crap.  Leave it to those needing reasons and excuses why their team didn't produce enough wins to make the playoffs.  The Raiders will battle whoever, whenever and wherever. In London on a monday morning in the fog against a bunch of bloody rugby & soccer players, it don't matter.  Its always us against the world.  So just feed us your best and we'll show up and play.

win, lose or tie

Terelle Pryor Goes Seahawking

The Oakland Raiders have acquired a seventh-round selection in the 2014 NFL Draft from the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for QB Terrelle Pryor, General Manager Reggie McKenzie announced Monday.

The Raiders now have seven selections in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Good Luck T-Pain.

In Bigger News: OKC Just tied it to go to overtime against the upstart Memphis Grizzlies.  The play of the game was a 4-pt play by Kevin Durant who was fouled while making an improbable three point shot falling out of bounds.  Its the shot heard around the world on this Monday night of NBA playoff madness.  Durant is a Monster!

Sharks Up 2-0 in Best of Seven Series

Who knew that the Easter Bunny was a San Jose Sharks fan living large in Los Angeles? Easter Sunday revealed that and more as the visiting Sharks came back, then blew out the Los Angeles Kings 7-2.  

The Sharks are playing with a hunger that I don't think can be matched by any opponent this post season.  They haven't got a Stanley Cup and they want one bad. They're showing us exactly how they plan to get it. Any way they can against anybody in any arena.  Even if it means pulling a rabbit out of the hat.  Just Win Sharks!

Final Score
Sharks 7
Kings 2

Slick

Sharks and Warriors - Playoffs

Its a Slick time to be a Bay Area Sports Fan

We Are Warriors Sucka!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/photos?gameId=400553078&photoId=3783638

Wanna try beating us at the foul line Blake? Well take this face plant and take your best shot sucka!

That was the playoff attitude the Golden state Warriors brought to game 1 in Los Angeles against the Clippers and it paid huge dividends in the end.  

The Warriors, led by a brilliant coach in Mark Jackson, pulled off what many consider an upset with a gutsy 109-105 playoff victory.  It was a back and forth brawl that left us viewers breathless and hungering for more.   

Its a best of seven series that will have us full and begging for alka-seltzer by the time we get to the next series serving.  Only one of these teams will earn the right to move on to the next series.  But until then the Warriors and Clippers plan on giving fans a fun filled feast that can't be matched.  Eat Hardy Folks,

Final Score
Warriors 109
Clippers 105

A's & Giants Beat L.A. On Jackie Robinson Day

Both Bay Area major league baseball teams were triumphant of late, putting to bed their rivals from the south in extra innings.  

The San Francisco Giants tied it in the bottom of the ninth, then pitched good enough to $urvive the L.A. powerhouse lineup for three extra innings before doctor Crawford and his anesthesiologist Hector Sanchez injected some nifty hitting in the twelfth, extracting the diseased tumor that was the Los Angeles Dodgers from AT&T Park.

"When you have a couple of really nice chances and don't score, that can be frustrating," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who turned 59 before the game ended (his birthday is April 16). "But the guys kept fighting."

In all it was a surgical procedure that ran well past the midnight hour with the Giants prevailing in game one of a three game series at home.  The prognosis looks very good for the Giants.

Final Score
Dodgers 2
Giants 3

Earlier, the Oakland Athletics came up with a run in the top of the 11th inning, sending the evil Angels of Los Angeles - Anaheim down to the dark and dank depths of defeat. 

It was a game of rallies and the A's would be the ones to see their final rally bare fruit.  Thanks to clutch A's pitching, the visitors from the north held the line just when it seemed to be slipping away in the bottom of the ninth after a two run homer tied it for the dark Angels. 

"The way I look at it, the longer we go, the better chance we have, because our bullpen's so deep," said A's third baseman Josh Donaldson, who drove in Jed Lowrie from first base with a tiebreaking double off Angels reliever Joslan Herrera in the top of the 11th Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.

It would be left to A's witch doctors Jed Lowrie and Josh Donaldson to pull them through with clutch hitting performances that sealed the Angel of death's doom in the eleventh inning; bats silenced, wings clipped, demons exorcised.

Final Score
Athletics 10
Angels 9  

Happy Jackie Robinson Day L.A.!

Pacquiao Answers Bradley, Bradley Answers Critics

Bloodied from an unintentional head butt, Manny Pacquiao regains welter-weight title with unanimous decision over champion Timothy Bradley

Manny Pacquiao is a champion once again, out-dueling Timothy Bradley in an exciting, hard fought 12 round welter-weight battle that had everything except a knockout.

I thought the champion Bradley appeared to be the better fighter early, showing he'd improved since their last meeting and had more power.  But the fast pace and the power punches took a lot out of the champion and facing a challenger like Pacquiao you gotta go the distance.  

Its obvious that Manny is not the same fighter he once was. Not that he lacked the 'killer instinct' but the power to kill and finish off a wounded opponent.  

Even he said he was being careful not to get caught with a punch when he knew he was leading the fight and was trying to end it. Manny couldn't put down Bradley and seldom seemed to have him the champion really hurt.  What Manny did right was land punches and adjust to the bruising style that Bradley tried to impose early.  

All three judges had it for Pacquiao, 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112, as he regained his welterweight world title and handed Bradley his first defeat. ESPN.com also had it for Pacquiao, 118-110.

This title fight, Pacquiao vs Bradley II, was one of the better fights of this year.   It pitted two fighters against one another who had something to prove and/or disprove; is Bradley deserving of the championship title? Has Pacquiao lost his killer instinct in the ring?

I believe the fight answered those questions with a Yes and No.  Bradley proved deserving and Manny disproved his critics, sort of.

The fight gave us boxing fans an edge of your seat excitement that was one punch short of being a classic.  Neither fighter could put together the punches nor land the one big punch that would've made him undisputed winner.  Sure Manny got the unanimous decision winning on all three judging scorecards, but Bradley's style and fatigue played more into the hands of Manny, allowing him to score with quick punches in the later rounds.  Manny won a boxing match, he didn't win a FIGHT!

The Intense Ultimate Warrior Passes

Today's news of the death of former wrestling champion James Brian Hellwig, better known as the Ultimate Warrior, is a sad pill to swallow.  It was through cheering on the Ultimate Warrior that I got back into watching wrestling in the wrestle-mania crazed era.

What I liked about Warrior is that he didn't say much, didn't act out much in interviews, but when he came to the ring to fight it was all energy and excitement.  His passion bordered on that of a crazed, caged animal being released into the wild to hunt down and destroy anything in its path.  Warrior was ultimate because he had the muscle and determination to take on anything.  As intimidating and intense as his primal warrior scream was when entering the ring, he always seemed to be fighting for honor and justice. He represented that deep down, ultimate warrior in all of us.

There was rumor in 1991 that the real Ultimate Warrior had died and the new look returning Warrior was a replacement.  I'll admit that the returning Ultimate Warrior seemed a bit watered down and less intense, more commercial than what I'd remembered.  Maybe it was the blonde hair. But nobody could duplicate that gritting mug of the Warrior during his ring shaking, rope rattling battle cry.

The Ultimate fight for me wasn't when Warrior took on Hulk Hogan, defeating him in Wrestlemania IV (1990). Ultimate Warrior would save Hogan's a$$ from a double-team a year later. No, for me it was when Warrior took on The Undertaker with the late great manager Paul Bearer, who passed away a year ago. 

You do remember Bearer don't you?  He was the creepiest manager that ever stood ringside in promotion of a fighter. The Undertaker was gruesome scary, but Paul Bearer and his deathly demeanor was down right spooky to look at. Bearing ashes urn, body bag and all, Paul Bearer was as vile a villain as ever there was. And the Ultimate Warrior tagged and bagged the deadly duo.



RIP Ultimate Warrior 
Hall of Fame Legacy

UCONN Women on Top

Unfortunately I missed the NCAA Women's basketball championship game between Connecticut and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.  I hear the lady Huskies dominated throughout the game.  It was a match-up that pitted two undefeated teams against one another.  Somebody had to lose, there could only be one Queen crowned and the national championship head piece now sits atop the University of Connecticut women's basketball program.

Congratulations go out to the UCONN lady huskies, Queens of the hard court.

Final Score

ND 58        

UCONN 79

UCONN Coach Geno Auriemma - "I'm probably one of the luckiest people in the coaching profession because I get to coach players like Stefanie and Bria" Hartley, Auriemma said, fighting back tears.  

UCONN MEN ON TOP

The madness of march came to a climaxing end with the grace of a flopping flounder, wriggling around on deck of a fishing vessel. The NCAA basketball championship game between Connecticut and Kentucky seemed to me a sloppily played game that somebody had to win. The hustle, bustle and tussle up and down the court made for a game of frenzied desperation.   

I know the young players had come so far and dreamed of this moment in the limelight, but to me both teams stumbled down the stretch toward the finish line.  Maybe it was fatigue, anxiety or both. Whatever the reason for an ugly championship game, it is not for me to analyze. Because in the end it doesn't really matter how you arrive at a championship, only that you get there and win the darn thing.  NCAA, You have a champion, and the University of Connecticut Huskies are that champion.

Congratulations UCONN!

Final Score

UK 54          

CONN 60    

"Somebody told me we were Cinderellas, and I was like, no, we're UConn," coach Kevin Ollie said. "This is what we do. We are born for this. We're bred to cut down nets. We're not chasing championships. Championships are chasing us."

Kevin Ollie - A Championship Coach

Just A Player - Macquarie Bank

Macquarie Group LTD (holey dollar)

2014 Article - Offshore Banking Tax

2012 Article - China, Macquarie and Water

2007 Article - Who's Afraid of Macquarie Bank?

1813 - Governor Macquarie Creates Australia's first coin

Peabo Bryson (For Mom)

 

2001

1. Lovers After All (3:57)
2. Underground Music (4:16)
3. Just Another Day (3:34)
4. Let The Feeling Flow (4:14)
5. I Can Make It Better (5:15)
6. There's No Guarantee (4:51)
7. Impossible (5:52)
8. Love Is Like Money (3:54)
9. Give Me Your Love (4:26)
10. Piece Of My Heart (2:53)
11. Turn The Hands Of Time (3:52)
12. We Don't Have To Talk (About Love) (4:41)
13. Reaching For The Sky (4:56)
14. Remember When (So Much In Love) (5:00)
15. Feel The Fire (5:05)
16. Tonight, I Celebrate My Love (3:55)
17. I'm So Into You (5:52)
18. Maybe (3:21)
19. Crosswinds (6:28)
20. You?re Lookin? Like Love To Me (4:02)
21. If Ever You're In My Arms Again (4:13)
22. She's A Woman (5:24)
23. Gimme Some Time (3:21)
24. Without You (5:14)
25. Show And Tell (5:57)
26. What You Won't Do For Love (4:18)
27. All of My Love (5:28)
28. Minute By Minute (3:20)
29. Can You Stop The Rain (5:29)
30. I Love The Way You Love (5:11)

San Francisco Giants Foil Dodgers Opening Day

San Francisco Giants ruin opening day in L.A. as they whip up on the Dodgers 8-4.  The Dodgers might've hit a few out of the park, but it was the Giants jumping on Da Bums early that set the tone for the day. 

The Giants went up 8-0 in the second inning on some opportune hitting and base running.  Even starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong batted in two runs, but Vogey would leave in the fifth after giving up back to back homers and some runs. New acquisition David Huff came in and settled things down again as Gutierrez, Machi and J. Lopez locked down the Dodgers and secured the victory.

Other newly acquired Giants who contributed in the game were (2B)Brandon Hicks and (LF)Michael Morse.  These guys know how to swing the bat with men on base.  For the record, the Dodgers left 18 men on base to the Giants 7. 

Its so early in the season that you can't read too much into this win. But its good to see that the Giants are hitting the ball good and their pitching is holding up.  Bottom line, they're winning.  And beating the Dodgers in Los Angeles on opening day is a special bonus.  I see good things ahead for the orange and black.  Stay healthy and win series, that's how they'll get back to the big show.  

WEST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
San Francisco	4	1	.800	-	0-0	4-1	31	22	+9	Won 3	4-1
LA Dodgers	4	2	.667	.5	0-1	4-1	23	20	+3	Lost 1	4-2
Colorado	2	3	.400	2	1-0	1-3	27	29	-2	Won 1	2-3
San Diego	1	2	.333	2	1-2	0-0	6	9	-3	Lost 2	1-2
Arizona	1	6	.143	4	1-5	0-1	26	45	-19	Lost 3	1-6

Best Game Winning Shot Announcer - Tim Roye

Of Course it was a game winning Steph Curry shot, in overtime, who else! 

What a call by Warriors play-by-play announcer Tim Roye; suprise, excitement, passion!

Tim Roye is in his 16th season of handling the play-by-play duties for all Warriors radio broadcasts on KNBR (680 AM & 1050 AM), the club’s flagship station. Roye also continues to host a weekly one-hour program on KNBR, "Warriors Weekly Roundtable," throughout the basketball season as well as the Warriors’ pregame and postgame shows.

Stanford Women Reach Final Four

The Stanford Cardinal Women's Basketball Team has just won their regional bracket and will advance to the final four in Nashville, Tennessee.  

What better way than for Cardinal senior forwards, #3 Mikaela Ruef and #13 Chiney Ogwumike, to finish off brilliant college careers than a regional victory on their teams' home court. Congratulations Lady Cardinals.  

Two teams stand in their way toward claiming a NCAA title. One is the favored returning champion Connecticut Huskies, who they'll face this Sunday in a semi-final. Get past the snow dogs and they'll dance with the winner of the Notre Dame vs Maryland game for the title.  

Its within your reach ladies and the hanging fruit is ripe. Now go pluck it!

Final

(4) North Carolina 65

(27-10, 10-6 ACC)

(2) Stanford 74

(33-3, 17-1 Pac-12)