A sports view from the left coast
San Francisco Giants fans have to get sick to their stomach whenever they see a collision at home plate. The team lost Buster Posey to a violent crash at home last season, a play that cost the young catcher most of his 2011 season. On Sunday afternoon with the Oakland Athletics at AT&T Park, staff ace Tim Lincecum was involved in a bad crash at the plate.
Fortunately, Lincecum is OK and resumed pitching shortly after. But it was a scare to say the very least for Giants fans. We have a GIF of the play after the jump.
Brian Wilson is known for a lot of things. World Series championship? Check. All-Star Game appearances? Check. Insanely beautiful beard? Check. And despite being out for the season with an arm injury, Wilson remains arguably the most beloved Giant on the team right now for his antics both on and off the field.
On Sunday afternoon as the Giants wrapped up their interleague series with the Athletics, AT&T Park had a pretty cool giveaway for those in attendance: a Brian Wilson garden gnome, complete with beard and Giants hat.
Yes, we have a photo. Yes, you're going to want one.
Head coaches in the NFL seldom hand out big-time compliments to their players. Or at least not in a public manner. Despite a very successful debut season as a head coach in 2011, San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh had some pretty big things to say about young wide receiver Michael Crabtree.
Coach Harbaugh has been around the game for many years, and has played and coached many greats. According to him, though, no one has better hands than Crabtree does.
The Stanford Cardinal are coming off arguably their best season in school history. Following an 11-2 season that earned the team a bid to the Fiesta Bowl. They will lose a lot through graduation and the NFL Draft -- most notably star quarterback Andrew Luck -- and are still transitioning to a new head coach.
The California Golden Bears had an up-and-down season in 2011 and will look for consistency next season. Despite quite a bit of talent returning in the fall, folks really aren't too sure what to expect from the squad in what will be a difficult Pac-12.
ESPN recently released their final pre-preseason rankings for the upcoming year. Where did they have the Cardinal ranked?
In the wake of the New Orleans Saints' bounty scandal, there will naturally be some second guessing and revisiting of games to try and determine just how widespread the intentional injury causing hits may be, league wide. Recently, when asked if he ever felt targeted in that way, Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger singled out the San Francisco 49ers. He said.
"I think when we played San Fran, I felt like there were some things going on, some extra . . . Now, obviously, I did have the ankle (injury) and I was playing, so there was kind of a bull's-eye on there anyway. But for the most part, guys play tough and you go into a game expecting it. I expect to be tougher than them."
49ers defensive end Aldon Smith, who picked up 2.5 sacks in the Niners 20-3 win over Pittsburgh, took exception to these comments from Big Ben, as he told Matt Barrows.
The NFLPA rookie premiere was this week down in Los Angeles, and SB Nation's very own Amy K. Nelson and Dan Ruebenstein were in attendance to catch up some of the best and brightest in the NFL.
Once such player was San Francisco 49ers rookie A.J. Jenkins, who had quite the interesting anecdote for Amy K. in regards to the origins of his nickname 'Stankin' Jenkins.'
The Stanford Cardinal are essentially replacing the best offensive unit in school history. The California Golden Bears displayed flashes of brilliance at times in 2011, but it seemed like they would always slip up whenever there was a chance to take that next step towards the top of the Pac-12.
Both schools have completed their spring camps and are now eagerly awaiting the start of summer workouts and practices in anticipation for the 2012 regular season. Both schools will likely hit a few bumps along the way, but they had some players really emerge in the last few months.
The San Diego Padres designated veteran infielder Orlando Hudson for assignment on Wednesday after another subpar season down south in Petco Park, while the San Francisco Giants have an infield filled with Fresno's finest call-ups due to injuries. Should the San Francisco Giants look into acquiring the aging O-Dog?
The Stanford Cardinal have three representatives on Phil Steele's All-American teams (which you can view by clicking here), all of whom are high up there. There's one man on the first team in Stanford linebacker Shayne Skov, who figures to be a candidate for Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. There's running back Stepfan Taylor, who will be asked to carry the offense now that Andrew Luck is gone. And there's linebacker Chase Thomas, who will try to provide much-needed pass rush for Stanford.
The Oakland Raiders' starting middle linebacker for the 2012 season has been sentenced to jail for 180 days. The trial, which started earlier this morning, resulted in Rolando McClain being found guilty of assault, reckless endangerment and the menacing and wrongful discharge of a firearm.
McClain has already stated that he will appeal the case, but the 180 days in jail should not be his biggest concern at this point. While six months in jail is certainly a long time, people almost never serve the entire sentence, especially for a first time offender (I have yet to read that McClain has any other convictions on his record). So while McClain will likely serve a much smaller amount of time in jail, he could still be prevented from playing in the NFL until well into next season.
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