San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Deep thoughts, cheap shots & bon mots ...
Can’t wait to see the Giants’ new monster video screen.
Can’t wait to see the Giants field a team worth featuring on their new monster video screen.
The first thing I’m going to do at a Giants’ game is take a selfie of myself watching the game on the giant video screen, then text it out to all my buds, then check my email and Twitter accounts, then check my app for Giants in-game updates.
Any time the discussion comes around to NBA refs and what the heck they’re watching, Exhibit A will be three refs not seeing Kevin Durant, off the court far enough to order a hot dog, slap that loose ball to a teammate in the game against the Rockets.
The 49ers fired their strength coach because they want to cut down on injuries. If they find a strength coach who can prevent knee ligament injuries, they will have found someone truly special.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s knee blowout remains the mystery injury of the NFL season. If he can mangle a knee on a simple left turn out of bounds, the 49ers better make sure Jimmy G doesn’t do anything really dangerous, like mow a lawn or push a shopping cart.
LeBron James is about to discover what the Warriors have known for a long time. The best time to be injured is right about now, a nice 10-game (or so) midseason rest. He’ll be fresher come the playoffs.
A Rick Barry bobblehead is buried in the cement under the Chase Center floor where one free-throw line will be. Barry must still shake his head at players stubbornly defying the laws of physics by shooting free throws overhand. Basic stuff. Many free-throw attempts contact the rim. A shot released from a lower angle — as in underhanded — has a larger target as it approaches the hoop on its downward trajectory and gets fewer and softer, friendlier bounces as a result.
I’m pretty sure I remember seeing guys back circa 1960 who shot two-handed set shots underhand.
In the old days, pro teams liked to draft local college stars, to boost fan interest. Now that’s not much of a factor, but couldn’t the 49ers and Raiders both use a guy like Stanford’s JJ Arcega-Whiteside, a projected second-rounder? He’s really good at catching a football. Warriors coach Steve Kerr gave Harden a compliment. Sort of. “Certain players change the game,” Kerr said. Harden “is one of those guys. He has changed the way people draw fouls and ... he’s the best in the league at it.”
Can we give Harden the Best Actor award and then ask the NBA refs to stop sending him to the line every time he flings himself to the court?
What Harden does is an art, but so is pickpocketing.
made a double bogey Thursday and a triple bogey Friday, eliminated big numbers and had a 68. He was four behind. Hockey: Kaapo Kakko scored with 1:26 left to give Finland its fifth world junior hockey title, 3-2 over the United States in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kakko broke a tie after the United States rallied on goals by current Sharks prospect Alexander Chmelevski and former Sharks prospect Josh Norris in a 1:46 span midway through the third.
Jesse Ylonen opened the scoring on a power play midway through the second period, and Otto Latvala made it 2-0 in the third — 1:01 before the U.S. began the rally. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves for Finland, and Cayden Primeau stopped 28 shots for the U.S.
Finland also won titles in 1987, 1998, 2014 and 2016. The U.S. won the last of its four titles in 2017.
Horse racing: Justify, Accelerate and Monomoy Girl were the three finalists announced for Horse of the Year. The top prize will be handed out at the Eclipse Awards on Jan. 24. Justify won the Triple Crown, Accelerate won the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Monomoy Girl
capped her year with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza has returned to exercising horses at Santa Anita for the first time since being seriously injured in a training accident last summer. Espinoza, 46, suffered fractured vertebrae and other injuries in a July 22 accident at Del Mar. He has spent the past five months rehabilitating in the San Diego area.
Skiing: In Zagreb, Croatia, U.S. star Mikaela Shiffrin dominated the first women’s World Cup slalom of 2019 to match her personal best winning streak of seven in the discipline.
Soccer: Cesc Fabregas waved to all corners of Stamford Bridge, patted the badge on his Chelsea jersey, and was hugged by teammates David Luiz and Eden Hazard as he walked off the field near the end of an emotional 2-0 win over secondtier Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup. Fabregas likely played his last game for Chelsea — and in English football — ahead of a reported move to French league team Monaco.
Also, Manchester United beat second-tier Reading 2-0 an FA Cup match.