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Kurtenbach: Empty promises, empty seats. The Giants home opener was all about who wasn’t there

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — It was a mucky day by the Bay.The kind of day — 57 degrees and drizzling — when only the die-hard fans go to the ballgame.The problem for the Giants is that there are no longer enough die-hard fans to fill Oracle Park for a Friday afternoon Opening Day game.Don’t get me wrong; it was a great crowd. The lower bowl was filled with engaged and optimistic fans.And it was a good time out, save for the weather, the cost of concessions, the lack of star players, and the Giants losing 3-1.But there were not 40,711 butts in the seats — a sell-out crowd, as the Giants’ announced in the 7th inning.I’m not naive enough to buy that.Some old-fashioned, boots-on-the-ground journalism says the upper deck was three-quarters full with the mosaic featuring a whole lot of green seats among the black and orange. Plenty of seats were available on the Giants’ official website at first pitch.A “sellout” crowd watches the Giants and Royals in the fourth in...

Former 49ers star Aldon Smith gets jail time for Redwood City DUI

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

(KRON) -- Former San Francisco 49ers star pass rusher Aldon Smith will serve 12 months in jail for a 2021 DUI, court records show. He was also given a five-year term of supervised probation.San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told KRON4 that Smith, 33, rear-ended a Recology work truck at 1:28 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2021, on an Interstate 280 off-ramp at Farm Hill Boulevard. He was found with marijuana in his pockets and empty bottles of rum and vodka in his pickup truck, Wagstaffe said. Here are the walk-up songs for the 2023 SF Giants lineup Smith asked the driver of the truck if he was ok before offering him $1,000 for a ride home instead of calling police, according to Wagstaffe. The driver declined and called California Highway Patrol.Smith originally denied driving the vehicle but was identified by the truck driver, per Wagstaffe. He refused a field sobriety test at first, but a later test revealed his blood-alcohol level was .288. The legal limit to drive is .08. The...

Sports on TV for April 8-9

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

(All times Eastern)Schedule subject to change and/or blackoutsSaturday, April 8AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL5:30 a.m.FS1 — AFL: Port Adelaide at SydneyAUTO RACING4:30 p.m.FS2 — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Qualifying, Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt, Bristol, Tenn.6 p.m.FS2 — NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying, Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt, Bristol, Tenn.8 p.m.FS1 — NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: The Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt, Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt, Bristol, Tenn.10 p.m.FS1 — NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying, Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt, Bristol, Tenn. (Taped)BOXING10 p.m.ESPN — Top Rank Main Card: Shakur Stevenson vs. Shuichiro Yoshino (Featherweights), Newark, N.J.SHO — Showtime Championship Main Card: Sebastian Fundora vs. Brian Mendoza (Super-Welterweights), Carson, Calif.COLLEGE BASEBALL12 p.m.BTN — Iowa at Indiana2 p.m.ESPN2 — Florida at Tennessee3 p.m.BTN — Rutgers at MarylandSECN — Arkansas at Mississippi4 p.m.ACCN — NC State at Wake Forest6 p.m.ESPNU — Mississippi St. at Alab...

Super spike: Chiefs’ Kelce bounces first pitch before opener

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

CLEVELAND (AP) — Travis Kelce showed why he’s best known for catching passes from Patrick Mahomes.Kansas City’s star tight end threw a comically wild ceremonial first pitch Friday before the Guardians’ season opener against the Seattle Mariners.After unbuttoning his jersey to unveil an “I’m From Cleveland” T-shirt, Kelce wound up and then bounced his pitch halfway to the plate. Guardians pitcher Shane Bieber jumped out of the way to avoid injury as the ball rolled to the backstop.Kelce ran down from the mound as if he was about to cover home plate and hugged Bieber to make sure he was OK.Guardians manager Terry Francona was asked if he had any trepidation about putting his ace in such a precarious position.“There would be the next time,” Francona said. “I’m glad he didn’t tackle him.”Kelce joked that his baseball skills were a little rusty.“Been spiking a football for the past 10 years,” Kelce wrote on Twitter. “Can you tell?”Kelce immediately joined the pant...

‘I would rather rot in hell:’ Utah man who fatally shot his wife, 5 kids detailed anger toward her in suicide note

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — ‘I would rather rot in hell:’ Utah man who fatally shot his wife, 5 kids detailed anger toward her in suicide note.Source

Rodríguez homers as Mariners wreck Guardians’ home opener

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

CLEVELAND (AP) — Julio Rodríguez lifted weights following Friday’s game. He flexed during it.The 2022 AL Rookie of the Year hit a tiebreaking two-run homer into the teeth of a strong wind as the Seattle Mariners spoiled Cleveland’s home opener, rallying for a 5-3 win over the Guardians.Rodríguez connected in the sixth inning for the Mariners, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit in their first road game. The 22-year-old Rodríguez hit 28 homers last season while helping Seattle end its 20-year playoff drought.It was just another big moment for Rodríguez, who has been stacking them in two seasons.“I don’t think any expectations are unrealistic on Julio,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “He’s a unique player. He likes to play. Yeah, he may have a bad at-bat here or there, but he squares it up with that kind of power and the wind’s blowing, he can hit it out of the ballpark.”J.P. Crawford hit a pair of RBI doubles off Aaron Civale (1-1) for Seattle, which dropped three of fou...

Dozens of vehicles damaged in fire in Attleboro tow lot 

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

Dozens of vehicles were damaged Friday as a fire burned through a towing facility on the Massachusetts/Rhode Island state line in Attleboro.Officials said the first call reporting the fire came in shortly after 5 p.m. Friday afternoon. Firefighters from Attleboro and Pawtucket, Rhode Island responded. Flames ultimately burned through nearly 50 vehicles. Roughly 75 vehicles parked in the back of Sterry Street Towing and Auto Transport’s facility were damaged. “It wasn’t easy to get back and forth between Pawtucket and Attleboro,” Pawtucket Fire Chief David Cairrao said, noting fences, hills and cars blocking the way in the area. “The companies did an amazing job keeping it from getting into the individual homes,” Cairrao said. SKY7-HD was over the scene Friday, showing burned out vehicles and debris. Speaking later Friday evening, Cairrao said the amount of plastic in the cars involved in this fire, as well as the vehicles’ tires, created “an incredible amoun...

NBA play-in tournament: Chicago Bulls head to Toronto to play the Raptors on Wednesday

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

The Chicago Bulls will face the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday in the NBA play-in tournament.The Raptors lost to the Boston Celtics on Friday to settle for the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference.The Bulls clinched their play-in position earlier this week, with losses to the Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks preventing them from climbing above the 10 seed.If the Bulls win Wednesday, they would have a road game Friday against the loser of the play-in game between the No. 7 seed Miami Heat and No. 8 Atlanta Hawks. Winning both would give the Bulls the No. 8 seed in the East, and they would face the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the NBA playoffs.The Bulls went 1-2 against Raptors this season, winning the Nov. 7 meeting. The Raptors won the last matchup 104-98 on Feb. 28 after the Bulls collapsed in the fourth quarter, allowing an eight-point swing down the stretch.The play-in game will be a homecoming for Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan, who spent the first nine seasons of hi...

Shorthanded Celtics handle Raptors again, will face Heat or Hawks in first round of playoffs

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

As they finish out the regular season this weekend, the Celtics have nothing to play for in the standings. They’re locked in to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.But they still don’t want to lose.“Regardless of who’s playing, I want to win,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said before Friday’s game against the Raptors.A few inexcusable losses to inferior teams cost the Celtics the No. 1 seed, but Mazzulla has otherwise praised the Celtics’ professionalism throughout the season. No matter who’s on the floor – even Friday’s shorthanded edition – he feels like the Celtics always have a great chance to win, a testament to their depth. Even as they do their best to give their regulars proper rest before the most important games, the Celtics are deep enough to win every night.Friday was the latest example. Without Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogdon, and at the last moment, Jaylen Brown, the Celtics weren’t the least bit worried. They still had Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Al Horford, R...

Winderman’s view: Zeller is Heat’s X factor in Y-Z race against Yurtseven

Published Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:00:04 GMT

Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 114-108 loss to the Washington Wizards:– No, not a game with much in the way of meaning or context.– Not with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love given the night off.– But it did clarify one element that likely did not need much in the way of clarifying:– If the Heat need to go three deep in their power rotation in the playoffs beyond Adebayo and Love, it will be Cody Zeller.– It was Zeller who kept the Heat afloat early.– While it was Omer Yurtseven who again was hampered by early foul trouble.– Zeller’s experiences matters.– He is quality insurance.– Yurtseven figures to see mop-up postseason duty, at best.– As was the case at the end Friday.– And then it will get interesting.– With both to be free agents in the offseason.– So the potential of 24-year-old Yurtseven or the known quantity of 30-year-old Z...