San Fran sports anchor walks off with jacket of Curry’s bodyguard
San Francisco sports anchor accused of stealing a jacket owned by Warriors employee
Mike Shumann, San Francisco sports anchor who played wide receiver for the 49ers’ Super Bowl champs in 1981, is suspected of stealing a coat owned by the security director of the Golden State Warriors, Ralph Walker, better known as Steph Curry’s bodyguard. A security camera revealed Schumann, 62, picking up the jacket after a practice session at AT&T Center in San Antonio for the opening round of the NBA playoffs. Shumann, anchor for KGO and an Emmy winner, apologized to the Warriors for his behavior, but some players said they will not talk to him because he’s lost their trust. One African-American suggested punishment would be swift and severe if a camera had shown a black man carrying off someone else’s jacket.
Between the Lines: KGO has been silent, pending the completion of an in-house “full investigation.” Station management is hoping this incident soon will be forgotten. But it’s weird, even for San Francisco. Hard to see Shumann staying in his job after his contract expires at the end of the year.
Heat boss Riley says his center, Whiteside, was unprepared for postseason
Pat Riley, president of the Miami Heat, called out his center, Hassan Whiteside, for poor preparation, conditioning and effort in the postseason, which ended for Miami in the first round. “By the time we got to the playoffs,” Riley said, “I don’t think we were ready. He wasn’t in great shape. He wasn’t fully conditioned for a playoff battle mentally. He and we got our heads handed to us.” Riley also said Whiteside, who was dominated by Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, needs to repair “the disconnect” between himself and coach Eric Spoelstra.
Between the Lines: Spoelstra was much less critical of Whiteside, pointing out that he “was grinding and battling injuries all season.” Riley said, “I don’t want to give him an excuse.” Clearly, Riley is looking to disconnect Whiteside and his $23 million salary from the organization.
Rosen says the nine teams that passed on him ‘all made a mistake’
Josh Rosen, from UCLA, expected to be among the first five players chosen in the NFL Draft, but he did not go until the 10th slot, after the Arizona Cardinals traded up to get him. He was the fourth QB in the draft – after Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Josh Allen. Rosen considered himself insulted. “For some reason people kept saying I was the best quarterback in the draft,” he said. “And then I wasn’t the best quarterback in the draft. They made nine mistakes ahead of me, and I couldn’t be more excited to prove them all wrong.”
Dear Josh: You proved you’re extremely cocky, which is why some teams shunned you. Did the Broncos make a mistake drafting edge rusher Bradley Chubb when they already had Case Keenum at QB? Did the Colts make a mistake by not drafting you to replace Andrew Luck?
Fan threatens life of Bucs GM Licht on Twitter
From time to time we see examples of how the word “fan” derived from “fanatic.” The security chief of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is investigating a tweet from @LuvDemNoles22 that included criticism of the Bucs’ draft and a photo of a murder scene in King of New York, with this message added: “When I see Jason Licht the next time I roll through Tampa.” The fan later identified himself as Mike Rogers, 38, of Houston, Texas, city and state that do not discourage residents from arming themselves. Rogers said his tweet was just a misguided attempt at humor, that he was “caught up in the moment” when the Bucs’ general manager failed to draft Florida State Seminoles safety Derwin James. It was a draft that was well received by most Buccaneers fans, as it netted the team three likely starters: running back Ronald Jones, defensive tackle Vita Vea and cornerback M.J. Stewart.
Dear Mike: Of course you weren’t seriously planning to haul your guns across multiple state lines to Florida and commit assorted other crimes. But you can never know when police will take an idiot seriously.
Dodgers manager benches Bellinger for not hustling
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the most underperforming team in the major leagues. But even a lousy baseball team must have a Face of the Franchise. Cody Bellinger finds that, unfortunately, he is it. The 22-year-old first baseman did not feel manager Dave Roberts was fair in benching him in the fifth inning Sunday at Arizona for not running harder to second base for a double. “I’m always hustling,” Bellinger said. “It just didn’t make sense to me.” He glided into second base because traditional baseball philosophy emphasizes that when behind, don’t get thrown out at third. “We’re down 4 runs,” he pointed out. “I’m not trying to make an out on the bases going to third.” As it turned out, he was doubled off second to end the inning, which did not elevate Roberts’ mood. “I got to the dugout,” Bellinger said, “and he said I was out of the game.” The Dodgers went on to lose, as they do more often than not (and worse times could be coming, with shortstop Corey Seager out for the season with Tommy John surgery). Some baseball fans see Bellinger as a scapegoat, but Roberts said this was not an isolated incident. He’s spoken to the player before about insufficient effort, even if this was not the most obvious example of it. Examples must be made anyway.
Dear Cody: See if you can find some video of Craig Biggio on the baseball field. View it, and then ask yourself if you’re always hustling.