SUPER BOWL LX IS HERE

 

      A heralded defense vs. an underrated one. A celebrated second-year quarterback vs. a veteran QB who has gone from perceived bust to beloved. An All-Pro wide receiver vs. one of the NFL’s best young cornerbacks.

     This year’s Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots (17-3) and Seattle Seahawks (16-3) is all about contrasts.

     And it starts with the coaches who will lead their teams onto the field.

     Being a part of the final game of the NFL season is nothing new for Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a player with New England.

     Vrabel, 50, can become the fifth person in NFL history to win the Super Bowl as both a player and a head coach, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Mike Ditka, Tony Dungy and Tom Flores as well as Doug Pederson.

    He’ll match wits with 38-year-old Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, who is in his first Super Bowl in just his second year in Seattle.

 

     While this technically is a rematch of Super Bowl 49, won by the Patriots in dramatic fashion thanks to Malcolm Butler’s interception of Russell Wilson, this is certainly a new era for both teams.

     New England’s season has a Cinderella-like feel to it, but the belief and trust that Vrabel’s players have in him is very real. They feel like they are taking the field with a guy who gets what they’ve gone through.

     And that could be the thing that gets this Patriots team over the hump.

     The Seahawks, meanwhile, dominated this season in a way that they expected of themselves. En route to rattling off the most regular-season wins in franchise history, Seattle nicknamed its defense the “Dark Side.”

     The confidence this group exudes is abundantly clear, whether it be in practices, games or media availabilities.

     For Seattle, this Super Bowl is not a shot at redemption for 11 years ago; rather, it is a chance to separate itself as one of the best teams in franchise history.

 

CHICO STATE BASEBALL SOLVES HITTING WOES IN 11-0 ROUT OF POINT LOMA 

 

     The Chico State baseball team was mired in a befuddling season opening slump. Through their first six games of the season the Wildcats were hitting .238 as a team, only .200 with runners on base and a woeful 5-for-47 with runners in scoring position. Even more alarming were their struggles to get any extra base hits, managing only four extra base hits in six games.

     That all changed on Saturday afternoon as Chico scored 11 runs in their first three innings and banging out seven hits with runners in scoring position in an 11-0 win over west region powerhouse Point Loma. Despite losing three-out-of-four in the series the Wildcats head into a four game series next Friday against Western Oregon with new-found confidence after their offensive onslaught on Saturday.

     The Wildcats wer led by senior Jesse Gadd who went 3-for-3 with 5 RBI. Six Chico State pitchers combined on the six-hit shut-out as Wildcat hurlers kept the Sea Lion potent offense in check surrenderring only two walks in the shut-out. 

     With the win the Wildcats are now 2-5 on the season, while Point Loma falls to 4-3. Chico will host Western Oregon in a four game series next week with a double-header on KpaySports 1290 & 102.9 beginning at 1:45pm on Friday, a single-game on 93.9 KPAY on Saturday at 1:45pm and a single game on KpaySports 1290 & 102.9 at 11:45am on Sunday.

 

WILDCAT WOMEN STOP SKID WHILE MEN FALL IN MERCED

CHICO WOMEN 83-73 WIN

CHICO MEN FALL 86-76

 

      It has been a long three weeks for the Chico State women's basketball team. They not only lost possibly their most impactful player to a knee injury (Meadow Aragon) but the team has been besieged by what is begrudgingly being called the "yuckity yucks" with congestion, flu-like symptoms, fevers and coughs matriculating it's way through the squad, the Wildcats have been swallowed up by a four-game losing streak that has seen them fall from a first place tie, to a tie for 3rd in the CCAA. 

 

     After falling to last place Stanislaus on Thursday one had to wonder what was in store for the Wildcats on Saturday in Merced. The hot-shooting Wildcats would build a double-digit lead seeing it balloon to 26 points early in the 4th quarter only to see Merced stage a furious 4th quarter rally going on a 19-0 run and cutting the lead to seven with just over 4 minutes to go. But, Chico right the ship and hang for the 83-73 win. 

     Madison Parry led Chico with 22 points 13 rebounds and 4 assists. Kamil Reid scored 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting.