740 The Game

Will NBA free agents flee Western Conference for easy road in East?

With the NBA Draft in our rearview mirrors the focus for basketball fans throughout the remainder of the summer turns to the dealings of free agency.

Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders joined Carnahan Chronicles on AM 740 The Game to discuss a handful of topics from around the National Basketball Association.

Among those is a story he wrote about marque players choosing to leave the Wester Conference in favor of teams in the East in hopes of an easier path to the NBA Finals.

“I think it’s very possible that we’ll see players that are out West coming to the Eastern Conference, or free agents that are in the Eastern Conference staying out East, because players understand that the Western Conference is brutal right now. It’s hard to make a Finals run. You can be on a loaded team in the West and still miss the playoffs,” Kennedy said.

( – Click here for J.C.’s interview with Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders – )

Kennedy touches on a handful of NBA topics throughout the segment with a focus on players and teams from both central Florida and northeast Ohio.

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Harold Hitt talks first baseball state title at Oviedo High School

Oviedo High School’s baseball team had made four trips to the state final four before this season but were never able to advance past the semifinals to play in a title game.

That all changed last week as the Lions pounded Plant City Durant 12-0 in a Class 7A semifinal Wednesday before claiming their first championship with a 9-5 triumph of Sarasota a day later.

I covered the Lions in a region title game for the Orlando Sentinel a week earlier as they hosted Tallahassee Chiles, a team they lost to in the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

Oviedo coach Harold Hitt joined me on Carnahan Chronicles on AM 740 The Game Saturday morning to talk about the championship run by the Lions, the standouts on the team that helped make it happen, and the amount of quality baseball Central Florida has produced over the years.

( – Click here to listen to Coach Hitt and J.C. on AM 740 The Game – )

Oviedo, led this year by pitchers Cooper Bradford and Cameron Peppiatt, previously reached the state final four in 1986, 1992, 2001 and 2002.

Kenosha, Wis. is most interesting story in 1st round of NFL Draft

Something unique took place in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday that hasn’t happened since 1997.

When Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes was selected No. 11 overall by the Minnesota Vikings and Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon was taken No. 15 by the San Diego Chargers, it marked just the fifth time since 1990 that high school teammates were drafted together in the opening round.

Waynes and Gordon starred on opposite sides of the ball at Bradford High School in Kenosha, Wis., home of Heisman Trophy winner Alan Ameche of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and former NBA All Star Nick Van Exel.

(Click here for a video feature on Waynes and Gordon via Big Ten Network)

The Big Ten rivals are the first set of high school teammates to earn such a distinction since Texas cornerback Bryant Westbrook was drafted No. 5 overall by the Detroit Lions and Nebraska cornerback Michael Booker went No. 11 overall to the Atlanta Falcons. Westbrook and Booker played together at El Camino High School in Oceanside, Calif.

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Top high school baseball team in nation remains unbeaten

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – When you’re the No. 1 high school baseball team in the nation, in both the USA Today and MaxPreps rankings, each game feels like so much is on the line.

Olympia baseball

Olympia won the Florida League High School Invitational on Saturday to improve to 17-0-1.

Orlando’s Olympia High School improved to 17-0-1 on the season Saturday while defending its Florida League High School Invitational title with a 2-0 win over Pembroke Pines Charter at Lake Brantley High School.

The national attention will continue to follow the Titans as they near postseason play.

“We try not to focus on that,” Olympia coach Chuck Schall said. “The rankings and all that, it’s always there, but we try not to let those expectations dictate how we play.

“Every time we win these close ballgames it just makes us tougher.”

Olympia is winning close games thanks to a stable of quality pitchers and equally impressive efforts defensively.

(Read more about Olympia’s recent win at Orlando Sentinel and 740 The Game)

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Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Ernie Banks passes, changes in MLB, Klay Thompson sets record, Orlando Magic struggle, legacy of Mike Krzyzewski, potential strike in MLS

Cliff Bell of CRB Entertainment and Open Mike producer Mike Venditti joined the show Saturday morning to talk about a number of different topics in the world of baseball, basketball and soccer.

Check the links below to listen in on the conversations.

– We got things started by paying our respects to “Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks before talking about the proposed pitching changes Major League Baseball plans to experiment with at the Double-A and Triple-A levels this coming year.

– We then talked about the NBA record-setting night put together by Klay Thompson during a 37-point third quarter outburst and how the Orlando Magic continue to struggle against the worst teams in the league. Shout out to Brian for calling into the show to share his thoughts on the Magic.

– The show finished up with a rundown of the top pro and college basketball games scheduled over the next few days, talk about legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski chasing his 1,000th win and about how a potential strike in Major League Soccer could impact the start of Orlando City Soccer Club’s professional debut.

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Jameis Winston, NFL injuries, Orlando City Changes, MLB Postseason, Giancarlo Stanton injury

The Carnahan Chronicles weekly radio show on AM 740 The Game got back up and running this week with a number of topics from the world of football, soccer and baseball.

Producer Chris Vazquez joined in on the conversation about the Jameis Winston suspension and college football weekend, along with recent injuries in the National Football League. We also talked about the injury to Giancarlo Stanton and the postseason races in Major League Baseball after answering a call from Austin about the Orlando City Soccer Club interview with Dennis Chin.

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Chris talk Jameis Winston and college football – )

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Chris talk injuries in NFL and upcoming schedule – )

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Chris talk MLB postseason and take call about OCSC – )

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Updates on Orlando City, MLB Standings, WNBA Finals, FIBA World Cup, NASCAR

On Saturday we opened the show on AM 740 The Game talking about the final regular season game in USL PRO for the Orlando City Soccer Club before going on to talk about current standings in Major League Baseball, the start of the WNBA Finals, the lack of interest in the FIBA World Cup and the final race of the NASCAR regular season.

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Chris open the show with topics from around world of sports – )

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: August 16, 2014 Edition

On Saturday I took to the AM 740 The Game airwaves to talk about a number of topics for the past week alongside producer Chris Vazquez. Check out each segment listed below.

– Click here to listen to us talk about the sports movie Robin Williams appeared in and the dirt-track racing accident involving NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

– Click here to listen to us talk about Blake Bortles and pro football teams in Florida along with other NFL preseason topics.

– Click here to listen to us talk about the 2014-15 Orlando Magic schedule and the Team USA Basketball squad.

– Click here to listen to us talk about the Orlando City Soccer Club, Major League Baseball and other odds and ends to close out the show.

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Herkie Walls Remembers Former Orlando Predators Coach Perry Moss

It was a sad week in the world of the Arena Football League (and nearly every other football league imaginable across the globe, for that matter) as the game lost one of its great minds in coach Perry Moss, who passed away peacefully under the care of Hospice on Thursday at the age of 88.

When word got out about the final days of Coach Moss more than a week ago, touching tributes were written by Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel and Adam Markowitz at ArenaFan.

On Saturday I was joined on AM 740 The Game by Herkie Walls, who played for Moss while with the Orlando Predators in the 1990s, to talk about the impact the coach had on his life. Walls also touched on the state of the AFL and the recent success of the Preds as they enter Sunday’s conference championship game against the Cleveland Gladiators at 3 p.m.

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Herkie Walls talk about Perry Moss and the AFL – )

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Interview with Alan Amron about First Down Laser

The sports we play and the way we watch them continue to evolve. On Saturday I was joined by inventor Alan Amron on AM 740 The Game to talk about one particular change that could be the most drastic and fan-friendly to date.

Amron has met with the National Football League in recent years about upgrading its chain gang with a new technology called the First Down Laser, which would stretch the width of the field and be visible to fans at stadiums across the country much in the same way the yellow first down marker is on television.

More information on the technology can be found at First Down Laser and Sports Laser Technologies. Check the link below to listen in on the conversation and click HERE for more about Amron and his Post-it Notes Press-on Memo invention.

( – Click here to listen to J.C. interview Alan Amron about First Down Laser – )

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: MLS All-Stars Host Bayern Munich Aug. 6

The excitement from this year’s World Cup has yet to let up here in the United States, and that’s good news for Major League Soccer. On Aug. 6 the MLS All-Stars host Germany’s Bayern Munich in Portland with a number of US Men’s National Team players chosen to take part, including USMNT snub Landon Donovan.

( – Click here to view the 2014 MLS All-Star roster – )

On Saturday Simon Borg of Major League Soccer joined me on AM 740 The Game to talk about a number of soccer topics. We chatted about the fan’s picks for the all-star roster this year and Borg explained how Designating Player signings like Graham Zusi will help the league evolve over the years. I also asked what factored into Dom Dwyer missing out on being an all-star this year.

( – Click here to listen to J.C.’s interview with Simon Borg of Major League Soccer – )

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Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Tampa Bay Rays Turning Season Around

If there’s one division foe in the AL East that gets fans of the Tampa Bay Rays fired up it’s got to be the Boston Red Sox. The past decade has been full of bad blood between the teams and provided plenty of footnotes worth reviewing throughout the rivalry.

On Friday they met again at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, where David Price continued his dominance this season with 10 strikeouts in a 6-4 win. Ben Zobrist finished 4-for-4 at the plate with an RBI in the seventh and Evan Longoria drove in three runs on a crucial double that same inning to put the Rays in front for good.

The series will continue throughout the weekend. Andrew Astleford of Fox Sports Florida joined me Saturday morning on AM 740 The Game to talk about the turnaround.

( – Click here to listen to J.C.’s interview with Andrew Astleford of Fox Sports Florida – )

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Carnahan Chronicles Radio: How Tom Chambers Changed the Course of NBA Free Agency

The hysteria that’s become free agency in the NBA has been at an all-time high in recent years. So much so that it’s hard to imagine a time when players moving from team to team was such a foreign concept.

But thanks to one particular player, who thoroughly explored his options in the late 1980s, players today are able to call their own shots when it comes to employment opportunities within the league much in the same manner as those in the working class, albeit with much better compensation.

During the summer of 1988 Tom Chambers became the first NBA player to leave one franchise for another, on his own terms, when he went from the Seattle SuperSonics to the Phoenix Suns. Sam Gardner wrote about how Chambers paved the way for free agency in the NBA as we know it today and he joined me on AM 740 The Game to talk about it Saturday morning.

( – Click here to listen to J.C. talk to Sam Gardner about Tom Chambers’ impact on free agency – )

Carnahan Chronicles Debuts Saturday, July 12 on AM 740 The Game

After more than a month of preparation we’re now less than a week away from the debut of my new sports talk radio show. Carnahan Chronicles makes its debut this Saturday, July 12 from 10 a.m.-11 a.m. (followed by EK Sports) on AM 740 The Game in Orlando and worldwide at iHeartRadio.

( – Click here to LIKE the Carnahan Chronicles page on Facebook – )

The weekly show will focus on local and national sports topics with an emphasis on the upcoming sports schedule. We’ll be touching on professional, minor league, college and high school sports and encouraging listeners to take part in the show by calling 407-916-8255 or 800-729-8255.

Hope to have you along for the ride this season.

( – Click here to LISTEN to the Carnahan Chronicles show intro – )