Friday, March 29, 2013


With the winning streak over, the Miami Heat did what they needed to do yesterday - they took the day off - as they prepare to take care of business over the final eleven games of the regular season.  Tonight, they are in New Orleans to face the Hornets.  Tipoff is at 8:00 pm, and you can watch the game on Sun Sports and nationally on NBA-TV.  A Heat player with a lot of experience with streaks is forward Shane Battier, who was part of a 32-game winning streak at Duke, then a 22-game streak with the Houston Rockets, and now the 27-game winning streak with the Heat.  He said that the focus, effort, and luck this Heat team had was phenomenal.  Bottom line, you need all three for a streak like that to last.  The media coverage was suffocating, and the fans, whether they love or hate the Heat, were watching intensely game in and game out.  Great streak for the team, great moment for the league.  Time to begin the next chapter, and concentrate on a second consecutive NBA championship.  After tonight’s game in New Orleans, the Heat travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs on Easter Sunday.  Game time on Sunday is 7:00 pm, and it will be televised on Sun Sports and nationally on NBA-TV.     

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  What are the longest active streaks in sports going on now?  Tell you later, alligator.

In the NBA yesterday,

Milwaukee 113 LA Lakers 103
All five Milwaukee starters scored over 16 points, led by Larry Sanders, who finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds.  Kobe Bryant had 30 in the loss for the Lakers, who are now only half a game ahead of Utah for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.  Dallas is 1 1/2 games behind the Lakers, and even Portland is still not out of it, 3 games behind. 

Indiana 103 Dallas 78
Paul George led the Pacers with 24 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.  Roy Hibbert contributed with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Sacramento 117 Phoenix 103
DeMarcus Cousins finished with 34 points and 14 rebounds in only 30 minutes of action.  Isaiah Thomas had 23 points and eight assists in the win.

TONIGHT IN THE NBA:  

Miami @ New Orleans        8:00 pm Sun Sports, NBA-TV
Washington @ Orlando 7:00 pm
Atlanta @ Boston 7:30 pm
Charlotte @ New York 7:30 pm
Toronto @ Detroit 7:30 pm
Philadelphia @ Cleveland      7:30 pm
Houston @ Memphis   7:30 pm
Oklahoma City @ Minnesota 7:30 pm
LA Clippers @ San Antonio 8:30 pm
Brooklyn @ Denver 9:00 pm
Utah @ Portland 10:00 pm

In college hoops, four semifinal games in each of two regionals last night, with the other two regionals taking place tonight.  The finals for these regionals to take us to the Final Four will be played Saturday and Sunday.  In last night’s games,

Southeast Regional

Marquette 71 Miami 61
The large thud you heard was the Hurricanes‘ dream season coming to a sudden, unexpected end as they hit a brick wall. Miami shot a poor 35% from the field as Marquette advances to the Great Eight for the first time since 2003.  They will take on 

Syracuse 61 Indiana 50
The Orange defense dominated the #1-seeded Hoosiers and held them to their lowest point total this season.  Michael Carter-Williams scored 24 points to lead Syracuse.

Marquette will face Indiana tomorrow to in the Southeast Regional finals.

West Regional

Ohio State 73 Arizona 70
Deshaun Thomas scored 20 points and LaQuinton Ross added 17 points off the bench, including the game-winning three-pointer with two seconds left in the game.  

Wichita State 72 LaSalle 58
The Shockers reach the Elite Eight for the first time in 32 years.  Malcolm Armstead scored 18 points and Carl Hall added 16 in the win.

The Western Regional finals will be tomorrow between Ohio State and Wichita State.

TONIGHT’S GAMES, STARTING TIMES, AND BROADCAST INFO:

Midwest Regional

Louisville vs Oregon              7:15 pm CBS

Duke  vs Michigan State         9:45 pm CBS

South Regional

Kansas vs Michigan               7:37 pm TBS

Florida vs Florida Gulf Coast 9:57 pm TBS

The winners of tonight’s games will meet on Sunday to determine who advances to the Final Four.

Here’s the complete Bracket, so you can see what yours and mine DID NOT look like:


Here are my bracket selections for the tournament, along with where I went wrong: 

Sweet Sixteen

Louisville vs St. Louis Oregon

Duke vs Michigan State

Kansas vs VCU Michigan

Florida vs Georgetown Florida Gulf Coast

Ole Miss LaSalle vs Gonzaga Wichita State

Ohio State vs New Mexico Arizona

Indiana vs Syracuse

Marquette vs Miami

Elite Eight

Louisville vs Duke

Ohio State vs Gonzaga Wichita State

Kansas vs Florida

Miami Marquette vs Indiana Syracuse

Final Four

Louisville vs Ohio State
Miami vs Florida
National Championship game

Louisville vs Miami

National Champions

Louisville

In exhibition baseball, the Marlins played their last grapefruit league game of the spring against the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday.  Minor league pitcher Justin Nicolino, who came over in the Toronto trade, gave up the only run of the game in the first inning as the Redbirds beat the Fish, 1-0.  Great outing for the youngster, who went five innings.  The Marlins had two hits all day, a leadoff bunt single by Juan Pierre, and a single by Giancarlo Stanton in the seventh inning.  Local product Jon Jay doubled in the first and scored on a Matt Holliday single.  The Fish will play an exhibition game against their triple-A affiliate, the New Orleans Zephyrs in the Big Easy on Saturday, before they open up their regular season on Monday, in Washington, against the Nationals.    

Here are all the scores from yesterday’s spring training games.  You can “click” on the box scores and the recap under each individual game’s line score.  


It seems a little surreal, but the MLB season begins on Sunday, when the Texas Rangers travel to Houston to take on the Astros.  This will be the Astros’ first game as an American League team. First pitch will be at 8:00 pm, and you can watch the game on ESPN.  Bud Norris will toe the rubber for the Astros, while Matt Harrison will start for the Rangers. 

Going back to the Astros for just a moment, the team has reduced payroll to $25 million this season, about $4 million less than what Alex Rodriguez will make this season, even though he isn’t expected to even smell a baseball field until the second half of the season, if at all.  The real number, what the Astros are paying players on their roster is around $19 million, as Houston is paying about $5 million of Wandy Rodriguez’ salary, and Wandy is now playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  That $19 million number is the lowest payroll number in baseball since (you guessed it) the Marlins, whose payroll in 2006 was a ridiculous $15 million.  The Astros are making the Marlins, whose payroll sits at around $40 million this season, look like big spenders.  

I reiterate my position on baseball salaries.  MLB should have a MINIMUM team payroll established.  If you cannot afford that minimum number, whatever MLB determines that number to be, then those owners should just sell their teams, get out of the game and open a couple of fast food restaurants with their money.

In Marlins news, Chris Valaika and Chris Coghlan received good news as the Fish get closer to reaching their regular season roster limit on Saturday at 3:00 pm.  The Marlins also just came to terms with backup catcher Miguel Olivo, who will back up Rob Brantly this season.  Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post has all the details:


Joe Frisaro of MLB.com gives us his projected opening day lineup for the Marlins.  What a difference a year makes:


The Yankees released Juan Rivera yesterday, deciding to keep veteran Lyle Overbay, who was released by the Boston Red Sox a couple of days ago.  Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com has the details:


The injury bug is not limited to the Yankees, as the other Big Apple team, the Mets painfully learned yesterday.  Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com has the bad news concerning former Cy Young award winner Johan Santana:


In Miami Dolphin news, the Dolphins added some beef and bulk to both sides of the ball.  The team came to terms with free agent guard Lance Louis and defensive lineman Vaughn Martin.  

In NFL news, ESPN.com is reporting that Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are close to completing a contract extension that would make him the highest paid player in league history:


In college baseball, FIU take on Arkansas State in a three-game series beginning tonight at FIU stadium.  Meanwhile, the University of Miami is in Charlottesville, where they will take on the Virginia Cavaliers in a three-game weekend series.  

I want to thank my good friend “O.D.” Villavicencio for sharing this next story with us.  A couple of years ago, St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny wrote what he called “The Matheny Manifesto”, intended for youth baseball coaches and, especially, parents.  It is one of the most thought provoking and incredibly accurate collection of thoughts that I have ever come across on the subject of youth sports.  You really have to read this and share it with anyone you think would benefit from it:

  
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  What are the longest active streaks in sports going on now?        

In college basketball, there are three streaks in women’s basketball that jump out - Baylor has won 32 in a row, Notre Dame has 28, and Delaware has a streak of 27 consecutive victories.  In men’s college basketball, Louisville has a 12-game streak going into tonight’s sweet 16 game against Oregon.  The NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins have a 14-game winning streak, and in the NBA, the New York Knicks have the longest active streak, although it is only a modest 6 games in a row.     

IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com

Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day. 
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Thursday, March 28, 2013


The winning streak is history as the Miami Heat lost to the Chicago Bulls last night 101-97.  The Lakers’ record of 33 consecutive wins will remain in the record books as the longest in US professional sports.  LeBron James and his teammates are handling the loss just like they handled the 27 straight wins - with class and humility.  The Bulls, like every other opponent the Heat faced as they got closer to the record, were playing like it was the 7th game of the finals, as evidenced by the celebration inside the United Center after the game.  A number of hard fouls, flagrant fouls that were not called, and extremely physical play by the Bulls played a huge role last night, as well as a rebounding advantage for the Bulls, coupled with a poor shooting night for the Heat, who shot a measly 25.7% from outside the paint.  Miami was able to drive to the basket, but was not able to convert  when they passed to open shooters.  LeBron finished with 32 points, but only had 3 assists, his third fewest number in a game this season.  I never look at a loss as a good thing, but now it is time to concentrate on the remaining games of the regular season, stay healthy, and fine-tune your game as they go for a second world championship in a row.  The team will return to the court tomorrow in New Orleans against the Hornets, and will be in San Antonio on Sunday to take on the Spurs.  Great games, terrific rallies, and incredible comebacks during the streak, now it is time to get ready to win the championship.  

In the rest of the NBA yesterday,

Atlanta 107 Toronto 88
26 points and 12 rebounds for Al Horford, and Jeff Teague finished with 24 points and 13 assists.
Philadelphia 100 Milwaukee 92
Damien Wilkins and Jrue Holliday led the Sixers with 18 points, and Spencer Hawes scored 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.

Charlotte 114 Orlando 108
Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson scored 34 points apiece.

Boston 93 Cleveland 92
Jeff Green finished with 21 points, including the game-winning layup at the buzzer.  The Celtics rallied from a 14-point deficit with eight minutes left in the game.

New York 108 Memphis 101
JR Smith scored a game-high 35 points off the bench, Carmelo Anthony had 22 points and seven rebounds.

LA Clippers 105 New Orleans 91
Blake Griffin had 19 points, Chris Paul scored 16 points and distributed 9 assists.

Indiana 100 Houston 91
Roy Hibbert led the way with 28 points and 13 rebounds.

Oklahoma City 103 Washington 80
Russell Westbrook had 21 points, Kevin Durant chipped in with 20.

LA Lakers 120 Minnesota 117
Kobe Bryant had 31 points, Dwight Howard finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds.

San Antonio 100 Denver 99
Tim Duncan had 23 points and 14 rebounds, Danny Green had 20 points, and Tony Parker had 18 points and 11 assists.

Utah 103 Phoenix 88
Gordon Hayward and Al Jefferson scored 25 points apiece.

Sacramento 105 Golden State 98
Isiah Thomas scored a game-high 31 points and dished out seven assists.

Brooklyn 111 Portland 93
Monster game for Reggie Evans who finished with 22 points and 26 rebounds.  Brook Lopez led the Nets with 28 points.

TONIGHT IN THE NBA:  

LA Lakers @ Milwaukee 8:00 pm
Indiana @ Dallas 8:30 pm
Sacramento @ Phoenix 10:00 pm


TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Who is the only University of Miami basketball player that is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame?  Tell you later, alligator.


In college hoops, the NCAA tournament takes center stage again tonight, as we dwindle down from the sweet sixteen.  The match-ups are as follow: 

TONIGHT’S GAMES:

Southeast Regional

Miami vs Marquette 7:15 pm CBS

Indiana vs Syracuse 9:45 pm CBS

West Regional

Arizona vs Ohio State 7:47 pm TBS

LaSalle vs Wichita State 10:17 pm TBS


TOMORROW’S GAMES:

Midwest Regional

Louisville vs Oregon 7:15 pm CBS

Duke vs Michigan State 9:45 pm CBS

South Regional

Kansas vs Michigan 7:37 pm TBS

Florida vs Florida Gulf Coast 9:57 pm TBS

Here’s the complete Bracket, so you can see what yours and mine DID NOT look like:


Here are my bracket selections for the tournament, along with where I went wrong.  (Look at it on the bright side - Seven out of my picks to be in the Elite Eight teams are still dancing): 

Sweet Sixteen

Louisville vs St. Louis Oregon

Duke vs Michigan State

Kansas vs VCU Michigan

Florida vs Georgetown Florida Gulf Coast

Ole Miss LaSalle vs Gonzaga Wichita State

Ohio State vs New Mexico Arizona

Indiana vs Syracuse

Marquette vs Miami

Elite Eight

Louisville vs Duke

Ohio State vs Gonzaga

Kansas vs Florida

Miami vs Indiana

Final Four

Louisville vs Ohio State
Miami vs Florida
National Championship game

Louisville vs Miami

National Champions

Louisville

In exhibition baseball, the Marlins and the Boston Red Sox squared off yesterday in Fort Myers and both starters, Kevin Slowey of the Marlins, and Jon Lester of the Sox, were terrific.  After Slowey was told that he was part of the rotation, and Lester was informed that he would be Boston’s opening day starter, they responded with solid outings.  Slowey gave up a run and five innings, while Lester fired four shutout innings.  The Marlins got to the Sox bullpen, as Daniel Pertusati drove in four runs leading the Fish to a 5-1 win.  The Fish wrap up their Grapefruit League season today at 1:05 pm against the Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.  Justin Nicolino will start for the Fish, Lance Lynn will start for St. Louis.  The Marlins open their regular season on Monday, in Washington, against the Nationals.    

Here are all the scores from yesterday’s spring training games.  You can “click” on the box scores and the recap under each individual game’s line score.  


In baseball news, Forbes magazine showed very bright financial figures for all MLB teams, including the Marlins.  However, they have some critical comments about the Fish:


After 55 year in baseball, Tim McCarver announced that this will be his last season broadcasting.  A true professional, and one of the very best analysts in the business.  He will be missed.  Here’s the full article from ESPN.com:


When it rains, it pours.  The Yankees announced that starting pitcher Phillip Hughes will begin the season on the disabled list.


In case you missed it, this story in USA Today is really weird.  I swear I’m not making this up.  I just cannot find the words to properly describe this.  Just read the story and check out the video for yourselves:  


In Miami Dolphin news, the Dolphins and their new logo keep making news.  What do you think of the new logo?  I’m okay with it, although I miss the helmet.  Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald has more:


The Dolphins agree to pay back the sales tax rebates to the state in another of a long line of concessions.  Here’s the story:


Armando Salguero of the Herald was busy yesterday, and he filed this report on the “relationship” between Dolphin owner Stephen Ross and malcontent Norman Braman:


In college baseball, FIU take on Arkansas State in a three-game series beginning on Friday.  Meanwhile, over in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes lost to Florida Atlantic last night, 6-1.  The Canes now head to Charlottesville to take on the Virginia Cavaliers in a three-game weekend series.  
  
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Who is the only University of Miami basketball player that is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame?       

Rick Barry.  Barry is the only player to have won the scoring title in the NCAA, the ABA, and the NBA.    

IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com

Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day. 

Wednesday, March 27, 2013


The Miami Heat go for win #28 in a row tonight in Chicago, as they take on the Bulls.  Game time is 8:00 pm, and the game will be televised by Sun Sports and nationally by ESPN. Even though the Bulls will not have Derrick Rose and possibly Joakim Noah in the lineup, this is a tough test for the Heat.  Chicago has already beaten Miami this season, and they did it at the AAA.  After tonight’s game, the Heat will head to the Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Hornets Friday night.  On Sunday, they will take on the Spurs in San Antonio.  The Heat need to stay alert and keep their guard up, because long winning streaks have a tendency to come to an end against teams that you normally wouldn’t and shouldn’t lose to.  That being said, if they get past the Spurs next Sunday, I feel they will end up setting a new record for consecutive wins.  

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The Heat’s streak is making all the headlines, and we know they are only 6 away from tying the LA Lakers 33-game winning streak in 1971-72.  The Lakers set a record that season with 69 wins in the regular season, a number that the Heat cannot reach, even if they win all of their remaining games.  What team holds the record for wins in a regular season?  Tell you later, alligator.

In the NBA yesterday,

New York 100 Boston 85
The Knicks were led by JR Smith and Carmelo Anthony, who scored 32 and 29 points, respectively.

Minnesota 105 Detroit 82
JJ Barea came off the bench and scored 21 points in just 21 minutes of play.  

Dallas 109 LA Clippers 102  (OT)
Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 33 points, including eight points in the overtime period.  


TONIGHT IN THE NBA:  

Miami @ Chicago              8:00 pm Sun Sports, ESPN
Atlanta @ Toronto 7:00 pm
Milwaukee @ Philadelphia         7:00 pm
Orlando @ Charlotte         7:00 pm
Boston @ Cleveland          7:00 pm
Memphis @ New York         7:30 pm
LA Clippers @ New Orleans       8:00 pm
Indiana @ Houston            8:00 pm
Washington @ Oklahoma City 8:00 pm
LA Lakers @ Minnesota 8:00 pm
Denver @ San Antonio 8:30 pm
Phoenix @ Utah   9:00 pm
Sacramento @ Golden State    10:30 pm
Brooklyn @ Portland               10:30 pm

In college hoops, the NCAA tournament is down to the sweet sixteen, and the remaining teams include some party crashers:  #9 seed Wichita State, #12 seed Oregon, #13 seed LaSalle, and everybody’s Cinderella, #15 Florida Gulf Coast.  (BTW - I look for #13 LaSalle to advance to the Elite Eight)  The match-ups are as follow: 

THURSDAY’S GAMES (March 28):

Southeast Regional

Miami vs Marquette   7:15 pm CBS

Indiana vs Syracuse      9:45 pm CBS

West Regional

Arizona vs Ohio State  7:47 pm TBS

LaSalle vs Wichita State        10:17 pm TBS


FRIDAY’S GAMES (March 29)

Midwest Regional

Louisville vs Oregon        7:15 pm CBS

Duke vs Michigan State    9:45 pm CBS

South Regional

Kansas vs Michigan 7:37 pm TBS

Florida vs Florida Gulf Coast 9:57 pm TBS

Here’s the complete Bracket, so you can see what yours and mine DID NOT look like:


Here are my bracket selections for the tournament, along with where I went wrong.  (Look at it on the bright side - Seven out of my picks to be in the Elite Eight teams are still dancing): 

Sweet Sixteen

Louisville vs St. Louis Oregon

Duke vs Michigan State

Kansas vs VCU Michigan

Florida vs Georgetown Florida Gulf Coast

Ole Miss LaSalle vs Gonzaga Wichita State

Ohio State vs New Mexico Arizona

Indiana vs Syracuse

Marquette vs Miami

Elite Eight

Louisville vs Duke

Ohio State vs Gonzaga

Kansas vs Florida

Miami vs Indiana

Final Four

Louisville vs Ohio State

Miami vs Florida
National Championship game

Louisville vs Miami

National Champions

Louisville

In exhibition baseball yesterday, the Marlins hit four home runs against the Nationals, including two by the man-child, Giancarlo Stanton to defeat Washington, 8-5.  Chris Valaika added a solo shot, and Chris Coghlan connected long distance with a runner on base.    Today, the Fish travel to Ft. Myers to play the Boston Red Sox, starting at 1:05 pm.  Kevin Slowey will start for the Marlins, Jon Lester will open on the hill for the Nats.  

Here are all the scores from yesterday’s spring training games.  You can “click” on the box scores and the recap under each individual game’s line score.  


In Marlins news, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports that the team is getting closer to finalizing their opening day roster:


Marlins manager Mike Redmond announced his five-man rotation to begin the season.  It will be Ricky Nolasco, Nathan Eovaldi, Wade LeBlanc, Henderson Alvarez, and Kevin Slowey, in that order.  Jacob Turner, who was expected to be part of the rotation, was sent down to Triple-A New Orleans.  The 21-year-old has all the tools, but he has a lot of work to do before he gets called up.  The Marlins starters will be tested right off the bat, as they start the regular season on the road against the Washington Nationals  this coming Monday, April 1st.  Their opponents on the mound for those first three games of the season will be Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Jordan Zimmerman.  

In other baseball news, our friend Fredi Gonzalez looks a lot more comfortable this season in Atlanta.  Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tells us what’s going on with Fredi and the Braves:


This story in USA Today is really weird.  I swear I’m not making this up.  I just cannot find the words to properly describe this.  Just read the story and check out the video for yourselves:  


In Miami Dolphin news, the Dolphins will have a new logo this season.  Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald has it here:


The Herald also talks about the team’s search for an offensive tackle to replace the departed Jake Long:


Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post talks about the Dolphins’ top five positional needs:


In college baseball, FIU take on Arkansas State in a three-game series beginning on Friday.  Meanwhile, over in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes host Florida Atlantic tonight, before heading to Charlottesville to take on the Virginia Cavaliers in a three-game weekend series.  
  
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The Heat’s streak is making all the headlines, and we know they are only 6 away from tying the LA Lakers 33-game winning streak in 1971-72.  The Lakers set a record that season with 69 wins in the regular season, a number that the Heat cannot reach, even if they win all of their remaining games.  What team holds the record for wins in a regular season?       

The Chicago Bulls obliterated the record in 1995-96, finishing with a 72-10 record.  The next season, they finished 69-13.  I’m going to go on record now and say that NO ONE will ever beat the Bulls combined two-year record of 139 wins.  

IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com

Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.