The San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers participated in the world series this season, a series that ended in a four game sweep by the Giants.  Unfortunately, the television ratings were the lowest in history.  I guess that’s what happens in a totally one-sided series, with no mystery or drama.  The free agent period is ready to kick off, but this is considered a bad year for free agents.  We may see a good number of trades during the winter meetings in Nashville that start on the 3rd of December.  This afternoon, the winners of the Gold Gloves will be announced. The only Marlin among the finalists is pitcher Mark Buehrle, who won three in a row in the American League before coming to Miami this past season.     

In the NFL yesterday, the San Francisco 49ers overwhelmed the Arizona Cardinals 24-3.   49er QB Alex Smith completed 18-19 passes for 232 yards and three TD’s.  Arizona has lost four games in a row after winning their first four games this season.  In this week’s picks on my radio show, I went 4-1.  I’m on a roll right now, having gone 4-1, 5-0, and 4-1 the past three weeks.  

The Miami Dolphins got relatively good news about the injury to Ryan Tannehill and head coach Joe Philbin is cautiously optimistic that the rookie will be able to play on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.  We will probably not hear anything further on Tannehill’s status until tomorrow.  Backup QB Matt Moore looked very good on Sunday in the 30-9 victory over the Jets, so there may be no real hurry to get Tannehill back in before he is 100% ready.  Game time this Sunday at Indianapolis against the much improved Colts is 1:00 pm, and the game will be televised by CBS, Channel 4 in Miami.

With the NFL season at the halfway point, it is now time to start watching out for the Atlanta Falcons, the only unbeaten team left in the league.  The Falcons are running on all cylinders so far, and are excellent on both sides of the ball.  They are fifth in the league in points allowed, giving up only 18 per game, and seventh in points scored, scoring almost 29 points per contest.  The Falcons host the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday night, and then they travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints the following Sunday.  Both of those teams are underperforming this season, so they may be out to prove something and turn around their seasons.  Methinks that the Falcons’ first loss will come in New Orleans.   

This week’s complete NFL schedule, 

THURSDAY

Kansas City Chiefs @ San Diego Chargers

SD -9.5 8:20 pm NFL Network

SUNDAY

Miami Dolphins @ Indianapolis Colts

Ind +1 1:00 pm CBS Ch. 4

Denver Broncos @ Cincinnati Bengals

Cin +3.5 1:00 pm

Baltimore Ravens @ Cleveland Browns

Cle +3.5 1:00 pm

Arizona Cardinals @ Green Bay Packers

GB -10 1:00 pm

Chicago Bears @ Tennessee Titans

Ten +3.5 1:00 pm

Carolina Panthers @ Washington Redskins

Was -3.5 1:00 pm

Detroit Lions @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Jax +3.5 1:00 pm

Buffalo Bills @ Houston Texans

Hou -10 1:00 pm

Tampa Bay Bucs @ Oakland Raiders

Oak -1 4:05 pm

Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle Seahawks

Sea -5 4:05 pm

Pittsburgh Steelers @ New York Giants

NYG -3.5 4:25 pm FOX Ch. 7

Dallas Cowboys @ Atlanta Falcons

Atl -4.5 8:20 pm NBC Ch. 6

MONDAY 

Philadelphia Eagles @ New Orleans Saints

NO - 3.5 8:30 pm    ESPN

Bye week for the St. Louis Rams, New England Patriots, New York Jets, and San Francisco 49ers

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Mark Buehrle is the only Marlin to be named a finalist for this year’s Gold Glove awards.  Who are the only Marlins to win gold glove awards? Tell you later, alligator. 

In college football, FIU again found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of victory, falling to Western Kentucky, 14-6.  A couple of untimely mistakes did them in.  This week, the Panthers travel to Mobile to take on South Alabama.  Game time on saturday is 3:30 pm, and remember to catch the game broadcast (in English) on your smartphone or on the computer at www.fiusports.com.  I will be handling the play-by-play, and Pete Pelegrin will be handling the color analysis.  The University of Miami Hurricanes had the week off, but return to the field at Seven Names Stadium on Thursday to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies.  Game time is 8:00 pm, and you can watch the game on ESPN.  A change at the top of the BCS rankings, as #2 Florida lost to Georgia.  Alabama remains #1, Kansas State is the new #2, Notre Dame is #3, Oregon is #4, and LSU is #5.  The rest of the top ten - #6 Georgia, #7 Florida, #8 South Carolina, #9 Florida State, and #10 Louisville.  

The Miami Heat open their regular season to defend their NBA Championship tomorrow at 8:00 pm at the AAA against the Boston Celtics.  You can watch the game on TNT on your cable or satellite system.  The rest of the games on Tuesday,

Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers 7:00 pm

Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Lakers 10:30 pm TNT

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Mark Buehrle is the only Marlin to be named a finalist for this year’s Gold Glove awards.  Who are the only Marlins to win gold glove awards?  Charles Johnson won three, 1995-1997; Luis Castillo also won three, 2003-2005, Derrek Lee won in 2003, and Mike Lowell took home the hardware in 2005.

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.  

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