A NOTE TO ALL MY FRIENDS:  My granddaughter, Ann Marie, had her surgery yesterday and according to the doctor, everything went well.  She is back at home and in recovery mode.  Thank you all so much for your well wishes and your prayers.

Back to sports.

The Miami Heat lost to the LA Clippers last night, 107-100.  Blake Griffin had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Clips, while Chris Paul scored 16 and distributed 10 assists.  The Heat, who have lost five in a row against the Clippers in Los Angeles, got 30 points from LeBron James.  They left LA immediately after the game and are now in Denver, where they take on the Nuggets tonight.  Not an easy task tonight, as the Nuggets have beaten the Heat 10 straight times in Denver.  In fact, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh are a combined 1-23 against the Nuggets in the Mile High City.  Tipoff is at 10:30 Miami time, you can watch the game on TNT or on Sun Sports.  

In the rest of the NBA yesterday,

Detroit 94 Philadelphia 76

First win of the season for the Pistons after eight straight losses

Boston 98 Utah 93

Paul Pierce led the way with 23 points

Houston 100 New Orleans 96

James Harden scored 30 points

Milwaukee 99 Indiana 85

Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis each scored 16 points

Charlotte 89 Minnesota 87

Kemba Walker buried the game-winning jumper with less than a second left in the game

Memphis 107 Oklahoma City 97

The Grizzlies are for real.  Rudy Gay scored 28 points, Zach Randolph had 20 points and 11 rebounds

Dallas 107 Washington 101

OJ Mayo and Chris Kaman combined for 48 points

Chicago 112 Phoenix 106  (ot)

Carlos Boozer led the Bulls with 28 points and 14 boards

Golden State 92 Atlanta 88

Harrison Barnes had 19 points and 13 rebounds, David Lee added 18 points and 10 boards

TODAY’S GAMES IN THE NBA

Boston @ Brooklyn 8:00 pm TNT

New York @ San Antonio 8:30 pm

Miami @ Denver 10:30 pm TNT, Sun Sports

The Miami Dolphins are back on the field tonight in Buffalo against the Bills.  Kickoff is at 8:20 pm, and you can watch the game on the NFL Network on your cable or satellite system.  The weather forecast tonight in Buffalo, according to long-time Dolfan and Buffalo resident Ed Hennessy, calls for 36 degrees at game time with no chance of precipitation. Thanks, Ed.  

This week’s complete NFL schedule:  

THURSDAY

Miami Dolphins @ Buffalo Bills

Buf -1 8:20 pm  NFL Network

SUNDAY

Arizona Cardinals @ Atlanta Falcons

Atl -9.5 1:00 pm

Cleveland Browns @ Dallas Cowboys

Dal -9.5 1:00 pm

Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions

Det +3.5 1:00 pm

Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs

KC +3.5 1:00 pm

NY Jets @ St. Louis Rams

StL -3.5 1:00 pm

Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins

Was -3.5 1:00 pm

Tampa Bay Bucs @ Carolina Panthers

Car +1 1:00 pm

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans

Hou -15 1:00 pm

New Orleans Saints @ Oakland Raiders

Oak +4.5 4:05 pm

San Diego Chargers @ Denver Broncos

Den -8.5 4:15 pm

Indianapolis Colts @ New England Patriots

NE -9.5 4:25 pm

Baltimore Ravens @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Pit +3.5 8:20 pm NBC   Ch 6

MONDAY NIGHT

Chicago Bears @ San Francisco 49ers

SF -5 8:30 pm ESPN

Bye week for the Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks 

I’m taking a couple of days off from talking about the Marlins and owner Jeffrey Loria and his minions.  I figure no news is better than bad news.  

In major league baseball, the 2012 AL and NL managers of the year were Bob Melvin of the Oakland A’s and Davey Johnson in the National League.  The Cy Young Awards were handed out yesterday, and the winners for 2012 are David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League, and the National League winner was New York Met knuckleballer RA Dickey.  There is no truth to the rumor that Dickey invited last year’s Marlins team to dinner, even though he was 5-0 against them in 2012.  Today, we will learn who the MVP’s are.  My votes would go to Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers and Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants.   

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  RA Dickey is the first knuckleball pitcher to win a Cy Young Award, after a 20-6 season in which he posted a 2.73 ERA with 230 strikeouts.  He is the third Met pitcher to win the award.  Who are the other two?  Tell you later, alligator.  

In college football, in top-ten action this week:

#1 Kansas State @ Baylor     8:00 pm ESPN

#13 Stanford @ #2 Oregon     8:00 pm ABC  Ch. 10

Wake Forest @ #3 Notre Dame     3:30 pm NBC  Ch. 6

Western Carolina @ #4 Alabama 12:20 pm

Georgia Southern @ #5 Georgia     1:30 pm

Jacksonville State @ #6 Florida   1:00 pm

Ole Miss @ #7 LSU     3:30 pm CBS  Ch. 4

Sam Houston State @ #8 Texas A&M   3:30 pm

Wooford @ #9 South Carolina     1:00 pm

#10 Florida State @ Maryland 12:00 noon ESPN-U

After their bye week, the FIU Panthers return to the field tomorrow, in Boca Raton, to take on Florida Atlantic.  Game time will be 8:00 pm.  Catch the FIU game broadcasts (in English, no less) 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 host the South Florida Bulls this Saturday at the Seven Names Stadium at 3:00 pm.  No TV for that one, you’ll have to go to the stadium if you want to see the contest.

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  RA Dickey is the first knuckeball pitcher to win a Cy Young Award, after a 20-6 season in which he posted a 2.73 ERA with 230 strikeouts.  He is the third Met pitcher to win the award.  Who are the other two?  Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden.  Seaver won it three times (1969, 1973, and 1975) while Gooden won in 1985.     

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 9:25 am segment of my "Descarga Deportiva" on Radio Esperanza is brought to you by the fine folks at La Lechonera Products.  The inventors of the original mojo criollo in 1970, also offer the BEST naranja agria (sour orange marinade) product on the market, along with the latest additions to the family - the SALSA PICANTE (hot sauces, both HOT and EXTRA HOT), SALSA DE ALITAS (Buffalo Wings Sauce) and the truly incredible SALSA PICANTE con AJO (Garlic Pepper Sauce - Sriracha).  Look for all the La Lechonera products at Publix, Winn Dixie, Sedano’s, Presidente, and GFS.  If they don’t have it where you shop, ask nicely the first time, then use whatever means necessary to make sure they start offering the complete line of products.  Go to www.lalechoneraproducts.com and LIKE them on Facebook.  Check out their recipe for PAVO CON MOJO (Thanksgiving Turkey with Mojo).  

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.