A NOTE TO ALL MY FRIENDS: NO BLOG TOMORROW (Wed, 11/14)  My granddaughter, Ann Marie, will be undergoing surgery, so we will be there with her.  Please include her in your prayers. The Blog will return on Thursday, 11/15.

Back to sports.

The Miami Heat are still working on issues on the defensive side of the court, and, for the second straight game, they gave up too many three-point shots.  After the Memphis Grizzlies torched them for 14 3-pointers on Sunday, the Houston Rockets hit 12 shots from beyond the arc last night.  The difference between the loss Sunday and last night was some guy named LeBron James.  LeBron scored 38 points, including 32 in the second half to lead Miami to a hard-fought 113-110 victory over the Rockets.  I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that this LeBron individual is the best player in the NBA hands down.  The Heat improved to 6-2, and they continue this road trip tomorrow in Los Angeles against the Clippers.  Tipoff is 10:30 pm, Miami time, and you can watch the game on ESPN on your cable or satellite system.  

In the rest of the NBA yesterday,

Milwaukee Bucks 105 Philadelphia 96

Brandon Jennings hit for 33 points.

Utah Jazz 140 Toronto Raptors 133  (3 ot)

Al Jefferson scored 24 points, including game-tying shots to send the game to a first and a second overtime and pulled down 17 rebounds.

Oklahoma City Thunder 92 Detroit Pistons 90

Russell Westbrook scored 33 points, Kevin Durant added 26.

Boston Celtics 101 Chicago Bulls 95

Rajon Rondo had 20 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds.

Minnesota Timberwolves 90 Dallas Mavericks 82

Nikola Pekovic had 20 points, Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved added 16 points apiece

Phoenix Suns 110 Denver Nuggets 100

Goran Dragic scored 21 points and dished out 7 assists

Atlanta Hawks 95 Portland Trailblazers 87

19 points and 11 rebounds for Josh Smith, Al Horford had 15 points and 10 boards

TODAY’S GAMES IN THE NBA

Washington Wizards @ Charlotte Bobcats 7:00 pm

New York Knicks @ Orlando Magic 7:00 pm

Toronto Raptors @ Indiana Pacers 7:00 pm

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Brooklyn Nets 7:30 pm

Portland Trailblazers @ Sacramento Kings 10:00 pm

San Antonio Spurs @ Los Angeles Lakers 10:30 pm

The Miami Dolphins are not going to dwell on Sunday’s debacle against the Tennessee Titans as they have a very short week in preparation to play the Bills in Buffalo on Thursday night at 8:20 pm.  The Fins defense against the run, which went into that game ranked third in the league, gave up 177 yards on 4.8 yards per carry.  Football is really a simple game, even on defense.  The Dolphins defenders need to get off their blocks better, and tackle much better than what they did this past Sunday.  The Thursday night encounter against the Bills will be televised on the NFL Network on your cable or satellite system.  In checking the weather forecast for Thursday in Buffalo, they are expecting temperatures in the mid to upper 30’s at game time, with only a 20% chance of precipitation.

This week’s complete NFL schedule:  

THURSDAY

Miami Dolphins @ Buffalo Bills

Buf -1 8:20 pm  NFL Network

SUNDAY

Arizona Cardinals @ Atlanta Falcons

Atl -10 1:00 pm

Tampa Bay Bucs @ Carolina Panthers

Car +1 1:00 pm

Cleveland Browns @ Dallas Cowboys

Dal -7.5 1:00 pm

Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions

Det +3 1:00 pm

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans

Hou -16 1:00 pm

Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs

KC +3.5 1:00 pm

NY Jets @ St. Louis Rams

StL -3 1:00 pm

Philadelphia Eagles @ Washington Redskins

Was -3.5 1:00 pm

New Orleans Saints @ Oakland Raiders

Oak +4.5 4:05 pm

San Diego Chargers @ Denver Broncos

Den -7.5 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 

In major league baseball, the 2012 AL and NL Rookie of the Year trophies now have names permanently inscribed.  In the American League, a unanimous selection for Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who became the youngest player to win the award in the American League.  He batted .326, with 30 homers and a major league-leading 49 stolen bases and 129 runs scored.  and the tender age of 20.  Cuban-born Yoenis Cespedes finished second in the voting.  Over in the National League, 19-year old Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals becamed the second-youngest player in National League history to win the award.  Harper hit .270, with 22 home runs and 18 stolen bases.  Arizona pitcher Wade Miley finished second.  

The managers of the year in both the AL and the NL will be announced later today.  The finalists in the AL are Buck Showalter of the Orioles, White Sox manager Robin Ventura, and Bob Melvin of the Oakland A’s.  In the NL, the finalists are Cincinnati Reds skipper Dusty Baker, Bruce Bochy of the Giants, and Davey Johnson of the Washington Nationals.  Although all of these finalists are very deserving of the award, my votes would go to Buck Showalter of the O’s and Davey Johnson of the Nats. On Wednesday, we’ll have the AL and NL Cy Young Award winners, and on Thursday, the MVP’s will be named.

My favorite baseball hot-stove rumor so far this week is that the Atlanta Braves turned down a trade with the Texas Rangers that would have sent Braves SS Andrelton Simmons to the Texas Rangers for 24-year-old third-base prospect Mike Olt.  The Rangers would have then sent Simmons to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a package for outfielder Justin Upton.  Another rumor has the Marlins inquiring about free agent Kevin Youkilis to fill the black hole that is third base.  

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Two-part question today. (1) Bryce Harper is the second youngest National League player to win the Rookie of the Year award.  Who is the youngest?  (2) Who was the youngest player in AL history before Trout won the award yesterday?  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 this Friday, in Boca Raton, to take on Florida Atlantic.  Game time will be 8:00 pm.  Remember, you can 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:  Two-part question today. (1) Bryce Harper is the second youngest National League player to win the Rookie of the Year award.  Who is the youngest?  (2) Who was the youngest player in AL history before Trout won the award yesterday?  Answers:  (1) Dwight Gooden won the award in 1984 at the age of 20 years and 3 days, 24 days younger than Harper.  (2) Lou Whitaker was the previous youngest player to win the ROY award in the American League in 1978, three months and four days older than the 21-year old Trout.   

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.  

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.