The Miami Heat return to the hardwood this evening, in Washington, DC, against the Washington Wizards.  The Heat are tied with the Memphis Grizzlies with the best record in the NBA at 12-3, and have won six games in a row.  Washington, meanwhile, is 1-13 so far in 2012.  The Heat returns home after tonight’s game for six straight contests, beginning with a critical matchup against the New York Knicks on Thursday.

LeBron James was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year yesterday.  He joins Dwayne Wade as a winner.  Wade won it in 2006.

In the NBA last night, 

Portland 118 Charlotte 112  (ot)

The Blazers erased an 18-point deficit with five minutes left in regulation.  Damian Lillard scored 24 points, 14 of them in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Detroit 89 Cleveland 79

Brandon Knight led a balanced Pistons attack with 17 points.  Tayshaun Prince and Kyle Singler added 15 points apiece.

New Orleans 102 Milwaukee 89

Ryan Anderson scored 22 points and collected 7 rebounds; Robin Lopez added 21 points.

Denver 113 Toronto 110

Corey Brower led six Denver players in double figures with 19 points

LA Clippers 105 Utah 104

Chris Paul’s layup in the final minute of the game was the winning basket

Orlando 102 Golden State 94

JJ Redick scored 22 points, 17 in the second half.  Glen Davis and Arron Affialo poured in 24 points apiece.

TONIGHT IN THE NBA

Miami @ Washington 7:00 pm Sun Sports

Minnesota @ Philadelphia 7:00 pm

Oklahoma City @ Brooklyn 7:30 pm NBA-TV

Indiana @ Chicago 8:00 pm WGN

Phoenix @ Memphis 8:00 pm

LA Lakers @ Houston 8:00 pm

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Two-part question today.  LeBron James was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year yesterday, joining his teammate Dwayne Wade, who won the prestigious award in 2006.  (1) Who are the only two other past winners from South Florida?  (2) Who is the only person to win the award twice?  Tell you later, alligator. 

Yesterday’s big news at the MLB winter meetings in Nashville was that Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez is headed for some more hip surgery and will miss anywhere from three to six months.  The Yankees are among a group of teams, including Oakland and Tampa Bay, talking to the Marlins about Yunel Escobar, and the Bombers are also considering free agent Marco Scutaro.  Expect GM Brian Cashman to be busy knocking on doors in Nashville this week, and don’t be shocked if he wants to talk about Giancarlo Stanton as well with the Marlins.  The Yankees are looking to trade Curtis Granderson and his $15 million contract, so why not look to Miami for Ricky Nolasco and his $11.5 million contract and Escobar and his $5 million salary?    

The Marlins will be better served trading Nolasco. His agent said yesterday that Nolasco “would be a completely happier player playing somewhere else”.  That is the sad state of affairs that the Marlins have become.  Last year at this time, they were riding high.  This year, they are the butt of all the jokes. 

Note to Jeffrey Loria and his minions:  Please sell the team as quickly as possible.  No player in his right mind will ever want to play here in the future, and most fans will not buy a ticket to a game as long as you are still here.  You have alienated players on your roster, as well as all the South Florida baseball fans.  One more thing--please do not feed us the “look at what Oakland and Baltimore did last year” story.  That comparison does not apply here.  They had young players in their farm systems that were obviously ready to contribute immediately.  Management here allowed the Marlins farm system to deteriorate to the point of being horrible until the team dismantled the major league roster and traded for these new prospects now.  All of those prospects are still a couple of years away from being ready to contribute at the major league level.

The San Francisco Giants and their center fielder, Angel Pagan, came to terms on a new contract, four years, $40 million.  

The Boston Red Sox came to terms with free agent catcher Mike Napoli on a 3-year, $39 million contract.  The Red Sox still have Cody Ross, Nick Swisher, and Shane Victorino on their radar screen.  The Texas Rangers and Geovany Soto signed a one-year, $3 million dollar deal as well.

The Seattle Mariners are looking like the most aggressive team at the meetings, so far, and don’t be surprised if they sign outfielder Josh Hamilton.  The M’s are also involved in discussions with the Arizona Diamondbacks about Justin Upton.  I’m still hoping the Atlanta Braves are able to pull the trigger and trade for Upton so he can join BJ in the Atlanta outfield.

In the NFL last night, Robert Griffin threw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and the Washington Redskins edged the New York Giants 17-16. If the playoffs started today,

NFC

Atlanta 11-1  NFC South

San Francisco 8-3-1 NFC West

Green Bay         8-4 NFC North

NY Giants 7-5 NFC East

Chicago 8-4 Wild Card 1

Seattle 7-5 Wild Card 2

In the hunt:  Dallas (6-6), Tampa Bay (6-6), Minnesota (6-6)

AFC

Houston 11-1 AFC South

New England 9-3 AFC East

Baltimore 9-3 AFC North

Denver 9-3 AFC West

Indianapolis 8-4 Wild Card 1

Pittsburgh 7-5 Wild Card 2

In the hunt:  Cincinnati (7-5)  

The Miami Dolphins are off from practice today as they prepare to travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers on Sunday.  The 49ers lost to the St. Louis Rams, in overtime, this past Sunday.  Game time on Sunday is 4:05 pm, and it will be televised by Channel 4, CBS, here in Miami.  

It looks like the Fins will be without all-pro left tackle Jake Long for the rest of the season due to a torn triceps.  He will be replaced on the OL by rookie Jonathan Martin, who moves over from the right tackle position.  This could signify that the Dolphins will not be designating Long, whose contract runs out after this season, with the franchise tag. 

The complete schedule this week in the NFL:

THURSDAY

Denver @ Oakland Oak +10.5

8:20 pm NFL Network

SUNDAY

Miami @ San Francisco SF -10

4:05 pm CBS Channel 4

Dallas @ Cincinnati Cin -3

1:00 pm

St. Louis @ Buffalo Buf -3

1:00 pm

Kansas City @ Cleveland Cle -5.5

1:00 pm

Tennessee @ Indianapolis         Ind -5.5

1:00 pm

Chicago @ Minnesota Min +2.5

1:00 pm

Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay         TB -7

1:00 pm

Baltimore @ Washington No line

1:00 pm

Atlanta @ Carolina Car +3.5

1:00 pm

NY Jets @ Jacksonville Jax +2.5

1:00 pm

San Diego @ Pittsburgh Pit -3

1:00 pm

Arizona @ Seattle Sea -10.5

4:25 pm

New Orleans @ NY Giants         NYG -6

4:25 pm

Detroit @ Green Bay         GB -7

8:20 pm NBC Channel 6

MONDAY

Houston @ New England NE -4

8:30 pm ESPN

The three finalists for the 2012 Heisman Trophy have been announced.  The award will be handed out on Saturday at 8:00 pm on ESPN.  They are:

Collin Klein - QB, Kansas State - the senior accounted for 37 of his team’s 56 touchdowns this season. 

Johnny Manziel - QB, Texas A&M - the redshirt freshman with the monicker “Johnny Football” became only the fifth player in history (first freshman ever) to pass for at least 3,000 yards and run for 1,000.

Manti Te’o -  LB, Notre Dame - this senior had a team high 103 tackles, becoming the first Notre Dame player ever to lead the team in tackles three consecutive seasons.  His seven interceptions are the most ever for a Notre Dame linebacker.  

The complete bowl schedule in college football:

Saturday, December 15

GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL

Nevada vs. Arizona 1:00 pm ESPN

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL

Toledo vs #22 Utah State 4:30 pm ESPN

Thursday, December 20

SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL

Brigham Young vs San Diego State 8:00 pm ESPN

Friday, December 21

BEEF O’BRADY BOWL ST. PETERSBURG

Central Florida vs Ball State 7:30 pm ESPN

Saturday, December 22

R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL

East Carolina vs Louisiana-Lafayette 12:00 pm ESPN

MAACO BOWL LAS VEGAS

Washington vs #19 Boise State 3:30 pm ESPN

Monday, December 24

SHERATON HAWAII BOWL

Fresno State vs Southern Methodist 8:00 pm ESPN

Wednesday, December 26

LITTLE CAESARS BOWL

Western Kentucky vs Central Michigan 7:30pm ESPN

Thursday, December 27

MILITARY BOWL-PRESENTED BY NORTHROP GRUMMAN

#24 San Jose State vs Bowling Green 3:00 pm ESPN

BELK BOWL

Cincinnati vs Duke 6:30 pm ESPN

BRIDGEPOINT EDUCATION HOLIDAY BOWL

Baylor vs #17 UCLA 9:45 pm ESPN

Friday, December 28

ADVOCARE V100 INDEPENDENCE BOWL

Ohio vs Louisiana-Monroe 2:00 pm ESPN

RUSSELL ATHLETIC BOWL

Rutgers vs Virginia Tech 5:30 pm ESPN

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL OF TEXAS

Minnesota vs Texas Tech 9:00 pm ESPN

Saturday, December 29

BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL

Rice vs Air Force 11:45 am ESPN

NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL

West Virginia vs Syracuse 3:15 pm ESPN

KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL

Navy vs Arizona State 4:00 pm ESPN-2

VALERO ALAMO BOWL

#23 Texas vs #13 Oregon State 6:45 pm ESPN

BUFFALO WILD WINGS BOWL

TCU vs Michigan State 10:15 pm ESPN

Monday, December 31

FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE MUSIC CITY BOWL

North Carolina State vs Vanderbilt 12:00 pm ESPN

HYUNDAY SUN BOWL

USC vs Georgia Tech 2:00 pm CBS Channel 4

AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL

Iowa State vs Tulsa 3:30 pm ESPN

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL

#8 LSU vs #14 Clemson 7:30 pm ESPN

Tuesday, January 1

TAXSLAYER.COM GATOR BOWL

Mississippi State vs #20 Northwestern 12:00 pm ESPN-2

HEART OF DALLAS BOWL

Purdue vs Oklahoma State 12:00 pm ESPN-U

CAPITAL ONE BOWL

#7 Georgia vs #16 Nebraska 1:00 pm ABC Channel 10

OUTBACK BOWL

#10 South Carolina vs #18 Michigan 1:00 pm ESPN

ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO

Wisconsin vs #6 Stanford 5:00 pm ESPN

DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL

#15 Northern Illinois vs #12 Florida State 8:30 pm ESPN

Wednesday, January 2

ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL

#21 Louisville vs #3 Florida 8:30 pm ESPN

Thursday, January 3

TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL

#4 Oregon vs #5 Kansas State 8:30 pm ESPN

Friday, January 4

AT&T COTTON BOWL

#9 Texas A&M vs #11 Oklahoma 8:00 pm FOX Channel 7

Saturday, January 5

BBVA COMPASS BOWL

Pittsburgh vs Ole Miss 1:00 pm ESPN

Sunday, January 6

GODADDY.COM BOWL

#25 Kent State vs Arkansas State 9:00 pm ESPN

Monday, January 7

DISCOVER BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

#2 Alabama vs #1 Notre Dame 8:30 pm ESPN

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Two-part question today.  LeBron James was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year yesterday, joining Dwayne Wade, who won the prestigious award in 2006.  Who are the only two other past winners from South Florida?  Who is the only person to win the award twice?  The legendary Don Shula won the award in 1993, and tennis great Chris Evert won in 1976.  The only person to win the award twice is Tiger Woods, in 1996 and again in 2000.         

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 on Radio Esperanza is brought to you by the fine folks at La Lechonera Products.  The inventors of the original mojo criollo way back 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 some great recipes!  

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