Happy New Year to All!  Watch for my fearless predictions for 2013 on Friday’s blog.  You may want to write them down.

The Miami Heat play their first game of the new year tonight at the AAA against the Dallas Mavericks.  Miami ended the year with an overtime win against the Orlando Magic in Orlando on the 31st, 112-110, putting a stop to a two-game losing streak, when they lost in Detroit 109-99 and in Milwaukee, 104-85.  The Heat go into tonight’s game with a 21-8 record, the best record in the Eastern Conference.  They host the Chicago Bulls on Friday, and welcome the Washington Wizards to the AAA on Sunday.   

In the NBA yesterday,

Dallas 103 Washington 94

Vince Carter led six Mavs players in double figures with 23 points

Detroit 103 Sacramento 97

Brandon Knight scored 20 points, Greg Monroe added 18

Portland 105 New York 100

Nicholas Batum scored 26 points, LaMarcus Aldricge chipped in with 19 points and 14 rebounds.  Carmelo Anthony scored 45 for the Knicks in the loss.

Atlanta 95 New Orleans 86

Josh Smith had 23 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, and four blocked shots

Denver 92 LA Clippers 78

The Clippers’ 17 game winning streak came to an end.

Philadelphia 103 LA Lakers 99

Jrue Holliday scored 26 points and dished out 10 assists

TONIGHT IN THE NBA:  

Dallas @ Miami 7:30 pm Sun Sports

Portland @ Toronto 7:00 pm

Chicago @ Orlando 7:00 pm

Sacramento @ Cleveland 7:00 pm

Washington @ Indiana 7:00 pm

Memphis @ Boston 7:30 pm NBA-TV

San Antonio @ Milwaukee 8:00 pm

New Orleans @ Houston 8:00 pm

Brooklyn @ Oklahoma City 8:00 pm

Minnesota @ Utah 9:00 pm

Philadelphia @ Phoenix 9:00 pm

LA Clippers @ Golden State 10:30 pm

In news around Major League baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays avoided arbitration with David Price and signed him to a one-year, $10 million deal.  The Cleveland Indians signed pitcher Brett Myers to a one-year contract, and the Kansas City Royals signed former MVP Miguel Tejada to a minor-league contract.  

  

Black Monday for Coaches took place the day after the regular season ended, when seven coaches joined the rank of the unemployed.  Here’s the list of casualties:

Arizona Cardinals fired Ken Whisenhunt

Buffalo Bills fired Chan Gailey

Chicago Bears fired Lovie Smith

Cleveland Browns fired Pat Schurmur

Kansas City Chiefs fired Romeo Crennel

Philadelphia Eagles fired Andy Reid

San Diego Chargers fired Norv Turner

Of course, since there recycling is always in fashion, watch for Andy Reid and Lovie Smith to be hired within the next couple of weeks.  

Playoffs kick off this weekend in the NFL:    

SATURDAY

Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans Hou -4.5

4:30 pm NBC - Ch. 6

Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers GB -9.5

8:00 pm NBC - Ch. 6

Indianapolis Colts @ Baltimore Ravens Bal -6.5

1:00 pm CBS - Ch. 4

Seattle Seahawks @ Washington Redskins Was +2.5

4:30 pm FOX - Ch. 7

The Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots are enjoying a first round bye in the AFC, while the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers have the bye in the NFC.

Today’s article of the day comes from ESPN’s Buster Olney, who ranks the top outfields in the major leagues.  (No, the Marlins are not in the top ten.) http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/olney_buster/id/8798919/los-angeles-angels-washington-nationals-two-10-best-outfields-mlb

Dear Santa Claus  Tooth Fairy  Cupid  Easter Bunny  Jeffrey Loria and minions:  

You still haven’t sold the team?  Christmas came and went! The New Year is here!!! What are you waiting for? Valentine’s day? Easter? 

Your inept management allowed the Marlins farm system to deteriorate to the point of being horrible, and now have dismantled the major league roster while pissing off the players on the roster and the entire South Florida community.  You allow your management to continue the policy of “sell low and buy high”.  Please sell the team so we can once again enjoy baseball in Miami.

You will soon have the window of opportunity you need to get out of town.  The five-year anniversary of the Marlins and Miami-Dade County agreement for the baseball stadium is coming up on February 21, 2013.  After that time, the “penalty” for selling the team is only 5%, a mere pittance, based on a $250 million value of the team.  You’ve already saved much more than that on the salary dump this season alone.  Who will be next to go?  Stanton?  Nolasco?  Of course, you and your minions have chosen not to field a quality major league roster this coming season.  

We’ll continue to keep our fingers crossed and light a candle in the meantime. 

In college football last night, #12 FLorida State defeated #15 Northern Illinois 31-10 in the Orange Bowl Classic.  In the Rose Bowl, #6 Stanford got past Wisconsin 20-14.  #7 Georgia beat #16 Nebraska 45-31 in the Capital One Bowl.  #10 South Carolina scored a touchdown with 11 seconds left to defeat #18 Michigan 33-28.  Oklahoma State pummeled Purdue 58-14 in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.  #20 Northwestern won over Mississippi State 34-20, winning their first bowl game since 1949.  San Jose State beat Bowling Green in the Military Bowl, 29-20.   

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Even though the National Championship game between Alabama and Notre Dame isn’t until Monday the 7th, we’ll go with a NCAA championship question today.  Since the polls started in 1936, who are the two teams with the most national championships?  Tell you later, alligator.

Good game tonight as #3 Florida takes on #21 Louisville in the Sugar Bowl.  Kickoff is at 8:30pm and you can watch the game  on ESPN. 

The complete bowl results and upcoming schedule in college football:

December 15

GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL

Arizona 49 Nevada 48

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL

#22 Utah State 41 Toledo 15

December 20

SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL

Brigham Young 23 San Diego State 6

Friday, December 21

BEEF O’BRADY BOWL ST. PETERSBURG

Central Florida 38 Ball State 17

December 22

R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL

Louisiana-Lafayette 43 East Carolina 34

MAACO BOWL LAS VEGAS

#19 Boise State 28 Washington 26

December 24

SHERATON HAWAII BOWL

Southern Methodist 43 Fresno State 10

December 26

LITTLE CAESARS BOWL

Central Michigan 24 Western Kentucky 21

December 27

MILITARY BOWL-PRESENTED BY NORTHROP GRUMMAN

#24 San Jose State 29 Bowling Green 20

BELK BOWL

Cincinnati 48 Duke 34

BRIDGEPOINT EDUCATION HOLIDAY BOWL

Baylor 49 #17 UCLA 26

Friday, December 28

ADVOCARE V100 INDEPENDENCE BOWL

Ohio 45 Louisiana-Monroe 14

RUSSELL ATHLETIC BOWL

Virginia Tech 13 Rutgers 10  (OT)

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL OF TEXAS

Texas Tech 34 Minnesota 31

Saturday, December 29

BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL

Rice 33 Air Force 14

NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL

Syracuse 38 West Virginia 14

KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL

Arizona State 62 Navy 28

VALERO ALAMO BOWL

#23 Texas 31 #13 Oregon State 27

BUFFALO WILD WINGS BOWL

Michigan State 17 TCU 16

Monday, December 31

FRANKLIN AMERICAN MORTGAGE MUSIC CITY BOWL

Vanderbilt 38 North Carolina State 24

HYUNDAY SUN BOWL

Georgia Tech 21 USC 7

AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL

Tulsa 31 Iowa State 17

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL

#14 Clemson 25 #8 LSU 24

Tuesday, January 1

TAXSLAYER.COM GATOR BOWL

#20 Northwestern 34 Mississippi State 20

HEART OF DALLAS BOWL

Oklahoma State 58 Purdue 14

CAPITAL ONE BOWL

#7 Georgia 45 #16 Nebraska 31

OUTBACK BOWL

#10 South Carolina 33 #18 Michigan 28

ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO

#6 Stanford 20 Wisconsin 14

DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL

#12 Florida State 31 #15 Northern Illinois 10

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 Ch. 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

As far as FIU is concerned, no news out of the Westchester campus regarding a new coach.  Something needs to happen pretty quickly.  Recruiting is all about timing, and, for example, tomorrow is the last day of the Dead Period, where no coach-initiated contact with potential recruits is allowed.  Friday begins a three-day “quiet period”, where any contact can only take place on campus.  Monday, the full-fledged recruiting period begins and runs through February 3rd.  February 4th through the 7th is another Dead Period, until National Signing Day on February 6th.

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Even though the National Championship game between Alabama and Notre Dame isn’t until Monday the 7th, we’ll go with a NCAA championship question today.  Since the polls started in 1936, who are the two teams with the most national championships?  Alabama leads with nine (9) national championships, while Notre Dame is second with eight (8).  

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.