The NFL Playoffs kicked off this past weekend, with the four wild card games. First in the AFC,
Baltimore Ravens 24 Indianapolis 9
The Ravens rode the emotional return of Ray Lewis, who has announced his retirement after this playoff run for the Ravens. Playing for the first time since October due to a torn triceps, Lewis had 13 tackles in the win. Offensively, Joe Flacco threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns, Anquan Boldin caught 5 passes for 145 yards. Nothing to be ashamed of for the Colts, who reached the playoffs just one year after a horrible 2-14 season last year.
Houston Texans 19 Cincinnati Bengals 13
Arian Foster ran for 140 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries and caught 8 passes for 34 yards. He became the first player in NFL history to rush for over 100 yards in each of his first three career playoff games.
In the NFC,
Green Bay Packers 24 Minnesota Vikings 10
Aaron Rodgers completed 23-33 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown to lead the Pack. Fullback John Kuhn had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the game. The Vikings played without starting QB Christian Ponder due to an elbow injury he suffered in last week’s season-ending game.
Seattle Seahawks 24 Washington Redskins 14
After spotting the Redskins a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, the Seahawks scored the final 24 points of the contest. Marshawn Lynch ran for 132 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, while QB Russell Wilson completed 15 of 26 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 67 yards in eight carries.
This weekend,
SATURDAY
Baltimore Ravens @ Denver Broncos Den -9
4:30 pm NBC Channel 6
Green Bay Packers @ San Francisco 49ers SF -3
8:00 pm NBC Channel 6
SUNDAY
Seattle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons Atl -3
1:00 pm FOX Channel 7
Houston Texans @ New England Patriots NE -9.5
4:30 pm CBS Channel 4
The Miami Heat had a bi-polar weekend. On friday night, the Heat suffered only their third loss at home this season, losing to the Chicago Bulls 96-89. Chicago dominated the boards against Miami, outrebounding the Heat by 20. Yesterday, against the Washington Wizards, it was a different story. LeBron James scored 24 points, extending his streak of games with 20 or more to all 32 games this season, 53 in a row including last year’s playoff run. The Heat dominated the boards yesterday, 50-39, led by Udonis Haslem’s 12 and Chris Bosh, who had 9 rebounds. The Circus is in town, so the Heat go on their annual two-week road trip. They kick off their trip tomorrow night in Indiana against the Pacers. They head west after that, where they will play the Portland Trailblazers (Thu, Jan 10), the Sacramento Kings (Sat, Jan 12), the Utah Jazz (Mon, Jan 14), the Golden State Warriors (Wed, Jan 16), before closing out their trip the next night in Los Angeles against the Lakers. Their next game at home will be on Wednesday, January 23, against the Toronto Raptors. All told, 10 of their next 12 games will be away from the AAA.
In the rest of the NBA yesterday,
Oklahoma City 104 Toronto 92
Charlotte 108 Detroit 101 (OT)
Memphis 92 Phoenix 81
Denver 112 LA Lakers 105
TONIGHT’S GAMES:
Oklahoma City @ Washington
Boston @ New York
Cleveland @ Chicago
San Antonio @ New Orleans
Dallas @ Utah
Memphis @ Sacramento
Orlando @ Portland
We’ll continue to show the list of casualties in the NFL until replacements are final:
Arizona Cardinals fired Ken Whisenhunt
Buffalo Bills fired Chan Gailey, HIRED
SYRACUSE HEAD COACH
DOUG MARRONE
Chicago Bears fired Lovie Smith
Cleveland Browns fired Pat Schurmur
Kansas City Chiefs fired Romeo Crennel,
HIRED ANDY REID
Philadelphia Eagles fired Andy Reid
San Diego Chargers fired Norv Turner
University of Oregon coach Chip Kelly will apparently return to Oregon and not go to the NFL.
Around Major League Baseball, the Texas Rangers signed Lance Berkman to a one-year deal. The best closer in the history of the game, Mariano Rivera, declared that he is 95% ready, and plans to start throwing immediately to be ready for the 2013 campaign. Relief pitcher JP Howell and the LA Dodgers agreed on a one-year contract, and the saga of Dontrelle Willis continues, as he tries one more time to get back to the Majors, this time with the Chicago Cubs. The D-train signed a minor league deal. Good luck to him!
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Today’s question is a simple one. Who is the only player in the history of major league baseball to play ate least one full season as a catcher and at least one full season at second base? Tell you later, alligator. Too easy, today.
Today’s article of the day comes from ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian, who talks about the HOF announcement on Wednesday, specifically singling out Craig Biggio. http://espn.go.com/mlb/hof13/story/_/id/8809931/craig-biggio-belongs-cooperstown
Dear Santa Claus Tooth Fairy Cupid Easter Bunny Jeffrey Loria and minions:
What do you mean, 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.
All kidding aside, 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. Of course, you and your minions have already decided not to field a quality major league roster this coming season, hopefully setting up the sale of the team.
We’ll continue to keep our fingers crossed and light a candle in the meantime.
Bowl season finally comes to an end in college football tonight, when the National Championship will be decided. #1 Notre Dame takes on #2 Alabama at the Seven-Names Stadium tonight. Kickoff is at 8:00 pm, and you can watch the contest 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 33 #3 Florida 23
Thursday, January 3
TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL
#4 Oregon 35 #5 Kansas State 17
Friday, January 4
AT&T COTTON BOWL
#9 Texas A&M 41 #11 Oklahoma 13
Heisman winner Johnny Manziel posted 516 total yards in the win
Saturday, January 5
BBVA COMPASS BOWL
Ole Miss 38 Pittsburgh 17
Bo Wallace threw three touchdown passes
Sunday, January 6
GODADDY.COM BOWL
Arkansas State 17 #25 Kent State 13
First-ever bowl win for Arkansas State
Monday, January 7
DISCOVER BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#2 Alabama vs #1 Notre Dame
8:30 pm ESPN
The answer to today’s question: Who is the only player in the history of major league baseball to play ate least one full season as a catcher and at least one full season at second base? If you said Craig Biggio, you are correct. Biggio has a good chance to make the Hall of Fame on Wednesday in his first year of eligibility.
In case you missed them last friday, here are my 2013 predictions. Take these with a grain of salt, but I suggest you write them down or print them and keep them for future reference.
MY GUARANTEED (OR YOUR MONEY BACK) 2013 PREDICTIONS:
- The Miami Marlins will be sold in 2013. The tarot cards tell me that the new ownership group will be headed by a local real estate mogul and a former governor of Florida.
- Staying with the Marlins, they will continue to entertain offers for slugger Giancarlo Stanton and will eventually end up trading him to the Yankees for a number of players, including a healthy Alex Rodriguez. Incredibly enough, the 2013 Marlins will end up winning more games than they won in 2012.
- My New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will watch the MLB playoffs from home. The 2013 World Series will NOT include any teams from Los Angeles. Two former Marlins managers will face each other in the World Series. Fredi Gonzalez and the Atlanta Braves will take on Jim Leyland and the Detroit Tigers in the fall classic. (I’ll be rooting for Fredi)
- The surprise teams in the majors this coming season will be the San Diego Padres and the Kansas City Royals. BTW, the Pittsburgh Pirates will finally finish better than .500.
- The Miami Heat will repeat as NBA champions, beating the Memphis Grizzlies in a hard-fought six-game series. Too much LeBron, Wade, and Bosh and the addition of Ray Allen, together with the continued development of Mario Chalmers will be the difference.
- Phil Jackson will return to coach in the NBA in 2013. It will be the only way that Dwight Howard stays in LA. If not, Howard will pack his backs and end up in Atlanta with the Hawks. Besides, how long can the Mike DiAntoni experiment last in Los Angeles?
- The Miami Dolphins will make the playoffs in 2013. They will fire GM Jeff Ireland, opening the door for the team to be able to take full advantage of the 5 draft selections they have in the first 3 rounds. Can you say “wide receiver” and “cornerbacks”?
- Tim Tebow will be traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Jaguars will end up with a better record than the J-E-T-S Jets next season. Mark Sanchez will end up in Oakland, Alex Smith will escape San Francisco and join the Jets.
- My original picks for the Super Bowl before the season started were the Atlanta Falcons and the Houston Texans. I’m sticking to these picks, although it will be a difficult task for the Texans. The Broncos and the Patriots will have something to say, I’m sure.
- Tiger Woods will win a major tournament this year.
- Alabama will beat Notre Dame for the National Championship in college football on Monday. Next year, Florida State will face Ohio State for the national championship.
- The University of Miami will finally have to face the specter of NCAA sanctions starting in 2013. It will not be pretty.
- Duke will be the NCAA Men’s basketball champions and Baylor will win the Women’s championship.
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!
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.
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