Wednesday, February 6, 2013


A good first step for the Miami Dolphins yesterday, as they look to renovate the Seven Names Stadium.  A bill pushed by the team to give them up to $3 million a year in state money to help fund a renovation of the Seven Names Stadium cleared its first hurdle Tuesday morning, unanimously passing the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee in Tallahassee.
The measure, SB 306, lets the state designate exactly one "professional sports franchise renovation facility" to qualify for $3 million in tax rebates each year for 30 years to help fund renovations.  To qualify, the stadium must be more than 20 years old, generate $3 million in sales tax annually and plan a renovation of $250 million or more where the team owners are willing to put up 50 percent of the cost.  The team also has to promise to stick around for another two decades.  
The Dolphins are planning a $400 million renovation of the stadium that would be 50% funded by team owner Stephen Ross, and the rest by the sales tax rebate from the state and a one-cent increase in the tourist hotel tax in mainland Miami-Dade county.
The changes would make the city much more competitive for Super Bowls, college football championships and other major events in the area.  The NFL has already said that the stadium needed major renovations in order for the Super Bowl to be held here in the future.  The mindset here is that the renovated stadium could plan to host four to five Super Bowls, including Super Bowl 50 in 2016, and four to five college championships over the next 25 years, which would yield hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in local economic impact to South Florida.
The Miami Heat welcome the Houston Rockets to the AAA tonight.  Game time is 7:30 pm, and you can watch the game on Sun Sports, on your cable or satellite system.  Miami won the first meeting against the Rockets in Houston back in November, 113-110.  Both teams are on winning streaks right now, Miami has won four in a row, Houston has registered five consecutive wins.  Miami will be at home the rest of the week as the LA Clippers and the LA Lakers visit the AAA on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, respectively.  

In the rest of the NBA yesterday,

Indiana 114 Atlanta 103
Paul George led seven Indiana players in double figures with 29 points.  The Pacers have now won 15 consecutive games at home.  
LA Lakers 92 Brooklyn 83
Kobe Bryant had 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and four steals.

Phoenix 96 Memphis 90
Goran Dragic scored 15 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.  Marcin Gortat pitched in with 20 points.

Houston 140 Golden State 109
Jeremy Lin scored a game-high 28 points for Houston, as the team tied an NBA record with 23 3-pointers in the game.

Denver 112 Milwaukee 104
Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson each scored 22 points, Corey Brewer added 20 points off the bench.

TONIGHT’S GAMES:  

Houston @ Miami 7:30 pm Sun Sports
Indiana @ Philadelphia 7:00 pm
Boston @ Toronto 7:00 pm
New York @ Washington 7:00 pm
LA Clippers @ Orlando 7:00 pm
Charlotte @ Cleveland 7:00 pm
Memphis @ Atlanta 7:30 pm
Brooklyn @ Detroit 8:00 pm
Phoenix @ New Orleans 8:00 pm
Golden State @ Oklahoma City  8:00 pm
Portland @ Dallas 8:30 pm
San Antonio @ Minnesota   9:00 pm ESPN
Milwaukee @ Utah 9:00 pm

In college hoops, the University of Miami just keeps rolling along.  Last night, the #8 ranked Canes  pummeled Boston College 72-50.  Now comes another encounter with the big boys, as they take on the North Carolina Tar Heels at 2:00 pm on Saturday at the BankUnited Center. 

The FIU basketball team returns to the hardwood tomorrow night at home against Florida Atlantic, before heading out to North Texas to take on the Mean Green on Saturday at 8:00 pm.  

Today is National Letter of Intent day in college football, when all the high school seniors are deciding where to go to school.  If you believe that the NFL draft is a crap-shoot, college recruiting can be more difficult to judge.  Some of these top-notch players coming out of high school just don’t pan out and never live up to their expectations in college.  Others come out of nowhere to become the next stars.  We’ll see what pans out today, but it’ll take 3-4 years to really see what happened today. 

Today’s featured articles: 

You can follow the latest on National Letter of Intent day at:


Follow your team(s) latest signings and news right here:

FIU Panthers http://fiu.rivals.com
Miami Hurricanes http://miami.rivals.com
Florida State Seminoles http://floridastate.rivals.com

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  We all know that Don Shula is the winningest coach in Miami Dolphins history with 274 wins, as well as the winningest coach in NFL history (347 wins all-time).  Who is the second-winningest coach in Dolphins team history? Tell you later, alligator.  

In baseball, the Marlins keep adding bodies as they signed pitcher Jon Rauch to a one-year contract.  The Fish designated outfielder Bryan Petersen for assignment to open up a roster spot for Rauch.  If nothing else, Rauch will help the Marlins on their basketball team, as he is the tallest player in the major leagues, at 6’11’.  The righthander was 3-7 last season in 73 games, all in relief, while pitching with the Mets.  

In other news around the major leagues,

Two former Cy Young winners may have thrown their last pitches in the major leagues.  Brandon Webb, who won the Cy Young award in 2006 and finished second in the balloting in both 2007 and 2008, announced his retirement from baseball at the age of 33.  The three-time All Star hasn’t been able to pitch in the majors since 2009 due to shoulder injuries.  The St. Louis Cardinals announced yesterday that Chris Carpenter almost certainly won’t pitch in 2013 and that his career is probably over after a recurrence of the nerve injury that cost him most of last season.  Carpenter won the Cy Young award in 2005, going 21-5 with a 2.83 ERA and was second in 2009 after finishing with a 17-4 mark and a brilliant 2.24 ERA.  Carpenter was a total stud in the postseason, where he posted a 10-4 record and a 3.00 ERA.  Carpenter’s retirement isn’t official just yet, but it is very unlikely that he will be able to come back.

The Arizona Diamondbacks and OF Gerardo Parra avoided arbitration and agreed to a one-year contract worth $2.35M.

There are only 13 players left with pending arbitration hearings, down from the original group of over 200 players.  Here is a list:

Jason Hammel filed for $8.25MM, Orioles countered with $5.7MM
Jim Johnson filed for $7.1MM, Orioles countered with $5.7MM
Darren O’Day filed for $3.2MM, Orioles countered with $1.8MM 
Shin-Soo Choo filed for $8MM, Reds countered with $6.75MM
Mike Leake filed for $3.5MM, Reds countered with $2.65MM 
Mat Latos filed for $4.7MM, Reds countered with $4.15MM 
Homer Bailey filed for $5.8MM, Reds countered with $4.75MM
Jordan Zimmerman filed for $5.8MM, Nationals countered with $4.6MM
Clayton Richard filed for $5.55MM, Padres countered with $4.905MM
Dexter Fowler filed for $5.15MM, Rockies countered with $4.25MM
Sergio Romo filed for $4.5MM, Giants countered with $2.675MM
David Freese filed for $3.75MM, Cardinals countered with $2.4MM
Mike Aviles filed for $3.4MM, Indians countered with $2.4MM

Here’s the answer to today’s question:  We all know that Don Shula is the winningest coach in Miami Dolphins history with 274 wins, as well as the winningest coach in NFL history (347 wins all-time).  Who is the second-winningest coach in Dolphins team history?    

You may be a bit surprised to hear that Dave Wannstedt is #2 wins as the Dolphins head coach.  The “moustache” ended his Dolphins tenure as head coach with a 43-32-1 record in 4 1/2 seasons with the Fins.  Jimmy Johnson only had a 38-31 record in the four years he coached the Dolphins.      

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. 

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