LeBron James got his MVP award last night in front of a home crowd that was ready for more from the MVP. The crowd didn’t get it last night, as the Heat lost to the Bulls 93-86. Chicago finished the game by scoring the last ten points of the contest. Nate Robinson had 24 of his 27 points in the second half and distributed 9 assists. Jimmy Butler had 21 points and 14 rebounds, Joakim Noah added 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Bulls dominated the boards, outrebounding the Heat 46-32 and that led to a 17-8 advantage in second-chance points. LeBron James scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half fofr Miami, who lost for only the third time in the last 44 games. Like the song says, “Momma said there’d be days like this, there’d be days like this my momma said”. Time to roll up the sleeves and get back at it for game two tomorrow night, again at the AAA. I’m sticking to my story: Miami in five.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Don’t panic! The sky is not falling just yet. How many games did the Heat lose in last year’s playoffs? Tell you later, alligator.
In yesterday’s other second round opening game,
San Antonio 129 Golden State 127 (2 OT)
Manu Ginobili’s three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left in the second overtime gave the Spurs the lead and the win. Ginobili had missed his last seven shots from the court. San Antonio overcame a 16-point deficit with four minutes left in the game, and did it by going on an 18-2 run. Tony Parker scored 28 points, Danny Green had 22, and Tim Duncan, who spent most of the night battling a stomach virus, finished with 19 points and 11 boards. Stephen Curry was the man for Golden State, finishing with 44 points and 11 assists. The last time the Warriors beat the Spurs in San Antonio was Feb.14, 1997.
TONIGHT:
Indiana @ New York 7:00 pm TNT
Game 2 Pacers leads series, 1-0
Memphis @ Oklahoma City 9:30 pm TNT
Game 2 Thunder leads series, 1-0
WEDNESDAY:
Chicago @ Miami 7:00 pm TNT
Game 2 Bulls lead series 1-0
Golden State @ San Antonio 9:30 pm TNT
Game 2 Spurs lead series 1-0
The Dolphins and the stadium continue to be in everyone's minds. Armando Salguero is fuming (and, with good reason):
In case you missed it, I’ll give you my opinion again:
I supported the effort of the Dolphins because there was only what amounted to a 30% investment by the people, with all that money coming from tourist dollars. The plan had some merit, and was a step in avoiding the need for a new facility in the near future. Only seven NFL stadiums are older than the Seven Names Stadium or haven’t been renovated.
I have also personally seen, and was involved on two prior occasions, when the Florida legislature snubbed South Florida and did not allow legislation to even be voted on in the House or in the Senate. I saw first-hand the contempt and arrogance of the senators and representatives from north Florida towards us down here, and how the legislators from South Florida were powerless. It should have never gotten to that for the Dolphins this time. They should have known better. Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford learned from his father-in-law, former House Speaker Allan Bense, who back in 2006, did the same thing to the Marlins, ignoring Marco Rubio’s plea to let their bill come to a vote.
The Dolphins did a piss-poor job, both in Tallahassee, and with the people of Miami. They need to work out a deal that involves both Broward and Miami-Dade. Whether it is by moving boundaries so that both counties share in the land that the stadium sits on, or by taxing tourists of both counties, maybe with only a half-cent, and for a specific and predetermined time frame only. If Miami-Dade and Broward, the two most interested and affected counties, can’t come to a meeting of the minds, how could anyone expect the mindless parasites in Tallahassee to care about anything in South Florida, an area that provides the state most of their revenue, but historically gets the shaft from their neighbors up north. It is now up to the Miami-Dade County mayor and commission to figure it out. The solution has to come from down here, and, again, they need to get Broward involved somehow. Maybe it’ll take another group, someone like the Miami Dade Sports Commission, to take the bull by the horns and start the healing process and get involved with their Broward counterparts in making sure the Fins are a part of South Florida for generations to come.
I do not feel sorry for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, but I do understand one thing . . . the Heat, the Panthers, and the Marlins all received public funding for their homes.
I really don’t see the Dolphins leaving South Florida, and Ross has repeated on numerous occasions that the Fins aren’t moving as long as he is the owner. but you just never know, especially as long as Los Angeles and Southern California don’t have a football team. This isn’t baseball: We have seen NFL franchises pack up and move - The Oilers left Houston, the Colts left Baltimore, the Browns left Cleveland, the Cardinals left St. Louis, the Rams left Los Angeles, the Raiders left Oakland for Los Angeles, and then bolted from Los Angeles to go back to Oakland. Teams with more history in their cities loaded up the trucks and left for greener pastures. As a community, we CANNOT allow misguided politicians and power brokers to dictate the future of the Miami Dolphins. The Los Angeles Dolphins just don’t sound right.
Both the Dolphins and the NFL feel that they were slapped in the face by the powers that be in this latest fiasco, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been known to hold a grudge. I am sure of one thing - we can kiss goodbye to any possibilities for future Super Bowls in South Florida, and quite possibly, any college championship games.
The Marlins should have saved some runs for last night. After pounding the Phillies for 14 runs on Sunday, the Fish went back into their no-run zone and were shutout by the Padres 5-0. Andrew Cashner threw 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball, giving up just four hits. Jedd Gyorko homered for the Padres in the win. Marlins starter Wade LeBlanc fell to 0-5 this year, giving up all four runs in his five innings of work. Here are the pitching match-ups for the rest of the series in San Diego:
Tuesday Alex Sanabia vs Eric Stults 10:10 pm
Wednesday Ricky Nolasco vs Jason Marquis 3:40 pm
The Fish are still bringing up the rear in MLB in runs scored, with 98 in their 33 games. I will be posting the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored until the Marlins aren’t on the list. We could be here a while.
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 10-23 98
White Sox 13-17 104
Dodgers 13-18 106
Nationals 17-15 113
Twins 13-15 116
Yahoo! Sports is on the Marcell Ozuna bandwagon:
As the rumors about the possible availability of Giancarlo Stanton, Yahoo! Sports also looks at the possibility the Man-Child going to the Cincinnati Reds in a trade:
In the rest of MLB yesterday, first in the National League,
Braves 7 Reds 4
Andrelton Simmons blasted two home runs and drove in four runs. Jordan Schafer also connected long distance.
Cubs 9 Rangers 2
Scott Feldman dominated his former team, throwing seven shutout innings and had a run-scoring single as well. Anthony Rizzo went 4-5 with a home run and four RBI.
D-Backs 9 Dodgers 2
Trevor Cahill tossed seven innings and drove in two runs with a triple. Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Ross homered in the win.
Phillies 6 Giants 2
Cliff Lee pitched eight innings, giving up just 2 runs and five hits.
Over in the American League:
White Sox 2 Royals 1 (11 innings)
Jordan Danks’ first home run of the season was the difference.
Indians 7 A’s 3
Asdrubal Cabrera homered twice. Jason Kipnis and Mark Reynolds also connected long distance.
Red Sox 6 Twins 5 (11 innings)
Stephen Drew capped a 4-5 night with the game-winning RBI double in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Blue Jays 8 Rays 7
JP Arencibia smacked the go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth inning. The Rays blew a 7-0 lead.
Today’s games, first in the National League:
Braves @ Reds 7:10 pm
Kris Medlen vs Homer Bailey
Tigers @ Nationals 7:05 pm
Anibal Sanchez vs Jordan Zimmerman
Mariners @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Aaron Harang vs James McDonald
White Sox @ Mets 7:10 pm
Hector Santiago @ Matt Harvey
Cardinals @ Cubs 8:05 pm
Lance Lynn vs Travis Wood
Rangers @ Brewers 8:10 pm
Justin Grimm vs Wily Peralta
Yankees @ Rockies 8:40 pm
Hiroki Kuroda vs Jorge de la Rosa
D-Backs @ Dodgers 10:10 pm
Brandon McCarthy vs Josh Beckett
Phillies @ Giants 10:15 pm
Kyle Kendrick vs Tim Lincecum
Over in the American League:
Royals @ Orioles 7:05 pm
Ervin Santana vs Wei-Yin Chen
A’s @ Indians 7:05 pm
Tommy Milone vs Zach McAllister
Twins @ Red Sox 7:10 pm
Scott Diamond vs Ryan Dempster
Blue Jays @ Rays 7:10 pm
JA Happ vs Roberto Hernandez
Angels @ Astros 8:10 pm
CJ Wilson vs Jordan Lyles
In other baseball news, Ken Rosenthal is always on top of things when it comes to MLB. Here’s his latest:
The NY Daily News and the NY Post are reporting on A-Rod’s progress:
Daily News:
Post:
Even the Yankees are having issues with attendance. They are now even offering Groupons:
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
In college baseball. FIU hosts Jacksonville today and tomorrow, before heading out to Little-Rock to take on UALR this coming weekend. The University of Miami travel to Wake Forest for a three-game set starting on Friday.
The high school baseball playoffs are in full swing in South Florida. Here is the web site for all the latest:
Speaking of websites, check out my new and improved site:
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” radio 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 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Don’t panic! The sky is not falling just yet. How many games did the Heat lose in last year’s playoffs?
Don’t worry, be happy! Miami went 16-7 in the postseason last year on their way to the NBA championship.
1st Round Knicks (4-1)
2nd Round Pacers (4-2)
3rd Round Celtics (4-3)
Finals Thunder (4-1)
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment