Did I tell you that the Miami Heat are the NBA Champions for the second consecutive year? I guess I did. The city of Miami is celebrating in grand fashion today, with a parade through the streets of downtown Miami, followed by a private, ticketed celebration inside American Airlines Arena.
Here is a very good look from Grantland.com as to the reasons that the Heat repeated as NBA champions:
Here’s the “real reason” why the Heat won, as I again bring you proof that the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx lives on. It never fails:
From the Sun Sentinel, Ira Winderman talks about Chris Bosh:
Winderman also looks at next year’s roster numbers, salary cap issues, and other issues:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/sfl-miami-heat-player-salaries-s062313,0,1096976.story
Dwyane Wade’s knee was drained before game seven:
The seventh game of the series drew the second largest TV audience since 2003:
The party after the game was quite a celebration, or so I hear:
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Today’s question comes from Mr. William Muir. Only three cities have won at least two NBA, two World Series, and two Super Bowl championships over the last 50 years. Who are they? Tell you later, alligator.
In other news from around the NBA, after days of negotiating and posturing, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Boston Celtics worked out a deal to send head coach Doc Rivers to Boston, who will sign a three-year, $21 million contract to coach the Clippers. In return, the Celtics will receive a 2015 first-round pick. This deal is pending approval from NBA commissioner David Stern. This could get tricky, as the Celtics are also trying to trade Kevin Garnett to the Lakers, and the commissioner has been saying that Garnett and Rivers would not be allowed to go to LA in a package deal. Stay tuned.
From the NFL, John Clayton of ESPN.com has the latest from around the league:
The Aaron Hernandez story will not go away, and it gets stranger every minute:
To baseball we go. Justin Ruggiano homered twice and finished with three runs batted in as the Marlins finished a very successful road trip with a 7-2 win over the Giants in San Francisco. The Fish, who took 3 out of 4 from the world series champs, also got a home run from Marcell Ozuna. Nathan Eovaldi gave up only two runs in six-plus innings, allowing only four hits and striking out seven.
The team is enjoying a day off today at home, and return to the field to take on the Minnesota Twins in a two-game series on Tuesday and Wednesday, before welcoming the San Diego Padres in a four game series Friday through Monday. The Fish are enjoying their best month of June in a long time, with an 11-9 record so far this month. The last two years COMBINED, they managed to only win a TOTAL of twelve games in the month of June.
At this point, unless they decide whether or not to pull the trigger on some trades, the Marlins starting outfield should be Justin Ruggiano, Marcell Ozuna, and Giancarlo Stanton. As much as I love to see Juan Pierre play, he is the fourth outfielder on this team and nothing more.
The Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 235 runs in their 75 games, and it shows in their major league worst record of 25-50. Here are the rest of the bottom-dwellers:
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 25-50 235
Nationals 37-38 263
Dodgers 32-42 264
White Sox 31-42 272
Mariners 34-43 277
In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,
Blue Jays 13 Orioles 5
The Jays swept the series with the Orioles and have now won 11 games in a row, tying a franchise record. Edwin Encarnacion and Colby Rasmus both connected long distance, Jose Bautista drove in three runs. Josh Johnson finally got his first win of the season.
Twins 5 Indians 3
Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham drove in a pair of runs each.
Tigers 7 Red Sox 5
Prince Fielder’s two-run single in the eighth inning was the difference in the ballgame for the Tigers, who took three out of four against Boston.
Rays 3 Yankees 1
James Loney provided the go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning. The Rays and Yankees split their four-game weekend series.
Royals 7 White Sox 6
The Royals scored three runs after two were out in the eighth inning.
Mariners 6 A’s 3 (10 innings)
Kendrys Morales blasted a pinch-hit three-run homer in the bottom of the tenth inning. Raul Ibañez homered twice for Seattle in the win.
Pirates 10 Angels 9 (10 innings)
Travis Snider tie-breaking single was the highlight in a four-run tenth inning for Pittsburgh. The Pirates scored three times in the top of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.
Over in the National League,
Rockies 7 Nationals 6
Michael Cuddyer went 3-4 with a homer and four RBI to extend his hitting streak to 21 games.
Mets 8 Phillies 0
Matt Harvey was brilliant on the mound again, giving up only two hits and striking out 6 in six innings of work before a 20-minute rain delay forced him to leave the game. David Wright homered, tripled, and doubled twice.
Braves 7 Brewers 4
Brian McCann hit a first inning grand slam and Jordan Schafer went 4-5 with a homer. Chris Johnson also connected long distance for the Braves, who avoided their ninth straight loss to the Brewers at Miller Park.
Reds 4 Diamondbacks 2
Shin-Soo Choo and Brandon Phillips both homered in the first inning. Mat Latos allowed only one run and struck out a career-high 13 in 7 2/3 innings.
Dodgers 3 Padres 1
Consecutive homers by Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez in the ninth inning propelled the Dodgers to the win.
Cubs 14 Astros 6
Ryan Sweeney hit a three-run homer and finished with six RBI. Anthony Rizzo also connected long distance and went 3-3 with 4 RBI.
Rangers 2 Cardinals 1
After a rain delay of more than three hours, Leonys Martin drove in the tying run and Ian Kinsler brought home the game winner in the seventh inning against Adam Wainwright, who was looking to become the NL’s first 11-game winner this season.
Today’s games, first, in the American League,
Indians @ Orioles 7:05 pm
Ubaldo Jimenez vs Zach Britton
Blue Jays @ Rays 7:10 pm
Esmil Rogers vs Jeremy Hellickson
Over in the National League,
Phillies @ Padres 10:10 pm
Cliff Lee vs Eric Stults
Giants @ Dodgers 10:15 pm
Madison Bumgarner vs Hyun-Jin Ryu
If you haven’t had an opportunity to watch Hyun-Jin Ryu this year, try and catch the late-night game tonight between the Giants and the Dodgers. He is a special talent.
It’s never easy to replace a future hall of famer, but Chris Johnson has been more than adequate this season at third base for the Atlanta Braves:
David Schoenfield from ESPN.com talks about strikeouts:
Derek Jeter was back in New York this weekend rehabbing:
Pending any additional punishment from MLB, Alex Rodriguez is looking at starting his rehab assignment next week. Mike Petriello from ESPN tells us why the Yankees still need A-Rod:
Jayson Stark talks about the Nationals’ lack of offense:
The American League East pennant race is beginning to get really interesting, as all five teams in the division are over .500. More from ESPN’s David Schoenfield:
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
There are two teams left standing at the College World Series in Omaha, with Mississippi State and UCLA squaring off in a best two-out-of-three matchup to determine this year’s national champion. Game 1 will be played tonight, starting at 8:00 pm. You can watch it on ESPN.
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Today’s question comes from Mr. William Muir. What three cities have won at least two NBA, two World Series, and two Super Bowl championships over the last 50 years?
The three cities: New York (Giants, Knicks, and Yankees), Boston (Patriots, Celtics, and Red Sox), and Miami (Dolphins, Heat, and Marlins). If we went back 60 years, we could add Detroit to the list, but the last time the Lions were relevant was 1957 and 1953, when they won NFL championships. Another possible “technicality” would be Oakland. The Golden State Warriors were playing in Oakland in 1975 when they won their only NBA title, but the Oakland Oaks won the ABA championship in both 1969 and 1970. The Raiders and A’s, of course, won multiple championships.
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.
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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