Monday, December 16, 2013

PROGRAMMING NOTE:  THERE WILL BE NO BLOG TOMORROW OR WEDNESDAY.   I PROMISE TO RETURN ON THURSDAY.  

There are only 8 shopping days until Christmas, and counting.  Seriously.  Time is running out.  If you haven’t done it, it is probably to late to order on the web.  You procrastinated once more, and you’re going to have to go to the stores. 

The Dolphins are in control of their own destiny as we head into the last two weeks of the season.  If they win both remaining games, they will make the playoffs.  Yesterday, the Fins beat the Patriots, 24-20, as QB Ryan Tannehill engineered the winning fourth quarter 60-yard touchdown drive that gave the Fins the lead with just one minute and fifteen seconds left in the contest.  The key play on that drive was a fourth down completion to Charles Clay that kept the winning drive alive.  That was almost plenty of time for Tom Brady, who drove his team down to a fourth down and goal with 6 seconds left.  The key man on defense was newcomer Michael Thomas, who joined the Dolphins on Tuesday, after being “pooched” off the roster of the San Francisco 49ers.  The safety first broke up what would have been a TD pass to Danny Amendola on second down, and intercepted Brady’s fourth down attempt and the Dolphins escaped with the win.  After the Fins’ win and the Bengals loss to the Steelers, the Dolphins today sit alone for the sixth and final playoff spot.  Again, since the Bengals (9-5) and the Ravens (7-6) coming into tonight’s game) face each other in the final week of the season, if the Dolphins win their two remaining games, they will advance to the playoffs.  Next opponent for the Fins are the Buffalo Bills up in Buffalo next Sunday.




Here is the remaining regular season schedule for the Fins:

12/22 @ Buffalo 1:00 pm CBS
12/29 NY Jets 1:00 pm CBS

Here’s more on the Dolphins from Armando Salguero:


Tonight’s MNF game on ESPN pits the Baltimore Ravens and the Detroit Lions in Detroit.

Baltimore @ Detroit -5 8:30 pm ESPN

The Ravens are 1-5 away from home, but they have beaten the Lions in two out of their last three meetings.  The only time they lost to them in that span was the only time they went to Detroit, and lost 35-17.  The Lions have lost three out of their last four games, and picking the Lions is a really risky and scary proposition.  However, I look for them to rebound tonight and take care of business at home against Baltimore.  I’m taking the Lions minus the points.

Here are the rest of this week’s results in the NFL.  I’m 4-1-1 this week, pending tonight’s game between the Ravens and the Lions. My record so far this season is 55-44-5 against the spread, and 63–41 straight up. 

THURSDAY

San Diego 27   Denver 20  Denver -10

SUNDAY

Dolphins 24   New England 20 Miami -2

Indianapolis 25   Houston 3  Indy -6

Seattle 23   NY Giants 0 Seattle -9

Carolina 30 NY Jets 20  PUSH Carolina -10

Pittsburgh 30   Cincinnati 20   Pittsburgh + 3

Arizona 37   Tennessee 34

Buffalo 27  Jacksonville 20

Atlanta 27   Washington 26

Chicago 38   Cleveland 31

Minnesota 48  Philadelphia 30 

San Francisco 33   Tampa Bay 14

Green Bay 37   Dallas  36

St. Louis 27   New Orleans 16

Kansas City 56  Oakland 31

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Running back Jamaal Charles scored five  touchdowns yesterday for the KC Chiefs against the Oakland Raiders.  He is one of 11 players looking up at the only player who scored six touchdowns in a game (since 1960). Who dunnit?  The answer comes later, alligator.


Here’s ESPN’s NFL Nation Blog, with more news from all around the league:


Of course, we can all continue to sleep at night, knowing full well that Aaron Hernandez remains in jail, where he belongs.  

In baseball:

Here is more on the Logan Morrison trade to the Seattle Mariners for relief pitcher Carter Capps.  


MY TAKE:  Like I said last week, in every trade, only time will tell.  Trading a player in the “down” side of his career is not easy to do.  Getting something of real value in return is even harder to do.  We’ll see what happens.



Here’s the latest from the Hot Stove:









Marlins’ pitchers and catchers report February 16th, position players arrive February 20th, and the spring training games begin February 26th, when the Fish play the University of Miami Hurricanes.  They will then play the FIU Panthers on the 27th.  Both of those games will be in Jupiter.  

Here is the complete preseason schedule for the Fish:


In college football,


Nick Saban will remain at Alabama:


Mack Brown resigned at Texas, even though the Longhorns wanted him to stay.


And the winner of the Heisman Trophy is:


The BCS National Championship game will have the Florida State Seminoles squaring off against the Auburn Tigers in Pasadena on January 6th.  The rest of the bowl schedule is here, including a good one in the Orange Bowl Classic, where we will see the Clemson Tigers and Ohio State Buckeyes do battle at the Seven Names Stadium.


Manny Navarro and Susan Miller Degnan have the latest from Coral Gables.


Here’s the latest from FIU.  David J. Neal of the Herald has the details:


Here’s the latest from Tallahassee and #1-ranked FSU:


From Gainesville and the University of Florida:


Moving to the hardwood:

The Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night, 114-107.  They needed a furious comeback in the fourth quarter after blowing a 19-point lead.



Next game for the Heat is tonight, at the AAA, against the Utah Jazz.  Tipoff is at 7:30 pm, and you can watch the game on Sun Sports.

The Heat’s schedule for the remainder of 2013:

Jazz @ Heat Mon 12/16 7:30 pm Sun Sports 
Pacers @ Heat Wed 12/18 7:00 pm Sun Sports
Kings @ Heat Fri 12/20 7:30 pm Sun Sports
Hawks @ Heat Mon 12/23 7:30 pm Sun Sports
Heat @ Lakers Christmas Day 5:00 pm ABC
Heat @ Trailblazers Sat 12/28       10:00 pm Sun Sports
Heat @ Nuggets Mon 12/30 9:00 pm Sun Sports

More Heat coverage:






Here is the Heat’s complete regular season schedule:


On the NHL ice, the Panthers had a nice weekend, as they beat the Washington Capitals on Friday 3-2, and last night, they were up in Montreal and beat the Canadiens by the score of 2-1.  The Cats have won three games in a row and five out of their last six.  The team will stay north of the border as they take on the Maple Leafs tomorrow night in Toronto, the Senators in Ottawa on Thursday, and the Jets in Winnipeg on Friday. 



In boxing news,

Here is Santos Perez’ weekly boxing spotlight column from the Miami Herald:


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I’m selling three lots totaling a little over five acres in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, overlooking the New River, a quick 35-minute drive from Boone and Blowing Rock.  Click here to see some photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: 


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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Running back Jamaal Charles scored five  touchdowns yesterday for the KC Chiefs against the Oakland Raiders.  He is one of 11 players looking up at the only player who scored six touchdowns in a game (since 1960). Who dunnit?   

The great Gale Sayers scored 6 TD’s against the San Francisco 49ers way back in December of 1965.  


Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day. 

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