Wednesday, January 15, 2014

This Sunday, it is the Conference Championships on center stage, and we can safely say that the four best teams in the NFL made it to the final four.
COMPLETE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE, RESULTS, and MATCHUPS

I went 2-2 last week in my picks. My record in the playoffs against the spread so far is 5-2-1.  

SUNDAY

New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos -4 ½  3:00 pm CBS

San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks    -3 ½   6:30 pm FOX

I’ll have my picks on Friday.

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Thanks to Dorian Mesa, who is always on top of all of these things.  In a question right out of Ripley’s Believe it or Not, the last Heisman Trophy winning quarterback to lead his NFL team to a playoff team was Tim Tebow.  Two part question today:  Who was the last Heisman-winning QB to win a playoff game?  What Heisman-winning QB had the most NFL playoff wins in his career?  The answer comes later, alligator.

The Dolphins are in “interview” mode, and have interviewed a number of candidates for the GM job.  Let’s hope some of these are more qualified than their predecessor:


After losing out on a couple of candidates, the Fins landed a new offensive coordinator.  Bill Lazor, who was the QB coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, will be the man.  Lazor had a lot of success last year with the Eagles and their QB, Nick Foles.


Here’s more on the Fins from Armando Salguero:


There’s always next season.  The Dolphins will play the AFC West and NFC North in addition to their usual AFC East opponents.

2014 Home schedule: Buffalo, New England, NY Jets, Kansas City, San Diego, Green Bay, Minnesota and Baltimore.

2014 Road schedule: Buffalo, New England, NY Jets, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, Oakland (in London), and Jacksonville.

Here is the 2014 draft order, according to ESPN.  There are coin flips pending and the final order will be determined by playoff results.  The only thing that is certain is that the Houston Texans are on the clock.



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

The A-Roid situation continues to be the headline around baseball.  More fallout and more details are coming out:






MY TAKE:  

Alex Rodriguez has made over $353 million strictly from playing baseball during his career.  Major League Baseball does not owe A-Roid a damn thing.  A-Roid owes the game and the fans a lot more than what he has been willing to give.  

A-Roid is the only player named in the Anthony Bosch/Biogenesis investigation that did not accept a suspension.  He is contesting the decision reached by a process agreed to by Major League Baseball and the Player’s Union that represents him and all other major league players.  According to all the legal experts out there, except his own attorneys, there is no chance in hell that this decision will be overturned.  


Bosch appeared yesterday on CBS’ “60 Minutes”program with specific details on how they were able to beat the MLB drug-testing system.  The evidence given to ML by Bosch, albeit a questionable and despicable human being himself, is very strong and damning against A-Roid.  


Known associates of A-Roid threatened Bosch and Team A-Roid did everything in their power to impede the investigation at every turn.  Hundreds and hundreds of text messages between Bosh and A-Roid are part of the evidence that eventually led to this suspension.  


Lots of info to review, but I truly believe that A-Roid has played his last inning for the New York Yankees.  There are $61 million left in A-Roid’s contract with the Yankees, and it is now up to the team to decide what to do.  There will be no settlement or reduction of the amount owed.  


It will be really interesting to see what happens in a couple of weeks, when Spring Training opens.  Due to a loophole in the players’ agreement with MLB, it seems that A-Roid will be allowed to participate in spring training.  Since he is now not on the team’s 40-man roster, the Yankees could banish him to their minor league camp and keep him away from their major league training camp.  



In other news around baseball,

The Marlins went out and signed pain-in-the-ass former Met Jordany Valdespin to a free-agent contract.  Besides the fact that the guy was suspended 50 games in the Biogenesis scandal, the malcontent just quit his winter-league team because he was pinch-hit for in a recent playoff game.  Who picks and chooses these free-agent losers?






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:


Moving to the hardwood:

The Heat were honored at the White House yesterday in commemoration of their second consecutive NBA Championship.  Here is the video from Channel 7, WSVN:


The team remained in Washington, DC, where they take on the Wizards tonight.  Miami is trying to avoid a three-game losing streak, after consecutive losses to the Knicks and Nets this past week.  Good opportunity to see the Wizards’ young backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal.  They’re playing really well this season, and getting better.  

The Heat’s schedule for the rest of the month:

Heat @ Wizards Wed   1/15 7:00 pm Sun Sports
Heat @ 76ers Fri     1/17 7:00 pm Sun Sports
Heat @ Bobcats Sat     1/18 7:00 pm Sun Sports
Heat @ Hawks Mon    1/20 5:30 pm Sun Sports
Celtics @ Heat Tue    1/21 7:30 pm Sun Sports 
Lakers @ Heat Thu    1/23 8:00 pm   TNT
Spurs @ Heat Sun    1/26 1:00 pm ABC
Thunder @ Heat Wed    1/29 7:00 pm Sun Sports, ESPN

More Heat and NBA coverage:






Here is the Heat’s complete regular season schedule:


College Sports Information Central:

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


From FIU,  David J. Neal of the Herald has the latest in his blog:


Here’s the latest from Tallahassee and the Seminoles:


From Gainesville and the University of Florida:


We welcome the Central Florida Knights to the blog:


The Florida Panthers defeated the New York Islanders last night, 4-2.  They will return to the ice tomorrow night at the BB&T Center at 7:30 pm, against the San Jose Sharks.  You can watch them game on Fox Sports Florida.



In boxing news,

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


Congratulations are in order for Santos, who will be inducted into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame this year.  Very well deserved.  Long time local promoters Tutico Zabala and Walter Alvarez also will be inducted.  Congratulations to them as well.

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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:  In a question right out of Ripley’s Believe it or Not, the last Heisman Trophy winning quarterback to lead his NFL team to a playoff team was Tim Tebow.  Two part question today:  Who was the last Heisman-winning QB to win a playoff game?  What Heisman-winning QB had the most NFL playoff wins in his career?

Vinny Testaverde was the last one before Tebow.  The most successful Heisman winning QB in NFL playoffs was Roger Staubach, who had eleven post-season wins with the Cowboys.  

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

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