The hunt for a new general manager begins today in Dolphin-land. Also pending are any additional changes to the coaching staff.
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.
Their home schedule includes a visit from Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay, and they will be traveling to Denver to face the Broncos and Peyton Manning. One game date is already determined: the Fins will play the Oakland Raiders in London on Sept. 28. That will count as a road game. The rest of the exact game dates will be announced in the spring.
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.
The NFL Postseason resumes this week with the Divisional Playoffs on Saturday and Sunday. This week’s divisional championship games, with current point spreads:
SATURDAY
New Orleans @ Seattle - 7 ½ 4:35 pm FOX
Seattle is a VERY difficult place to play in and the Saints, historically, have not been a good road team. Difficult pick, regardless, in what will probably end up being a good game. With lots of caution, I will take the Seahawks minus the points.
Indianapolis @ New Englan - 7 ½ 8:15 pm CBS
I am no longer amazed at anything the Colts and Andrew Luck do. We could be witnessing the changing of the guard. Tough to pick against Tom Brady and the Patriots, but I will go with the Colts plus the points.
SUNDAY
San Francisco @ Carolina +2 1:05 pm FOX
There is something about this year’s edition of the Carolina Panthers, not only with Cam Newton and the offense, but their defense has played lights-out all season. I’ll take the Cats at home.
San Diego @ Denver -10 4:40 pm CBS
San Diego has played the Broncos very tough this season. This is their third encounter, and I fully expect for Manning and his troops to be ready for the Chargers. However, I fear the large number. I think Denver will win, but I will roll with the Chargers plus the points.
Of course, we can all continue to sleep at night, knowing full well that Aaron Hernandez remains in jail, where he belongs.
From the universities . . . .
First from Coral Gables, here is news from the “U”:
From FIU, David J. Neal of the Herald has the latest in his blog:
Also from Westchester, good article from our good friend Pete Pelegrin on TY Hilton:
Here’s the latest from Tallahassee and the national champion Seminoles:
From Gainesville and the University of Florida:
We welcome the Central Florida Knights to the blog:
In baseball news, nothing yet on the Alex Rodriguez suspension, but something is probably happening today. I am now hearing that A-Roid will be willing to settle for a lesser suspension than the 210 games that MLB is pursuing. The magic number is probably 100. Stay tuned.
The Hall of Fame in Cooperstown added busts of Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine to their hallowed halls.
MY TAKE:
The voters are stupid in general. A lot of them have agendas, and must truly believe that they are the last bottle of Coca-Cola in the desert.
The HOF voters need to face up to the facts that neither Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens were ever proven to have used illegal PED’s by the federal government or by MLB. They were the best at their respective crafts in the major leagues during their careers.
In a related note, what Dan LeBatard did with his vote was disrespectful and wrong, if not to the BBWA (who don’t really deserve any respect), but it was disrespectful to the players. That being said, the writer that gave a vote to Jacque Jones and other examples of similar stupidity should also have the privileges revoked. Not to be left out, any one that left Craig Biggio or any other deserving player off the ballot because of the fact that they played in the “steroid era” should also be removed from the process.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTiON: From 1905 through 1994, only two World Series winning teams do not have a player in the hall of fame. Who are those teams? The answer comes later, alligator.
In other news around baseball,
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 Miami Heat lost to the New york Knicks last night, in the first game of a six-game road trip. Tonight, it is the Nets in Brooklyn.
The Heat’s schedule for the rest of the month:
Heat @ Nets Fri 1/10 8:00 pm Sun Sports, ESPN
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:
On the NHL ice, the Florida Panthers beat Buffalo last night, 2-1. Next up for the Cats are the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. Saturday’s game starts at 7:00 pm on Fox Sports Florida.
In boxing news,
Here is Santos Perez’ weekly boxing spotlight column from the Miami Herald. This week’s column includes a story on up-and-coming boxers for 2014:
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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: From 1905 through 1994, only two World Series winning teams do not have a player in the hall of fame. Who are those teams?:
The 1981 LA Dodgers and the 1984 Detroit Tigers.
Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
