Sports Agenda for Monday (2/25/2013)
Big Story:
Well, Miami's basketball team did a great impression of the football team this weekend, choking at the top. Speaking of choking, the Heat almost choked against the woeful Cavaliers. The Panthers continue to stink. And Dear Jeffrey Loria, for lack of better way of putting, you still suck.
Quote of the Day:
"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." – John Lennon
Miami Marlins:
Yknow, you're a pretty big jerk when you take an ad out in the paper and deflect blame for everything onto the media, the fans, and anything but yourself.
I've seen bad ownership before, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals come to mind, but Loria takes being a moron/jerk/jacklegged fool to a new level.
I'd have love to be in the meeting when he pitched this to everyone.
Let's see, he blamed the fans for not coming out by saying attendance was down last year.
He said the media was to blame for not I guess getting on our hands and knees and worshiping the ground he walks on.
He criticized people who say he was given a stadium, when in fact he was gifted the best stadium deal this side of….well, I can't even think of one that bad.
Let's not forget the real winner of the entire letter…
He said the minor league system was reborn with the massive salary/talent dump the Marlins pulled off in November.
Hmm, let's see, we'll trade our best Major League-caliber talent for a bunch of minor league prospects. Then we can say we have the best minor league system in the league.
So in essence, we're supposed to think he's smart because he traded away the Marlins' best players for some magic beans that may or may not grow into a beanstalk.
I used to think Bud Selig and George W. Bush were two of the worst owners in recent baseball history.
Yeah, this guy takes the cake over them.
Look, the bottom line is this: Jeffrey Loria may be a good art dealer, but he doesn't know the first thing about running a Major League Baseball team, his staff under him is a bunch of awful yes men who don't know how to stand up to him or run a baseball team themselves.
And the worst part is, Miami is stuck with him likely until the day he dies.
Thank goodness South Florida has the Heat and Dolphins and Hurricanes or this truly would be the worst sports town in America.
Way to go Jeffrey.
Miami Hurricanes:
Now, I don't want to say that I'm good, but here's a line from my preview story on Friday about the Canes….
"The Demon Deacons enter the game with an 11-14 overall record and 4-9 record in conference play this year. But, it's a team like Wake Forest that may be overlooked who can often times spring the biggest upsets."
Yup, I was right.
Miami was flat and deserved to drop their first ACC game.
In a lot of ways, I think it was a good loss at a good time, if…
Miami can come back and show that the team simply wasn't focused and this wasn't a harbinger of things to come.
Miami gets Virginia Tech on Wednesday as a final tune-up to Duke this Saturday.
So what should Canes fans expect?
Unfortunately, a loss to Va. Tech wouldn't surprise me either, but I don't think it will happen.
The team has too many seniors ready to make that one final run into the tournament.
Miami's number one seed in the tournament will be on the line for the rest of the season, which just so happens to be four games.
Win out, and the number one seed is theirs.
Lose another game or two, and you're looking at number two or three seed.
By the way, March Madness is coming….the Bracket Challenge on CBSMiami.com is also on the way.
Miami Heat: (off Monday)
Ugh, How do you blow a 22 point lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers??!?!
The only thing that could have made it funnier is if the scoreboard had been in Comic Sans font.
(vague reference to Dan Gilbert's letter to Cleveland fans swearing that the Cavs would win a title before LeBron. Yeah, how'd that work out for you Dan?)
The good news for the heat is they have the ability to come back from blowing such a huge lead.
Lebron had a ho-hum night of 28 points on 10-19 shooting with 3 rebounds and 8 assists.
How about D-Wade?
24 points, 5 boards, 6 assists. I think he's averaging close to 21 points per game this year and definitely has his legs back under him.
In other words, danger all teams in the league.
And holy cow the Heat couldn't miss from behind the 3-point line…shooting 63 percent on 19 shots.
That's just ridunkulous.
Next up for the Heat…the Sacramento Kings.
Another game that should see Wade and James relaxing on the sideline in the fourth quarter.
Panthers: (off Monday)
I'm trying to find something nice to say about the Panthers, but even the headline on their home page made me laugh.
It said Cats clipped by Bruins.
No, if you lose 2-1, then you got clipped.
When you are mauled 4-1 and have lost 4 of your last 5 games, just ugh.
Not surprisingly, great seats are available for the Panthers games at just pennies on the dollar.
Sometimes literally, pennies.
But somehow, miraculously, the Panthers aren't in last place in the division or the Eastern Conference.
Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are.
Do you realize the Cats have won only 2 games at home this year?
2?!?!
