Sports Agenda for Thursday (4/19/12)
Big Story:
Man, how about that for a night in local sports. The Heat and the Marlins thumped their opponent, LeBron got some much needed rest, a quick note on Pat Summitt, and we're a week away from draft day so don't believe anything!
Lyrics of the Day:
"As the riders loped on by him he heard one call his name; if you want to save your soul from Hell a-riding on our range. Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride. Trying to catch the Devil's herd, across these endless skies." – from Ghost Riders In The Sky by Johnny Cash
Heat: (vs. Chicago Bulls, 8:00 p.m., TNT)
You ever get the feeling that LeBron just toys with opponents and that at any given point he can turn it on if the team needs it and take over a game?
Yeah, me too.
Well, LeBron continues to put his stamp on the NBA MVP award after he put up 28 points in 30 minutes on 12-15 shooting.
Dadgum.
And he didn't play in the fourth quarter I don't believe.
Granted it was against the Raptors, which is like beating Fox Business in television ratings, but still.
You know how yknow it was a crazy game? Dexter Pittman had more points than fouls and even Eddy Curry put up four points.
Only player who didn't score but played? James Jones, sorry man, you can't go 0-7 in a rout like this…I mean you were outscored by Pittman and Curry. Yikes!
Tonight, I think LeBron can absolutely win the MVP Award with a good performance against the Chicago Bulls.
If LeBron dominates the game at home like he can, then the MVP award is his, lock, stock.
I don't know as of now if the Big Three will play together tonight.
The game is essentially meaningless except for momentum heading into the playoffs.
Miami could use a victory over the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.
But Chicago may be without Derrick Rose, whose injury I think may be more serious than the Bulls are letting on.
I'd keep Wade on the bench tonight and put Bosh back on the floor at the five. I'd leave Turiaf and Curry on the bench and go from there.
I like the Heat are playing right now. Too bad they had March before now.
Marlins: (vs. Chicago Cubs, 12:40 p.m., Fox Sports Florida)
If you felt a brief gust of wind last night, what you were experiencing was the massive sigh of relief Marlins pitcher Mark Buehrle let out.
The Marlins bats came alive and helped the Fish just pound on the Cubs, 9-1.
For a team that was struggling a bit early, they look to have really settled in at Marlins Park.
Hanley Ramirez cranked his fourth home run of the season and Jose Reyes and Emilio Bonifacio were 2-4 and 2-5 respectively.
The win lifted the Marlins out of last place in the NL East and today, they go for the sweep.
The Marlins will send Ricky Nolasco to the mound this afternoon
Nolasco is sporting a 3.46 ERA and a WHIP of 1.00.
Given how the Cubs have been playing, the Marilns should take the series this afternoon.
But I was thinking about something flipping past the game last night.
Could Marlins Park really be a massive home field advantage?
It's tough to hit for distance in the park if the roof is closed and most of the time players don't know till the day of the game about the roof's status.
I'm just thinking maybe that roof could generate 5-10 wins for the Marlins this season just intimidating other hitters.
We'll see, but so far it looks very promising.
Of course getting some real production out of the top of your lineup doesn't hurt either.
Pat Summit, former Tennessee Volunteers head coach:
As anyone who knows me can tell you, I occasionally will poke fun at women's basketball.
Well, mainly the WNBA, but both fans of that know I'm just kidding.
In all seriousness though, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers lost an icon yesterday when Pat Summitt stepped down as head coach.
How good has Summitt been over her 38 years as a coach, just look at her numbers:
- Career Record: 1,098 – 208
- Home Record: 504-48
- SEC Championships: 16
- NCAA Championships: 8
- Non-Conference games: 640-139
I don't care where you coach, those numbers are just really freaking ridiculous.
The only person in men's or women's college coaching in national championships? John Wooden.
And while some will say, yeah but she did it coaching women's basketball, blah, blah, blah.
I say BULL.
I always would have loved to see her coach the men's team at Tennessee.
I think she would have brought the same success to them she did to the Lady Vols.
It's sad that has been diagnosed with Alzheimers, but she faced that with the same toughness and grit that her team fed on from her.
There will come a time when she may not be able to remember some of the things she accomplished.
But the basketball world will never forget what she brought to the game, to the players, and to the university.
We Back Pat is the campaign she is waging now….it's the truth, We Back Pat!
Miami Dolphins:
So, I'm going to keep talking about Tannehill until I make up my mind.
Here's what I was thinking last night and found some help with it from RotoWorld.
If the Fins take a defensive end in the first round, can they legitimately find a quarterback in the second round?
Fins history says no, just look at Pat White, Chad Henne, and John Beck just to name a few.
So what about across the NFL?
Well, no quarterbacks were drafted in the second round from 2002-2005.
So let's look at the list from 2006-2011.
There were 11 quarterbacks drafted in the second round in that time frame.
Who are they? Well, it's not pretty, take a look.
- Tarvaris Jackson – 2006
- Kellen Clemens – 2006
- Drew Stanton – 2007
- John Beck – 2007
- Kevin Kolb – 2007
- Chad Henne – 2008
- Brian Brohm – 2008
- Pat White – 2009
- Jimmy Clausen – 2010
- Colin Kaepernick – 2011
- Andy Dalton – 2011
Out of that list, only Dalton has turned into a quality starter, and we'll see how he progresses in his second year.
Jackson, Clemens, Stanton, Beck, Henne, Clausen, and Kaepernick are all backups, nothing more.
The jury is still out on Kolb, but it doesn't look promising so far.
Pat White isn't even a professional athlete anymore.
Why do I bring this up?
Well, I think if the Dolphins want to go pass rusher at 8 and then get a quarterback, it would be a good idea to come back up into the first round to get a guy I like named Brandon Weeden.
I think you could draft Quinton Coples at 8 and then trade back up into the mid 20's to pick Weeden.
Why do I say Weeden, possibly over Tannehill?
Check out this statline:
Weeden against Top 25 teams in 2011: 71% completion rate, 159-225 for 1774yds, 10 TD,3 INT, 5 sacks, 5-0 record
Umm, yeah, I'm liking Weeden more and more right about now because in the clutch, he delivered on the biggest stage.
Just ask Andrew Luck and Stanford who lost to Weeden in the Fiesta Bowl.
I'm just sayin.
All that and more on CBSMiami.com/sports
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