Friday, January 31, 2014

Dan Sileo In San Diego

     Dan Sileo has been named the new morning host at The Mighty 1090 XEPES-AM in San Diego. He will begin his position at that station in February. He recently had two different stints on the South Florida airwaves.
     Sileo was hired by Sports Radio 560 WQAM-AM in April 2012 when he replaced Sid Rosenberg as the afternoon host. He was moved to middays in early September 2012 when Jorge Sedano took over afternoon drive. Sileo added duties as the postgame studio analyst on the University of Miami Hurricanes Radio Network during the 2012 football season. He lost that job in early January 2013, was suspended two days for twitter remarks about Erin Andrews in late January 2013 and eventually fired by WQAM in early March 2013.
     He then landed at 640 Sports WMEN-AM as a midday host in early August 2013. His tenure there did not last long as he was let go by that station in early November 2013 for twitter comments about a Florida State University football player.
     Before his work in South Florida, Sileo had a long reign in Central Florida as the morning host at WDAE-AM in Tampa Bay until March 2012. He also had a stint at Clear Channel Orlando as a morning host at several sports stations from October 2002 to October 2010 and a late morning spot at WFXJ-AM in Jacksonville prior to that.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Avalanche Blitz Panthers

     The Florida Panthers made a one-game stop in Sunrise during their seven-game stretch on Friday night. They fell to the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 at the BB&T Center. The Cats return to the road for four consecutive games beginning on Sunday against Detroit.
     The Avalanche struck first just 1:34 into the contest to get up 1-0. Matt Duchene circled around the Panthers cage and put a backhand in front for Ryan O'Reilly. His first shot from the right of the crease sailed wide and bounced off the back wall to him for a second-chance shot for the tally. It was his 19th goal of the campaign.
     Colorado(32-13-5) extended their lead to 2-0 with 3:47 left in the first. Gabriel Landeskog stopped a clearing pass on the left-wing wall and sent a pass toward the low slot. Paul Stastny received it, spinned around and put a backhand shot by Tim Thomas for his 14th goal.
     The Avs moved it up to three-goal gap with seven minutes remaining in the second period. Duchene sent the puck from the left wing to O'Reilly at the end wall. He went behind the net and passed out in front to Jamie McGinn for a goal from the top crease. His brother Ty from the Philadelphia Flyers scored his first NHL goal against the Cats in the same arena last season.
     The shutout was broken by Florida(20-24-7) with 14:42 remaining in the third period. Tomas Fleischmann spun off his defender and backhanded a pass from behing the Avs net. Scottie Upshall lifted the puck from the edge of the blue paint as it rolled around the right shoulder of Semyon Varlamov for his eighth goal this season. It also was the 100th NHL goal in his career.
     The Panthers pulled their goalie with two minutes left and it paid off. Tom Gilbert blasted a slapshot from the right point that was deflected off the skate of Upshall in the crease area with 1:43 to go and made it 3-2.
     Varlamov improved to 25-9-5 as he stopped 34 shots while Thomas dropped to 13-14-3 as he made 22 saves. Neither team converted on the power play as they both went 0-for-2. The Avalanche increased their record to 26-1-3 scoring first, 20-1-1 leading after one period and 27-0-2 leading after two periods.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Heat Handle Lakers

     After a comeback victory the previous night at home against the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat won their second straight game as they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 109-102 on Thursday night at American Airlines Arena. Dwyane Wade of the Heat and Kobe Bryant of the Lakers did not dress for this game. The Heat have won eight of their last nine games against the Lakers.
     Miami(31-12), who wore their black road jerseys from the first 13 seasons of the franchise, got out to a 22-13 margin and were ahead 30-27 after one quarter. The Heat went on a 13-3 spurt to began the second to get up by double digits 43-30. Los Angeles(16-27) was behind 57-46 at halftime.
     The Heat, who had their third wire-to-wire victory this season, had a comfortable ten-point lead throughout most of the third quarter and led 85-75 at the end of the period. The Lakers cut the deficit down to four points 103-99 with under three minutes, but they never came any closer.
     LeBron James led the Heat with a double-double of 27 points and 13 rebounds along with six assists in 37 minutes of play. Chris Bosh added 31 points and six rebounds. Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole had 11 points while Ray Allen put up 10.
     Pau Gasol put up a double-double for the Lakers with 22 points and 11 rebounds in 38 minutes. Jodie Meeks contributed 22 points and Nick Young knocked in 19 points.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Miami Ratings Holiday 2013

     104.3 The Ticket WAXY-FM had the highest ratings among any Miami/Fort Lauderdale sports station during the holiday season. They were followed by Sports Radio 560 WQAM-AM at a distant second and 940 The Sports Animal in third.
     The Miami Heat continued to roll on 104.3 The Ticket during the holiday period while included a game broadcast on Christmas Day. WAXY-FM was able to slightly improve to a 1.3 from a 1.2 in December. The loss of Marc Hochman from the morning show with Jonathan Zaslow did not have a negative impact on the organization.
     WQAM remained flat at 0.7 like they did back in December. The audience will try to get use to the new daytime lineup of several programs at that station in January. They will have Brandon Guzio and Alex Donno in middays, Adam Kuperstein and Channing Crowder in the early afternoon and The Sports Brothers with Jeff Fox and Ed Freeman during afternoon drive.
     WINZ also stayed the same in the holiday session with a 0.4 as they had in December. Their station will add Andy Slater as their new mid-afternoon show during January. The Miami Dolphins were in contention for a playoff spot in the holiday period.
    

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Panthers Hold Off Sabres

     The Florida Panthers played the final game of a three-game road trip and beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at First Niagara Center on Tuesday night. The Cats have won three of their last five games.
     Buffalo(13-28-7) scored on their first power play of the game just 2:23 into the first period. Steve Ott had the puck in the right circle and passed it to the middle where Drew Stafford snapped a shot by the glove of Tim Thomas for a 1-0 lead.
     It was a short time before Florida(20-23-7) would tie the game at 4:06. Jonathan Huberdeau passed the puck from the left corner to the left point Ed Jovanovski. His slapshot was deflected by Jesse Winchester in the left circle past the right shoulder of Ryan Miller.
     Stafford scored his second goal of the game at 6:16 on a wrist shot from the slot as the Sabres regained the lead 2-1. Huberdeau was checked off the puck by the right-wing wall and Tyler Ennis backhanded a pass to Stafford.
     With 1:56 left in the first, the Panthers matched the Sabres again with a goal. Aleksander Barkov moved the puck to the Tom Gilbert on the right point. He fired a shot that was redirected by Sean Bergenheim in the low slot for his 11th goal this season.
     Jovanovski would get his first goal since April 2012 to give Florida their first lead of the game 3-2 with 1:04 to go. He get the biscuit at center ice and carried the puck into the Buffalo. He blasted a slapshot after crossing the blue line that was deflected off a defenders stick and by Miller.
     The Cats moved the margin up to 4-2 with 3:48 left in the second period. Brian Campbell began a rush up the ice and sent a left outlet pass to Nick Bjugstad at the Sabres line. He raced down the left side and snapped in a goal from the left circle for his 11th goal this season.
     In the third period, the Sabres pulled to within one goal on the power play with 11:25 to go. Ott was able to put in a wrist shot from close range.

Panthers Shock Penguins

     The Florida Panthers surprised the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-1 victory at Consol Energy Center on Monday night. It was the first time that the Cats won in Pittsburgh since early 2009. In addition, the Pens had their 13-game home win streak snapped. Pittsburgh entered the game as the points leader in the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference.
     Drew Shore ended up with his first two-goal game in the NHL. He scored on a shorthanded goal at 15:46 of the first period and added a goal at 13:34 of the second period to the Panthers a 2-0 lead after two frames.
     Dmitri Kulikov extended the lead for Florida(19-22-7) 3-0 with his fourth goal of the season at 1:17 of the third period. Matt Niskanen broke the shutout for Pittsburgh(34-13-2) several minutes later at 5:11.
     The Panthers would score two goals in 12 seconds later in the period. Jonathan Huberdeau scored his eighth goal of the campaign with 6:10 left and Shawn Matthias followed with a tally with 5:58 remaining.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Jon Linder New WMEN Host

     640 Sports WMEN-AM had named Jon Linder as their new early afternoon host on Monday and will host a two-hour program from 1 to 3p.m. He joined the station as a fill-in host in late December 2013. He replaces Andy Slater who left for 940 The Sports Animal WINZ-AM last month.
     Linder joined Sports Radio 560 WQAM-AM in 2007 as a sports reporter and fill-in host. He later became a late night football host from August 2011 until December 2011. Linder was elevated to the University of Miami Hurricanes Radio Network as a football studio host from 2010 to 2012. He was last heard on WQAM in early 2013. Prior to his work at WQAM, he had a long stint as an afternoon host and later as a Sunday morning host at 770 WWCN-AM in Fort Myers during the 2000's.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Steve Goldstein To Olympics Again

     Steve Goldstein will announce hockey play-by-play for Westwood One of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia next month. He will be joined by former Panthers defenseman Bret Hedican as a game analyst.
     Goldstein is the television play-by-play announcer for the Florida Panthers on Fox Sports Florida. He has been a part of the Florida Panthers broadcasts on television or radio since October 1996. Goldstein worked as the hockey radio play-by-play announcer for Westwood One four years ago in Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Olympics with former Panthers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck as his game analyst. He was also a radio producer for the 1994 Winter Olympics at Westwood One.
     Hedican is currently a San Jose Sharks studio analyst for Comcast Sports California. He played for the Florida Panthers from January 1999 until January 2002 and had 65 points in 202 games with the club. Hedican played in the Stanley Cup finals in 2002 and won a Stanley Cup championship in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes. He was on the United States hockey team at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France where he meet his future wife gold-medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.

Sharks Bite Panthers

     The Florida Panthers finished a short two-game homestand with a 3-0 shutout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at BB&T Center. The Panthers had a four-game win streak against the Sharks broken. It was their first meeting between both clubs since December 3, 2011.
    San Jose(30-12-6), who averaged 35 shots per game this season, had a 21-8 edge in shots in the first period as neither team scored. It tied a Florida(18-22-7) season record which they allowed 21 shots in the first period at home in a game against Winnipeg on December 3.
    After 39 minutes of play, the scoreless tie was broken by a Sharks goal. Joe Thornton received the puck off the boards at center ice from Brent Burns and skated in alone on a breakaway. He lifted a shot from the top of the crease over the left shoulder of Tim Thomas with 50.2 seconds left in the second. He snapped a 20-game goal slump with that tally.
     It was a hectic pace to begin the third period. Tyler Kennedy raced in through the right circle and attempted a backhand shot in the crease which was poked away by Thomas. Matt Nieto was there to put in the loose puck from the left circle for a Sharks 2-0 at 4:44.
     The Sharks extended their lead to 3-0 with 8:14 to go in the third. Brad Stuart took a slapshot from the left point and it was deflected by Burns in the left circle. Joe Pavelski got to the puck and snapped a shot in from the low slot for his 22nd goal of the season.
     Thomas kept his team in the game as he made 36 saves in the defeat and fell to 12-12-3. Alex Stalock picked up his first career NHL shutout with 24 saves and improved to 6-2-0. The Sharks were 0-for-4 on the man advantage while the Cats went 0-for-3 on the power play and now have not scored on 25 consecutive chances.    

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Wizards Surprise Heat

     The Miami Heat were in trouble from the start with their worst defensive quarter of the season as they fell to the Washington Wizards 114-97 on Wednesday night at Verizon Center. The Heat had visited President Barack Obama at The White House to celebrate their NBA championship on Tuesday for the second consecutive year. They also lost their third consecutive game for the first time since January 2010.
     Greg Oden played in his first NBA game since December 2009. Miami lost their third straight game and in the process snapped their 22-game Southeast Division win streak. That was one victory shy of the NBA record set by the Boston Celtics in 1961 against the Eastern Division.
     Washington(18-19) raced out to a commanding lead which included a 20-0 run during the first quarter. They led 43-18 at the end of the period. The Wizards extended their lead out to 34 points at 64-30 with 4:22 left in the first half. Miami(27-11) then went on a 18-5 spurt to crawl back into the contest, but they were behind 69-48 at halftime.
     The Heat cut more into the deficit with a 24-4 edge during the third quarter and trailed 86-77 going into the fourth. With the exception of thirty seconds of the final quarter, the Wizards held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.

Sunrise Gets NHL Draft

     The National Hockey League announced on Tuesday that BB&T Center in Sunrise will host the 2015 NHL Draft. The two-day session will be held in late June 2015. The arena in South Florida had hosted a previous NHL Draft back in 2001. The biggest Florida Panthers items that day was the selection of Stephen Weiss by the team and Rob Niedermeyer was traded away.
     The New Jersey Devils hosted the draft last year in Newark and the Philadelphia Flyers will host the 2014 version this June. The NHL Draft is an event where hockey operations personnel from all NHL franchises meet for several days to select future prospects.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Panthers End Islanders Hot Streak

     The Florida Panthers returned home on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders with a 4-2 victory at BB&T Center. The Isles had their seven-game road winning streak stopped while the Panthers have won three of their last five games.
     The Cats waited just 32 seconds into the game to take a 1-0 lead. A loose puck was picked up at the Islanders blue line was Brad Boyes. He passed the puck back-and-forth with Aleksander Barkov as they advanced it forward on a two-on-one break. Barkov finished the play with a one-time shot from the right circle for his eighth goal of the season.
     Florida(18-21-7) increased their lead to 2-0 when Drew Shore came from behind the Islanders cage and spun around with a wrist shot from the right circle. It went off the skate of a defender and into the net at 15:34 of the first. It was the first goal this season for Shore in his ninth game with the team.
     New York(18-23-7) saw it become a three-goal deficit with 36 seconds remaining in the first period. Scottie Upshall sent a cross-ice pass from the Isles blue line to Nick Bjugstad in the left circle. He sprinted toward the net, faked a backhand shot and lifted a forehand shot over the left shoulder of Kevin Poulin for his tenth tally this year.
     Upshall got the Panthers second shorthanded goal of the season with 4:01 left in the second period to extend their margin to 4-0. He stripped the puck from Andy MacDonald at the Panthers blue line and walked in alone on a breakaway.
     The Islanders broke the shutout with 31 second to go in the second. Colin McDonald picked up his third goal this year with assists from Matt Martin and Calvin de Haan.
     They would close the gap to 4-2 at 2:38 of the third period. Franz Nielsen carried the puck to behind the Panthers net, sent a backhand pass to the right of the crease where Thomas Vanek ripped a shot by Tim Thomas.
     Poulin dropped to 9-13-0 as he made 22 saves while Thomas faced his former team and stopped 31 shots and improved to 12-11-3. Both teams were scoreless during the power play as the Cats went 0-for-5 and the Isles were 0-for-3.

Jesse Agler Leaving WINZ

     Jesse Agler will be leaving 940 The Sports Animal WINZ-AM in a couple of weeks for a position with the San Diego Padres. He has hosted The Finsiders Show during afternoon drive for almost four years. He joined Clear Channel Miami in early 2010 when he replaced Jeremy Marks-Peltz as the morning sports anchor at News Radio 610 WIOD-AM and later added sports anchor duties for WINZ.
     He was later promoted to afternoon show host at that station and became the Miami Dolphins Radio Network pregame/halftime host in July 2010. Agler began to do radio play-by-play announcing for several Dolphins preseason games from 2011 until 2012. He replaced Dick Stockton as the Dolphins television preseason play-by-play announcer in 2013. His show The Finsiders began a television simulcast of the first hour of the program on Fox Sports Florida in September 2013.
     Agler, a University of Miami and Spanish River High School grad, began at Sports Radio 560 WQAM-AM as a sports anchor and later became a morning sports anchor at that station. He was named the studio host of the Florida Panthers Radio Network prior to the start of the 2005-06 season. He also added duties as the studio host for the Florida Marlins Radio Network. He lost both positions when the radio rights were picked up by 790 The Ticket WAXY-AM.
     He moved to 790 The Ticket where he was a weekend sports anchor for several months. He returned back to WQAM as a sports anchor and became the studio host of the Miami Hurricanes Radio Network for a couple of years.   

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Bo Mattingly Wins NSSA Award Again

     Former West Palm Beach sportscaster Bo Mattingly has won the Arkansas sportscaster of the year award for the second consecutive time from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Mattingly was the sports director and morning sports anchor at News Radio 1290 WJNO-AM during the early 2000's.
     He moved from South Florida to Arkansas and became a sports anchor at KNWA-TV. Mattingly added duties as an afternoon sports host at KFAY-AM in Fayetteville. He would later move to an early afternoon shift at KABZ-FM in May 2008. His show was shifted to afternoon drive on KKSP-AM at Little Rock in November 2012. Mattingly and his program is syndicated statewide to four other radio stations in Arkansas.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Devils Skim Panthers

     The Florida Panthers played the New Jersey Devils in Newark on Saturday night at the Prudential Center and lost in the three seconds of overtime 2-1. The Cats finished a three-game road trip at 1-1-1 and host the New York Islanders and San Jose Sharks later this week.
     Michael Ryder got New Jersey(19-18-9) the lead at 15:22 of the first period on a wrist shot for his 16th goal of the year. In the second period, Nick Bjugstad evened the game for Florida(17-21-7) with his ninth goal this season at 11:54. The goal was assisted by Tomas Fleischmann and Scottie Upshall.
     The contest went into overtime and the Devils would score with three seconds left in the extra session. Travis Zajac would win the faceoff in the right circle, Jaromir Jagr send the puck to Marek Zidlicky and he ripped a slapshot from the top right circle by Tim Thomas for the game-winning goal. Jagr passed former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Mario Lemieux for seventh all-time in career NHL points with 1,724. 

Friday, January 10, 2014

Kelvin Benjamin And Tre Mason To NFL

     Two former Palm Beach County high school players who had an impact on the BCS Championship Game on Monday night will leave college and go to the National Football League. Florida State University wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin and Auburn University running back Tre Mason have declared they will enter the NFL Draft in several months.
     Benjamin was a redshirt sophomore at FSU who scored the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left against Auburn. He played high school football with the Glades Central Raiders for four seasons. Like his college career, he caught a touchdown pass on his final play with the Raiders in a road win during the 2010 regular season against the Boynton Beach Tigers.
     After sitting out the 2011 season, he helped the Seminoles win two consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championships. He had 54 receptions for 1,011 yards and 15 touchdowns during his sophomore year in 2013. His brother Travis Benjamin also played for Glades Central along with the University of Miami Hurricanes. He currently plays for the Cleveland Browns. 
     Mason was a junior with the Tigers and one of six people nominated for the Heisman Trophy in 2013. He rushed for an all-time record of 304 yards in the Southeastern Conference championship game in Atlanta over Missouri and received the MVP Award. Mason had 34 carries for 195 yards and a go-ahead rushing touchdown with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter in the BCS Championship game in Pasadena. He broke a school-record held by Bo Jackson as he rushed for 1,816 yards during the 2013 season.
     Mason played four years mainly as a running back with the Park Vista Cobras from 2007 until 2010. His best season for them was in his senior season when he had 1,643 yards and 24 touchdowns. He started off as a kickoff returner at the beginning of the 2011 season for Auburn University.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Panthers Nick Sabres

     In a battle between the two bottom teams in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, the Florida Panthers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout at First Niagara Center on Thursday night. The Cats have won two of their last three games as Aleksander Barkov had his six-game point streak snapped. It was the first game for the Sabres since they had their home game against Carolina canceled on Tuesday night due to weather conditions.
     Buffalo(12-26-5) scored the first goal at 5:36 of the second period. The Sabres came down the ice on a four-on-two break. Matt D'Agostini dropped the puck back to Steve Ott on the left wing, he passed it to the middle where Jamie McBain made it a 1-0 lead on a wrist shot from the slot area.
     Florida(17-21-6) tied the game with 10:44 left in the third period on a Brad Boyes tip-in. Tom Gilbert and Sean Bergenheim got assists on the play as Boyes compiled his 12th goal of the season.
     The game went into a shootout as  Boyes converted on the Cats third attempt. He fired a shot off the left post, caromed off the leg of Jhonas Enroth and across the goal line for the Panthers victory.

BBWAA Suspends Dan Le Batard

     The Baseball Writers Association of America(BBWAA) announced on Thursday that Dan Le Batard would no longer be allowed a ballot to vote former players into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. In addition, he would not be allowed to represent the media at a stadium for a major league baseball game for the 2014 season.
     This decision was made based on the situation that Le Batard gave his hall of fame ballot for free to Deadspin.com so they could vote on player candidates. The story broke just hours after Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas were announced as the newest members of the Baseball Hall Of Fame on Wednesday.
     Le Batard has been a sports writer with the Miami Herald since 1990. He has hosted the afternoon show with Jon Weiner, a.k.a. Stugotz, since August 2004 on 790 The Ticket WAXY-AM. Their show was recently picked up for national syndication by ESPN Radio in September 2013. Le Batard has also hosted a television show called Highly Questionable on ESPN for several years.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

WQAM Promotes The Sports Brothers

     Sports Radio 560 WQAM-AM elevated The Sports Brothers to the afternoon shift on an interim basis. The Sports Brothers, who consist of Jeff Fox and Ed Freeman, took over for Brandon Guzio and Channing Crowder last week. Marc Hochman will replace them in early April when his non-compete clause expires.
     The Sports Brothers have been on WQAM as weekend co-hosts since early September 2012. Prior to that, they worked together at 640 Sports WMEN-AM on a weekend show from late January 2012 until early August 2012.
     They both began to host a sports show at WTPS-AM 1080 until that station changed its format. The Sports Brothers then joined 790 The Ticket WAXY-AM as weekend co-hosts and later held the early afternoon spot from January 2010 until late December 2011.
     Others changes made by WQAM last week included moving Channing Crowder back to the early afternoon shift with Adam Kuperstein and naming Alex Donno and Guzio to co-host the midday show.

Damon Cogdell Leaves Miramar

     Miramar head coach Damon Cogdell has left his position at that school and will join West Virginia University in a coaching capacity. He attended and played college football with the Mountaineers prior to high school football coaching.
     Cogdell led the Patriots to seven consecutive FHSAA playoffs appearances. They won the Class 6A state championship in 2009 and lost the Class 8A state championship game in 2011. New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith, St. Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey, West Virginia wide receiver Ivan McCartney, University of Miami quarterback Ryan Williams and defensive back Tracy Howard played under Cogdell at Miramar.
     The Patriots showed their dominance throughout Broward County in the last three years. They defeated St. Thomas Aquinas three straight times which included twice at Brian Piccolo Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. Miramar completed an undefeated regular season in 2013, won their first two playoff games and were upset on the road at Palm Beach Gardens in the regional final.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

ESPN West Palm Beach Shifts Lineup

      ESPN 106.3 West Palm WUUB-FM will make changes to their lineup as of Wednesday. Josh Cohen and The Hometeam will move from their two-hour evening shift to the midday spot from noon until 2p.m. The show has been at that station since February 2013 as a weekend program and rotated to weekday evenings in early September 2013. Cohen will stay as the main host of the program with producers Joe Colella and John Martin as sidekicks.
     Jeremy Marks-Peltz adds duties and returns as the evening host at ESPN 106.3 for a one-hour show from 6 to 7p.m. He was elevated to editor-in-charge of ESPNWestPalm.com in late August 2013. Marks-Peltz began to host evenings with Jason Pugh on their sister-station ESPN 760 WEFL-AM from early 2010 until late November 2012 then hosted solo for the next nine months.

Barkov And Kopecky In Olympics

     Two Florida Panther players have been named to their national squads and will play in the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi, Russia this February. Aleksander Barkov will participate for Finland while Tomas Kopecky will be with Slovakia. It will be the first time for Barkov with the olympic team and Kopecky will play for the second time after being involved in 2010 at Vancouver.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Florida State Gets By Auburn

     The Florida State Seminoles won the 2013 BCS Championship game on Monday night with a 34-31 victory over the Auburn Tigers at the Rose Bowl. It was the third national title in FSU history as they had previously captured the championship in 1994 and 1999 under head coach Bobby Bowden. The loss snapped a seven-year winning streak in which a Southeastern Conference school won the national title.
     Both teams had their share of South Florida high school players which represented their school. Auburn had players from Palm Beach County which included running back Tre Mason(Park Vista), offensive lineman Patrick Miller(Dwyer), fullback Gage Batten(Dwyer), offensive lineman Avery Young(Palm Beach Gardens), kicker Cody Parkey(Jupiter) and wide receiver Marcus Davis(American Heritage). Wide receiver Ricardo Louis(Miami Beach) and defensive back Robenson Therezie(Miami Jackson) were from Dade County.
     The Seminoles had 29 players throughout the tri-county area of South Florida. Among the most notable from Broward County were several people who graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale. They included wide receiver Rashad Greene, defensive back Lamarcus Joyner, offensive lineman Bobby Hart, offensive lineman Austin Barron and long snapper Danny Adams. Palm Beach County was represented by tight end Nick O'Leary(Dwyer) and wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin(Glades Central) while running back Devonta Freeman(Miami Central) was from Dade County.

Canadiens Break Panthers

     The Florida Panthers began a three-game trip in the frigid cold as they fell to the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Monday night at Bell Centre. The Cats, who had won the two previous games this season against Montreal, have lost four of their last six games.
     The Habs were able to score on their first shot of the game at 6:23 of the first period. David Desharnais initially fanned then sent a delayed backhand shot from the slot area by Tim Thomas for a Canadiens 1-0 lead.
     Sean Bergenheim evened the game 1-1 for Florida(16-21-6) with 2:51 left in the first. He received a pass at the top of the crease from Aleksander Barkov and shoveled a backhand over the left shoulder of Carey Price for his tenth goal of the season. Barkov tied a franchise record for a rookie with his sixth consecutive game with a point.
     In the second period, Montreal(25-14-5) regained the lead with 4:14 remaining as Brian Gionta picked up his seventh goal of the campaign when he snapped a shot from the left-circle dot. Tomas Plekanec intercepted a pass by Ed Jovanovski behind the Panthers cage and backhanded the puck to Gionta.

Andy Slater Show Adds Troy Stradford

     Andy Slater began his stint at 940 The Sports Animal WINZ-AM from 2 to 5 p.m. on Monday. His new show takes one hour away from Jay Mohr who had held the midday shift from noon until 3p.m. since January 2013. Slater had been employed at 640 Sports WMEN-AM from April 2008 until December 2013. He was elevated to the midday host position at that station in April 2011.
     A big announcement was made several minutes into the first show that former Miami Dolphins running back Troy Stradford would be a part-time co-host on the program three days a week. Both Slater and Stradford worked different shows during the midday block at 640 Sports until Stradford was let go in October 2012. Stradford joined WINZ as a part-time mid-afternoon sports host with Larry Milian and Phil Domanic in November 2012 and was promoted to full-time status in January 2013.

Palm Beach Post Moves Jodie Wagner

     The Palm Beach Post announced on Monday that Jodie Wagner has been named a high school sports reporter for the newspaper. She joins Anthony Chiang, who moved from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel to the Palm Beach Post back in September 2013, on the same beat covering Palm Beach County high school sports.
     They replaced Matt Porter and Jeff Greer as both held the high school sports position at the Palm Beach Post from July 2010 until 2013. Porter was elevated to the University of Miami Hurricanes beat reporter in early July 2013 while Greer left to Palm Beach Post in October 2013 for the University of Louisville Cardinals beat reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal.
     Wagner has worked at the Palm Beach Post since 1996. She has held several positions which included copy writer, high school sports reporter, youth sports blogger, Neighborhood Post staffer and community news reporter.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Travis Rudolph To Florida State

     Cardinal Newman wide receiver Travis Rudolph announced that he has made a commitment to Florida State University. He made the decision on ESPN national television during the second quarter of the Under Armour All-American Game in St. Petersburg.
     Rudolph has played the last four seasons with the Cardinal Newman Crusaders and last year helped the school win their first district title in nine years. He led all Palm Beach County receivers with 51 receptions, 1121 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns in the 2013 regular season.