Avisail Garcia Retires

     Former Miami Marlins outfielder Avisail Garcia announced his retirement on Monday. He concluded a 13-season MLB career. 

     Garcia played three seasons with the Fish from 2022 to 2024. He had 13 home runs, 49 runs batted in and a .217 batting average in 153 games with the Marlins. 

Anthony Weaver Heads To Ravens

     Anthony Weaver will be named the new defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. He will work under new Ravens head coach Jesse Minter. 

     Weaver was with the Miami Dolphins under former head coach Mike McDaniel for the past two seasons. He held the post as Dolphins defensive coordinator. 

Ex Locals On National Radio List

     Three broadcasters with a South Florida connection appeared in Barrett Media among the top 25 nationally syndicated sports radio hosts. They are Damon Amendolara, Evan Cohen and Amber Wilson. 

     Amendolara is the co-host of the morning show at SiriusXM Radio on the Mad Dog Radio channel and his show ended in ninth place. He once hosted evening on Sports Radio 560 WQAM-AM from early 2008 to August 2009.  

     Cohen co-hosts Unsportsmanlike on ESPN Radio as his program finished in 10th place. He had a long reign with Good Karma Brands in West Palm Beach from 2003 until December 2021. 

     Wilson holds the co-hosting role with Ian Fitzsimmons during evenings at ESPN Radio and they landed in 25th place. She was part of Sports Talk 790 The Ticket WAXY-AM from March 2016 to June 2021. 

Miami Heat May Leave FanDuel Sports Network

     The Miami Heat may exit the regional sports network FanDuel Sports Network Sun at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season. FanDuel Sports Network's parent company Main Street Sports did not make their periodic payment to the Miami Heat for their television broadcast rights. 

     The rights fee this season from Main Street Sports to the Heat is $55 million. It is the largest amount given to 13 NBA clubs under contract with Main Street Sports The agreement between both them and the Miami Heat is through the 2026-27 season. 

     Regional sports television networks no longer can broadcast postseason games as of the 2025-26 campaign. The Heat have been with FanDuel Sports Network Sun since 2024-25 and their previous brand Bally Sports Florida Sun since 2020-21. 

Sabres Stall Panthers

     The Buffalo Sabres handled the Florida Panthers 5-3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday night. The Panthers, who have lost four straight games, continued their three-game homestand. 

     The Sabres are trying to end an NHL record 15-year playoff drought. The Panthers once held the league record with 10 years without a postseason appearance between 2001 and 2011. 

     Florida(28-24-3) broke out to a 1-0 lead just 37 seconds into the first period. Niko Mikkola blasted a slap shot from the left point that went off the back of A.J. Greer from the slot area. Sandis Vilmanis scored his second NHL goal on a wrist shot from the inner left circle past Alex Lyon. 

     The Cats increased their lead to 2-0 at 5:54 of the first. Sam Reinhart got to the puck off the end wall and passed it back. Evan Rodrigues had his pass in the crease deflected off Jason Zucker's right skate and it ended up inside the cage for his 10th tally in 2025-26. 

     Buffalo(32-18-5) cut it to 2-1 with 4:57 left in the first. Rasmus Dahlin zipped a long lead pass from behind his own net and Peyton Krebs made a square pass in the neutral zone. Tage Thompson carried it into the Florida zone and snapped a shot from the high slot by Sergei Bobrovsky for his 29th goal of the season. 

     The Sabres evened it up 2-2 with 1:34 remaining in the frame. Alex Tuch connected a cross-ice pass from the right point. Dahlin sent a diagonal pass from the top left circle and Krebs tapped in a backhand shot from the right side of the crease for his seventh goal of the year. 

     In the second period, Buffalo added another goal to make it 3-2 at 5:44. Owen Power banked a long diagonal pass from his own left circle. Ross McLeod got to the loose puck in the right circle before Bobrovsky. He pushed the puck across and Zach Benson put in a forehand shot into an empty net for his seventh goal of the campaign. 

     The Panthers tied it up 3-3 on the power play with 1:01 to go in the second. Carter Verhaeghe passed ahead from above the left circle. Reinhart angled a pass from the left goal line and Uvis Balinskis placed in a one-time snap shot from the right circle to chalk up his fourth tally this year. 

     The Sabres moved ahead 4-3 with the man advantage at the 5:31 mark of the third period. Jack Quinn backhanded a pass from the left point. Josh Doan skated to behind the cage and centered the puck. Zucker scored his 14th goal this season on a wrist shot from the low left circle. 

     It became 5-3 for Buffalo with 2:09 remaining in the third. McLeod chipped the puck out of his zone. Krebs slid a pass from the left circle and Doan put in a forehand shot from the top of the crease for his 17th goal of the season. 

Former Miami Sports Radio Stations Off Air

     Two former sports talk radio format radio stations in Miami have been taken off the air. They are 1210 WNMA-AM and 1700 WJCC-AM. Multicultural Broadcasting owns both radio stations and asked the Federal Communications Commission for a special temporary authority because they no longer have a transmitter site. 

     The 1210 AM frequency was once owned by One-On-One Sports from November 1997 to February 1998 and aired their nationally syndicated sports talk radio network. The 1700 AM frequency was formerly known as 1700 The Fan WAFN-AM from August 1999 until December 2000. 

Heat Slaughter Bulls In Rematch

     The Miami Heat pounded the Chicago Bulls 134-91 on Sunday night at Kaseya Center. It tied the third-largest margin of victory for the Heat in franchise history. 

     It concluded three consecutive regular season games played between both teams. The last time two NBA clubs faced each other in three straight contests was in 1972 between the Baltimore Bullets and the Houston Rockets. 

     Miami(27-24) rocketed out to a 34-13 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter. Chicago(24-26) kept up with the pace in the second quarter and trailed 62-40 at halftime. 

     The Heat piled it on early in the second half to take a 101-62 lead after three quarters. Reserve players participated during the final quarter. 

     Bam Adebayo fell short of a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds for the Heat. Pelle Larsson dropped in 20 points while Kel'el Ware drained in 17 points.

     Cody White contributed a team-high 16 points for the Bulls. Nikola Vucevic finished up with 12 points in the defeat.