Georgia Takes Michigan In Orange Bowl

     The University of Georgia Bulldogs easily handled the University of Michigan Wolverines 34-11 in the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on Friday night. Georgia dominated the CFP national semifinal game and had a 27-3 halftime lead. Michigan reached the end zone for the first time with under five minutes left in the fourth quarter. 

     The Bulldogs will take on the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship game on January 10. Both schools faced each other in the Southeastern Conference championship contest earlier in the month with the Crimson Tide victorious. They both clashed during the national title game back in 2017. 

Heat End Rockets

     The Miami Heat disposed of the Houston Rockets 120-110 at Toyota Center on Friday night. It was the last game of the 2021 calendar year for both teams. 

     Miami(23-13) outscored the Rockets 41-30 during the first quarter. The Heat stayed ahead 74-60 at halftime. Houston(10-26) kept pace and were down 100-87 after three quarters. 

     Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 37 points for the Heat. Kyle Guy added 17 points off the bench while Tyler Herro fell short of a double-double with 19 points and nine assists. Christian Wood had 18 points for the Rockets. 

2021 FHSAA Football Title Recap

     South Florida high school football teams ended up with four FHSAA state championships in 2021. It was a drop from five state titles that the region won in 2020 and seven state titles back in 2019. 

     The FHSAA state championship contests were held at two different cities for the second time in three years. The first weekend had games of Class 3A, Class 2A and Class 1A happened at Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee. Five state title games from Class 4A up to Class 8A were held at DRV PNK Stadium at Fort Lauderdale in the following week. 

     It was the first time since 2006 that the South Florida region hosted the FHSAA football state championships. It was held in Miami at what is now known as Hard Rock Stadium. 

     Three Broward County schools ended up winning state titles. St. Thomas Aquinas easily handled Tampa Bay Tech 42-14 for the FHSAA Class 7A state championship. The Raiders captured their state-record 13th state football title. STA won their third straight title which matched what they did from 2014 to 2016. It was their sixth title in eight seasons and 10th title in 15 years for STA. 

     Cardinal Gibbons was able to edge Cocoa 21-19 for the FHSAA Class 4A state title. The Chiefs won back-to-back titles and made it three state championships in four seasons. 

     Chaminade-Madonna returned to the top of the mountain as they blanked Berkeley Prep 21-0 for the Class 3A crown. The Lions won their fourth state title in the last five years. They reached the state championship game for the sixth consecutive season.

     Dade County only saw just one state championship team. Miami Central dropped in classification defeated Merritt Island 49-14 in the FHSAA Class 5A state title game for their third straight championship. The Rockets had won the Class 6A state title in 2019 and 2020. They now top all Dade County high schools with eight state football championships. 

     Only one local high school lost in the football finals. Champagnat Catholic could not get their third straight Class 2A state title and lost to Trinity Christian Academy 41-23. The Lions appeared in their sixth straight title game. 

South Florida Sports Review 2021

     It was an average year for South Florida professional sports teams in 2021. Just two professional local sports clubs made the postseason. Four of the five local teams reached the postseason in 2020. 

     The Miami Heat finished sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 40-32 record. They fell in the first round to the eventual NBA champions the Milwaukee Bucks. 

     The Florida Panthers had a successful regular season and ended up second in the revised Central Division. They compiled the fourth-most points in the National Hockey League with 79 points. Florida made the postseason in consecutive years for only the second time in franchise history. The Panthers were eliminated in the opening round by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who captured their second straight Stanley Cup championship. 

     The Miami Marlins could not repeat their success from 2020. They were a disappointment with a 57-105 record and finished fourth in the National League East. It was the third time in franchise history that the Marlins reached at least 100 losses. 

     The Miami Dolphins set a new NFL record during the 2021 campaign. The Fins won their season opener. They then lost seven straight games followed by seven consecutive victories. The Dolphins were eliminated from the postseason in their second-to-last contest. 

     Inter Miami CF completed their second season in Major League Soccer. They fell short of the postseason after showing up in the MLS playoffs last year. 

Panthers Dominate Lightning

     The Florida Panthers pounded the Tampa Bay Lightning 9-3 on Thursday night at FLA Live Arena. It was the final game of the 2021 calendar year for the Panthers.

     It was the second time in Florida Panthers franchise history that they scored nine goals in a contest. The previous time was a 10-5 victory over the Boston Bruins on November 25, 1997. That was the first game after the Doug MacLean firing and Bryan Murray was the interim head coach of the Panthers. 

     Jonathan Huberdeau reached the five-point mark in a game for the fourth time in his NHL career.  He compiled four assists in a contest on the third occasion. 

     Florida(20-7-4) jumped out to a 3-0 lead during the first period. The Cats got out 1-0 with the 11th goal this season by Anthony Duclair at the 2:10 mark. 

     Huberdeau scored a power-play goal, his 11th tally of the season, with 8:38 left in the first period. Frank Vatrano made it a three-goal margin with 5:39 to go on his seventh goal of the campaign. 

     Tampa Bay(21-7-4) cut it to 3-1 with 4:29 remaining. Zach Bogosian broke the shutout with his second goal.

     The Panthers added three more goals to lead 6-2 at the end of two periods. Eetu Luostarinen found the neat at 3:02. for his eighth tally this season. 

     The Lightning kept pace at the 6:19 mark. Steven Stamkos marked his 15th goal of the season for the Bolts and they trailed 4-2. 

     The Cats were able to extend the gap late in the second. Maxim Mamin chalked up his fourth goal with 2:34 remaining and Anton Lundell added his seventh goal of the campaign with 37 seconds left. 

      After a power-play goal by Brayden Point at 4:27 of the third period for the Lightning, the Panthers answered back with three more goals. Duclair picked up his second goal of the contest 11 seconds later. Aarron Ekblad got his ninth goal at 6:46 while Aleksander Barkov scored a shorthanded goal with 7:29 left for his 11th tally this year. 

West Palm Beach Ratings December 2021

     The ratings were issued for the West Palm Beach sports radio stations. The time frame went from the second week of November until the first week of December. 

     ESPN West Palm 106.3 WUUB-FM was approaching the end of their longtime consistent weekday lineup. Evan Cohen worked his last complete period as their afternoon host. 

     Fox Sports 640 South Florida WMEN-AM fell from a 0.7 to a 0.4 in the period. Florida Atlantic University football lost their last four contests of the regular season and did not qualify for a bowl game. They had Fox Sports Radio on weekdays for 22 hours. 

     Sports Radio 1230 The Zone WBZT-AM stayed at a 0.2 for the second straight month. The University of Florida football team finished off a disappointing regular season, even though they stopped rival Florida State in the season finale. The station continued their use of CBS Sports Radio Network. 

Miami Ratings December 2021

     Miami/Fort Lauderdale sports talk format radio stations were issued their ratings. The time span went from the second week of November to the first week of December. 

     AM 560 Sports WQAM-AM moved from a 1.2 to a 1.1 in the period. Midday host Jonathan Zaslow had his first complete period with the station. The Florida Panthers continued their strong start to begin the season. The Miami Dolphins began a winning streak to climb out of the AFC East Division basement. The University of Miami football team ended their regular season.

     Sports Talk 790 The Ticket WAXY-AM went from a 0.5 to a 0.4 in the month. The drop was due to the midday block of out-of-town shows like BetQL Network in late mornings and Jim Rome from CBS Sports Radio in middays. The Miami Heat slowed down from their good start of the regular season. 

     Fox Sports 940 WINZ-AM remained at a 0.2 for the fourth consecutive month. The University of Florida football team ended regular season with a 2-6 Southeastern Conference mark and a 6-6 record overall. They did defeat rival Florida State in the regular season finale to get a bowl bid.