MSL FEATURE: Congratulations To Our Own Jason Paul! (Receives Gift From Mike & Mike)

Our own Jason Paul was given a surprise from the Mike & Mike crew

 [Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle FEATURE]

Our very own Jason Paul (real name: Jason Klenetsky) was treated to a gift from the Mike & Mike crew over at ESPN for their 15th anniversary. It contained a t-shirt, hat, cookies, popcorn, among other goodies. Congratulations Jason from the entire MSL staff! And thank you to everybody over at the Mike & Mike and ESPN staff!

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Jason Klenetsky is a writer and analyst for Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle covering South Florida sports. He's also been featured on MSL Radio. You can follow him on Twitter @JBird2000.

Goran Dragic Plays Old Team, Scores 21; HEAT Defeat Suns 118-95 In High Tension Game

Tensions were high in Miami tonight as Goran Dragic faced off against his old team, it eventually led to Hassan Whiteside being ejected in the 3rd quarter after being fouled by Alex Len of the Phoenix Suns, who was also ejected

by Pedro Armas | Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle

The Suns and HEAT met for the final time this season tonight.

In the last game, Miami left with a victory and were on a franchise record nine straight wins against the Phoenix Suns. Phoenix and Miami both needed a win tonight to stay in playoff contention.

Miami started off the first quarter at a slow pace with a bad defensive start. Markeiff Morris was getting easy buckets which forced the HEAT to pick it up on the defensive side. They pressured the Phoenix offense which led to less given up points.

On the other side of the ball, Miami focuses their offense on Hassan Whiteside. Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade were on the bench most of the first, and the first quarter ended with the HEAT down by one.

HEAT start the second quarter with a lot of forced turnovers, and being able to turn defense into offense by scoring off of these Phoenix turnovers.

A majority of the second quarter points came from inside the paint.

Dragic gets into early foul trouble in the 2nd and that forced him to play limited minutes. Miami then starts to change the pace of the game and speeds it up. Tyler Johnson starts to fill in for Goran Dragic and Miami finishes the first half with a new season high in points in a quarter (39).

The Miami HEAT head into halftime with a 62-48 lead over the Phoenix Suns.

Many fouls were called in the early stages of the third quarter and tensions started to run high as physical combat started to increase among Phoenix-Miami.

Goran Dragic was called for his 5th foul and was sent to the locker room, Markeiff Morris was ejected for a Flagrant II foul on Dragic, Whiteside dunks and is shoved by Alex Len when he comes down, forcing Whiteside to tackle him almost like a football player. Whiteside and Len were then ejected. 

With the loss of Hassan Whiteside, Miami became a lot more vulnerable in the paint, but Phoenix doesn't take advantage of that.

Even after the ejections, play was still dirty and referees started to call more technical fouls.

Tyler Johnson scared the HEAT fans tonight as well when he fell on his ankle and appeared to be in a lot of pain, but soon gets up and is moving around the court fine.

Miami keeps it going in the final minutes of play by not letting Phoenix back in it because of a rhythm lead by Goran Dragic and Tyler Johnson that ultimately led to closing out the Suns.

Tyler Johnson had a season high of 26 points, with 11 scored in the 4th. Dragic also had a bit of fun scoring 21 points on his former team with a couple of mid to long range jumpers. Miami had good defensive presence during their offensive runs, and six players from the HEAT had over double digits in scoring.

The Suns started off with good offense taking a nice small lead at the beginning of the game, but Miami responded with pressuring defense and is able to take a huge lead in the second quarter. Markeiff is ejected and Phoenix takes a blow because of that. The Suns start to bring the turnovers down in the second half, but they couldn't make their three pointers and that caused them from getting back into the game.

The Miami HEAT stays in the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs and now prepare for Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 PM EST at the American Airlines Arena. You can catch the game on TV on ESPN (nationally) and locally down here in South Florida on SUN Sports.

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Pedro Armas is a writer and analyst for Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle. He's also made appearances on MSL Radio, most recently South Florida Sports Scene w/ Scott Salomon. You can follow him on Twitter @PedroArmas2323.

HEAT Have Late Push, Fall To Hawks 93-91

Dwyane Wade shoots in a loss against the Atlanta Hawks

by Jason Paul | Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle

 The Miami HEAT got off to a rocky start to begin the night against the Atlanta Hawks, and Atlanta never looked back beating Miami at home 93-91 Saturday night.

Hassan Whiteside was a bright spot in an otherwise poor shooting night by grabbing 10 rebounds in the first quarter alone, and 24 for the game while scoring 14 points in 33 minutes. But in the end, it was not enough as Miami lost its second straight one possession game.

This would have been a great signature win for the HEAT who find themselves slipping further and further out of playoff contention. Now, Miami will need to learn how to win at home quickly if they hope to stay in the playoff hunt as they play nine out of their next 11 at American Airlines Arena.

The Hawks, who at one point had an 18 point lead, were without an assortment of starters per coaches decision, including starting PG Jeff Teague, PF Al Horford and SF DeMarre Carroll.

The Miami HEAT dropped to 25-33 for the season, while Atlanta improved its record to 47-12.

Miami's next game will be March 2 against Goran Dragic's old team, the Phoenix Suns, in Miami at the AAA. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM EST. You can catch the game nationally on NBA TV, and locally in South Florida on SUN Sports.

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Jason Paul (also known as Jason Klenetsky) is a writer for Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle. He also makes appearances on MSL Radio. You can follow him on Twitter @JBird2000.

Sun Life Stadium's New Look

The latest picture of the renovations of Sun Life Stadium; all of the orange seats have been removed, teal seats will replace

by Stephen Ur III | Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle

The Dolphins have been working on renovations to Sun Life Stadium, which has been home to the NFL team since 1987.

Formerly known as Dolphin Stadium, the team name was changed in January 2010 when the team signed a 5 year, $37.5 million deal to have the stadium renamed.

The team has now put over $400 million into a new construction project for the stadium, according to multiple reports. New renovations include a roof over the stadium, a bigger scoreboard, new video boards and extras for fans, including plus seats at midfield.

Looking at a digital animation of the new look of Sun Life Stadium, it resembles the look of University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals.

There will be a roof, but there will also be a giant rectangular-shaped hole in the roof to let the sun in on the stadium. This tactic has also been used at the old Cowboys Stadium and Reliant Stadium, home of the Houston Texans.

There is also a proposal for what appears to be a bar down by the field, which is called the 72 Club. The club get its name after the Miami Dolphins 1972-1973 season, in which they went 17-0 and won Super Bowl VII over the Washington Redskins. The perfect season, while have being threatened, is the only perfect season in NFL history.

Other "clubs" include the North Sideline Club, the Field Club, the Nine and so many more.

The stadium will also host international soccer games, major concerts and will host one of the few College Football Playoff games.

The team hopes for the stadium renovations to be done by 2016, beginning with the change in seat colors in 2015. Instead of orange seats, every seat will be teal.

The plan for the renovation is to hopefully host another Super Bowl in South Beach. Miami is currently third in the running for hosting Super Bowl LIII in February 2019, behind Atlanta and Dallas.

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Stephen Ur III is a writer, radio analyst and the VP of Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle. He also co-hosts Inside The Sports World with Darrin Williamson. You can follow him on Twitter @writingfanatic2.

Dolphins Done With Wallace

 

  Mike Wallace, who signed with the Miami Dolphins just back in 2013, already wants out, and Miami is not necessarily a fan of him being apart of the organization either. What lies next for Mike Wallace?

 

by Stephen Ur III | Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle

According to multiple reports, the Miami Dolphins are looking to trade veteran WR Mike Wallace. 

Wallace has played the last two seasons in Miami, which have not been good seasons off the field, according to Sports Illustrated.  This news had been foreshadowed after the Dolphins 37-24 defeat to their division rival New York Jets in the 2014 season finale. 

 Wallace was benched in the second half of the game because he was upset at the way he was being used. A reporter asked Wallace if he would return to the team in 2015, and he responded, “I'm not the general manager or anything, or the head coach. I'm not sure."  

We are sure now that it is highly unlikely that Wallace will be dressing in white for Miami Dolphins home games in 2015. 

 Wallace had signed a five-year, $60 million deal with the team in 2013. He also had 67 receptions for 862 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2014. While these numbers are not bad for a season as a wide receiver, his 20 percent deep ball rate has dropped from what it was during his four years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, in which he caught 37.8 percent of passes thrown 20 yards or further. 

While Wallace himself has yet to speak to media about the alleged trading, there are questions still yet to be answered.  

The first one is what team will be looking into trading for or signing Wallace. No team has yet to reach out to the Dolphins about Wallace, as he is still under contract with the team.

The other question that lies in the Mike Wallace trade talk is if the Dolphins do have him traded, how will they be able to strengthen their wide receiving core?

The Dolphins' leading receiver from last season, Jarvis Landry, was second in touchdowns, but only scored half of what Wallace did. The rest of the receivers on the roster have no more than three touchdowns. With the 14th pick in this year's draft, the Dolphins are expected to draft WR Devante Parker from Louisville.

Parker had 855 receiving yards in six games, just a couple yards less than what Wallace had in 16 games.

Wallace is expected to make $9.85 million in base salary, with a $12.1 million salary cap in 2015. But if he is not on the roster come March 14, he will still make $3 million in guaranteed money.

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Stephen Ur III is a writer and analyst for Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle. He was also recently announced as Vice President of MSL. You can follow him on Twitter @writingfanatic2.

Mike Escriba's Reaction To Tonight's CRAZY HEAT-Magic OT Thriller

Henry Walker, who was recently signed to just a 10 day contract, hit a last second three to send the Miami HEAT into overtime in Orlando which eventually lead to a Miami win against the Magic

by Mike Escriba | Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle

Why, why, whyyyyyyyyyy......did i turn off my TV with 33 seconds left?

 I gave up even when Rio got fouled on the 3 pointer. I am so ashamed of myself especially after everything the HEAT have done the past few years. 

But how was i supposed to know Henry...wait, Bill....no, Henry, whatever, Walker was going to turn into Ray Allen in a few seconds?

With that being said, the HEAT pulled it off while I watched overtime at Chipotle on my phone. 

This was a horrible offensive game. 

Chalmers hardly let Dragic handle the ball. Dwyane was taking way too many contested jumpers. This team clearly misses Chris Bosh. Everything was pointing to another loss against a non playoff team. 

Not today though...

The HEAT showed they were fed up with losing like this. 

Sure, Whiteside was getting called for ridiculous fouls but he proved once again his presence is a problem for other teams and their players, even Vucevic....the HEAT killer. I read on Twitter that Hassan was struggling....yeah, he did....and still got a double-double. 

I found myself thanking the Godfather Pat Riley for not trading away the warrior that is Luol Deng, without him, there is no way we win a lot of games this season. 

The HEAT will face the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, where I expect Dragic to be more involved and Wade to be better.

I hope.

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Mike Escriba is a columnist and Miami HEAT analyst for Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle and has been featured on The Andrew Powell Show on MSL Radio. He is currently working to get his own show on the network. You can follow him on Twitter @mikescriba.

MSL FEATURE: Jason Klenetsky's Grandmother Wins Free Tickets To HEAT Game

The Dragic brothers (Zoran L, Goran R) were traded to the Miami Heat on Thursday's NBA Trade Deadline, and premiered last Saturday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the same game that Jason's grandmother won free tickets to.

[Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle FEATURE]

Last Saturday on The Sports Report w/ Jason Klenetsky, Jason read a letter on the show that won his grandmother free HEAT tickets to the New Orleans Pelicans game that night. Due to popular demand, we have released the letter on the Miami SPORTS & Lifestyle blog. Enjoy! You can also check out the show from Saturday HERE.

Hello,

 My name is Marissa Klenetsky and I am writing to you on behalf of my 85 year old old grandmother, Marilyn (also known as, Mimi).

My Grandma is not a typical cookie baking grandmother that knits you sweaters for Christmas. Mimi is different in many ways, one being she is a diehard Miami HEAT fan, and not just because she resides in Miami. She has been videotaping (yes, you read that correctly, again, she is old school) every single game that has been shown in the last 10-15 years. When the season is over and everyone has moved onto baseball, there’s Mimi, sitting at home replaying the HEAT games on her VHS player.

I love my grandma to the moon and back, but if something were to happen to me, she would not be my first call. I say this because when my grandma is watching a HEAT game, she refuses to pick up any phone calls from anyone. Even her own granddaughter! 

If I haven’t gotten the point across yet how big of a fan she is, just picture her house! My grandma lives in a senior citizen development. While all of the other residents decorate their house’s with black and white photos from the good old days or pictures of their children and grandchildren, my grandmother’s apartment is decorated with the Miami Heat team posters and player bobble heads! I once went to visit my grandmother and when I laid on her bed to go to sleep I looked up, and who do I see? DWYANE WADE. Looking down on me as I slept. Yes… I told you she was a crazy fan!

Anyways, the point of my email is let you know that my grandmother absolutely adores the Miami Heat. She has been a loyal fan through thick and thin. A few years ago she had a heart attack while driving her car and was left in critical condition for over a year. The Heat helped her get through it and for that I am forever grateful. 

Her financial situation has been tough since her accident and she has not attended a game since. If there is anyways to send her to a game that would be more than appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.  

Marissa Klenetsky 

Miami Heat. Once again proving to be a top class organization.