Your votes have been counted and today we reveal the 2012 FOX Sports Florida year-end award winners.
Nominees:- LeBron James wins first title, Heat win second- Magic clean house, trade Dwight Howard to Lakers- Heat bolster roster by snagging Ray Allen from Boston- Florida Gators reach Elite Eight for second straight year
The winner: LeBron James wins first title, Heat win second
The trade demands of Dwight Howard made national headlines for months, with Howard flip-flopping several times on whether he wanted to stay in Orlando. He was finally dealt to the Lakers in a multi-team deal in August, but the tumultuous season also led to head coach and general manager changes in the Magic organization.
But while the unfortunate circumstances in Orlando would lead to drastic changes on the NBA landscape, FOX Sports Florida readers were all in on the Heat.
After having their ups and downs throughout their Eastern Conference playoff run, the Heat wrapped up the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a tidy five games to claim their second NBA championship (2006 being the other).
LeBron James was a star throughout the regular season and playoffs, earning both regular-season and NBA Finals MVP awards and finally getting the championship monkey off his back.
Nominees:- All three NFL teams (Bucs, Dolphins, Jags) hire new coaches- Dolphins draft QB with first-round pick for first time since Dan Marino- Bucs running back Doug Martin has record-setting rookie season- Florida Gators just miss playing for national championship- Florida State Seminoles win ACC for first time since 2005- Miami Hurricanes self impose bowl ban for second straight season
Winner: Bucs running back Doug Martin's record-setting rookie season
There were a lot of interesting football stories in the state of Florida in 2012 — though not a lot of winning on the NFL side of things.
In the college ranks, Florida, which came into the season ranked 23rd in both the preseason AP and Coaches polls, nearly found itself playing for the national championship, going 11-1, its lone loss to rival Georgia.
Over in Tallahassee, the Seminoles were expected to contend for a national title, but after an upset loss to NC State, they had to settle for their first ACC title since 2005.
Meanwhile, Florida's NFL teams were in a state of disrepair with each making coaching changes ahead of the 2012 season. The Dolphins even went so far as to draft a quarterback (Ryan Tannehill) in the first round for the first time since picking Dan Marino in 1983.
But none of those were chosen as the readers' top football story of 2012. That honor went to the outstanding rookie season enjoyed by Tampa Bay's first-round pick Doug Martin.
Martin was especially impressive in a 42-32 victory over Oakland on Nov. 4, rushing for 251 yards and becoming the first player in NFL history to score on runs of 70-plus yards, 65-plus yards and 45-plus yards in the same game.
Martin would finish the season with 1,454 yards rushing, 11 rushing touchdowns and 12 total touchdowns, all second most in Bucs history.
Nominees:- Manager Ozzie Guillen fired after one season with Marlins- Marlins open new, retractable-roof baseball park- Marlins trade Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle to Blue Jays- Rays' David Price claims AL Cy Young after 20-win season- Rays' Fernando Rodney sets all-time ERA record- Rays sign Evan Longoria to $100 million extension
Winner: Rays' David Price claims AL Cy Young after 20-win season
Baseball was another sport with a lot of news involving the state's teams.
There were high hopes in Miami with the Marlins finally moving into a home of their own, a retractable-roof ballpark where the Orange Bowl once stood. They even brought in Ozzie Guillen, who helped lead the White Sox to the World Series title in 2005, as manager.
But early in his tenure, Guillen ignited controversy in south Florida's Cuban community when, in a Time magazine interview, he was quoted saying, "I love Fidel Castro ... I respect Fidel Castro." He was eventually suspended five games by the Marlins.
When the product on the field also proved a disappointment, the Marlins made changes. Guillen was the first to go, fired after a 69-93 campaign. But the Marlins didn't stop there, jettisoning Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle to Toronto in a surprising trade with the Blue Jays.
But FOX Sports Florida readers preferred to be positive, choosing David Price's exceptional season as it's baseball story of the year.
While the Rays fell just short of the playoffs, their pitching staff was breaking records. Tampa Bay led the majors in batting average against (.228), WHIP (1.17) and ERA (3.19) and set an American League record with 1,383 strikeouts. Closer Fernando Rodney finished with an all-time ERA record of 0.60, compiling a team record 48 saves.
Price went 20-5, tying Jered Weaver for most wins in the AL and led the league in ERA (2.56) among starting pitchers. In the Cy Young voting, he received 14 of 28 first-place votes, finishing with 153 points to 149 for Detroit's Justin Verlander.
Nominees:- Juan Pablo Montoya crashes into jet dryer at Daytona 500- West Virginia puts up record 70 points in Orange Bowl- Bucs sign paralyzed Rutgers DT Eric LeGrand- Marlins give Adam Greenberg second-chance at-bat- Panthers make NHL playoffs for first time in 10 years
Winner: Adam Greenberg's second chance
There were a few interesting stories this year that we felt deserved special recognition, so we broke them out into their own category.
West Virginia got 2012 started off with an eye-popping, record-breaking 70-33 victory over Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
The 2012 Daytona 500 was certainly memorable, but not necessarily for the racing. Postponed to Monday for the first time in history, it was further delayed when, under caution, a part broke on Juan Pablo Montoya's car broke, causing him to lose control and crash into a jet dryer that was cleaning the track, causing a huge explosion of jet fuel.
The Panthers won the Southeast Division title for the first time in team history, making the playoffs for the first time in 10 years with a victory in the final game of the season. They lost a hard-fought first-round series to the New Jersey Devils in seven games. Unfortunately, they never played another game in 2012 due to the NHL lockout.
The Buccaneers signed a paralyzed player — Eric LeGrand. It was a goodwill gesture on the part of Greg Schiano, the newly installed Bucs coach, who had coached LeGrand at Rutgers.
Alas, it was another goodwill gesture that was voted No. 1: Adam Greenberg's second-chance at bat.
In 2005, on the first pitch of the first at-bat of his MLB career, Greenberg was struck in the head by Florida pitcher Valerio De Los Santos. Greenberg had not played in an MLB game since, until the Marlins signed him to one-day contract in late October. He struck out on three pitches against eventual NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey of the Mets, but called the moment "magical."
Nominees:- Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat)- Kevin Dineen (Florida Panthers)- Will Muschamp (Florida Gators football)- Billy Donovan (Florida Gators basketball)- Joe Maddon (Tampa Bay Rays)
The winner: Will Muschamp
This was a tight one, but the Florida football head coach edged out the coach who won his first NBA title.
Why?
Expectations.
With a nucleus of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the Heat are supposed to be winning titles. Fair or not, as long as the trio remain in a Heat uniform, Spoelstra won't get much credit for the team's success. But you can bet when they struggle, he'll get the blame.
Meanwhile, up in Gainesville, the Gators were supposed to be good, but certainly not BCS title-worthy good. Coming off a 7-6 season, the lone blemish on the Gators' record in 2012 was a 17-9 loss to rival Georgia. Florida took down four ranked teams and finished third in the BCS standings, just missing out on a chance to play for the national championship.
Nominees:- LeBron James (Miami Heat)- David Price (Tampa Bay Rays)- Fernando Rodney (Tampa Bay Rays)- Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning)
The winner: LeBron James
This one was no contest. While Price (Cy Young award), Rodney (ERA record) and Stamkos (NHL goal-scoring leader) had terrific years of their own, nobody in the country, let alone the state, could match the year LeBron enjoyed in 2012.
In his second year with the Heat and ninth in the league, James finally claimed the one thing that had eluded him during his stellar career: an NBA title.
He was named the regular-season MVP (for the third time). He was named NBA Finals MVP (unanimously).
In August, he became the United States' all-time leading scorer in Olympics history, helping Team USA take the gold in London.
To cap it all off, James was chosen Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year.
