Greg Cote's Random Evidence of a Cluttered Blog

End of Miami Herald as we know it (weird stuff found in my long-abandoned desk); plus reason for Heat to worry, Reggie Johnson, Dolphins, Marlins & more

[1) It is TUESDAY, MARCH 26. Reggie Johnson out. Canes big center will be sidelined by a knee ailment at least until the Final Four, if UM's run goes that far. That would have seemed a big loss, once. Now it doesn't. 2) Congrats to Tiger Woods for reclaiming the No. 1 ranking in golf. Now win The Masters, or it won't matter. 3) Didn't do my regular Tuesday in-studio radio spot today on 790/104.3 because LeBatard and Stugotz are on vacation the rest of this week. 4) In the Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Canes, Heat keep the roll on, Madness, face of Cinderella, Marlins. 5) Join us on Twitter @agregcote.

Click on Hoopla: State of Basketball for today's latest column by me, on the Canes and Heat leading the bouncing ball's encroachment on what once was an uncontested football state.

THEY CALLED IT A TOAST. IT FELT LIKE A EULOGY: The other day hundreds of current and former Herald employees (me included) gathered at the doomed building at 1 Herald Plaza (pictured) for a proper farewell. The block-long, five-story landmark will soon be razed by the land's new owner, Genting, a Malaysian development corporation that plans to build a resort and (it hopes) a casino. Toasts were made as champagne glasses clinked, but the whole thing was sad. To me, The Herald selling its iconic bayside home and heading to smaller digs in Doral is a metaphor for the state of the newspaper industry. I cleaned out my desk while there, filling cardboards boxes with pieces of my past. It was not as emotional for me as I'd imagined because that was a building and a desk I'd visited less and less over the years. I was surprised by some of the stuff in those desk drawers that I boxed and brought home. Thought you might be interested in a random list...

Stuff Found In a Sports Writer's Long-Abandoned Desk: This was the cubicle they had Le Batard and I share, so seldom were either of us actually there, let alone together. Here is a random list of a small portion of the stuff I unearthed from the clutter of my desk drawers...

* Tabloid-sized special section for Barcelona Olympics I covered, dated July 23, 1992.

* Program from Jerome Brown's funeral in Brooksville, Fla., July 2, 1992.

* A 1967 issue of Miami Football, "The First Magazine to Cover Exclusively the University of Miami, Dolphins and Dade County High Schools."

* A Soccer Bowl/'80 special section, dated Sept. 20, 1980; Strikers vs. Cosmos.

* Program from Florida Panthers inaugural game, Miami Arena, Oct. 12, 1993.

* Dust-covered plastic 'Exit' sign. (Symbolism!)

* Small third-place plaque for sports columns in 2006 from Florida Sports Writers Association. (Never knew about this. Probably just as well...)

* Personalized hand-written (undated) note from Jimmy Johnson thanking me for attending a UM roast. Including, "Thanks for being so nice to my parents."

* Hand-written letter from Ferdie Pacheco (8/29/97) praising me for something I'd written about Jake Scott.

* Golf ball bearing Oregon Ducks logo.

* Six-pack of 8-ounce Coca-Cola bottles with Super Bowl II logos, Orange Bowl, Jan. 14, 1968.

* Self-help book (Get a Grip On Your Dream) written by long-lost friend and former colleague, Peter Jeff.

* A baseball signed, "To Greg, All my best, Bruce Sutter HOF06." (Whom I've never met).

* Press pass No. 0523 from 1994 World Cup Opening Ceremony, July 17, Rose Bowl.

* Working Media clubhouse pass No. 00052 for Games 1-2-6-7 of 1997 World Series.

* And dozens of old media guides including, of note, the inaugural-season guides for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977), Florida Marlins (1993), Florida Panthers (1993-94) and Major League Soccer (1996).  

A REASON FOR HEAT FANS TO WORRY (YOU KNOW YOU WANT ONE...): A Heat-fan friend texted me last night that this was unnatural and felt weird. "I feel like I need something to complain or worry about," he wrote. I get his point. This 27-game winning streak (next test: Wednesday at Chicago) finds Miami playing at such a high level that everything seems perfect. Too perfect? That's where I come in! Worry Point I: The Heat is Peaking Too Soon! Miami is so hell-bent on breaking the Lakers' 33-game streak and putting so much into it that they are spending mental and physical energy now that they could then be missing in the playoffs. Worry Point II: LeBron James Is Wearing Himself Out. He has been NBA player of the month in November, December, January and February (likely March, too). Better he should save that level of play for May and June. OK there's your starter kit. Now, ready, set ... worry!

THE DOLPHINS REALLY, REALLY WANT YOUR VOTE: The Dolphins are doing everything they can to win that upcoming referendum vote on almost $200 million in public funds for stadium improvements. They have offered to pay the cost of the county-wide vote. Now they are offering to eventually repay what the county would put up, and also to pay penalties if they fail to deliver promised major events including at least four future Super Bowls. All of this is designed to position the Dolphins as square-shooters who are not out to urinate in the public trough. They might as well cut to the chase and just buy billboards that shout, WE'RE NOT JEFFREY LORIA! I expect that, next, the club will offer to have Dolphins players personally drive voters to the polls and have team cheerleaders on your lawn thanking you with Rockettes-style scissor kicks upon your return.

MARCH MADNESS UPDATE: FGCU COACH'S WIFE STILL A HOTTIE: Men's NCAA Tournament doesn't resume until Thursday and Friday with Sweet 16 games -- UM faces Georgetown Thursday night in Washington, D.C., all but a road game for the slightly favored Canes -- but on this break we'd like to report that Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield continues to have a wife who looks even better than his team plays. And FGCU is about to be eliminated by Florida, so I need to picture and praise Amanda Marcum while I can. It just occured to me that I have become Brent Musberger. This is sad. But not so sad that I would not find this photo to be a distinct blog enhancement.

DOWN-CELLAR WITH THE MARLINS: Sports Illustrated's new baseball preview issue is the latest to consign the Marlins to a predicted last-place finish in the NL East. SI has the Nationals over the Rays in the World Series. One bright spot: The mag projects Giancarlo Stanton as the NL home run leader with 43. (Those might be the only 43 times all season Stanton is not purposely walked).

Click back. Will be updating/adding to this latest blogpost...

Spoof of Serena Williams: Racist or fun? (w/ poll, vid); plus Dolphins' No. 1 draft pick revealed (quack!), 12-12-12 concert, Heat critics, Golden angry, Herald building & more

[1) It is THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13. Hope y'all had a happy 12-12-12! 2) A high-school girls' basketball team, Bloomington South of Indiana, won a game, 107-2. Yes, one-hundred and seven to two. If coach Larry Winters also teaches at the school, I'm guessing what he teaches isn't sportsmanship. 3) Join us on Twitter @gregcote]

Dolphins-Jags on local TV: Club just announced, early evening today, that Sunday's Dolphins game here would be televised locally.

WOZNIACKI LAMPOONS SERENA'S FULL FIGURE: RACIST OR FUN?: I find this interesting. I find anything interesting when two people can view the same thing and see it so differently. Caroline Wozniacki, former world No. 1 tennis player, this week had some fun at the expense of reigning WTA player of the year Serena Williams during an exhibition match in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Wozniacki stuffed her shirt and skirt with towels (pictured) to impersonate the buxom figure of Williams. Click here for the video. Some in the Twitterverse are outraged; others see it as harmless fun. I lean toward the latter (hard to offend me), but also see the sensitivity. Does it matter that Wozniacki and Williams are friends? Does it matter how Serena reacts? (She has not commented). Should it be a factor that Williams herself makes frequent reference to her buxom top and full bottom? What if another black woman had done the spoof instead of Wozniacki? Part of my thought here is that Wozniacki was not making fun of a physical deformity but rather offering a caricature of a figure that many and perhaps most find quite appealing. Certainly debatable, though. Your thoughts welcome. Vote in our new poll and say why.

A FIERCE-DEFENDING LEBRON TELLS WADE'S DOUBTERS TO BE QUIET: [Heat lose last night at home to Golden State. Looks like it's going to be one of those seasons. Dramamine, please] Original post: Just two games ago Miami had embarrasingly lost at awful Washington then been routed at home by New York and the critics were out. They were personified by professional blowhard Charles Barkley broadcasting that Dwyane Wade is "starting to lose his talent." Well, two games later Miami has beaten New Orleans and then impressively whipped a strong Atlanta team, 101-92. Wade in those past two games has scored 52 points on lights-out 20-for-25 shooting. Asked what that says, James said last night, "It means Charles Barkley needs to shut up." Wade had pretty much said the same thing, but with his actions, not words. LeBron -- as good a teammate as he is a player -- may have meant that "shut up" to encompass the Heat's critics in general, all of the ones who cower as if the sky were falling with any defeat. Yes, Miami has defensive issues (being addressed) and, no, Wade, turning 31 next month, isn't as consistently explosive as he was a few years ago -- especially because he is not yet fully recovered from offseason knee surgery. But the past couple of redeeming games have reminded us anew that doubters shall dismiss the champion Heat -- and D-Wade -- at their own peril. It happened that Jay-Z and Beyonce and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were prominently among the Miami crowd the last game, a sign that this Heat team is built for the occasion and can rise up and put on a show when it needs to. For me, Miami continues the NBA favorite to repeat. And Wade, despite the occasional mortal night, continues an essential piston in the engine.

ON THE 12-12-12 BENEFIT CONCERT: A wonderful benefit, Sandy relief, and a starry lineup of acts. Thought it was mostly all good but the negative that stood out, for me, was that The Who and Kanye West were on stage for way, way too long. Get the hook!

GOLDEN FUMING OVER LATEST PLAYER ARREST: Cornerback Thomas Finnie's arrest in a campus laptop theft has left UM football coach Al Golden "very angry," we've been told by an associate who has spoken to Golden since the arrest. "Al understands that you lose some kids early [to the NFL], but he doesn't get that you lose other guys because of dumba-- stuff like this," said the source. "It's just ridiculous. Anytime. But especially now." The Hurricanes, of course, await an NCAA Notice of Allegations at any moment in the Nevin Shapiro case. UM's institutional control over its athletes (or lack thereof) is part of the case, which is probably why Finnie (pictured) was immediately and indefinitely suspended. His UM career may be over. (Ever notice that "Finnie" and "finished" are almost the same word?) Dear UM Athletes: This is a particularly bad time to act like a dumba--. Yours is not a coach in the mood. Behave, please. Go to class and do not get arrested. Too much to ask?

GOODELL'S EMBARRASSMENT: This week's overturn of those Saints players suspensions in the Bountygate matter socks NFL commissioner Roger Goodell with a major embarrassment. It also would clearly seem to strengthen Jonathan Vilma's defamation suit against Goodell. This whole issue is a permanent stain on the commissioner's reputation and resume.

NFL PIX 'N FANTASY: Sort of positive news both ways... NFL predix: We went 11-5 overall and 8-6-2 against the spread last week, including an Upset of the Week bull's-eye with Vikings over Bears ("Aawwk!") and and other outright upset hit with Cowboys over Bengals. The two ties were a Packers push and Chargers-Steelers off the board when I played it. Greg's Lobos: My fantasy team ended a sad, 4-10 non-playoff season on the upbeat with a 98-88 win, though I had nobody top the critical 17 points I got from Andre Johnson Monday night. We'll get 'em next year. Well, probably not. But we'll say we will!

DOLPHINS' 2013 NO. 1 DRAFT PICK IS...: ... a Duck! Quack. Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan (pictured) will be the guy, according to ESPN's Todd McShay in his new Mock Draft 1.0, for what it's worth. McShay predicts Jordan goes to Miami 12th overall. I think Miami would prefer a receiver or cornerback but would look for a pass-rusher as the third option if no WR or CB of sufficient value is available.

Poll result: Starks, Hartline top Dolphins free agents fans most want back: We asked in a previous blogpost which of seven top Dolphins free agents-to-be you most want back, and the leaders were DT Randy Starks (26.6%), WR Brian Hartline (25.4) and CB Sean Smith (19.6). I was somewhat surprised RB Reggie Bush (13.5) and OT Jake Long (10.3) did not fare better. S Chris Clemons (2.7) and TE Anthony Fasano (2.0) trailed badly.

ON 1 HERALD PLAZA: Miami's historic preservation board voted 5-3 Monday to not designate the iconic Miami Herald building (pictured) as a protected landmark. That's too bad, but I say that mostly from a sentimental perspective, I suppose. I spent many a year on the fifth floor of that place, back before laptops made "going to the office" largely counter-productive. I don't know whether the preservation-board's decision is right or wrong. But I know this: It isn't the vote of those five people that doomed this building and will see it demolished. That implosion was set in motion the moment the Herald's parent company, McClatchy, sold the building and property to Malaysian casino operator Genting as the newspaper prepared to downsize to a smaller building elsewhere. If there is any decrying going on, it must start with McClatchy's sale to Genting, the major domino that tipped and led to Monday's vote.

Click back. Will be updating/adding to this latest blogpost...

How confident are you Heat will win title this year? (with poll); plus Hanley's revenge, Manningphins, Vick, Yoenis, panhandling, infant sumo wrestling & more

[1) R.I.P. Whitney Houston. 2) Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" album was released this week in 1964. 3) You can still vote in our Ricky Williams/Dolphins Honor Roll poll in blogpost directly below this newest one. 4) I'm not sure. Is this the proper time to reveal that I once had an affair with Mimi Alford? 5) Join us on Twitter @gregcote]

THE WAVERING CONFIDENCE OF HEAT FANS (OR NOT...): I hear regularly from many Heat fans when you couple my own circle of friends and acquaintances with readers, and a general consensus seems to be that fans are hopeful Miami can win the NBA championship this year more than confident Miami will. Then I again I may hear from a curmudgeonly crowd. A poll to get a better, broader read on this had been clanging around in my thoughts for awhile and sort of got birthed into the blog by last night's 102-89 loss in Orlando that maybe reawakened doubts. That the Heat is better than last season is a presumption, but is it true? Miami in Year 1 of the Big 3 was 58-24 (.707) in the regular season and right now the record is 19-7 (.731), but a game like last night's makes you wonder. Me, anyway. Maybe not you? I do think the Heat is better in Year 2 and I'd still call Miami a title favorite, but that status to me falls somewhere between shaky and slight. Take a dip in our poll, be honest as you can, and say where your confidence is at. 

#ThingsBlamedOnLeBron: To that hashtag Twitter discussion I contributed: Wreck of the Costa Concordia, global warming and the mild headache for which I just popped an Advil.

Another thing on LeBron...: Is it me, or is the media fascination with the Kendrick Perkins/LeBron Tweet-war much ado about very, very little?

HANLEY RAMIREZ IS TAKING NAMES: LeBron-like, Marlins star Hanley Ramirez is keeping a list of all those who doubted him or Tweeted ill of him and writing their names on his bat. Well, at least that is the premise of a new 30-second Spanish language Powerade commercial starring Hanley. Click here for the YouTube vid.  

THE MIAMI MANNINGPHINS: Pictured is a conception by this artist of what the Dolphins logo would look like if the dolphin's face subtly and somewhat resembled the high-forehead profile of Peyton Manning.

LET IT GO, AMERICA, ON MICHAEL VICK: A new national survey by Nielsen and E-Poll Market Research indicates the following are the 10 most disliked athletes in America, with my parenthetical guess on the root of the dislike: 1. Michael Vick (dog killing), 2. Tiger Woods (infidelity), 3. Plaxico Burress (gun toting), 4. Ndamukong Suh (opponent stomping), 5. Kris Humphries (Kardashian dumping), 6. LeBron James (Cleveland jilting), 7. Kobe Bryant (just being Kobe), 8. Terrell Owens (just being T.O.), 9. Alex Rodriguez (steroids/wealth) and 10. Kurt Busch (cantankerousness). First, congrats to the Heat's own LeBron for continuing to slide down these unpopularity lists. General dislike of LeBron (at least outside of Cleveland) is less and less over "The Decision" and increasingly settling on simply the King James Factor, the perceived arrogance. Now to my main point. I am well aware from past emails that one is not allowed to support or defend Vick in any way without being labeled an advocate of puppy torture, but I must say -- again -- that Vick (pictured) served some pretty serious time for his dog-fighting operation and has shown proper regret, enough time served and contrition that we should lay down the MURDERER! placards and let it go. I'm an animal lover (have two pets), and I think breeding dogs to fight at their great and sometimes deadly peril is an awful and rightly punishable thing. But it isn't homicide or child rape, either.

MORE ON YOENIS CESPEDES: My newest column, on the Marlins' pursuit of Cuban-defector slugger Yoenis Cespedes (click here for the column), was, surprisingly to me, the most-read thing on all of MiamiHerald.com. That says two things: 1) Interest in the Marlins is increasing exponentially, and 2) the club's belief that signing Cespedes would be a huge hit with Cubans in Miami is on the mark.

HERALD NEWS: We don't have a sports ombudsman to pass along internal news, so I adopt the task and tell you that Israel Gutierrez is soon leaving the mothership to become an NBA writer for ESPN.com and also do stuff for other World Wide Leader entities. Good luck, Iz.

PANHANDLER TIPS (one in a series): The thought that a surprisingly high percentage of my blog readers are homeless or destitute may not be accurate. In any case if you can't personally relate to this Panhandler Tip, surely you can pass it along to someone you see haunting an intersection, cardboard sign in hand: Panhandler, do not beg help with a cigarette dangling from your maw. It suggests you will take my hard-earned offering and use it not for food or baby diapers, but for yet another pack of cancer herb. Smoking while panhandling is akin to waving a HOMELESS AND HUNGRY sign while the neck of a Jim Beam pint juts from your dungaree pocket. Or bumming coins while on your iPhone. It just isn't good for business!

WORLD RECORD FOR DUMB WORLD RECORDS: Guinness the beer, I like. Guinness the world-records people, not so much.If you don't agree there are too many asinine world-record categories you will after clicking here. (Somewhere, Gene Simmons and his own famous tongue has never felt more like a has-been).

CHINA UNDER FIRE FOR INFANT SUMO WRESTLING

     BEIJING (Faked-Up News) -- The Chinese government is under fire from global women's rights groups for chemically encouraging the birth of gigantic babies in order to promote a national league of infant sumo wrestling.

We leave you for now with the Twitter icon (left) of Chad Ochocinco @ochocinco: "Relax: It's just egg shells." Of course it is egg shells. Click on image to enlarge and see for yourself. (Man, some of y'all got a dirty mind!) Visit us again. Will be adding more stuff to this latest blogpost...