1) You can still vote in our pick-the-Dolphins-next-QB poll in blogpost directly below this latest one. 2) Best wishes to Mark Duper on his full recovery from kidney surgery. 3) Musical treat: Our friend Brendan Benson drops a new CD, What Kind Of World, on April 24. Click here to listen to the first single, "Bad For Me," courtesy Stereogum. 4) Join us on Twitter @gregcote.
Fore! Herald moving to Doral: The Miami Herald announcing its new corporate headquarters will be on a 15-acre lot in Doral, four miles west of the airport, beginning in May 2013. That's because the iconic current location off Biscayne Bay was sold, alas, to a group that is building a $3.8 billion casino resort. The move is not expected to affect Greg Cote, who never goes into the office anyway.
WHY PEYTON MANNING TO MIAMI IS PLAUSIBLE: Piece together all the little bits of circumstantial evidence and Peyton Manning ending up a Dolphin seems to make some sense. 1) The Colts intend to draft QB Andrew Luck No. 1 overall and would owe Manning a $28 million roster bonus on March 8 unless 
they release him before then. A columnist I like, Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star, writes compellingly about Manning's awkward situation now in Indy from an exclusive and very candid interview with Manning this week. Click on Manning's Discomfort with Colts for the entire piece. "It's not a real good environment down there right now to say the least," Manning says. The candor upset Colts owner Jim Irsay. 2) Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland indicates very clearly from the Senior Bowl he thinks Miami needs an upgrade at QB. That leads to a strong supposition Miami is unlikely to stick with Matt Moore. (So is Miami unlikely to spend hugely for a major draft trade-up and a shot at Robert Griffin III. 3) Star-minded owner Stephen Ross wants a QB signing with the impact to sell tickets and build instant excitement or, as Ireland said, "Make a much bolder statement in South Florida." Manning would do that. Matt Flynn (of the two career starts) would not to nearly the same degree. 4) Manning as a free agent would have his choice of suitors. But Ross indicated with Jeff Fisher that money would not be an issue and likely would not be outbid for Manning. Miami has a solid offensive line, which would be important to an almost-36-year-old QB recovering from neck surgery. Oh, and the Dolphins have a unofficial lobbyist who would try to persuade Peyton to come here. They are close friends and golfing buddies. The name of the unofficial lobbyist-in-waiting is Dan Marino. In a poll in my previous blogpost I ask Dolfans what their QB choice would be for the team and by a narrow margin you all pick signing Flynn over signing Manning. I respectfully disagree. Manning -- if fully healthy, a critical caveat -- has at least a few prime seasons left and would make Miami an AFC contender the minute he stepped into the uniform. Manning to Miami at this stage in his career would not equal LeBron taking his talents to South Beach and the Heat. But it would be close. If owner Ross agrees, it could happen.
ON TIM THOMAS' WHITE HOUSE SNUB: The Boston Bruins' star goalie was absent this week when his 
Stanley Cup champion team was honored by President Obama at the White House. It was a protest. Thomas wrote on Facebook he didn't participate because, "The Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties and Properties of the people." It sounds like Thomas was worried he'd be stopped from bringing his shotgun onto the grounds -- you know, the one you'll only get when you pry it from his cold dead hands? -- despite the Second Amendment. Dear Tim: The tea party screed is fine, but I think the biggest statement you made was one of simple disrespect, a statement with no nobility in it. However, you had every right to do what you did (or didn't do). You owe no apologies, but the other side of freedom is fair criticism for how one might choose to exercise those rights.
MIDFIELDER SIDELINED BY SEX: AC Milan star midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng is sidelined for a month with what the club calls a "muscular lesion on his left thigh" and could miss the team's Feb. 15 Champions League round-of-16 match. Girlfriend Melissa Satta tells Vanity Fair the injury was caused by the couple having sex "seven to 10 times a week." Satta is pictured for educational purposes.
PRINCE'S KINGLY SUM: Free-agent slugger Prince Fielder and his luxurious beard get a nine-year, $214 million deal from the Detroit Tigers, just a fraction less in average ($23.8M per) than Albert Pujols' recent 10-year, $240 mill deal from the L.A. Angels. It's silly money. Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, the pizza magnate, must be nuts. (In a related story, a Little Caesar's medium with pepperoni now costs $75). This deal will make anyone but a Detroit fan sort of hope Fielder immediately gains 70 pounds and hits .208. Or settles in on the D.L. with a back strain incurred bending over to pick up a dropped Twinkie.
NFL 'ANY-ERA' TEAM: Latest gimmickry from list-obsessed ESPN is to count down the current top 20 NFL "any era" players. The list so far: 20, future Dolphins QB Peyton Manning (I can dream); 19, Tim Tebow (oh Lord); 18, Ndamukong Suh (I guess stomping an opponent is fashionable in any era); then 17 to 5 in order are Dwight Freeney, Jared Allen, Darrelle Revis, Ray Rice, Ed Reed, DeMarcus Ware, Tom Brady, James Harrison, Aaron Rodgers, Hines Ward, Patrick Willis, Adrian Peterson and Brian Urlacher. Top four out Friday. I'd only bet every penny I have that Ray Lewis is No. 1.
FART MAGAZINE: Fart was a 1950s and '60s car magazine in Sweden, in whose language "fart" means "speed." The coincidence? Both types of fart involve gas. Somewhere in Goteberg, in 1961, a man who just finished the magazine remarked to his wife [translated], "I really enjoyed that Fart."
D-WADE'S ANKLE: Heat star Dwyane Wade missed a fifth straight game with his sore right ankle last night, and his eighth game this season overall. We caught up with Wade's ankle. "We're fine, getting close, maybe even give it a go tonight in Detroit," said Wade's ankle. "But from now do not approach me directly. Go through my agent or the team publicist, please."
PRO BOWL UPDATE: Because of fake injuries to every available player, I have been added to the AFC Pro Bowl team and so has your neighbor Ed.
ON JORGE POSADA: An L.A. Times blog has a poll asking if retired Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is a Hall of Famer. It's about like asking if I am a presidential candidate, moot in its absurdity. Short answer: No, no way, never, not even close.
DEAR GREG...: "Your blog's OK but would be better if occasionally you would show an artist's depiction of Barack Obama as Abraham Lincoln, especially since Obama referenced Lincoln in his State of the Union speech last night. Thank you." I'm sorry that won't be possible.
Click back. Will be updating and adding to this latest blogpost...
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