Cristobal staying at FIU; plus Super Blog Monday (prejudiced camel picks Giants), you pick-a-Republican (with poll), meaning of Heat-Bulls, Brandon Marshall & more

[1) Pat Burrell, the ex-Hurricane, has retired from baseball. Congrats on a nice career (292 career homers). Hall of Fame? No. But a very nice career. 2) You can still vote in our Miami's-top-5-biggest-sports-stars poll in blogpost right below this new one. 3) Join us on Twitter @gregcote]

MARIO CRISTOBAL STAYING AT FIU: Reported earlier in the day as headed for Rutgers, Mario Cristobal is now staying at FIU. Whose decision that was is presently unclear. In either case, whether Rutgers withdrew its interest or Cristobal changed his mind, it has become pretty clear Cristobal is open to entertain offers to leave FIU. This time it was Rutgers. In December it was Pitt. Who's next?

SUPER BLOG MONDAY: PREJUDICED, FRAUD-SEER CAMEL PICKS GIANTS: We christen Super Bowl Week by launching our Super Blog feature, daily updates here as the big game draws near. Today we report that Princess, a prognosticating camel (pictured), has foreseen a Giants victory over the Patriots by choosing its zookeeper's handful of graham crackers marked Giants. The dromedary's credentials: A 5-1 record in SB picks. Feel-good story, right? Uh uh. Sorry. Princess resides at Popcorn Park Zoo in Forked River, N.J. ... in the heart of Giants country. That's right. I am alleging this camel was predisposed to select the Giants, perhaps even to pay off a gambling debt owed to some "wise guys." Somewhere in a Boston-area zoo a forlornly anonymous camel not celebrated to star in an annual publicity stunt bitterly is thinking, "Like I wouldn't pick the Pats!? Go Brady!" I'm no camel but will add a Super Bowl prediction of my own: America is about to suffer an acute case of Manning Overload.

BEAT THE RUSH. PICK A REPUBLICAN WINNER: An ongoing steadfast pledge of mine is to make this more than just a typical sports blog, as loyal readers know. I risk the occasional "What's that go to do with sports!?!" outrage, but my bet is that, like me, most of you have interests beyond sports, including music, politics, food, reading, absurdity, whatever. In that spirit of variety I offer this poll in honor of Tuesday's Florida Republican primary. You needn't be a Republican to participate. Vote or don't (the poll is in alphabetical order), but I'll be curious how our subset of blog readers feel, and how this microcosm might compare or contrast with the statewide vote. I am not a Republican but if I were I'd probably vote for Mitt Romney as the most electable of the four. That Democrats hope Newt Gingrich is the nominee is a perception, I think, with substantive merit. Then again, I am occasionally wrong.

HEAT HOLD SERVE AT HOME, THAT'S ALL: Heat 97, Bulls 93. Nice win yesterday, but not a necessary or

particularly important win, despite the media-gravity of the matchup. This was the first of four duels between these Eastern Conference powers, and you know there will be four more (at least) in their all-but-inevitable playoff series to come. Miami fans crowing about a statement game must consider the statement includes the fact Chicago was without Luol Deng. If anything this result for me verified that the Heat -- as great and talented as they are -- will have a difficult road to the NBA championship. And perhaps even back to The Finals. Original post: Truthfully I'm not even sure if the result of Bulls at Heat today will even explain the hierarchy of the NBA's Eastern Conference or by extension how Miami's championship chances are looking. Some will see this as a "statement" game only bigger -- a declaration game! Miami, in perception if not reality, will assert itself today as the favorite for the crown, or invite doubts to creep in. Me, I see it as merely the first of four regular-season meetings between these conference powers, so let's withhold the broad assertions about what this result will "mean." Well, unless the Heat lose at home, of course. Then we all pop open the umbrellas against the rain of panic.

PRO BOWL SUCKS, BUT MARSHALL DIDN'T: Dolphin Brandon Marshall had a dream Pro Bowl with four TD catches among his six receptions for 176 yards. Hey, Brandon. Save it for the regular season. Original post: Ceremonially kicking off Super Bowl Week today in Hawaii is the pointless NFL all-star game known as the Pro Bowl, made up of AFC and NFC players, most of whom are replacements for guys who dropped out with sudden faked injuries because every player wants to makethe Pro Bowl but nobody seems to want to play in it. (Or watch it, for that matter). The score will be around 48-37, the lack of defense and effort masquerading as excitement, and a day later you'll forget who won if you ever cared to know. The NFL has never quite figured out how to make its all-star game matter. It is the glaring thing that baseball especially and even basketball do so much better. The good news for the Pro Bowl is that the NHL all-star game (also today) is even worse.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT JIMMY BUFFETT?: Did not attend last night's Jimmy Buffett show at the Heat palace but have seen him in concert at least eight or 10 times over the years and am a decades-long fan if not quite to Parrothead levels. And I still marvel (with admiration, not incredulity) how this man of limited voice has built such a super-loyal following. He is his own cottage industry. More power to him. He also has made some very good, overlooked music much more recently than his familiar chestnuts from the 1970s. Click on "Bama Breeze" for the YouTube video of my favorite cut from the 2006 CD, Take the Weather With You.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT COVERAGE OF THE ING MARATHON?: I don't get it. My newspaper today dedicated the equivalent of more than five full pages of coverage to the annual ING Marathon & Half Marathon, and was hardly alone in the media obsession with this event. Bulletin to my industry: Marathons interest only people who compete in them. Nobody outside of participants much cares that a guy from Kenya (surprise!) won yesterday's race. Then again, I am occasionally wrong.

LA COTE AT FONTAINEBLEAU: Belatedly it has been brought to my attention the Fontainebleau has a trendy restaurant called La Cote. Thank you, Fontainebleau, for naming a restaurant after me. It is an honor that could only be exceeded by an invitation for a free meal for myself and a guest. I am kidding, of course. Scruples would prevent me from ever accepting such a blatant gratuity, in case an important Herald editor happens to be reading this. :)  

DAMNED !@#$ING SURVEY SAYS MIAMI IS A RUDE CITY: Readers of Travel & Leisure magazine have voted Miami No. 2 among America's rudest cities, trailing only New York City. Speaking for Miamians, I would say [bleep]ing Travel & Leisure can [censored] our [deleted]!

DEAR GREG...: "Your blog's OK but would be better if occasionally you would show a picture of a man making a call at a phone booth that looks like a giant chicken. Thank you." I'll see what I can do.

Click back. Will be adding more stuff to this latest blogpost...