Dolphins should trade-up, draft Robert Griffin III No. 2 overall. But worth cost? (with poll); plus Marlinsanity on SI cover, Daytona, Trump, Baby On Board & more
[1) It is Thursday, March 1. Click here for my latest column previewing South Florida's busiest, most varied sports month. 2) R.I.P., Davy Jones (pictured), original Monkee. 3) Radiohead opened tour this week in Miami. I'm weird with Radiohead. Never been a huge fan overall although "Creep" absolutely is one of my favorite songs of all-time. 4) Join us on Twitter @gregcote]
Time for Dolphins to be bold, get Griffin: Click Not Manning or Flynn -- RG3 to read my Wednesday column on the Dolphins quarterback saga. Now what is your opinion? Vote in our poll below and say why.
DOLPHINS WEIGHING HUGE TRADE-UP TO NO. 2 FOR RG3: ESPN reported that St. Louis, holding the draft's overall No. 2 selection, definitely plans to trade the pick, that Cleveland (picking 4th), Washington (6th) and Miami (8th) are the most likely trade partners, and that negotiations with all three already have taken place. The Rams are using as a framework for their demands what the Chargers got from the Giants in 2004 for the rights to Eli Manning. That was two 1st round picks, a 3rd round and a 5th round. Clearly the Dolphins still prefer a healthy Peyton Manning, led by an enamored owner Stephen Ross. A rumor out there -- and only a rumor -- is that Manning, WR Reggie Wayne and center Jeff Saturday would come as a package deal. Miami could puruse Green Bay free-agent Matt Flynn if they can't reel in Manning. But negotiations to trade up to No. 2 for Griffin III (pictured) suggest that could be an aggressively pursued option if the Manning/Flynn options do not pan out, or even a preferred option, perhaps. The news that St. Louis will trade the No. 2 pick advances this story and in my mind sort of elevates Griffin back up to the level of Manning and Flynn in terms of viable possibilities for Miami. The question: Should the Dolphins spend two 1sts -- including the swap of firsts with St. Louis -- plus a 3rd and a 5th (or thereabouts) to get Griffin or would Manning or Flynn or something else be a wiser option? Take a dip in our poll and say why.
'MARLINSANITY' MAKES COVER OF SI: Marlins fans who are believers in the Sports Illustrated cover jinx should say a prayer. Ozzie Guillen and Jose Reyes appear on the current issue's cover with the banner 'MARLINSANITY,' reflecting how wild and crazy this season could be (as I'd written in a recent column. Here is the cover.
THREE EX-CANES ON COLLEGE HALL BALLOT: The 84 newly announced 2012 nominees for College Football Hall of Fame include ex-UM quarterbacks George Mira (1961-63) and Vinny Testaverde (1984-86), and ex-Canes coach Jimmy Johnson (1984-84). The '90s Gators QB Danny Wuerffel is only other state-school guy on the ballot.
NASCAR'S DAYTONA NIGHTMARE: Ever since 9/11 I stopped applying words like disaster too casually to sports, and certainly in auto racing the word only applies to a death or terrible injury. But the Daytona 500 opening NASCAR's 2012 season surely qualifies as a nightmare for the sport. Delayed by rain and then by a bizarre accident involving a track-drying truck, a race scheduled for Sunday finally ended in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. That Matt Kenseth won seems superfluous. The story was the calamity that overshadowed and diminished the sport's signature race and the start of a new season. Having said all that, TV ratings were stout all things considered.
MARLINS AND EMILIO: Marlins announced today that Emilio Estefan will produce the club's April 4 Opening Night Festivities.
TRUMP BUYING DORAL: Donald Trump and His Bizarre Hair are buying Doral golf resort including the famed Blue Monster course for $150 million. Off-the-board certain is that the place will be rechristened to include the word "Trump." Less likely but certainly possible is that Trump, never far removed from ostentatiousness and oneupmanship, will order all of the fairways and greens covered in a undulating carpet of money.
BABY ON BOARD!: I thought those distinctive yellow car-window signs had gone out of fashion along with the trendiness of the word "yuppie" but I've noticed several 'Baby On Board' signs just lately and am reminded how they annoy me. They imply that I am a naturally reckless driver but will be more careful because of your precious cargo. Guess what? A baby on board is equally precious to me as anybody else on board. I am not more or less careful based on who my fellow motorists might be. (Are you?) The 'Baby On Board' signs convey, falsely, that one car's occupants are more important than another's. A 'Baby On Board' sign to me is roughly as mildly offputting and not much different than if suctioned to the back window of my car was a sign reading, 'WHITE MAN ON BOARD.' You get me?
PANTHERS' QUIET GAMBLE: Florida Panthers standing pat with no pre-trade-deadline deals will be second-guessed if the team falls short of ending its long NHL playoff drought, especially considering the the intensely close battle and the Cats' general lack of scoring punch. GM Dale Tallon is all in on the hand he has. Let's see how it plays out.
MORE THAN D-WADE'S GIRLFRIEND: Gabrielle Union is best-known as an actress and longtime girlfriend of Dwyane Wade (pictured) but deserves credit for her activism, too. She was among a panel speaking yesterday in Washington at a Capital Hill briefing on preventing teen dating violence. Click here for more. I spend a lot of time needling and poking fun in this blog but good-doing gets occasional credit, too.
NOTE TO CEMETERY EXERCISERS: This week I saw three people abreast walking briskly through a cemetery. Exercising, they were. How rude, I thought. How gallingly disrespectful. Imagine you are at a gravesite quietly paying respects to a loved one as joggers pound past. What's next? Cemeteries overrun by picknickers? Frisbee dogs? How about I bring my 9-iron to a cemetery and start hitting range balls using Uncle Fred's grave as a tee box? A simple rule: Only dead people, people visiting dead people and employees should be in cemeteries. Walkers, joggers and exercisers, go to a local park and let the deceased rest in peace you self-absorbed cretins.
Click back. Will be updating and adding to this latest blogpost...