GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29. In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins' best UM draftee poll, Hot Button Top 10 & more. 2) Follow us on Twitter @gregcote. Also on Facebook, Instagram and Vine.
Dion Jordan = Bust: You could always have debated whether it was still premature to call Dion Jordan a draft bust. Until yesterday. Now the Dolphins' 2013 No. 1 draft pick has violated the NFL drug policy -- again -- and been suspended without pay for the entire 2015 season. His Miami career is effectively or should we say ineffectively done. Perhaps his NFL career is, too. What a shame. For the Dolphins, and also for the sad waste that Dion Jordan has made of himself.
Ray Lewis on the Baltimore riots: Lewis, the eloquent retired Raven and ex-Cane, speaks out strongly, angrily and passionately against the violence going on in Baltimore that has caused postponement of two straight Orioles home games and will case today's to be played in an empty stadium. Lewis agrees with me -- that the rioters and looters have no right to ruin that city. Outrage, no matter how justified, does not make right those actions. Picture is a still from the video Lewis posted on Facebook. Click here to listen and watch. Powerful.
IT'S MOCK DAY IN MIAMI!: [Update: Mock Draft has been completed and filed. Should appear online and in a new blogpost here momentarily] The NFL Draft begins with its first round Thursday night, and that
means I am holed up in the Miami Herald Mock Draft Emporium all day today seeing my mock materialize. Will Jameis Winston go No. 1 overall. Who'll be a Dolphin at 14th overall? How many (if any) Miami Hurricanes will be stamped 1R quality? This is my 24th annual mock draft for the Herald, and it should be online I hope by mid-afternoon today before splashing old-school into Thursday's inky pulp editions. Pictured at right: Me in mid-mock draft research. I'll have updates here on when today you can expect it online.
BOYCOTT! BOYCOTT? TALKING NFL DRAFT, MAYWEATHER-PACQUIAO AND MORALITY: ESPN's Keith Olbermann, America's self-appointed Morality Policeman, calls for a fan/viewer boycott of the NFL Draft because of Jameis Winston's sexual-assault accusation and of the big Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao
fight because of Mayweather's history of domestic violence. I offer a different view in today's latest column -- click on Booing Is Fine, No Boycott Needed to read in full. A boycott of the draft because of Winston is patently absurd, a gross overreaction. Winston, though investigated for sexual assault and the subject of an ongoing related civil suit, never has been charged with the crime let alone convicted. Does that still matter in this country? Innocent until proven guilty? Unless you are protesting stolen crab legs are other spasms of idiot behavior by Winston, your boycott is based on what you think was a crime event though the legal system did not. That's Quixotic, silly, unfair. A boycott of Mayweather at least is arguable. Why pay money to Mayweather to watch a man who has been convicted multiple times of domestic violence and served two months in jail for it in 2012? If you feel that way, fine. I just hate moralists like Olbermann implying I condone domestic violence or don't stand as tall for women as they do if I don't go along. Personally, I'll consider it money well spent if I shell out 90 bucks for the May-Pac fight pay-per-view and get to cheer Mayweather's first career defeat -- get to see him hit hard as symbolic payback for the times he raised his lethal fists to women. We all have a right to protest as we wish, and it doesn't always involve a bullhorn or a march or a boycott. I can boo Winston and hope he's a draft bust if I wish. I can boo Mayweather and hope he's knocked out cold. No boycott needed. How do you feel? Which of the four poll options here comes closest to reflecting your opinion? Vote and say why.
WEIGHING THE FISH (20 GAMES): We throw the occasional bell 'n whistle into the blog, and this year
we debuted a new feature. "Weighing The Fish" -- WTF! -- is a once-every-10-games ranking of every Marlins batter who is averaging at least one at-bat per game. Ten qualify for our second ranking. WTF is cumulative and factors six offensive categories. It serves as an ongoing de facto team MVP race. The numbers might not mean much, but, relative to each other, it gives an idea who is having the best season or, in this case, who's off to the best start and who most needs to pick it up. Weighing The Fish after 20 games (at 8-12):
Rank Player WTF# @10
1 Giancarlo Stanton 129.9 2
2 Dee Gordon 120.4 1
3 Adeiny Hechevarria 116.6 4
4 Martin Prado 88.0 5
5 Michael Morse 73.4 3
6 Marcell Ozuna 71.3 8
7 Ichiro Suzuki 63.9 7
8 Jacob Realmuto 53.4 --
9 Christian Yelich 47.9 6
10 Jarrod Saltalamacchia 32.4 9
Poll result: From slim pickings, Olivier Vernon named Dolphins' best UM Hurricane draftee: We gave you our three finalists, and the defensive end Vernon won with 48.3 percent to 38.2% for offensive tackle Vernon Carey and only 13.5% for running back Lamar Miller.
Check back a lot because we constantly update and add to our latest blogposts...
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