GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22: I'm back up at Friday Page HQ today bringing forth this week's NFL Week 7 predictions. Click on Thursday Gem for tonight's Seahawks-49ers pick. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins rout Tennessee with DSM poll, Hot Button Top 10 & more. 3) Follow us on Twitter @gregcote. Also on Facebook, Instagram, Vine and Periscope.
"More 'Back to the Future' references! Please!!" --Greg Cote
MLB in Cuba?: Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred tells the The Hollywood Reporter: "We're working hard to try to get to a position where we might be able to do an exhibition game in Cuba as early as 2016 -- so next spring." Logistically it would be natural for the Miami Marlins to be one of the participating teams, although the backlash from many Cubans in Miami might give the Marlins pause.
Dolphins I: Wake wins AFC honor: Cam Wake is AFC Defensive Player of Week for his sackfest vs. Tennessee. It's third straight year he's been that, team's longest defensive streak since Jason Taylor's five in a row in 2002-06. Dolphins II: All-50 team: Club is revealing its 50 greatest players five at a time in random order and latest are DT Tim Bowens, DT Manny Fernandez, OG Larry Little, RB Mercury Morris and DE Bill Stanfill -- all expected, all deserving. Dolphins III: Our latest column: Hope grows, but belief must be earned. As schedule toughens we need to see a lot more of the Dolphins we saw last week. Click The Parade Isn't Here Yet for our latest column.
CLEAR CUT? TOUGH CALL? WHO IS THE HEAT'S BEST PLAYER?: With the Heat's season opener in six days, some see Miami as a greatly improved team capable of maybe reaching the NBA's Eastern Conference finals to challenge presumptive power Cleveland. Others see
doubts; they see a lower-tier playoff team. The varying opinions are underlined in recent surveys. In NBA.com's annual general managers survey no Heat player received a best-in-the-league vote at any of the five positions. Complete shutout. Yet in ESPN.com's annual #NBARank, Miami is one of only five teams to place all five starters in the overall list of Top 100 players. Chris Bosh will be in the top 25 (exact slot still unknown), Goran Dragic is 38th, Dwyade Wade is 46th, Hassan Whiteside is 68th and Luol Deng is 92nd. Is Bosh now clearly the Heat's best player? Has Wade fallen to No. 3? I'm more curious what you think than what an ESPN experts panel thinks. Hence, this poll! It is alphabetical. And it is not a favorite player poll. It is asking who the team's best player is, right now, heading into this season. Vote and say why.
UM MEN'S HOOPS SETS SEASON-TICKET RECORD: Jim Larranaga's program announced it has set a UM season-ticket sales record and that fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for most games. Hurricanes begin the season in three weeks. Anticipation is high. Here's a pump-up video:
NFL PIX 'N GREG'S LOBOS FANTASY: WEEK 6: We update you briefly every Tuesday on how we did the previous NFL weekend with our published predictions and with our
two Greg's Lobos fantasy teams. Pix: Cooling off a bit: We were due for an off-week and had one at 9-5 overall and 6-7-1 against the spread (Lions pushed). Bull's-eyed two outright upsets with wins by Dolphins and 49ers and had 'dog Browns and Panthers with points, too, but misfired badly on our Aawwk pick Monday night. Greg's Lobos / family league: Tough year continues: The original Lobos fell to 2-4 with a 112-94 loss. You're doomed when nobody has even 20 points for you, and Odell Beckham led us with 19. Greg's Lobos / radio-show league: Hot hot hot!: The new Lobos are now 4-2 with a fourth straight win -- 151.8 to 122.7 over assistant producer Allyson. Devonta Freeman was our MVL once again with a big 35.6 points.
SOPY: FSU'S COOK CONTINUES SURGE, UM'S KAAYA NOW THIRD: The fourth season of our blog's SOPY rankings --State Offensive Player of the Year -- find Florida State running back Dalvin Cook now firmly in first place through Week 7. The Canes' Brad Kaaya has risen to No. 3. Our weekly cumulative rankings measure the most productive QBs, running backs and receivers for the state's seven FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. Because they are cumulative, players on a bye week take a temporary hit that evens out over the course of season. The 2015 SOPY Top 10 entering Week 8:
2015 SOPY TOP 10 / WEEK 7
Rk (LW) Player, team-pos. W7 Season
1 (2) Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb 235 1,152
2 (1) Alex McGough, FIU-qb 132 1,052.5
3 (4) Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb 151 917
4 (5) Quinton Flowers, SoFla-qb 194.5 916.5
5 (6) Alex Gardner, FIU-rb 125 823
6 (3) Will Grier, Florida-qb DNP 789
7 (9) Everett Golson, FSU-qb 176 770.5
8 (7) Marlon Mack, SoFla-rb 117 750
9 (8) Joseph Yearby, Miami-rb 117 736
10 (10) Kelvin Taylor, Florida-rb 47 617
Bubble: Thomas Owens, FIU-wr, 553. Other team leaders: Greg Howell, FAU-rb, 492; Justin Holman, UCF-qb, 356.5. Season's best week: Cook, FSU-rb, 287 (Wk6). Note: Florida, FIU and UCF have played seven games each; all others six.
Cote's State of the State ranking: 1. Florida State (6-0); 2. Florida (6-1); 3. Miami (4-2); 4. South Florida (3-3); 5. FIU (3-4); 6. FAU (1-5); 7. UCF (0-7).
Revisit the blog a lot because we constantly update and add to our latest posts...
Twitter @gregcote
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