GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6. Know any people who are serious Dolfans? Surprise and delight them with our book on club's first half-century. Click Fins At 50. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Canes throttle Virginia Tech with CSM poll, other state Collball Week 10, NFL Week 9 picks, your verdict on Ajayi trade & more. 3) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Periscope and Snapchat.
Dolphins-Oakland game column: Click Dolphins Let Another Prime-Time Chance Slip for my column from Sunday night's 27-24 home loss to Oakland.
Canes-Virginia Tech game column: Click Everything Is In Play Now for my column from the stadium on Saturday's 28-10 UM victory. Also see previous blogpost for latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter rating, a season-high 98.0.
DOLFAN SATISFACTION METER: G8: 13.1%: Results are certified in the latest installment of the Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll, and they show 13.1 percent approval -- the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes -- in the wake of Sunday night's 27-24 Dolphins home loss to the Oakland Raiders putting Miami's season record at 4-4. The DSM is a continuous weekly gauge of how Dolfans are feeling about the team and its direction. Right after each game I invite you to share your overall degree of satisfaction. Criteria for voting is your own, but I suggest fans consider the most recent game's performance and caliber of opponent, season as a whole, direction the club is heading and your overall degree of optimism -- all in the context of reasonable expectations. Results are certified official the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that was around 7 a.m today/Tuesday.
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (UPDATED): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive every-Sunday feature, updated Mondays, is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, but from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. This week's HB10:
1. HURRICANES: UM shuts up skeptics in manhandling of Virginia Tech: Canes are 8-0 and will be moving up in the College Football Playoff Top 10 after Saturday night's 28-10 handling of visiting Virginia Tech, led by massive defense and the loudest, most-into-it crowd we have heard at The Rock. As forcefully as UM beat Va-Tech, the Canes also silenced their critics.
2. DOLPHINS: Fins fall to Oakland despite huge night by Cutler: Coming off 40-0 loss at Baltimore then losing top back Jay Ajayi in dumb trade to Eagles, Fins sought spark on Sunday Night Football vs. Oakland but fell short, 27-24 despite 311 yards passing and three TDs from Jay Cutler. Did I mention club announced ticket-price increase for 2018? Hey, somebody gotta pay for those stadium upgrades.
3. HEAT: Miami readies for Golden State as first road trip continues: Heat are now 4-5 and into a six-game road trip that continues with champion Golden State Monday night. Meantime Cleveland's Dwyane Wade (three words that still sound odd) likened the final year of Heat Big 3 in 2014 to a "bad marriage." Um, y'all reached NBA Finals, Dwyane. Couldn't-a been that bad.
4. UM BASKETBALL: Canes men open season under shadow: No 13-ranked UM opens this Friday night at home vs. Gardner-Webb, and coach Jim Larranaga might have his best Canes team. He also has his biggest headache, denying wrongdoing but implicated nonetheless and subpoenaed to provide info in that ongoing FBI probe into college recruiting.
5. SOCCER: Miami FC falls in NASL playoff semifinal game: Miami FC hosted New York Cosmos Sunday at FIU in an NASL playoff semifinal match, falling 6-5 on penalty kicks after a scoreless match. The Orange & Blue won both the spring and fall seasons and aimed for the overall crown. With a record of 21-6-5 heading in, explosive Miami FC was the best South Florida pro sports team most of you have never seen.
6. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Miami named host of 2020-season national championship: The College Football Playoff knows how to make an entrance. First, their initial season ranking bumped Alabama from No. 1 and anointed Georgia instead. Then the CFP awarded its next available national championship game, following the 2020 season, to Miami.
7. FIU: Once-forlorn Panthers sailing at 6-2: FIU's 14-7 win over Texas-San Antonio on Saturday put the team 6-2 under first-year coach Butch Davis. Unbeaten UM casts a long shadow, but what Butch is doing at FIU is a small wonder.
8. MARLINS: New-era Fish set spring dates: While Houston still celebrates the Astros' World Series win, the new-era, Derek Jeter-run Marlins announced pitchers and catchers would report for spring work Feb. 14, with the first full-squad workout Feb. 19. Grapefruit league games in Jupiter will start Feb. 23. Hopefully Giancarlo Stanton will still be around.
9. PANTHERS: Looks like the same ol' Cats: Florida has lost nine of its first 13 games including four in a row and already is well off playoff pace entering a three-game road trip starting Tuesday. Or, did that go without saying?
Missing the HB10 cut: Two more races will pare the final field to four contenders for NASCAR's Nov. 19 season-championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Looking like Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and [fill in the blank], but it can all change. That's racin', after all ..... Ezekiel Elliott's suspension from Cowboys was upheld and then overturned yet again on yet another appeal. At this rate he'll begin serving his six-game suspension after he retires in 2026 ..... Randy Shannon's career as Gators interim head coach began with a 45-16 loss. You're at the wrong school, Randy ..... The latest indication ESPN's 30 For 30 series finally has run out of good ideas. Debuting Tuesday: Nature Boy, the Ric Flair story.
Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.
Twitter @gregcote
Comments