GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It's MONDAY, JUNE 24. Always football season, so always the right time to check out our 'Fins At 50' book for the Dolfans in your life: Amazon. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Heat draft guard Tyler Herro and why Riley needs to have hit big, Panthers draft goalie Spencer Knight, The List (Heat high picks), O.J. on Twitter, Taylor Swift's message & more. 3) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook and Instagram.
Our most recent column quartet: The latest: Drip Or Swag, Herro Brings It, And Heat Need It. From draft night: Heat, Riley Need To Have Hit Big With Herro. As free agency nears: Heat Can Only Watch As Seismic Talent Shift Quakes NBA. And, uh oh: O.J. Can Tweet What He Wants, But How He's Seen Is Not Up To Him. Also: Heat Must Dump Bad Contracts Starting With Whiteside, Dragic / Why Florida Panthers Are Poised To (Finally) Be The Next Big Thing / U.S. Women's Soccer Should Be Celebrated -- No Apologies / Miami Dolphins Will Be Better Than You Think In 2019 / Inter Miami Aiming High With Barca's Suarez / And Ranking Dolphins, Heat, Marlins & Panthers' Best Young Players.
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, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. This week's HB10:
1. HEAT: Miami gets flashy Kentucky guard Herro in 1st round: The Heat just got a little more swaggery. That's a good thing. Kentucky guard Tyler Herro arrived in a purple suit and all blinged out with the 13th overall pick in the NBA Draft Thursday night. Miami later got Stanford forward KZ Okpala in the second round. Heat may have reached a tad for Herro, but a South Florida sports scene shy on starpower just got an infusion of interesting. Heat are expected to be quiet in upcoming free agency, but at least their draft was splashy.
2. SOCCER: U.S. women face Spain in World Cup knockout stage: The round of 16 is underway in France after no major surprises in group play. The reigning champion U.S. women breezed through with a 3-0 record and 19-0 (!) goal differential and now face Spain today/Monday at noon in the must-win knockout stage. Once again, I am totally neutral here. ("U-S-A! U-S-A!").
3. NBA: King Zion and trades highlight NBA Draft: The top three picks went as expected Thursday night, led by Duke's Zion Williamson to New Orleans as the NBA's most anticipated arrival since LeBron James. After that? Choas. In all 38 of the 60 overall picks involved trades, including 15 in the first round. Next: The NBA's main summer act, free agency, starting June 30.
4. PANTHERS: Cats go goalie in draft's 1st round: To Florida comes Boston College goaltender Spencer Knight, 18, with the NHL Draft's 13th overall pick, filling the Panthers' biggest need with the draft's acknowledged premier goalie. Cats also expected to chase veteran all-star goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in upcoming free agency -- all of it likely spelling the end of an era for now-40-year-old Roberto Luongo.
5. MARLINS: Yamamoto wins again as as Fish wrap road trip: Miami wrapped up a 5-2 road trip with sweep of the Philles Sunday as Hawaiian rookie pitching sensation Jordan Yamamoto won a third straight game. Marlins are now home for six straight. Yamamoto was not as sharp Sunday but in his first three career starts is 3-0 with a 0.95 ERA with 19 strikeouts and only six hits allowed in 19 innings.
6. SOCCER: U.S. men looking good (!) in Gold Cup so far: The oft-maligned U.S. men's national team -- motto: Yeah, We Know We're Not As Successful As The Women -- is sailing through the group stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, first beating Guyana 4-0 and last night crushing Trinidad & Tobago 6-0 -- the team that kept the U.S. men out of the last World Cup. Americans play Panama Wednesday but will be in the quarterfinals no matter the result. Championship game is set for Soldier Field. ("Let's gooooo States!").
7. HURRICANES: UM football hosts annual "Paradise Camp": Manny Diaz's first Paradise Camp as head coach was this past weekend -- an annual celebration of UM football and the program's family culture as current recruits mingled with famous football alums. It's a rather amazing thing, largely because it really is a made-up, non-newsworthy event, yet is covered rapturously by local media. Fun fact: Paradise Camp also is the name of a 1986 documentary film about the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.
8. SOCCER: Messi, Barcelona coming to Miami: Soccer god Lionel Messi and his mighty Barcelona club team will play a friendly Aug. 7 vs Italy's Napoli club at Hard Rock Stadium, it was announced. HRS continues to draw sexy international matches. Aside to David Beckham: While he's here, please quietly kidnap Messi and put him in an Inter Miami kit.
9. NHL: Draft. Done. Awards. Given. Next: Free agency: New Jersey selected American center Jack Hughes, 18, No. 1 overall, and this is where I don't even pretend to have ever heard of him. Meanwhile Tampa's 128-point scorer Nikita Kucherov was named league MVP. (He should-a saved a few of those points for the playoffs. Ouch. Too soon?) Panthers' Aleksander Barkov won the Lady Byng Trophy for "gentlemanly conduct." (Don't they make fun of you for that in hockey?) Next stop: Free agency.
10. UM BASKETBALL: Canes extend women's coach Meier: Katie Meier signed a contract extension through the 2024-25 season, a well-deserved security for both the coach and the program. UM women's hoops has been a consistent winner under the aegis of the classy Meier, and good for athletic director Blake James to extend the run.
Missing the HB10 cut: Major League Soccer is at midseason, meaning we are now about nine months from Inter Miami kicking off. How those stadium(s) coming along, fellas? ..... Dewan Hernandez, 6-10 former Hurricanes center, snuck into the NBA Draft as the 59th overall pick, by Toronto. Good to see, after a brutally harsh NCAA suspension cost him all last season ..... Turns out David (Big Papi) Ortiz was shot and nearly killed in the Dominican Republic in a case of mistaken identity. Dude should keep on his old Red Sox uni at all times ..... Cricket World Cup continues. Updates as warranted ..... It's Michigan-Vanderbilt in best-of-three College World Series final starting Monday in Omaha. Scouting report: the Vanderbilt Whistler is a fan who annoys everybody with his constant loud whistling, so I hope Michigan wins ..... Copa America soccer tourney continues. Fast fact: Event's mascot is Zizito, a capybara, which is the world's largest rodent ..... A 103-year-old woman won gold in the 100-meter dash at the Senior Games. I'd tell you her time, but she hasn't finished yet ..... The U.S. Fencing Championships begin later this week in Ohio. How terrible. A competition for folks who deal in stolen goods! ..... O.J. Simpson on Twitter didn't take long to get boring. His fourth Tweet was about fantasy football. Come on Orenthal. A confession or I'm unfollowing! ..... Yeah, I mean, other than giving a platform for LaVar Ball's sexist comment and ignoring Tyson Fury's homophobia and misogyny as it promotes boxing, it was a good week for ESPN ..... Update: Countdown now 2,555 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in the 2026 World Cup.
Select other recent columns: Reasons To Like Flores & 5 Keys To Dolphins Season / For Marlins, An Encouraging Two Weeks Is Progress / End The Illogical Shame and Honor Schnellenberger / Meet Tyler Gaffalione: Local Jockey Who Made It Big / Smart Decision A No-Brainer: Dolphins Should Start Rosen / Maximum Security's Disqualification Is Kentucky Derby's Ultimate Stain / Dolphins Land Big Prize in Wilkins / Oh To Be Hated Again! Lean Times For Miami Sports / Why Tiger's Masters Triumph Is About More Than Golf / Why Tannehill's Legacy Probably Isn't What You Think / Case For Kaepernick's Comeback As A Dolphin / Transgender-Athlete Firestorm A Necessary Debate / Across the Rio Grande to the PGA Tour / From Dark and Empty to Top Of the World: Dan Le Batard at 50 / And, our Dwyane Wade Farewell Trilogy: The Last Star: Post-Wade, Miami Sports Is Bereft; Wade Fittingly Goes Out A Winner And 30-point Star; and Thank You, Dwyane Wade, Miami's G.O.A.T.
APSE-HONORED WORK: The Associated Press Sports Editors 2018 writing awards ranked us a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Thanks, APSE. Here are the five nominated columns that earned the honor: At Doral, an annual tradition since 1962 is replaced by silence, and by what's missing / Marlins' Jose Fernandez statue is divisive yet has a chance to serve a greater purpose /NFL has moral obligation to help Buonicontis and Kiicks while it limits future suffering / What led to El Clasico Miami began with Joe Robbie's unlikely, accidental love of soccer / With 59 home runs, Stanton still had a magic season. Just hope this wasn't goodbye.
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Twitter @gregcote
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