1) It's MONDAY OCTOBER 14. Check out our 'Fins At 50' book at Amazon. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NBA should end China ties with column, NFL Pix 'n Fantasy Week 5 results, why Dolphins-Redskins isn't must-lose for Miami & more. 3) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote. Also on Facebook and Instagram.
It's Radio Monday!: I'm co-hosting the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz today/Monday this week, not Tuesday. It airs 10-1 nationally on ESPN Radio and ESPNews. And catch the local hour (#LOUR) via links on show's social media platforms.
DOLPHINS COLUMN FROM SUNDAY'S GAME: Another Dolphins Loss, But There was Fight And Heart This Time.
Column from Canes' big win over Virginia: For my column from the stadium on UM's 17-9 win over No. 20 Virginia Friday night, please visit Hurricanes Finally Get Quality Win -- And The Spark They Needed. And scroll to previous blogpost for buoyant result of latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll.
Our most recent other columns: Why Is NBA Doing Business With Human Rights-Violating China In First Place? and Why Woeful Dolphins-Redskins Matchup Is Not Must-Lose For Miami. Also: Now Or Never For Panthers To Stop Wasting The Barkov Years (as NHL season unfurled) / Why Woeful Dolphins-Redskins Matchup Is Not Must-Lose For Miami / and 'Culture' Isn't Enough. It'll Take These 5 Factors to Lift Miami Heat (as team entered preseason).
G5: WASHINGTON 17, DOLPHINS 16: WINLESS BOWL ANOTHER LOSER FOR MIAMI, BUT AT LEAST FINS SHOW FIGHT: [Please visit Another Dolphins Loss, But There was Fight And Heart This Time for my game column from stadium]. Original post: The 0-5 Skins visit the 0-4 Fins Sunday at 1, and something's gotta give. Mathematically there is a 0.3
percent chance of a tie game here. Save for that negligible possibility, somebody is going to win this Winless Bowl. Somebody is going to be the least-terrible. In this epic battle of Movable Object versus Stoppable Force, one team will outscore the other. Are you sitting? IT WILL BE MIAMI! THE DOLPHINS WILL WIN! THE DOLPHINS WILL WIN!! (And, no, the world will not end. It will not mean the death of Tanking For Tua. Just a lil’ respite. Long season, folks). Miami’s minus-137 is the worst NFL point differential through four games since 1940. Washington is so bad it fired its coach already. That the Redskins are favored by 3 1/2 points underlines the perception that Miami is far and away the NFL's worst team. Still, I don't think they will be today. Case Keenum will return from injury to QB the Skins on Sunday, but that team is a turnover machine no matter who pitches. Fins are coming off a bye and riding a five-game home win streak over this foe. That’s enough for me, Dolfans. Champagne or regrets ready, depending on your point of view. Cote's pick: Dolphins, 20-17. (Visit Week 6 Gems for all of our latest NFL selections).
DOLFAN SATISFACTION METER: G5: 53.5%: Results are certified in the latest of the Miami Herald’s Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame polls, and they show 53.5 percent overall approval -- the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes -- in the wake of Sunday afternoon's 17-16 home loss vs. Washington putting Miami’s season record at 0-5. That's a season high as the Tanking for Tua crowd makes its voice heard. In its 12th season, 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. Online voting determines the final result, which is final the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that was around 9:30 a.m. today/Tuesday.
2019 DSM game-by-game results
G1: 18.3% following 59-10 loss vs. Baltimore.
G2: 24.6% following 43-0 loss vs. New England.
G3: 27.5% following 31-6 loss at Dallas.
G4: 35.3% following 30-10 loss vs. L.A. Chargers.
G5: 53.5% following 17-16 loss vs. Washington.
Next poll: Oct. 20 following game at Buffalo.
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (UPDATED): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature 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. DOLPHINS: Skins edge Fins in epic Winless Bowl: Matchups in the NFL or, heck, in all of sports don't get much sadder than 0-5 Washington at 0-4 Miami, but, oddly, an exciting game ensued. Miami showed heart and fight, but no win i a 17-16 loss when a 2-point try failed with six seconds left. No small consolation: The Road to Tua just got clearer.
2. HURRICANES: Big win over Virginia lifts season hopes: UM still is only 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the ACC, but Friday night's 17-9 home win over No. 20 Virginia felt like it chased away a cloud and gave this season hope again. Now all the Canes have to do is run the table from here.
3. MLB: Final four as League Championship Seriess underway!: Nationals lead Cardinals 2 games to 0 and Yankees-Astros are tied 1-1 in the NL and AL 7-game championship series continuing today/Monday in Washington. Go Nats! End the drought!
4. PANTHERS: Cats having the slow start they didn't want: New-look Florida has now played five games and lost four in the young NHL season underway, failing so far to avoid the slow start that has plagued this franchise. Next: Monday at New Jersey. Snap lout of it, Cats!
5. HEAT: Encouraging start to preseason for Miami: Heat are 2-0 in preseason, led by 18 from Tyler Herro and 19 from Dion Waiters, both off the bench. It's three more exhibitions this week starting Monday vs. Atlanta before regular season opens Oct. 23. Meanwhile there was a roast for Dwyane Wade Saturday night . The man does not retire quietly.
6. GATORS: Florida misses big chance, falls to LSU: A week after beating top-10 Auburn, NO. 7 Florida fell Saturday at No. 5 LSU, 42-28. Big opportunity missed, because, with No. 3 Georgia losing earlier in the day, the Florida-LSU winner would position itself for a legit shot at making the College Football Playoff.
7. NBA: China mess shadows league as season nears: A tweet by the Rockets GM in support of Hong Kong protests enraged China and created a mess for the NBA as league was there for preseason events. Perhaps a good time for NBA to reconsider doing business with a country that blatantly violates human rights?
8. GYMNASTICS: Queen Simone does it again: American gymnast Simone Biles, 22, made history at the 2019 World Gymnastic Championships in Germany, winning a (male or female) record 24th medal at the competition and a fifth all-round world title. G.O.A.T in leotards.
9. SOCCER: Inter Miami wins coin flip for No. 1 MLS draft pick: Inter Miami out-flipped fellow expansion team Nashville to win the No. 1 pick in the Nov. 19 MLS Expansion Draft. First, though, INter Miami must win a key Oct. 24 city commission vote related to its Freedom Park stadium project. Games, please.
10. WNBA: Delle Donne leads Washington Mystics to title: Season MVP Elena Delle Donne overcame a herniated disk to score 21 as Washington beat Connecticut in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals for their first championship. It capped the league's 23rd season. I'm going to have to catch a game one of these days.
Missing the HB10 cut: No. 3 Georgia chokes in OT loss to South Carolina. Wonder if Dawgs fans will find away to blame Mark Richt? ..... Kenyan superstar runner Eliud Kipchoge broke the 2-hour marathon barrier in 1:59.40.2 Saturday, a once unfathomable feat. I once covered 26.2 miles even quicker, but didn't get credit because I was in a car ..... NASCAR playoffs continue today at Talladega for 12 remaining drivers. Gentlemen, start your sweating ..... The Philadelphia Flyers have a "rage room" in the arena where (for a price) fans can take out their frustrations and break things. Dolphins could use a few of those, no? ..... The XFL announced its first draft would be held Oct. 28, 2000, assuming the startup football league hasn't folded by then ..... Kansas basketball hired rapper Snoop Dogg for a preseason event on campus and seemed shocked that his performance was profane. Um, had they heard of Snoop Dogg before? ..... As they are now allowing women into soccer matches for the first time in 40 years, please join me in welcoming the government of Iran to the 21st Century! ..... Update: Countdown now 2,443 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.
Previous select recent columns: Riley Introduces Butler -- 'Cause the Heat Don't Tank / Why Dolphins, Even Epic-Bad, May be Closer to Major Turnaround Than Canes / Turning Its Back on Kaepernick Enters Year 3 As NFL's Ongoing Shame / Worst Miami Team Ever? Epic Losing Already Making Dolphins A National Joke / Quit Whining! Yes Dolphins Are Tanking, And Yes They Should / It's Up to Today's Dolphins to Defend Shula's Legacy / Who's Super Bowl-Bound And Where Dolphins Land (preseason NFL Team Rankings) / Luck Deserves Praise For Putting Health, Life Above Football / Dolphins' Ross Cannot Be Surprised By Major Fallout Over Trump Fundraiser / Le Batard on Miami Radio Turmoil: 'We Were Evicted' / Buoniconti: Hall of Famer, But Even Greater Off the Field / Queens of the World. U.S. Soccer Wins Again / It Is Megan Rapinoe's World Cup -- On And Off The Field / An Era Ends As Panthers' Luongo Retires / O.J. Can Tweet What He Wants, But How He's Seen Is Not Up To Him / Ranking Dolphins, Heat, Marlins & Panthers' Best Young Players / Inter Miami Aiming High With Barca's Suarez / End The Illogical Shame and Honor Schnellenberger / Oh To Be Hated Again! Lean Times For Miami Sports / Why Tiger's Masters Triumph Is About More Than Golf / 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.
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.
Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.
Twitter @gregcote
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