Eyes on the prize! Dolphins mustn't waver on Tua. Latest column; plus DSM result after Fins' Monday loss, disgraced ref Tim Donaghy talks NBA scandal, tonight's 49ers-Cards pick, NFL Pix n Fantasy Week 8 results including my perfect 15-0 & more

1) It's THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31. Happy Halloween! Have fun, stay safe. Oh and see you next year, October. 2) Condolences on the passing of the great former University of Miami athletic director Sam Jankovich, who died yesterday at 84. I knew Sam very well in the 1980s. He was a good man and a good AD. 3) Check out our 'Fins At 50' book at Amazon. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Canes win at Pitt with CSM poll, Hot Button Top 10, NFL Week 8 picks & more. 5) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote. Also on Facebook and Instagram.

Tonight's 49ers-Cardinals pick: Astonishingly the Cards have won eight in a row in this season. Will an upset make it nine. Answer here: Week 9 Thursday Gem.

Herald Week 8 NFL QB rankings: We welcome back our Week 8 winner and crown a new season leader. Visit Herald Week 8 NFL QB Rankings.

EYES ON THE PRIZE! WHY DOLPHINS MUST REMAIN STEADFAST FOR TUA TAGOVAILOA. LATEST COLUMN: Eyes on the prize, Miami Dolphins. Stay strong. Focus. As the Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose famously sang in 1972, "It’s too late to turn back now." We’ve been reading it and hearing it from South Florida media to the talking heads on this week’s Dolphins-Steelers Monday Night Football telecast. The what-if game on the 2020 NFL Draft has begun. The notion that whomever ends up with the overall No. 1 pick next spring — including the favorite, Miami — dare not pass on the draft’s hot new shiny object, Ohio State’ havoc-wreaking pass rusher Chase Young. As if on cue, ESPN draftnik Todd McShay this week elevated Young to No. 1, ahead of Tua Tagovailoa, in his latest updated draft rankings. Let us hope the suggestion the Fins should consider drafting Young ahead of a generational QB qualifies as a classic sports straw man — a false narrative floated purely for the sake of argument. Because, at least in the Dolphins’ case, it is an absurd supposition that Miami should or might bypass the franchise arm because, what, the trendy defensive end is a point higher on your draft board? The whole point of this season, of this exquisitely orchestrated tanking, is to wind up with Tua Tagovailoa (pictured), the generational QB from Alabama. For the full column, please visit Do Not Waver, Dolphins. It Must Be Tua!

Disgraced ref Tim Donaghy talks game-fixing: He was at the center of one of NBA's major scandals of the 2000s. A movie about it is out this week. We spoke with the villain himself. For our recent column, please visit Disgraced Ref Donaghy Opens Up About Game-Fix Scandal. For the movie's preview: Inside Game Trailer.

Our most recent other columns: Heat's Opener Stars Butler As Missing Person, Winslow As Rising Star / Also: Heat 'Tighten the Screws,' And Dion Waiters Is the Lesson, As New Season Begins / Diaz Playing 'Rebuild' Card As Weak as Canes' Effort in Loss to Ga-Tech / LeBron Follows Company Line On China After Career Devoted to Social Justice / No Sacrifice Too Great For Tanking-For-Tua Dolphins / and Now Or Never For Panthers To Stop Wasting The Barkov Years.

G7: @PITTSBURGH 27, DOLPHINS 14: ANOTHER TEASE, ANOTHER FADE, STILL WINLESS: [See latest DSM results below] Is Original post: Is the No. 1 victory of the season most important, Miami fans? Or is it the No. 1 overall draft pick? You can have both. It's just that getting the former hurts your chances of having the latter. The winless and allegedly tanking 0-6 Miami Dolphins take the Monday night stage seen quite literally as the Not Ready For Prime Time Players. I cannot recall any 2-4 team being this big a favorite (14 1/2 points), but that is a commentary not on the Steelers’ latent greatness, but on the subterranean regard for Miami. The Fins actually have been appreciably better lately. Competitive! But like all bad teams they have found ways to lose. In Buffalo last week Christian Wilkins gets himself ejected 33 seconds into the game, two huge turnovers steal a likely win, then afterward, in a punctuation of "undisciplined," Bobby McCain angrily confronts a 13-year-old Bills fan. Miami traveled north with a depleted secondary; meanwhile Minkah Fitzpatrick is a Steeler. Pittsburgh, off a bye week, gets QB Mason Rudolph back healthy and expects RB James Conner back, too. I still like Ryan Fitzpatrick and an improving Fins offense getting this many points. If Miami has zero turnovers (admittedly a large ask), this thing might even be interesting late. Cote’s pick: Pittsburgh, 27-16. Click NFL Week 8 Gems for all our latest picks -- we're a perfect 14-0 straight-up entering tonight. And watch for the new Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll right after tonight's game ends.

DOLFAN SATISFACTION METER: G7: 28.8%: Results are certified in the latest of the Miami Herald’s Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame polls, and they show 28.8 percent overall approval -- the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes -- in the wake of Monday night’s 27-14 Dolphins loss at Pittsburgh putting Miami’s season record at 0-7. That's a huge drop, and the first time this season the total has been less than the game before. Is the cost of "Tanking For Tua" finally kicking in with fans?  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 8:30 a.m. today/Wednesday.

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.

G6: 55.2% following 31-21 loss at Buffalo.

G7: 28.8% following 27-14 loss at Pittsburgh.

Next poll: Nov. 3 following game vs. N.Y. Jets. 

NFL PIX 'N FANTASY RESULTS: WEEK 8: PERFECT! GREAT! MARVELOUS!: NFL picks -- Perfect! Literally. We were 15-0 straight-up, running the table on the week -- nearly unheard of. We were an OK 7-8 against the spread, including a bull's-eye on our Eagles over Bills Upset of the Week and another outright upset with Chargers over Bears. Also had Miami with points at Pittsburgh. Oh but that overall perfecto! Wheee! ..... LeBatard Show fantasy (18-team PPR) -- Great! Greg's Lobos improved to 4-4 with a 141.9 to 119 win over Allyson. We got a huge 42.8 points from Mike Evans and a surprising 36.2 from fill-in QB Daniel Jones. We're now tied for eighth place and thinking playoffs. ..... Friends n' family fantasy (10-team PPR) -- Marvelous! Lobos are now 5-3 with a fourth straight win, a nail-chewing 153-152 over my youngest son. (Sorry/not sorry, Michael!) We got 81 points -- 27 each -- from Saquon Barkley, Dalvin Cook and Deshaun Watson. We're now tied for third place and definitely thinking playoffs! Go 'Bos!

Previous other select recent columns: Why Is NBA Doing Business With Human Rights-Violating China In First Place? / 'Culture' Isn't Enough. It'll Take These 5 Factors to Lift Miami Heat / 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 / 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 / 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 Deba0te / 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