1) It's MONDAY, MARCH 16. My latest Back In My Day video (Flavored Coffee!) premiered this past week on the Le Batard Show on ESPN Radio. Watch the video here: pic.twitter.com/jEeboy2jSR. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Coronavirus threat engulfs Miami sports, onus on Dolphins GM Grier to own next 6 weeks, Ozzy's Ordinary Man video & more. 3) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote. Also on Facebook and Instagram.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST EPISODE 3 OUT NOW!: Our new Miami Herald podcast, "The Greg Cote Show With Greg Cote," premiered this month and is out with Episode 3 on Monday morning! You can find 'The Greg Cote Show' on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you do your podding. Or find it directly right here. Please listen and subscribe! Subscribing is totally free and so important to what we're doing in this new project. Our podcast is a variety show, sports and non-sports, 3-0-5 and national, fun and (when absolutely necessary) serious. Watch for Episode 3 on Monday!
Coronavirus threat engulfs Miami sports; onus on Dolphins GM Gier: Our two latest columns: Miami Sports Now Utterly Engulfed By Coronavirus Threat -- But Precaution Is Justified (no paywall!) and It's Dominate Or Bust For Dolphins GM Grier Over Next 6 Weeks. Other most recent columns: Repentant Cheater A-Rod Slams Astros With Lesson On How to Handle Their Own Scandal / Inter Miami Is Market's Sleeping Giant As Home Opener Nears and As NFL Free Agency & Draft Near, All You Need To Know About Dolphins' QB Situation. Also: Beckham, Inter Miami Survive To Finally Reach Opening Week / Jeter Arrives At Camp, Calls Marlins 'Layered With Talent' / Dwyane Wade, His Transgender Daughter And A Lesson In Love / Why Marlins Aren't Pursuing Puig All About Change In Ownership and Pressure On Marlins for Big Improvement Now -- and It's About Time.
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MARCH 15-16): 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. CORONAVIRUS: The week that took our games away: The coronavirus/COVID-19 was declared an international pandemic and its impact on sports, globally and in the U.S., has been dramatic. No more NBA, NHL or Major League Soccer games for the foreseeable future, and MLB spring training is aborted, with the start of season delayed at least two weeks. In Miami, beyond the Heat, Panthers, Inter Miami and Marlins affected, Miami Open tennis and the NASCAR race in Homestead were canceled, and the Florida Derby will be run with no spectators. Sports can afford to shut down temporarily. Sports couldn't afford not to.
2. HEAT: Miami clings to fourth in East as hiatus begins: The Heat's record is frozen at 41-24 until the NBA resumes play following this extended coronavirus-caused timeout.
3. INTER MIAMI: MLS hiatus postpones first home opener: It was to have been Saturday. It will still happen ... someday.
4. COLLEGE BASKETBALL: No March Madness, no brackets for you: The NCAA Tournaments, men and women, were canceled after initially intending to play, but with no fans present.
5. NFL: Free agency begins Monday for Dolphins, new CBS approved: Football free agency is about all that's left of sports as leagues and major events cancel due to the coronavirus. And Miami, with more than $90 million to spend and a slew of needs, figures as a major player in the coming weeks. Also, players have approved the new collective bargaining agreement, meaning a 17-game regular season is coming as soon as 2021.
6. PANTHERS: Cats' playoff hunting as season pauses: Florida's record of 35-34 after two straight wins is frozen by the coronavirus-caused suspension of play, with Cats three points off playoff pace.
7. MARLINS: Pool gone, but Fish continue spring splash: Miami's encouraging spring ends with a 12-6-1 record as MLB aborts the rest of exhibition play, and delays the start of the regular season at least two weeks. But will the eventual Opening Day include fans?
8. SOCCER: U.S. women win SheBelieves Cup: The World Cup champion USWNT defeated Japan 3-1 to emphatically win the SheBleieves Cup, which snuck in before the coronavirus bans. The team continues to show it merits equal pay with the U.S. men ... if not better pay.
9. CANES HOOPS: UM men, women end mediocre seasons badly: Even if there was a Selection Sunday today and an NCAA Tournament following, neither UM team would have made it. The Miami women's team, once 9-3 and ranked, ended a .500 season with a disappointing one-and-done performance in the ACC Tournament, losing its opener to lower-seeded Clemson. Canes men ended one game under .500, also with an opening ouster in the conference tourney.
10. TENNIS/AUTO RACING: Miami Open, Homestead race wiped out: The Miami Open's second year at Hard Rock Stadium was to begin its two-week run on March 23. Won't happen. See ya next year. The scheduled March 22 NASCAR race at Homestead-Miami Speedway won't happen, either. They're saying "postponed," not canceled, but no makeup date has been revealed.
Missing the HB10 cut: Shameless Plug Alert: Episode 3 of the Greg Cote Show podcast is out Monday morning! ..... UM ceased spring sports due to the coronavirus threat, notably including spring football and baseball ..... The XFL also suspended play. But will anyone notice? ..... Keep booing the Astros, please. Even when they're not playing ..... Update: Countdown now 2,296 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.
Other select recent columns: It's Time For Anonymous Lone Voter Who Denied Jeter To Step Forward / Heat And Gloriously Impatient Riley Win In Trade For Iguodala / Return Of Ed Reed, Even If Mostly Symbolic, Leads Surge By Canes Football / Poor Dolphins Finally Getting Rid Of Brady Only to Have Mahomes Take His Place / And our two-part series: How One Man Long Forgotten Changed Everything For the Miami Dolphins and How Shula Made Dolphins Perfect and Made Miami Matter, And the Coach Today at 90. Also: Chiefs, Mahomes And A Former Dolphin Win Super Bowl 54 -- And So Does Miami / Kobe's Death Sends Sports World Reeling, But Immortality Is His / How The NFL, Even Amid Safety Concerns, Bounced Back And Is Healthier Than Ever / How Miami Went From Forgotten to Back On Top As 'Super Bowl City' / Jimmy Johnson's Biggest Triumph? Knowing When To Quit -- And Why / Announcing Miami Dolphins' 2010-19 All-Decade Team / and We Are The Champions: How South Florida Came to Own the State in High School Football.
Visit Greg Cote Column Headquarters, and revisit this blog often because it is updated regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors 2018 writing awards ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Author of 'Fins At 50,' available on Amazon. Regular co-host on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz on ESPN Radio and ESPNews. Follow on Twitter @gregcote. And check and our new Greg Cote Show podcast HERE and subscribe!
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