GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND
1) It's MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30. Hope y'all are having a nice, safe, long holiday weekend! 2) Note to readers: Not been writing as much lately because I'm burning a bunch of unused vacation time before end of year. But the blog still chugs on! 3) The Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram. Join us on both! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 12 picks, CFB Week 13 for state FBS teams, Greg Cote Show podcast Episode 38 & more. 5) Join me on Twitter and Instagram.
G11: DOLPHINS 20, @N.Y. STINKIN' JETS 3: NO TUA, NO PROBLEM AS MIAMI REBOUNDS VS. WINLESS FOE: Original post: Let’s get this out of the way quickly because it has been discussed to death: Coach Brian Flores should not have benched Tua Tagovailoa last week. It reeked of panic. Flores should have conveyed faith and given his rookie starting QB a chance to win the game late — just as Tua had done at Arizona only two weeks earlier. OK. Moving on. No chance of another benching today because Tagovailoa is out with a thumb injury, meaning Ryan Fitzpatrick and his glorious Game of Thrones beard are back in the saddle. Last week’s loss in Denver was a useful wakeup slap for those who’d been fooled by five wins in a row into thinking the Dolphins were a fully arrived, full-fledged good team. They are getting there, but the work is in progress (just as Tua’s development is). Miami is not in a position to take any opponent lightly — no, not even the winless New York Jets up there Sunday at 1 p.m. (CBS). Don’t get me wrong. The Jets stink, and Adam Gase still having a job now ranks among the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries. NYJ has scored the fewest points of any team, given up the second most and lost by an average of 15.3 points per game. Still, if Gase and the Planes could choose to get off the schneid versus any team, surely it would be against the division foe Gase once coached. Jets have lost their past two games by one score, and now get QB Sam Darnold back from injury Sunday. If Fins arrive in auto-pilot mode, they can lose. If they arrive having banked the lesson learned in Denver, it shouldn’t be close. My pick: Dolphins (-6 1/2), 31-13. For all of our latest King Sport picks, visit NFL Week 12 Gems.
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 29-30): 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: Tua out, Fitz in as Miami wins big at rival N.Y. Stinkin' Jets: Fins needed that comfortable 20-3 win Sunday afternoon vs. winless Jets to restore fans' faith in a playoff run. Losing in Denver as road favorites was bad. Losing to Adam Gase and dysfunctional NYJ would have been far worse. Ryan Fitzpatrick start at QB for Miami as Tua Tagovailoa was out with a thumb injury.
2. HEAT: Team extends Adebayo as training camp nears: The Heat and rising star Bam Adebayo agreed to a five-year max contract extension with clauses that could take the total to $195 million -- richest in total value in franchise history, topping the $141 million deal given Jimmy Butler last offseason. Miami opens preseason training camp on Tuesday with individual workouts, with full team practices beginning the following week. Exhibition games are set December 14 and 18 vs. New Orleans and Toronto. Season opens Christmas Day.
3. SOCCER: Argentine great Maradona passes away unexpectedly: Argentine soccer treasure Diego Maradona died of a heart attack at age 60, less than three weeks after his release from a hospital surgery to remove a brain clot. The "hand of God" works in mysterious ways. R.I.P. to an international futbol legend.
4. NFL: COVID continues to batter the season: Ravens-Steelers was moved from Thanksgiving Day to Tuesday after Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson tested positive for COVID. The situation in Denver may be worse. Every Broncos quarterback was out of Sunday’s game vs. New Orleans because one tested positive and the others had close contact with him, so Denver started Kendall Hinton, a wide receiver on the practice squad who was a high school QB and started two games there as a freshman at Wake Forest in 2015.
5. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Hurricanes, other state schools hit hard by virus: Miami learned its already postponed December 5 game with Wake Forest would be canceled and instead, that night, the No 9 Canes will play at Duke before closing the regular season with home games vs. No. 19 North Carolina Dec. 12 and Georgia Tech Dec. 19. This past weekend, Florida State's game with Virginia was postponed, the FIU- Louisiana Tech game was canceled and FAU-Middle Tennessee was postponed.
6. PRO FOOTBALL: Zach makes semifinalists, tries again for Canton: Pro Football Hall of Fame trimmed to 25 semifinalists its list of candidates for 2021 induction, a group headed by certain first-time-eligible inductee Peyton Manning. Among the survivors: Former Hurricanes WR Reggie Wayne and beloved Dolphins LB Zach Thomas.
7. UM BASKETBALL: Hurricanes men open season with win: Under the shadow of a pandemic, college basketball got underway this week. Jim Larranaga's Miami men opened their season Sunday on campus vs. North Florida with a 77-59 win. Katie Meier's UM women are 2-0 after beating Jacksonville 74-58 Wednesday and North Florida 81-39 Saturday, both at home. Neither Miami team is ranked.
8. SARAH FULLER: Vandy kicker makes SEC history: Vanderbilt soccer goalkeeper-turned-football placekicker Sarah Fuller on Saturday became the first female to play in a Power 5 conference football game. Fuller made history when she kicked off to begin the second half as the winless Commodores fell 41-0 at Missouri.
9. GOLF: Mickelson, Barkley win 'The Match': Phil Mickelson and Charles Barkley beat Stephen Curry and Peyton Manning 4 & 3 on Friday in Arizona in "The Match: Champions for Change,” a charity event to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Gee, what a shock that the team with the actual PGA Tour player would win. Highlight: Barkley debuted what looked very close to being actual golf swing.
10. BOXING: Tyson-Jones Jr. party like it's 1999: Once-great fighters Mike Tyson (age 54) and Roy Jones Jr. (51), both now two decades past their primes, went at it Saturday night and fought to a draw in an exhibition bout in Los Angeles. Call it A Fight for the (Old) Ages.
Missing the HB10 cut: Shoppers waited on line for hours for Black Friday sales, evidently unaware the Internet and online shopping was a thing ..... MLS playoffs are down to the final eight and expansion Nashville (unlike fellow newbie Inter Miami) is still alive. Conference semifinals are Kansas City-Minnesota and Dallas-Seattle in the West, and New England-Orlando and Columbus-Nashville in the East ..... U.S. Women's National Team dominated a very good Netherlands team, 2-0, in a soccer friendly in Holland Friday, the USWNT's first match since March ..... Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Barcelona are the only remaining teams perfect at 4-0 as the EUFA Champions League moves on in its group stage ..... It just occurs that the surname of Heat top draft pick Precious Achiuewa is pronounced like the sound of someone sneezing ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast's new Episode 39 drops Monday! ..... Update: Countdown now 2,038 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our Miami Herald podcast debuted in March and the new Episode 39 is out now! A new pod drops every Monday morning on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 39 we've done so far RIGHT HERE for free. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review. In new Ep39 we welcome in special guest Ray Hudson, the soccer voice, to discuss the passing of the great Maradona and also to review Inter Miami's first season. Also, Greg and Chris chat up the Dolphins' win in New York, Heat training camp opening, and turkey soup. Singing, too. And the new Mount Gregmore (V's) and more. Appreciate you listening each week and check out the new ep!
Some of our other most recent stuff: Herald NFL Week 11 QB Rankings / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim NG Hire As GM / Top-10 But Underdogs, Disrespected Hurricanes Rally Past VT in Blacksburg / and In a Pandemic-Battered Season For FIU, Butch Davis' Love Of Coaching Survives.
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THE ARCHIVES:
Select other recent columns: Stop the Silly Noise And Speculation. Give Dolphins' Tua Time And a Fair Chance / Fans of ESPN's Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz Should Prepare For Another Change / Dolphins Defense Makes It Easy For Tua In First NFL Start / Drama, Controversy, Torqued-Up Pressure: Welcome to Tua Week In Miami / Turner, With COVID, Joining Dodgers Celebration A Sadly Fitting End to Season / Dolphins Turning to Tua Now Is Risky -- But Right Move/ and Heat, Marlins, Canes -- now Tua. Miserable 2020 Suddenly Great Time To Be Miami Fan.
Heat NBA Finals columns: Game 6--LeBron Reigns, But Credit Heat For Unexpected Run to Finals. Game 5--They're Alive! Butler, Heat Beat Lakers, Get to Game 6 In NBA FInals. Game 4--Lakers in 3-1 Command in NBA Finals, But Don't Write Off Heat Yet. Game 3--Jimmy Butler's 40 Gives Heat New Life in NBA Finals. Game 2--NBA Finals Slipping Away As Heat Lose Again. Game 1-- Riley Wants Heat to Beat LeBron So Bad, But Opening Loss a Reality Check.
Marlins postseason run columns: NLDS Game 3--Marlins Season Was A Miracle But Way It Ended Is Lesson On Work Still Ahead. Game 2--Marlins Fall Again, Join Heat On Brink Of Elimination. Game 1--Braves Homers, Bullpen Collapse Bury Marlins in NLDS Game 1. Columns from two wins over Cubs in wild-card round: Miracle Marlins Advance in NL Playoffs and Seventeen Years Out of Playoffs, Marlins Return in Style.
Select other 2020 columns: 'If I Die, I Die.' QB Cousins' Shamefully Cavalier Attitude On Pandemic / Boycott Of NBA Playoffs Shows Nation That Injustice Is Bigger Than Sports Right Now / Having Fans at Dolphins, Canes Games A Bad Idea And Big Risk / For Marlins, A Home Opener -- And First Place -- In Mid-August / As Panthers Move on From Tallon, Who's Next Miami Team Executive on Hot Seat? / 'Perfect Storm For Virus Transmission': Why Football Is Struggling to Lift Off / Marlins Delaying Home Opener For COVID Outbreak a Scary Lesson For All Sports / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. They Boy Was Me / It Took George Floyd To Finally Wake Up White America / Goodell's NFL Response to Floyd Killing Is Hypocrisy At Its Most Ironic / and George Floyd Is Why Kaepernick & Sports Must Continue Fight For Social Justice
Revisit this blog often because it updates regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors writing awards ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Greg is also a regular on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz on ESPN Radio. Finding Greg: Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Columns. Podcast. Podcast on Twitter. Podcast on Instagram. LeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio) and The Ballad Of 1440 (video).
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