1) It's FRIDAY, MARCH 19. Hope y'all had a Happy St. Patrick's Day! 2) Check out Tuesday's Le Batard Show podcasts for my weekly appearance, including a new Back In My Day. 3) The Greg Cote Show podcast is separately on Twitter and Instagram. Join us on both! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, new Greg Cote Show podcast, links to recent columns & more. 5) Join me on Twitter and Instagram.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE WITH SARAH SPAIN OUT NOW!: Our 11th podcast of 2021 (53rd overall) is out now! A new pod drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. You can find all 53 we've done so far HERE for free. In our new Ep11 we welcome in ESPN star Sarah Spain for a fun chat about her new part-ownership in the Chicago Red Stars women's pro soccer team, Chicagio's Secret Door, dinner with Charles Barkley, her future and more. Also on the menu: A-Rod and J-Lo, March Madness, Marlins Park drones, a Mount Gregmore cameo by Patrick Ewing and more. Thanks as always, pod family, for the support. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review! (Also, our pod now simulcasts on Sirius XM, Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET on Channel 145).
NO BIG SPLASH IN FREE AGENCY MAKES IT CLEAR DOLPHINS GOING ALL IN ON DRAFT -- AND TUA: Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores tried to warn us. After his team led the NFL in free agency spending a year ago, owner Stephen Ross throwing around Monopoly money, this figured as a quieter offseason building to the draft in six weeks. “I’m going to be playing the song, ‘You can’t always get what you want’,” Flores said. “We may get priced out on some guys we’re looking at that we’d like to have.” And so they have in a first wave of free agency that has been active for Miami but without big-splash moves. Signing still-available wide receiver Kenny Golladay or Juju Smith-Schuster — that would make a splash. Bringing in a starting tackle the likes of Mitchell Schwartz or Alejandro Villanueva would be a sizable ripple. Signing edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney? Cannonball. Instead salary cap-limited Miami so far is making strategic little moves aimed at shoring up depth more than instant impact. Flores referenced a Rolling Stones song that follows you-can’t-always-get-what-you-want with, “But if you try sometime, you might find you get what you need.” Are the Dolphins doing that, at least, as they try to improve on a 10-win season that narrowly missed the playoffs? We size up the notable changes thus far to Miami’s roster in our newest column. To read that latest column in full, visit No-Splash Free Agency Indicates Dolphins Going All In On Upcoming Draft -- And Tua.
PHIL MICKELSON REFLECTS ON 25-YEAR RIVALRY/FRIENDSHIP WITH TIGER AS HONDA CLASSIC TEES OFF: The Honda Classic this week marks its 50th year as a mainstay on the PGA Tour, and as it does so the biggest thing in golf -- still, after all these years, even when he isn’t playing -- looms over the tournament, his presence felt. The absence of him felt. Tiger Woods revealed Tuesday night he is back home on Jupiter Island, just 20 miles north of Palm Beach Gardens, where the Honda tees off Thursday at PGA National and will divvy its $7.2 million prize purse on Sunday. “I will be recovering at home and working on getting stronger every day,” Tiger wrote on Twitter. On February 23 near Los Angeles, Woods’ car careened down an embankment in an accident that could have cost him his life. He sustained traumatic injuries to his lower right leg that will require at least a full year’s rehabilitation and put in some doubt whether his game will ever be the same. An old friend playing in the Honda this week has been reflecting a lot on the gut punch to golf. Phil Mickelson is the old rival who became the dear friend through the decades of he and Woods jousting on the course and jabbing off it. The sheriff on the crash scene called Woods “lucky to be alive.” Woods’ hope is to be ready to play in the 2022 Masters in 13 months, but that almost seems secondary now. “We’re just lucky and appreciative that his kids didn’t lose their father,” Mickelson said in the buildup to the Honda. “All the guys here understand and appreciate what he has meant to the game of golf and for us and the PGA Tour. But right now that’s so far from our minds. We’re thankful he’s still with us.” For our full recent column, visit Phil Reflects on 25-Year Rivalry/Friendship With Tiger As Honda Classic Tees Off.
NCAA TOURNAMENT: WHY MEN'S FIELD HAS A NEEDED FRESH FEEL AS WE WELCOME BACK MARCH MADNESS: It is 1974 in America. Richard Nixon resigned. Ali and Foreman fought in the “Rumble in the Jungle.” The Towering Inferno and Blazing Saddles tore up the box office. Greg Cote went through a brief but unfortunate sartorial phase that included bell bottoms and four-inch platform heels. And North Carolina and Duke both missed the men’s NCAA Tournament in college basketball. Forty-seven years later, the Tar Heels and Blue Devils once again are sitting out March Madness for the first time since ‘74. Ain’t it grand! Wait. This column should come with a disclaimer, like you see on packs of cigarettes. WARNING: Hoops fans in the state of North Carolina who continue reading this may experience discomfort and anger. They’re weeping along Tobacco Road. Duke finished a mediocre 13-11 as the celebrated Mike Krzyzewski was demoted to Coach Just-OK — his team derailed by COVID-19 in the ACC Tournament. UNC was a bit better but not good enough for their own legendary coach, Roy Williams. These giants in the sport were not alone in their uncharacteristic disappointment this season. Kentucky and Louisville are out of the Big Dance, too. For our full recent column previewing the NCAA Tournament, visit Why Men's NCAA Tournament Has Needed Fresh Feel As We Welome Back March Madness.
Our three other most recent columns: Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Heat Should Parts Ways With Meyers Leonard Over Anti-Semitic Slur / and Beckham's Resolve Tested By Tumult As Inter Miami Nears 2nd MLS Season.
Additional most recent columns: Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Quit Lecturing LeBron On Activism And His Own Conscience / Dolphins' Tua-or-Deshaun QB Choice Strewn with Complications and What-Ifs / Michael Jordan, Pitbull Signal Needed New Era as NASCAR Returns to Homestead / Doesn't Matter If Tiger Woods Never Wins Again. We Are Lucky He's Alive.
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Select other recent columns: These Two Questions Will Determine Dolphins' Path On Watson Vs. Tua / Loss at Aussie Open Leaves Serena's Legacy Firm Yet Still Unfinished / Marlins Stick With Youth As Rest Of NL East Spends Big / Oh Say Can You See No Anthem At Games? / Inter Miami's Beckham Risks Stepping Into Massive, Avoidable Mess / Put Brady In Sports' All-Time Pantheon. But He Has Company / Why Schilling Is To Blame For Falling Short Of Hall / Final Herald NFL 2020 QB Rankings / Saban the New G.O.A.T. as Alabama Reigns in Miami / 'A' For Effort, But King Hurt As Hurricanes' Bowl-Woes Continue / The King Is Dead! Dolphins Win Signals End of Era For Belichick, Pats / Heat Are Getting No Respect, But Didn't Earn Much In Opener / Le Batard Leaving ESPN, But Assures Fans They'll Hear From Him Again Soon / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim NG Hire As GM / In a Pandemic-Battered Season For FIU, Butch Davis' Love Of Coaching Survives / 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 / Turner, With COVID, Joining Dodgers Celebration A Sadly Fitting End to Season / Boycott Of NBA Playoffs Shows Nation That Injustice Is Bigger Than Sports Right Now / 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.
Super Bowl With a Smirk series: Smirk V, Smirk IV, Smirk III, Smirk II, Smirk I. Heat NBA Finals last column: LeBron Reigns, But Credit Heat For Unexpected Run to Finals. Marlins postseason run last column: Marlins Season Was A Miracle But Way It Ended Is Lesson On Work Still Ahead.
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. Finding Greg: Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Columns. Podcast. Podcast on Twitter. Podcast on Instagram. LeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).
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