GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND
1) It's MONDAY, MAY 17. The Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram. Join us on both! 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hoops Hall of Fame will get it right on Chris Bosh this time, Panthers look like best in franchise history but it's time to prove it, newest Greg Cote Show podcast with ESPN's Israel Gutierrez, latest column links & more. 3) Join me on Twitter and Instagram.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 19th episode of 2021 and 61st overall is out now! A new pod drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. You can find all 61 we've done so far HERE for free. Our latest episode features Superfans @JuJuGotti (pictured) & @YetiBlanc_ on cult of @LeBatardShow worship; and identical-twin teenage whiz-kid authors try to explain sports analytics to Greg & @ChrisCoteDKings. Also: Local sports!! A frantic Joe Biden phone message. New Nellie's Diner ad. And a Mount Gregmore music quiz. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, rate, review and follow! (Our pod now simulcasts on Sirius XM, too, every Monday 5-6 p.m. ET on Channel 145).
Column from arena on Panthers' Game 1 loss: Chasing Respect, Florida Panthers' 5-4 Home Loss A Crushing Start to Playoffs.
Other most recent columns: Hall of Fame Snubbed Chris Bosh Last year. Time To Make it Right. Also: This Looks Like Best Florida Panthers Team Ever. But The Proving Starts Now; Aging Ex-Dolphins Reflect On Own Mortality One Year After Shula's Death; Aaron Rodgers' Packers Drama Involves Miami (Of Course). But Here's Why It Won't Happen; and Grade-A Draft Feeds Momentum For Team-On-the-Rise Dolphins.
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MAY 16-17): 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. PANTHERS: Cats drop Game 1 thriller as road to Stanley Cup begins!: Puck dropped Saturday on NHL playoffs and Florida Panthers opened Sunday night with a 5-4 home loss to Tampa Bay in Game 1 of what figures as a contentious first-round series between bitter state rivals. Panthers took five of eight games from Lightning in regular season and carried a six-game win streak into playoffs including 5-1 and 4-0 wins over Tampa -- yet Cats are series betting underdogs and the reigning league champs showed why last night.
2. HEAT: Miami ends regular season Sunday, awaits Bucks in first round: Miami ended 40-32 and sixth to draw third seed Milwaukee in first round. Can Heat eliminate Bucks from playoffs as they did in the bubble last year? Tall taks. And they'd like draw Brooklyn in second round. Uh oh. Thursday's home finale marked an eventful if brief season debut for beloved Udonis Haslem: Three minutes, one ejection. Playoffs -- United In Black is Miami's theme -- are to start next Saturday following the play-in tournament Tuesday through Friday.
3. HALL OF FAME: Big weekend as Kobe is inducted, Bosh is elected: An emotional Saturday saw Kobe Bryant, presented posthumously by his widow and Michael Jordan, lead the 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class in a delayed-by-COVID induction ceremony, along with notables Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. The 2021 class announced Sunday included former Heat star Chris Bosh as expected among 16 new entrants. No Tim Hardaway, though.
4. DOLPHINS: NFL schedule out, Fins wrap up rookie minicamp: Miami's three-day rookie minicamp for newly signed top pick Jaylen Waddle and all the rest ended Sunday. Up next for offseason work: Voluntary (but not really) OTA workdays May 24-26. Meanwhile NFL schedules came out, with Miami opening September 12 at New England, then at home September 19 vs. Buffalo. Notable: Fins in London October 17 vs. Jacksonville, and in prime time November 11 (Thursday, vs. Baltimore) and December 27 (Monday, at New Orleans).
5. MARLINS: Lopez, Duvall deliver needed win: Fish are 18-22 after beating Dodgers 3-2 Sunday on Pablo Lopez's strong start and Adam Duvall's three-run homer. Miami is now 3-4 on a 10-game road trip that continues in Philadelphia Tuesday.
6. INTER MIAMI: Locals beat Cincinnati to pull even on season: Team Beckham won 3-2 at FC Cincinnati, fueled by two goals from Gonzalo Higuain to pull even at 2-2-2 for the young MLS season. MLSPA figures out last week showed Miami with biggest payroll at $17.8 million and Higuain third among all players at $5.79M. (They got their money's worth Sunday). Next up: At Chicago on Saturday.
7. HORSE RACING: Rombauer wins Preakness Stakes: Rombauer won the 146th Preakness at Pimlico on Saturday, beating runnerup Midnight Bourbon. The third-place finisher was the Kentucky Derby winner, Cheatin' Medina Spirit.
8. GOLF: PGA Championship is this week: The second of four golf majors, the PGA Championship, is this Thursday through Sunday in South Carolina. Rory McIlroy is betting favorite at 10-1, just ahead of Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas, all 12-1.
9. WNBA: 25th anniversary season now underway: The Seattle Storm begins defense of its title as it's opening weekend for the women's league's silver season, with the 12 teams back in their home arenas for the 32-game regular season. The WNBA will break for a month (July 12-August 14) for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
10. SOCCER: Leicester City surprise win in FA Cup: The 140th FA Cup final Saturday found underdog Leicester City surprising Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley Stadium to take the English football crown. Youri Tielmans' strike delivered Leicester's first-ever FA Cup win, after video replay disallowed a tying Chelsea goal in the 88th minute. On May 29 the UEFA Champions League final sees Chelsea again, but this time a betting underdog vs. Manchester City.
Missing the HB10 cut: Albert Pujols isn't going far, signs one-year deal with Dodgers after being cut by Angels ..... Bigger cloud over NFL offseason: Aaron Rodgers wanting divorce from Green Bay? Or Deshaun Watson legal mess in Houston? Close call ..... Canes baseball is 28-16 entering, the it's four games left in season before ACC Tournament. Miami was passed over as an NCAA regional host ..... Brouhaha in college women's golf! NCAA canceled women's golf regional in Baton Rouge over soggy course conditions even though coaches said it was playable. As a result the top six seeded teams advanced to nationals and others -- including Miami -- were denied their chance. UM coach Patti Rizzo? Angry ..... It's the South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs. the underdog Sam Houston State Breakats on Sunday in the FCS championship game of second-tier college football, which played a spring season this year ..... Upcoming events: Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 are both May 30. French Open also starts that day ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is out with a new episode dropping Monday at 7 a.m. ET ..... Update: Countdown now 1,870 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.
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ARCHIVES:
Additional most recent columns: Iffy Trades That Cost Them Pitts Mean Dolphins Better Hit Big With Waddle / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / Justice For George Floyd Helps Heal Our Shaken Faith, But Fight For Equality Goes On / What Would Jackie Robinson Think About Race In America Today? / The Case For Dolphins Trading Up, Going All-In For Kyle Pitts / and It Won't Fix the World, But Matsuyama's Masters Win Lifts Japan In Time Of Anti-Asian Hate.
Select other recent columns: Talk Of U.S. Olympic Boycott A Reminder Sports, Politics Are Entwined -- And That's Good / How And Why the Miami Heat Landing Kawhi Leonard This Summer Could Happen / The Miami Dolphins' Six Can't-Lose Options For a Great No. 6 Pick in NFL Draft / Even After Playoffs In '20, Marlins Still 'Bottom Feeders' Fighting For Respect / Special Opening Day as Marlins Welcome Back Fans, Feeling Of Hope / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / No Lowry, But Stealing Oladipo, Keeping Herro a Win-Win For Heat, Riley / Beckham Keeps Name-Dropping Messi, Ronaldo For Inter Miami. Can He Deliver? / Women Keep Accusing Deshaun Watson of Sexual Misconduct. But Will It Matter to NFL Teams? / No-Splash Free Agency Indicates Dolphins Going All In On Upcoming Draft -- And Tua / Phil Reflects on 25-Year Rivalry/Friendship With Tiger As Honda Classic Tees Off / Why Men's NCAA Tournament Has A Needed Fresh Feel As We Welcome Back March Madness / 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 / Beckham's Resolve Tested By Tumult As Inter Miami Nears 2nd MLS Season / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Quit Lecturing LeBron On Activism And His Own Conscience / 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 / Loss at Aussie Open Leaves Serena's Legacy Firm Yet Still Unfinished / Marlins Stick With Youth As Rest Of NL East Spends Big / Inter Miami's Beckham Risks Stepping Into Massive, Avoidable Mess / Put Brady In Sports' All-Time Pantheon. But He Has Company / Final Herald NFL 2020 QB Rankings / 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 / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me.
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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