GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND
1) It's MONDAY, MAY 24. Happy birthday today to a musical and cultural hero of mine, Bob Dylan, turning 80. Thanks, Bob, and here's to many more! Gonna go spin "Thunder On the Mountain," loud as it'll go. 2) I was back in-studio on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz this past week. Check out Tuesday's show podcasts for a full dose of me. 3) The Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram. Join us on both! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Panthers in trouble with 2-0 series hole, latest Greg Cote Show podcast & more. 5) Join me on Twitter and Instagram.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 20th episode of 2021 and 62nd 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 62 HERE for free. Our latest episode features a fun, interactive Greg's Mail Sack in which listeners ask questions on the air. Also, Greg says don't count out Panthers, even down 3-1, explains why Heat are in good shape even after losing Game 1. Some Phil and Tebow talk, too. 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).
Heat lose (barely), Panthers lose (big) on rare day for South Florida sports: It was only the third time in the franchises' combined history that both the Heat and panthers played a playoff game on the same day. For our combined column, visit Heat Fall, Panthers Need Miracle On Ice As Both Lose On Big Day for Miami Sports. The rarity happens again tonight as both play again.
Our other most recent columns: Panthers, Hopes Of Fans In Peril After Game 2 Loss, 2-0 Series Hole / Chasing Respect, Florida Panthers' 5-4 Home Loss A Crushing Start to Playoffs / Hall of Fame Snubbed Chris Bosh Last year. Time To Make it Right / 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 23-24): 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. HEAT: Miami drops Game 1. But is it Bucks who should be worried?: Heat lost Game 1 in Milwaukee Saturday, 109-107, with the Bucks also at home for Game 2 tonight/Monday. But is it Milwaukee that should be concerned in this NBA first-round series? Bucks barely won opener despite Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro shooting a combined 10-for-57. A club-playoff-record 20 3's (seven by Duncan Robinson) almost saved Miami despite the abysmal offense from key players.
2. PANTHERS: Cats in trouble after 6-2 loss, 3-1 series hole: It got ugly in Tampa Saturday in a 6-2 Panthers loss fora 3-1 hole in their NHL first round playoff series. Only 9.4 percent of teams in league history have rallied from 3-1 down to win a best-of-7. Game 5 is back in Sunrise tonight/Monday and Florida needs three straight wins to stave off early elimination. Sergei Bobrovsky got pulled Saturday as Panthers' inconsistent goaltending continued. Time for Spencer Knight? (Just asking for a friend...).
3. GOLF: Mickelson makes history at PGA Championship!: The PGA Championship, golf's second of four majors, ended Sunday at Kiawah Island in South Carolina with Phil Mickelson a two-stroke winner. Mickelson at 50 became the oldest champion in the 161 years of the golf majors.
4. MARLINS: Fish on a little roll as Poteet stars: Marlins are 22-24 after Sunday's 5-1 defeat of Mets made it two straight wins and four out of five. Cody Poteet served up seven shutout innings for Miami, after Pablo Lopez did the same the day before. Fish went a credible 5-5 on their 10-game road trip and now are 2-1 into a seven-game homestand, and four against the Phillies up now.
5. DOLPHINS: Fins back on field to begin OTA workdays: Today through Wednesday this week will mark the first three of 10 "organized team activity" or OTA offseason workdays. They are voluntary (wink, wink) but you are expected to attend. No live contact is permitted but 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills are allowed.
6. INTER MIAMI: Loss at Chicago denies Miami winning record -- again: Inter Miami's 1-0 road loss Saturday to a bad Chicago Fire squad left Team Beckham 2-2-3 for the season. A win would have given Inter Miami a winning record for the first time in its two year history. Up next: Locals host D.C. United next Saturday night.
7. CANES BASEBALL: UM learns its ACC Tournament path: Miami ended its regular season 32-17 with a sweep of Louisville Saturday and now prepares for the May 25-30 ACC Tournament in Charlotte. Canes face Duke on Thursday and Florida State Friday. Miami led the ACC in wins this season but is not ranked nationally -- unlike conference rivals Notre Dame (8th), FSU (15th) and North Carolina State (23rd).
8. SOCCER: It's title week for UEFA Champions League: Manchester City and underdog Chelsea vie this coming Saturday in Portugal in the 66th championship match in the UEFA Champions League. It's only the third all-England final, after Man U-Chelsea in 2008 and Liverpool-Tottenham Hotspur in 2019.
9. AUTO RACING: IndyCar, NASCAR vrooming toward big day: The 105th Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte both run next Sunday May 30. It may be the only day on the race calendar that the IndyCar Series owns the national spotlight when both leagues are running.
10. TENNIS: French Open is on deck at Roland Garros: The French Open, second of four tennis majors, begins next Sunday May 30 on the clay courts of Roland Garros in Paris. Rafael Nadal is the favorite to collect his record 14th French title and fifth in a row, ahead of Novak Djokovic. On the women's side, Poland's Iga Swiatek is the betting pick to repeat, especially after Simona Halep's withdrawal due to a calf injury.
Missing the HB10 cut: U.S. star gymnast Simone Biles did a Yurchenko double pike vault in competition Saturday -- a first for a woman ..... Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, with a roster that includes some players who were at the school on Feb. 14, 2018, when a shooter took the lives of 17 students, teachers and staff, won a state baseball championship Saturday ..... Denver's Nikola Jokic is expected to become the NBA's first center to be named league MVP since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000. Phily's Joel Embiid and Golden State's Steph Curry are other finalists ..... Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2) will end a two-year layoff and fight Errol Spence Jr. (27-0) on August 21 in Las Vegas ..... In yet another major blow to college basketball, two highly ranked 6-9 Florida twins, juniors Matt and Ryan Bewley, have become the first players to sign with Overtime Elite, the startup developmental American professional basketball league. They and more to follow are forsaking high school and college eligibility for (they hope) a quicker path to the NBA ..... Anybody interested in a slightly used Julio Jones? ..... Tim Tebow's new Jacksonville Jags jersey is the the No. 1 seller at the NFL's online shop. Lemmings!! ..... Sam Houston State scored late to beat South Dakota State 23-21 and win the FCS championship game of second-tier college football, which played its delayed 2020 season this spring ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is out with a new episode dropping Monday at 7 a.m. ET ..... Update: Countdown now 1,863 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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