GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND
1) It's SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022. When do we start looking at somebody funny for still saying "Happy New Year"? Not yet, or yes now? 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 18 picks, new Greg Cote Show year-end best-of podcast, Why Saban 'what-if' still haunts Miami, No playoffs and no firm idea on Tua worst way for Dolphins to end season, NFL Week 17 results for picks/Lobos/QB rankings.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: SPECIAL NEW YEAR-END BEST-OF EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 2nd episode of 2022 and 93rd overall drops Monday morning! A new pod is out every Monday at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 92 we've done so far HERE, free. In our latest episode: It's GregFest: Our Best-Of Year-End Extravaganza (with new stuff, too). We relive our greatest hits 'n bits from the past year: Interviews, Songs, Greg Doesn't Know Movies, Hard Knocks/Lobos -- the fun don't stop! Inlcuding a new Mount Gregmore of OUR favorite epsiodes from '21. You won't want to miss it! Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, rate, review and follow. (Our pod simulcasts on Sirius XM every Monday 5-6 p.m. ET).
NFL WEEK 18 PICKS: DOLPHINS-PATRIOTS, BIG UPSET, FINAL PLAYOFF TICKETS, ALL THE REST: Our second-half heater resumed in Week 17 as went a big 12-4 overall (again) and 8-8 against the spread. Nailed another Upset of the Week in Steelers beating Browns Monday night. With one week to go our overall season total has risen and our number against the Evil Betting Line is above what it was a year ago. Time to finish strong! In Saturday's doubleheader we were 2-0 straight-up, 1-1 against the spread. For our Game of the Week, Upset of the Week, Dolphins-Patriots call and who's getting the final three unclaimed playoff tickets, visit NFL Week 18 Gems.
Our most recent columns: Why Saban 'What-If' Still Haunts Miami 15 Years later / No Playoffs And No Idea Yet On Tua Worst Possible Way For Dolphins To End Season / Revealing My 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot / Georgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next /and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude. Also: Party, Meet Hangover: Tua, Dolphins Out Of Playoff Chase With Loss at Titans / Hey, America, After 7th Straight Win, Do Miami Dolphins Have Your Attention Yet? / Duuuuuke Lifts Fins to 6th Straight Win, .500 / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / UM Legend Frank Gore Talks NFL Future, Cristobal, Boxing As He Prepes For Ring Debut / and Tua Keeps Showing Dolphins How Silly They Were To Doubt Him So Soon.
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JANUARY 9-10): 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. The latest HB10:
1. DOLPHINS: Fins end roller-coaster season hoping for winning record: The season began with high hopes after an upset win at New England. Seven straight losses followed. Then seven wins in a row. Then a crushing loss at Tennessee. Now, at 8-8, it ends back home like it started: Against the rival Patriots. No playoffs, but a winning record the consolation prize. Meanwhile Jaylen Waddle was named team MVP -- Tua Tagovailoa not winning it in his second season another indication of disappointment in him.
2. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Georgia favored but 'Bama feels like favorite in Monday's CFP final: Betting odds say Bulldogs are 2 1/2-point picks over Crimson Tide in Monday night's College Football Playoff national championship game in Indy. Hmm. 'Bama has beaten Georgia seven straight under Nick Saban, including 41-24 for the SEC title December 4. Now Tide are after their seventh national crown under Saban while 'Dawgs aim for first and only since 1980. Has a favorite ever seemed more like the underdog?
3. HEAT: Miami keeps winning without two biggest stars: Miami is 25-15 and up to third in the East after Saturday's 123-100 win at Phoenix. In initial fan voting for All-Star team Jimmy Butler is running 5th and Bam Adebayo 8th among Eastern frontcourt guys, despite Bam missing 22 games injured and Butler missing 17. Tyler Herro is 8th among East guards. Miami is back in play Wednesday in Atlanta.
4. CANES BASKETBALL: UM men poll-bound after upset win at No. 2 Duke!: Canes men's basketball is 13-3, 5-0 in the ACC and on a ninet-game win streak after Saturday's 76-74 upset win at No. 2 ranked Duke, led by leading scorer Kameron McGusty's late winning layup. UM, back in action Tuesday at FSU, has not been ranked all season but that's about to change. The COVID-hit Miami women are 7-4 (0-1 ACC) entering Sunday's game vs. No. 5 N.C. State.
5. NFL: Week 18 to complete playoff picture with final three teams: Eleven teams are in the postseason and three tickers remain entering Week 18. The Colts and 49ers are win-and-in, as is the Chargers-Raiders winner Sunday night. Saints are in with a win if the Niners lose. Steelers and Ravens are alive but need a win plus much other help.
6. PANTHERS: Cats are back on top in NHL East: Florida is 23-7-5 and now atop the East after Saturday's 4-3 OT win at Carolina, and leading the NHL in goals at 3.92 per game led by Aleksander Barkov and Anthony Duclair with 14 each. Cats are back on ice Tuesday at home vs. Vancouver.
7. INTER MIAMI: Roster undergoing shakeuo entering Year 3: Inter Miami will open training camp January 17 for its third Major League Soccer season missing some familiar faces as part of a massive roster shakeup following two disappointing seasons. Two of three Designated Players -- midfielders Rodolfo Pizarro of Mexico and Blaise Matuidi of France -- are not expected back. The third, Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain, reportedly will return.
8. HURRICANES: Cristobal continues to raid Oregon to fill out his staff: New Canes football Mario Cristobal keeps populating his UM staff with guys lured from his former staff at Oregon. The latest: Alex Mirabal as assistant head coach and offensive line coach, and Joe Salave’a as to the position of Miami Hurricanes’ defensive line coach, associate head coach/defense and defensive run-game coordinator.
9. TENNIS: Djokovic vaccine drama clouds runup to Aussie Open: The year's first tennis major, the January 17-30 Australian Open, is embroiled in a vaccination drama with reigning men's champion and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The noted anti-vaxxer had claimed a medical exemption from the tournament's COVID-19 vaccination requirements, but the Aussie government ultimately denied his visa and tuned him away. Stay tunedc.
10. SOCCER: Colombia, Honduras set for friendly in Fort Lauderdale: The match next Sunday January 16 at Inter Miami's stadium in Fort Lauderdale will be a World Cup tuneup for Colombia, which is bringing a quality roster for what is being called a preparation for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Argentina in the runup to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Missing the HB10 cut: From 217 names on the ballot, 18 players and three coaches will be announced Monday as 2022 inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame. Nominees included three former Miami Hurricanes: QB Ken Dorsey, OT Bryant McKinnie and coach Larry Coker ..... Warriors star Klay Thompson will play today for first time since June 13, 2019, when he tore his left ACL in Game 6 of the '19 NBA Finals ..... Marlins spring-training tickets are now on sale. The bad news: The MLB lockout has the start of spring training anybody's guess ..... The FA Cup, in which England's lower-league Davids take on the Premier League's Goliaths, continues with 32 matches taking place Friday through this Monday ..... The back-for-another-try USFL announced its first four head-coach hires. They include former NFL head coaches Todd Haley and Mike Riley. The spring league opens in April. I'd set the over/under on its surviival at 1 1/2 seasons ..... Former NFL and Canes star Clinton Portis was sentenced to six months in prison for his role in a medical fraud scheme ..... Wait. Antonio Brown in the midst of a controversy!? No way! ..... The 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees will be revealed January 25 live from Cooperstown on MLB Network. David Ortiz, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens (the latter two in their final year of eligibility) are expcetd to be inducted based on early voting trends made public. First-tme eligible Alex Rodriguez, thank to steroids, will not make it on his first try ..... NFL announced a public memorial for John Madden would be held February 15 in Oakland ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday, January 10 at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,632 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.
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ARCHIVES
Select other recent columns: UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / How Miami Dolphins Are Poised to Transform Their 1-7 Start Into Playoff Contention / Dolphins' Watson Lust Ruined Season, Damaged Tua. And That Starts With Owner Ross / Quenneville Rightly Sacked as Panthers Coach Over 2010 Chicago Scandal / As Dolphins' Dysfunction Surrounds Him, 10 Ways Tua Is The Unluckiest Man On Earth / State of the Art: Heat, Miami's Best-Run Franchise, Sails In Opener / 'Time to Hunt': Cats' Hyped Season Off to Wild, Winning Start / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / If Sports Had A Spine, Kyrie Irving & Other Anti-Vaxxers Wouldn't Be Playing / Kyle Lowry Must Channel 'Doctor Of Greatness' If Heat Is To Chase NBA Title / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / Why It's Too Soon, And Dumb, To Quit On Tua As Dolphins Answer / Year Of Reckoning, And Impatience, For Slow-Starting Dolphins & Canes / Hope And Hype Are Sky-High. Time For Florida Panthers To Finally Deliver / Miami Herald's 2021 NFL Team Rankings: You Won't Believe Where Dolphins are / Why Dolphins, Canes Should Be Taking Lead In Requiring Fans To Be COVID-Vaccinated / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / Unraveled: The Story Behind Who Aubrey Huff Became / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden / Biggest Victory Of Hall Of Famer Jimmy Johnson's Life Was Getting His Son Back / Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Dolphins Owner Ross Unveils New $135 Million Training Site As Another Reason Team Must Win Now / Hot Seat Scale: Ranking Miami's Biggest Coaches By Most to Least Job Security / May Sha'Carri Richardson Be Last Victim Of Olympics' Archaic Marijuana Rules / 'I'm D'Eriq King For College Hunks Hauling Junk!' It's Strange New World in College Sports / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Fate Snatched Basketball From Chris Bosh. His new Book Is Part of His Journey Of Healing / Where's Tua? Ranking Our Top 15 South Florida Pro Athletes 25 And Younger / Pythons, Peppers, Pirate Flag Raised. Inside Le Batard's 24-Hour Triumph / 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 / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Women Keep Accusing Deshaun Watson of Sexual Misconduct. But Will It Matter to NFL Teams? / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / 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 / Doesn't Matter If Tiger Woods Never Wins Again. We Are Lucky He's Alive / 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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