GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND
1) It's MONDAY, APRIL 25. Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's album -- which includes a song by me and reached No.1 on iTunes chart! 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): Heat blow Game 3 lead in Atlanta, David Samson (!) joins fight against soccer stadium, Greg Cote Show podcast, latest in Mount Gregmore of columns.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW WITH START OF FATHER-SON OLYMPICS!: Our 19th episode of 2022 and 110th overall is out now. A new episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever else you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 110 we've done HERE, free. The new episode includes the start of our Father-Son Olympics as get verdicts at the pool table and on the golf course. (Go Greg go!) Also some Heat talk after last night's Game 4 win gave Miami is big 3-1 series lead. Hit up GCS2219 for full story on the latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET).
Thank you!: Was honored to have again been named by Associated Press Sports Editors as national Top 10 columnist for 2021 in '22 judging. The four nominated columns that earned APSE distinction: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Dolphins sabotaging Tua with interest in Watson
MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:
NEW! Butler, Heat Culture Arise as Miami Seizes 3-1 Series Lead NEW!
History Says Heat Still In Charge, But Blown Game 3 Lead Gives Atlanta Life
Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium
Marlins Declare 'Impatience," Delight Near-Sellout In Exciting Home Opener
Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now
Hilltop: The most recent five after that: Heat 'Wildly Disrespected' No. 1 Seed, But that's Fine By Miami As Playoffs Begin / Inter Miami Has Been Major Failure For David Beckham. Here's The BIg Fix / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / The Lawsuit, 2 Months Later: Why Flores Has Already Won, And Dolphins Are Still Nervous
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (APRIL 24-25): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature -- back after a week's hiatus -- is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, but from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:
1. HEAT: Miami reasserts itself with Butler-led Game 4 win: Jimmy Butler poured in 36 points as Heat smashed Hawks in Atlanta 110-86 Sunday night for a commanding 3-1 series lead entering Game 5 back in the 3-0-5 Tuesday night. Kyle Lowry sat out with a hamstring injury but Butler and intensified defense were plenty.
2. PANTHERS: Cats see 13-game win streak finally end: Florida already had clinched the Eastern conference's No. 1 playoff seed and won a surreal 13 games in a row before Sunday's 8-4 home loss to Tamp Bay, tied for the most goals Florida had allowed in a game all season. Cats have three games left in regular season, all away, starting Tuesday in Boston. With NHL Stanley Cup playoffs beginning May 2, Florida is presently on line to face Washington in the first round.
3. NFL: It's Draft Week, but low-watt -- especially for Dolphins: The three-day NFL Draft starting on Thursday attracts lower interest nationally than usual, including in Miami, where, because of trades such as acquiring Tyreek Hill, the Fins have no selection until late in the third round. It's the first draft since 2002 in which MIA has no first- or second-round pick. Also, no former Hurricanes are coveted, with S Bubba Bolden and WR Charleston Rambo both pegged for around the sixth round. Absence of franchise QBs also hurts this draft, with none pegged a certain first rounder.
4. MARLINS: Fish win Braves series, climb to second in division: Miami is 7-8 and now second in NL East after Sunday's 5-4 win in Atlanta made it two out of three vs. the rival Braves. Miami has had 25 hits in the past two wins. Marlins' six-game road trip continues with three at Washington starting Tuesday.
5. INTER MIAMI: Herons stay hot on pitch. But will they win crucial stadium vote?: Miami is 3-1-4 in MLS play but has won its past thtree straight matches with Sunday's 2-1 home matinee win over Atlanta. (Inter Miami also fit in a 1-nil win over lower-tier Miami FC in U.S. Open Cup play). Overriding it all, though: This Thursday's city of Miami commission vote whether to green-light Miami Freedom Park and the new-stadium initiative.
6. UM BASKETBALL: Canes men score major transfer in K-State's Pack: Elite Eight bump? Former Kansas State point guard Nije Pack, seen as the No. 1 available player in the transfer portal, committed to Miami and Jim Larranaga. Said Pack: "The way Coach L allows players to play with freedom and get up and down the floor with an NBA-style offense, I feel like I can thrive in his program."
7. MIGUEL CABRERA: Star of worst trade in Marlins history gets 3,000th hit: Detroit's Miguel Cabrera cashed his 3,000th hit Saturday, becoming that club's 33rd member and only the seventh with both 3K hits and 500-plus homers. I n his first five seassons in Miami Miggy got 842 of those hits, or 28 percent. Trading Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis after the 2007 season was epic-awful, with none of the six players gotten in return remotely justifying the deal.
8. AUTO RACING: Upcoming Miami Grand Prix gets legal green flag: Miami's May 8 Formula 1 race is on. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Fine this week ruled against a lawsuit to stop the race brought by Miami Gardens residents who feared hearing loss over the noise. Dear residents: The race lasts a few hours. Shut your windows. Try earplugs. Go to the beach.
9. BOXING: Fury dominates before throng in London: Tyson Fury retained his WBC heavyweight title with a sixth-round TKO of Dillian Whyte on Saturday before 94,000-plus boxinf fans at Wembley Stadium. Fury, 33, has lately been vowing to retire? Anybody believe him? Anybody at all?
10. SOCCER: UEFA Champions League semifinals on deck: It's two Spanish clubs and two English in the Champions League final four. Manchster City faces Real Madrid on Tuesday and Liverpool faces upstart Villarreal Wednesday in first-leg semifinals matches. Villarrea is the only stunner after ousting Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.
Missing the HB10 cut: No team has yet advanced in the NBA playoffs' first round, but five teams (including Heat) are one win away ..... NFL said it will play three games on Christmas Day this season ..... Wimbledon has banned players from Russian and Belarus from competing this year over the ongoing invasion of Ukraine ..... No. 5-ranked Canes baseball is 31-9 after Sunday's home loss to Pitt ..... Fan Controlled Football season is underway, and nobody cares ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,527 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: NCAA Final Four: Why America Was Rooting Against The Perfect Ending? / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / Dolphins' Moves Help Tua, But Isn't About Surrounding Cast. It's On him / Why Do We Love March Madness This Much? First, Look In The Mirror / Brady's Comeback Not About Another Ring. It's About Holding Onto Who He Is / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Chris Cote To Save Sport Of Jai-Alai / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart / Players Are On Right Side In Labor Dispute, But MLB Has Far Bigger Problem To Fix / Mickelson's Support Of Saudi Tour Mirrors Sports' Blind Eye to Human Rights / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose /'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consequences as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Revealing My 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot / UM Legend Frank Gore Talks NFL Future, Cristobal, Boxing As He Prepes For Ring Debut / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Quenneville Rightly Sacked as Panthers Coach Over 2010 Chicago Scandal / '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 / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden / Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Hot Seat Scale: Ranking Miami's Biggest Coaches By Most to Least Job Security / '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? / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / 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 / 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 2021 writing awards again ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in '22 voting 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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