GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND
1) It's MONDAY, APRIL 4. 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): Brian Flores has already won, Why is America rooting against perfect ending in Final Four?, Marlins payroll still too low, Greg Cote Show podcast.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE WITH NICK WRIGHT OUT NOW! Our sweet 16th episode of 2022 and 107th 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. Find all 107 we've done HERE, free. In the new episode: Fox Sports rising star Nick Wright (pictured) sits in and talks stealing Greg's Back In My Day idea, Tyreek Hill, Miami Heat, professional poker and more in a wide-ranging, fun convo. Also in the new episode: Greg and Chris detail plans and events for their upcoming Father vs. Son Olympics, Can Greg reel Tony Kornheiser into the boat?, Punctuality vs. tardiness, the Final Fours and -- whoa! -- Chris reveals a job offer that would have him leaving Le Batard Show. Hit up GCS2216 for full story on that episode, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. Our pod also simulcasts on Sirius XM every Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET).
Personal note and thanks: I'm 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 won us 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! The Lawsuit, 2 Months Later: Why Flores Has Already Won, And Dolphins Are Still Nervous NEW!
NCAA Final Four: Why (Was) America 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
Peacocks? Coach K? Hurricanes, The 'Football School' In Elite Eight, Deserve Love Too
Hilltop: The most recent five after that: Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / Hurricanes Storming Sweet 16 Shades of George Mason '06 for Larranaga / 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
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (APRIL 3-4): 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, but from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:
1. NCAA TOURNAMENT (M): No Coach K, it's Kansas-UNC for men's national title: March (into April) Madness is ready for its crescendo! From 68 teams it's down to two survivors for both the men and women. Duke saw its season end and Coach K his career Saturday night in a semifinal loss to No. 8-seed rival North Carolina, which now will meet No. 1 Kansas for the men's national title Monday night in New Orleans. Jayhawks are 4 1/2-point favorites.
2. MARLINS: It's Opening Week for Miami's 30th season!: Yes, it's been 30 springs since Charlie Hough's knuckleball danced in 1993. The latest iteration of the Marlins opens the 162-game regular season with a five-game road trip starting this Friday at San Francsico. Thie Fish are 7-6 this spring, with final tuneup on Tuesday. Miami's home opener will be April 14 with a four-game set vs. NL East rival Phialdelphia.
3. GOLF: Time for The Masters. But will Tiger play?: The Masters, the year's first of four golf majors, runs this Thursday through next Sunday ar Augusta. Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth are betting favorites in a bunched field. It will be the first Masters since 1994 without Phil Mickelson. But the big question: Will Tiger Woods make the Masters his first full-field event since an auto wreck mangled his leg 13 1/2 months ago? He had not made his decision public as of early today/Monday.
4. HEAT: Heat get got, Hardaway makes Hall: Playoff-clinched Miami has won four straight (to flip a four-game skid) after Sunday's win in Toronto and lead the East by 2 games. Miami is down to three games left in regular season starting Tuesday vs. Charlotte, the first-round playoff opponent yet to be determined. Meantime old Heater Tim Hardaway finally earned 2022 induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame in his 15th year of eligibility.
5. DOLPHINS: Miami trades Parker, extends Howard, sets offseason schedule: After a big free agency period led by the blockbuster trade for Tyreek Hill and Friday's huge deal to extend cornerback Xavien Howard, the Fins weren't done yet and Saturday worked a rare in-division trade with New England. Pats get WR DeVante Parker and a 2022 fifth-round pick. Miami gets a 2023 third-round pick, giving Fins two 1sts, one 2nd and two 3rds in '23. Meanwhile club announced that offseason work under new coach Mike McDaniel would begin today/Monday. Other key dates: Voluntary minicamp April 19-20, NFL Draft April 28-20, and OTA workdays May 16-17, 19, 23-24 and 26 and June 6-7 and 9-10. Full preseason training camp typically starts in late July.
6. NCAA TOURNAMENT (W): South Carolina tops UConn in blueblood womens final: South Carolina has been the No.1 -ranked team all season and goes wire to wire for the national championship with Sunday night's 64-49 win over 11-time champ UConn.
7. TENNIS: Swiatek, Alcaraz win Miami Open. But Osaska did, too: Naomi Osaka, former world No. 1, entered the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium unseeded and ranked 77th, recently beset by mental health issues. But Osaka reached Saturday's women's final before falling 6-4, 6-0 to Iga Swiatek, who will take over No. 1 in WTA rankings in replacing the now-retired Ashleigh Barty. In Sunday's wholly unexpected men's final, 14th-seed Carlos Alcaraz beat No. 6 Carlos Ruud to become the youngest Miami Open men's winner and third-youngest of any ATP Masters 1000 event. He turns 19 on May 5.
8. SOCCER: U.S. drawn into World Cup Group B with England: The U.S. men's national team was drawn into Group B for soccer's 2022 late-year World Cup in Qatar. The group also includes mighty England, Iran and the winner of the final available European spot. That last team in USMNT's group will be decided in June, with either Scotland or Ukraine facing Wales for the coveted ticket. Brazil, France and England are early betting favorites in the 32-nation field. The U.S. is an 80-1 longshot but given even-odds of joining England in advancing out of group play.
9. PANTHERS: Cats top 100-point milestone, clinch playoffs: High-flying Panthers are 48-15-6, have won four straight and 13 of past 16, and are now nine points up in NHL Atlantic after Sunday's win in Buffalo. Florida was first in East to reach 100 standings points, done only once prior (2016) in franchise history. Cats are back on ice Tuesday vs. Toronto.
10. INTER MIAMI: Another loss, and stadium vote delayed again: Inter Miami still is winless in Year 3 in MLS, now with four losses and one tie after Saturday's 3-1 home loss Houston. Herons are back on the home pitch next Saturday vs. New England. Meanwhile the Miami City Commission vote on the club's Miami Freedom Park stadium proposal was delayed to April 28, the fourth postponement since February.
Missing the HB10 cut: UEFA Champions League quarterfinals this week are Liverpool vs. Benfica and Manchester City vs. Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, and Bayern Munich vs. Villarreal and Real Madrid vs. Chelsea on Wednesday. Liverpool and Man City are betting picks to win it all, followed closely by Bayern ..... Canes baseball climbed to No. 17 in polls and is 21-6 and on an eight-game win streak after Sunday's sweep at Duke ..... Bruce Arians stepped down as Bucs coach and the absurd old Tom Brady-to-Dolphins rumors began to regurgitate because the Internet evidently is bored ..... Canes spring football had its ninth of 15 practices Saturday. Spring Game is Apeil 16 in Fort Lauderdale ..... Orange Bowl Committee inducted Jim Courier into the OB Tennis Hall of Fame. He won back-to-back OB titles as a teen in 1986-87 ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,548 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.
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ARCHIVES
Other recent columns: When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / The Resurgence Of Miami Hurricanes Basketball as March Madness Nears / 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 / Who Dolphins, With Windfall To Spend, Should Target In Offseason To Fix Offense Fast / 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 / The Lesson For Dolphins in Rams-Bengals Super Bowl Result / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True / The G.O.A.T. We Never Saw Coming: From 199th Drafted To History, A Salute To Tom Brady / Like Him Or Don't, Antonio Brown Not Always To Blame -- And Wasn't In Bucs Divorce / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / Mahomes-Allen Air Show A Reminder How Much Better Dolphins And Tua Need To Be / 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
Select other columns: Dolphins Win, Finish 9-8, Now Must Commit To Build Around Tua / 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 / UM Legend Frank Gore Talks NFL Future, Cristobal, Boxing As He Prepes For Ring Debut / Tua Keeps Showing Dolphins How Silly They Were To Doubt Him So Soon / 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 / 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 / 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 / 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 / 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? / 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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