GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND
1) It's MONDAY, AUGUST 1. Farewell, July. Welcome, Augie! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): SoFla's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars, Marlins and Juan Soto, Tua out to prove world wrong, Greg Cote Show podcast, updated Mount Gregmore of columns.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 33rd episode of 2022 and 124th overall is out now! A new episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify -- wherever else you pod and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 124 we've done so far HERE, free. In our new episode: Father-Son Olympics resumes as Greg and Chris go at it in field-goal kicking; Yeti world-premieres a new song, "Pebble Drive," that brings Greg to tears; and we debut an occasional new segment in which Greg converses with his 4-year-old granddaughter. Hit up GCS2233 for full story on the latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe et cetera and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. And now, brand new: Our podcast has a website and merch store: Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit the merch store by clicking 'Shop'. New items! Also check out our podcast's new YouTube channel.
MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:
NEW! 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An Epic Life NEW!
NEW! Deshaun Watson's 6-game NFL Suspension A Slap-On-The-Wrist Affront NEW!
Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition)
If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem
Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong
The Hilltop: The five columns before that: How Mattew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / Barkley, Djokovic, Lia Thomas: Being Sports Fan Never Harder -- Or More Interesting / How Super Mario And The Cheetah were Sent To Save Football in Miami / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Why LeBron (of All People) Chiming In On Griner's Russia Detention Is Ironic
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JULY 24-25): 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. NFL: Slap on the wrist! Deshaun Watson suspended only 6 games!: The NFL wanted an indefinite suspension of at least one year but the league disciplinary officer, Sue L. Robinson, a retired federal judge, on Monday sentenced Browns QB Deshaun Watson to only a six-game supension for his implication by 25 women of sexual impropriety during massage sessions. Sad day for justice. Let's see if NFL appeals for more.
2. DOLPHINS: Full training camp underway; exhibition opener less than two weeks out: Eyes swung to new receiving star Tyreek Hill, on-the-spot QB Tua Tagovailoa and new coach Mike McDaniel as the Fins opened full training camp for the club's 57th season. The first of three preseason games is less than two weeks away, on Saturday August 13 at Tampa Bay.
3. MARLINS: Fish, treading water, suffer home sweep by Mets: Marlins are 47-55 after Sunday's third straight home loss and a sweep by the rival Mets. Miami is fadin fast and now 9 1/2 back in the wild-card chase as a six-game homestand continues. Fish are 4-7 since the All-Star break and treading water on the far periphery of playoff contention, seemingly caught between buyer and seller mode and unlikely to make any major deals before Tuesday's MLB trade deadline.
4. HURRICANES: Three Canes preseason All-ACC, but not Van Dyke, as UM opens camp: Miami's first fall training camp undernew coach Mario Cristbal gets underway with Media Day on Tuesday. Tight end Will Mallory, tackle Zion Nelson and punter Lou Hedley made the preseason All-ACC first team. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke made third-team and also was third in preseason ACC player of the year voting.
5. SOCCER: England tops Germany for nation's first women's Euros crown: England, on its home turf at Wembley Stadium, topped Germany 2-1 Sunday in the title match of the women's UEFA European Championships. Germany had won a record eight Euro titles, while the Lionnesses were after their first in their third final. Germany was No. 5 to England's No. 8 in the FIFA women's World Ranking, but the Brits, home and on better current form, were slight betting favorites and showed why.
6. NBA: Bill Russell, 1934-2022, R.I.P.: The NBA legend, Boston Celtics icon, 11-time league champion and lifelong activist for rights and justice passed away at age 88 on Sunday. R.I.P. to an epic life led by an ultimate champion but so much more than a sports figure.
7. SOCCER: It's opening week for English Premier League: Manchester City is a heavy favorite and Liverpool a stout second pick as the English Premier League opens its 2022-23 regular season this coming Friday. The three new (promoted) gteams are Bournemouth, Fulham and Nottingham Forest, replacing the relegated Burnley, Norwich City and Watford.
8. INTER MIAMI: Higuain hat trick sparks draw for playoff-chasing Herons: With the regular season around the two-thirds mark, Inter Miami is 7-5-10 and three points off pace in the MLS playoff chase after Saturday's 4-4 home draw against Cincinnati fueled by Gonzalo Higuain's hat trick and an extra-time loss-avoiding goal by Chris McVey. Inter Miami is back on the league pitch Wednesday night in San Jose.
9. GOLF: The Golf War escalates as FedEx Cup playoffs near: The PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs are just over a week away, with defectors to Saudi-backed LIV Golf excluded, of course, as the sport's (un)civil war contines. LIV Golf, whose roster includes Dustin Johnson, Brooks Kopeka and Bryson DeChambeau, announced an expanded, even more lucrative 2023 schedule. However broadcast star Charles Barkley declined a LIV overture to remain with TNT. The PGA Tour countered with a record $428.6 million payout for next season's schedule.
10. UFC: G.O.A.T Nunes regains title in rematch: Amanda Nunes, greatest female fighter in MMA history, beat Julianna Pena in a dominant unanimous decision Saturday night in UFC 277 in Dallas -- regaining the bantamweight title she had lost in an upset to Peña in December.
Missing the HB10 cut: MLB trade deadline is Tuesday and the big questions: Will Nats make a blockbuster deal and trade Juan Soto? And will Shoehei Ohtani be leaving the Angels? Biggest deal tus far might have been Reds sending starting pitcher Luis Castillo to Mariners for prospects ..... Veteran Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten won the women's Tour de France on Sunday, but the real victory was for women's cycling. A women's Tour de France had last been run in 1989 but was revived this month for the first time in 33 years ..... Sacramento Republic FC, a second division team in the USL, defeated Sporting Kansas City of top-tier MLS to reach the final of the U.S. Open Cup, the longest-running soccer tournament in the U.S. and combining both pro and amateur teams. MLS has dominated the competition since becoming America's top division in 1996. Sacramento will be the first lower-division team in the final since 2008 when it faces Orlando City of MLS for the championship on September 7 ..... The Miami Heat's quiet free agency whispers on. Team seems no closer to a play for Kevin Durant, while the rival Celtics are rumored all in with Jaylen Brown on the table ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,414 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.
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ARCHIVES
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 won: 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
Select other recent columns: Heat Luring Donovan Mitchell Involves Friend D-Wade, Arch-Enemy Ainge, Too / Why Miami Heat Should Re-Think, Go All-In For King-Whale Kevin Durant / Cup Of AK-47 Coffee At Cowboys Games? Nuthin' Wrong With That, Huh Jerry? / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / Nobody Wins, Everybody Loses, As NFL Weighs Deshaun Watson Punishment / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Florida Panthers Swap Coach Of Year Finalist For Guy No. 1 In Career Losses / 20 Cases Settled, But Deshaun Watson Won't Begin To Clear Name Without Remorse / Tua Will Handle Scrutiny & Pressure. Question Is If Rest of Miami Dolphins Can / 'Black Cloud' Over U.S. Open Amid Golf Civil War In Time Of Revolution In Sports / Curry's 4th NBA Title, 1st Finals MVP Opens Path To Michael/LeBron Best-Ever Talk / Heat Season Ends One Win (One Shot?) Short Of NBA Finals In Game 7 Loss / No Consolation, No Excuse: Panthers Swept From Playoffs In 2-0 Loss A Brutal End / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Serena Playing Wimbledon Still Matters, Maybe More Than Ever. Because It Feels Like Goodbye / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / Mickelson, Johnson et al Are Saudi Pawns Pocketing Blood Money / Dolphins Denied It, But Deshaun Watson Lawyer Reveals How Close Miami Was To A Deal / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / 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 / 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 / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / 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 / 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 / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / 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 / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / 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 / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim Ng Hire As GM / 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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