GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND
1) It's MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5. Happy Labor Day Weekend, all! 2) Be the change! Visit Change.org/MountGregmore today and sign our petition to change the name of Mount Rushmore. 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): An appreciation of Serena as she exits U.S. Open, Optimism in Fins and Canes has Miami flexing as Football Town, R.I.P. Jason Jenkins, Greg Cote Show podcast, Mount Gregmore of columns.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 38th episode of 2022 and 129th overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 129 we've done so far HERE. In our latest episode: Anthony (10-Day Tony) from the Le Batard Show joins us for a fun chew on fantay football, and Greg reveals an invention for a whole different kind of fantasy league. Also in the new ep: Season 2 premiere of HARD KNOCKS: GREG'S LOBOS, Farewell to Serena Williams, Are the Fins for real? and more. Hit up GCS2238 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. And now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit the store by clicking 'Shop'. New items! Also check out our podcast's new YouTube channel.
MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:
NEW! Canes Rout Bethune 70-13 In Opener, But We Don't Know Real UM Yet NEW!
NEW! UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era NEW!
Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Keeps Defying Time
As Optimism In Dolphins & Canes Spikes, Miami Flexes As A Football Town
Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins
Hilltop: The five columns before that: Tua's Preseason Debut Was Most Impressive 4 1/2 Hours Before It Began / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / No Doubt Now: Deshaun Watson Knows He'll Be Pariah In Stadiums Across NFL / Who Dolphins Are Was Hidden In Opening Win. 5 Questions That Still Need Answers / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (SEPTEMBER 4-5): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature --back after a one-week holiday -- 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. HURRICANES: UM routs Bethune 70-13 in opener, but first test looming: The No. 16-ranked Miami Hurricanes and the Mario Cristobal era launched with a soft opening at home Saturday -- a 70-13 waltz-win victory over FCS-level Bethune-Cookman at Hard Rock. A run-strong emphasis on balanced offense and some sloppiness on defense were the takeaways. Canes feast on another home softie next week vs. Southern Miss before season starts for real on September 17 at No. 6 Texas A&M.
2. TENNIS: G.O.A.T. Serena bids farewell in third-round loss: After two stirring wins including a defeat of the world No. 2, Serena Williams, about to turn 41, bowed out of the U.S. open in the third round with Friday's 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 loss to Ajla Tomljanovic. Serena and sister Venus had been eliminated in doubles the night before. Barring a change of mind, this ended Serena's singles career. Meanwhile, still alive for the U.S. Open crowns: No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek and American Coco Gauff are in the quarterfinals, but men's No. 1 Daniil Medvedev lost.
3. DOLPHINS: Tua named captain, Fins celebrate VP Jenkins: Third-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was voted a team captain by players for the first time following a 2-1 preseason. The Dolphins are mourning a loss off the field and Monday in a stadium event will celebrate the life of senior vice president Jason Jenkins, who passed away last week from a blood clot. Miami opens the NFL season at home next Sunday vs New England.
4. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: CFP approves playoff expansion to 12 teams: College Football Playoff's Board of Managers voted to expand the CFP from four teams to 12 in 2026 -- but is encouraging the sport's commissioners to implement it as soon as 2024. The 11 presidents/chancellors who comprise the CFP board approved the original 12-team model, which is the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams.
5. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Georgia, Ohio State big wins launch season: Conference upheavel. Transfer portals. NIL money. Oh yeah, almost forgot. There's still games, too! Week 1 of the college season kicked off with Alabama the title favorite and featuring three Top 25 matches -- two of them immediately shaking up the top 10 and the season-long College Football Playoff race. In those games, No. 2 Ohio State handled No. 5 Notre Dame, 21-10, and more impressively, No. 3 Georgia clobbered No. 11 Oregon, 49-3.
6. HEAT: Donovan-to-Cavs continues disappointing Miami offseason: Heat entered the offseason reportedly interested in exploring trades for available whale Kevin Durant or rising whale Donovan Mitchell. Well, Durant (reluctantly) re-upped with Brooklyn and now, Thursday, Cleveland acquired Mitchell from Utah for three players and three future first-round draft picks. Cavs and the NBA East get stronger, and Miami's biggest offseason news remains losing P.J. Tucker to Philly. Ouch.
7. MARLINS: Reeling, stinking Fish lose seventh in a row: Marlins are 55-78 and have lost seven straight after Sunday's latest L. Not even ace Sandy Alcantara could rescue Miami in a rare bad outing in Friday's 8-1 loss. Alcantara is an NL Cy Young favorite but his hopes took a hit Friday. Miami, on a 1-9 skid, continues its road trip Tuesday in Philly as Fish play out the string on yet another disappointing season.
8. STATE COLLEGES (NON-UM): FIU escapes on night honoring Knox; Gators win a big one: Transfer-depleted FIU trailed 16-0 early to Rhode Island FCS school Bryant in its opener Thursday but rallied for a 38-37 overtime win led by Grayson James' four TD passes and winning two-point throw in OT. Night was a tribute to FIU linebacker Luke Knox, who died unexpectedly three weeks ago. Elsewhere: UCF routed South Carolina State, FAU easily beat Ohio, unranked Florida survived No. 7 Utah in the Swamp 29-26, and South Florida fell big to No. 25 BYU. State college Week 1 wrapped up Sunday as now 2-0 Florida State held on to beat LSU and, at Hard Rock, Jackson State routed Florida A&M in the Orange Blossom Classic.
9. INTER MIAMI: Herons fall to edge of playoff pace with two straight losses: Inter Miami is 10-6-12 with two straight losses and the lull has dipped the Herons to seventh place in the hunt for seven Major League Soccer East Conference playoff spots. Miami has six games left in the MLS regular season starting September 10 at Chicago Fire.
10. GOLF: World No. 2 Cameron Smith is latest PGA Tour loss to LIV Golf: The PGA Tour has lost another handful of blood-money-sucking defectors to Saudi-backed LIV Golf -- notably world No. 2 Cameron Smith, the British Open champion. Smith now complains it is unfair that those who joined the Saudi tour are not receiving world ranking points, whch threatens future eligibility to play in the majors. Dear Cam: Nobody sympathizes with you.
Missing the HB10 cut: In the WNBA playoff semifinals today it's Las Vegas at Seattle and Chicago at Connecticut in Game 3s of 1-1 best-of-5s. Chicago is reigning champion while Seattle is a four-time winner. Vegas and Connecticut seek their first crowns ..... QB Russell Wilson agreed on a five-year, $245 million deal with the Denver Broncos. (Dear Baltimore: What are you waiting for with Lamar Jackson?) ..... Argentina suspended soccer matches on Friday after an assassination attempt on the country's vice president ..... Florida Panthers will open preseason September 26 in Nashville to launch the era of new coach Paul Mauirce and new star Matthew Tkachuk ..... Angels star Shoehei Ohtani became first player ever with 30 home runs and 10 pitching wins in same season ..... U.S. women's hockey kept alive its streak of reaching the final at every ice hockey world championship after beating the Czech Republic in the semifinals Saturday ..... Hawaii's Little League World Series championshp over Curacao will be celebrated Thursday with a parde in Honolulu ..... Vanessa Bryant and second plaintiff were awarded $15 million each in a verdict against L.A. County over improper distribution of gruesome photos of the January 2020 helicopter crash that took the lives of Kobe Bryant and eight others ..... Last month's Women’s Euro '22 soccer tournament in England set records for interest. Event had a global cumulative live viewership of 365 million — more than double the 2017 total of 178 million. And the aggregate attendance of 574,875 fans more than doubled the record of 240,055 set in '17 ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,379 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.
***** ----- ***** ----- ***** ----- ***** ----- *****
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: Why Has Brady Skated On Tampering Role & Does He Still Have Future In Miami? / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Goodell Kept The Power, After All. It's Why Watson Still Faces Much Harsher Ban / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An Epic Life / Deshaun Watson's 6-game NFL Suspension A Slap-On-The-Wrist Affront / 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 / How Matthew 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 / 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).
Comments