February 28, 2022

Latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated): Jeter leaves Marlins, MLB impasse, Inter Miami opens, Heat hot, Cats slump. See who's No.1 and what else falls where this week; plus new Greg Cote Show ;podcast drops Monday, personal news & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

1) It's MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28. Farewell, February, "Shorty" to the other months. See you next year. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): MLB has bigger problem that labor impasse, Mickelson tempest mirrors sports' blind eye on human rights, Top 15 non-athletes in Miami sports history, new Greg Cote Show podcast.

CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE WITH RYAN LOMBERG OUT NOW!: Our 10th episode of 2022 and 101st overall is out Monday. 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 100 we've done so far HERE, free. In our newest pod, we welcome in the Florida Panthers' 5-9 dynamo hitman, Ryan Lomberg. Fun chat with an interesting dude. Guaranteed, you don't need to be a Panthers fan or a puckhead to enjoy the conversation. 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).

ApseMebeardA PERSONAL NOTE, AND THANKS: I was very honored this week to once again be named by Associated Press Sports Editors as a national Top 10 columnist in the major-outlet category. The Miami Herald also was honored as a Top 10 daily section, and earned a Top 10 in special projects for ours on the 5-year annniversary of the Jose Fernandez tragedy, a project in which I also was involved. (I have included a recent photo of myself that seems somber and somewhat unflattering; it is my 'serious journalist' look). Some of you have asked, so: These are the four nominated columns from 2021 (earliest to most recent) that won us the APSE distinction for column writing:

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, too? Behind who Aubrey Huff became

Miami Dolphins sabotaging Tua, season with misguided interest in Watson

Our most recent columns: 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 / and Who Dolphins, With Windfall To Spend, Should Target In Offseason To Fix Offense Fast. Also: Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / and McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (FEBRUARY 27-28): 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. MARLINS: Jeter steps down as CEO: Derek Jeter abruptly resigned Monday after four seasons as Miami Marlins CEO in what was called a mutual parting. Said Jeter: "The vision for the future of the franchise is different than the one I signed up to lead." [NEW COLUMN ON JETER LEAVING].

HButton2. MLB: Marlins, sport on edge, season on hold as CBA deadline hits: Monday is MLB's deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement with the players union or, says Commissioner Rob Manfred, the season will not start on time or be the full 162 games. MLB says games would not be made up and players would not be paid full-season salaries. Spring training already is delayed; Opening Day (as of now) is still March 31. The two sides will meet in Jupiter today/Sunday for a seventh straight day of talks.

3. INTER MIAMI: Herons open MLS Year3 with home draw: David Beckham's squad opened season tres Saturday night with a 0-0 tie vs. Chicago Fire before 16,080 fans in Fort Lauderdale. Miami retooled its roster after disappointing last year at 12-17 with five draws and tied for second-fewest goals in league, and it may be playoffs-or-bust for coach Phil Neville to stay employed. Gonzalo Higuain tops returning players, with newcomers led by midfielder Jean Mota from Santos (Brazil) and U.S. national team defender DeAndre Yedlin. Meantime the city of Miami' vote on team's  propsoed new stadium was delayed (again) to March 9.

4. HEAT: Bam! Miami regains lead in East: Miami is 40-21 and back in front in the NBA East after Saturday's 133-129 home win over San Antonio fueled by Bam Adebayo's 36 points. Heat host second place Chicago Monday. Meantime Jimmy Butler got fined $25,000 by NBA for not meeting postgame media obligations after the All-Star Game. (Clearly, playing only nine minutes and scoring two points did not have Jimmy in a good mood).

5. PANTHERS: Florida loses third straight in rare slump: Florida is 35-13-5 and now only one point out front in the NHL Atlantic Division after Saturday night's 4-3 home loss to Edmonton. The third straight loss is the Cats' longest skid since mid-December. Panthers are now off until hosting Ottawa on Thursday. 

6. UM BASKETBALL: Canes men, women chasing NCAA bids: Canes men are 20-9 (12-6 ACC) and seeming safe for an NCAA Tournament bid even afgter Saturday's 71-70 loss to Virginia Tech in UM's regular season home finale. They now close at Boston College Wednesday and Syracuse Saturday. UM women are 17-11 (10-8 ACC) after Sunday's regular season finale vs. Clemson, a 76-40 UM win. ESPN's Bracketology has the Canes women in its "last four in" category for an NCAA invite.

7. POLITICS: Sports world reacts to Russian invasion of Ukraine: UEFA moved its May 28 Champions League final from Saint Petersburgb to Paris, and Formula One canceled its Russian Grand Prix set for September: Other response has included Ukrainian former heavywight champion Wladimir Klitschko saying he will join the fight; condemnation of Russian by the IOC; and Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic saying their March World Cup qualiftyng matches should be moved from Russia.

8. NFL: Dolphins prep for this week's pre-draft Scouting Combine: The NFL Scouting Combine, league's biggest event between the Super Bowl and Draft, takes the field in Indianapolis this coming Thursday through next Sunday, with 324 invited draft prospects seen by scouts from all 32 teams. Miami hopefuls invited are three former Hurricanes -- QB D'Eriq King, DB Bubba Bolden and DL Jonathan King -- along with former FIU RB D'vonte Price. Dolphins scouts should be especially keen on Friday, when running back and offensive line prospects take the field.

9. GOLF: Mickelson's Saudi backing draws backlash: Four longtime sponsors including Callaway And Amstel Light have now dumped Phil Mickelson in the wake of the six-time major champion's comments backing the Saudi Arabia-backed attempted breakaway league. Mickelson said he supports the league as leverage to force changes in the PGA Tour, despite also saying, "We know they killed [Washington Post reporter Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay."

10. HURRICANES: Countdown 7 days 'til spring football: UM's first on-field work under new coach Mario Cristobal will be a week from Monday, March 7, with the first of 15 spring practice work days. Season opens September 3 vs. Bethune-Cookman.

Missing the HB10 cut: Little-known Austrian Sepp Straka won the PGA Tour's Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens ..... The eight-team USFL spring football league, back and launching April 6, held its draft and SoFla guys selected included former Canes WR Jeff Thomas (by Pittsburgh) and ex-FIU QB Alex McGough (Birmingham). Also taken: FIU WR Maurice Alexander and CB Ike Brown, and FAU OT Calvin Ashley, RB B.J. Emmons and S Andrew Soroh ..... The USWNT win the SheBelieves Cup, its youthful roster beating Iceland 5-nil in the final ..... No. 24-ranked Canes baseballis is 6-1 and hosts Harvard today in rubber game of three-game series ..... UEFA Champions League plays resumes March 8 with Bayern Munich vs. Salzburg and Liverpool vs. Internazionale. The eight teams left after the round of 16 will be in a quarterfinal draw on March 18 ..... And speaking of hell: Art Briles! Way to embarrass yourself, Grambling State ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,583 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

----- ***** ----- ***** ----- ***** ----- ***** -----

ARCHIVES

Select other recent columns: 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 and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

Select other columnsDolphins 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 /  Hey, America, After 7th Straight Win, Do Miami Dolphins Have Your Attention Yet?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 / How Miami Dolphins Are Poised to Transform Their 1-7 Start Into Playoff Contention /  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 /  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 / 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 / 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 AliveMarlins 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 again this year 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

February 26, 2022

Why MLB has bigger problem than labor impasse. New column; plus Mickelson's Saudi mess mirrors sports' blind eye on rights, Top 15 non-athletes in Miami sports history, new Greg Cote Show podcast out now, APSE honors us as top-10 sports columnist & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

Apse1) It's SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26. I'm humbled to have been named a national top-10 sports columnist in the Division A (major outlets) category once again by the Associted Press Sports Editors. Big honor. Thanks, readers! 2) Programming note: Was back on with Le Batard Show this week. Check out Wednesday's show podcasts, including a new Back In My Day. 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, Dolphins' offseason map to improvement, new Greg Cote Show podcast.

CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW 100TH EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 9th episode of 2022 and 1andmark 100th overall is out now! A new pod hits every Monday at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 100 we've done so far HERE, free. In our most recent episode, we throw a party for our 100th ep, recap the annual PFPI Gala, discuss recent big Le Batard Show news and more. 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).

LockoutMLB PLAYERS ARE ON RIGHT SIDE IN LABOR DISPUTE, BUT BASEBALL HAS FAR BIGGER PROBLEM TO FIX: Major League Baseball slogs, regrettably, avoidably, toward the eighth season in its history to suffer a reduced schedule and shortened season. The first in 1918-19 and the most recent before now in 2020 had pretty good excuses: A world war and a global pandemic. Every one in between, including this one, were rooted in money and played out at the intersection of avarice and intractability. So this should be opening weekend for spring training. Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, training camp of the Marlins 90 minutes north of Miami, should be lively, anticipation in the air. Instead the place is quiet but for the exchange of rancor between MLB executives and players union reps (including the Marlins’ Miguel Rojas) meeting there and failing to solve this. Stalemate. Nobody wins. Fans lose. Baseball loses. Plainly, players are on the right side here — the workers, not the baseball barons who pay them. But here’s the thing, and it’s quite remarkable: This acrimonious lockout that is turning off fans and almost certainly will truncate the season — it isn’t even MLB’s biggest problem. For our full latest column: Players Are On Right Side In Labor Dispute, But MLB Has Far Bigger Problem To Fix.

MICKELSON'S SUPPORT OF SAUDI  GOLF LEAGUE SADLY MIRRORS SPORTS' BLIND EYE TO HUMAN RIGHTS: Phil Mickelson did it. He did it with a perfect precision to equal the finest golf shot he ever sculpted. With one comment, he pretty much explained why the sports world is clueless on how to deal with the real-world matter of human rights. He was speaking of the Saudi PhilArabian government’s aim to start the Super Golf League, a huge-money new professional tour to rival the PGA Tour. The comments, public this week, are from a forthcoming book by Alan Shipnuck, “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar.” “They’re scary motherf------ to get involved with,” Mickelson said, of the Saudi government. “We know they killed [Washington Post reporter Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider [their new league]? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates. The Saudi money has finally given us that leverage.” So there it is: Mickelson, with legacy-damaging clarity, speaking for sports at large in the unseemly exchange of principle for pay. Most other golfers have rebuked the Saudi effort and pledge allegiance to the PGA Tour. Rory McIlroy called Mickelson’s comments “naive, selfish, egotistical and ignorant. Just very surprising and disappointing. Sad.” Mickelson has caused a firestorm not only because he’s the enormously popular “Lefty,” one of the game’s all-time greats, but because athletes as individuals rarely are willing to put their name on being OK with human rights abuses so long as the money is right. Normally that is left to sports’ governing bodies and to television networks to play that sordid game with such aplomb — to follow the money with blinders on for everything else. For our full recent column: Mickelson's Support Of Saudi Tour Mirrors Sports' Blind Eye to Human Rights.

Top15MOUNT RUSHMORE ON STEROIDS: THE TOP 15 FIGURES (NON-ATH:ETES) IN MIAMI SPORTS HISTORYPresidents Day on Monday, the national holiday for White House occupants through history, got us thinking about the leaders of distinction across the decades in Miami and South Florida major team 15sports. Franchise owners, team executives and coaches — we’re talking everyone but players themselves. Who have been the most important, influential figures we’ve had, not counting athletes, all sports and all time? There was a passing-of-the-baton quality to the timelines of the two men highest on our list, as Pat Riley was introduced in Miami by the Heat in September 1995, just a couple of months before Don Shula retired from the Dolphins. I fancy myself something of a Miami sports historian, so I think I have a strong top 15 here. Then again, Presidents Day can’t seem to decide if there’s an apostrophe in there, so nothing is certain. (I would fight you on my first two, though). For the full column including the list of top 15 non-athletes in Miami team sports history: Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History.

Other latest columns: Who Dolphins, With Windfall To Spend, Should Target In Offseason To Fix Offense Fast. Also: An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / The Lesson For Dolphins in Rams-Bengals Super Bowl Result / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / and McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win.

----- ***** ----- ***** ----- ***** ----- ***** -----

ARCHIVES

Select other recent columns: Dolphins New Coach McDaniel Must Win, Heal Broken Franchise / 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 and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

Super Bowl With a Smirk quintet: SMIRK V ($1 million party ticket). SMIRK IV (Hip-hop halftime). SMIRK III (Last members of been-to-every-game club). SMIRK II (Joe Nickname, SB commercials). SMIRK I (City wars: L.A. glitz vs. Dull Cincy).

Select other columnsDolphins 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 / Georgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next / 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 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 / 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

February 21, 2022

Latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated): Olympics end, NBA ASG, Panthers, Inter Miami opening week. See who's No. 1 and what else lands where this week; plus new Greg Cote Show podcast drops Monday, Dolphins offseason targets (latest column) & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

1) It's MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21. Programming note: Will be back on with Le Batard on Wednesday this week, not Tuesday. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Le Batard The Musical?, 5 lessons Dolphins can take from Super Bowl, Greg Cote Show podcast, new NASL doc with Greg among those interviewed.

CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW 100TH EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 9th episode of 2022 and 1andmark 100th overall is out now! A new pod hits every Monday at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 100 we've done so far HERE, free. In our most recent episode, we throw a party for our 100th ep, recap the annual PFPI Gala, discuss recent big Le Batard Show news and more. 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).

Newest column: Who Dolphins, With Windfall Top Spend, Should target In Offseason To Fix Offense Fast. Other most recent columns: An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / The Lesson For Dolphins in Rams-Bengals Super Bowl Result / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / and McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (FEBRUARY 20-21): 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:

HButton1. OLYMPICS: U.S. fifth in medals at Winter Games: The Winter Olympics in Beijing wrap up today with the Closing Ceremines. Team USA finished fifth in totals medals with 25, including eight golds. Many disappointments, including neither hockey team winning gold and Maekala Shiffrin fizzle on the slopes, but highs, too, including Elana Meyers Taylor becoming the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Olympics history, with five medals.

2. HEAT: Miami tied atop East at break for Sunday's absurd All-Star Game: Miami is 38-21 and tied with Chicago atop the Eastern Conference at the break. All-Star Game on Sunday in Cleveland saw a 163-160 defesve struggle, with Team LeBron topping Team Durant. Lone Heat rep Jimmy Butler hda a quiet two points in nine minutes. Miami returns to action this Friday at the New York Knicks.

3. PANTHERS: Cats stay hot, raise their road game: Florida remains atop the NHL East at 35-10-5 after Sunday's 5-2 win at Chicago. Florida has been nearly unbeaten at home and fallible away but has picked up its road game lately, winning seven of past nine away. Cats open five-game homestand Tuesday vs. Nashville.

4. INTER MIAMI: Big week as team opens MLS Year 3: David Beckham's team has disappointed its first two seasons but hopes are high for Year 3 opening at home in Fort Lauderdale this coming Saturday vs. Chicago Fire. But first: A key commission vote Wednesday on the team's propsoed new Miami stadium complex near the airprort.

5. UM BASKETBALL: Canes men, women chasing NCAAs: March Madness nears and the Canes men sit 19-8 (11-5 ACC) after Saturday's home stumble against Virginia. Team should qualify for NCAAs but Saturday hurt. Surging UM women are at 16-10 (9-7), with NCAA hopes enchanced by Sunday's upset win at No. 16 Georgia Tech.

6. DOLPHINS: McDaniel completes (mostly) new coaching staff: New Fins coach Mike McDaniel completed a 27-man coaching staff with 19 new faces and eight holdovers, including defensive coordinator Josh Boyer. Notable additions include offensive coordinator Frank Smith, former Dolphins star cornerbacks Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain, and Wes Welker. Elsewhere, fired Dolphins coach Brian Flores got hired by the Steelers as senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach. 

7. HURRICANES: Schedule set for Cristobal's first spring practice: University of Miami set its 15-day spring football schedule, which will begin March 7 and end with the spring game on April 16. The first spring game under new coach Mario Cristobal will be held at Inter Miami's stadium in Fort Lauderdale because of construction at the Hard Rock Stadium site.

8. NASCAR: Vroom! Daytons 500 launches season with surprise: The Daytona 500, first major race of the new NASCAR seasons, ran on Sunday with Kyle Larson beginning defense of his 2021 season championship but little-known Austin Cindric, 23, taking the checkered flag. It was second straight D500 surprise, after last year's race was won by 66-1 longshot Michael McDowell.

9. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Playoff stays as is at least through '25: Months of debate about expansion amounted to zero as College Football Playoff said it will remain at four teams through end of its 12-year contract expiring after 2025 season. Staying at four teams for four more years will cost the 10 FBS conferences (and Notre Dame) an estimated $450 million in potential revenue.

10. MLB: Labor dispute now officially delays spring training: The MLB lockout, nearing three months old and a continuing stalemate, will delay the start of spring traoning games at least until March 5. Most teams including the Miami Marlins had been set to open February 26.

Missing the HB10 cut: Canes baseball swept Towson State in its four-game season-opening home series ..... So, apparently, the folks running Hard Rock Stadium and the Dolphins built the garage and pit area at the new Formula One racetrack on top of a sewer main, meaning it would block access to pipes for any needed repairs and raise the possibility of noxious gases seeping through manholes into the building. Oh, and they did it despite being warned of the hazards ..... USWNT opened the SheBelieves Cup tournament with a 0-0 draw vs. Czech Republic and plays New Zealand on Sunday in L.A. U.S. is using a young roster including rising star Trinity Rodman (Dennis' kid) ..... Los Angeles held a Super Bowl victory parade for the Rams. Highlight: Brief diversion from nightmare that is the Lakers season ..... The reborn eight-team USFL holds its first draft this Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of its spring startup. First pick belongs to coach Jeff Fisher and the Michigan Mustaches. Over/under on the USFL announcing it will fold is summer '23 ..... Manu Ginobili and former Heat star Tim Hardaway are among 11 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ..... Awful week for PR guys. Former Angels communications director Eric Kay was found him guilty of distributing fentanyl and causing the death of former pitcher Tyler Skaggs in 2019. And it was reported the Cowboys in 2015 paid $2.4 million to settle a cheerleaders' claim that former club executive Rich Dalrymple filmed them changing ..... The NFL, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and likely future owner Bruce Beal all have lawyered up to fight the allegations in the Brian Flores lawsuit ..... Marlins place seven players (four of them pitchers) in ESPN's 2022 ranking of MLB's top 100 prospects, though none higher than righty pitcher Max Meyer at No. 33 ..... Marlins Park on Tuesday night hosts Ye: Donda 2 Experience Performance, a Kanye West concert. Be interesting to see what Marlins Park looks like with a big crowd ..... A Maine woman recognized as the Patriots' oldest fan, Myrtle Milledge, died at 106. She rooted for the Pats since 1960, Tom Brady's rookie season ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,590 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

----- ***** ----- ***** ----- ***** ----- ***** -----

ARCHIVES

Select other recent columns: Dolphins New Coach McDaniel Must Win, Heal Broken Franchise / 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 and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

Super Bowl With a Smirk quintet: SMIRK V ($1 million party ticket). SMIRK IV (Hip-hop halftime). SMIRK III (Last members of been-to-every-game club). SMIRK II (Joe Nickname, SB commercials). SMIRK I (City wars: L.A. glitz vs. Dull Cincy).

Select other columnsDolphins 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 / Georgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next / 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 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 / 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

February 13, 2022

Happy Super Bowl: Rams beat Cincy in last minute; plus latest Hot Button Top 10 (jam-packed); also, new Greg Cote Show podcast out now!, Zach Thomas and other latest columns & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

Valday1) It's MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14. Happy Valentine's Day, sweethearts! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Zach Thomas on missing Hall again, Dolphins introduce Mike McDaniel, Super Bowl predictions, Smirk Week, Greg Cote Show podcast.

Coteshow MevalentineGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 8th episode of 2022 and 99th overall is out now! A new pod drops every Monday at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 99 we've done so far HERE, free. In our new episode, we continue The Greg Cote Show Non-Sport Olympics, but with a live audience, and talk Super Bowl, Brian Flores suit, and new Dolphins coach Mke McDaniel. Also in the the latest ep: Drake (!) makes brief appearance; Greg’s business lunch with LeBron James; Greg brags about leaving big tip; Would you rather lick toad or toe?; Chris can’t believe Flores turned down lunch with Tom Brady; and Farding (not farting; farding). And, on a serious note, Greg's tribute to a dear friend who recently died unexpectedly. 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).

PicksOUR BENGALS-RAMS SUPER BOWL PICK: We nailed it! (Sort of). We called the Rams' win. But had them covering 3 1/2 points, so missed that by a point. For our full predix capsule, who'll win and why: Super Bowl Gem.

ZachFlurry of recent Dolphins-related columns: Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / and McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win. Also: Dolphins New Coach McDaniel Must Win, Heal Broken Franchise / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / and Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True.

Super Bowl With a Smirk quintet: SMIRK V ($1 million party ticket). SMIRK IV (Hip-hop halftime). SMIRK III (Last members of been-to-every-game club). SMIRK II (Joe Nickname, SB commercials). SMIRK I (City wars: L.A. glitz vs. Dull Cincy).

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (FEBRUARY 13-14): 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:

1HButton. NFL: Rams reign on Super Bowl Sunday!: L.A. Rams are champs after beating Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the last minute. A so-so game was redeemed by the exciting finish. Halftime show tried valiantly but could not leave up ot the enormous expectations. Commercials disappointed except for a few. And I have the Super Bowl flu. God Bless America! 

2. DOLPHINS: Miami officially introduces new coach Mike McDaniel: The guy replacing fired Brian Flores met the media for first time. Owner Stpehen Ross and GM Chris Grier took no questions (unfortunately but predictably), but first question to McDaniel was about the Flores-lawuit allegations againast Ross. McDaniel said it raised "no red flags" for him. Points to the new guy for blinders-on against the controversy and making it football-only. His new staff in progress notably added Wes Welker as receivers coach.

3. OLYMPICS: Chen, Kim leading Team USA gold rush: Team USA has climbed to third place in the medal count at the Winter Olympics in Bejing, with 16 total including seven golds into Monday's action. Nathan Chen in figure skating singles, Chloe Kim in snowboarding halfpipe and most recently Erin Jackson in 500m speedskating lead the gold rush. Elsewhere, Kamila Valieva's controversy, Mikaela Shiffrin's disappointment and Shaun White's farewell have made headlines.

4. HEAT: Miami quiet at deadline, but not on court with 5th W: Heat did nothing big before NBA trade deadline, but why should they? Miami is 37-20 and in first place in the East on the court after a fifth straight win Saturday, tyig a season-long streak. Miami is back on the floor Tuesday as Dallas visits.  

5. NBA: Harden-Simmons tops deadline deals: The Brooklyn-Philly trade-deadline blockbuster essentially sends James Harden to 76ers and Ben Simmons and two first-round picks to Nets as boht try to improve their disappointing standing in the East. Other deadlines moves of note: Kristaps Porzingis to Wizards, Serge Ibaka to Bucks and old Heat favorite Goran Dragic to Spurs.

6. HALLS OF FAME: Canton shuts out Zach Thomas, Canes trio: Pro Football Hall of Fame let in a slew in its 2022 class -- Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler, Sam Mills, Richard Seymour, Bryant Young, Cliff Branch, Art McNally and Dick Vermeil -- but Canton forgot all about Miami. No (again) to Dolphins great Zach Thomas. And no to the hopeful ex-Canes trio of Devin Hester, Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne.

7. HURRICANES: 5-Star QB, Ruiz's dream keep momentum going: Canes football momentum since the Mario Cristobal hire is palpbale. The latest: The hiring of Josh Gattis as offensive coordinator now has UM a serious contender for 2023 five-star quarterback Dante Moore. Meanwhile John Ruiz, the Miami billionaire lawyer and mega-donor, now includes Tropical Park as the latest possibility for a new Canes football stadium.  

8. PANTHERS: Cats finally return to ice this week: Florida is atop the East at 32-10-5 but will there be rust when Panthers to to the ice this Wednesday at Carolina? Between the NHL All-Star break and a mandatory one-week midseason bye, this will be the Cats' first game since February 1, a 15-day break.

9. AWARDS: MVP Aaron Rodgers top NFL Honors show: Three thoughts from the NFL Honors show: 1) What exactly is that hairstyle of MVP Aaron Rodgers' called?; 2) What's with the NFL's concerted but failed effort to covince us the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for community service is its biggest prize?; and 3) Christian Wilkins' 310-pound worm celebration made the night. But, when did we start calling a celebration a "celly"?

10. UM BASKETBALL: Canes men making case for NCAA invite: As March Madness nears, Canes men are 17-7 (10-4 ACC) and considered on inside edge of an NCAA Tournament invite after Saturday's 76=72 comeback win at Wake Forest. Jim Larranaga's guys are back at it Wednesday at Louisville with seven games left in regular season. UM women are 13-10/6-7 after Sunday's home win over nemesis Florida State, kindling hope for a late rally into contention for the NCAAs.

Missing the HB10 cut: No. 25-ranked Canes baseball opens its season with a home series vs. Towson State starting this coming Friday ..... The MLB lockout continues, now more than 70 days in and with the late-February start of spring training games in peril. Commissioner Rob Manfred said a delay of Opening Day would be a "disastrous outcome" ..... The SheBelieves Cup in women's soccer kicks off this Thursday in California. The USWNT faces Iceland on February 23 in Texas ..... NASCAR's first major event of the new season, the Daytona 500, is next Sunday ..... A Pele' rookie card from 1958 sold for $1.33 million, the first soccer card to top $1M ..... Twin countdown for Inter Miami: Stadium vote on February 23, opening of team's MLS Year 3 on February 26 ..... The HBCU Legacy Bowl next Saturday concludes the run of college all-star showcase games ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,597 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

Select other most recent columns: 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 and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

-- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --

ARCHIVES

Select other columnsDolphins 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 / Georgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next / 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 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 / 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

January 31, 2022

Latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated): Bengals-Rams, G.O.A.T. out, Fins lose Daboll, Olympics, Nadal. See who's No.1 and what else falls where; plus new Greg Cote Show podcast (Non-Sports Olympics, NFL, Brady, Le Batard) out now & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

1) It's MONDAY, JANUARY 31. Farewell January, out with a chill. See ya next year! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Defending Antonio Brown, Final Rejection of Bonds/Clemens a Shame, Mahomes-Allen show Dolphins how far they have to go, Greg Cote Show podcast.

CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NON-SPORTS OLYMPICS, NFL, BRADY, LE BATARD. NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 6th episode of 2022 and 97th overall is out now. A new pod is delivered every Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 97 we've done so far HERE, free. In our newest episode, we introduce The Greg Cote Show Non-Sports Olympics, and offer a hotline for you to call and leave a message offering your own categories. And Greg disrespects a beloved Winter Olympics sport. Also in the new episode: Minnie Mouse in a pantsuit, the Mount Gregmore of Silliest Winter Olympics Sports, and Greg's escalation of his beef with Buzzkill Billy Corben is interupted by a phone call from Dan Le Batard. The latest episode wraps up in the Le Batard Show studio studios as we talk Super Bowl matchup and Tom Brady's (reported) retirement. 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).

THE G.O.A.T. OUT OF NOWHERE: FROM 199TH DRAFTED TO HISTORY, A SALUTE TO TOM BRADYFootball and American sports have had forever to be ready for this day, a decade, anyway. The day arrived on Saturday. We still weren’t ready. A 44-year-old man retired, crazy-old for an NFL quarterback or for any player. And yet it felt too soon. We Bradystill weren’t ready to say goodbye to Tom Brady. “End of an era” is one of those terms we apply too casually. So is the G.O.A.T. appellation — Greatest Of All Time. Here there is no question they apply as if each was coined just for this man as we fathom suddenly putting the past tense on a career both epic and itself an epoch. In the NFL, his career has been the biggest and best ever, and no debate, please, no “among the” hedge. Beyond football, bring in Michael Jordan and whomever you wish, across all sports and all time. But have no doubt: Tom Brady’s spot on Mount Rushmore is reserved. The news broke in an afternoon report by ESPN, which delivered it as unequivocal fact, not speculation. Not “expected to” retire, but a done deal. It is thought Brady will wait until after the Super Bowl to himself make the news official. (Meantime ESPN is praying he won’t change his mind after Saturday’s World War III ‘BREAKING NEWS’ headline.) On Saturday, Tom Brady Sr. told KRON-TV in San Francisco that his son (“Tommy”) had not yet made a decision. Brady’s agent Don Yee did not confirm or deny the report but said an announcement from his client would be forthcoming. Brady’s own company, TB12, initially tweeted out the retirement news then deleted it. NFL Network confirmed ESPN’s report. But reports later Saturday indicated a decision had not yet been made. From my perspective, it sounds like Brady’s camp is not thrilled to be scooped by ESPN on their own announcement. Assuming the veracity of report — that Brady has played his last game — there is hardly a way for hyperbole here even if that were the intent. For our full latest caolumn, visit The G.O.A.T. We Never Saw Coming: From 199th Drafted To History, A Salute To Tom Brady.

Newest other columns from this past week: 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, Clemsn A Shame on Voters, Baseball / and Mahomes-Allen Air Show A Reminder How Much Better Dolphins And Tua Need To Be.

Select other most recent columns: 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 and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JANUARY 30-31): 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:

HButton1. NFL:It's a Bengals-Rams Super Bowl!: Bengals upset Chiefs 27-24 Sunday for the AFC crown and then Rams topped 49ers 20-17 for the NFC title to set up a Cincinnati-Los Angeles Super Bowl on February 13 in the Rams' home stadium. That factors into L.A. as an early 3 1/2-point favorite. Rams were in the SB as recently as it in 2018 but have bot win since 1999 (as the St. Louis Rams). Cincy was last in SB in 1988 and has never won. Cinderella + Cincinnati = Cinderatti! (Patent pending). 

2. NFL: Tom Brady retires after 22 season, 7 Super Bowl rings: xxxESPN reported it Saturday. Others confirmed it. Brady's own company, TB12, seemed to before deleting gthe tweet. Now his camp is saying "no decision yet." Bank it, though. The G.O.A.T. will make it official after the NFL playoffs end. Most TDs, most passing yards, most Super Bowls. Any questions?

3. DOLPHINS: Ouch! Fins lost top coach-candidate Daboll to Giants: Miami has been very deliberate in its head coach search. Problem is, wirh eight other openings, available gjuys are being snatched up. Example: Fins losing top candidate Brian Daboll, the Bills offensive coordinator, to the Giants -- a big loss. Top guys left appear to be OC's Kellen Moore of the Cowboys and Mike McDaniel of the 49ers.

4. OLYMPICS: Host's human-rights record, COVID loom as Beijing Games Winter Games begin: The Olympic Winter Games begin this Friday in Beijing, China and run 17 days through February 20. The U.S. has a diplomatic boycott but its athetes will compete. Norway is predicted to lead the medals table followed by the ROC (Russia) and Germany. After that comes Team USA pegged for seven gold medals, 22 overall.

5. TENNIS: Electric championship finish redeems Australian Open: Year's first tennis major was minus plenty of starpower, but the two winners crowned were movie-script perfect: Rafael Nadal rallying from two sets down to Daniil Medvedev for his record-setting 21st career Grand Slam title, breaking the tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. After Ashleigh Barty became the first Aussie woman to win in Melbourne since Yvonne Goolagong in 1978. 

6. INTER MIAMI: Date set for vote on Miami Freedom Park plan: Nothing moves fast in 3-0-5 politics, but a February 23 date has been set for Miami-Dade to vote whether to go ahead with or scrap plans for MLS team Inter Miam's proposed 73-acre commercial and professional sports complex featuring a new soccer stadium. Three days after the vote, Inter Miami opens its third season at what it hopes is its temporary home in Fort Lauderdale.

7. HURRICANES: Cristobal hoping for big NSD finish to recruiting: National Siging Day in college football is this Wednesday, though not the splash it used to be since there is now early signing day in December. UM's first class under mew coach Mario Cristobal is ranked 49th nationally by ESPN and ninth in the ACC led by TE Jaleel Skinner and CB Khamauri Rogers but should climb with new signings this week.

8. MLB: Ortiz gets Hall call, but end of line for Bonds, Clemens: Red Sox icon David "Big Papi" Ortiz was the lone former player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, with Barry Bonds and Roger Clemsn falling short in their 10th and final year pf eligibility, and Alex Rodriguez way short in his first year on the ballot. The reminder from voting BBWAA baseball wrters: Steroids and Cooperstown do not mix. 

9. HEAT: Miami sets out on road trip awaiting All-Star nods: Heat is 32-18 and atop the East even after Saturday's 124-120 triple-OT home loss to Toronto -- despite Jimmy Butler's 37 points. NBA All-Star Game reserves to be announced Thursday, with Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro all in the mix. Miami sets out on a five-game roadie starting Monday in Boston.

10. PANTHERS: Cats sailing, but challenge to be better on road looms: Florida is 31-9-5 and atop the NHL East after Saturday's 5-4 home win over San Jose, but Panthers will be road-tested much of the rest of the way. Cats are a surreal 23-3 at home but only 8-6-5 away, and play 22 of their last 37 games on the road including the next five straight starting Monday at Columbus.

Missing the HB10 cut: USMNT faces Canada today/Sunday in a top-of-the-table showdown in the middle of three winter CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches in seven days. U.S. began the stretch with a 1-0 win over El Salvador the table. Five matches for remain in WC qualifying ..... Canes men's basketball (16-5) continues atop the ACC at 8-2 entering a Wednesday visit by Notre Dame. UM women are 11-7/4-4 and host No. 5 Louisville Tuesday ..... LeBron James and Kevin Durant again were named captains for this year's NBA All-Star Game February 20 in Cleveland. All-Star reserves, selected by coaches in both conferences, will be unveiled Thursday ..... Though the MLB lockout continues, threatening the start of spring training, the Marlins' Minor League Development Camp is this Tuesday through Friday up in Jupiter. The organization’s top prospects will be in attendance, incuding pitchers Eury Perez, Max Meyer and Dax Fulton ..... Saturday's NFLPA Collegiate Bowl began the spate of postseason showcase games. Upcoming: East-West Shrine Bowl this Thursday, Reese's Senior Bowl next Saturday and HBCU Legacy Bowl February 19 ..... The Pro Bowl is next Sunday. Get ready to not watch ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,611 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

-- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --

ARCHIVES

Select other recent 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 BallotGeorgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next / 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 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 / 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

January 29, 2022

NFL Final Four: Our Sunday picks for Bengals-Chiefs, 49ers-Rams; plus Latest columns: Defending Antonio Brown, Final denial of Bonds/Clemens a shame, Mahomes-Allen show hard lesson for Dolphins; also, newest Greg Cote Show podcast & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

1) It's SATURDAY, JANUARY 29. I was back on Le Batard Show this week -- a new Back In My Day in hand. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, new Greg Cote Show podcast.

CoteshowGreenmmGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NFL! ROBOT UMPIRE! M&M SCANDAL! NEW EPISODE OUT NOW: Our 5th episode of 2022 and 96th overall is out now! A new pod drops every Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 96 we've done so far HERE, free. In our brand new episode, Chris and Greg exalt over the NFL's most exciting playoff weekend ever, and have an exclusive 1-on-1 chat with a Robot Umpire. Also in the new ep: Bomb dog retires;  M&Ms scandal; Greg apologizes to Newlywed Mark for referring to a part of his wedding as a 'nightmare' on Le Batard Show; Yeti reports live from a hospital bed. 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).

PicksNFL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND PLAYOFF PICKS: 4 TEAMS LEFT. 2 SUPER BOWL TICKETS. HERE'S WHO's GOING: Had a rough week in the Divisional Round and a perfect example of our luck was Bills blowing that lead (and a win for me) with 13 seconds left. Oh well. Move on. Finish strong. Our picks for Sunday's Bengals-Chiefs AFC Championship Game and 49ers-Rams NFC title game: NFL Championship Playoff Gems. Previous: NFL Divisional Playoff Gems, NFL Wild-Card Playoff Gems.

AbrownLIKE HIM OR DON'T, ANTONIO BROWN NOT ALWAYS TO BLAME -- AND WASN'T IN BUCS DIVORCE: The most memorable, talked-about play of this NFL season — the one that didn’t happen on the field — lives on. It does so in the legal action being pursued. It does so in the wondering whether Tom Brady and Tampa Bay might be playing Sunday, still chasing a second straight Super Bowl win, if it hadn’t happened. The spectacle resonates, too, because it dances on the periphery of the brain trauma football can cause, and the discussion of mental health becoming more and more open in sports. And in the altogether unsurprising idea that a head coach might sometimes place winning ahead of a player’s health on his list of priorities. I know: Antonio Brown is easy to dislike, largely through his own actions through the years. No dispute. But it doesn’t means he’s wrong here. “The trigger was telling me I’m not allowed to feel pain,” he said. “I acknowledge my past. But that doesn’t make me a second-class citizen. My past does not forfeit my right to be heard when I am in pain.” Today Brown is 33 and at least temporarily unemployed, turning 34 when training camps start this summer. Today he is a man still trying to explain why, during a game few weeks ago, Bucs at Jets, Brown abruptly left the bench in anger, peeled off his jersey and pads, tossed them into the crowd, put up a peace sign with his fingers, and trotted off, turning his back on his team, profession and the NFL. For our full latest column, visit Like Him Or Don't, Antonio Brown Not Always To Blame -- And Wasn't In Bucs Divorce.

PapiORTIZ MAKES HALL, BUT FINAL DENIAL OF BONDS, CLEMENS A SHAME ON VOTERS, BASEBALL: David “Big Papi” Ortiz, Boston Red Sox icon and one of four men in MLB history to hit 500 home runs and win three World Series, was elected Tuesday into the National Baseball Hall of Fame with distinction as a first-ballot honoree. It wasn’t the biggest news to come out of the announcement. This was: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens -- arguably the greatest hitter and pitcher to ever play the game -- were denied the Hall in their 10th and final year of eligibility to appear on the ballot. And Miami-raised Alex Rodriguez was dealt a massive rebuke in his first year of eligibility, despite career numbers that by themselves suggested he might sail into Cooperstown in a landslide vote. Baseball’s Steroids Era lives on. It is still taking names and meting out punishments. Lifetime sentences, apparently. That Bonds and Clemens were turned away for the 10th year in a row defies fair logic and conveys a vindictiveness that does not serve well either MLB, the Hall of Fame or the voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, of whom I am one -- proudly, usually, but less so as the 2022 class was announced. For our full recent column, visit Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemsn A Shame on Voters, Baseball

MahomesallenMAHOMES-ALLEN AIR SHOW A FACE-SLAP REMINDER HOW FAR DOLPHINS, TUA STILL HAVE TO GO: We watch NFL games through our own prism, right? From the vantage of how our own team compares. For a Miami Dolphins fan this exercise is called “torture.” But never quite like it was Sunday night, in the astounding crescendo to the single greatest weekend in the league’s playoff history -- led by an epic duel between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills offenses were unstoppable in the hands of two premier quarterbacks who took mere seconds to trade points until finally Mahomes and the Chiefs prevailed in overtime 42-36. It was the greatest possible advertisement for the NFL. But from where Miami sits, alas, Sunday night was depressing. Sobering. Enough to make a Dolfan set the alarm for around 2034, which might be about when the two quarterbacks now most in their way are finally retired or at least in decline. Mahomes is 26. Allen is 25. And there is not a single Chiefs or Bills fan today — not one, anywhere — wondering if their team has the right quarterback. If he’s good enough or maybe possibly someday could be. Allen pilots the new king of the AFC East, Miami's division. Mahomes leads the king of the AFC, Miami’s conference. These are the two quarterbacks, and teams, the Dolphins have to figure out how to be better than for any chance to reach the Super Bowl in the foreseeable future. For our full recent column, visit Mahomes-Allen Air Show A Reminder How Much Better Dolphins And Tua Need To Be.

Select other recent columns: 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 Consquences, as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / and Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner. Also: 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 / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

-- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --

ARCHIVES

Select other recent columnsGeorgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next / 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 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 / 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

January 24, 2022

New Greg Cote Show podcast out now! NFL's greatest weekend ever, chat with Robot Umpire; plus latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated), time to parole Pete Rose, my 0-for-4 shame & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

1) It's MONDAY, JANUARY 24. Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Time is right for MLB to resinstate Pete Rose, NFL Divisional Round picks, New Greg Cote Show podcast.

Coteshow Robotump GreenmmGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NFL! ROBOT UMPIRE! NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 5th episode of 2022 and 96th overall is out now! A new pod drops every Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 96 we've done so far HERE, free. In our brand new episode, Chris and Greg exalt over the NFL's most exciting playoff weekend ever, and have an exclusive 1-on-1 chat with a Robot Umpire. Also in the new ep: Bomb dog retires;  M&Ms scandal; Greg apologizes to Newlywed Mark for referring to a part of his wedding as a 'nightmare' on Le Batard Show; Yeti reports live from a hospital bed. 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).

PicksNFL Divisional Round playoff picks: OOF!: They were four great games. Except for me. We went 0-4 overall and 0-4 against the spread in the Divisional Round -- a near impossibility and an unfortunate first for us. The sad truth: NFL Divisional Playoff Gems. Previous: NFL Wild-Card Playoff Gems.

ProseTime for MLB, in bed with gambling, to end hypocrisy and reinstate Pete Rose. New column: Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose.

FlapOther select recent columns: 'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consquences, as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / and Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner. Also: 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 / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

HButtonHOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JANUARY 23-24): 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: It's Chiefs-Bengals, Rams-49ers in final four: It hadn't happened since 2010 but it happened Saturday: Both No. 1 seeds losing in the NFL Divisional Round playoff. Green Bay fell to visiting San Francisco Saturday night after Tennessee was beaten by upstart Cincinnati. Sunday, reigning champion Tampa Bay fell at home to the L.A. Rams Kansas City held off Buffalo. That's four great games three upsets and a final four few expected.

2. HEAT: LeBron shines in return, but Miami wins: Miami is 30-17 and back atop the East, with Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler finally both healthy at once, after Sunday's 113-107 home win over the L.A. Lakers. Old friend LeBron James dropped 33 in his return as Miami opened a four-game homestand. 

3. PANTHERS: Cats fall in Seattle but still in East lead: Florida is 28-9-5 at the midpoint of the NHL regular season -- and 10-2-1 since a four-game COVID postponement in December -- even after Sunday's surpring 5-2 loss in Seattle to the expansion Kraken. Cats and Tampa Bay are fighting for East lead in a rivalry that seems destined for a renewal in the playoffs.

4. CANES BASKETBALL: Miami men fall to nemesis FSU again: The Miami men -- after an upset win over No. 2 Duke and a 28-point win over North Carolina -- were 14-4, an ACC-leading 6-1 in conference and just outside the Top 25 entering Saturday's home game vs. nemesis Florida State, only to fall to its nemesis rival, 61-60, and cede the ACC lead. Canes women, off first road win at FSU in eight years, are 10-7/3-4 after Sunday's loss at Boston College.

5. DOLPHINS: Fins casting wide net in ongoing coach search: Who isn't Miami interviewing to replace the unexpectedly fired Brian Flores? Seven men already have been grilled, with more ahead. The lean seems to be toward an offensive coach with a track record. Keep an eye on four OC's: Brian Daboll (Bills), Mike McDaniel (49ers), Nathaniel Hackett (Packers) and Eric Bieniemy (Chiefs) -- all among the final eight teams playing this weekend.

6. MLB: 'Big Papi' to head 2022 Hall of Fame class: With the big reveal set for live TV Tuesday night, David (Big Papi) Ortiz is the only certain '22 inductee to Cooperstown based on early voting results made public. Steroids-tainted Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens both seem likely to finally make it but are not sure things. Tainted A-Rod is being punished in his first year of eligibility and didn't come close.  

7. TENNIS: Depleted Australian Open reaches midpoint: Defending women's champion Naomi Osaka was ousted in the third round, reigning men's champ Novak Djokovic was banned over his no-vax stance, and fan favorites Roger Federer and Serena Williams aren't in Melbourne for health reasons. Marquee wattage is dimmed, but the year's frst tennis major goes on, with Ash Barty and Rafael Nadal leading the march into the quarterfinals. 

8. OLYMPICS: Countdown 11 days 'til Beijing Winter Games: Host China is infamous for its human rights violations and COVID remains a health cloud, but let the Games begin! Winter Games are February 4-20. The U.S. announced a diplomatic boycott, but American athletes will compete, led by champion slalom skiier Mikaela Shiffrin.

9. HURRICANES: Cristobal absorbs first loss as UM coach: Canes fans have been in parade-mode euphoric since Mario Cristobal got hired as football coach 17 days ago and it's been all smooth sailing ... until this week's hiccup. Miami targeted Arkansas' Kendal Briles as its next offensive coordinator, but he turned 'em down to remain with Razorbacks.

10. NASCAR: 'Junior' makes the Hall of Fame: Dale Earnhardt Jr., never a main-series season champion but 15 times voted most popular driver, has joined his father in the Hall of Fame. Junior topped the marquee among three inductees into NASCAR's 12th Hall of Fame class. "When I stumbled, you guys were right there ready to lift me back up,'' Earnhardt said to his fans.

Missing the HB10 cut: Inter Miami opened training camp for MLS Year 3. Season begins February 26 ..... NCAA voted to streamline itself and reduce the responsibility of the association at the national level. Layman's terms: The NCAA is weakening, with power ceded to confereces and schools in a turbulently changing landsacpe for ollege sports ..... The Tampa Bay Rays' controversial plan to split their home schedule with Montreal was rejected by MLB, ending team's 2 1/2-year plan for a "sister city" schedule. Meantime, how must half-wanted Tampa fans feel? ..... The NFL's Pro Bowl is February 6, so mark it on your calendars to not watch ..... And the MLB lockout drones and drags on ..... R.I.P. to entertainers Sidney Poitier, Meat Loaf and Louie Anderson ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,618 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

-- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --

ARCHIVES

Select other recent columnsGeorgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next / 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 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 / 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

January 22, 2022

NFL Divisional Round playoff picks. 8 teams, 4 games, 1 big upset; plus Time Is Now For MLB To Reinstate Pete Rose. New column; also, Greg Cote Show podcast: Greatest TV sitcom characters in new episode & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

1) It's SATURDAY, JANUARY 22. I was on with Le Batard Show on Wednesday this week. Check out that day's show podcasts, especially the Local Hour. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): New Greg Cote Show podcast, Panthers at midseason a lesson in resilience, Good riddance to no Djokovic in Aussie Open, NFL Wild-Card picks results.

CoteshowSitcomsGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: GREATEST TV SITCOM CHARACTERS IN LATEST EPISODE!: Our 4th episode of 2022 and landmark 95th overall is out now. A new pod drops every Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all we've done so far HERE, free. In our latest episode, Greg, Chris, younger son Michael and guest Alex Benson from the Shut The Funk Up podcast argue, debate and give their verdicts on the greatest all-time TV sitcome characters. Spoiler alert: Greg wins. Hear why. Also in the new episode: Ranking best friends; Panthers are best hockey team on Earth; Bills' perfect game; and Greg's live report from a wedding on Amelia Island. 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).

PicksNFL DIVISIONAL ROUND PLAYOFF PICKS: 8 TEAMS LEFT. 4 GAMES THIS WEEKEND. 1 BIG UPSET: Went 4-2 overall and 3-3 against the spread in the Wild-Card Round. Highlight: Two near-Exactos (perfect score bull's-eyes). Lowlight: Picking Cardinals to win in an upset. Gawd! Onward and upward! Aiming to go 4-for-4 in the Divisional Round. Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers are all still standing. Here's who: NFL Divisional Playoff Gems. Previous: NFL Wild-Card Playoff Gems.

Pete RoseTIME FOR MLB, IN BED WITH GAMBLING, TO END HYPOCRISY AND REINSTATE PETE ROSE: He quietly turned 80 last spring, his endless purgatory ongoing. The life sentence he serves is one without bars, but also without parole. Every day that passes finds him more likely to die bitterly estranged from the sport he loved — and helped define. Pete Rose dove headfirst into baseball and left it as the Hit King, his MLB-record 4,256 career hits atop an unreachable mountain, threatened by no active player. The very point of baseball is to get a hit, and nobody did it better than “Charlie Hustle,” who still has no place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York — solely because the perfect hitter was not the perfect man in a game with no forgiveness in its heart. If it had one of those. For our full latest column, visit Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose.

Our most recent other columns: 'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consquences, as Djokovic Was RemindedState Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / and Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner. Also: 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 / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

-- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --

ARCHIVES

Select other recent columnsGeorgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next / 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 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 / 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

January 16, 2022

The new Hot Button Top 10: Guess who's No. 1 and what else ranks where this week?; plus We grade all of Miami's biggest teams. New column; also, NFL playoff picks, new Greg Cote Show podcast drops Monday & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

1) It's SATURDAY-MONDAY, JANUARY 15-17. I'm off to a wedding for a couple of days. Be back around sometime Monday. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): State of Miami Sports as we grade all the teams, Dolphins firing Flores an unjustifiable travesty, NFL Wild-Card playoff picks, Greg Cote Show drops 2 (!) new podcasts, NFL Week 18 results for picks/final QB rankings.

CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT MONDAY MORNING!: Our 4th episode of 2022 and landmark 95th overall is out Monday. A new pod drops every Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all we've done so far HERE, free. We dropped two episodes this past week. Our main, regularly scheduled epsiode features a fun conversation with friend Ron Magill of Zoo Miami, and a season-finale Hard Knocks celebrating Greg's Lobos' PFPI Fantasy championship. A shorter bonus episode -- the first we've ever done -- is on the Dolphins' sudden, illogical firing of coach Brian Flores. Dan Le Batard joins us. 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).

Our NFL first-round postseason picks: NFL Wild-Card Playoff Gems.

Big fourSTATE OF MIAMI SPORTS: GRADES FOR FINS, HEAT, PANTHERS, MARLINS, INTER MIAMI AND CANES FOOTBALL & MEN'S HOOPSOne team is in sudden flux with an unforeseen coaching change. One is chasing a championship and another might be. One has new life after major changes. One is the comeback story nobody’s talking about. Two others are still searching for the elusive map to victory. This is our sort-of annual New Year’s State Of Miami Sports, in which we grade each of our Big Seven teams based on where they are right now and the short-term, but also put in the context of the broader, bigger picture. We identify the Big Seven as the Miami Dolphins, Heat and Marlins, Florida Panthers, Inter Miami soccer and Miami Hurricanes football and men’s basketball. Sorry if we left your favorite team out. (But not that sorry). Here are our grade rankings, high to low, best to worst. For our full latest column including the team-by-team grades, visit The State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom.

Most recent other columns: Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Also: 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 / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JANUARY 16-17): 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:

HButton1. DOLPHINS: Off-course Fins searcing for new coach, respectability: Most agree Brian Flores did not deserev to be fired after three seasons -- the last two with winning records totaling 19-14. As Stephen Ross tries to save face we await the replacement, likely someone now in the playoffs, with offensive coordinators Brian Daboll of Bills and Mike McDaniel of 49ers among those being mentioned.

2. NFL: Six Wild-Card games begin road to Super Bowl: Will Tom Brady and Tampa be NFL's frst repeat champ in 17 years? As top-seed Packers and Titans wait with byes, the other 12 playoff teams play must-win games this weekend. It's Raiders-Bengals and Patriots-Bills Saturday; Eagles-Bucs, 49ers-Cowboys and Steelers-Chiefs Sunday and Cardinals-Rams Monday night.

3. HEAT: Imagine Miami with a healthy roster?: Miami was at 26-15 at the midpoint in the schedule, on a 3-game win streak and tied for second in the East entering the weekend. And much of that has been wthtout stars Bam Adebayo or Jimmy Butler healthy. Erik Spoelstra better be on your coach of the year short list.

4. TENNIS: Djokovic vaccine drama, no Serena cloud Aussie Open: The year's first tennis major, the two-week Australian Open, begins Monday, but likely without reigning men's champ Novak Djokovic, whose visa was revoked over his failure to meet the country's COVID vaccination mandates. And Serena Williams won't play on medical advice.

5. PANTHERS: Huberdeau named all-star as high-flying Cats near midseason: Jonathan Huberdeau will represent Florida on NHL All-Star Weekend February 4-5 in Las Vegas, and Aleksander Barkov still might if he wins a last-man-in vote. Panthers entering the weekend had won six-of-seven and were fighting for best record in East, perhaps inspired by Twerkin Kodak Black?

6. HURRICANES: Cristobal mania grows, but no poll love just yet: Excitement is growing around new Canes football coach Mario Cristobal as he fills out his staff, but it hasn't translated to high expectations for the 2022 season -- not yet, at least. UM is nowhere to be found in ESPN's way-too-early first Top 25, which did include ACC teams N.C. State, Clemson and Wake Forest.

7. INTER MIAMI: Year 3 open with start of training camp Monday: With a roster shakeup following two losing seasons, David Beckham's guys begin Year 3 in Major League Soccer with start of training camp Monday. The regular season opens at home, back in Fort Lauderdale again, on February 26.

8. CANES BASKETBALL: UM men poll-bound, but can they solve Florida State?: Canes men at 13-4 and 5-1 in ACC are poll-bound after beating No. 2 Duke, even though they then lost to FSU for eighth straight time. UM faces North Carolina Tuesday then has a rematch with Noles. The 8-5 Canes women host ranked GeorgiaTech and Duke Sunday and Tuesday.

9. MLB: Dear Baseball: Get your ass in gear!: First paragraph of a story I read: "On Thursday, MLB's owners and players had their first CBA negotiations since the lockout began on December 2. Owners made a proposal, but it doesn’t seem any common ground was found. The session lasted about an hour." Delayed season, here we come!

10. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Anybody else worried sport has created a transfer monster?: Will the last college football player to not enter the transfer portal please turn out the light?

Missing the HB10 cut: The champion Georgia Bulldogs planned to celebrate their first national football crown since 1980 with a parade leading to a stadium party on Saturday. Nick Saban will not attend ..... Colombia and Honduras play a soccer friendly Sunday at Inter Miami's stadium in Fort Laudderdale ..... With the Baseball Hall of Fame reveal January 25, latest voting trends made public suggest David Ortiz is the only man a strong bet to get in. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are tracking to get in on their last year of eligibility, but both have lost support as more votes are known. Stay tuned ..... In soccer, FA Cup competition resumes February 4 ..... The Hurricanes were shut out on the 2002 College Football Hall of Fame induction reveal. Ken Dorsey, Bryant McKinnie and coach Larry Coker were finalists but none made it ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday, January 17 at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,625 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

-- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --

ARCHIVES

Select other recent columnsGeorgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next / 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 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 / 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

January 03, 2022

Latest Hot Button Top 10 (Happy New Year edition, updated): Fins-Titans (with column), 'Dawgs-Tide, Heat, Cats; plus NFL Week 17 picks, special new Greg Cote Show podcast out now! & more

GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND

1) It's MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 2022. Happy New Year! Hope you made it a safe one. 2) R.I.P., John Madden. A football legend in so many ways. Had a chance to interview him once many years ago and he could not have been more generous or giving of his time. Also, R.I.P. Betty White, at 99. 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 17 picks, Georgia wins OB to setup title game vs. 'Bama, My 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot revealed, Greg Cote Show podcast.

Coteshow BestofGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: SPECIAL NEW YEAR-END BEST-OF EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 1st episode of 2022 and 92nd overall is out now! A new pod drops 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 new episode: It's GregFest: Our Best-Of Year-End Extravaganza (with new stuff, too). We relives out greatest hits 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 favrite epsiodes. 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).

PicksNFL WEEK 17 PICKS: DOLPHINS-TITANS, 2 BIG UPSETS, ALL THE REST: Our second-half heater resumed in Week 16 as went a big 12-4 overall and a solid 10-6 against the spread. Nailed Titans’ upset of Niners and Colts’ miniupset of Cards, and also had Lions-with-points covering at Atlanta. Had some bad luck related to the fact our picks are locked in on Thursdays. That has hurt us some related to Covid protocols and also injuries, such as Lamar Jackson still with a shot to play when we picked last week. Anyhow, no excuses. With two weeks to go our overall season total has risen and our number against the Evil Betting Line is now above what it was a year ago. Time to finish strong! This week we call two more outright upsets. For those, our Game of the Week, our pick for Dolphins-Titans and all the rest, visit NFL Week 17 Gems.

Our Dolphins column: Party, Meet Hangover: Tua, Dolphins OUt Of Playoffs Chase With Loss at Titans.

Our Orange Bowl column: Georgia Crushes Michigan in OB. The Bad News? 'Bama Next.

Most recent other columns: Revealing And Discussing My 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot / Also: 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 / Tua Keeps Showing Dolphins How Silly They Were To Doubt Him So Soon / and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JANUARY 2-3): 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:

HButton1. DOLPHINS: Fins' 7-game win streak, playoff hopes end with a thud: Dolphins were small road underdogs but big losers Sunday afternoon at Tennessee in a 34-3 defeat that (coupled with Chargers' win) ended Miami's playoff hopes. To make matters worse, longtime former quarterback Ryan Tannehill outperformed Tua Tagovailoa.

2. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Georgia wins OB in rout, to meet Alabama for title: Georgia crushed Michigan 34-11 in the 88th Orange Bowl game in Miami, hours after Alabama routed upstart Cincinnati 27-6 in the Cotton 6, the two College Football Playoff semifinals producing a January 10 Bulldogs-Crimson Tide championship game in Indianapolis. Nick Saban vs. America? 

3. HEAT: Depleted Miami loses to end 5-game win streak; Chalmers back: Miami is 23-14 with Sunday's loss ending a five-game win streak. Heat, depleted by COVID and injuries, continue on seven-goal road trip. Team brought back old fan fave Mario Chalmers, 35, on a 10-day contract but he has yet to play.

4. PANTHERS: Hot Cats folloe COVID pause with third straight win: Florida is 21-7-4 and second in the NHL East with Saturday's 5-2 win over Montreal a third straight W following three straight losses and then a four-gmae COVID-related postponement. Florida is back on ice Tuesday vs. Calgary.

5. DEATHS: NFL icon John Madden, gone at 85: Madden died just days before the premiere of the documentary bearing his name. Similarly ill-timed, beloeved TV icon Betty White passed away at 99, missing her 100th birthday by just 17 days.  

6. HALLS OF FAME: Zach Thomas, 3 ex-Canes among 15 football HOF finalists: Perennial near-miss Zach Thomas, the popular former Dolphin, gives Canton another try as one of 15 2022 finalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joining him: Ex-Hurricanes Devin Hester, Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne.

7. HURRICANES: Did UM narrowly avoid bowl forfeit?: Miami, after bowing out just days ahead of the Sun Bowl due to a COVID outbeak, might have been saddled with a forfeit loss had the Sun not found a last-minute replacement to play Washington State, Hot Button hears. UM, with new coach Mario Cristobal in place, has lost 10 of past 11 bowl games.

8. CANES BASKETBALL: UM men surging, women on pause: Canes men's basketball is 11-3 and an ACC-leading 3-0 in conference with seven straight wins. When will AP Top 25 voters start to notice? Men host Syracuse Wednesday then play at No. 2 Duke next Saturday. UM women are 7-3, with four straight games postponed by COVID including Sunday's at Virginia.

9. MLB: Lockout stalemate now msessing with start of spring training: MLB and its players union have not met for nearly a month now, since the lockout began. with no talks scheduled. Experts now say there's a strong chance the February spring training will be interrupted.

10. BOXING/UCF: Jake Paul vs. Dana White: Self-created boxer Jake Paul Paul tweeted to UFC chief Dana White he'd retire from boxing to fight Jorge Masvidal if White agreed. Three words for Jake Paul retiring from boxing: Happy New Year!

Missing the HB10 cut: Dolphins DB Jason McCourty is one of eight finalists for the NFL's 2021 Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast returns from a holiday week off with a special "GregFest: Year-End Best-Of Extravaganza" out Monday, January 3 ..... Update: Countdown now 1,639 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

-- * -- * -- * -- * -- * -- * --

ARCHIVES

Select other recent columnsUM 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).