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

1) It's MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7. Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 9 picks, Dolphins' Bradley Chubb trade, UM-FSU preview, new Greg Cote Show podcast with Mina Kimes, NFL Week 8 results, Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW WITH JIMMY JOHNSON!: Our 47th episode of 2022 and 138th overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 138 we've done so far HERE. Our new episode out now is a must-listen/can't miss with legendary coach Jimmy Johnson (pictured) as he talks about his upcoming new memoir, "Swagger," and his career and life on and off the field. Great stuff if I do say so myself! Also in the new episode: Greg and Chris shares though on Canes-Florida State and Dolphins-Bears; An update on the Tony Kornheiser bet on whether he’ll agree to come on our show; Greg with an out-of-left-field appreciation of a groundbreaking 1963 song by Lesley Gore; Yeti shares what could be way too much information about his new vasectomy; Should you know who Tommie Smith is?; An argument over Friendsgiving; Dad joke of the week; Trying to explain and justify the phrase, “Do what now?” and more. Hit up GCS2247 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. Now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit store by clicking 'Shop'. New items including Greg's Lobos T-shirts and hats! Also check out our podcast's YouTube channel.

NFL WEEK 9 PICKS: DOLPHINS-BEARS, GAME OF WEEK, 3 UPSETS ALL THE REST: Had a third straight winning week against the point spread last week. Can we keep it going? Visit NFL Week 9 Gems for to find all of our latest picks for Dolphins-Bears, our (controversial) Game of the Week, three more big upsets and all the rest. Got off to a mixed start. Had Eagles (-14) both winning and covering at Houston. Birds won but narrowly missed the cover, 29-17. Find that separate predix capsule at NFL Week 9 Thursday Gem.

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Shootout Win In Chicago Shows Dolphins Are What They Haven't Been in Years: Exciting NEW! 

NEW! Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal NEW!

Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'?

Miami-FSU Rivalry Week Leans On Nostalgia As 2 Programs Try To Get Back Up

Tua's Huge Day Leads Dolphins Over Lions in Detroit. But Warning Signs Are There

Hilltop: The five columns before that: Not Pretty. OK, It Was Ugly. But Canes' OT Escape At Virginia Keep Bowl Hope Alive / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Not Perfect, But Return Of Tua, Big Defense Lift Dolphins Past Steelers / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss. Note: Mount Gregmore includes opinion columns only. NFL picks, QB rankings and stories on newest podcast are not included.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 6-7): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature -- back after a week's hiatus due to Typepad being down -- is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. HURRICANES: Ouch! No-Show Canes, Cristobal embarrassed 45-3 by FSU: Prime time. National TV audience. Sold-out Hard Rock Stadium. And Hurricanes get embarrassed by rival Florida State 45-3, slipping to 4-5 and putting bowl hopes in peril. It was UM's worst home loss in 67-year history of the rivalry. Despite Mario Cristobal's first-year woes the Canes landed a major recruit in cornerback Cormani McClain, No. 4 overall in the 2023 ESPN 300 -- UM's top-rated recruiting score since ESPN began ranking players in 2009.

2. DOLPHINS: Fins wins shootout at Bears after going all in on Chubb trade: Dolphins are 6-3 and stay on playoff pace with Sunday's 35-32 win at Chicago that saw Tua Tagovailoa continue his stellar season with 302 passing yards an d three TDs. Meanwhile Miami went all-in at the NFL trade deadline by acquiring outside linebacker Bradley Chubb from Denver for a first-round 2023 pick and getting running back Jeff Wilson from San Fran.

3. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: CFP rocked with upheaval as 1, 4 and 6 all lose: The College Football Playoff picture was rocked Saturday as nine Top 25 teams fell -- including No. 1 Tennessee (to No. 3 Georgia), No. 4 Clemson (to unranked Notre Dame) and No. 6 Alabama (by 1-point to No. 10 LSU). The CFP's new chosen-four is likely to be Georgia and Ohio State in some order, Michigan and either TCU, Oregon or perhaps LSU.

4. HEAT: Jimmy-less Miami falls to 4-6: Miami is 4-6 after Friday night's 101-99 loss at Indiana despite Tyler Herro's 29 points. Jimmy Butler missed a second straight game with a hip injury. Heat has yet to reach .500 this young NBA season. They'd strung together a needed little two-game streak with home wins over Golden State (!) and Sacramento before falling Friday, and now have four at home starting tonight/Monday vs. Portland.

5. MLB: Astros win World Series the right way this time: Houston won Saturday to oust Philadelphia 4 games to 2 and claim its second World Series championship and first since the cheating-tainted one in 2017. The Astros entered the Series as the betting favorites at -170 and followed through. The Phillies' most recent of two crowns came in 2008.

6. MARLINS: Fish name Cards' Schumaker as new manager: St. Louis Cardinals bench coach Skip Schumaker is the Marlins new manager, arriving at 42 as the third-youngest in the bigs. Don Mattingly's replacement never has held the job before but was a two-time World Serie winner as a player with the Cards. In other Marlins news, club opened its new Dominican Academy, cornerstone of a commitment to international player development. And the three NL Cy Young finalists, to be announced Monday, surely will include Sandy Alcantara.

7. NBA: Is Nets' Kyrie Irving incapable of not doing stupid things?: Brooklyn's star guard Kyrie Irving, borrowing a page from Kanye West's Guide to Being Extremely Unlikable, promoted an anti-Semitic film and book on his social media accounts, drawing condemnation from his team, Jewish groups and others. Irving initially doubled down but finally apologized -- after the Nets suspended him "at least five games."

8. PANTHERS: Cats get needed win, and Ekblad back soon: Injured defenseman Aaron Ekblad could be back by next weekend and the Cats need him. Florida is only 7-6 after a 2-0 start with Sunday's 5-3 win at Anaheim. New star Matthew Tkachuk has lived up to billing early on, leading the team with 17 points including 12 assists.

9. CANES BASKETBALL: Opening Week for Miami, but Meier suspended: College hoops opens nationally and in Miami on Monday, with North Carolina's men and South Carolina's women atop the preseason polls. Miami's men, unranked despite reaching the NCAA Elite Eight last season, open at home Monday night vs. Lafayette, after UM women christen season that afternoon vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore. Miami's Isaiah Wong made preseason All-ACC first team and the Jerry West Award watch list for nations' top shooting guard. Canes women will play first three games with coach Katie Meier related to an NCAA probe into an "enforcement matter."

10. MLS: Los Angeles FC wins first league title: Top-seeded LAFC defeated the Philadelphia Union on penalty kicks after a 3-3 draw Saturday to win the 27th MLS Cup championship match. It was a heartbreak for Philly, which overcome two deficits and led late before falling. Both finalists were seeking their first league crown.  

Missing the HB10 cut: The now 5-4 Florida Gators won 41-24 at Texas A&M to continue Jimbo Fisher's agony. In other non UM state FBS games, FIU fell hard 52-14 at North Texas; No. 25 UCF won 35-28 at Memphis; and South Florida lost 54-28 at Temple. FAU was off ..... NASCAR's Championship 4 run for season title was Sunday in Phoenix, with 2018 winner Joey Logano taking his second season crown ..... U.S. Women's National Team makes its first visit to Fort Lauderdale in 22 years this coming Thursday night with a friendly vs. Germany at Inter Miami Stadium. U.S. and Germany are No.1 and No. 3 in the current Women's FIFA World Ranking and last faced each other in 2018 ..... JImmie Johnson's NASCAR retirement and dalliance into IndyCar racing is over. The seven-time NASCAR champ is returning in 2023 as part-owner of Petty GMS. He'll run in about five Cup races including the Daytona 500 ..... Dustin Johnson LIV Golf's blood-money champ as Saudi-funded tour ends its inaugural season at Doral ..... Speculation is now confirmed: Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen are divorcing ..... The 2022 men's World Cup in Qatar is only two weeks away, with Brazil predictably the betting favorite at +400 ahead of France and Argentina, and Team USA is mid-pack 16th among the 32 clubs ..... Monster Jam (trucks with foolishly big tires) evidently is still a thing. It''s coming to Marlins Park January 28-29 ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,316 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

Thank you!: Was honored to have again been named by Associated Press Sports Editors as national Top 10 columnist for 2021 in '22 judging. The four nominated columns that won: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Dolphins sabotaging Tua with interest in Watson

Select other recent columns: Tua Can't Return Soon Enough As Dolphins Fall To Vikings For 3rd Straight Loss / Sorry, Canes, But 20-14 Win At Va-Tech Doesn't Impress Any More Than 3-3 Does / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / QB Calamity! 3rd-String Thompson Has Rough Baptism As Dolphins Fall At Jets / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / NFLPA Firing Doctor For Concussion Eval May Mean Fins, Tua Are Victims Here / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improved to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

Revisit this blog often because it updates regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors 2021 writing awards again ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in '22 voting in the major-outlet category. Greg is also a regular on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz.

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

1) It's SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5. Sorry the blog was not updated for several days. Typepad, our host, had been down. But we're back! And Hot Button Top 10 will return with a new edition on Sunday. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 8 picks, Blood-money LIV Golf ends season at Doral, NFL Week 7 results, Greg Cote Show podcast, Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE WITH MINA KIMES (AND LENNY) OUT NOW!: Our 46th episode of 2022 and 137th overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 137 we've done so far HERE. In our latest episode: ESPN star Mina Kimes (and, unexpectedly, her dog Lenny, pictured) join us for a chat on the NFL and on fun stuff, too. Also: Trick-or-treating with Trevor Lawrence, Greg speaks about his social-media firestorm over Jerry Lee Lewis' death and more. Hit up GCS2246 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. Now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit store by clicking 'Shop'. New items including Greg's Lobos T-shirts and hats! Also check out our podcast's YouTube channel.

NFL WEEK 9 PICKS: DOLPHINS-BEARS, GAME OF WEEK, 3 UPSETS ALL THE REST: Had a third straight winning week against the point spread last week. Can we keep it going? Visit NFL Week 9 Gems for to find all of our latest picks for Dolphins-Bears, our (controversial) Game of the Week, three more big upsets and all the rest. Got off to a mixed start. Had Eagles (-14) both winning and covering at Houston. Birds won but narrowly missed the cover, 29-17. Find that separate predix capsule at NFL Week 9 Thursday Gem.

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? NEW! 

NEW! Miami-FSU Rivalry Week Leans On Nostalgia As 2 Programs Try To Get Back Up NEW!

Tua's Huge Day Leads Dolphins Over Lions in Detroit. But Warning Signs Are There

Not Pretty. OK, It Was Ugly. But Canes' OT Escape At Virginia Keep Bowl Hope Alive

Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season

Hilltop: The five columns before that: Not Perfect, But Return Of Tua, Big Defense Lift Dolphins Past Steelers / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Tua Can't Return Soon Enough As Dolphins Fall To Vikings For 3rd Straight Loss / Sorry, Canes, But 20-14 Win At Va-Tech Doesn't Impress Any More Than 3-3 Does.  Note: Mount Gregmore includes opinion columns only. NFL picks, QB rankings and stories on newest podcast are not included.

NFL WEEK 8 RESULTS: HERALD PICKS X GREG'S LOBOS X QB RANKINGS:

Herald Picks: Streak against the spread lives! -- Been a tough season so far with our picks in the Herald and I'm not alone, but scratched out a 9-6 mark overall and went 8-7 against the spread. That was our third straight winning week ATS, with a 25-18 mark (.581) vs. the Evil Betting Line in that span. Bull's-eyed an outright upset with Broncos over Jaguars in London, and had another pair of dogs-plus-points on covers by Packers in Buffalo and Browns over Cincy. Let's keep it going on our recent uptick against the point spread!

Greg's Lobos: A 175-point rout for another win! -- The defending PFPI Fantasy champion Lobos are rolling at 5-3 after a big 175-115 win. Got 29 points from Tua Tagovailoa, 26 from both Dalvin Cook and Nick Chubb, and 21 from both Lamar Jackson and Nick Folk. When you get a double-double from your kicker -- you know you're golden. We now stand tied for second in our 10-team family 'n friends fantasy league. Big game this week against another 5-3 team in Crown Me The Champ -- my son Chris.

NFL QB Rankings: Tua wins week, and there's another new No. 1 -- Miami's Tua Tagovailao wins his second weekly title of the season to take Week 8 honors and there's another change at No. 1 overall in the updated Miami Herald Quarterback Rankings. Full Top 25 and more at NFL Week 8 QB Rankings.

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ARCHIVES

Thank you!: Was honored to have again been named by Associated Press Sports Editors as national Top 10 columnist for 2021 in '22 judging. The four nominated columns that won: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Dolphins sabotaging Tua with interest in Watson

Select other recent columns: Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / QB Calamity! 3rd-String Thompson Has Rough Baptism As Dolphins Fall At Jets / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / NFLPA Firing Doctor For Concussion Eval May Mean Fins, Tua Are Victims Here / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improved to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

Revisit this blog often because it updates regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors 2021 writing awards again ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in '22 voting in the major-outlet category. Greg is also a regular on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz.

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

1) It's MONDAY, APRIL 11. Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's album -- which includes a song by me and reached No.1 on iTunes chart! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Inter Miami a rare failure for Beckham but there's a fix, Marlins Opening Day finds no excuses lieft, Tiger's miracle Masters, Greg Cote Show podcast.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW! Our 17th episode of 2022 and 108th overall is out now! 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 108 we've done HERE, free. In the new episode: It's Welcome Back, Baseball as welome in ESPN MLB expert Tim Kurkjiam and Hal Richman, legendary inventor of the Strat-O-Matic baseball board game. Kurkjian tells us team that will surprise, talks Marlins, and opines in changes in the game. Richman describes how he thought of Strat-O-Matic as an 11-year-old and launched a brand important in millions of lives -- including my own. Hit up GCS2217 for full story on the new ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. Our pod also simulcasts on Sirius XM every Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET).

Personal note and thanks: I'm honored to have again been named by Associated Press Sports Editors as national Top 10 columnist for 2021 in '22 judging. The four nominated columns that won us APSE distinction: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Dolphins sabotaging Tua with interest in Watson

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Inter Miami Has Been Major Failure For David Beckham. Here's The BIg Fix NEW!

Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win

Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won

The Lawsuit, 2 Months Later: Why Flores Has Already Won, And Dolphins Are Still Nervous

NCAA Final Four: Why (Was) America Rooting Against The Perfect Ending?

Hilltop: The most recent five after that: Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough  /  Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone  /  Peacocks? Coach K? Hurricanes, The 'Football School' In Elite Eight, Deserve Love Too  /  Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins  /  Hurricanes Storming Sweet 16 Shades of George Mason '06 for Larranaga

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (APRIL 10-11): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, but from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. HEAT: Miami holds No. 1 seed as season ends, awaits playoff foe: Heat ended 53-29 and with No. 1 seed in East with Sunday's meaningless loss in Orlando in which starters sat and Victor Oladipo scored 40. Play-in games are Tuesday though Friday with the full NBA playoffs commencing next Saturday, and Miami now likeliest to draw Cleveland or Kevin Durant and Brooklyn in first round. Miami has two dogs in the awards hunt: Bam Adebayo (Defensive POY) and Tyler Herro (Sixth Man).

2. MARLINS: Fish dip to 1-2 as Opening Week on road continues: Marlins are 1-2 in newborn season after Sunday's 3-2 loss in San Fran. Fish now play two games at L.A. Angels before returning for Thursday night's home opener vs. NL East rival Philaldelphia to start a seven-game homestand.

3. GOLF: All eyes on Tiger but it's Scheffel in Masters green jacket: Tiger Woods playing his first competitive event since his awful car wreck 14 months ago assured extraordinary interest in the 86th Masters. Alas, he finished 13 over par and 23 off the lead, but still found encouragment and committed to play the U.S. Open. Scottie Scheffler won by 3 shots over Rory McIlroy.

4. PANTHERS: Huberdeau sets club record, sizzlin' Cats win 7th straight: Florida is 51-15-6 with seven straight wins and an eight-point lead in NHL Atlantic after Saturday's 4-1 banger in Nashville. It's Florida's longest W run since opening the season 8-0. And Jonathan Huberdeau became first player in franchise history to have a 100-point season and is in the running for both the Ross trophy (points leader) and the Hart (MVP). Aleksander Barkov is a finalist for the Selke (defensive forward) and Andrew Brunette for the Adams (coach). Cats are back on ice Tuesday vs. Anaheim with 10 games left in regular season.

5. INTER MIAMI: Herons finally win on big weekend for Beckhams: As rumors of Lionel Messi eventually coming here renew yet again, Inter Miami finally won its first matchof 2022 Saturday, a 3-2 home win over New E gland powered by Leonardo Campana's franchise-first hat trick. Miami had begun MLS Year 3 winless in five games with one draw. On the same day up in Palm Beach, David Beckham's eldest son Brooklyn got married. Meanwhile Miami City Commisison vote on new stadium is set April 28.

6. DOLPHINS: Flores lawsuit against NFL, Fins gaining steam?: Brian Flores' legal team revealed he wrote a letter to club officials in December 2019 putting in writing his allegations that owner stpehen Ross offered him bonus money to lose. And two more former NFL coaches, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, joined Flores' class-action suit. Meantime former Tennessee coach Mike Mularkey said Titans ownership "told me I was going to be head coach" in 2016 before going through Rooney Rule interviews. On the field, Dolphins offseason workoust build toward a voluntary minicamp Aril 29-20.

7. NFL: League rocked by Haskins death, AGs' warning: Steelers quarterback and former Ohio State star Dwayne Haskins, 24, died Saturday when struck by a dump truck while walking alongside Interstste 595 in South Florida, where he'd been training with teammates. The NFL also reels as attorneys general from six states wrote a letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell warning that the league will face a major investigation if alleged workplace harassment of women and minorities is not addressed and corrected.

8. HURRICANES: Spring football wraps, baseball rising fast: Big spring for Canes sports on heel of Miami men reaching NCAA Elite Eight for first time. Mario Cristobal's first spring practice as head coach wraps up next Saturday with the annual Spring Game at Inter Miami's stadium in Fort Lauderdale. And Canes baseball has risen from No. 8 to No. 2 in the polls and is 26-6 with 13 straight wins after a weekend home sweep of Virginia.

9. SOCCER: U.S. men's soccer sets pre-World Cup schedule: The USMNT, World Cup-qualified and drawn into Group B led by England, has scheduled six matches in the buildup to the November/December event in Qatar. The American men will play friendlies on June 1 and 5; compete in CONCACAF Nations Lesagues matches June 10 vs. Grenada and June 4 vs. El Salvador; and play two more friendlies between September 19-27. All locations are TBD, as are the opponents for the friendlies.

10. COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Champion Kansas, coach Self facing cloud of allegations: Men's NCAA Tournament champion Kansas and coach Bill Self face allegations in an NCAA investigation into corruption in college basketball nearing its conclusion. Kansas is among a list of schools that were part of a 2017 FBI case alleging bribes were paid to lure top recruits to elite programs, and payments were made to coaches to steer young players toward financial and business advisers.

Missing the HB10 cut: Clemson's Dabo Swinney misses College Football Playoff for first time in seven years, calls for "complete blowup" of the sport. Hahahahahahahaha! ..... Real Madrid, Villarreal, Manchester City and Liverpool take the advantage into UEFA Champions League 2nd leg quarterfinal matches this Tuesday and Wednesday. The one surprise: Can upstart VIllarreal reach the semifinals past powehouse Bayern Munich? ..... Despite qualifying, runners from Russia and Belarus will be banned from competing in the 126th Boston Marathon on April 18 over the invasion of Ukraine. The ruling eliminates 63 runners from an expected field of some 30,000 ..... A new wealth list named embattled Dolphins' owner Stephen Ross the NFL's fifth-richest NFL owner at $8.2 bilion. He trails only the Panthers' David Tepper, Rams' Stan Kroenke, Cowboys' Jerry Jones and Pats' Robert Kraft ..... NBA playoffs with no LeBron. Is that even legal? ..... WNBA Draft is Monday. No Hurricanes expected to go in any of the three rounds ..... Terrell Owens, 48, is returning to pro football (sort of) in the Fan Controlled Football league, a 7-on-7 startup that allows fans to make key decisions and play calls, kicks off April 16 and figures to be permanently defunct by summer ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,541 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

Other recent columns: Dolphins' Moves Help Tua, But Isn't About Surrounding Cast. It's On him / Why Do We Love March Madness This Much? First, Look In The Mirror / Brady's Comeback Not About Another Ring. It's About Holding Onto Who He Is / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / The Resurgence Of Miami Hurricanes Basketball as March Madness Nears  / Chris Cote To Save Sport Of Jai-Alai / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart / Players Are On Right Side In Labor Dispute, But MLB Has Far Bigger Problem To Fix / Mickelson's Support Of Saudi Tour Mirrors Sports' Blind Eye to Human Rights / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / The Lesson For Dolphins in Rams-Bengals Super Bowl Result / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / The G.O.A.T. We Never Saw Coming: From 199th Drafted To History, A Salute To Tom Brady / Like Him Or Don't, Antonio Brown Not Always To Blame -- And Wasn't In Bucs Divorce / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / Mahomes-Allen Air Show A Reminder How Much Better Dolphins And Tua Need To Be / Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose /'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consequences as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude

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

1) It's MONDAY, APRIL 4. Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's album -- which includes a song by me and reached No.1 on iTunes chart! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Brian Flores has already won, Why is America rooting against perfect ending in Final Four?, Marlins payroll still too low, Greg Cote Show podcast.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE WITH NICK WRIGHT OUT NOW! Our sweet 16th episode of 2022 and 107th overall is out now! A new pod drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 107 we've done HERE, free. In the new episode: Fox Sports rising star Nick Wright (pictured) sits in and talks stealing Greg's Back In My Day idea, Tyreek Hill, Miami Heat, professional poker and more in a wide-ranging, fun convo. Also in the new episode: Greg and Chris detail plans and events for their upcoming Father vs. Son Olympics, Can Greg reel Tony Kornheiser into the boat?, Punctuality vs. tardiness, the Final Fours and -- whoa! -- Chris reveals a job offer that would have him leaving Le Batard Show. Hit up GCS2216 for full story on that episode, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. Our pod also simulcasts on Sirius XM every Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET).

Personal note and thanks: I'm honored to have again been named by Associated Press Sports Editors as national Top 10 columnist for 2021 in '22 judging. The four nominated columns that won us APSE distinction: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Dolphins sabotaging Tua with interest in Watson

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! The Lawsuit, 2 Months Later: Why Flores Has Already Won, And Dolphins Are Still Nervous NEW! 

NCAA Final Four: Why (Was) America Rooting Against The Perfect Ending?

Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough

Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone

Peacocks? Coach K? Hurricanes, The 'Football School' In Elite Eight, Deserve Love Too

Hilltop: The most recent five after that: Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins  /  Hurricanes Storming Sweet 16 Shades of George Mason '06 for Larranaga  /  Dolphins' Moves Help Tua, But Isn't About Surrounding Cast. It's On him  /  Why Do We Love March Madness This Much? First, Look In The Mirror  /  Brady's Comeback Not About Another Ring. It's About Holding Onto Who He Is

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (APRIL 3-4): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, but from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. NCAA TOURNAMENT (M): No Coach K, it's Kansas-UNC for men's national title: March (into April) Madness is ready for its crescendo! From 68 teams it's down to two survivors for both the men and women. Duke saw its season end and Coach K his career Saturday night in a semifinal loss to No. 8-seed rival North Carolina, which now will meet No. 1 Kansas for the men's national title Monday night in New Orleans. Jayhawks are 4 1/2-point favorites.

2. MARLINS: It's Opening Week for Miami's 30th season!: Yes, it's been 30 springs since Charlie Hough's knuckleball danced in 1993. The latest iteration of the Marlins opens the 162-game regular season with a five-game road trip starting this Friday at San Francsico. Thie Fish are 7-6 this spring, with final tuneup on Tuesday. Miami's home opener will be April 14 with a four-game set vs. NL East rival Phialdelphia.

3. GOLF: Time for The Masters. But will Tiger play?: The Masters, the year's first of four golf majors, runs this Thursday through next Sunday ar Augusta. Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth are betting favorites in a bunched field. It will be the first Masters since 1994 without Phil Mickelson. But the big question: Will Tiger Woods make the Masters his first full-field event since an auto wreck mangled his leg 13 1/2 months ago? He had not made his decision public as of early today/Monday.

4. HEAT: Heat get got, Hardaway makes Hall: Playoff-clinched Miami has won four straight (to flip a four-game skid) after Sunday's win in Toronto and lead the East by 2 games. Miami is down to three games left in regular season starting Tuesday vs. Charlotte, the first-round playoff opponent yet to be determined. Meantime old Heater Tim Hardaway finally earned 2022 induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame in his 15th year of eligibility.

5. DOLPHINS: Miami trades Parker, extends Howard, sets offseason schedule: After a big free agency period led by the blockbuster trade for Tyreek Hill and Friday's huge deal to extend cornerback Xavien Howard, the Fins weren't done yet and Saturday worked a rare in-division trade with New England. Pats get WR DeVante Parker and a 2022 fifth-round pick. Miami gets a 2023 third-round pick, giving Fins two 1sts, one 2nd and two 3rds in '23. Meanwhile club announced that offseason work under new coach Mike McDaniel would begin today/Monday. Other key dates: Voluntary minicamp April 19-20, NFL Draft April 28-20, and OTA workdays May 16-17, 19, 23-24 and 26 and June 6-7 and 9-10. Full preseason training camp typically starts in late July.

6. NCAA TOURNAMENT (W): South Carolina tops UConn in blueblood womens final: South Carolina has been the No.1 -ranked team all season and goes wire to wire for the national championship with Sunday night's 64-49 win over 11-time champ UConn.

7. TENNIS: Swiatek, Alcaraz win Miami Open. But Osaska did, too: Naomi Osaka, former world No. 1, entered the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium unseeded and ranked 77th, recently beset by mental health issues. But Osaka reached Saturday's women's final before falling 6-4, 6-0 to Iga Swiatek, who will take over No. 1 in WTA rankings in replacing the now-retired Ashleigh Barty. In Sunday's wholly unexpected men's final, 14th-seed Carlos Alcaraz beat No. 6 Carlos Ruud to become the youngest Miami Open men's winner and third-youngest of any ATP Masters 1000 event. He turns 19 on May 5.

8. SOCCER: U.S. drawn into World Cup Group B with England: The U.S. men's national team was drawn into Group B for soccer's 2022 late-year World Cup in Qatar. The group also includes mighty England, Iran and the winner of the final available European spot. That last team in USMNT's group will be decided in June, with either Scotland or Ukraine facing Wales for the coveted ticket. Brazil, France and England are early betting favorites in the 32-nation field. The U.S. is an 80-1 longshot but given even-odds of joining England in advancing out of group play. 

9. PANTHERS: Cats top 100-point milestone, clinch playoffs: High-flying Panthers are 48-15-6, have won four straight and 13 of past 16, and are now nine points up in NHL Atlantic after Sunday's win in Buffalo. Florida was first in East to reach 100 standings points, done only once prior (2016) in franchise history. Cats are back on ice Tuesday vs. Toronto.

10. INTER MIAMI: Another loss, and stadium vote delayed again: Inter Miami still is winless in Year 3 in MLS, now with four losses and one tie after Saturday's 3-1 home loss Houston. Herons are back on the home pitch next Saturday vs. New England. Meanwhile the Miami City Commission vote on the club's Miami Freedom Park stadium proposal was delayed to April 28, the fourth postponement since February.

Missing the HB10 cut: UEFA Champions League quarterfinals this week are Liverpool vs. Benfica and Manchester City vs. Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, and Bayern Munich vs. Villarreal and Real Madrid vs. Chelsea on Wednesday. Liverpool and Man City are betting picks to win it all, followed closely by Bayern ..... Canes baseball climbed to No. 17 in polls and is 21-6 and on an eight-game win streak after Sunday's sweep at Duke ..... Bruce Arians stepped down as Bucs coach and the absurd old Tom Brady-to-Dolphins rumors began to regurgitate because the Internet evidently is bored ..... Canes spring football had its ninth of 15 practices Saturday. Spring Game is Apeil 16 in Fort Lauderdale ..... Orange Bowl Committee inducted Jim Courier into the OB Tennis Hall of Fame. He won back-to-back OB titles as a teen in 1986-87 ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,548 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

Other recent columns: When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / The Resurgence Of Miami Hurricanes Basketball as March Madness Nears  / Chris Cote To Save Sport Of Jai-Alai / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart / Players Are On Right Side In Labor Dispute, But MLB Has Far Bigger Problem To Fix / Mickelson's Support Of Saudi Tour Mirrors Sports' Blind Eye to Human Rights / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Who Dolphins, With Windfall To Spend, Should Target In Offseason To Fix Offense Fast / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / The Lesson For Dolphins in Rams-Bengals Super Bowl Result / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / The G.O.A.T. We Never Saw Coming: From 199th Drafted To History, A Salute To Tom Brady / Like Him Or Don't, Antonio Brown Not Always To Blame -- And Wasn't In Bucs Divorce / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / Mahomes-Allen Air Show A Reminder How Much Better Dolphins And Tua Need To Be / Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose /'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consequences as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude

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

1) It's SATURDAY, APRIL 2. Welcome, April. Did you get Fool'd yesterday? 2) Sean Taylor would have turned 39 yesterday. Not forgotten. R.I.P. 3) Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's album -- which includes a song by me and reached No.1 on iTunes chart! 4) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 5) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, new Greg Cote Show podcast, Marlins payroll tops latest Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: LATEST EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 15th episode of 2022 and 106th overall is out now! A new pod drops each Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 106 we've done so far HERE, free. In the new episode: Golf with Le Batard Show (left), Platonic lip kissing, Does Chris only call his mother when he needs something?, Bowling beef, Early planning stage of Cote Olympics, Another try at Gerdle word game, Mayor of a city in Georgia sings song he wrote about Greg, and Funeral songs. Hit up GCS2215 for full story on the new episode, and watch our weekly YouTube preview of latest episode. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. Our pod also simulcasts on Sirius XM every Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET).

Personal note and thanks: I'm honored to have again been named by Associated Press Sports Editors as national Top 10 columnist for 2021 in '22 judging. The four nominated columns that won us APSE distinction: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Dolphins sabotaging Tua with interest in Watson

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! The Lawsuit, 2 Months Later: Why Flores Has Already Won, And Dolphins Are Still Nervous NEW! 

NCAA Final Four: Why Is America Rooting Against The Perfect Ending?

Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough

Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone

Peacocks? Coach K? Hurricanes, The 'Football School' In Elite Eight, Deserve Love Too

Hilltop: The most recent five after that: Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins  /  Hurricanes Storming Sweet 16 Shades of George Mason '06 for Larranaga  /  Dolphins' Moves Help Tua, But Isn't About Surrounding Cast. It's On him  /  Why Do We Love March Madness This Much? First, Look In The Mirror  /  Brady's Comeback Not About Another Ring. It's About Holding Onto Who He Is

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ARCHIVES

Other recent columns: When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / The Resurgence Of Miami Hurricanes Basketball as March Madness Nears  / Chris Cote To Save Sport Of Jai-Alai / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart / Players Are On Right Side In Labor Dispute, But MLB Has Far Bigger Problem To Fix / Mickelson's Support Of Saudi Tour Mirrors Sports' Blind Eye to Human Rights / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Who Dolphins, With Windfall To Spend, Should Target In Offseason To Fix Offense Fast / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / The Lesson For Dolphins in Rams-Bengals Super Bowl Result / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / The G.O.A.T. We Never Saw Coming: From 199th Drafted To History, A Salute To Tom Brady / Like Him Or Don't, Antonio Brown Not Always To Blame -- And Wasn't In Bucs Divorce / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / Mahomes-Allen Air Show A Reminder How Much Better Dolphins And Tua Need To Be / Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose /'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consequences as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude

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

1) It's MONDAY, MARCH 28. Belated happy 75th birthday to one of my heroes, Elton John. Still standing! 2) Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's latest venture -- which includes a song by me and reached No.1 on iTunes chart! 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins' mega-trade for Tyreek Hill tops latest Mount Gregmore of columns, new Greg Cote Show podcast including emergency bonus episode on Tyreek.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 15th episode of 2022 and 106th overall is out now! A new pod drops each Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 106 we've done so far HERE, free. In the new episode: Golf with Le Batard Show (left), Platonic lip kissing, Does Chris only call his mother when he needs something?, Bowling beef, Early planning stage of Cote Olympics, Another try at Gerdle word game, Mayor of a city in Georgia sings song he wrote about Greg, and Funeral songs. Hit up GCS2215 for full story on the new episode, and watch our weekly YouTube preview of latest episode. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. Our pod also simulcasts on Sirius XM every Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET).

Personal note and thanks: I'm honored to have again been named by Associated Press Sports Editors as national Top 10 columnist for 2021 in '22 judging. The four nominated columns that won us APSE distinction: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Dolphins sabotaging Tua with interest in Watson

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone NEW!

Peacocks? Coach K? Hurricanes, The 'Football School' In Elite Eight, Deserve Love Too

Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins

Hurricanes Storming Sweet 16 Shades of George Mason '06 for Larranaga

Dolphins' Moves Help Tua, But Isn't About Surrounding Cast. It's On him

Hilltop: The most recent five after that: Why Do We Love March Madness This Much? First, Look In The Mirror / Brady's Comeback Not About Another Ring. It's About Holding Onto Who He Is / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / The Resurgence Of Miami Hurricanes Basketball as March Madness Nears 

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MARCH 27-28): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature --back after a one-week hiatus -- 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. UM BASKETBALL: Canes' exhilarating NCAA run ends in crushing Elite Eight loss: UM men's basketball crashed the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for first time and led No. 1 Kansas by six points at halftime on Sunday before eventually falling hard, 76-50 [column link above]. It was a second-half collapse. Still, 20 minutes from the Final Four after going 10-17 a year ago is a hell of a milestone for Coach Jim Larranaga's program.

2. DOLPHINS: Miami makes power-play leap into relevance with Hill, Armstead: The Dolphins quaked the NFL offseason with a blockbuster trade for Chiefs elite WR Tyreek Hill, just hours after signing the No. 1-rated free agent in Saints OT Terron Armstead. Hill has made Pro Bowl all six NFL seasons. Armstead is such an upgrade the Fins quickly released Jesse Davis, who had started 72 games over the past five seasons.

3. NCAA TOURNAMENT: It's Duke-UNC, Kansas-'Nova in Final Four: North Carolina ousted Cinderella St. Peters Sunday and will meet ACC rival Duke and retiring Coach K in the Final Four, while Kansas advanced past Miami and will meet Villanova in the other FF semifinal in New Orleans. And after all the madness ... four pedigreed basketball programs are the only left standing.

4. HEAT: Spo/Butler fireworks in midst of slump jar Heat season: Jimmy Butler gives lousy effort on D on a 3 by Golden State. Timeout. Erik Spoelstra yells at Butler; Butler yells back. It escalates. Udonis Haslem steps in. A clipboard flies. National news! All of this as Miami has now lost four straight and six of nine, along with its lead the East. Heat did clinch division title, but there are bigger problems at the moment. Miami is back at it Monday/tonight vs. Sac-Town as the playoffs draw ever nearer.

5. PANTHERS: Hot Cats land Giroux to fortify Stanley Cup hopes as playoffs near: Florida made a major deadline trade with Philly, obtaining veteran forward Claude Giroux essentially for Owen Tippett and a future No. 1 draft pick. Giroux, with 291 career goals, joins Sasha Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe on the top line. The Cats are 44-15-6 after Sunday's loss in Toronto ended a four-game win streak and still lead by six points in the NHL Atlantic.

6. SOCCER: U.S. all but in Qatar World Cup after Sunday win: Coming off a 0-0 qualifying draw at Mexico, the USMNT on Sunday routed Panama 5-1 behind Christian Pulisic's hat trick to all but clinch a spot in this year's World Cup in Qatar. The U.S., in Wednesday's CONCACAF qualifying finale vs. Costa Rica, will clinch a ticket to Qatar with a win, or a tie, or a loss by five goals or fewer.

7. NFL: Browns introduce Watson, who denies allegations: A second grand jury in Texas declined to pursue criminal charges against Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson. Browns acquired Watson from the Houston for three first-round picks and other draft picks, and a five-year contract worth $230 million guaranteed -- by far the most guaranteed money in one deal in NFL history. When introduced, Watson denied all charges by the 22 women alleging sexual misconduct during massages.

8. TENNIS: Withdrawals, upsets mar Miami Open at its midpoint: Call it a depleted Miami Open, with men's Big 3 Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer not playing, and the women's side missing suddenly retired Ashley Barty, Serena Williams and No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka and U.S  Open champ Emma Raducanu, both to early exits. Women's side seems wide open, entering round of 16 with Naomi Osaka still alive. Daniil Medvedev appears in control among the men.

9. MARLINS: Is Miami a sneaky-smart playoff darkhorse?: Marlins top an MLB.com list in a story headlined, 'Don't sleep on these 6 teams as playoff contenders,' projecting a 15-win Marlins improvement from last year's 67-95 record to 82-80. Fish are off to a solid spring start at 5-3 on the Grapefruit League diamond.

10. INTER MIAMI: A nightmare start to MLS Year 3 for Team Beckham: Miami has tied one and lost three of its first four MLS matches, been outscored 10-2 and sits dead-last in the East as coach Phil Neville struggles to right the listing ship. Herons are back on the pitch next Saturday April 2 vs Houston, five days before the city of Miami's delayed vote on whether to green-light the club's Miami Freedom Park stadium plans.

Missing the HB10 cut: Penn swimmer Lia Thomas won the NCAA title in the 500 freestyle at the women's national swimming championships, hailed as a trailblazer by some and as a fraudulent winner by others -- because she is transgender ..... Canes baseball is 17-6 and poll-bound after a three-game home sweep of No. 13 North Carolina ..... Quarterfinal matchups are set in the UEFA Champions League, and it will be Liverpool vs. Benfica and Manchester City vs. Atletico Madrid on April 5 and Bayern Munich-Villarreal and Real Madrid-Chelsea April 6. Premier League powers Liverpool and Man City are betting picks to win it all, followed by Bayern ..... Miami UFC star Jorge Masvidal was taken into custody in Miami Beach for aggravated battery for allegedly punching rival Colby Covington outside the Papi Steak restaurant in Miami Beach. Masvidal tagged Covington in a tweet and said, "You talk that s---, you got to back it up. That's how my city rolls, man" ..... Hurricanes spring football neared its midpoint Saturday with the sixth of 15 offseason workdays ..... R.I.P. Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters drummer ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,555 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

Other recent columns: Chris Cote To Save Sport Of Jai-Alai / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart / Players Are On Right Side In Labor Dispute, But MLB Has Far Bigger Problem To Fix / Mickelson's Support Of Saudi Tour Mirrors Sports' Blind Eye to Human Rights / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Who Dolphins, With Windfall To Spend, Should Target In Offseason To Fix Offense Fast / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / The Lesson For Dolphins in Rams-Bengals Super Bowl Result / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / The G.O.A.T. We Never Saw Coming: From 199th Drafted To History, A Salute To Tom Brady / Like Him Or Don't, Antonio Brown Not Always To Blame -- And Wasn't In Bucs Divorce / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / Mahomes-Allen Air Show A Reminder How Much Better Dolphins And Tua Need To Be / Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose /'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consequences as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.

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

1) It's FRIDAY-SUNDAY, MARCH 18-20. 2) Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's latest venture -- which includes a song by me and reached No.1 on iTunes chart! 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, new Greg Cote Show podcast.

Two notes: I was in with Le Batard Show on Thursday this week; check out today's show podcasts. Hot Button Top 10 has the Sunday off. HB10'll be back next week! 

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 12th episode of 2022 and 103rd overall is out now! A new pod drops each Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 103 we've done so far HERE, free. In our newest pod, we welcome two special guests: JT Daly, production mastermind of the new Le Batard Show musical, and Joey -- the Babe Ruth of American jai-alai. (They are pictured). Hit up GCS2212 for the full story on the new ep. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. Our pod simulcasts on Sirius XM every Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET). And watch for our weekly YouTube previews of latest episode HERE.

A PERSONAL NOTE, AND THANKS: I am honored to have been again named by Associated Press Sports Editors as a national Top 10 columnist for 2021 in '22 judging. The four nominated columns that won us the APSE distinction: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy, too? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Miami Dolphins sabotaging Tua, season with misguided interest in Watson

DOLPHINS' MOVES GET HELP FOR TUA, BUT IT ISN'T ABOUT SURROUNDING CAST ANYORE. IT'S ON HIM: The kind folks on social media are snipers taking dead aim, as always. They are having fun making fun of the Miami Dolphins’ offseason. The theme in the Twitterverse seems to be that, while the rest of the NFL percolates with exciting major trades and big free agent signings, Fins general manager Chris Grier has picked a hell of a time for a long nap and forgot to set the alarm. It isn’t true. Well, not entirely, anyway. Miami entered the weekend having made 16 offseason transactions. Only Houston (17) had made more, followed by Detroit with 14 and the Jets with 12. (Ah, the company we keep!). The problem is the Dolphins, trying to make the leap from consecutive winning seasons to playoff-good, have made mostly gentle ripples amid the cannonball splashes all around them. Russell Wilson is in the AFC now, immediately vaulting Denver ahead of Miami in the sportsbooks. So is the best receiver in football, Devante Adams, doing the same for Las Vegas. Von Miller is now in the same division, further tipping the East Buffalo’s favor. ESPN’s latest free agent rankings have the top six most-improved teams all from the AFC, none of them Miami. Tsunami stuff is happening relative to the Dolphins’ strategic (and cost-effective) fine tuning. What I do like is that most of the notable moves have been aimed at building around and/or protecting third-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. For our full latest column, visit Dolphins' Moves Help Tua, But It Isn't About Surrounding Cast Anymore. It's On him.

WHY DO WE LOVE MARCH MADNESS THIS MUCH? LOOK TO PSYCHOLOGY. BUT FIRST, LOOK IN THE MIRROR: This is the closest we get in sports to sheer rhapsody, right? The next few weeks. Especially the next few days. We see a pristine, untouched NCAA Tournament bracket as we would a breathtaking sunrise, or a first born in a nursery. It is a document almost holy, the very proof of possibility. The words leave our lips like prayer. March Madness. Done with the pointless perfunctory of the play-in games, the final 64-team field tips off Thursday for the men and Friday for the women, and this year it feels especially big because we are welcoming back an old friend: Normalcy. Two years ago March Madness was swallowed up whole, canceled altogether by the mushrooming COVID pandemic. It felt almost blasphemous to erase our annual communal worship, maybe the only religion we can all agree on, but for many of us it was the first hard reality. ‘Whoa. This coronavirus [bleep] ain’t playin’.’ Last year the Madness returned, but only sort of, confined to in and around Indianapolis and played before very limited crowds. Now? (Cue Dick Vitale). WE’RE BACK, BAYBEEEE! For our full recent column, visit Why Do We Love March Madness This Much? First, Look In The Mirror.

TOM BRADY'S COMEBACK ISN'T ABUT ONE MORE RING. IT'S ABOUT HOLDING ON TO WHO HE IS: The two words he used to explain his comeback surely were not intended to be funny, but were nonetheless as Tom Brady announced his return to the NFL from his Twitter and Instagram on Sunday night. “Unfinished business.” Seriously? One could argue no athlete in the history of competition has retired with his business so completely and emphatically taken care of. I mean, seven Super Bowl rings, most ever. Career records for passing yards and touchdowns. Across all sports this is the grand marshal of the G.O.A.T. parade. Not since God created heaven and earth in six days has anyone earned a rest more than Brady. So, are we getting a bit greedy here, Tom? What is the unfinished business, exactly? A perfect season with nary an incomplete pass? Brady coming back to play (at least) another season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a whole 40 days’ ‘retirement’ invites poking a little fun. What about that yearning to finally have more time with the wife and three growing children? Kids getting on your nerves that fast? Giselle hectoring you to get off your butt and mow the lawn? In announcing his retirement on February 1, Brady said his “100 percent competitive commitment” was no longer there. Some time during the past six weeks he must have found it, along with loose change, under the sofa cushions. Kidding aside, Brady pivoting on retirement is good not only for the Bucs but for the NFL and sports at large. This is a transcendent person of historic heft. Michelangelo. Sinatra. Hepburn. Jordan. Gretzky. Brady. He will turn 45 as training camp opens. Preposterous to say, and another element of his greatness: His game may be closer to prime-quality than anything creaking with age. For our full recent column, visit Tom Brady's Comeback Isn't About One More Ring. It's About Holding On To Who He Is.

Other most recent columns: The Moment Spoelstra Joined Miami Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia Because Of Low WNBA Pay -- And NBA Failing To Help / and Larranaga, Meier Enjoy Resurgence Of Miami Hurricanes Basketball as March Madness Nears. Also: Le Batard Show Anoints Chris Cote To Save Jai-Alai / Tom Brady. Miami Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen and Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart, Ended In Divorce.

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

1) It's MONDAY, MARCH 14. Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's latest venture -- which includes a song by me and reached No.1 on iTunes chart! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): The moment Riley anointed Spoelstra to lead Heat, Brittney Griner stuck in Russia started with low WNBA pay, The resurgence of Canes basketball, Le Batard musical reaches No. 1, latest Greg Cote Show podcast.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 12th episode of 2022 and 103rd overall is out now! A new pod drops each Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 103 we've done so far HERE, free. In our newest pod, we welcome two special guests: JT Daly, production mastermind of the new Le Batard Show musical, and Joey -- the Babe Ruth of American jai-alai. (They are pictured). Hit up GCS2212 for the full story on the new ep. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. Our pod simulcasts on Sirius XM every Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET). And watch for our weekly YouTube previews of latest episode HERE.

A PERSONAL NOTE, AND THANKS: I am honored to once again be named by Associated Press Sports Editors as a national Top 10 columnist in the major-outlet category for 2021 in '22 judging. The four nominated columns that won us the APSE distinction: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy, too? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Miami Dolphins sabotaging Tua, season with misguided interest in Watson

Heat, Brittney Griner, Canes: Our newest, basketball intensive columns from past week:

The Moment Spoelstra Joined Miami Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach

Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia Because Of Low WNBA Pay -- And NBA Failing To Help

Larranaga, Meier Enjoy Resurgence Of Miami Hurricanes Basketball as March Madness Nears

Other most recent columns:  Le Batard Show Anoints Chris Cote To Save Jai-Alai /Tom Brady. Miami Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen and Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart, Ended In Divorce

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MARCH 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:

1. NFL: He's baaack! Brady coming back after six week's 'retirement': G.O.A.T. QB Tom Brady, 44, now says he will play another season with the Tampa bay Buccaneers.

2. COLLEGE BASKETBALL/CANES: Selection Sunday sets bracket for Canes, Madness: Brackets ready? Selection Sunday set the fields for the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments -- a.k.a., March Madness. Miami's 80-76 loss to Duke Friday night in men's ACC semifinals would not hurt its NCAA standing, and the UM women's 3-0 run before an ACC final loss certainly would not. Miami men are a No. 10 seed and open vs. No. 7 USC in the Midwest region. On women's side, Canes are a No. 8 seed and open vs. No. 9 Souht Florida in the Greensboro region. Madness tips off Tuesday and runs through April 4.

3. MLB/MARLINS: Play ball! Lockout settled, spring games on deck: Baseball's 99-day lockout (finally) ended with a new CBA agreement, and a full 162-game season preserved. Teams report this weekend for a few days' practice before spring play starts. Marlins' first spring game is this coming Friday, with regular season Opening Day on April 8 at the Giants. Meantime free agency has begun again. Tim to open up the wallet for big bats, Marlins. Kris Bryant? Nick Castellanos? Yes, please!

4. PANTHERS: Cats' 5=game streak ends in L.A.: Florida is 40-13-6 after a loss in L.A. Sunday night ended a five-game win streak, but Florida still is up four points over Tampa Bay in the NHL Atlantic, with the league's highest scoring team (by a lot) and Sergei Bobrovsky in a groove at the net. Florida's five-game streak was its best since opening the season 8-0.

5. HEAT: Miami loses but still out front in East: Miami is 45-24 but still 2 1/2 games up in the East after Saturday night's 113-104 home loss to Minnesota despite Tyler Herro's 30 points. Jimmy Butler sat out with a sore toe. Markieff Morris (six points, 17 minutes) played his first game in four months since suffering a whiplash injury in a November 8 one-rounder with Denver's Nikola Jokic. Heat continues its seven-game homestand Tuesday vs. Detroit. 

6. NFL/DOLPHINS: Major QB news as free agency frenzy underway: Aaron Rodgers re-ups with Green Bay. Seattle trades Russell Wilson to Denver. Interest in Deshaun Watson revives as grand jury declines to criminally charge him. (Oh, and Indy trades Carson Wentz to Washington). NFL free agency has begun! Watson still faces 22 civil suits over alleged impropiety during massage sessions, but the lifting of the criminal cloud is huge. Maximbet.com has Tampa Bay (3-1) and Pittsburgh (4-1) most likely to sign Watson. (Don't sleep on Carolina). Dolphins, with money to spend, should be active in FA. Guard Laken Tomlinson is someone to keep an eye on.  

7. INTER MIAMI: Still winless through 3 games; stadium vote delayed: Inter Miami is now 0-2-1 (two losses, one tie) to open Year 3 in MLS after Saturday's 2-nil home loss to LAFC, with only one goal scored in three games. Herons return to the pitch next Saturday at Cincinnati. Meantime city of Miami delayed yet again a final vote whether to green-light the new Miami Freedom Park initative. Vote was to be this past week but is now set for April 7.

8. TENNIS: Miami Open one week away; Djokovic withdraws: The Miami Open at Hard Rock begins next week, March 21, with a strong field -- but one weakened by the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic. He cannot travel to the U.S. because he remains steadfastly unvaccinated against COVID. Djokovic is a 20-time Grand Slam winner and No. 2 in the wpr;d but continues his quixotic stance against the vaccine for no apparent reason.  #smh  Good riddance.

9. WNBA: Griner remains detained in Russia amid invasion of Ukraine: Phoenix Mercury WNBA star Brittney Griner remains detained in Russia after her arrest on likely concocted drug charges -- now seen as a retaliation pawn as the U.S. and much of the rest of the world levies economic sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, English Premier League disqualified Roman Abramovich as a director at Chelsea when the club's assets were frozen after the UK imposed sanctions on Abramovich, one of seven Russian oligarchs targeted in the eake of the invasion.

10. GOLF: Tiger inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame: In a foregone conclusion, Tiger Woods officially was inducted into World Golf Hall of Fame this week, introduced by daughter Sam, 14. Woods was elected March 2020 for induction in '21, but the ceremony was delayed by COVID. Woods, 46, conrinues his recovery from serious leg injuries suffered in a car wreck 13 months ago.

Missing the HB10 cut: Did I mention the Le Batard Show musical was No. 1 on the national iTunes chart? Yeah that was a thing ..... Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid have claimed the first four spots in the UEFA Champions League final eight, with the other four teams to be decided by matches this Tuesday and Wedneday. (Real ousted Messi and Paris-Saint Germain). The quarterfinal draw will be held Friday. Championship match is set May 28 in Paris, moved from Russia becase of its invasion of Ukraine ..... The Spurs' Gregg Popovich won his 1,336th game to surpass Don Nelson for all-time NBA coaching wins ..... Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and longtime GF Brittany Matthews got hitched in a lavish Hawaii wedding ..... Broadcaster Joe Buck is leaving Fox Sports for ESPN to become the voice of Monday Night Football ..... Four-time major tennis champion Naomi Osaka was heckled by a spectator during a second-round loss at Indian Wells ..... Weather has ravaged The Players Championship, which likely won't finish until Monday (or even Tuesday) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida ..... LeBron (Ain't Done Yet) James dropped 50 on the Wizards. But can the Lakers scramble to even make the playoffs? ..... Canes baseball, out of the Top 25, is 10-4 entering today's rubber game of a three-game home series vs. Boston College ..... Hurricanes spring football practice, three workdays in, is off until resuming March 22 ..... Canes rewarded men's basketball coach Jim Larranaga with a two-year contract extension ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,569 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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

1) It's MONDAY, MARCH 7. Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's latest venture. Includes our original 'Back In My Day' song. I'm back in with Le Batard Show on Tuesday. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Tom Brady a Dolphins part owner, Why Jeter-Marlins marriage fell apart, Personal note and thanks, Le Batard Show musical drops, NFL's mosy disliked people, new Greg Cote Show podcast.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 11th episode of 2022 and 102nd overall is out noe! 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 102 we've done so far HERE, free. In our newest pod, we are joined by Gary Pomerantz, author of "Wilt, 1962: The Night Of 100 Points & The Dawn Of A New Era.'' He shares rich details of that epic game, shares the truth about that infamous 20,000 women claim and more. Also in the new ep: Greg’s wife has been out of town for a week, and he shares something that might or might not make him a bad husband; the bizarre reason Greg never walks around his house naked even he’s when the only person there; Yeti Blanc, our resident musician, leads an impassioned analysis of the Le Batard Show’s newly released musical; debut of new podcast sponsor Lobos Mints; and Greg messes up while making fun of dumb people on “Wheel Of Fortune.” Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, rate, review and follow. Our pod simulcasts on Sirius XM every Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET). And watch for the debut of our weekly YouTube previews of the new episode HERE.

A PERSONAL NOTE, AND THANKS: I am very honored to once again be named by Associated Press Sports Editors as a national Top 10 columnist in the major-outlet category for 2021 in '22 judging. The Miami Herald also was named a Top 10 daily section, and Top 10 in special projects for ours on the 5-year annniversary of the Jose Fernandez tragedy, a project that also included myself. Some of you asked, so: These are the four nominated columns (earliest to most recent) that won us the APSE distinction: Inter Miami’s David Beckham and Qatar a budding, avoidable controversy / Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson knows biggest victory happened in own family / Scorned, but does he deserve empathy, too? Behind who Aubrey Huff became and Miami Dolphins sabotaging Tua, season with misguided interest in Watson

MARCH GLADNESS: HURRICANES BASKETBALL, COACHES LARRANAGA AND MEIER ENJOYING RESURGENCE: It is a season of resurgence and redemption for Miami Hurricanes basketball, women and men. Not everyone is paying attention. Associated Press Top 25 voters, for instance. The UM women reached the ACC Championship Game for the first time ever Sunday. The team is 20-12 despite almost half of their games (14) being against nationally ranked opponents. The Canes men, preparing for its ACC tournament opener Thursday in Brooklyn, is 22-9 and has the best road record (10-2) of any Power 5 conference team. Here is where the two teams are ranked in the latest Top 25s: Nowhere. That includes zero mention even in the “others receiving votes” category. This is the 60th season for UM men’s hoops and the 50th for the women’s program, and only the fifth time both have had a 20-win season and made the NCAA Tournament the same year. (The official invite to March Madness won’t come until Selection Sunday, but both are seen as certain to get in, each pegged a No. 10 seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology projection). It can be a long climb to respect. For our full latest column, visit Larranaga, Meier Enjoying Resurgence Of Miami Hurricanes Basketball as March Madness Nears.

Our most recent other columns:  Le Batard Show Anoints Chris Cote To Save Jai-Alai /Tom Brady. Miami Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen and Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart, Ended In Divorce 

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

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MARCH 6-7): 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. CANES BASKETBALL: UM women fall in ACC title game: Jim Larranaga's UM men and Katie Meier's Canes women both figure to hear good news next week on Selection Sunday in comeback seasons leading to the NCAA Tournement. The UM women are now 20-12 and 11-9 in the conference after Sunday's championship game loss in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro followed a 3-0 run. UM men ended regular season 22-9 (14-6 ACC) with Saturday's 75-72 win at Syracuse, and now prepare for this week's ACC tourney in Brooklyn, their first game Thursday. 

2. MLB: Don't Play Ball! Jeter-less Marlins wait as lockout cancels games, delays season: The Marlins and CEO Derek Jeter parted ways last Monday, and one day later MLB commissioner Rob Manfred canceled the first two weeks of the regular season when a deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement passed without resolution. And the stalemate continues. Miami is now scheduled to begin spring training March 18 and the now 156-game season April 8 -- but a further delay and more canceled games looms large.

3. INTER MIAMI: Team loses big, now new-stadium vote looms: Herons began MLS Year 3 with a 0-0 draw at home in Fort Lauderdale and on Sunday got clobbered 5-1 at Austin in Game 2. More important, this Wednesday will be the city of Miami's delayed vote on whether to finally green-light the proposed Miami Freedom Park stadium near the airport. Inter Miami wanted to win Sunday but is vitally desperate to win Wednesday.

4. HEAT: Heat stay hot, grow lead as long home stretch begins: Miami is 43-22, on an 11-2 run and now atop the East by 3 games after Saturday's 99-82 home win over second place Philly fueled by 21 each from Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler. Miami will be home for 10 of the next 11 games starting tonight/Monday vs. Houston, which could mark the return of Victor Oladipo from a long injury absence.

5. PANTHERS: Florida now 1 point back in Atlantic race: Florida is 37-13-5 but now one point back in the tight NHL Atantic even after Saturday' nights 6-2 home domination of Detroit after a rough February that saw the Panthers a mortal 3-4. Cats are back on ice Monday in Buffalo.

6. HURRICANES: Bittersweet day for Cristobal as spring football kicks off: UM launched the first of 15 spring practice workdays on Monday as the Mario Cristobal era got its tangible start with former Dolphins great and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor joining the staff in an off-field capacity. Cristobal left right after practce to attend his mother's funeral.

7. COLLEGE BASKETBALL: 94-81 loss Coach K's home farewell, Champ Week top sport: The men's regular season is over and conference championships will be decided this week prior to Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament. But first: The emotional pull Saturday as Mike Krzyzewski of No. 4-ranked Duke -- retiring this season after 42 years and five national titles -- worked his final home game at Cameron Indoor, a thunderous farewell despite a 94-81 loss. Tickets were going for at least $3,450 for the historic event.

8. NFL: Scouting combine, trade rumors talk of league: The four-day NFL Scouting Combine wrapped up Sunday in Indianapolis -- the last major talent parade before the NFL Draft April 28-30 in Las Vegas. Meantime the offseason percolates with rumors about the destination of Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Ruussell Wilson, Jimmy Garoppolo, Amari Cooper, DK Metcalf and others.

9. WNBA: Phoenix star Griner detained in Russia: Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner was detained by Russian authorities for allegedly trying to leave the country with the drug hashish hidden in vape pens. In somewhat related news, the Haas Formula One team has terminated Russian driver Nikita Mazepin's contract over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Formula One had previously  canceled the Russiam Grand Prix.

10. TENNIS: Miami Open rallies with strong field as tourney nears: After a down entry list last year due mostly to COVID, Miami Open tennis will boast 73 of the top 75 ranked players on both the ATP and WTA tours when play begins March 21 at Hard Rock Stadium. Notable exceptions: Fan favorite Serena Williams continues out with a mending hamstring, and Novak Djokovic likely will not be allowed to enter the U.S. due to his non-vax status. There also is speculation Rafael Nadal may withdraw due to a foot injury.

Missing the HB10 cut: Colby Covington dominated Jorge Masvidal in a unanimous decision in the UFC 272 main event Saturday night in Vegas ..... The NFL suspended Calvin Ridley for the entire 2022 season after determing the Falcons WR bet on NFL games in '21 ..... No. 22 Canes baseball is 8-3 after dropping two of three at home to nemesis Florida ..... UEFA Champions League round-of-16 play resumes this Tuesday ..... Jackson Mahomes says, "The media is destroying my life." Dear Patrick's Lil' Bro: You invite attention on Tik-Tok, by dancing on Sean Taylor's field logo and by your entitled behavior. Your 'celebrity' is weird and unearned but somehow you crave it. Quit being so dramatic ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,576 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

Select other recent columns: 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.

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

1) It's SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14. Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, Dolphins end skid in win over Texans, Is Manny Diaz saving himself after 3rd straight win?, Greg Cote Show podcast & more.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE DROPS MONDAY!: Our 44th episode of 2021 and 86th overall is out now! 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 85 we've done HERE, free. In our most recent episode: Hear Greg's live on-stage routine and more from Le Batard Show's mini-Mas Miami fan event. Also: Toy Hall of Fame inductees, Yeti live report from Braves' championship parade, how to pronounce "Tuesday," an homage to Villa Rose (R.I.P.), Big Bird gets the vaccine, NFL's wild weekend, Greg's Lobos update, stern message from the National Respect The Pumpkin Foundation & 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).

My column off Saturday's UM loss at FSU: Just Another Cursed, Heartbreak Finish for Diaz And Hurricanes

Column off Thursday's Dolphins upset win: Miracles Happen: Huge Defense, Tua Off Bench Help Fins Stun Baltimore

Our other most recent columns: Oh Brother! Heat-Nuggets' Family Feud Spices Season / Fins End 7-Game Skid -- But Only Because Texans Were Even Worse / Is Manny Diaz Saving Himself? Coach, Comeback Canes Win 3rd Straight. Also: Dolphins' Watson Lust Ruined Season, Damaged Tua. And That Starts With Owner Ross / Buffalo's Late Classlessness Aside, Miami Out Of Answers In 7th Straight Loss / U-Turn: UM Season, Diaz Future Looking Up With 2nd Straight Big Win / and Quenneville Rightly Sacked as Panthers Coach Over 2010 Chicago Scandal.

NFL Week 10 picks: Week 10 began with Dolphins hosting Ravens Thursday night and winning, 22-10. That result blindsided me; didn't think the Fins had it in 'em. Hope the rest of my week goes better! Here are our picks for our Game of the Week and Upset of the Week along with an additional upset and all the rest: NFL Week 10 Gems.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 14-15): 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. DOLPHINS: Stunner! Miami shocks Ravens with big defense, Tua off bench: Awesome defense and a late lift from Tua Tagovailoa in relief were plenty as the Dolphins stunned Baltimore, 22-10, Thursday night. Lest we forget, play of the game honors to 330-pound guard Robert Hunt for his TD that didn't count ... except as fabulous! The second straight win puts Fins 3-7 and with schedule softening, starting with the Jets next Sunday. Late miracle-rally to playoff contention, anyone?

2. HURRICANES: UM trails, leads, blows it in wild loss at FSU: An early 14-0 hole. A late 28-20 lead. An eventual 31-28 last-second. Ho hum, just another hear-attack finish for Canes and their fans -- the seventh game decided by four points or fewer. Miami now 5-5, 3-3 in ACC, out of the Coastal race and still not bowl-eligible with two games left.

3. HEAT: Miami cools off but wins in Utah: Heat started 6-1 but was 7-5 before Saturday's 111-105 win in Utah fueled by Duncan Robinson's six 3's, despite Jimmy Butler missing second straight game with ankle injury. Miami ends its wesern roadie Monday at Oklahoma City. Meantime NBA's probe into possible pre-free agency tampering by Miami in the Kyle Lowry signing is  nearly complete. (League also is investigating Chicago's Lonzo Ball deal).

4. FIU: Longtime AD Garcia steps down, Butch Davis headed out, too: Veteran FIU athletics boss Pete Garcia stepped down after 15 years, not a huge surprise and good news to many on campus. Now comes word that the school already is advertising to replace football coach Butch Davis after this season. Davis is 1-9 this season and 1-16 since shocking the Hurricanes late in 2019. 

5. SOCCER: U.S. scores huge win over Mexico in WC qualifying: The U.S. men's national team won its third straight over rival Mexico, 2-0, in a World Cup qualifier in Cincinnati. The Americans next CONCACAF-region qualifier is Tuesday vs. Jamaica. U.S. men sit pretty to reach next year's World Cup in Qatar.  

6. PANTHERS: Hot Cats cool with fourth straight loss: Florida's 10-2-3 record still shines, but it's four losses in a row now, the past two in added time including 3-2 in OT Saturday in Tampa. Team was 7-0-0 when coach Joel Quenneville stepped down. Panthers begin four-game homestand Tuesday vs. New York Islanders. 

7. MLB: Looming lockout, free agency on the plate: The CBA is expiring and a possible lockout looming as baseball enters free agency. The question in South Florida: Will the Marlins break recent tradition and be big spenders for the bat(s) they need to augment solid pitching? They say yes. Let's see. They swung a minor deal for reliever Louis Head, but offene is the need.

8. UM BASKETBALL: Canes men, women await early big tests: UM men are 1-1 after Saturday's 95-89 home loss to UCF, while Canes women are 3-0 after beating Stetson Sunday. The men play six games before ACC play begins. The women's first big tests are November 27 vs. No. 8-Indiana and December 2 at 4-Maryland.

9. STATE COLLEGES (NON-UM): Gators win, but rather embarassingly: Florida limped to 5-5 with 70-52 win over Samford. How do you give up 52 to Samford!? Tough week for state FBS teams (non-UM division), with losses by FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida.

10. INTER MIAMI: MLS playoffs start (sans Miiami) this week: The 14-team Major League Soccer playoffs begin this coming Friday. Inter Miami ended its second season a disappointing 12-5-17 (that's 12 wins in 34 matches), and well out of the playoff hunt.

Missing the HB10 cut: Tennis' ATP and WTA Finals are going on. Woemn finish up this Wednesday and the men next Sunday ..... Rams signed Odell Beckham Jr. ..... Jon Gruden is suing the NFL saying he was forced out as Raiders coach. Dear Jon: WHo wrote those hateful emails? The NFL? Or you? ..... Six more Top 25 football teams lost, but none higher than No. 8 Oklahoma ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode Monday at 7 a.m. ET ..... Update: Countdown now 1,688 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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