Latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated): Canes win 3rd straight (with column), Fins win!, Heat and Cats' big wins, oh Aaron, college hoops. See who's No. 1 and what else falls where; plus new Greg Cote Show podcast live from Menos Miami & more
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND
1) It's MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8. Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 9 picks, Dolphins owner Ross to blame for season-ruining Watson chase, Week 8 results for picks/Lobos/QB rankings, Greg Cote Show podcast & more.
GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE LIVE FROM LE BATARD SHOW FAN EVENT OUT NOW!: Our 43rd episode of 2021 and 85th 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: Greg's live on-stage routine (pictured) and more from Le Batard Show's mini-Mas Miami fan event this weekend. Also: Latest 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 and the Tua worry, 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).
No Tua, but Dolphins win a game! My column: Fins End 7-Game Skid -- But Only Because Texans Were Even Worse.
Canes survive Georgia Tech, 33-30. My column: Is Manny Diaz Saving Himself? Coach, Comeback Canes Win 3rd Straight.
Most recent other columns: 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.
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 7-8): 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. This week's HB10:
1. DOLPHINS: No Tua, 5 turnevers, burs, but Miami somehow ends 7-game skid: Deshaun Watson wasn't playing today for Houston. Or for Miami. Neither was Tua Tagovailoa, sidelined with a fractured finger. But Dolphins beat Houston Texans 17-9 in a battle of 1-7 teams -- despite five turnovers. Miami's key to success: Play somebody even worse.
2. HURRICANES: UM survives Georgia Tech, 33-30, for 3rd straight win: After consecutive wins over ranked North Carolina State and Pitt, Canes were big favoites hosting a down Gergia Tech on Saturday, and survived 33-30 to go 5-4 on the year. UM visits rival Florida State next Saturday then closes with Virginia Tech and Duke. Will it take running the table (including a bowl win) to save Manny Diaz?
3. HEAT: Miami wins 'Dwayne Wade Bowl' over Utah: Miami followed a Celtics home loss with Saturday's big 118-115 home win over Utah led by Tyler Herro's 29. Dwyane Wade, of course, is the retired Heat icon who now owns a small share of the Jazz. Heat set out Monday in Denver on a five-game West Coast roadie.
4. PANTHERS: Cats hand Carolina first loss: Mighty test on Saturday as 9-0-1 Panthers hosted 9-0-0 Carolina, with Florida skating off with a 5-2 home win. Cats are now 3-0-1 since coach Joel Quenneville abruptly resigned over his role in 2010 Blackhawks assault coverup. Florida begins a four-game road trop Monday at N.Y. Rangers.
5. NFL: Aaron Rodgers' big lie on vaccine costs Packers: Green Bay's superstar quarterback will not play this weekend for the 7-1 Packers because he tested positive for COVID after lying about his vaccination status. Cue State Farm jingle: "Unlike a good neighbor, Aaron wasn't there for his teammates."
6. UM BASKETBALL: College hoops begin for Canes, rest of country: Tuesday is opening day around America in college basketball. In Miami, the Hurricanes men and women -- neither ranked, both looking to tebound from off years -- host soft openings vs. Canisius and Jackson State, respectively.
7. MLB: Atlanta celebrates World Series champions: City of Atlanta held a championship parade and festivities on Friday to celebrate the Braves' first World Series title since 1995. And isn't it just the Marlins luck: The best team in baseball (well, ostensibly) now resides in the NL East.
8. INTER MIAMI: Team Beckham ends disappointing season with win: Inter Miami ended Year 2 12-5-17 and out of the MLS playoffs (that's 12 wins in 34 matches), but on the upbeat with a 1-0 win Sunday on Blaise Matuidi's goal at New England, which has best record in league. Playoffs start November 19.
9. NASCAR: Larson ends season of redemption with NASCAR crown: Kyle Larson spent much of last year suspended for a racial slur. Sunday he was crowned champion of this season at Phoenix, defeating fellow final-four Championship Four finalists Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.
10. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Michigan State loss to shake up CFP rankings Eight more Top 25 teams lost on Saturday -- including No. 3 Michgan State, whch of course will shake up the College Football Playoff top four. Look for the new inside four to be Georgia, Alabama, Oregon and likely Ohio State moving up and in.
Missing the HB10 cut: Reeling Florida Gators now 4-5 after Saturday's 40-17 loss to South Carolina topped state FBS results (non-UM division). Elsewhere, FSU lost to No. 19 N.C. State, UCF edged Tulane, South Florida fell to Houston, FAU lost to Marshall and FIU fell to 1-8 in a loss to Old Dominion ..... Favorite Knicks Go won the 38th Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday in Del Mar, Calif. ..... The New York City marathon returns live Sunday after being held viritually last year because of the COVID pandemic ..... UEFA Champions League is off until November 23 with only four of 32 clubs a perfect 4-0-0: Liverpool, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayern Muncih and Juventus ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode Monday at 7 a.m. ET ..... Update: Countdown now 1,695 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: As Dolphins' Dysfunction Surrounds Him, 10 Ways Tua Is The Unluckiest Man On Earth / State of the Art: Heat, Miami's Best-Run Franchise, Sails In Opener / 'Time to Hunt': Cats' Hyped Season Off to Wild, Winning Start / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / If Sports Had A Spine, Kyrie Irving & Other Anti-Vaxxers Wouldn't Be Playing / Kyle Lowry Must Channel 'Doctor Of Greatness' If Heat Is To Chase NBA Title / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / Why It's Too Soon, And Dumb, To Quit On Tua As Dolphins Answer / Year Of Reckoning, And Impatience, For Slow-Starting Dolphins & Canes / With Ghosts Of Glory Days Watching, Dolphins Showed Inept Effort in Third Straight Loss / Unlucky, But Heat on Manny Diaz Rises With Home Loss In ACC Opener / Tua's Rib Injury In Keeping With Weird, Rocky Start to Dolphins Career / Hope And Hype Are Sky-High. Time For Florida Panthers To Finally Deliver / Miami Herald's 2021 NFL Team Rankings: You Won't Believe Where Dolphins are / Why Dolphins, Canes Should Be Taking Lead In Requiring Fans To Be COVID-Vaccinated / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / Unraveled: The Story Behind Who Aubrey Huff Became / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden / Biggest Victory Of Hall Of Famer Jimmy Johnson's Life Was Getting His Son Back / Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Dolphins Owner Ross Unveils New $135 Million Training Site As Another Reason Team Must Win Now / Hot Seat Scale: Ranking Miami's Biggest Coaches By Most to Least Job Security / May Sha'Carri Richardson Be Last Victim Of Olympics' Archaic Marijuana Rules / 'I'm D'Eriq King For College Hunks Hauling Junk!' It's Strange New World in College Sports / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Fate Snatched Basketball From Chris Bosh. His new Book Is Part of His Journey Of Healing / Where's Tua? Ranking Our Top 15 South Florida Pro Athletes 25 And Younger / Pythons, Peppers, Pirate Flag Raised. Inside Le Batard's 24-Hour Triumph / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / Justice For George Floyd Helps Heal Our Shaken Faith, But Fight For Equality Goes On / What Would Jackie Robinson Think About Race In America Today? / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Women Keep Accusing Deshaun Watson of Sexual Misconduct. But Will It Matter to NFL Teams? / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Beckham's Resolve Tested By Tumult As Inter Miami Nears 2nd MLS Season / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Doesn't Matter If Tiger Woods Never Wins Again. We Are Lucky He's Alive / Final Herald NFL 2020 QB Rankings / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim NG Hire As GM / In a Pandemic-Battered Season For FIU, Butch Davis' Love Of Coaching Survives / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me.
Revisit this blog often because it updates regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors writing awards ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Greg is also a regular on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz.
Finding Greg: Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Columns. Podcast. Podcast on Twitter. Podcast on Instagram. LeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).