November 07, 2022

Latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated): Fins win shootout (with column), Canes get embarrassed (w/ column), CFP chaos, Astros win, Cats/Heat slumping; plus NFL Week 9 picks, new Greg Cote Show podcast out now with Jimmy Johnson & more

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.

CoteshowJjbookGREG 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.

MepicksNFL 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 AlivePawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st SeasonNot 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.

Hb2. 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 LossSorry, Canes, But 20-14 Win At Va-Tech Doesn't Impress Any More Than 3-3 DoesCsonka, ‘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.

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

November 13, 2021

NFL Week 10 picks; plus UM at FSU, Dolphins stun Ravens (with column), Heat's brotherly feud, latest Greg Cote Show podcast & more

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

1) It's SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13. Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): 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.

CoteshowMeonstageGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: LATEST EPISODE LIVE FROM LE BATARD SHOW FAN EVENT: 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 past 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).

Watch for our UM-FSU column online and linked here soon after today's game ends.

My column off Thursday night's Dolphins upset win: Miracles Happen: Crushing 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 / andQuenneville Rightly Sacked as Panthers Coach Over 2010 Chicago Scandal.

PicksNFL WEEK 10 PICKS: GAME OF THE WEEK, 2 BIG UPSETS AND ALL THE REST: NFL Week 10 is upon us with Dolphins hosting Ravens last night and winning, 22-10. That result blindsided; 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.

NFL WEEK 9 RESULTS:

(*) OUR PICKS: OK THIS IS GETTIN' RIDICULOUS: It's midseason and we're fighting uphill to avoid one of our worst seasons in 31 years (since 1991) doing picks in the Herald. Our 8-6 mark overall last week left us at .588 for the season, and our 5-9 against the spread left us at .478 ATS. Bad and bad. Last week I nailed my Upset of the Week with Giants beating Raiders ("Aawwk!"), and had Packers with points at Chiefs, but too little else went right. Good example: A close-don’t-count almost in picking Eagles to upset Chargers. The good news: It’s only halftime of the 2021 season. Lots of games left and a lot of fight left in us to find our groove and ride it to a strong second half!

(*) GREG'S LOBOS: YET ANOTHER WIN AND OUR ROLL CONTINUES!: Lobos won 116-113 last week, beating son Chris led by 31 points from Lamar Jackson. That made us 7-2 and in a two-way tie for first place in the PFPI Fantasy regular season, our 10-team friends 'n family league. Also got 23 from Keenan Allen. 'Bos are playoff-boudn and dreaming championship! 

(*) HERALD NFL QB RANKINGS: IT'S AN L.A., L.A KIND OF WEEK: Chargers' Justin Herbert wins the Week 9 title and the Rams' Matthew Stafford (despite an off game) edges past bye-week Tom Brady for the season lead in the Herald's updated rankings. Details and the latest Top 20: NFL Week 9 QB Rankings.

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Our most recent other columns: Buffalo's Late Classlessness Aside, Miami Out Of Answers In 7th Straight Loss /Hurricanes:U-Turn: UM Season, Diaz Future Looking Up With 2nd Straight Big Win / Quenneville Rightly Sacked as Panthers Coach Over 2010 Chicago Scandal / Dolphins Sabotaging Tua Season Over Misguided Infatuation With Watson / As Dolphins' Dysfunction Surrounds Him, 10 Ways Tua Is The Unluckiest Man On Earth / Tua Shuts Off Noise, Throws 4 TDs, But It Still Isn't Enough / Canes, Embattled Diaz Show The Fight Left In Them /State of the Art: Heat, Miami's Best-Run Franchise, Sails In Opener / and 'Time to Hunt': Cats' Hyped Season Off to Wild, Winning Start

ARCHIVES

Select other recent columns: Tua Looks Good In Return, But Dolphins Lose 5th Straight / Canes, Trying to Save A Season And Maybe A Coach's Job, Fall Short in Chapel Hill / 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 / Loss In Tampa Has Dolphins Season In Free Fall As Embarrassments Pile Up / 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: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio only) and The Ballad Of 1440 (with video).

September 13, 2021

Hot Button Top 10 (updated): Fins win opener at Pats (with my column), Canes barely escape App State, Hall time for Jeter, Bosh; plus the burden on Tua (new column), new Greg Cote Show podcast out Monday & more

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

1) It's MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13. Twenty years ago this past weekend, the world changed, and an attacked America stood strong. NEVER FORGET! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 1 picks, Tua's heavy lifting starts now, 9/11 remembered, Our Orlando vacation, Greg Cote Show podcast & more.

CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: FINS-PATS, SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR GREG IN NEW EPISODE OUT MONDAY!: Our 35th episode of 2021 and 77th overall is out now! A new pod drops every Monday at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. You can find all 77 we've done HERE, for free. In our new episode: A cavalcade of stars from Le Batard Show, ESPN and elsewhere, including special surprises, drop by the podcast to wish Greg a happy birthday. Also, Greg and the guys discuss Dolphins win at Patriots, NFL Week 1 and the Canes two weeks in. 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 on Channel 145).

My Dolphins column from Foxborough: In my column on Miami's 17-16 win at New England, I discuss the problem with the Fins offense as a secondary topic. Mostly I focus on how fitting it ewsas that the player who spent the offsesaon seeking more monbey and respect proved in the opner why he deserved both. For the full column, visit Xavien Howard Deserved the Money and Respect He Wanted -- This Was Why.

PicksNFL Week 1 picks: The Upset Bird and I are back for (hard to believe) our 31st season of NFL picks in the Miami Herald. It's debut week! Visit NFL Week 1 Gems for our pick for Dolphins-Patriots, our Game of the Week, Upset of the Week and all the rest. We peg three big upsets out the gate. Is a Fins win one of them? Got off to a mixed start Thursday night. Had Patriots beating Dallas and covering 8 points. They won but failed to cover.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (SEPTEMBER 12-13): 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:

HButton1. DOLPHINS: Year 2ua launches with big win at New England -- thanks to D: Hopes were high, coming off a 10-6 season, that Year 2 of the Tua Tagovailoa era and Year 3 for coach Brian Flores would see Miami a playoff team on the crest of sustained winning. Well, a good start: 17-16 over Pats, thanks to Xavien Howard's big play late, and first place in AFC East.   

2. HURRICANES: UM narrowly escapes App State: Losing the opener to No. 1 Alabama was excusable (although the 44-13 final was a bit much). But losing Saturday's night's home opener to Appalachian State would have had Canes fans marching with torches and pitchforks and after the head of coach Manny Diaz. Exhale. Calamity avoided. Or at least delayed. Barely. Down from 14th to 22nd in The AP poll, UM stemmed the bleeding (sort of) by surviving Appalachian State 25-23 at home. 

3. MARLINS: Jeter inducted in Cooperstown as season wanes: Marlins president Derek Jeter, inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this week after being voted in on 396 of 397 ballots, thanked writers -- "All but one of you," he said, smiling, of the still-anonymous cretin who denied him 100 percent. Alas, Jeter's Marlins are a disappointing 60-83 in midst of a six-game homestand.

4. HEAT: Bosh inducted into Hall of Fame: Chris Bosh took his place Saturday in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. He's the eighth inductee with Miami Heat ties (Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning at the forefront), and the first since Ray Allen 2018.

5. DON SHULA: Dolphins announce 'Celebration of Life': The Dolphins announced an event to celebrate the ife of legendary coach Don Shula would take place at  at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 2 at Hard Rock Stadium -- the first public ceremony honoring Shula since his passing on May 4, 2020. Registration is open at https://www.miamidolphins.com/don-shula/. The event will be the day before the Dolphins Alumni Weekend game vs. Indianapolis.

6. TENNIS: U.S. Open's unexpected championship weekend: Sunday's men's final? Unexpected: Top-seed Novak Djokovic falling to to second-seed Danii Medvedev. Saturday's women's final? Really unexpected: Emma Raducanu defeating Leylah Fernandez in a thoroughly and refreshingly unexpected duel of little-known, unseeded teenagers. Raducanu, an 18-year-old Brit, became the youngest Grand Slam champion in 17 years and the first player in the pro era to make a major final after playing her way in through qualifying rounds.

7. INTER MIAMI: Hot Herons win again, close in on MLS playoffs: Inter Miami is 8-9-5 but on a 6-1-3 hot streak and now only two points off playoff pace with 10 games left after Saturday night's 1-nil home win over Columbus Crew on a Higuain tally.

8. STATE COLLEGES (NON-UM): Gators angling to crash top 10: The Week 2 Saturday slate (besides Appalachian State at Miami) found No. 13 Florida winning 42-20 at South Florida atop the state FBS marquee. The rest: Jacksonville State stunning FSU at Doak, FIU denied a 2-0 start in home loss to Texas State, FAU routing Georgia Southern, and UCF routing Bethune-Cookman.

9. COLLEGE FOOTBALL (NON-STATE): Early shakeup as No. 3 Ohio State loses: Only two Top 25 duels for Week 2 but both worth a watch as No. 3 Ohio State hosted and lost to No. 12 Oregon, 35-28 -- one week after No. 3 Clemson also lost. And one entire state took Saturday off as 10-Iowa visited and defeated 9-Iowa State.  

10. BOXING : Old boxers and Trump -- Oh God no!: Evander Holyfield, 58 (!), looked his age Saturday night at Hard Rock in a first round TKO loss to former UFC champion Vitor Belfort in what was to be eight two-minute rounds atop a four-fight card. Fight was moved to Miami after California wouldn't sanction it (with reason, apparently). Adding to the spectacle, former President Donald Trump was a ringside commentator. Can't make this s--- up, folks.

Missing the HB10 cut: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice Saturday in in his return to Manchester United in a 4-1 Premier League win over Newcastle United ..... College football's upheaval continues as BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Orlando's UCF accepted invitations to join the decimated but rallying Big 12 conference ..... Miami politicians announced plans to build an 820,000-square foot indoor multi-sports complex called Destination Sport Miami on a 20-acre site just west of the Turnpike and Dolphin Mall ..... U.S. men's national team sits solid with a win and two draws in Word Cup qualifying entering its next match October 7 vs. Jamaica ..... The 43rd Ryder Cup begins September 24 in Wisconsin, and captain Steve Stricker completed the 12-man U.S. team with a blend of experience and youth including six Ryder Cup rookies ..... Denny Hamlin won the first event in the 10-race NASCAR playoffs that continued Saturday at Richmond ..... The Heat announced the retirement of veteran broadcaster Mike Inglis, the team’s radio play-by-play voice for 23 seasons. He'll be replaced by Jason Jackson ..... Florida Panthers announced they have offered NIL (name-image-likeness) contracts to over 200 female athletes at FAU. Each athlete is invited to attend Panthers games and get a free t-shirt (!) ..... Less ridiculous, the Panthers' four-day developmental camp runs through Tuesday in Coral Springs ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode Monday at 7 a.m. ET ..... Update: Countdown now 1,751 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

Other most recent columns: Canes Can Shock the World and Beat Alabama. Here's How [Update: Oops!] / Belichick Must Be Smiling As Dolphins Deal With Rumors And Tua With Doubt / and Fins' Faith In Tua Will Be A Lie If They Sell Soul, Spend Big For Watson. Also: There Is Only One Way an ACC/Big Ten/Pac-12 Alliance Can Out-SEC the SEC / Time to Finally Start Believing in Tua, Flores and Miami Dolphins / 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 / Dolphins' 'Big Picture' Begins To Emerge With Unveiling Of Year 2ua / Unraveled: The Story Behind Who Aubrey Huff Became / and What Lionel Messi's Sudden, Stunning Move Means For Inter Miami

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

ARCHIVES

Bobby  Bowden tribute column: College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden

Hall of Fame quartet: Biggest Victory Of Hall Of Famer Jimmy Johnson's Life Was Getting His Son Back / Hurricanes' Edgerrin James / Dillard High's Isaac Bruce / and Coral Springs High's Steve Hutchinson.

Select other columns: Xavien Howard Right To Feel Disrespected, And Dolphins Need To Fix This Mess / Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Top 10 NFL Storylines Entering Training Camp (Where's Tua?) / 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 / It's Selfish, Me-First Athletes Who Are Refusing the COVID Vaccine / Hot Seat Scale: Ranking Miami's Biggest Coaches By Most to Least Job Security / Tokyo Olympics Should Be Delayed Again But It's Too Late. Why? Money / 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 / Time For Sports To Quit Hiding, Stand Up And Lead The Pro-Vaccine Fight / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Exhibition Losses Give Team USA Wakeup Call It Needs Headed to Olympics / Better 2 Years Late Than Never, Panthers Get 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend / Fate Snatched Basketball From Chris Bosh. His new Book Is Part of His Journey Of Healing / Here's What Else Must Go Right (Besides Tua) For Dolphins To Continue Momentum / Where's Tua? Ranking Our Top 15 South Florida Pro Athletes 25 And Younger / As Teams Like Miami Pray For Right QB, Packers' Disrespect Of Rodgers Is Galling / Messi-to-Miami Is Shot of Hope David Beckham's Troubled Soccer Club Needs / Miami Heat, With No Answers, Put Out of Misery In Game 4 Loss To Milwaukee / Another Early Panthers Playoff Exit Ends An Encouraging Season Too Soon / Pythons, Peppers, Pirate Flag Raised. Inside Le Batard's 24-Hour Triumph / The Curious, Complicated Drama Of Naomi Osaka's French Open Withdrawal / Hall of Fame Snubbed Chris Bosh Last year. Time To Make it Right / Aging Ex-Dolphins Reflect On Own Mortality One Year After Shula's Death / Aaron Rodgers' Packers Drama Involves Miami (Of Course). But Here's Why It Won't Happen / Grade-A Draft Feeds Momentum For Team-On-the-Rise Dolphins / 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? / It Won't Fix the World, But Matsuyama's Masters Win Lifts Japan In Time Of Anti-Asian Hate / Even After Playoffs In '20, Marlins Still 'Bottom Feeders' Fighting For Respect / Special Opening Day as Marlins Welcome Back Fans, Feeling Of Hope / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Beckham Keeps Name-Dropping Messi, Ronaldo For Inter Miami. Can He Deliver? / Women Keep Accusing Deshaun Watson of Sexual Misconduct. But Will It Matter to NFL Teams? / Phil Reflects on 25-Year Rivalry/Friendship With Tiger As Honda Classic Tees Off / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Heat Should Parts Ways With Meyers Leonard Over Anti-Semitic Slur / 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 / Quit Lecturing LeBron On Activism And His Own Conscience / Michael Jordan, Pitbull Signal Needed New Era as NASCAR Returns to Homestead / Doesn't Matter If Tiger Woods Never Wins Again. We Are Lucky He's Alive / Loss at Aussie Open Leaves Serena's Legacy Firm Yet Still Unfinished / Inter Miami's Beckham Risks Stepping Into Massive, Avoidable Mess / Put Brady In Sports' All-Time Pantheon. But He Has Company / 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. / and What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me.

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

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

September 03, 2021

Latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated): Canes get schooled by Bama, Dolphins prep for Pats, Bosh's big day. See who's No. 1 (well no duh) and what else falls where as football takes over the world; plus Greg Cote Show podcast update & more

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

1) It's FRIDAY-TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3-7. We're off on a (rather spectacularly ill-timed) holiday for a few days. Back early next week. 2) Was back on the Le Batard Show this past Tuesday. Check out that day's show podcasts. 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): The Hurricanes' best shot at beating Alabama, 2 columns on Dolphins' hell week fighting Watson rumors, Latest Greg Cote Show podcast & more.

Lobos CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: GREG'S LOBOS AND PFPI FANTASY DRAFT OUT NOW: Our 34th episode of 2021 and 76th overall is out now! A new pod drops every Monday at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. You can find all 76 we've done HERE, for free. In our most recent episode: Join the Cote family and friends and hear all the fun banter during the PFPI Fantasy Draft featuring Greg's Lobos, and emceed by Greg, followed by pool time and a Paella Party. You'll feel like you were there! Also: Greg discusses the resurfaced Deshaun Watson-to-Dolphins rumors, and we debut a new song revealing Greg's Lobos on HBO's Hard Knocks. No new episode this coming week because we're on vacation. Perfect time to catch up with our whole catalog. Watch for a new episode September 13! 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 on Channel 145).

Featured recent columns: Canes-Bama, Dolphins drama & more

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (SEPTEMBER 3-7): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive (usually) 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:

HButton1. HURRICANES: Canes clobbered by Bama in season opener: The No. 14-ranked Canes were 19 1/2-point underdogs to reigning national champion and No. 1 Alabama Saturday in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta -- and the odds were underlined in the Crimson Tide's 44-13 rout. Bryce Young thoroughly outplayed D'Eriq King  in the QB battle and it was men against boys on defense. So is The U "back'?" Next question, please.

2. DOLPHINS: Fins prepare for Pats, Mac Jones in opener as Watson rumors ebb: Miami prepares to visit AFC East rival New England in its September 12 NFL season opener. And it'll be Tua Tagovailoa vs. Mac Jones in a duel of ex-Alabama quarterbacks as the Pats cut Cam Newton and the Fins' reported interest in Deshaun Watson has borne nothing but ill-timed rumors as fruit.

3. HEAT: Bosh gets his due with Hall of Fame induction: Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021 -- including former Miami Heat star Chris Bosh -- is honored next Saturday (the 11th) in Springfield, Mass. Pat Riley and Ray Allen will present Bosh. Other notable inductees include Paul Pierce, Ben Wallace, Bill Russell (as a coach), Chris Webber, Rick Adelman, Jay Wright, Yolanda Griffth and Lauren Jackson.

4. STATE COLLEGES (NON-UM): Gators, Noles, FIU debut; Orange Blossom Classic returns: In sequence: Thursday--FIU routed Long Island University 48-10; UCF rallied past Boise State 36-31; and South Florida got embarrassed at N.C. State 45-0. Saturday--FAU lost predictably at No. 13 Florida 35-14. Tonight/Sunday--No. 9 Notre Dame at Florida State. Non-FBS-level but also notable Sunday: Deion Sanders' Jackson State vs. FAMU at Hard Rock in a welcome renewal of famed Orange Blossom Classic for HBCU teams, last played in 1978.

5. COLLEGE FOOTBALL (NON-STATE): Week 1 begins in full with Clemson-Georgia atop marquee: FBS-level college football had a soft opening with "Week 0" last week but began in full Saturday. Besides UM-Alabama, biggest Week 1 matchup nationally was No. 5 Georgia at No. 3 Clemson on Saturday -- and the Bulldogs were upset winners in a 10-3 defensive gem.

6. INTER MIAMI: Hot Herons rally into MLS playoff chase: Inter Mia is 7-9-5 but on a 5-1-3 hot streak after a 1-0 win at Cincinnati Saturday night. The Herons' run of late -- one loss in past nine matches -- has drawn them within four points of playoff pace with 11 matches left. Meanwhile David Beckham signed his son Romeo, 19, to the club's Fort Lauderdale minor league team.

7. MARLINS: Fish escape NL East cellar!: Miami is 57-80 but a warm 6-4 lately and (for now) out of the NL East cellar. Miami continues a six-game homestand with three games vs. the Mets starting Tuesday.

8. GOLF: Cantlay wins FedEx Cup playoffs: The Tour Championship in Atlanta Sunday crowned the winner of the PGA Tour's three-event FedEx Cup playoffs -- and it was Patrick Cantlay protecting his lead to win the $15 million prize. Jon Rahm was runnerup as the PGA Tour completed its season.

9. OLYMPICS: Paralympic Games wrapping up in Tokyo: The 16th Paralympic Summer Games end today/Sunday in Tokyo, and the U.S. team finished fourth in overall medals and third in golds, with China easily atop both categories. U.S. is the all-time Paralympic medals leader but last led in gold and overall medals in 1996.

10. TENNIS: U.S. Open reaches its midpoint: The year's final tennis major is on in flash-flood-bothered New York and scheduled to end next Sunday, with notable stars including Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Serena Williams not playing due to injuries. No. 1 seed and betting favorite Novak Djokovic remains alive, But women's faves Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka both are eliminated.

Missing the HB10 cut: U.S. men's national soccer team played El Salvador to a 0-0 draw Thursday night in its first World Cup qualifying match -- but without star Christian Pulisic, who is recovering from a positive COVID test despite (he says) being vaccinated ..... ESPN gets duped by nationally televising a high school football game involving a fake team, "Bishop Sycamore." That's B.S. High, for short. Hilarious! ..... The course for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix debuting in 2022 will be called the Miami International Autodrome. So there ..... Canada beat the U.S., the five-time defending champion, 3-2 in overtime to win gold in the women's hockey world championship ..... The Mets made Francisco Lindor and Javer Baez pretend to be sorry for giving thumbs-down gestures to fans after getting booed recently ..... Beginning to think creepy Trevor Bauer may never pitch again, and pretty damned happy about that ..... Honduran club Olimpia and Mexican club Pachuca meet Sunday in a soccer friendly at Inter Miami's stadium in Fort Lauderdale ..... Florida Panthers' developmental camp begins this Friday September 10 ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is out with a new episode Monday at 7 a.m. ET ..... Update: Countdown now 1,758 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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

ARCHIVES

Bobby  Bowden tribute column: College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden

Hall of Fame quartet: Biggest Victory Of Hall Of Famer Jimmy Johnson's Life Was Getting His Son Back / Hurricanes' Edgerrin James / Dillard High's Isaac Bruce / and Coral Springs High's Steve Hutchinson.

Additional recent other columns: Xavien Howard Right To Feel Disrespected, And Dolphins Need To Fix This Mess / Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Top 10 NFL Storylines Entering Training Camp (Where's Tua?) / 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 / It's Selfish, Me-First Athletes Who Are Refusing the COVID Vaccine / Hot Seat Scale: Ranking Miami's Biggest Coaches By Most to Least Job Security / Tokyo Olympics Should Be Delayed Again But It's Too Late. Why? Money / 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 / Time For Sports To Quit Hiding, Stand Up And Lead The Pro-Vaccine Fight / and Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History.

Select other columns: Exhibition Losses Give Team USA Wakeup Call It Needs Headed to Olympics / Better 2 Years Late Than Never, Panthers Get 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend / Fate Snatched Basketball From Chris Bosh. His new Book Is Part of His Journey Of Healing / Here's What Else Must Go Right (Besides Tua) For Dolphins To Continue Momentum / Where's Tua? Ranking Our Top 15 South Florida Pro Athletes 25 And Younger / As Teams Like Miami Pray For Right QB, Packers' Disrespect Of Rodgers Is Galling / Messi-to-Miami Is Shot of Hope David Beckham's Troubled Soccer Club Needs / Miami Heat, With No Answers, Put Out of Misery In Game 4 Loss To Milwaukee / Another Early Panthers Playoff Exit Ends An Encouraging Season Too Soon / Pythons, Peppers, Pirate Flag Raised. Inside Le Batard's 24-Hour Triumph / The Curious, Complicated Drama Of Naomi Osaka's French Open Withdrawal / Hall of Fame Snubbed Chris Bosh Last year. Time To Make it Right / Aging Ex-Dolphins Reflect On Own Mortality One Year After Shula's Death / Aaron Rodgers' Packers Drama Involves Miami (Of Course). But Here's Why It Won't Happen / Grade-A Draft Feeds Momentum For Team-On-the-Rise Dolphins / 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? / It Won't Fix the World, But Matsuyama's Masters Win Lifts Japan In Time Of Anti-Asian Hate / Even After Playoffs In '20, Marlins Still 'Bottom Feeders' Fighting For Respect / Special Opening Day as Marlins Welcome Back Fans, Feeling Of Hope / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Beckham Keeps Name-Dropping Messi, Ronaldo For Inter Miami. Can He Deliver? / Women Keep Accusing Deshaun Watson of Sexual Misconduct. But Will It Matter to NFL Teams? / Phil Reflects on 25-Year Rivalry/Friendship With Tiger As Honda Classic Tees Off / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Heat Should Parts Ways With Meyers Leonard Over Anti-Semitic Slur / 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 / Quit Lecturing LeBron On Activism And His Own Conscience / Michael Jordan, Pitbull Signal Needed New Era as NASCAR Returns to Homestead / Doesn't Matter If Tiger Woods Never Wins Again. We Are Lucky He's Alive / Loss at Aussie Open Leaves Serena's Legacy Firm Yet Still Unfinished / Inter Miami's Beckham Risks Stepping Into Massive, Avoidable Mess / Put Brady In Sports' All-Time Pantheon. But He Has Company / 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. / and What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me.

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

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

August 30, 2021

New Hot Button Top 10 (updated): Fins/Watson rumors return, Canes-Bama week, Messi/Ronaldo, hot Fish. See who's No. 1 and what else falls where this week; plus new Greg Cote Show podcast out now (!) & more

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

1) It's MONDAY, AUGUST 30. Was back on the Le Batard Show last week for first time in awhile, the holdout suspended, not ended. Unsure about this Tuesday. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on TwitterInstagram and now TikTok, too! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Only one way ACC/Big Ten/Pac-12 alliance can out-SEC the SEC, Time to start believing in Tua and Dolphins, Greg Cote Show podcast, R.I.P. Charlie Watts & more.

CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE -- GREG'S LOBOS AND THE PFPI FANTASY DRAFT -- OUT NOW!: Our 34th episode of 2021 and 76th overall is out now! A new pod drops every Monday at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. You can find all 76 we've done HERE, for free. In our newest episode: Join the Cote family and friends on a fun-filled Saturday. Hear all the banter during the PFPI Fantasy Draft featuring Greg's Lobos, and emceed by Greg, followed by pool time and a Paella Party. You'll feel like you were there! Also: Greg discusses the return of Deshaun Watson-to-Dolphins rumors, and we debut a new song revealing Greg's Lobos being featured on HBO's Hard Knocks. 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 on Channel 145).

Our most recent columns: There Is Only One Way an ACC/Big Ten/Pac-12 Alliance Can Out-SEC the SEC / Time to Finally Start Believing in Tua, Flores and Miami Dolphins / and Why Dolphins, Canes Should Be Taking Lead In Requiring Fans To Be COVID-Vaccinated. Also: An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / Dolphins' 'Big Picture' Begins To Emerge With Unveiling Of Year 2 Tua / Unraveled: The Story Behind Who Aubrey Huff Became / and What Lionel Messi's Sudden, Stunning Move Means For Inter Miami.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (AUGUST 29-30): 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:

HButton1. DOLPHINS: Watson talk resurfaces, ill-timed, as Fins close preseason: Miami ended the preseason 2-1 with a 29-26 win at Cincinnati Sunday, with Tua Tagovailoa not playing and Joe Burrow throwing one pass. Third-stringer Reid Sinnett led Fins with 343 yards passing. Meanwhile, with season starting in two weeks, distraction-with-a-capital-D-speculation about DeShaun Watson landing in Miami resurface with a Saturday Yahoo Sports report that Fins and Denver are the two finalists to trade for him. Houston wants three first-round pick and two seconds. That's a ton, given his well-known legal situation and the specter of a major league suspension apart from the civil/legal cloud.

2. HURRICANES: Football! Countdown 5 days 'til Saban and No. 1 Alabama: The No. 14-ranked Canes open Year 3 for Manny Diaz and QB D'Eriq King's senior season vs. No. 1 reigning national champion Alabama and Nick Saban next Saturday in Atlanta. King hasn't blinked, said, "I expect to finish No. 1. I don't expect to lose to any team." It's the ultimate statement game right out the gate. The statement one way or the other: "The U is back!" Or, "Not yet, Miami."

3. SOCCER: Messi makes PSG debut, Ronaldo back to Man U: Big week for the two greatest active players in international futbol. Lionel Messi made his debut for Paris Saint-Germain Sunday in a league match at Reims, setting viewing records in Spain. And Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is heading back to the Premier League and Manchester United, the team that turned him into a global superstar.

4. INTER MIAMI: Hot Herons continue playoff chase Friday at Orlando: MLS All-Stars including Inter Miami's Rodolfo Pizarro beat Liga MX all-stars on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Los Angeles this week, with the game halted briefly as Mexican fans (as is their notorious, embarrassing custom) broke into homophobic chants. Inter Mia (6-9-4 but on a 4-1-2 hot streak) plays at Orlando Friday night as MLS league plays resumes.

5. STATE COLLEGES (NON-UM): Gators, Noles, FIU and return of Orange Blossom Classic: In sequence: Thursday--Long Island University at FIU; Boise State at UCF; and South Florida at North Carolina State. Saturday--FAU at No. 13 Florida. Next Sunday--No. 9 Notre Dame at Florida State. Not FBS-level but also notable next Sunday: Deion Sanders' Jackson State vs. FAMU at Hard Rock in a welcome renewal of the famed Orange Blossom Classic for HBCU teams, last played in 1978.

6. MARLINS: Fish heat up after 8-game skid: Miami is 55-76 having won four of past five after an eight-game losing skid with Sunday's 2-1 win over visiting Cincinnati to end a six-game homestand. Marlins now play three games at Mets.

7. TENNIS: Depleted U.S. Open begins on Sunday: The year's final tennis major began Sunday in New York -- but with notable stars including Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Serena Williams all out injured. Betting favorites are Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka.

8. COLLEGE FOOTBALL (NON-STATE): We have liftoff! Six Saturday games just opened 2021 season: FBS-level college football kicked off Saturday/yesterday with five games, none involving a Top 25 team. Besides UM-Alabama, biggest Week 1 matchup nationally is No. 5 Georgia at No. 3 Clemson next Saturday. Three other Top 25 Week 1 matchups that day are 19-Penn State at 12-Wisconsin, 17-Indiana at 18-Iowa and 23-Louisiana at 21-Texas. 

9. OLYMPICS: Paralympic Games underway in Tokyo: The 16th Tokyo Paralympic Olympics Summer Games began this week and continue through next Sunday. U.S. has lagged early in the medal count. The U.S. is third in golds and overall medals, trailing China and Great Britain in both categories.

10. YOUTH SPORTS: Michigan teams reigns in Little League World Series: The Little League World Series ends Sunday with Taylor, Michigan beating Westside, Ohio from the same Great Lakes Region in the championship game. South Dakota pitcher Gavin Weir, who dominated the LLWS with two no-hitters and struck out almost everybody -- his team fell one win short of the title game.

Missing the HB10 cut: Patrick Cantlay won the BMW Championship on Sunday and goes to the Tour Championship next week with a 2-shot lead over Tony Finau in the final of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs ..... Honduran club Olimpia and Mexican club Pachuca meet next Sunday in a soccer friendly at Inter Miami's stadium in Fort Lauderdale ..... The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix debuting in 2022 named veteran F1 race promoter Richard Cregan as chief executive officer ..... Upcoming: Florida Panthers' developmental camp opens September 10 ..... Also on deck: Chris Bosh's Hall of Fame induction September 11 ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is out with a new episode Monday at 7 a.m. ET ..... Update: Countdown now 1,765 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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

ARCHIVES

Bobby  Bowden tribute column: College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden

Hall of Fame quartet: Columns on the four men with strong South Florida ties enshrined last week in Canton: Biggest Victory Of Hall Of Famer Jimmy Johnson's Life Was Getting His Son Back / Hurricanes' Edgerrin James / Dillard High's Isaac Bruce / and Coral Springs High's Steve Hutchinson.

Additional recent other columns: Xavien Howard Right To Feel Disrespected, And Dolphins Need To Fix This Mess / Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Top 10 NFL Storylines Entering Training Camp (Where's Tua?) / 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 / It's Selfish, Me-First Athletes Who Are Refusing the COVID Vaccine / Hot Seat Scale: Ranking Miami's Biggest Coaches By Most to Least Job Security / Tokyo Olympics Should Be Delayed Again But It's Too Late. Why? Money / 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 / Time For Sports To Quit Hiding, Stand Up And Lead The Pro-Vaccine Fight / and Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History.

Select other columns: Exhibition Losses Give Team USA Wakeup Call It Needs Headed to Olympics / Better 2 Years Late Than Never, Panthers Get 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend / Fate Snatched Basketball From Chris Bosh. His new Book Is Part of His Journey Of Healing / Here's What Else Must Go Right (Besides Tua) For Dolphins To Continue Momentum / Where's Tua? Ranking Our Top 15 South Florida Pro Athletes 25 And Younger / As Teams Like Miami Pray For Right QB, Packers' Disrespect Of Rodgers Is Galling / Messi-to-Miami Is Shot of Hope David Beckham's Troubled Soccer Club Needs / Miami Heat, With No Answers, Put Out of Misery In Game 4 Loss To Milwaukee / Another Early Panthers Playoff Exit Ends An Encouraging Season Too Soon / Pythons, Peppers, Pirate Flag Raised. Inside Le Batard's 24-Hour Triumph / The Curious, Complicated Drama Of Naomi Osaka's French Open Withdrawal / Hall of Fame Snubbed Chris Bosh Last year. Time To Make it Right / Aging Ex-Dolphins Reflect On Own Mortality One Year After Shula's Death / Aaron Rodgers' Packers Drama Involves Miami (Of Course). But Here's Why It Won't Happen / Grade-A Draft Feeds Momentum For Team-On-the-Rise Dolphins / 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? / It Won't Fix the World, But Matsuyama's Masters Win Lifts Japan In Time Of Anti-Asian Hate / Even After Playoffs In '20, Marlins Still 'Bottom Feeders' Fighting For Respect / Special Opening Day as Marlins Welcome Back Fans, Feeling Of Hope / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Beckham Keeps Name-Dropping Messi, Ronaldo For Inter Miami. Can He Deliver? / Women Keep Accusing Deshaun Watson of Sexual Misconduct. But Will It Matter to NFL Teams? / Phil Reflects on 25-Year Rivalry/Friendship With Tiger As Honda Classic Tees Off / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Heat Should Parts Ways With Meyers Leonard Over Anti-Semitic Slur / 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 / Quit Lecturing LeBron On Activism And His Own Conscience / Michael Jordan, Pitbull Signal Needed New Era as NASCAR Returns to Homestead / Doesn't Matter If Tiger Woods Never Wins Again. We Are Lucky He's Alive / Loss at Aussie Open Leaves Serena's Legacy Firm Yet Still Unfinished / Inter Miami's Beckham Risks Stepping Into Massive, Avoidable Mess / Put Brady In Sports' All-Time Pantheon. But He Has Company / 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. / and What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me.

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

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

November 23, 2020

G10: Dolphins fall at Denver 20-13. Tua benched but still starter; plus latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated), new Greg Cote Show podcast out now & more

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

1) It's MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th president of the United States, was assassinated in Dallas 57 years ago yesterday. Never forget. 2) Note to readers: Not been writing as much lately because I'm burning a bunch of unused vacation time before end of year. But the blog still chugs on! 3) The Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram. Join us on both! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 11 picks, Hurricanes season rocked and postponed by COVID, Greg Cote Show podcast Episode 37 & more. 5) Join me on Twitter and Instagram.

Some of our most recent stuff: Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim NG Hire As GM / Herald Week 10 NFL QB Rankings / Top-10 But Underdogs, Disrespected Hurricanes Rally Past VT in Blacksburg / and In a Pandemic-Battered Season For FIU, Butch Davis' Love Of Coaching Survives.

CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our Miami Herald podcast debuted in March and the new Episode 38 is out now! A new pod drops every Monday morning on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 38 we've done so far RIGHT HERE for free. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review. In Ep38 we welcome in special guest Christie Cote to share family secrets and embarrassing stories about her husband Chris and father-in-law Greg. She also talks about being a fan of the winless Jets -- the Dolphins' next opponent. Greg and Chris also chat up Sunday's Fins loss in Denver. And of course there's a new Mount Gregmore (U's) and more. Appreciate you listening each week and check out the new ep!

MiadenverG10: DOLPHINS FALL AT DENVER 20-13. TUA BENCHED BUT STILL STARTER: Miami was due a loss after five straight wins, and Tua was due a less than stellar start. Both happened Sunday as the Dolphins missed a great chance to tie for the AFC East lead and solidify their playoff hopes. Original post: Tua Tagovailoa is 3-0 as a starter with five touchdown passes and zero interceptions — only the second rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl era (Carson Wentz, 2016) to start 3-0 with zero picks. If Tagovailoa bags a fourth consecutive victory Sunday to begin his career he will be only the second rook since 1976 to do that, and the first since Ben Roethlisberger in 2004. Heady stuff, the way the Golden Samoan has introduced himself to Miami. He has helped make the Fins one of 15 teams with six-plus wins, the most ever entering Week 11. He also is a win in Denver Sunday (4:05 p.m., CBS) from hoisting Miami into a tie for the AFC East lead with idle Buffalo. This might give us pause: Miami somehow has lost 10 consecutive road games vs. teams with losing records. Except: Denver has lost eight of the past nine at home vs. teams with winning records. Mile High is no longer a scary visit. The Broncos are in shambles. QB Drew Lock (ribs) is iffy to play and has 10 interceptions in past five games when he does play. The once-proud Denver defense has allowed an average of 36 points during the past four games. The Broncos’ decline and the way Miami is playing are a stark contrast. Can’t recall when last I said what I’m about to: Miami losing on the road Sunday would be a huge surprise. My pick: Dolphins (-3), 27-13. For all of our latest King Sport picks (we're coming off an 11-3 week against the spread), visit NFL Week 11 Gems.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 22-23): 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:

1HButton1. DOLPHINS: Tua Train pulls into Denver, gets derailed in loss: Favored at Denver Sunday and with Jets and Bengals next, we thought Miami could very plausibly be 9-3 after a dozen games. Now, maybe 8-4? The playoffs still loom realistically, by Miami likely must win the next two to have a cushion entering a much tougher four-game stretch to end the regular season. A bit of pressure on Tua Tagovailoa now, too, after his benching late in Sunday's 20-13 loss.

2. HEAT: Miami nabs Memphis forward in NBA Draft, re-signs Dragic: The Heat selected Memphis 6-9 forward Precious Achiuwa 20th overall, seeing him as a big who'll back up Bam Adebayo. Precious has sisters named Grace and Peace, and brothers named Promise, God'sgift, God'swill and God’slove. If Precious is as good at basketball as his family is at naming babies, Miami just won the draft. Free agency opened two days after the draft and Miami quickly re-signed Goran Dragic and role player Meyers Leonard, but is lsing Jae Crowder to Phoenix.

3. HURRICANES: COVID outbreak disrupts, postpones UM season: No. 12 Canes -- how do you win and then drop three spots in The AP poll? -- were supposed to host Georgia Tech Saturday night. But the global coronavirus pandemic had something to say about that. A COVID outbreak got in the way, with much of the UM team including coach Manny Diaz in isolation after positive tests. Presuming no further outbreak, Hurricanes won't play again until December 5 at Wake Forest.

4. INTER MIAMI: Quick playoff exit ends strangest of rookie years: Inter Miami has finished its inaugural expansion season in Major League Soccer with a 7-14-3 record after Friday night's 3-0 loss at Nashville in the first round of the expanded playoffs. Miami had won its final regular season match to clinch the 10th and last spot in the East playoffs. Inter Miami starters Gonzalo Higuain and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez did not play Friday after ill-timed COVID test-positives.

5. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: First CFP ranking due as virus ravages season: The first College Football Playoff raking is out Tuesday and good luck to the committee making sense of this season. Nineteen more games were canceled (12) and postponed (7) this week, including ppd's for Miami-Georgia Tech (see above) and FSU-Clemson. Some games were played. Among results: Gators beat Vandy, FAU won and FIU lost (again).

6. NBA: Crazy week as free agency rolls out two days after draft: A whirlwind: Chris Paul to Suns. Jrue Holiday to Hornets. James Harden turns down $50 million to stay as he attemts to broker deal to join Nets. Anthony Davis not recommitting to Lakers just yet. Giannis mulling options. Toronto re-signs Fred VanFleet. Oh, and Raptors will open season in Tampa after Canada says no home games in Toronto just yet. 

7. UM BASKETBALL: It's opening week for Canes and college hoops: Under the shadow of a pandemic, college basketball gets underway Wednesday, with Gonzaga (AP) and Baylor (coaches) No. 1 in the men's polls and South Carolina dominant in the women's rankings. It's a season of low expectations for UM, with neither team ranked or receiving votes. Canes women open Wednesday at home vs. Jacksonville; Miami men launch next Sunday vs. North Florida.

8. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Champion LSU rocked by scandal: Ed Orgeron's reigning national champion LSU Tigers program is under fire after a USA Today investigative report found systemic mishandling of sexual misconduct and dating violence complaints against the school's football team. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he was "deeply troubled" and has called for an investigation, and the NCAA won't be far behind.

9. SOCCER: Champions League play resumes this week: UEFA Champions League group play continues Tuesday toward a winnowing to the round of 16. Barcelona, one of four team that are a perfect 3-0 thus far, plays Tuesday. The other three perfectos, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Liverpool, get back at it Wednesday. Two more weeks of play will follow to complete the group stage.

10. THANKSGIVING: Time to give thanks, if at all possible: Thursday we eat (a lot), watch football (a lot), and enjoy the company of loved ones (but not too close). Many of us, when we say grace before the Thanksgiving banquet, count the blessings of the year. In cursed 2020, that could make for a record-short grace. "Thank God this !@#$%in' year is almost over! Let's eat."

Missing the HB10 cut: Waiting for that first big Marlins offseason deal to trumpet GM Kim Ng's arrival ..... R.I.P., Jake Scott, Dolphins career leader in interceptions. Free safety, free spirit, gone at 75 ..... As MLB free agency rolls out, sport suspended Mets 2B Robinson Cano an entire season for PEDs. So long, Cooperstown ..... Baseball Hall of Fame ballots have been mailed, and I (a voter) received mine. Rudy Guiliani is standing by to contest the results of the election ..... The wife of Lions QB Matthew Stafford on Instagram called Michigan a "dictatorship" for its COVID lockdown rules, was shouted down by rational people aware there is a pandemic, and had to apologize ..... LaVar Ball vs. Michael Jordan 1-on-1? Yes, please. But only if it is guaranteed MJ will crush and humiliate the world's most annoying sports dad ..... Florida Panthers have entered into an affiliation agreement with the ECHL's Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Minor-league nicknames rule! ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast's new Episode 38 drops Monday! ..... Update: Countdown now 2,045 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

Select other most recent columns: Stop the Silly Noise And Speculation. Give Dolphins' Tua Time And a Fair Chance / Fans of ESPN's Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz Should Prepare For Another Change / Dolphins Defense Makes It Easy For Tua In First NFL Start Drama, Controversy, Torqued-Up Pressure: Welcome to Tua Week In Miami / Turner, With COVID, Joining Dodgers Celebration A Sadly Fitting End to Season  / Dolphins Turning to Tua Now Is Risky -- But Right Move/ and Heat, Marlins, Canes -- now Tua. Miserable 2020 Suddenly Great Time To Be Miami Fan.

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THE ARCHIVES:

Heat NBA Finals columns: Game 6--LeBron Reigns, But Credit Heat For Unexpected Run to Finals. Game 5--They're Alive! Butler, Heat Beat Lakers, Get to Game 6 In NBA FInals. Game 4--Lakers in 3-1 Command in NBA Finals, But Don't Write Off Heat Yet. Game 3--Jimmy Butler's 40 Gives Heat New Life in NBA Finals. Game 2--NBA Finals Slipping Away As Heat Lose Again. Game 1-- Riley Wants Heat to Beat LeBron So Bad, But Opening Loss a Reality Check.

Marlins postseason run columns: NLDS Game 3--Marlins Season Was A Miracle But Way It Ended Is Lesson On Work Still Ahead. Game 2--Marlins Fall Again, Join Heat On Brink Of Elimination. Game 1--Braves Homers, Bullpen Collapse Bury Marlins in NLDS Game 1. Columns from two wins over Cubs in wild-card round: Miracle Marlins Advance in NL Playoffs and Seventeen Years Out of Playoffs, Marlins Return in Style.

Select other 2020 columns: 'If I Die, I Die.' QB Cousins' Shamefully Cavalier Attitude On Pandemic / Boycott Of NBA Playoffs Shows Nation That Injustice Is Bigger Than Sports Right Now / Having Fans at Dolphins, Canes Games A Bad Idea And Big Risk / For Marlins, A Home Opener -- And First Place -- In Mid-August / As Panthers Move on From Tallon, Who's Next Miami Team Executive on Hot Seat? / 'Perfect Storm For Virus Transmission': Why Football Is Struggling to Lift Off / Marlins Delaying Home Opener For COVID Outbreak a Scary Lesson For All Sports / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. They Boy Was Me / It Took George Floyd To Finally Wake Up White America / Goodell's NFL Response to Floyd Killing Is Hypocrisy At Its Most Ironic / and George Floyd Is Why Kaepernick & Sports Must Continue Fight For Social Justice

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 on ESPN Radio. Finding Greg: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio) and The Ballad Of 1440 (video).

September 28, 2020

Latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated): History! 4-way tie for 1st: Marlins in playoffs, Heat in Finals vs. LeBron, UM crushes FSU, Fins crush Jax; plus our Six Pack 'O Takeaways from Canes-Noles, Greg Cote Show podcast new Episode 30 out now & more

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

1) It's MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28. If you missed who won the week, who leads the early season Top 20 and where Fins' Ryan Fitzpatrick lands, check out our NFL Week 2 QB Rankings2) The Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram. Follow us on both! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins crush Jacksonville, Greg Cote Show podcast Episode 29 & more. 4) Join us on Twitter and Instagram.

Our latest NFL picks: NFL Week 3 Gems.

HEAT IN FINALS VS. LEBRON!: For my column off last night's Game 6 win that catapulted Miami into the NBA Finals, visit Heat Wins East, Reaches NBA Finals Vs. LeBron. Off Game 5: Heat Lose, Still Lead 3-2. The Prize? An NBA Finals Date With LeBron. Game 4: Conquering Herro! Rookie's 37 Has Heat 1 Win From NBA Finals. G3: The Fun Starts Now As Heat's Joy-Ride Postseason Finally Hit a Bump. G2: Miracle Or Magic, Miami Heat's Stunning Postseason Run Continues. G1: Unexpected Playoff Run Makes Miami Heat the Most Fun Ride In Sports Right Now].

Newest Dolphins columns: Off Thursday night's big win in Jacksonville: We All Want Dolphins to Unveil Tua, But Appreciate the Ryan Fitzpatrick We Just Saw. Off Game 2: Power Outage, Lightning Delay, No Pass Defense As Dolphins Drop Home Opener to Bills. Off Game 1: Dolphins Lose to Pats, But Win With No-Hurry Plan On Tua.

SixpackCANES 52, FSU 10: OUR SIX PACK 'O TAKEAWAYS: For our column from last night's UM win, visit Canes Score Biggest Rout Of FSU in 44 Years. Soon, We Find Out How Good UM Really Is. Six Pack 'O Takeaways: 1. King D'Eriq. Transfer D'Eriq King continues his excellent play and is nominating himself as UM's best QB since Ken Dorsey closed out the glory years. 2. Putting the No in Noles. After losing seven in a row to its state and ACC rival, Miami has now beaten FSU four straight times. 3. Kickin' It. After the field goal and extra point nightmare that contributed to 2019's 6-7 record, transfer kicker Jose Borregales has been a godsend. 4. Monster D. Six sacks, seven hurries 13 tackles for loss. Canes defense had its way. P.S., Noles QB James Blackman? Not very good. 5. Discipline. Miami needs more of it. Two defensive ejections last night, too many penalties. Against better foes, those things can beat you. 6. Next, please. As the gist of my game column stressed, UM's 3-0 start gets its ultimate test at No.1 Clemson on October 10. Are the Canes teasing us again? Soon we find out.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (SEPTEMBER 27-28): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. This week's HB10:

HButton

1. MARLINS: Miracle Fish make playoffs for first time in 17 years!: They did it. One year after losing 105 games, in a pandemic season that began with much of the team COVID-positive, the Marlins somehow made the playoffs for the first time since 2003. It'll be a best-of-three vs. Cubs to follow the 60-game season. Amazin'!

1. HEAT: Miami wins East to get to LeBron and Lakers: Heat beat Boston last nibght for a 4-2 series and an NBA Finals berth vs. old friend LeBron James and the L.A. Lakers. 

1. HURRICANES: UM crushes rival FSU, heads for top 10: Miami's 52-10 rout of Florida State last night at Hard Rock was the biggest in the series since 1976. The 3-0 Canes now have leaped to No. 8 (from 12) after two teams above UM lost Saturday. But is The U really that good? We all find out October 10 at Clemson.

1. DOLPHINS: Miami crushes it in Jax. Who are these guys!?: A Dolphins team we hadn't seen the first two games showed up and crushed host Jacksonville 31-13 Thursday night. Ryan Fitzpatrick was 18-for-20 with two TDs passing and one running. The defense dominated. It was a night when Miami's improvement and potential showed itself, and rather gloriously at that!   

5. INTER MIAMI: Expansion team back in action, falls in Philly: Miami returned to the pitch on the road Sunday night vs. a strong Philadelphia Union squad and lost 3-0. Despite two straight lopsided losses, Inter Miami since an 0-5 start has won three and drawn two of its past nine matches. Miami now has with it recently signed Gonzalo Higuain, the former Juventus striker.

6. NHL: Stanley Cup Final Game 6 is Monday: Tampa Bay leads Dallas 3-2 after the Stars staved off elimination Saturday night. The Lightning will win it all, or be forced to a Game 7, on Monday night. 

7. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Weak! Pac-12 follows Big Ten back into play: Two of the Power 5 conferences, the Big Ten and Pac-12, said they would not play in 2020 over COVID-19 concerns. Then the weak Big Ten caved and agreed to begin play in late October. Now the weak Pac-12 has caved and said it will play a seven-game schedule starting in November. Sad.

8. NASCAR: Michael Jordan buys into race team: With NASCAR in the midst of its playoffs, Michael Jordan has become a team owner for next season. The basketball legend has teamed up with NASCAR star Denny Hamlin -- currently second in the playoff standings with seven races left -- and with Bubba Wallace, the Black driver whose fight led to the sport banning Confederate flags from its tracks.

9. PANTHERS: Florida NHL club signals win-now mode with trade: New Panthers general manager Bill Zito swung a trade acquiring veteran forward Patric Hornqvist from Pittsburgh in exchange for defenseman Mike Matheson and forward Colton Sceviour. Hornqvist, 33, appeared in 52 games with the Penguins this season scoring 17 goals with 15 assists.

10. WNBA: Seattle, Connecticut can advance to Finals Sunday: The Seattle Storm beat the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday for a 3-0 series win and a spot in the WNBA Finals. The Connecticut Sun and Las Vegas Aces are tied 2-2 in their semifinal in the Bradenton bubble heading into a deciding Game 5 on Tuesday.

Missing the HB10 cut: The majors keep a-comin'! Next: Tennis' French Open starts Sunday. Rafael Nadal has won a record 12 French Opens and is the strong betting favorite to make it 13, with Novak Djokovic the second pick. Simona Halep is a less-sure favorite on women's side, with Serena Williams a distant fourth ..... Conor McGregor says he'll fight Manny Pacquiao. Oh lord! ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast's new Episode 30 is out now! ..... Update: Countdown now 2,101 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup. Hopefully we'll have crowds in stadiums again by then?

CoteshowGREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE 30 OUT NOW!: Our Miami Herald podcast, "The Greg Cote Show With Greg Cote," debuted in March and new Episode 30 is out now! A new episode drops early every Monday morning on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 30 we've done so far RIGHT HERE for free. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review. (Start on Episode 1 and catch up!) In new Ep30 we welcome back special guest Izzy Gutierrez of ESPN for Iz 2.0. Last week we talked sports and silly stuff. This week -- vey different. On the fifth anniversary of his coming out publicly as gay, Izzy talks about his life since, including the heartache and a very recent loss. It's emotional, and a must-hear. Of course there's a new Mount Gregmore, too -- the M's. Hear all of that and more on the new Greg Cote Show podcast now!

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THE ARCHIVES:

Our football special-section column troika: TUA TAGOVAILOA IS DOLPHINS' SAVIOR SENT TO BRING NEW GLORY ... IF PROPHECY IS TRUE  /  WHO'S SUPER BOWL-BOUND? WHERE DO FINS FALL? OUR 2020 NFL-IN-PANDEMIC TEAM RANKINGS  /  and FOR MIAMI & AMERICA, HERE COMES A COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON WE'LL NEVER FORGET

Select other most recent columns: 'If I Die, I Die.' QB Cousins' Shamefully Cavalier Attitude On Pandemic / Boycott Of NBA Playoffs Shows Nation That Injustice Is Bigger Than Sports Right Now / Having Fans at Dolphins, Canes Games A Bad Idea And Big Risk / For Marlins, A Home Opener -- And First Place -- In Mid-August / As Panthers Move on From Tallon, Who's Next Miami Team Executive on Hot Seat? / 'Perfect Storm For Virus Transmission': Why Football Is Struggling to Lift Off / Marlins Delaying Home Opener For COVID Outbreak a Scary Lesson For All Sports / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. They Boy Was Me / It Took George Floyd To Finally Wake Up White America / Goodell's NFL Response to Floyd Killing Is Hypocrisy At Its Most Ironic / and George Floyd Is Why Kaepernick & Sports Must Continue Fight For Social Justice

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 on ESPN Radio. Finding Greg Cote: TwitterInstagramFacebookColumnsPodcastPodcast on TwitterPodcast on InstagramLeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio) and The Ballad Of 1440 (video).

November 09, 2019

G10: Canesfan Satisfaction Meter: 95.1% (season high) after 52-27 rout of Louisville; plus the player who started the UM glory days (column), LSU-'Bama and FIU-FAU, NFL Week 10 picks, LeBatard-returns-to-air Countdown Clock & more

Bowden1) It's FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8. Happy 90th birthday, Bobby Bowden! He hit the milestone Friday, and here's to many more for the FSU Seminoles living legend! 2) Check out our 'Fins At 50' book at Amazon. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Canes lose basketball opener, Dolphins in great draft shape despite win, NFL Pix 'n Fantasy Week 9 results, Canes football among top 150 games & more. 4) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote. Also on Facebook and Instagram.

Latest column: Canes football program's pedigree, quantified: In a new list the Hurricanes have played in 11 of the greatest 150 games in college football history -- including four of the top six. That is the bar set by five national championships. That is the mountain Manny Daz and the current Canes are trying to climb. We caught up with the player who kicked open the door to the dynasty. To read the full column, visit The Player Who Started the Glory Days for Canes Football.

LoumiaG10: @HURRICANES 52, LOUISVILLE 27: NO LETDOWN FOR CANES: Original post: Back home after the exhilarating 27-10 win over Florida State in Tallahassee, the Canes are at risk of a letdown in Saturday's 3:30 ACC meeting with Louisville at The Rock. Aside to Canes: At 5-4 you aren't good enough to take anybody lightly, especially a 5-3 Cardinals team against whom you are a somewhat modest 7-point home favorite. L'ville brings one of the most potent offenses Miami has yet faced, so Gregory Rousseau, Shaq Quarterman and friends better bring it on Senior Day, with bowl eligibility the reward for the winner. Two UM injuries of concern: Bubba Bolden lost for the season with a dumb ankle injury suffered celebrating an interception, and top tight end Brevin Jordan iffy to play. Miami's clear edges: The U's defense (at its best) is good enough to limit a good Cards attack, and, mostly, Louisville's defense is quite bad. Jarren Williams and crew should have a chance to go north of 30. Miami must win out and get some luck to still win the ACC Coastal. That starts here. Cote's pick: Hurricanes, 31-23. Watch for the latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll online right after today's game ends.

CANESFAN SATISFACTION METER: G10. 95.2%: Results are certified in the latest of the Miami Herald’s Canes Satisfaction Meter postgame polls, and they show a season-high 95.2 percent overall approval -- the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes -- in the wake of Saturday's 52-27 home victory vs. Louisville  Csmputting the Hurricanes' season record at 6-4 overall and 4-3 in ACC conference play. The CSM is your invitation after every Hurricanes game to vote on your overall satisfaction with the team and season in a continuing weekly gauge of how UM football fans are feeling. Criteria for voting is your own, but I suggest you consider the most recent game’s performance and caliber of opponent, the season as a whole, the program’s direction and your overall degree of optimism -- all in the context of reasonable expectations. Online voting determines the weekly verdict, which is final the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that was around 9:15 a.m. today/Monday.

Canesfan Satisfaction Meter

G1: 64.1% following 24-20 loss vs. Florida in Orlando.

G2: 15.7% following 28-25 loss at North Carolina.

G3: 83.0% following 63-0 victory vs. Bethune-Cookman.

G4: 8.5% following 17-12 victory vs. Central Michigan.

G5: 28.8% following 42-35 loss vs. Virginia Tech.

G6: 82.0% following 17-9 victory vs. Virginia.

G7: 11.3% following 28-21 OT loss vs. Georgia Tech.

G8: 61.0% following 16-12 victory at Pitt.

G9: 91.8% following 27-10 victory at Florida State.

G10: 95.2% following 52-27 victory vs. Louisville.

Next poll: Nov. 23 following game vs. FIU.

FiufauShula Bowl: @FAU 37, FIU 7: Davis vs. Kiffin in C-USA rivalry: Original post: Butch Davis' 5-4 Panthers and Lane Kiffin's 6-3 Owls renew their rivalry with FAU 4-1 in league play and still angling to reach the Conference USA title game. Owls are big 10 1/2-point favorites and should raise the 18th annual Shula Bowl trophy for the third year in a row, but I like the Butchers to keep it inside the fat bet-line. Cote's pick: FAU, 27-23.

Other state FBS games: South Florida lost 17-7 to Temple on Thursday, and UCF lost 34-31 to Tulsa on Friday. Today/Saturday, No. 10 Florida whipped Vanderbilt 56-0, and Florida State won at Boston College 38-31.

LsualaBonus national pick: No. 2 LSU 46, @No. 3 Alabama 41: Original post: The Game of the Year (so far) is Saturday at 3:30 in Tuscaloosa. Both teams are 8-0, and the College Football Playoff and national championship picture sway with the result. (By the way, Trump is supposed to be at the game in a continuing effort to find a crowd that won't boo him). Crimson Tide are favored by 5 1/2, fueled by the home field edge and the sense 'Bama is just a little better beyond that. I agree. The wild card: Tide (and future Dolphins?) QB Tua Tagovailao, who is questionable with an ankle injury. Nick Saban calls it a game-time decision. My bet: Tua plays, but isn't 100 percent. On that basis: Cote's pick: Alabama, 31-27.

PicksDOLPHINS-COLTS, GAME OF THE WEEK, BIG UPSETS: OUR NFL WEEK 10 PICKS: Off our record-setting 2018 season we've had a solid first half of our 29th year of NFL picks in the Miami Herald, including an 11-3 mark straight-up last week and 8-5-1 against the spread (led by Dolphins over Jets in our Upset of the Week; "Aawwk!"). Now we offer our Week 10 picks,including Dolphins at Colts, our Game of the Week (Seahawks-49ers), two sizable upsets and all the rest. So please visit the motherlode of prognostication that I like to call our NFL Week 10 Gems. Unfortunately our week got off to a disappointing start last night. We had the Chargers (-1) winning in Oakland 23-10. And they were winning, 24-10, very late, visions of a near perfect-score win dancing in my head. Then the Raiders scored with a minute left. Damn. Already past it. Let's rally!

Our other most recent work: Canes Lose Hoops Opener, But It's Fans Who Disappoint and Enjoy The Win, Miami. Here's Why Fins Still in Great Shape For Top Pick. Also: After Mocking And Tank-Talk, Dolphins And Flores Deserved This Day / Le Batard On Return To Air, Latest Event / Do Not Waver, Dolphins. It Must Be Tua! / and Disgraced Ref Donaghy Opens Up About Game-Fix Scandal.

LE BATARD RETURNS TO AIR COUNTDOWN CLOCK: Because I think it has the potential to at least mildly annoy Dan (always a noble goal), we present our "Le Batard Returns To Air!" countdown clock. After an extended absence Dan is to finally rejoin the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz on ESPN Radio this coming Monday, Nov. 11, at 10 a.m. Here's the time remaining until the national appetite is sated by the long-awaited return of Dan's dulcet tones:

Other select recent columns: Why Is NBA Doing Business With Human Rights-Violating China In First Place? / Riley Introduces Butler -- 'Cause the Heat Don't Tank / Why Dolphins, Even Epic-Bad, May be Closer to Major Turnaround Than Canes / Turning Its Back on Kaepernick Enters Year 3 As NFL's Ongoing Shame / Quit Whining! Yes Dolphins Are Tanking, And Yes They Should / Dolphins' Ross Cannot Be Surprised By Major Fallout Over Trump Fundraiser / Le Batard on Miami Radio Turmoil: 'We Were Evicted' / Buoniconti: Hall of Famer, But Even Greater Off the Field / It Is Megan Rapinoe's World Cup -- On And Off The Field / An Era Ends As Panthers' Luongo Retires / O.J. Can Tweet What He Wants, But How He's Seen Is Not Up To Him / Inter Miami Aiming High With Barca's Suarez / End The Illogical Shame and Honor Schnellenberger / Why Tiger's Masters Triumph Is About More Than Golf / Transgender-Athlete Firestorm A Necessary Debate / Across the Rio Grande to the PGA Tour / From Dark and Empty to Top Of the World: Dan Le Batard at 50.

APSE-HONORED WORK: The Associated Press Sports Editors 2018 writing awards ranked us a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Thanks, APSE. Here are the five nominated columns that earned the honor: At Doral, an annual tradition since 1962 is replaced by silence, and by what's missing / Marlins' Jose Fernandez statue is divisive yet has a chance to serve a greater purpose /NFL has moral obligation to help Buonicontis and Kiicks while it limits future suffering / What led to El Clasico Miami began with Joe Robbie's unlikely, accidental love of soccer / With 59 home runs, Stanton still had a magic season. Just hope this wasn't goodbye.

Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.

Twitter @gregcote

November 04, 2019

Dolfan Satisfaction Meter: 76.4% after 26-18 defeat of Stinkin' Jets; plus latest Hot Button Top 10; also, Canesfan Satisfaction Meter: 91.8% after UM beats FSU, Dawgs top Gators, details on Le Batard's return, NFL Week 9 picks & more

1) It's MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4. Happy new month, all! 2) Check out our 'Fins At 50' book at Amazon. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 9 picks, Dolphins/Tua and Tim Donaghy columns & more. 4) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote. Also on Facebook and Instagram.

My column on Dolphins' win over Jets: Go to After Mocking And Tank-Talk, Dolphins And Flores Deserved This Day for my column from the stadium on Sunday's Miami win.

PicksOur complete NFL Week 9 picks: We went a perfect 15-0 straight-up last week. Can we approach that again? Will the still-winless Dolphins win at home vs. the equally bad Stinkin' Jets and be one of our three upset picks? Answers to that and more, here: NFL Week 9 Gems.

MianyjG8: STINKIN' JETS AT DOLPHINS: UPSET! FINS WIN, FINS WIN! OMG!! (AND I CALLED IT...): Go to After Mocking And Tank-Talk, Dolphins And Flores Deserved This Day for my column from game. Original post: We can all agree, I hope, that the Dolphins have risen from being historically embarrassing in the first few games to being merely regular-bad lately. We can also agree, I hope, that the Stinkin’ Jets are hardly any better, and that Adam Gase looks about as happy as an inmate whose final stay of execution has just been denied by the governor. There is negligible difference between the 0-7 Fins and 1-6 Jets -- not enough for NYJ to be a 3-point road favorite. Overshadowing this matchup, of course: The jockeying for the overall No. 1 draft pick, as the winless, bye-week Bengals watch keenly. Why the upset pick? 1) Sam Darnold (who sees ghosts, by the way) has seven interceptions in the past two games. Darnold bad is worse than Ryan Fitzpatrick bad. 2) Fins players and coaches are beyond-tired of the accusation they are intentionally trying to lose games. The franchise is tanking; the lockerroom is not. That is an important distinction. It gives Miami the greater incentive here, in addition to the home field. Am I nervous about the pick? Oh hell yeah. I just picked Miami to win! Let's see. Cote’s pick: MIA 24-21. Vote in the new Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll directly below.

DOLFAN SATISFACTION METER: G8: 76.4%: Results are certified in  the latest of the Miami Herald’s Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame polls, and they show 76.4 percent overall approval -- the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes -- a season high -- in the wake of Sunday afternoon's 26-18 home victory over the New York Jets Dsmputting Miami’s season record at 1-7. In its 12th season, the DSM is a continuous weekly gauge of how Dolfans are feeling about the team and its direction. Right after each game I invite you to share your overall degree of satisfaction. Criteria for voting is your own, but I suggest fans consider the most recent game’s performance and caliber of opponent, season as a whole, direction the club is heading and your overall degree of optimism -- all in the context of reasonable expectations. Online voting determines the final result, which is final the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that was around 1 p.m. today/Tuesday.

2019 DSM game-by-game results

G1: 18.3% following 59-10 loss vs. Baltimore.

G2: 24.6% following 43-0 loss vs. New England.

G3: 27.5% following 31-6 loss at Dallas.

G4: 35.3% following 30-10 loss vs. L.A. Chargers.

G5: 53.5% following 17-16 loss vs. Washington.

G6: 55.2% following 31-21 loss at Buffalo.

G7: 28.8% following 27-14 loss at Pittsburgh.

G8: 76.4% following 26-18 victory vs. N.Y. Jets.

Next poll: Nov. 10 following game at Indianapolis.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (UPDATED): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive weekend-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:

Hotbutton1. HURRICANES: Miami with nifty win over 'Noles in Tally: Florida State was favored at home in the battle of two once-proud rivals both coming in 4-4, but it was Miami going home with the big 27-10 win -- and renewed hope. At 5-4 off two straight wins UM is now looking good for a bowl game and still has an outside shot at the ACC Coastal title. Canes must win out vs. Louisville and FIU and at Duke.

2. DOLPHINS: Fins win! Fins win!, beat Stinkin' Jets: I tell ya, Sunday's matchup in Miami had everything ... but a good team in it. The 1-6 Jets at 0-7 Dolphins with the overall No. 1 draft pick among the possible stakes ... what could be worse? Actually, it was a pretty compelling game. Ryan Fitzpatrick was great and the Dolphins (finally) won, 26-18.

3. HEAT: Miami swamps Houston in big early test: Miami is an impressive 5-1 early this season after Sunday measuring-stick triumph here over Houston, 1290-100 led by a surreal 46-14 first quarter. James Harden and Russell Westbrook were only 9-for-25 between them. Can the Heat really be this good?

4. MLB: Nationals top Astros in World Series: Had to feel good about Washington celebrating its first MLB title since 1924. Well, unless you're a Houston fan. But seven games and the home team didn't win a single one. Had never been done before. In any sport. Weird Series is more like it. 

5. UM BASKETBALL: Opening Week! Canes men host mighty Louisville: So much for soft openings. Jim Larranaga's unranked UM men's team opens by hosting No. 5 Louisville Tuesday night. Can they shock the world? More is expected from Katie Meier's No. 18-ranked Canes women, who open at home next Sunday vs. Jackson State.    

6. PANTHERS: Hot Cats rounding into form: With last night's 4-0 home win over Detroit, Florida has now shed a rough 1-4 start to go level at 7-7 in this still-young NHL season. Cats can score, but now new goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky are tightening up on defense. Good signs.

7. UFC: Masvidal bloodies, beats Diaz: Miami's Jorge Masvidal bloodied and beat Nate Diaz in UFC 244 last night at Madison Square Garden, with a doctor stopping the fight in the third round. Masvidal later partied with The Rock, Dwayne Johnson. Hopefully, Stugotz crashed the party. Oh, and Donald Trump attended and got loudly booed. Or, did that go without saying?

8. NBA: Reeling Warriors lose Curry: Golden State is 1-5 and now Steph Curry will be lost at least three months with a broken hand. if you didn't think the Warriors' dynasty was done, you sure as hell do now. Call 'em the Golden State Worriers.

9. SOCCER: It's Seattle-Toronto for MLS title: Seattle hosts Toronto next Sunday in a sold-out Major League Soccer Cup championship final. No Cinderellas here. Seattle won the league title in 2016 and Toronto in '17. A year from now ... Inter Miami?

10. HORSE RACING: More tragedy at Santa Anita as Breeders' Cup runs: Vino Rosso won the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic Saturday at Santa Anita, but tragedy struck as Mongolian Groom injured a hind leg and later was euthanized. It was the 37th horse death at Santa Anita Park since last December. Am I sending my horse to that place? Oh hell naw!

Missing the HB10 cut: World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg opted out of his deal with Nationals and will be a free agent. Teams needing an ace with tons of money, start your bidding! ..... Tiger Woods won a record-tying 82nd PGA Tour event last week, a reminder that all anybody cares about with him is major wins, not "regular" titles ..... South Africa stunned England to win the Rugby World Cup as America mostly yawned ..... Only two more races starting today at Texas before NASCAR's Nov. 17 championship finale at Homestead ..... Thousands more will unnecessarily run 26.2 miles when the New York City Marathon goes off Sunday ..... Update: Countdown now 2,422 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

MiafsuG9: HURRICANES 27, @FLORIDA STATE 10: TWO OLD RIVALS MEET AGAIN -- BOTH TRYING TO GET BACK TO GREAT: Jarren  Williams and defense were great in Saturday's 27-10 Miami win in Tally, and I got the upset pick right! Original post: There were plenty of years when Canes-Noles was a national game of the week with championship implications. But that was plenty of years ago. Now, Saturday's Miami at Florida State meeting at 3:30 p.m. is just a pair of .500 teams trying to rediscover the mojo and get back to where they once were. "I think we’re both kind of waiting for that kick-start to get things going," as Miami coach Manny Diaz put it. Still, "It’s one of those games that you come to Miami to play in, to coach in," Diaz said. "It’s a legacy game." Both old rivals are 4-4, with FSU 3-3 in ACC play and UM 2-3. The Seminoles are stuck in their division behind Clemson. At least if UM wins it still has a shot at the division title in the weaker Coastal, if it wins out and gets some help/luck. FSU was favored by as many as 5 points but that whittled down to 3 as money poured in on Miami. Noles have won their past four home games but Miami has won past two in this rivalry including 28-27 last year at Hard Rock after the Canes trailed 20-7 at the half. These teams' past five meetings all have been decided by 5 points or fewer, so the safest bet is a close game. FSU is better on offense although that draws closer with Jarren Williams back starting at QB for Miami (as he should) and RB DeeJay Dallas expected back from injury. The difference for me is that Miami clearly is better on defense. I do not trust the Seminoles without the ball. Cote's pick: Upset! Hurricanes, 27-23. See latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll results below.

CsmCANESFAN SATISFACTION METER: G9: 91.8%: Results are certified in the latest of the Miami Herald’s Canesfan Satisfaction Meter postgame polls, and they show 91.8% approval, the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes  -- a season high -- in the wake of Saturday's 27-10 Hurricanes victory at Florida State putting the Hurricanes' season record at 5-4 overall and 3-3 in ACC conference play. The CSM is your invitation after every Hurricanes game to vote on your overall satisfaction with the team and season in a continuing weekly gauge of how UM football fans are feeling. Criteria for voting is your own, but I suggest you consider the most recent game’s performance and caliber of opponent, the season as a whole, the program’s direction and your overall degree of optimism -- all in the context of reasonable expectations. Online voting determines the weekly verdict, which is final the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that was around 8:30 a.m. today/Monday.

Canesfan Satisfaction Meter

G1: 64.1% following 24-20 loss vs. Florida in Orlando.

G2: 15.7% following 28-25 loss at North Carolina.

G3: 83.0% following 63-0 victory vs. Bethune-Cookman.

G4: 8.5% following 17-12 victory vs. Central Michigan.

G5: 28.8% following 42-35 loss vs. Virginia Tech.

G6: 82.0% following 17-9 victory vs. Virginia.

G7: 11.3% following 28-21 OT loss vs. Georgia Tech.

G8: 61.0% following 16-12 victory at Pitt.

G9: 91.8% following 27-10 victory at Florida State.

Next poll: Nov. 9 following game vs. Louisville.

Other state FBS games (all Saturday):

FlagaNo. 8 Georgia 24, No. 6 Florida 17: A Cocktail Party worth attending: Original post: Annual neutral-site game in Jacksonville kicks at 3:30 Saturday with, well, everything in play. This is for the SEC East lead, and the winner only also maintains at least a prayer of a shot at the College Football Playoff. It's the Game of the Week in collball. Gators 7-1 to Dawgs' 6-1 but Georgia is a 5 1/2-point favorite. I get that. See UGA with slightly more offensive pop and every bit as good defensively. Cote's pick: Georgia 23-20.  

Also: UCF beat Houston 44-29, FIU beat Old Dominion 24-17, and FAU beat Western Kentucky 35-24. South Florida was off this week.

DanlLE BATARD'S RETURN TO AIR, NEW 'MAS MIAMI.' DETAILS HEREFans who have missed Dan Le Batard during his extended on-air absence from ESPN have gotten some welcome news — on two fronts. The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz announced Friday that Dan would return to the show on ESPN Radio and ESPNews on Nov. 11, a week from Monday. The Miami-based show emanates from ESPN studios on South Beach. Le Batard also is to return to his ESPN television show, Highly Questionable, that day, the network confirmed Friday. Le Batard has been off the air for several weeks, first for a long-planned pre-wedding honeymoon and more recently to attend to what the show called "personal matters." Both shows have continued with various guest hosts in his absence. Also Friday, details on Le Batard’s latest "Mas Miami" event were revealed. It is set for Saturday, Dec. 14 at Wynwood Factory, a nightclub at 55 Northeast 24th Street in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. Tickets to the event are $25 and available at MasLeBatard.com. For the full story: Le Batard On Return To Air, Latest Event.

Our two most recent columns: Do Not Waver, Dolphins. It Must Be Tua! and Disgraced Ref Donaghy Opens Up About Game-Fix Scandal

Other select recent columns: Heat's Opener Stars Butler As Missing Person, Winslow As Rising Star / Heat 'Tighten the Screws,' And Dion Waiters Is the Lesson, As New Season Begins / Diaz Playing 'Rebuild' Card As Weak as Canes' Effort in Loss to Ga-Tech / LeBron Follows Company Line On China After Career Devoted to Social Justice / Now Or Never For Panthers To Stop Wasting The Barkov Years / Why Is NBA Doing Business With Human Rights-Violating China In First Place? / 'Culture' Isn't Enough. It'll Take These 5 Factors to Lift Miami Heat / Riley Introduces Butler -- 'Cause the Heat Don't Tank / Why Dolphins, Even Epic-Bad, May be Closer to Major Turnaround Than Canes / Turning Its Back on Kaepernick Enters Year 3 As NFL's Ongoing Shame / Worst Miami Team Ever? Epic Losing Already Making Dolphins A National Joke / Quit Whining! Yes Dolphins Are Tanking, And Yes They Should / Dolphins' Ross Cannot Be Surprised By Major Fallout Over Trump Fundraiser / Le Batard on Miami Radio Turmoil: 'We Were Evicted' / Buoniconti: Hall of Famer, But Even Greater Off the Field / It Is Megan Rapinoe's World Cup -- On And Off The Field / An Era Ends As Panthers' Luongo Retires / O.J. Can Tweet What He Wants, But How He's Seen Is Not Up To Him / Ranking Dolphins, Heat, Marlins & Panthers' Best Young Players / Inter Miami Aiming High With Barca's Suarez / End The Illogical Shame and Honor Schnellenberger / Oh To Be Hated Again! Lean Times For Miami Sports / Why Tiger's Masters Triumph Is About More Than Golf / Transgender-Athlete Firestorm A Necessary Debate / Across the Rio Grande to the PGA Tour / From Dark and Empty to Top Of the World: Dan Le Batard at 50.

APSE-HONORED WORK: The Associated Press Sports Editors 2018 writing awards ranked us a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Thanks, APSE. Here are the five nominated columns that earned the honor: At Doral, an annual tradition since 1962 is replaced by silence, and by what's missing / Marlins' Jose Fernandez statue is divisive yet has a chance to serve a greater purpose /NFL has moral obligation to help Buonicontis and Kiicks while it limits future suffering / What led to El Clasico Miami began with Joe Robbie's unlikely, accidental love of soccer / With 59 home runs, Stanton still had a magic season. Just hope this wasn't goodbye.

Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.

Twitter @gregcote

September 02, 2019

Dolphins trade Tunsil in blockbuster deal. My latest column; plus latest Hot Button Top 10 (updated). See who's No. 1 and what else lands where, NFL picks return this week ("Aawwk!") & more

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

1) It's MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2. Welcome, September, month of football, month of autumn. Thanks for hopefully sparing South Florida of Dorian's full wrath. 2) It's the perfect time to check out my 'Fins At 50' book at Amazon. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): On Flores' tough spot with Tunsil, Clowney trade talks, Luck's shocking retirement, Dolphins/Canes preview-section columns & more. 4) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote. Also on Facebook and Instagram.

Picks"Aaawwwk!" NFL picks return this week!: Our 29th season -- hard to believe -- of NFL predictions returns this week. A Miami Herald fixture since 1991, our picks appear in print every Friday and online Thursday afternoons. Our Thursday night pick appears Thursday in print and online Wednesday. We are inexplicably coming off our best season ever, with a .705 winning percentage overall last year and .582 against the betting line. Can we slay the evil point spread again this season? Come along for the ride starting this week!

THE TUNSIL TRADE: MY COLUMN: Losing Laremy Tunsil really hurts, but getting two first-round pick and second was too much to turn down. Please visit Trading Tunsil Hurts,But Dolphins Won This Deal.

Our Dolphins and Hurricanes preview-section columns: For our 2019 NFL Team Rankings: Who's Super Bowl-Bound And Where Dolphins Land. And mining UM history for perspective on a bold decision: Diaz's Choice For Hurricanes QB Not Seen In More Than 50 Years.

Previous most recent other columns: Tunsil/Clowney Trade Would Be Powderkeg for Dolphins, Flores / Clowney Would Be Missing Piece in Dolphins' Emerging Plan / and Luck Deserves Praise For Putting Health, Life Above Football. Also: Hurricanes Have Only Themselves To Blame For Opening Loss / Zero Doubt: Rosen, Not Fitzpatrick, Must Start For Dolphins / Here's Why Canes Took Bold Gamble on Jarren Williams at QBDolphins' Ross Cannot Be Surprised By Major Fallout Over Trump Fundraiser / Le Batard on Miami Radio Turmoil: 'We Were Evicted' / and Buoniconti: Hall of Famer, But Even Greater Off the Field.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (UPDATED): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive every-Sunday feature, updated Mondays, 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:

Hotbutton1. DOLPHINS: Tunsil trade, QB decision and a season opener -- oh my!Can't say it's been dull in Finsville. Miami wrapped up a 3-1 preseason by (predictably and unfortunately) naming Ryan Fitzpatrick as starting quarterback, and then Saturday traded tackle Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills to Houston for two first-round picks and a second. (My column on that trade here). Club also released long snapper John Denney, a Fin since 2005. Meantime, oh yeah, the regular season starts this coming Sunday for new coach Brian Flores as the Baltimore Ravens fly into Hard Rock.

2. HURRICANES: UM out to shake Gators loss, preps for Heels in ACC opener: Canes are on the road at North Carolina in five days in a game compelling because it is UM's ACC opener and because, with Miami's opening loss to Florida, an 0-2 start would make UM's season feel derailed right out the gate. It shouldn't be a problem, folks. Miami crushed UNC last season 47-10 and the Heels seem down again. Time for coach Manny Diaz and QB Jarren Williams to bag their first career wins -- or y'all might as well not even bother coming back!

3. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: No big surprises in Week 0/1 so far: Top 25 teams are 23-1 thus far in opening week of college football's 150th season, with Notre Dame playing tonight. And the only ranked-team loss, by No. 11 Oregon, came to another ranked team. What, you wanted Alabama and Clemson to suffer stunning defeats? Dream on, Bubba.

4. NFL: Three days until kickoff of King Sport's regular season!: As the league continues to reel from the aftershock of the sudden retirement of Colts QB Andrew Luck, life goes on. The NFL's 100th season kicks off this Thursday night with Chicago hosting Green Bay. As for which two teams will cap the season in the Super Bowl Miami in hosting, let's just say if the Dolphins are one of those teams it would be a bigger stunner than Luck quitting. How about by default we just root as always for ABTP? (Anybody But The Patriots).

5. STATE COLLEGES (NON-UM): 'Noles, FIU, FAU all lose openers: The state's seven FBS (nee Division 1) teams limped to a combined 2-5 start in their openers, including Florida State losing at home to Boise State 36-31 and losses by both FIU (to Tulane) and FAU (at No. 5 Ohio State). No. 17 UCF won but South Florida fell hard. Seemed like our state mostly dodged a bullet with Hurricane Dorian, but five of seven teams didn't fare as well.

6. BASKETBALL: U.S. wins debut in FIBA World Cup: The two-week, 32-nation FIBA men's World Cup is underway in China, with the favored Team USA playing its first game Sunday and comfortably handling the Czech Republic, 88=67, led by Donovan Mitchell's 16 points. The U.S. remains the betting fave despite a tuneup loss to Australia last week, the first time in 13 years a U.S. team that included NBA players had lost in international play. (Then again, this is a superstar-less American roster whose biggest name probably is Kemba Walker, so...).

7. TENNIS: Djokovic, Osaka out in U.S Open at major's midpoint: No major upsets had happened yet in the in the U.S. Open -- but that was before No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic dropped the first two sets to Stan Wawrinka on Sunday then retired with a shoulder ailment, and No. 1 women's seed Naomi Osaka lost today/Monday. But Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are still alive on the men's side, while women's play finds betting favorite Serena Williams still gunning for the title. A triumph by Serena would be a record-tying 24th major for her. Go Williams, go! 

8. MARLINS: It's official. Jeter calls season "frustrating": You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and you don't need Derek Jeter to tell you this has been "a frustrating year." Miami, in the midst of a six-game road trip, is on a 105-loss pace entering Sunday and threatening the franchise high of 108 losses set in 1998. Six of MLB's top 100 prospects give the Marlins hope, but when will it begin to show? Meantime, thank god for the Tigers and Orioles, who make even the Fish look good. Well, less awful.

9. FANTASY: Gentleman (and ladies), start your drafts!: This was the biggest weekend for NFL fantasy drafts, because the closer they are to the start of the regular season, the better. You want proof? Talk to anybody whose draft was two weeks ago and who was fist-pumping with happiness to have drafted Andrew Luck.  

10. PANTHERS: Ready or not, hockey is almost back: It's getting close, puckheads. Florida Panthers will stage a two-day rookie camp Sept. 10-11, then open full training camp Sept. 13. With new star coach Joel Quenneville and new star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, hopes are high. Which means a franchise that has let its fans down way too often had better live up this time.

Missing the HB10 cut: Baseball can't even get its playoff chase right. As season wanes, only one of six divisions has a real battle for first place (Cardinals-Cubs), and the biggest wild-card question is whether the Rays will make it. Yawn ..... Countdown: No dates set yet, but Jimmy Butler and the retooled Miami Heat will open training camp in late September ..... R.I.P. Jim Langer, 71, Dolphins glory-days center ..... Update: Countdown now 2,485 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in the 2026 World Cup.

Select other recent columns: Don't Overthink It, Dolphins. Start Rosen / How Brian Flores Won Dolphins Players' Respect Before Ever Coaching A Game / Countdown To Hurricanes-Gators On As Practices Begin / In Tyreek Hill, Goodell And NFL Turn Blind Eye To Domestic Violence / Le Batard Defies Trump, ESPN's No-Politics Policy / The 4 Ways Miami Heat Had A Winning Offseason / What If Everybody's Wrong About The Dolphins? / Wimbledon, Tiger, U.S. Women For Starters. Why 2019 Is Greatest Sports Year Ever / Heat And Riley Lose On Westbrook, But Loss Might Still Be A Win / Coco's Wimbledon Runs Ends, But U.S. Tennis Just Found Its Next Big Thing / Queens of the World. U.S. Soccer Wins Again / Bold Moves To Get Jimmy Butler Make Heat -- And Pat Riley -- Relevant Again / New-look Panthers: Lots Of Hope, Zero Excuses Left / It Is Megan Rapinoe's World Cup -- On And Off The Field / An Era Ends As Panthers' Luongo Retires / Heat's Haslem Doesn't Need Us Telling Him Whether To Retire / Drip Or Swag, Herro Brings It, And Heat Need It / O.J. Can Tweet What He Wants, But How He's Seen Is Not Up To Him / Ranking Dolphins, Heat, Marlins & Panthers' Best Young Players / Heat Must Dump Bad Contracts Starting With Whiteside, Dragic /Inter Miami Aiming High With Barca's Suarez / For Marlins, An Encouraging Two Weeks Is Progress / End The Illogical Shame and Honor Schnellenberger / Smart Decision A No-Brainer: Dolphins Should Start Rosen / Dolphins Land Big Prize in Wilkins / Oh To Be Hated Again! Lean Times For Miami Sports / Why Tiger's Masters Triumph Is About More Than Golf / Case For Kaepernick's Comeback As A Dolphin / Transgender-Athlete Firestorm A Necessary Debate / Across the Rio Grande to the PGA Tour / From Dark and Empty to Top Of the World: Dan Le Batard at 50 / And, our Dwyane Wade Farewell Trilogy: The Last Star: Post-Wade, Miami Sports Is BereftWade Fittingly Goes Out A Winner And 30-point Star; and Thank You, Dwyane Wade, Miami's G.O.A.T.

APSE-HONORED WORK: The Associated Press Sports Editors 2018 writing awards ranked us a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Thanks, APSE. Here are the five nominated columns that earned the honor: At Doral, an annual tradition since 1962 is replaced by silence, and by what's missing / Marlins' Jose Fernandez statue is divisive yet has a chance to serve a greater purpose /NFL has moral obligation to help Buonicontis and Kiicks while it limits future suffering / What led to El Clasico Miami began with Joe Robbie's unlikely, accidental love of soccer / With 59 home runs, Stanton still had a magic season. Just hope this wasn't goodbye.

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Twitter @gregcote