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

1) It's MONDAY, JANUARY 9. OK. Done. Over. No more "Happy new year" wishes. 2) Glad to be back on the Le Batard Show tomorrow for my regular Tuesday seat this week. 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 18 picks, Damar Hamlin crisis brings NFL to halt, The Curse of the Miami Dolphins, NFL Week 17 results (Picks/Lobos/QB rank), Greg Cote Show emergency year-end episode, Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: FIRST NEW EPISODE OF 2023 OUT NOW: 'THE VERDICT': Our 1st episode of 2023 and 147th overall is out now! New episodes drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 147 we've done so far HERE. Our new episode settles -- once and for all -- the show's Tony Kornheiser/toenail bet with a verdict from an all-star three-person jury consisting for Sarah Spain, Ron Magill and Tim Kurkjian. Did Greg or Chris win? Hint: It was not unanimous. Also in the new ep, the guys discuss the Dolphins making the playoffs (!), whether Greg went cheap with Seinfeld tickets, Chris in the King Mango Strut parade and more. Hit up GCS2301 for the full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. 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 -- and there's a free-shipping promotion through this Thursday! Also check out our podcast's YouTube channel.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JANUARY 8-9): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. DOLPHINS: Miami wins, gets help, ends six-year playoff drought: With third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson on call Sunday, the Dolphins had to beat the visiting New York Jets and have the Patriots lose at the Bills in a concurrent game. Done. Done. Playoffs! Miami is in the NFL postseason for the first time since 2016 and only third time in past 21 seasons. 

2. NFL: Chiefs, Eagles top seeds as 14-team playoff field set after week under grip of Damar Hamlin: Eighteen teams are out and 14 have  advanced to the NFL playoffs, the last three including Miami making it on the final weekend of the regular season. Week was dominated by the cardiac arrest suffered by Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday night in a crisis that first postponed and later canceled the Bills-Bengals game. Hamlin has since shown great progress and was talking via FaceTime with his teammates Friday night.

3. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Can TCU shock the world (and the Dawgs)?: Can No. 3 TCU (13-1) shock the world (and the Dawgs) by beating heavily favored No. 1 Georgia (14-0) in Monday night's College Football Playoff championship game in Inglewood, California? Georgia, the defending champion, is a 12 1/2-point favorite to win its third national title. TCU is after its second crown and first since distant 1938.

HB10 cut: Desperate Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher hired disgraced Bobby Petrino to be his offensive coordinator ..... The Dodgers severed ties to Trevor Bauer, the starting pitcher and former Cy Young winner who was given an unprecedented suspension following allegations of sexual assault ..... University of Texas fired men's basketball coach Chris Beard less than a month after his December 12 arrest for domestic violence ..... NCAA is after Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh for several violations ..... Unlikeable, questionably talented self-promoter Jake Paul signed to compete in MMA with the Professional Fighters League ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast drops its first episode of the new year on 7 a.m. ET Monday, January 9 ..... Update: Countdown now 1,247 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 this past year to again be named by Associated Press Sports Editors as a 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: Dolphins See Playoff Hopes In Peril With 3rd Straight Loss in Buffalo / Loss In L.A. Puts Pressure on Dolphins -- And Tua -- To Rise Up In Final Month / Griner Freed, But Others Still Held, And WNBA Responsibility Remains / Reality-Check for Dolphins, Tua In San Fran -- But Don't Quit On Miami / Le Batard On New Mas Miami, First DocuSeries -- And Next Big Move / Miami Needs To Seal Deal On Messi Or It'll Be Fans Who Should Feel Jilted / Dolphins Rout Texans, but How Good Are Fins, Really? We're About To See / Miami Hurricanes End No-Bowl Season 5-7 With Home Rout-Loss To Pitt / Thanksgiving 2022: In Sports As In Life, Little Feeds Spirit Like Gratitude / Jimmy Johnson Had To Give Up Football To Get His Life Back / R.I.P. Chuck Carr: Remembering Marlins' Speedy First Star / Dare To Dream, Dolphins Fans. Why Miami Is a Legit Super Bowl Contender / Shula To Miami And 17-0 Should Not Have Happened. It Was Luck ... Or Fate / Kyrie Irving's Anti-Semitism Mess Bigger Than Him. It's Symptom Of What Ails America / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / 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 / 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 / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

1) It's SATURDAY, JANUARY 7. OK, time to start winding it up with he "Happy new year" wishes, no?. 2) Glad to be back on the Le Batard Show on Wednesday this week. Expect to be back in the regular Tuesday seat next week. 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, NFL Week 17 picks, Greg Cote Show emergency year-end episode, Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: EMERGENCY NEW YEAR-END EPISODE OUT NOW! THE KORNHEISER BET IS ANSWERED!: Our 55th and last episode of 2022 and 146th overall is out now! New episodes drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod, but this is an emergency Saturday drop. Find all 146 we've done so far HERE. Our newest episode is a 14-minute mini that solves the long-running show bet over whether we'd get ESPN star Tony Kornheiser on before the end of the year. Did we> Listen to find out. (And even then you might be sure?) Hit up GCS2255 for the full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. 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 -- and there's a holiday sale going on! Also check out our podcast's YouTube channel.

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ARCHIVES

Thank you!: Was honored this past year to again be named by Associated Press Sports Editors as a 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: Griner Freed, But Others Still Held, And WNBA Responsibility Remains / Reality-Check for Dolphins, Tua In San Fran -- But Don't Quit On Miami / Le Batard On New Mas Miami, First DocuSeries -- And Next Big Move / Miami Needs To Seal Deal On Messi Or It'll Be Fans Who Should Feel Jilted / Dolphins Rout Texans, but How Good Are Fins, Really? We're About To See / Miami Hurricanes End No-Bowl Season 5-7 With Home Rout-Loss To Pitt / Thanksgiving 2022: In Sports As In Life, Little Feeds Spirit Like Gratitude / Jimmy Johnson Had To Give Up Football To Get His Life Back / R.I.P. Chuck Carr: Remembering Marlins' Speedy First Star / Dare To Dream, Dolphins Fans. Why Miami Is a Legit Super Bowl Contender / Shula To Miami And 17-0 Should Not Have Happened. It Was Luck ... Or Fate / Kyrie Irving's Anti-Semitism Mess Bigger Than Him. It's Symptom Of What Ails America / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / 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 / 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 / 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.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JANUARY 1-2): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature -- back this week after Christmas Sunday off last week -- is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. DOLPHINS: Fins suffer 5th straight loss; playoffs now on thin ice: Miami sunk to 8-8 with a fifth straight loss Sunday, 23-21 at New England, losing their grip and control over whether they make the playoffs. Miami now must win at home next Sunday over the Jets and have the Patriots lose at Buffalo. No word yet who'll be at QB for the Fins next week, with Tua (concussion) and Teddy Bridgewater (finger injury) both iffy.

2. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: It's Georgia-TCU for CFP title after semifinal thrillers: A College Football Playoff semifinal doubleheader on New Year's Eve Saturday determined the championship-game matchup -- and it was 2-for-2 on epic thrillers totaling 179 points scored. No. 3 TCU never trailed in upsetting No. 2 Michigan, 51-45. Then No.1 Georgia rallied from 11 down in the fourth quarter to beat No. 4 Ohio State 42-41 when the Buckeyes badly missed a 50-yard winning field as time expired. The semifinal winners will meet for the national championship on January 9 in Inglewood, California -- Georgia a huge early 13-point favorite.

3. HEAT: Hero Herro lifts Miami back over.500: Reaching and staying over .500 has been a struggle, but has Miami finally caught a little bit of a tailwind? The Heat is 19-18 and on a 7-3 run after Saturday's 126-123 win in Utah on Tyler Herro's buzzer-beating 3. Heat's five-game road trip continues with an L.A. double at Clippers Monday and Lakers Wednesday.   

4. HURRICANES: Cristobal bounces back with big signing-day haul: Coach Mario Cristobal suffered a 5-7 first season at UM but began to make amends with an early National Signing Day that left Miami with a No. 3 national ranking by ESPN, trailing only Alabama and Georgia. The Canes' haul was led by five-star offensive tackles Samson Okunlola and Francis Mauigoa. A third five-star commit, cornerback Cormani McClain, failed to sign as expected that day, but McClain wore Canes gear and flashed the 'U' on Thursday durind media events for the Under Armour Next All-American game in Orlando.

5. SOCCER: Pele', 'king of the beautiful game,' dies at 82: A towering, near-mythical icon of his sport akin to Babe Ruth in American baseball, the Brazilian soccer great Pele' died this week after battling colon cancer. He is the only man to lead a nation to three World Cup wins and helped grow the sport in the U.S. by playing for the NASL's New York Cosmos late in an epic career.

6. ORANGE BOWL: Tennessee owns Clemson in a snoozer OB: The No. 6 Tennessee Vols from the SEC handled the No. 7 Clemson Tigers from the ACC, 31-14, Friday night in a less than scintillating 89th Orange Bowl game.

7. MARLINS: Segura? Fish do something. Finally. But not much: After a stunningly inactive offseason the Marlins signed veteran middle infielder Jean Segura from the Phillies to a two-year, $17 million deal. It is the first free agent move of any note this offseason for the Fish, after a 69-93 season. Segura, 33 in March, is alright but likely a few years past his best days. This move hardly counters seeing the NL East rival Braves, Phils and Mets spend aggressively to get better.

8. PANTHERS: Slumping Cats now six games under .500: Florida is 16-22 (16-18-4) and has lost eight of its past 10 games after Sunday's loss to the Rangers on top of Friday's shutout loss vs. Carolina. Panthers are back on home ice Tuesday vs. Arizona.

9. UM BASKETBALL: Canes men sizzling toward top 10; Larranaga a Hall nominee: The No. 14-ranked Hurricanes men (school's highest ranking since rising to No. 6 in December 2017) are 13-1 (4-0 ACC) including a big win over No. 6 Virginia after Friday's win at Notre Dame. Jim Larranaga, newly named a first-time nominee for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and team are back at it this Wednesday at Georgia Tech. UM's women, after a 4-0 start, are 8-6 (1-2 ACC) after Sunday's needed conference win at Pitt.

10. INTER MIAMI: Still a bystander as saga of Messi's future plays out: Reports out of Europe are that Barcelona is continuing an ambitious pursuit to bring Lionel Messi back to Camp Nou even amid unconfirmed reports that the newly minted World Cup champion has agreed to a contract extension with Paris Saint-Germain. Where does that leave Inter Miami and its ferocious interest in bringing Messi to MLS? Waiting and hoping, as usual.

HB10 cut: NFL's Pro Bowl all-star game has devolved into a flag football game to be coached February 5 by Peyton and Eli Manning. Still, to be selected is sort of a big deal, and Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill, OT Terron Armstead and S Xavien Howard made it. Hill was no-brainer-deserving; Armstead and Howard were closer to habit picks. Miami alternates are QB Tua Tagovailoa, FB Alec Ingold, WR Jaylen Waddle, DE Christian Wilkins, OLB Bradley Chubb, S Jevon Holland and TE Mike Gesicki ..... Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and champion Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky were named Associated Press male and female athlete of the year ..... Marlins FanFest has been set for Saturday February 11 at the ballpark so that fans might celebrate a stagnant offseason by Miami while other teams aggressively spent big ..... Hurricanes baseball is No. 8 in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll. Coach Gino DiMare's fifth season opens vs. Penn State on February 17 ..... R.I.P., Franco Harris, Steelers great gone too soon at 72 ..... Four Panthers prospects were named to rosters for hockey's IIHF World Junior Championship underway through this coming week in Nova Scotia ..... Kelly Clarkson named host of NFL Honors awards show ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast dropped an unscheduled "emergency" episode on Saturday. We'll be back with a regular new episode on January 9 ..... Update: Countdown now 1,254 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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

1) It's SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. I was back in-studio with Le Batard Show this past Tuesday and paying off a Grid of Death punishment. Check out that day's show podcasts! 2) Be the change! Visit Change.org/MountGregmore today and sign our petition to change the name of Mount Rushmore. 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top Top 10, Canes rout Bethune in opener, The wonder of Tyler Van Dyke, new Greg Cote Show podcast, Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE WITH "10-DAY TONY" OUT NOW!: Our 38th episode of 2022 and 129th overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 129 we've done so far HERE. In our latest episode: Anthony (10-Day Tony) from the Le Batard Show (pictured) joins us for a fun chew on fantay football, and Greg reveals an invention for a whole different kind of fantasy league. Also in the new ep: Season 2 premiere of HARD KNOCKS: GREG'S LOBOS, Farewell to Serena Williams, Are the Fins for real? and more. Hit up GCS2238 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. And now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit the store by clicking 'Shop'. New items! Also check out our podcast's new YouTube channel.

NFL Week 1 picks out now!: The Upset Bird and I are back for (hard to believe) our 32nd 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 pick three big upsets out the gate. Got off to a bad start Thursday mnight and I mean baaad. I liked champion Rams as a home dog and sort of dismissed all the hype around the Bills. Well I (and he Rams) got schooled, 31-10. Ouch. But have the whole week left. Let's go!.

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. (Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!?) NEW!

NEW! Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton & Duper NEW!

Canes Rout Bethune 70-13 In Opener, But We Don't Know Real UM Yet

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 Keeps Defies Time

Hilltop: The five columns before that: As Optimism In Dolphins & Canes Spikes, Miami Flexes As A Football Town / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Tua's Preseason Debut Was Most Impressive 4 1/2 Hours Before It Began / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / No Doubt Now: Deshaun Watson Knows He'll Be Pariah In Stadiums Across NFL

IT'S UPSET BIRD WEEK AND GREG'S LOBOS WEEK IN AMERICA!: Week 1 of NFL season means only one thing. Well, OK it means a lot of things, but two of them are the Upset Bird launching his 32nd (!) season of NFL predictions in the Miami Herald, and Greg's Lobos beginning defense of their league championship in PFPI Fantasy:

NFL picks -- A Herald tradition since 1991, our predictions appear online Thursday afternoons and in print Fridays every week startng this week. (Our pick for the Thursday night game appears separately online Wednesday and in print Thursdays). Each week we offer our Game of the Week, Upset of the Week special (courtesy the Upset Bird: "Aawwk!"), a longer, more detailed predix capsule on the Dolphins game, as well as picks for all the other games. We also update you every week, in this blog each Tuesday, on how we're doing with our won-lost records both overall and against the point spread. We have fun but take our predix seriously. Longtime picks fans, welcome back! Newbies, glad to have you!

Greg's Lobos -- America's Most Famous and Popular Fantasy Team (AMFAPFT) begins defense of its PFPI Fantasy crown this week in our 10-team friends' n' family PPR league. Had our draft the other day and our Big 5 to start the season are QB Lamar Jackson, RBs Dalvin Cook and Nick Chubb, and WRs CeeDee Lamb and Tee Higgins. You like? We'll update you in this blog every Tuesday morning on how we did that week and how we're doing in the league. You ready to howl, Lobos Nation? Join us for the ride!   

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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: Who Dolphins Are Was Hidden In Opening Win. 5 Questions That Still Need Answers / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Why Has Brady Skated On Tampering Role & Does He Still Have Future In Miami? / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Goodell Kept The Power, After All. It's Why Watson Still Faces Much Harsher Ban / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Deshaun Watson's 6-game NFL Suspension A Slap-On-The-Wrist Affront / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / Barkley, Djokovic, Lia Thomas: Being Sports Fan Never Harder -- Or More Interesting / How Super Mario And The Cheetah were Sent To Save Football in Miami / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Why LeBron (of All People) Chiming In On Griner's Russia Detention Is Ironic / Heat Luring Donovan Mitchell Involves Friend D-Wade, Arch-Enemy Ainge, Too / Why Miami Heat Should Re-Think, Go All-In For King-Whale Kevin Durant / Cup Of AK-47 Coffee At Cowboys Games? Nuthin' Wrong With That, Huh Jerry? / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / Nobody Wins, Everybody Loses, As NFL Weighs Deshaun Watson Punishment / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Florida Panthers Swap Coach Of Year Finalist For Guy No. 1 In Career Losses / 20 Cases Settled, But Deshaun Watson Won't Begin To Clear Name Without Remorse / Tua Will Handle Scrutiny & Pressure. Question Is If Rest of Miami Dolphins Can / 'Black Cloud' Over U.S. Open Amid Golf Civil War In Time Of Revolution In Sports / Curry's 4th NBA Title, 1st Finals MVP Opens Path To Michael/LeBron Best-Ever Talk / Heat Season Ends One Win (One Shot?) Short Of NBA Finals In Game 7 Loss / No Consolation, No Excuse: Panthers Swept From Playoffs In 2-0 Loss A Brutal End / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Serena Playing Wimbledon Still Matters, Maybe More Than Ever. Because It Feels Like Goodbye / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / Mickelson, Johnson et al Are Saudi Pawns Pocketing Blood Money / Dolphins Denied It, But Deshaun Watson Lawyer Reveals How Close Miami Was To A Deal / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim Ng Hire As GM / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

1) It's MONDAY, AUGUST 22. Happy birthday shoutout to the greatest person I know ... my wife! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Greg Cote Show podcast, Why Watson punishment will go well beyond his extended NFL suspension, updated Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE WITH JESSICA SMETANA OUT NOW!: Our 36th episode of 2022 and 127th overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify -- wherever you pod and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 127 we've done so far HERE. In our newest ep: Jessica Smetana from the Le Batard Show joins us to sing and dance (OK, no dancing) and provide us her all-time top five musicals -- which takes a shockingly unexpected dark turn. Also in the new ep: Greg pulls off surprise birthday party for his wife; Greg revisits the recent Charles Bricker stunt on the Le Batard Show, when Greg was duped into thinking he was speaking with an old journalism rival from the early ‘90s; the guys discuss Deshaun Watson’s increased NFL suspension; Dippity-Do talk; the USA Mullet Championships and much more. Hit up GCS2236 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. And now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit the store by clicking 'Shop'. New items! Also check out our podcast's new YouTube channel.

Be the change!: Visit Change.org/MountGregmore today and sign our petition to change the name of Mount Rushmore. It's free!

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Tua's Preseason Debut Was Most Impressive 4 1/2 Hours Before It Began NEW!

Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension

No Doubt Now: Deshaun Watson Knows He'll Be Pariah In Stadiums Across NFL

Who Dolphins Are Was Hidden In Opening Win. 5 Questions That Still Need Answers

Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back

Hilltop: The five columns before that: Why Has Brady Skated On Tampering Role & Does He Still Have Future In Miami? / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Goodell Kept The Power, After All. It's Why Watson Still Faces Much Harsher Ban / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (AUGUST 21-22): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. NFL: Deshaun Watson suspension increased in settlement: Serial creep Deshaun Watson's punishment over his sexual assaults during massage sessions was increased from a six-game suspension and no fine to 11 games and a record %5 million fine in a settlement between the NFL and its players union. The shamed Cleveland Browsn quality will be eligible to make his season debut on December 4 at Houston, his former team.

2. DOLPHINS: Tua debuts in Miami's home preseason loss: Miami is 1-1 in the preseason after Saturday night's 15-13 home exhibition loss to Las Vegas. Tua Tagovailoa was sharp (6-for-8) in brief action in his preseason debut, although top wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle again sat out. Fins' fake-game finale is at home next Saturday vs. Philly. Real season opens Sept. 11 here vs. New England.

3. FIU: Linebacker Knox passes away suddenly. R.I.P.: The FIU football family is dealing with a tragedy as it prepares for its season. Linebacker Luke Knox, younger brother of Buffalo Bills tight end Dawson Knox, died at 22 late Wednesday night after being hospitalized. Cause of death still is unannounced but foul play is not suspected. Knox played four years at Mississippi before tranferring. The Panthers and first-year coach Mike MacIntyre open the season September 1 vs. Bryant.

4. INTER MIAMI: Surging Herons win, solidify playoff chances: Herons are level at 10-6-10 and now in fifth place in the fight for one of seven MLS East playoff spots after Saturday's 2-1 home win over Toronto. Inter Miami, in its third season, is back on the pitch next Saturday at New York Red Bulls with eight games left in the regular season.

5. HURRICANES: Countdown 13 days 'til UM season opener: The No. 16-ranked Canes (AP poll) are less than two weeks from their opener at home vs. Bethune-Cookman to launch the Mario Cristobal era. Red-circled games are September 17 at No. 6 Texas A&M and November 19 at No. 4 Clemson. Also notable: November 26 vs. No. 17 Pitt and November 5 vs. traditional rival Florida State.

6. MARLINS: Sandy (The Bright Spot) Alcantara back on hill today: The fading Fish are 52-68 after three straightt losses entering today's game at the Dodgers. Ace Sandy Alcantara, chasing the NL Cy Young award despite the stinky team around him, is back on the mound today/Sunday. Miami's six-game western roadie moves on to Oakland beginning Monday.

7. HEAT: Schedule out; should Miami feel insulted? And U.D. re-ups!: Heat’s 82-game regular season schedule for 2022-23 begins with four-game homsetand, a franchise first, starting October 19 vs. Chicago. Miami finished one win shy of reaching the NBA Finals last season, but was excluded from both the season-opening marquee doubleheader on October 18 and prestigious Christmas Day slate. Meantime (no big shock) Udonis Haslem announced he'd be back for 20th (!) Heat season.

8. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: CFP mulls taking over sport's governance: The 11 college presidents and chancellors who comprise the College Football Playoff's Board of Managers met and began to discuss the possibility of restructuring how college football is governed -- perhaps outside the NCAA under the auspices of the CFP itself. Stay tuned.

9. GOLF: Tiger rallies the troops on behalf of PGA Tour: Tiger Woods, still the soul of golf, met with top players last week to rally support for the PGA Tour and stem the tide of defections to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series. The meeting took place at the BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware, site of the second of three FedEx Cup playoff events, won by Patrick Cantlay.

10. WNBA: Fowles bows out as playoffs begin: In a season overshadowed by the continuing Russian detention of star Brittney Griner, the eight-team WNBA playoffs led by the top-seeded Las Vegas Aces got underway. The start of the postseason also marked the retirement of Miami-born-and-raised Sylvia Fowles, the greatest center in league history.

Missing the HB10 cut: Leon Edwards' stunning knockout of Kamaru Usman in Salt Lake City won the welterweight title in UFC 278 on Saturday night ..... Confirming what the Miami Herald first reported in January, the College Football Playoff announced Miami would host the 2025-season national championship game on January 5, 2026 at Hard Rock Stadium ..... Serena Williams' U.S. Open farewell begins a week from Monday ..... Lakers star LeBron James signed a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension with a player option for a third year in 2024-25. Sounds the like the plan is he'll take the third year if Lakers also sign Bronny for a father-son finale season for Dad ..... FIFA says the Qatar World Cup starting in Noevmeber has sold 2.45 of 3 million available tickets ..... Florida Panthers announced a six-game preseason schedule opening September 26 at Nashville. Training camp figures tp open two weeks earlier ..... Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Chuck Howley, Joe Klecko and Ken Riley as the three senior finalists for the Class of 2023. Those failing to make the cut included the late former Dolphins guard Bob Kuechenberg ..... The 75th Little League World Series of baseball is underway w\in Williamsport, Pa., with the U.S. and International finals on August 27 and the overall champion decided a day later ..... Widow Vanessa Bryant's lawsuit against Los Angeles County and county sheriff Alex Villanueva over graphic crash-site photos of her late husband Kobe and daughter being shared is nearing an end. The January 2020 helicopter crash killed nine people ..... Fernando Tati Sr. called his Padres-star son's 80-game PEDs suspension based for baseball, blaming everybody except his son. C'mon, papi, get real ..... Upcoming: Florida A&M and Jackson State in college football's Orange Blossom Classic Spetember 4 at Hard Rock ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,393 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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

ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: Deshaun Watson's 6-game NFL Suspension A Slap-On-The-Wrist Affront / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / Barkley, Djokovic, Lia Thomas: Being Sports Fan Never Harder -- Or More Interesting / How Super Mario And The Cheetah were Sent To Save Football in Miami / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Why LeBron (of All People) Chiming In On Griner's Russia Detention Is Ironic / Heat Luring Donovan Mitchell Involves Friend D-Wade, Arch-Enemy Ainge, Too / Why Miami Heat Should Re-Think, Go All-In For King-Whale Kevin Durant / Cup Of AK-47 Coffee At Cowboys Games? Nuthin' Wrong With That, Huh Jerry? / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / Nobody Wins, Everybody Loses, As NFL Weighs Deshaun Watson Punishment / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Florida Panthers Swap Coach Of Year Finalist For Guy No. 1 In Career Losses / 20 Cases Settled, But Deshaun Watson Won't Begin To Clear Name Without Remorse / Tua Will Handle Scrutiny & Pressure. Question Is If Rest of Miami Dolphins Can / 'Black Cloud' Over U.S. Open Amid Golf Civil War In Time Of Revolution In Sports / Curry's 4th NBA Title, 1st Finals MVP Opens Path To Michael/LeBron Best-Ever Talk / Heat Season Ends One Win (One Shot?) Short Of NBA Finals In Game 7 Loss / No Consolation, No Excuse: Panthers Swept From Playoffs In 2-0 Loss A Brutal End / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Serena Playing Wimbledon Still Matters, Maybe More Than Ever. Because It Feels Like Goodbye / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / Mickelson, Johnson et al Are Saudi Pawns Pocketing Blood Money / Dolphins Denied It, But Deshaun Watson Lawyer Reveals How Close Miami Was To A Deal / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim Ng Hire As GM / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

1) It's SATURDAY, AUGUST 20. For the second week in a row I was in with the Le Batard Show on Wednesday (today) this week, not Tuesday. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, Deshaun Watson now knows he'll be a pariah in stadiums across NFL, Dolphins preseason-opening win, new Greg Cote Show podcast, The List (Marlins' winningest lefties), updated Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: LE BATARD SHOW, PING-PONG, NEW BOOK ON '72 DOLPHINS: Our 35th episode of 2022 and 126th overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify -- wherever you pod and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 126 we've done so far HERE. In our newest: Greg explains his frustration with his role on Le Batard Show, the Father-Son Olympics resumes with ping-pong, and Greg chats with special guests Marhsall Jon Fisher, author of "Seventeen and Oh," the new '72 Dolphins book pictured. Hit up GCS2235 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. And now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit the store by clicking 'Shop'. New items! Also check out our podcast's new YouTube channel.

Be the change!: Visit Change.org/MountGregmore today and sign our petition to change the name of Mount Rushmore. It's free!

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension NEW!

No Doubt Now: Deshaun Watson Knows He'll Be Pariah In Stadiums Across NFL

Who Dolphins Are Was Hidden In Opening Win. 5 Questions That Still Need Answers

Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back

Why Has Brady Skated On Tampering Role & Does He Still Have Future In Miami?

Hilltop: The five columns before that: Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Goodell Kept The Power, After All. It's Why Watson Still Faces Much Harsher Ban / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Deshaun Watson's 6-game NFL Suspension A Slap-On-The-Wrist Affront

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

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: Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / Barkley, Djokovic, Lia Thomas: Being Sports Fan Never Harder -- Or More Interesting / How Super Mario And The Cheetah were Sent To Save Football in Miami / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Why LeBron (of All People) Chiming In On Griner's Russia Detention Is Ironic / Heat Luring Donovan Mitchell Involves Friend D-Wade, Arch-Enemy Ainge, Too / Why Miami Heat Should Re-Think, Go All-In For King-Whale Kevin Durant / Cup Of AK-47 Coffee At Cowboys Games? Nuthin' Wrong With That, Huh Jerry? / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / Nobody Wins, Everybody Loses, As NFL Weighs Deshaun Watson Punishment / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Florida Panthers Swap Coach Of Year Finalist For Guy No. 1 In Career Losses / 20 Cases Settled, But Deshaun Watson Won't Begin To Clear Name Without Remorse / Tua Will Handle Scrutiny & Pressure. Question Is If Rest of Miami Dolphins Can / 'Black Cloud' Over U.S. Open Amid Golf Civil War In Time Of Revolution In Sports / Curry's 4th NBA Title, 1st Finals MVP Opens Path To Michael/LeBron Best-Ever Talk / Heat Season Ends One Win (One Shot?) Short Of NBA Finals In Game 7 Loss / No Consolation, No Excuse: Panthers Swept From Playoffs In 2-0 Loss A Brutal End / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Serena Playing Wimbledon Still Matters, Maybe More Than Ever. Because It Feels Like Goodbye / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / Mickelson, Johnson et al Are Saudi Pawns Pocketing Blood Money / Dolphins Denied It, But Deshaun Watson Lawyer Reveals How Close Miami Was To A Deal / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim Ng Hire As GM / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

1) It's MONDAY, AUGUST 15. Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Butch Davis on his retirement and career, new Greg Cote Show podcast, updated Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: LE BATARD SHOW, PING-PONG, NEW BOOK ON '72 DOLPHINS: Our 35th episode of 2022 and 126th overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify -- wherever you pod and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 126 we've done so far HERE. In our newest: Greg explains his frustration with his role on Le Batard Show, the Father-Son Olympics resumes with ping-pong, and Greg chats with special guests Marhsall Jon Fisher, author of "Seventeen and Oh," the new '72 Dolphins book pictured. Hit up GCS2235 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. And now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit the store by clicking 'Shop'. New items! Also check out our podcast's new YouTube channel.

Be the change!: Visit Change.org/MountGregmore today and sign our petition to change the name of Mount Rushmore. It's free!

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! No Doubt Now: Deshaun Watson Knows He'll Be Pariah In Stadiums Across NFL NEW!

NEW! Who Dolphins Are Was Hidden In Opening Win. 5 Questions That Still Need Answers NEW! 

Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back

Why Has Brady Skated On Tampering Role & Does He Still Have Future In Miami?

Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again

Hilltop: The five columns before that: Goodell Kept The Power, After All. It's Why Watson Still Faces Much Harsher Ban / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Deshaun Watson's 6-game NFL Suspension A Slap-On-The-Wrist Affront / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition)

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (AUGUST 14-15): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. DOLPHINS: Miami wins fake-game opener as most starters sit: Miami Dolphins opened their 57th preseason and first under coach Mike McDaniel Saturday night at Tampa Bay and won 26-24 because a last-second Bucs field goal try bonked off the right u[pright. Can't get any read, though, because Miami stars like Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill did not play and Tampa also sat its top players. Third-string rookie QB Skylar Thompson played the whole for the Fins, and well. Tom Brady, whom the Dolphins recently were penalized for tampering in trying to lure despite his being under contract with Tampa, is on leave for personal reasons and did not play. Too bad. A QB of his youth and inexperience sure could use the reps. Fins play fake-game two (of three) next Saturday vs. Las Vegas.

2. HURRICANES: UM ranked 16th, 17th as season nears: Miami continues to grind through its first fall camp under coach Mario Cristobal, and high hopes were validaed with a No. 17 national ranking in the first major preseason poll out, the AFCA coaches' poll. But that was only fourth among ACC teams, after Clemson (4), N.C. State (13) and Pitt (16). UM is 16th in the first AP poll, one spot ahead of Pitt. QB Tyler Van Dyke is tied for fourth-best Heisman Trophy odds, albeit as a 25-1 longshot. Canes open Sept. 3 with a soft-serve scoop vs. Bethune-Cookman,

3. TENNIS: Serena farewell builds drama for U.S. Open: Anticipation and emotion for the upcoming U.S. Open starting August 29 grew when all-time great Serena Williams announced she would be stepping away from tennis and turning attention to family and business interests after the New York major. She noted If she were man she could continue playing, but, at 40, with injury ossues and with her last major win 5 1/2 years ago, it is time.

4. NFL: Goodell wants hammer on Watson, who finally expresses remorse: NFL commish Roger Goodell has appealed the lenient six-game suspension of Browns QB Deshaun Watson and seeks 1-year-plus and a huge fine. An independdent arbiter will rule. Meantime Watson, for the first time, publicly apologized to the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct during massage sessions in an interview Friday, saying, "I want to say that I'm truly sorry to all of the women that I have impacted." He went 1-for-5 in the Browns' exhibtiion opener and was booed heavily in Jacksonville.

5. INTER MIAMI: Pozuelo leads win and Herons now on playoff pace: Inter Miami is 9-6-10 and tied for sixth in the hunt for one of seven MLS East playoff spots after Saturday night's 3-2 home win over New York City fueled by two goals from recently acquired Alejandro Pozuelo. There are nine games left in the regular season of Year 3 for the Herons, the next this coming Saturday vs. Toronto.

6. MARLINS: Fish fading fast in another lost season: The fading Fish are 50-65, have lost four straight and are on a 3-13 skid in midst of a seven-game homestand vs. Braves and Padres. On Tuesday, Jake Paul will throw out the first pitch and nobody is sure why. ESPN's new post-trade deadline farm system ranking has Miami No. 12. Highlights: RHP Eury Perez continues a great prospect, RF J.J. Bleday has played well, and SS Jordan Groshans, a top Blue Jays prospect, arrived by trade. Lowlights: RHP Max Meyer needs Tommy John surgery, RHP Sixto Sanchez has been (very) slow returning from shoulder problems, and SS Kahlil Watson has struggled.

7. HEAT: Durant ultimatum, Heat in 'Summer Forecast': Miami remains out of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes (for now) by refusing to include Bam Adebayo in a trade. Durant's ultimatum to Brooklyn -- he goes unless the coach and GM do -- was met with a "no" by Nets owner, all but assuring a trade will happen, with Boston and Philly emerging as possibilities. Meantime ESPN's Summer Forecast pegs Heat fourth in the East, with Bam second pick for DPOY and Erik Spoelstra third for top coach.

8. NBA: Russell gets permanent leaguewide honor: The NBA is honoring the legacy of Boston Celtics icon Bill Russell by retiring his No. 6 jersey for all 30 teams, a first in league history. Russell, who won 11 championships, passed away last week at 88. Seven Heat players have worn No. 6, the last LeBron James in 2011-14.

9. SOCCER: Messi snubbed as long streak ends: Futbol god Lionel Messi was left off the 30-man list of Ballon d'Or nominees for the first time since 2005 as contenders were announced. Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema is considered a favorite; Cristiano Ronaldo also is on the list. Messi has won the world player of the year honor seven times but scored only 11 goals in his debut  season with Paris Saint-Germain. Three USWNT players made the 20-person list of women's finalists: Veteran Alex Morgan and newcomers Catarina Macario and Trinity Rodman.

10. PANTHERS: Cats complete coaching staff: Florida Panthers announced three new assistants, Myles Fee, Jamie Kompon and Sylvain Lefebvre, have joined the staff of new coach Paul Maurice, hired June 23. Two other assistants, Tuomo Ruutu and Robb Tallas were retained. Five Panthers prospects are competing in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) world junior championships that began this week and end next Saturday in Edmonton, Alberta.

Missing the HB10 cut: The PGA Tour won its court case to exclude LIV Golf defectors from its FedEx Cup playoffs. First of three playoff events was won Sunday by Will Zalatoris in Memphis ..... The Kobe Bryant crash-photos trial continues. Shame on the cops and investigators who distributed the gruesome pictures ..... La Liga, the premier Spanish league of Barcelona and Real Madrid and a bunch of other teams not them, kicked off this weekend ..... Cubs and Reds played in Field of Dreams II near the iconic Iowa cornfield from the 1989 movie, and that hologram of Harry Caray singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" will forever haunt my dreams ..... One week after the blockbuster trade for Juan Soto, the Padres lose Cheatin' Fernando Tatis Jr. to an 80-game suspension for PEDs ..... Romanian swimmer David Popovici, 17, became youngest to break world record in men's 100-meter freestyle with a time of 46.96 at the European championships in Rome ..... Boxer Tyson Fury has retired again after being unretired ror about four minutes ..... In the latest cleansing of the once dirty name of gambling, Disney may partner with a sportsbook to integrate betting with its broadcasts ..... ESPN and the Big Ten have split up. No word yet who gets custody of the kids ..... Joint bids to host a World Cup are all the rage. With the U.S., Canada and Mexico sharing the 2026 WC, plays to host in 2030 include joint bids by Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, and by Portugal and Spain ..... Regional play is underway building to the Little League World Series ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,400 days even (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

THE LIST: MARLINS' WINNINGEST LEFTHANDERS: Saturday was National Lefthanders Day. In its honor, the winningest LHPs (lefthanded pitchers) in Marlins history, with the top guy, the D-Train, pictured:

Rk   Pitcher                   Wins   Season

1     Dontrelle Willis         68    2004-07

2     Scott Olsen               31    2005-08

3     Al Leiter                   30    1996-97, '05

4     Chris Hammond         29    1993-98

5     Mike Dunn                 26    2011-16 

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

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: If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / Barkley, Djokovic, Lia Thomas: Being Sports Fan Never Harder -- Or More Interesting / How Super Mario And The Cheetah were Sent To Save Football in Miami / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Why LeBron (of All People) Chiming In On Griner's Russia Detention Is Ironic / Heat Luring Donovan Mitchell Involves Friend D-Wade, Arch-Enemy Ainge, Too / Why Miami Heat Should Re-Think, Go All-In For King-Whale Kevin Durant / Cup Of AK-47 Coffee At Cowboys Games? Nuthin' Wrong With That, Huh Jerry? / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / Nobody Wins, Everybody Loses, As NFL Weighs Deshaun Watson Punishment / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Florida Panthers Swap Coach Of Year Finalist For Guy No. 1 In Career Losses / 20 Cases Settled, But Deshaun Watson Won't Begin To Clear Name Without Remorse / Tua Will Handle Scrutiny & Pressure. Question Is If Rest of Miami Dolphins Can / 'Black Cloud' Over U.S. Open Amid Golf Civil War In Time Of Revolution In Sports / Curry's 4th NBA Title, 1st Finals MVP Opens Path To Michael/LeBron Best-Ever Talk / Heat Season Ends One Win (One Shot?) Short Of NBA Finals In Game 7 Loss / No Consolation, No Excuse: Panthers Swept From Playoffs In 2-0 Loss A Brutal End / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Serena Playing Wimbledon Still Matters, Maybe More Than Ever. Because It Feels Like Goodbye / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / Mickelson, Johnson et al Are Saudi Pawns Pocketing Blood Money / Dolphins Denied It, But Deshaun Watson Lawyer Reveals How Close Miami Was To A Deal / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim Ng Hire As GM / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

1) It's MONDAY, AUGUST 8. Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Canes football needs Cristobal to be the homecoming king, Goodell keeping power why Watson may yet get harsher ban, Ross and Dolphins socked for tampering, R.I.P. Vin Scully, Greg Cote Show podcast, updated Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW WITH PLAN TO RENAME MOUNT RUSHMORE: Our 34th episode of 2022 and 125th overall is out now! A new episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify -- wherever else you pod and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 125 we've done so far HERE, free. In our new episode: We introduce and discuss our new petition drive at change.org to change the name of Mount Rushmore to Mount Gregmore. Also: Bill Maher of HBO’s “Real Time” asking, “Have you ever seen a fat 90-year-old?”; Yeti explains how a music studio in Slovakia had a hand in producing “Pebble Drive,” his new song that debuted on our show last week; Chris takes us into the room as Season 2 of Battle Court Jai-Alai gets underway with a player draft; Golfing alone leads Greg to reveal a heretofore unknown insecurity; Greg considers filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service; Greg holds Chris solely to blame for the two of them not winning last week’s billion-dollar lottery; Gender reveal stunt gone awry; and Chris and friend Alex have a surprise night out planned with their fathers. (But does Chris let slip what the surprise is?). Hit up GCS2234 for full story on the latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe et cetera and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. And now, brand new: Our podcast has a website and merch store: Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit the merch store by clicking 'Shop'. New items! Also check out our podcast's new YouTube channel.

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Why Has Brady Skated On Tampering Role & Does He Still Have Future In Miami? NEW!

NEW! Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again New!

Goodell Kept The Power, After All. It's Why Watson Still Faces Much Harsher Ban

Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins

11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life

The Hilltop: The five columns before that: Deshaun Watson's 6-game NFL Suspension A Slap-On-The-Wrist Affront / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (AUGUST 7-8): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. DOLPHINS: Owner Ross guilty of tampering, Fins lose first-round pick: The NFL found the Dolphins and owner Stephen Ross guilty of tampering in 2019 to '21 in trying to lure quarterback Tom Brady and coach Sean Payton when both were under contract to other teams. The Fins must forfeit a 2023 first-round draft pick and a '24 third-rounder. In additon Ross was fined $1.5 million and vice chairman Bruce Beal was fined $500,000. Addressing the Brian Flores lawsuit, the league found that Ross expressed a priority for high draft position over winning but did not directly bribe Flores to lose. Miami will stage joint practces with the Buccaneers ahead of the first of three preseason games this coming Saturday in Tampa.

2. NFL: Goodell, league appealing Watson's wrist-slap 6-game suspension: The NFL said it will appeal the six-game suspension for Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson in favor of a harsher penalty for violating the league's personal conduct policy related to sexual misconduct in massage sessions. The Monday sentence by league disciplinary officer Sue L. Robinson has been roundly criticized as too lenient. Commissioner Roger Goodell will determine who will hear the appeal, himself or a designee. The league wanted an indefinite suspension of at least one full season, a fine and treatment.

3. HURRICANES: UM opens fall camp, season less than month away: The Canes began their first fall camp under new coach Mario Cristobal with a first practice Friday. A CanesFest fan event inside the indoor practice facility followed Saturday's practice. Preseason Top 25s are not out yet, but ESPN's first Football Power Index for 2022 has Miami No. 9 overall and second in the ACC to Clemson with a plus-14.5 rating. Miami opens its season at home September 3 with a softie vs. Bethune-Cookman. 

4. INTER MIAMI: Herons now on pace for final MLS playoff spot: Inter Miami is 8-6-10 after Satutday's 2-2 draw at Monttreal and its 30 standings are now tied for the seventh and last MLS East playoff spot. The league takes its all-star break this Wednesday night with the MLS stars -- including defender DeAndre Yedlin as Miami's lone rep -- taking on Mexico's Liga MX stars. The Herons return to league play with 10 games left in the regular season starting next Saturday at home vs. New York City.

5. MLB: Soto to Padres the whale-deal at the trade deadline: The San Diego Padres acquired 23-year-old megastar slugger Juan Soto from Washington for a bevy of top prospects in the biggest trade by far at the MLB trade deadline. Next biggest deal was the one not made, with Shohei Ohtani staying with the Angels, at least for now. Soto joins Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado in the S.D. lineup as Friars make a run at the Dodgers' dominance in the NL West.  

6. MARLINS: Sandy or bust. Let's quit pretending Fish are still in wild-card race: The good news: Ace Sandy Alcantara is now 10-4 after complete-game shutout of the Reds. The bad news? Most everything else. That gem ended a 1-5 homestand that left Miami so far back in the wild-card hunt it's time to stop using "Marlins" and "playoffs" in the same sentence. Miami has sliumped to 49-59 in the midst of a six-game road swing. Marlins' only trade-deadline move was a small one, dealing relievers Anthony Bass (team' holds leader) and Zach Pop to Toronto for infielder Jordan Groshans, a top-five Blue Jays minor-league prospect.

7. WNBA: Griner sentenced in Russia, but prisoner swap hoped for: A Russian court sentenced WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for bringing cannabis into the country. She'd been arrested February 17. Her guilty plea, verdict and sentence were considered necessary precursors to allow U.S.-Russia negotiations for a prisoner exchange to begin.

8. GOLF: PGA Tour defectors fire latest salvo in the Golf War: Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and nine other LIV Golf competitors (a.k.a. PGA Tour expatriates) filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in federal court, claimng their suspensions are part of a “carefully orchestrated plan" to defeat the Saudi-backed breakaway tour. Meanwhile the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs, from which LIV guys are excluded, begin August 19.

9. DEATHS: R.I.P., Vin Scully, broadcasting legend, diamond poet: Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster Vin Scully, the Dodgers icon and diamond poet to generations, passed away at 96. It was the sports world's second farewell to an epic life within days, after NBA legend Bill Russell passed on at 88.

10. HEAT: Shh. Quiet, please. We don't want to wake the Heat's offseason: The exciting speculation about Miami's interest in going after major trades for whale Kevin Durant or mini-whale Donovan Mitchell seems long time ago and miles away as the Heat snore through a quiet offseason whose biggest headline thus far has been the loss of P.J. Tucker in free agency. Is Miami up to something? Anything? Stay tuned.

Missing the HB10 cut: Aaron Rodgers, much better at passing than at not saying things he shouldn't, admitted in an interview has had "psychedelic experiences" with mushrooms and the mind-bending ayahuasca plant. Will be interesting to see if the Packers are NFL do anything beyond shaking their collective head ..... Hate to be harsh, but it was a B-list crowd entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. Tony Boselli, Cliff Branch, Art McNally, Sam Mills, Richard Seymour, Dick Vermeil and Bryant Young enter as evidence the Hall admits too many .... Las Vegas beat Jacksonville 27-11 to kick off the NFL preseason in the Hall of Fame Game, in what was believed to be the worst matchup and most boring result in the history of human activity ..... Arsenal shut out Crystal Palace 2-nil to kick off the 2022-23 English Premier League season. A cloud over it: Cristiano Ronaldo's apparent desire to extract himself from Manchester United ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,407 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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

ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: Barkley, Djokovic, Lia Thomas: Being Sports Fan Never Harder -- Or More Interesting / How Super Mario And The Cheetah were Sent To Save Football in Miami / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Why LeBron (of All People) Chiming In On Griner's Russia Detention Is Ironic / Heat Luring Donovan Mitchell Involves Friend D-Wade, Arch-Enemy Ainge, Too / Why Miami Heat Should Re-Think, Go All-In For King-Whale Kevin Durant / Cup Of AK-47 Coffee At Cowboys Games? Nuthin' Wrong With That, Huh Jerry? / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / Nobody Wins, Everybody Loses, As NFL Weighs Deshaun Watson Punishment / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Florida Panthers Swap Coach Of Year Finalist For Guy No. 1 In Career Losses / 20 Cases Settled, But Deshaun Watson Won't Begin To Clear Name Without Remorse / Tua Will Handle Scrutiny & Pressure. Question Is If Rest of Miami Dolphins Can / 'Black Cloud' Over U.S. Open Amid Golf Civil War In Time Of Revolution In Sports / Curry's 4th NBA Title, 1st Finals MVP Opens Path To Michael/LeBron Best-Ever Talk / Heat Season Ends One Win (One Shot?) Short Of NBA Finals In Game 7 Loss / No Consolation, No Excuse: Panthers Swept From Playoffs In 2-0 Loss A Brutal End / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Serena Playing Wimbledon Still Matters, Maybe More Than Ever. Because It Feels Like Goodbye / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / Mickelson, Johnson et al Are Saudi Pawns Pocketing Blood Money / Dolphins Denied It, But Deshaun Watson Lawyer Reveals How Close Miami Was To A Deal / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim Ng Hire As GM / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

1) It's SATURDAY, AUGUST 6. R.I.P., gone this week at 94, legendary Dodgers broadcaster and diamond poet Vin Scully -- the most eloquent voice of baseball. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, Deshaun Watson's 6-game suspension, Bill Russell R.I.P., new Greg Cote Show podcast, updated Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW: FIELD GOALS, TEARS AND 'POP 'N G'!: Our 33rd episode of 2022 and 124th overall is out now! A new episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify -- wherever else you pod and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 124 we've done so far HERE, free. In our new episode: Father-Son Olympics resumes as Greg and Chris go at it in field-goal kicking; Yeti world-premieres a new song, "Pebble Drive," that brings Greg to tears; and we debut an occasional new segment, 'Pop 'n G,' in which Greg converses with his 4-year-old granddaughter. Hit up GCS2233 for full story on the latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe et cetera and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. And now, brand new: Our podcast has a website and merch store: Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit the merch store by clicking 'Shop'. New items! Also check out our podcast's new YouTube channel.

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again New!

NEW! Goodell Kept The Power, After All. It's Why Watson Still Faces Much Harsher Ban NEW!

Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins

11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life

Deshaun Watson's 6-game NFL Suspension A Slap-On-The-Wrist Affront

The Hilltop: The five columns before that: Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / Barkley, Djokovic, Lia Thomas: Being Sports Fan Never Harder -- Or More Interesting

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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: How Super Mario And The Cheetah were Sent To Save Football in Miami / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Why LeBron (of All People) Chiming In On Griner's Russia Detention Is Ironic / Heat Luring Donovan Mitchell Involves Friend D-Wade, Arch-Enemy Ainge, Too / Why Miami Heat Should Re-Think, Go All-In For King-Whale Kevin Durant / Cup Of AK-47 Coffee At Cowboys Games? Nuthin' Wrong With That, Huh Jerry? / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / Nobody Wins, Everybody Loses, As NFL Weighs Deshaun Watson Punishment / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Florida Panthers Swap Coach Of Year Finalist For Guy No. 1 In Career Losses / 20 Cases Settled, But Deshaun Watson Won't Begin To Clear Name Without Remorse / Tua Will Handle Scrutiny & Pressure. Question Is If Rest of Miami Dolphins Can / 'Black Cloud' Over U.S. Open Amid Golf Civil War In Time Of Revolution In Sports / Curry's 4th NBA Title, 1st Finals MVP Opens Path To Michael/LeBron Best-Ever Talk / Heat Season Ends One Win (One Shot?) Short Of NBA Finals In Game 7 Loss / No Consolation, No Excuse: Panthers Swept From Playoffs In 2-0 Loss A Brutal End / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Serena Playing Wimbledon Still Matters, Maybe More Than Ever. Because It Feels Like Goodbye / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / Mickelson, Johnson et al Are Saudi Pawns Pocketing Blood Money / Dolphins Denied It, But Deshaun Watson Lawyer Reveals How Close Miami Was To A Deal / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim Ng Hire As GM / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

It's SUNDAY/MONDAY, JULY 3-4. Happy Fourth of July weekend, my fellow Americans. Make it a safe one. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Nobody wins and everybody lsees as NFL weighs Deshaun Watson punishment, An appreciation of Heat's Pat Riley, Greg Cote Show podcast, updated Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE, JULY 4 HOLIDAY SPECIAL, DROPS MONDAY!: Our 29th episode of 2022 and 120th overall is out Monday! A new episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify -- wherever else you pod and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 119 we've done so far HERE, free. In the most recent episode: Laughs with Chris and Roy Bellamy and a  bag of gummies in a Denver hotel room. And a serious discussion of the Supreme Court undoing Roe v. Wade. Also on the menu: Greg on the Golf War and how the PGA Tour let it happen; Major Father-Son Olympics update; Charlie the puppy and a glass of wine; Most unnecessary hotel luxuries; Do you love a good variable?; Way too much discussion of ropes and knots; and the question for Ice Cube that Greg was not able to ask on the Le Batard Show. Hit up GCS2228 for full story on the latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe et cetera and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. And now, brand new: Our podcast has a website and merch store: Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit the merch store by clicking 'Shop'. New items! 

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

Nobody Wins, Everybody Loses, As NFL Weighs Deshaun Watson Punishment

The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley

Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite

Florida Panthers Swap Coach Of Year Finalist For Guy No. 1 In Career Losses

20 Cases Settled, But Deshaun Watson Won't Begin To Clear Name Without Remorse 

The Hilltop: The five columns before that: Tua Will Handle Scrutiny & Pressure. Question Is If Rest of Miami Dolphins Can / 'Black Cloud' Over U.S. Open Amid Golf Civil War In Time Of Revolution In Sports / Curry's 4th NBA Title, 1st Finals MVP Opens Path To Michael/LeBron Best-Ever Talk / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Serena Playing Wimbledon Still Matters, Maybe More Than Ever. Because It Feels Like Goodbye

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

1. HEAT: Durant, Mitchell talk swirls as free agency begins: NBA summer league play is underway for Heat's developmental team, but it isn't what's on the minds of Miami fans. That would be free agency -- especially after superstar Kevin Durant opted out of Brooklyn and named Heat and Suns as his two preferred trade destinations. He is thought to be leaning Phoenix, saying he'd want to join Miami only if Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry all were here. So would Nets accept a deal with Tyler Herro the biggest name? Hmm. There also is talk Utah all-star Donovan Mitchell could be a Heat trade target if Durant goes elsewhere. Almost forgot: P.J. Tucker left to sign with Philly.   

2. NBA: Durant, Gobert lead sizzling start to free agency: Kevin Durant opting out of Brooklyn and hitting the open trade market (see above) was the big headline as free agency begins, but Utah trading star center Rudy Gobert to Minnesota for a windfall also makes the marquee. Jazz get five players and three first-round picks. Most superstars are staying put, though, with mega re-signings by Zion Williamson, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, Nikola Jokic, Zach LaVine, Karl-Anthony Towns and Bradley Beal among others. Big questions left: Will Kyrie Irving also want out of Brookyn now that Durant has? Will James Harden re-sign with Philly? 

3. MARLINS: Fish are hot(ish), Jazz an all-star finalist, Denbo out: Marlins are 36-40 and have won three straight and seven of past 10 entering Sunday and Moday games at Washington. Fish return home for a pair Tuesday and Wednesday vs. the Angels. Meanwhile 2B Jazz Chisholm is only Marlins finalist to be an all-star starter, although Sandy Alcantara is a lock to be named an NL pitcher. Pitchers and reserves for both squads and complete All-Star rosters will be announced July 10. Meanwhile the Marlins unshockingly fired VP of scouting Gary Denbo, who'd been the first major hire of Derek Jeter, who left the club as president/part owner in February.

4. TENNIS: No. 1 Swiatek, Serena out as Wimbledon reaches midpoint: Serena Williams losing in the first round in London was no great shock. She's 40 and was playing her first match in a year. But this was a shock: World No. 1 Iga Swiatek losing in the third round to unseeded Alize Cornet after 37 straight match wins and six straight titles. Women's crown is now wide open while Novak Djokovic seemds trophy-bound on the men's side.

5. NFL: Watson punishment hearings reach no verdict yet: Three days of NFL deliberation over whether or how long to suspended Browns QB Deshaun Watsob over Massagegate reached no announced conclusion. Sue Robinson, a retired federal judge, is the league's chief disciplinary officer. Many believe the ruling due later this summer will be at least a one-year duspension, but ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi reported sources tell him Watson will see the field for at least part of this coming season.

6. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: USC, UCLA latest conference defectors: The upheaval across college football continues. Last year it was Oklahoma and Texas defecting to th SEC. Now it's Southern Cal and UCLA going to the Big Ten. Will the ACC be the next Power 5 conference to see jarring movement? Top-brand schools like Clemson, Miami, Florida State and North Carolina seem ripe to explore a way to leave if the ACC doesn't find a way to jack up revenue to member schools. 

7. PANTHERS: Cats take big injury hit with Duclair: Being swept out of second round by Tampa Bay hurt. So does this. Panthers winger Anthony Duclair had surgery to repair his left Achilles tendon and is expected to miss the first half of next season, the team announced. Duclair, who injured his Achilles in offseason training, is coming off his best NHL season with career highs for both goals (31) and assists (27).

8. INTER MIAMI: Playoff-chasing Herons at Dallas Monday: Hot(ish) Inter Miami is 6-3-7 and within three points of MLS playoff pace at the midseason point entering Monday night's holiday match at Dallas. Miami host an international friendly vs. Barcelona on July 19.

9. DOLPHINS: Football nears as Fins set training camp dates: NFL training camps are on the horizon and in Miami that's a July 19 reporting date for rookies and July 26 for veterans. Eight pracrices will be open to fans on July 30 and August 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 24 and 25. The last two are joint practices with the Eagles. The three preseason games are August 13 at Tampa and home on August 20 vs. Las Vegas and August 27 vs. Philly.

10. OLYMPICS: U.S men qualify for first time siince 2008: The U.S. qualified for its first Olympic men's soccer tournament since 2008 with a 3-0 win over Honduras Friday night that earned the Americans one of 16 spots in the 2024 Olympic tournament in France. Olympic men's soccer is limited to players under 23, with each nation allowed three over-age exceptions. U.S. had failed in the previous three straight Olympic qualifying cycles.

Missing the HB10 cut: USFL championship game is today between the Birmingham Stallions and Philadelphia Stars, the ifrst time in almost 40 years a spring league has lasted a full season to crown a champ ..... The WNBA All-Star Game is July 10. A moment for Brittney Griner should begin it ..... In an escalation of the Golf War, the European Tour has levied $120,00 fines for its players competing in Saudi-backed LIV Golf events and banned them from next week's Scottish Open. However, LIV'ers will be allowed in the major British Open starting July 14 ..... David Highhill in the new NFL vice president/general manager of sports betting, the league's first position overseeing its business interest in the legal sports betting industry ..... Denver threw an Avalanche championship parade to celebrate the Stanley Cup win ..... Warriors Finals MVP Steph Curry will host the ESPYs July 20 ..... The Tour de France is underway, if anybody outside of France and not directly in the race still cares ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,442 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

Heat/Panthers playoff run columns: Heat Season Ends One Win (One Shot?) Short Of NBA Finals In Game 7 Loss / Legacy Building: Butler Rising Fast Among Heat All-Time Greats / Jimmy Butler Just Saved Heat Season, Gave Us Greatest Gift In Sports: A Game 7 / No Consolation, No Excuse: Panthers Swept From Playoffs In 2-0 Loss A Brutal End / Panthers' Magical Season Looking Out of Answers, Almost Out Of Time / Bam! Heat Take Back Control OF Series. Can Panthers Do The Same? / As Heat, Panthers Title Hopes Slip, These 4 Players Must Step up Now / Panthers Suffering Crushing Loss, In 2-0 Hole Heading To Tampa / Panthers Drop Game 1 At Home To Tampa. Time For Huberdeau, Barkov To Step Up / Heat-Celtics, Panthers-Lightning: 3 Keys, Who'll Win & Why in Both Series / Wow! Panthers Close Out Caps in 6 for 1st playoff advance since '96 / Butler And Defense Rise Again As Heat Eliminate 76ers, Reach Eastern Finals / Verhaeghe Lifts Miracle Cats to Comeback Win, 3-2 Lead / Massive Defense, Return of 3's Lift Heat to Game 5 Win, 3-2 Lead / Panthers' Miracle Finish Sends Caps Series Back Home Tied 2-2 / Heat Falls Again, Series Now 2-2 Because Heat Has Forgotten How To Shoot 3's / No. 1 seed Panthers Risk Early Playoff Exit (Again) After 6-1 Loss, 2-1 Hole / Now The Playoffs Have Begun: Embiid Back As Heat Lead Cut To 2-1 / Panthers Remind Why They're Fun & No. 1, Tie Series In 5-1 Rout Of Caps / Bench Lifts Heat to 2-0 Series Lead. Now History Says It's Over / Uh oh. Panthers Collapse Late, Lose Game 1 at Home to Capitals / Herro, Bam lift Heat over 76ers in Game 1 To Launch Huge Week in SoFla Sports

Select other recent columns: 'Free' speech? Ignorance Cost Del Rio $100,000. But He's Lucky To Still Have A Job / Why Browns' Watson Faces, Deserves Lengthy Suspension From NFL / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / Mickelson, Johnson et al Are Saudi Pawns Pocketing Blood Money / Dolphins Denied It, But Deshaun Watson Lawyer Reveals How Close Miami Was To A Deal / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / Inter Miami Has Been Major Failure For David Beckham. Here's The BIg Fix / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / 'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / Justice For George Floyd Helps Heal Our Shaken Faith, But Fight For Equality Goes On / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim NG Hire As GM / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me