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

1) It's THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15. Happy to be back in with the Le Batard Show on Tuesday! 2) Thanks once again to the many hundreds of fans we met Saturday night at the Le Batard Show's Mas Miami 5 event at Wynwood Marketplace. 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, Dolphins lose at Chargers, NFL Week 14 picks, new Greg Cote Show podcast, Mount Gregmore of columns.

Note to readers: I have had fewer columns this month because I have lots of vacation time to use before the end of the year. Still doing the blog, NFL picks, QB rankings and Dolphins games, just fewer general columns for now.

Tonight's 49ers at Seahawks pick: San Francisco is a favorite at Seattle, but is an upset in store? Visit NFL Week 15 Thursday Gem for our pick on tonight's game.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW AND IT'S TOE-RIFIC: LIVE FROM 'MAS MIAMI'!: Our 52nd episode of 2022 and 143rd overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 143 we've done so far HERE. The new episode is a "Live from Mas Miami Special!" We speak with members of the cast, fans and special guests. And why did Greg and Chris have a physical altercation just offstage as Yeti performed "Pebble Drive" live? Also in the new ep: Greg rails against Amazon.com advertising “last-minute stocking stuffers” too soon; Greg, Chris and Yeti discuss Elton John quitting Twitter and whether Elon Musk has made a moral dilemma of that platform; the guys discuss the World Cup final four and the tragic death of Grant Wahl; Rodney Dangerfield vs. Henny Youngman; Greg makes a trade involving Christmas; Dad joke of the week; a new ‘Three Facts, Jack’ segment and more. Hit up GCS2252 for 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 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: R.I.P. Chuck Carr: Remembering Marlins' Speedy First Star / Dolphins At 7-3: It's Beginning To Feel A Little Bit Magical Around Here / Canes' Easy Win At Georgia Tech A Late Lift On Down Year For Cristobal, UM / 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 / Shootout Win In Chicago Shows Dolphins Are What They Haven't Been in Years: Exciting / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improve to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

1) It's MONDAY, DECEMBER 12. Thanks to the hundreds of fans we met Saturday night at the Le Batard Show's Mas Miami 5 event at Wynwood Marketplace. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 14 picks, Brittney Griner freed but story hasn't ended, Greg Cote Show podcast with Dan Le Batard, NFL Week 13 results (picks/Lobos/QB rank), Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE -- LIVE FROM 'MAS MIAMI' -- OUT NOW!: Our 52nd episode of 2022 and 143rd overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 143 we've done so far HERE. The new episode is a "Live from Mas Miami Special!" We speak with members of the cast, fans and special guests. And why did Greg and Chris have a physical altercation just offstage as Yeti performed "Pebble Drive" live? Also in the new ep: Greg rails against Amazon.com advertising “last-minute stocking stuffers” too soon; Greg, Chris and Yeti discuss Elton John quitting Twitter and whether Elon Musk has made a moral dilemma of that platform; the guys discuss the World Cup final four and the tragic death of Grant Wahl; Rodney Dangerfield vs. Henny Youngman; Greg makes a trade involving Christmas; Dad joke of the week; a new ‘Three Facts, Jack’ segment and more. Hit up GCS2252 for 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.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (DECEMBER 11-12): 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. SOCCER: Final four! It's Argentina-Croatia, France-Morocco in World Cup semis: On Friday, Croatia stunned mighty Brazil, tying it 1-1 in extra time and winning 4-2 on penalty kicks, and then Argentina also won in PKs over Netherlands, after also squandering a lead late. Saturday, Morocco upset Portugal, 1-nil -- becoming the first African nation to reach the men's semifinals -- then France beat England 2-1. In semifinals, Argentina-Croatia is Tuesday and France faces Morocco Wednesday.

2. DOLPHINS: Tua awful, Herbert shines as Miami falls at Chargers: Fins had their choice of Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert with the fifth pick in the 2020 draft and chose Tua. The Los Angeles Chargers, picking sixth, took Justin Herbert. That makes the two QBs rivals for life. They meet Sunday for the second time (Tua won in 2020) with Miami a narrow road favorite. Just say it didn't go well for Tus in a 23-17 loss. [Column above]

3. BRITTNEY GRINER: WNBA star freed after 10 months in Russian detention: The Phoenix Mercury star had been playing for a Russian club during the WNBA offseason when she tried to return home and was detained on drug charges last February. Thursday, she was freed and reunited with wife Cherelle in a U.S.-Russia prisoner swap. Other Americans remain detained, though, and the reason Griner and so many others play overseas -- low WNBA pay -- remains a problem. [Column above]

4. MLB: Judge stays with Yanks to lead spending spree; Marlins stay quiet: Aaron Judge re-signing with Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million deal headlined an eventful Winter Meetings that saw uniform changes for stars including Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, Xander Boegarts and Trae Young. The Marlins have had a predictably quiet winter about from minor trades, Rule 5 Draft activity and parting ways with Brian Anderson. Updated World Series odds have Miami (ugh) tied for 22nd.  

5. HEAT: Loss to Spurs has Miami still struggling to top .500: Miami is 12-15 after Saturday's home loss to lowly San Antonio and now sets out on a four-game road trip starting Monday in Indiana. Heat started the season 0-2, reached .500 at 7-7 but have yet to have a winning record in an NBA regular season now one-third done. Team is past its injuries, with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in good form, but needs to go on a run to climb the standings.

6.  GRANT WAHL: Soccer journalist dies while covering World Cup: Respected independent soccer writer Grant Wahl, on assignment for CBS Sports, fell ill during Saturday's Netherlands-Argentina match and later died. He was 48. His brother said Grant was killed, encouraging conspiracy theories against Qatar across social media. Wahl, however, had complained of not feeling well and received medical help earlier in the World Cup.  

7. PANTHERS: Slumping Cats still struggling to get a run going: Florida is 13-16 (13-12-4) after Sunday's 5-2 home loss vs. Seattle, still in search of their first winning record since November 17. Matthew Tkachuk's 37 points and Carter Verhaeghe's 15 goals pace the team. Meantime the February 3-4 NHL All-Star Weekend being hosted by Florida is getting close. Sunrise last hosted the league’s midseason showcase in 2003. FLA is back at it Tuesday vs. Columbus.

8. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: USC's Williams wins Heisman Trophy: Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams won the 2022 Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in his first year with the Trojans. It was no surprise. Williams had earlier won Walter Camp Player of the Year award and the Maxwell Award given to the best all-around player in college football.

9. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Countdown 4 days 'til bowl season!: There are 43 bowl games culminating with the January 9 College Football Playoff national championship. The first bowls are this coming Friday. Three state FBS teams are bowling: Florida vs. Oregon December 17 (Las Vegas Bowl), UCF vs. Duke Dec28 (Military Bowl) and FSU vs. Oklahoma Dec29 (Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando). The latter is one of eight bowls in state of Florida. Locally, it's the Dec30 Orange Bowl at Hard Rock (Tennessee-Clemson) and the Dec20 Boca Raton Bowl at FAU (Liberty-Toledo).

10. CANES BASKETBALL: UM men Top 2-bound after beating N.C. State: The nearly ranked Miami men are 10-1 (2-0 ACC) after Saturday's 80-73 conference win over North Carolina State. They are now off until next Saturday vs. St. Francis before hosting No. 3 Virginia. The Canes women are 7-4 after Sunday's overtime home loss to Florida. Their ACC opener is December 21 at Florida State.

HB10 cut: The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz's fifth Mas Miami fan event packed Wynwood Marketplace with 2,000-plus Saturday night ..... Miami Hurricanes safety Kam Kinchens was named to the All-America first team by CBS Sports and The Athletic. He also was all-ACC first team ..... Marlins Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara unsurprisingly was named to the fourth annual All-MLB first team ..... Hurricanes baseball announced its 54-game regular season schedule would begin February 17 at home vs. Penn State ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,275 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: R.I.P. Chuck Carr: Remembering Marlins' Speedy First Star / Dolphins At 7-3: It's Beginning To Feel A Little Bit Magical Around Here / Canes' Easy Win At Georgia Tech A Late Lift On Down Year For Cristobal, UM / 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 / Shootout Win In Chicago Shows Dolphins Are What They Haven't Been in Years: Exciting / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improve to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (DECEMBER 4-5): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature -- back after taking last week off -- 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. SOCCER: U.S. out of men's World Cup with loss to Dutch: The U.S. fell to Netherlands 3-1 in a round-of-16 knockout match Saturday and was sent packing in the men's World Cup in Qatar. The Americans did well to advance past the group stage but deserved go no further, scoring only three goals in four WC games. Lionel Messi and Argentina beat Australia 2-1 in Saturday's other KO game. The Netherlands face Argentina in a quarterfinal match this Friday December 9. On Sunday: England and France advanced to set up a highly anticipated quarterfinal. The WC moves on without Germany and Belgium, probably the two biggest teams that failed to survive the group stage.

2. DOLPHINS: Fins, Tua faced rugged challenge in San Fran, and result showed: It was a homecoming game for coach Mike McDaniel, former 49ers offensive coordinator, but not time for nostalgia. The now 8-4 Fins fell 33-17 in the first of three straight road games. Tua Tagovailoa was intercepted twice and lost a fumble in a reality-check result.

3. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Georgia, Michigan lead CFP after Championship Weekend: Will the College Football Playoff's top four survive Championship Weekend? That was the question as No. 1 Georgia (vs. LSU in SEC) and No. 2 Michigan (vs. Purdue in Big Ten) did -- but No. 3 TCU (vs. Kansas State in Big 12) and No. 4 USC (vs. Utah in Pac-12) did not in conference championship game results. Lurking, idle No. 5 Ohio State and No. 6 Alabama waited to pounce into the CFP final four, but only one got in as TCU stayed No. 3, Ohio State rose to No. 4 and Nick Saban sort of got screwed.

4. HEAT: Butler back as Miami scores statement win in Boston: Miami is 11-12 after an overtime win at East-leading Boston Friday that saw Jimmy Butler return from injury with 25 points and 15 boards. Heat was level at 7-7 but has yet to climb up over .500 this no longer young NBA season now past the quarter mark. but injury-wracked Miami finally is as healthy as it has been. Heat return to the wood tonight/Monday at Memphis. 

5. PANTHERS: Cats win a second straight, near .500: Florida is 12-13 (12-9-4) after a Saturday's win in Seattle. Panthers had lost six of previous seven before the current two-game win streak. Cats are back on ice Tuesday in Winnpeg.   

6. NFL: Blight on league as Watson returns from suspension: Browns QB Deshaun Watson returned from an 11-game suspension to face his former team in Houston Sunday in  a highly though dubiously anticipated comeback. The NFL suspended Watson, though too lightly, over allegations of sexual abuse and perversion from some two dozen massage therapists. Boo him, please.

7. CANES BASKETBALL: UM men open ACC schedule with big win: Miami's men, also receiving votes outside the Top 25, are now 8-1 after opening their ACC schedule Sunday with an 80-53 rout at Louisville, once-mighty but now 0-8. The Canes women are 7-3 after crushing North Florida on  Sunday, with their conference opener not until December 21.

8. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Bowl season! Orange gets Tennessee, Clemson: Clemson trounced North Carolina to win the ACC Championship Game (as Miami wallows in a 5-7 season) and earn an range Bowl invitation to face Tennessee. Also notbale on the bowl schedule: Florida-Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl, FSU-Oklahoma in the Cheez-It Bowl, UCF-Duke in the Military Bowl, and Liberty-Toledo in the Boca Raton Bowl.

9. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Prime Time heading to Colorado: Deion Sanders will be named next coach at Colorado, the school said Saturday night. Sanders, with just three years' experience coaching college football, went 27-5 at Jackson State. He completed a12-0 regular season Saturday in winning the SWAC championship. He told his team he still will coach Jackson State in the Celebration Bowl on December 17. 

10. MLB: Will voters pitch shutout on '23 Hall of Fame ballot?: The 28-man ballot for 2023 Hall of Fame induction is out, with 14 returning ex-players, 14 newcomers -- and none a cinch for election to Cooperstown. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling are newly off the ballot. No returning player got more than Scott Rolen's 62.3 percent, well short. And no first-time balloteer strikes us as likely. Intriguing returning players back for another try including steroids-tainted Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez.   

HB10 cut: UCF was the  only state FBS team in a conference title game but lost the AAC finale to Tulane ..... A Saudi Arabian soccer club is offering Cristiano Ronaldo $207 million a year to play there. #Sad ..... Dolphin Tyreek Hill is fifth in total votes in very early Pro Bowl voiting ..... Betting odds have Aaron Judge likeliest at -130 to sign with the Giants but almost as likely at -110 to remain a Yankee ..... Former NFL quarterback Drew Brees reportedly was struck by lightning while filming a commercial for PointsBet but is OK ..... Sandy Alcantara and Jazz Chisholm (unsurprisingly) are out front in Marlins' pitch to sell tickets for next season ..... FAU hired Tom Herman, former Texas coach, to take over its football program after firing Willie Taggert following a 5-7 season ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,282 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

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

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: 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 / Shootout Win In Chicago Shows Dolphins Are What They Haven't Been in Years: Exciting / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improve to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

NFL WEEK 12 RESULTS: HERALD PICKS X GREG'S LOBOS X QB RANKINGS:

Herald Picks: Ouch. A bloodbath against the spread -- We were an OK 10-6 overall but a lousy 5-10-1 against the spread, with the Eagles' 7-point win the pish for the tie. We were on a nice run ATS to get up over .500 fo the year but that came crashing down. Hit our Upset of the Week with Panthers beating Broncos ("Aawwk!") and had Lions with the points on Thanksgiving, but too little else went wenr right. Rebound time!

Greg's Lobos: Oh yeah! Champ 'Bos take over first place! -- The defending PFPI Fantasy champion Lobos are 8-4 with a tiebreaker edge for first place based on total points scored after a 144-121 win led by Tee Higgins' 25 points, Lamar Jackson's 22 and Nick Chubb's 20. We are angling for the No. 1 seed and a repeat title with two weeks left in the regular season of our 10-team family 'n friends fantasy league. This week we face the other 8-4 team -- my brother.

NFL QB Rankings: Lawrence wins close week, Mahomes maintains overall lead -- Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence edged L.A.'s Justin Herbert by less than a one point to win the Week 12 title while Chief Patrick Mahomes holds onto his overall lead in the Miami Herald NFL Quarterback Rankings. Miami's Tua Tagovailao slips one spot to No. 9. For the full latest Top 25 and more, visit NFL Week 12 QB Rankings.

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ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: 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 / Shootout Win In Chicago Shows Dolphins Are What They Haven't Been in Years: Exciting / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? / Miami-FSU Rivalry Week Leans On Nostalgia As 2 Programs Try To Get Back Up / Tua's Huge Day Leads Dolphins Over Lions in Detroit. But Warning Signs Are There / Not Pretty. OK, It Was Ugly. But Canes' OT Escape At Virginia Keep Bowl Hope Alive / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Not Perfect, But Return Of Tua, Big Defense Lift Dolphins Past Steelers / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / QB Calamity! 3rd-String Thompson Has Rough Baptism As Dolphins Fall At Jets / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / NFLPA Firing Doctor For Concussion Eval May Mean Fins, Tua Are Victims Here / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improved to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

NFL WEEK 11 RESULTS: HERALD PICKS X GREG'S LOBOS X QB RANKINGS:

Herald Picks: A solid all-round week -- We were a solid 10-4 straight-up last week and an above-ground 7-6-1 against the point spread. Missed two exact scores by a single point. Right idea but tough luck on our Upset of the Week as Colts led Eagles the whole game before losing 17-16. Hit another outright upset with Raders winning at Broncos, and scored a pair of other dog-with-points wins in covers by the Colts and Chargers. The ATS tie was the push on Falcons' 3-point win. Tough season is picking up; momentum felt.

Greg's Lobos: Another wins keeps a share of first place -- The defending PFPI Fantasy champion Lobos are 7-4 and in a four-ay knot for first place with two straight wins after last week's 113-82 win. Got 25 from Jacoby Brissett and 24 from tee Higgins. Brissett was a big score as a late free-agent QB add on account of byes. With three weeks left in the regular season we have a 99 percent layoff shot and chance to repeat in our 10-team family 'n friends fantasy league.

NFL QB Rankings: Dalton narrowly wins week, Mahomes maintains overall lead -- Nee Orleans' Andy Dalton edges Dallas' Dak Prescott by less than a point to take the Week 11 title while Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes maintains a comfortable overall lead in the Miami Herald NFL Quarterback Rankings. Miami's Tua Tagovailao slips three spots to No. 8 because of his bye week -- still a lofty perch for someone who has missed most of three games injured. For the full latest Top 25 and more, visit NFL Week 11 QB Rankings.

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ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? / Miami-FSU Rivalry Week Leans On Nostalgia As 2 Programs Try To Get Back Up / Tua's Huge Day Leads Dolphins Over Lions in Detroit. But Warning Signs Are There / Not Pretty. OK, It Was Ugly. But Canes' OT Escape At Virginia Keep Bowl Hope Alive / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Not Perfect, But Return Of Tua, Big Defense Lift Dolphins Past Steelers / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / QB Calamity! 3rd-String Thompson Has Rough Baptism As Dolphins Fall At Jets / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / NFLPA Firing Doctor For Concussion Eval May Mean Fins, Tua Are Victims Here / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improved to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

Canes' Easy Win At Georgia Tech A Late Lift On Down Year For Cristobal, UM

Hilltop: The five columns before that: 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 / Shootout Win In Chicago Shows Dolphins Are What They Haven't Been in Years: Exciting / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal. Note: Mount Gregmore includes opinion columns only. NFL picks, QB rankings and stories on newest podcast are not included.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 20-21): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. SOCCER: Qatar World Cup begins, U.S. plays Monday: The men's World Cup begins Sunday with corruptly awarded, human-rights abusing host Qatar vs. Ecuador in the lone match. U.S. debuts Monday in a Group B match vs. Wales. Usual suspects as top five betting favorites: Brazil +400, Argentina +550, France +650, and England and Spain tied at +750. In Group B, after England, odds to win it all are U.S. +10000, Wales +12500 and Iran +50000. Americans' group-stage games after Monday are November 25 vs. England and November 29 vs Iran. No pretense at impartiality from us on this: "Let's gooooo States!"

2. HURRICANES: UM spanked 40-10 in measuring-stick game at Clemson: Miami ran half as many offensive plays and managed a paltry 98 net yards in total offense Saturday in a 40-10 domination by No. 9-ranked host and ACC rival Clemson. UM at 5-6 ends its regular season next Saturday vs. Pittsburgh needing a victory to be bowl-eligible. Canes have lost past four games to Tigers by a combined 178-30.

3. MARLINS: Alcantara wins Cy Young; Carr dies, Conine back: Lots of Fish news for a November. Ace Sandy Alcantara won the NL Cy Young award by unanimous vote, the first Marlin to win that honor. Expansion-era Marlins star Chuck Carr succumbed to cancer at 55. Another early franchise star, Jeff Conine, "Mr. Marlin," is back with the organizaton as a special assistant to principle owner Bruce Sherman. And club promoted Caroline O'Connor to president of business operations -- making Marlins first major U.S. sports franchise to have women serving simultaneously as president and general manager.

4. CANES BASKETBALL: UM finally lose after Larranaga gets No. 700th win: Miami's men were 4-0 after a 74-64 victory over Providence Saturday -- the 700th win of coach Jim Larrnaga's career coming against his alma mater. Game was in first round of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Tip-Off Tournament in Connecticut, where UM faces Maryland Sunday and lost 88-70.  Hurricanes women also are 4-1 after a first loss Sunday, 98-83 at DePaul. 

5. DOLPHINS: Tua, Fins flying high into the bye: Miami is 7-3 after 10 games for first time since 2001 entering its bye week, and will be a big home favorite next week vs. Houston before the schedule toughens. Meantime quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has enter NFL MVP chatter as a top-five candidate. "Pinch me," say Dolfans. "Is this actually happening?"

6. HEAT: Injury-wracked squad still hasn't topped .500: Miami is 7-10 after a third straight loss Sunday in Cleveland in midst of four-game road trip. Heat is injury-wracked with missing starters and has yet to be over the .500 mark this NBA season entering entering Monday night's game at Minnesota. 

7. PANTHERS: Sputtering Cats fall below .500: Florida is 9-10 (9-8-2) and has yet to piece together more than two wins in a row in this still-young NHL season after Sunday's loss at Columbus -- Florida's third straight defeat. Cats host Boston Wednesday.

8. STATE COLLEGES (NON-UM): FSU wins, Florida and UCF lose: No. 19 Florida State crushed Louisiana 49-17 Saturday while Florida lost 31-24 at former punching bag Vanderbilt and No. 20 UCF lost at home to Navy, 17-14. IN other state FBS games (non-UM), FIU lost its shot at bowl-eligibility with a 40-6 at UTEP, FAU fell 49-21 at Middle Tennessee, and South Florida sank to 1-10 with a loss at Tulsa. 

9. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Michigan, TCU escape but seven ranked teams fall: No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 TCU survived close wins Saturday while eight other Top 25 teams lost: No. 5-Tennessee, 10-Utah, 13-North Carolina, 14-Ole Miss, 16-UCLA, 20-UCF, 22-Oklahoma State and 24-N.C. State.

10. NBA: Kyrie returns from suspension, plays Sunday: Brooklyn Nets star guard Kyrie Irving played Sunday in a win over Memphis, scoring 14 points in 26 minutes, in his first game back after a suspension that totaled eight games. Irving was disciplined by the club for social-media support of an Anti-Semitic book and film and for doubling down amid the firestorm of backlash before at last apologizing.

Missing the HB10 cut: Yankees' Aaron Judge and Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt won MVP awards and Astros' Justin Verlander joined Alcanatara (see above) as unanimous Cy Young winners in the biggest of MLBs' 2022 postseason awards. ..... Colombia beat Paraguay 2-nil Saturday night in a friendly at Inter Miami Stadium in Lauderdale. Sam stadium on January 14 will host a friendly between top South American club teams River Plate and Millonarios ..... Thank God! The pickleball war has ended! Major League Pickleball and VIBE Pickleball League are merging ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,296 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? / Miami-FSU Rivalry Week Leans On Nostalgia As 2 Programs Try To Get Back Up / Tua's Huge Day Leads Dolphins Over Lions in Detroit. But Warning Signs Are There / Not Pretty. OK, It Was Ugly. But Canes' OT Escape At Virginia Keep Bowl Hope Alive / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Not Perfect, But Return Of Tua, Big Defense Lift Dolphins Past Steelers / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / QB Calamity! 3rd-String Thompson Has Rough Baptism As Dolphins Fall At Jets / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / NFLPA Firing Doctor For Concussion Eval May Mean Fins, Tua Are Victims Here / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improved to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

Canes' Easy Win At Georgia Tech A Late Lift On Down Year For Cristobal, UM

Dare To Dream, Dolphins Fans. Why Miami Is a Legit Super Bowl Contender

Hilltop: The five columns before that: 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 / Shootout Win In Chicago Shows Dolphins Are What They Haven't Been in Years: Exciting / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? Note: Mount Gregmore includes opinion columns only. NFL picks, QB rankings and stories on newest podcast are not included.

NFL WEEK 10 RESULTS: HERALD PICKS X GREG'S LOBOS X QB RANKINGS:

Herald Picks: Bad straight-up, but great ATS -- The bad news first: It was a bloodbath Week 10 that found us 6-8 overall. But! We slayed the point spread, going 9-5 against the line. That included a bull's-eye on our Upset of the Week: Steelers over Saints. Also had four other dogs-with-points on covers by the Colts, Packers, Chargers and Commanders. Tough season, but let's keep the ATS rally going!

Greg's Lobos: Big win puts us in tie for first place -- The defending PFPI Fantasy champion Lobos scored a big 173-140 win last week led by Cee Dee Lamb's 39 points and 23 apiece from Tua Tagovailoa and Dalvin Cook. The 'Bos are now 6-4 and tied for first place in our 10-team family 'n friends fantasy league with four weeks left in the regular season.

NFL QB Rankings: Mahomes wins week (again), Tua vaults into top five -- Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes wins Week 10, his second straight weekly win and fourth of the season, to climb to No. 1 overall in the Miami Herald NFL Quarterback Rankings. Miami's Tua Tagovailao moves up four more spots to No. 5 despite missing most of three games injured. For the full Top 25 and more, visit NFL Week 10 QB Rankings.

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ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: Miami-FSU Rivalry Week Leans On Nostalgia As 2 Programs Try To Get Back Up / Tua's Huge Day Leads Dolphins Over Lions in Detroit. But Warning Signs Are There / Not Pretty. OK, It Was Ugly. But Canes' OT Escape At Virginia Keep Bowl Hope Alive / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Not Perfect, But Return Of Tua, Big Defense Lift Dolphins Past Steelers / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / QB Calamity! 3rd-String Thompson Has Rough Baptism As Dolphins Fall At Jets / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / NFLPA Firing Doctor For Concussion Eval May Mean Fins, Tua Are Victims Here / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improved to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Canes' Easy Win At Georgia Tech A Late Lift On Down Year For Cristobal, UM NEW!

NEW! Dare To Dream, Dolphins Fans. Why Miami Is a Legit Super Bowl Contender NEW!

NEW! Shula To Miami And 17-0 Should Not Have Happened. It Was Luck ... Or Fate NEW! 

Kyrie Irving's Anti-Semitism Mess Bigger Than Him. It's Symptom Of What Ails America

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

Hilltop: The five columns before that: Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? / Miami-FSU Rivalry Week Leans On Nostalgia As 2 Programs Try To Get Back Up / Tua's Huge Day Leads Dolphins Over Lions in Detroit. But Warning Signs Are There / Not Pretty. OK, It Was Ugly. But Canes' OT Escape At Virginia Keep Bowl Hope Alive. Note: Mount Gregmore includes opinion columns only. NFL picks, QB rankings and stories on newest podcast are not included.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 13-14): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. DOLPHINS: Tua, high-flying Fins host Cleveland: Miami is 6-3 and on a three-game winning streak as small home favorites over the Browns here Sunday. Fins offense is lately uncorked with Tua Tagovailoa, the NFL's top-ranked passer, and lethal weapons Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Call this one the Chubb Bowl as new Dolphins linebacker Bradley Chubb makes his home debut and faces the league's second-leading rusher in the Browns' Nick Chubb, his cousin.

2. HURRICANES: Canes' down year gets lift with win, but UM loses QB recruit: Miami got level at 5-5 and kept bowl hopes alive with Saturday's 35-14 win at Georgia Tech. Freshman quarterback Jacurri Brown started for ailing Tyler Van Dyke and led the way with three scoring passes. Regular season ends with games at Clemson and vs. Pitt and UM must win one to earn a bowl invite. Meanwhile, in direct fallout from a disappointing season, top 2023 QB recruit Jaden Rashada announced he is backing out of his commitment to Miami and picking the Florida Gators instead.

3. PANTHERS: Cats fail to win a third straight;  Luongo enters Hall of Fame: Florida is 8-7 (8-6-1) with Saturday's 4-2 loss vs. Edmonton, failing to secure the season's first three-game winning streak. Cats are back on ice Tuesday vs. Washington as five-game homestand continues. Longtime Cats goaltender Robert Luongo enters the Hockey Hall of Fame Monday night in Toronto as one of five in the 2022 class. He played parts of 11 seasons for Florida (2000-06, 2013-19) and becomes first Panthers HOF'er to play more than half of his NHL games (573 of 1,044) for the club. Pavel Bure, with 223, is the Cat in the Hall with the next-most games played for Florida.

4. SOCCER: Miami's Yedlin makes U.S. roster for World Cup: Star winger Christian Pulisic of Chelsea heads the 26-man U.S. World Cup roster named by coach Gregg Berhalter, a squad also including Inter Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin. The men's World Cup, unfortunately being held in Qatar, begins next Sunday, with Brazil the betting favorite and the U.S. judged mid-pack among the 32 nations. The U.S missed the 2018 World Cup and will field the youngest team (on average) in Qatar. The Americans' three group-stage matches are next Monday November 21 vs. Wales, November 25 vs. England and Nov. 29 vs. Iran.

5. HEAT: Miami loses arena name but may be heating up on court: Miami is 6-7 after Saturday's 132-115 win over visiting Charlotte, a Heat season high for points led by Max Strus' 31. Heat have now won two straight and try for a season-best three in a row to reach .500 for the first time Monday vs. Phoenix back at Bankrupt Arena. The Heat's home, renamed as FTX Arena last year after the crypto-currency company bought naming rights, will be renamed after FTX declared bankruptcy. 

6. SOCCER: USWNT slump continues in Fort Lauderdale: The world No. 1 U.S. Women's National Team fell 2-1 to No. 3 Germany despite Megan Rapinoe's goal Thursday night before a near-sellout crowd of 16,917 at Inter Miami Stadium in Lauderdale. It was a third straight loss for the USWNT, its longest skid since 1993, and first loss on U.S. soil since 2017, after 71 straight home wins. U.S. still will be among favorites in the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

7. STATE COLLEGES (NON-UM): FAU routs FIU in Shula Bowl: FAU obliterated host FIU 52-7 in the annual meeting of South Florida's Conference USA rivals in the Shula Bowl. In other state FSB games (non-UM): No. 23 Florida State routed Syracuse 38-3; Florida got bowl-eligible with a 38-6 win over South Carolina; No. 22 UCF won at 17-Tulane, 38-31; and SMU routed awful South Florida, 41--23.

8. MARLINS: It's Decision Week for Sandy and Cy Young: It's MLB Awards Week and Wednesday is Cy Young Day, with Miami's Sandy Alcantara one of three finalists for the NL honor -- which a Marlins pitcher has never won. The workhorse ace threw six complete games, most by any pitcher since 2016 and more than any other team had in 2022. Alcantara went 14-9 for a bad team with a 2.28 ERA in an MLB-high 228 2/3 innings. He pitched seven-plus innings in 13 consecutive starts, longest such streak by anybody since 2014.

9. NBA: Kyrie still suspended, but resolution nearing: Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, suspended over his Anti-Semitism mess, has met with team, league and union officials and there is optimism for a resolution soon. The fifth of his minimum five-game suspension was Saturday vs. the L.A. Clippers, but it is thought to be unlikely he will play during the Nets' four-game road trip ending Thursday in Portland.

10. CANES BASKETBALL: UM men, women off to 2-0 starts: UM men are 2-0 after Friday night's home win over UNC-Greensboro. The guys are back on the wood Tuesday vs. Florida A&M. The Canes women are 2-0 entering today's/Sunday's home game vs Boston University, after which coach Katie Meier returns from a three-game suspension over an NCAA inquiry into unspecified "enforcement issues."

Missing the HB10 cut: Seven teams in the College Football Playoff Top 25 lost Saturday, but only No. 6 Oregon lost from the Top 10. No. 6 Alabama beat 11-Ole Miss 30-24 in the Game of the Week ..... A lawsuit against the NFL, the Washington Commanders, Daniel Snyder and Roger Goodell was filed by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine alleging they colluded to deceive residents and fans about an NFL probe into  the team's toxic workplace culture and claims of sexual misconduct ..... Inter Miami rewarded Phil Neville for his MLS playoff season by extending the coach's contract into 2023 ..... World Series champion Astros were given a parade in downtown Houston that drew a crowd estimated at at least 1 million ..... A parade honoring Los Angeles FC's MLS championship drew an estimated 5,000 fans ..... Colombia and Paraguay play a soccer friendly next Saturday at Inter Miami Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, one day before the World Cup starts in Qatar. Because nothing whets the appetite for the World Cup like watching two teams not good enough to have qualified ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,303 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Not Perfect, But Return Of Tua, Big Defense Lift Dolphins Past Steelers / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / QB Calamity! 3rd-String Thompson Has Rough Baptism As Dolphins Fall At Jets / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / NFLPA Firing Doctor For Concussion Eval May Mean Fins, Tua Are Victims Here / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improved to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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