GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. Stay away, Hurricane Irma. Weaken and veer, you terrible thing. 2) Football time! Know any die-hard Dolfans? Treat them to our book on club's first half-century. Learn more or order here: Fins At 50. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins whup Bethune with CSM poll, Hot Button Top 10, other Collball Week 1 & more. 4) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Periscope and Snapchat.
Chiefs at Patriots prediction: Kansas City at New England kicks off the NFL season tonight. Will Dolfans girding for Hurricane Irma get the gift of a Pats loss? Click Week 1 Thursday Gem for my predix.
SOUTH FLORIDA'S MIND AIN'T ON FOOTBALL THIS WEEK. STAY SAFE, NEIGHBORS: [Click on NFL Right to Postpone Dolphins Opener for my complete latest column]. They could have rushed it and played the Dolphins-Bucs opener here tonight, but Dolfans have more important things on their minds in readying for Hurricane Irma, such as how to survive this thing, and whether to stay or evacuate. This isn’t the week for a football game. They could have played the game Sunday as scheduled but at a neutral site. I’d heard one as far away as Pittsburgh or Philadelphia mentioned. But why rob Miami, team and fans, of a home game, or play at all on the very day when Irma is likely to wreak its worst havoc. There was some talk of still trying to play the game Monday night here, but that may have been the worst option of all. Even if Irma is kind enough to veer away from a direct hit, South Florida still will get the brunt of it. You’re going to ask fans without electricity, picking through rubble, trying to contact their insurance company about the roof, to drive through flooding to attend a football game? And cheer a first down as if their lives hadn’t just been walloped? Absurd. I'm not as certain the Miami Hurricanes needed to or should have canceled their game at Arkansas State -- although I support them doing it -- but moving Dolphins-Bucs to Week 11 when both had a bye was a no-brainer. Be safe, all.
SOPY RANKINGS / 2017 SEASON DEBUT: THREE CANES IN INITIAL TOP 10: Today we launch the sixth season of the blog's State Offensive Player of the Year (SOPY) rankings -- what we like to call our ongoing "state Heisman" race. The weekly rankings measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers from the state's seven top-level FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. The rankings are cumulative but based on average yards per game: Total divided by number of games a player's team has played. This keeps the comparison level even though not all teams have played same number of games. (Even now, South Florida already has played twice). Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. UCF's McKenzie Milton (pictured) checks in as our season leader out the gate ahead of defending champion Quinton Flowers of South Florida. Canes Mark Walton and Malik Rosier rank 3-4. Here is the statewide SOPY Top 10 entering Week 2:
2017 SOPY WEEK 1 TOP 10
RK Player, School-Pos. Avg.
1 McKenzie Milton-UCF qb 208
2 Quinton Flowers-SoFla qb 183
3 Mark Walton-Miami rb 168
4 Malik Rosier-Miami qb 167.5
5 Daniel Parr-FAU qb 138.5
6 Travis Homer-Miami rb 133
7 Alex McGough-FIU qb 107.5
8 Thomas Owens- FIU rec 105
9 Deondre Francois-FSU qb 102
10t Dredrick Snelson-UCF rec 98
10t Willie Wright-FAU rec 98
Bubble: DeAndre McNeal-FAU rec, 94. Other team leader: Florida--Josh Hammond-rec, 71. Week 1/season best: Milton-UCF, 208.
Cote's State of the State rankings: 1. Florida State (0-1); 2. Miami (1-0); 3. South Florida (2-0); 4. Florida (0-1); 5. UCF (1-0); 6. FAU (0-1); 7. FIU (0-1).
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30. See previous blogpost for latest Dolfan Satisfaction Meter results. They're buoyant! 2) The Miami Herald's new book on the Dolphins' first half-century is now available, just in time for the holidays! Click on Fins At 50 for more info or to order through Amazon. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins beat 49ers for sixth straight win with DSM poll, Florida Panthers stupidly fire coach, Canes bowl outlook, Hot Button Top 10 & more. 4) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine,Periscope and Snapchat.
YOUR 2017 BASEBALL HALL OF FAME BALLOT: There are 34 names on this year's official 2017 Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) Hall of Fame ballot -- 19 first-timers and 15 back for another try. This is my third year as a voter and I take the task seriously as I weight voting for as many as 10 candidates prior to the Dec. 31 deadline. At least half of the guys on any given ballot have zero shot at Cooperstown and quickly fade away by not even getting the 5 percent of the vote required to be on the following year's ballot. I have winnowed the Hall of Fame ballot I offer you today by eliminating the no-shot guys and presenting only the ones who have a chance, ranging from likely to at least possible. This includes five newcomers (indicated by an asterisk (*) on the ballot), and the eight returners who garnered at least 40 percent of the vote a year ago. The magic 75% must be attained for induction. The finalists on our ballot are alphabetical. You may vote for the FIVE (5) you feel are most worthy of Cooperstown. I should emphasize my official ballot will not be based on or influenced by your vote, although certainly I'll be interested to compare our views. In a later blogpost I'll present to your my complete ballot and reasoning. For now, it's your turn. Vote for your top five and check back often to monitor evolving results.
VOTE FOR THE FIVE (5) MOST DESERVING OF COOPERSTOWN:
SOPY RANKINGS / SEASON FINAL: FLOWERS WINS 'STATE HEISMAN,' KAAYA 4TH, SIX CANES IN TOP 30: It was a rout. A runaway. The fifth season of our blog's State Offensive Player of the Year (SOPY) rankings saw dual-threat South Florida quarterback Quinton Flowers (from Miami Jackson High) win the season crown going away. We end after the regular season and do not include conference championship games or bowl games so that all seven state FBS teams are on equal footing. Miami QB Brad Kaaya finishes in fourth place, among six Hurricanes (underlined below) placing in the final Top 30. The weekly rankings are cumulative and measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers for the state's FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. All teams played 12 games except the Florida Gators, with 11. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. Here is the Final 2016 SOPY Top 30, followed by our updated 'Cote's State of the State' team rankings:
SOPY FINAL 2016 TOP 30:
RK Player, Team-pos. Total
1 QUINTON FLOWERS, SOFLA-QB 2,917
2 Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb 2,160
3 Deondre Francois, FSU-qb 1,885
4 Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb 1,636
5 Jason Driskel, FAU-qb 1,530
6 Marlon Mack, SoFla-rb 1,442
7 Mark Walton, Miami-rb 1,397
8 Devin Singletary, FAU-rb 1,251
9 Alex McGough, FIU-qb 1,159.5
10 Alex Gardner, FIU-rb 1,157
11. McKenzie Milton UCF-qb 1,125; 12. Rodney Adams SoFla-rec 1,025; 13. Gregory Howell FAU-rb 953; 14. Kalib Woods FAU-rec 940; 15. Ahmmon Richards Miami-rec 886; 16. Travis Rudolph FSU-rec 849; 17. Tre'Quan Smith UCF-rec 838; 18. Jordan Scarlett Florida-rb 837; 19. D'Ernest Johnson SoFla-rb 786; 20. Stacy Coley Miami-rec 757; 21. Joe Yearby Miami-rb 700; 22. David Njoku Miami-rec 697; 23. Thomas Owens FIU-rec 695; 24. Luke Del Rio Florida-qb 684; 25. Anthony Jones FIU-rb 675; 26. Antonio Callaway Florida-rec 649; 27. Dontravious Wilson UCF-rb 595; 28. Adrian Killins UCF-rb 563; 29. Jawon Hamilton UCF-rb 561; 30. tie, Lamical Perine Florida-rb 535 and Jonnu Smith FIU-rec 535.
Week 13 best: Singletary FAU-rb 313. Season best week: Flowers SoFla-qb 371.5.
Roll Call of SOPY Champions: 2016--Quinton Flowers SoFla-qb 2,917; 2015--Flowers 2,077.5 points; 2014--Duke Johnson Miami-rb 1,968; 2013--Jameis Winston FSU-qb 2,107; 2012--Stephen Morris Miami-qb 1,900.5.
Cote's State of the State team rankings: 1. Florida State (9-3); 2. Florida (8-3); 3. Miami (8-4); 4. South Florida (10-2); 5. UCF (6-6); 6. FIU (4-8); 7. FAU (3-9).
NFL PIX 'N FANTASY WEEK 12 RESULTS: SOLID ON PREDIX, LOBOS STAY EN FUEGO: Every week in the blog I update you on how we did, for better or worse, the previous weekend with our NFL predictions and LeBatard Show fantasy team. NFL pix: Not worth bugling from a rooftop, but we were solid. Went 10-6 overall and 9-6-1 against the spread, including five underdogs-with-points. The tie was the Raiders pushing at minus-3. We're now a very solid 23 games above .500 ATS for the season. Fantasy: Greg's Lobos routed Chris' squad 104-59 in the radio show league and we're now a league-leading 9-3 after a Dolphin-esque sixth consecutive win. Drew Brees had a big 32 points and is making a serious push for MVL (Most Valuable Lobo) honors. We have only one week left before the start of the playoffs. Let's keep it honkin', 'Bos!
LEBATARD ON 1989 GAME SHOW: Below is a video of Dan LeBatard's appearance on the 1989 ESPN game show, Boardwalk and Baseball, hosted by Chris Berman, which he spoke about on the air today. LeBatard is pictured far right on the Miami team, college-aged, chubby faced, helmet haired, and saying absolutely nothing discernable. But I do like the repeated look of frustration as he narrowly misses pressing his buzzer in time.
Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23. Happy Thanksgiving Eve? I'm holed up at Friday Page World Headquarters today making all of my Bird Day plus Sunday/Monday NFL picks so I can, you know, actually, have Thanksgiving Day off. 2) Miami Herald's new book on Dolphins' first half-century is now available, just in time for the holidays! Click on Fins At 50 for more info or to order through Amazon. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins extend win streak in L.A. with DSM poll, Jimmie Johnson reigns over NASCAR at Homestead, Hot Button Top 10 & more. 4) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine,Periscope and Snapchat.
HMM. SHOULD THE HEAT REALLY BE RETIRING SHAQ'S NUMBER?: Heat announced Monday they'll retire Shaquille O'Neal's No. 32 in a ceremony Dec. 22 during a home game vs. the Lakers. This isn't worthy of vehement objection, I suppose. Shaq did arrive, late in his fleeting prime, to help Miami win its first NBA title in 2005. He helped the franchise achieve a higher stature. Besides, all of this retired jersey/rafters stuff is just ceremonial, anyway. Then again, shouldn't the honor be reserved for the best of the best in franchise history such as the Dwyane Wades? Did Shaq really play enough here -- 3 1/2 seasons -- to merit a retired number? Clearly, the Lakers are the only club that should be retiring Shaq's number. I mean, he played for Orlando longer than he played in Miami. Consider the slice of his career pie Miami had of Shaq: 16.98% of his games played, 14.02% of his points scored, and 14.17% of his rebounds. So his NBA career was about 1/6th or 1/7th Miami. But I could be wrong. Have your say in this poll:
MIXED EMOTIONS ON U.S. SOCCER FIRING KLINSMANN: International soccer has a long, dubious history of abrupt coach firings. I'm not sure if you can call this one of those. Jurgen Klinsmann has since 2011 been steering the U.S. men's national soccer team, though ups and downs. His guys survived a very difficult Group of Death to reach the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup. Not bad. But what has happened so far in qualifying for the 2018 WC in Russia cost the German national his job on Monday. The U.S. is 0-2 in qualifiers, losing 2-1 at home (Columbus, Ohio) to Mexico, and then, unforgivably, humiliatingly, 4-0 at Costa Rica. Early reports are that MLS/L.A. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena will replace Klinsmann. Arena, of course, coached the U.S. from 1998 to '06. The new man will have some time, as the next qualifying matches are not until late March. Not so sure about recycling Arena. I thought Klinsmann should have been given this World Cup cycle. If he failed to qualify, then make a move. But two losses early in qualifying is not failing to qualify. Anyway, the search for the right man to make U.S. men's soccer a world power continues. Now we see if Arena II is the answer. The American women have done it, which does nothing but heap that much more pressure on the U.S. men and, now, Arena again.
NFL PIX 'N FANTASY WEEK 11 RESULTS: BIG PREDIX RALLY, LOBOS STAY SCORCHIN'!: Every week in the blog I update you on how we did, for better or worse, the previous weekend with our NFL predictions and LeBatard Show fantasy team. NFL pix: Oh yeah! NIce bounceback week. Went a sterling 12-2 overall and a nifty 9-4-1 against the spread, including a bull's-eye on our Upset of the Week ("Aaawwwk!") with Bills winning at Bengals. We're now a very solid 20 games above .500 ATS for the season. Fantasy: Greg's Lobos slipped past Roy's team 95-85 in a duel of league powers in the radio show league and we're now a league-leading 8-3 after (like the Dolphins) a fifth straight win. Theo Riddick led us with only 16 points but we had five in double figures and got a dozen from smart late-week pickup Thomas Rawls. Keep it honkin', big rig. Keep it rollin', 'Bos!
SOPY RANKINGS / SEASON-FINALE SATURDAY! CANES' KAAYA TRIES TO NAIL DOWN 4TH PLACE IN 'STATE HEISMAN': Not much drama, frankly, as we wind down the fifth season of our blog's State Offensive Player of the Year (SOPY) rankings, as all seven state FBS teams conclude their regular seasons this coming Saturday. Quinton Flowers has passed and run away with the season crown. Let's see if Miami's Brad Kaaya can secure fourth place. Our rankings are cumulative, so players whose team had a bye week took a temporary hit in the rankings that evens out over the course of a season. Our weekly rankings measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers for the state's seven FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. All teams have played 11 games except the Florida Gators, with 10. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. Here is the SOPY Top 10 entering Collball Week 13, followed by our updated 'Cote's State of the State' team rankings. The SOPY rankings do not include bowl games, so we'll have our Final Top 25 next week:
SOPY TOP 10 AFTER WEEK 12:
RK LW Player, Team-pos. (games) Wk12 Year
1 1 Quinton Flowers, SoFla-qb 257.5 2,680
2 2 Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb 249 1,975
3 3 Deondre Francois, FSU-qb 191.5 1,741
4 4 Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb 129 1,412
5 5 Jason Driskel, FAU-qb 110.5 1,364.5
6 8 Mark Walton, Miami-rb 157 1,285
7 7 Marlon Mack, SoFla-rb 135 1,267
8 6 Alex McGough, FIU-qb DNP 1,159.5
9 9 Alex Gardner, FIU-rb 137 1,098
10 -- McKenzie Milton, UCF-qb 153.5 1,020.5
Bubble: Devin Singletary, FAU-rb, 938. Other team leader: Jordan Scarlett, Florida-rb, 784. Week 12 best:Flowers, 257.5; Season best: Flowers, 371.5, Week 11.
Cote's State of the State team rankings: 1. Florida State (8-3); 2. Florida (8-2); 3. Miami (7-4); 4. South Florida (9-2); 5. UCF (6-5); 6. FIU (4-7); 7. FAU (3-8).
Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15. R.I.P., Gardnar Mulloy, the Miami tennis legend, passed away at age 102. 2) Check out previous blogpost for latest Dolfan Satisfaction Meter results -- a season high. 3) The Miami Herald's new book on Dolphins' first half century is now available, just in time for the holidays! Click on Fins At 50 for more info or to order through Amazon. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins win fourth straight with DSM poll, Butch Davis to FIU, Hot BUtton Top 10 & more. 5) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine,Periscope and Snapchat.
It's Radio Tuesday!: I'm back in-studio today with the Dan LeBatard Show With Stugotz, 8:55 a.m. to 1 p.m. locally on 790 The Ticket, 10-1 nationally on ESPN Radio, and with the national show also televised on ESPNU.
EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP ASKS HILLARY TO HELP GET SCHNELLENBERGER IN COLLEGE HALL OF FAME!: It's true. We have just learned that in May of 2015, then-businessman Donald J. Trump, now the U.S. president-elect, wrote a letter to Hillary on behalf of Howard Schnellenberger's candidacy for the College Football Hall of Fame. Pictured is the letter; click on it for a larger image that may be easier to read. The "Ms. Jeffries " to whom the letter is addressed is Hillary Jeffries, director of special projects for the National Football Foundation (NFF), which oversees the Hall of Fame. Jeffries' duties include "complete oversight of the College Football Hall of Fame nomination and voting processes." Wait. What!? You thought the Hillary in the headline was Clinton!? Oh how silly! Would I mislead you like that just to get a few more clicks for my blog? How low would that be! At any rate Schnellenberger, of course, is the former Miami Hurricanes 1983 national-championship coach who later resurrected Louisville's program and then birthed the FAU program from scratch. In effect he is on the coaching Mount Rushmore of three different FBS schools but cannot get into the Hall because of its misguided rule of a minimum .600 winning percentage for induction, a rule that penalizes men like Howard who dare to take over, rebuild and ultimately save struggling teams. I have written on behalf of Schnellenberger's induction; click on Let Howard In! As for the letter, I am told Schnellenberger and Trump crossed paths during the time one coached FAU in Boca Raton and the other owned properties and a home there. There also was a distant football tie. Trump owned the USFL's Washington General in the 1980s and tried to hire Schnellenberger away from UM before the coach decided to leave instead for a team being bought by local businessman Sherwood "Woody" Weiser, a deal that never came to fruition. The recent letter shown was elicited by advocates pushing for Schnellenberger's Hall induction. One wonders if the letter may be revisited and given added weight now that the writer is White House-bound. I suppose it may depend on the political leaning of the folks who run the NFF. In any case, sorry, but the idea of Trump writing to Hillary on this matter was too much fun for me to resist.
ON BUTCH DAVIS JOINING FIU: Former Miami Hurricanes coach Butch Davis is returning to work in the city he wanted to return to, if not exactly the team he wanted to coach. He has signed a five-year contract to coach FIU in Conference USA. FIU will formally introduce him this afternoon as its fourth head coach. Davis intensely desired to come back to UM and the ACC (where he had coached more recently with North Carolina), but he was among the many coaches the Canes passed over in favor of hiring Mark Richt. For FIU it feels like a great hire, a big hire, getting a proven coach with major-college experience, and one with a track record grounded in strong recruiting. (I'd be worried if I were direct-rival FAU). For Davis, who turns 65 on Thursday, it seems a step down, like a man hitting the career refresh button at a decidedly lower level. But, hey, Butch wanted to still coach, and this was his shot. Good for him. Also, the rivalry that really isn't but should be and hopefully will be someday -- UM vs. FIU -- just got turned up a notch.
SOPY RANKINGS / CROWN HIM NOW! FLOWERS IN FULL BLOOM TO WIN 'STATE HEISMAN': Here is the game South Florida Bulls duel-threat QB Quinton Flowers (from Miami Jackson High) had on Saturday: 24-for-29 passing for 263 yards and three TDs, with 210 yards rushing and two more scores. And you wonder why he is dominating the fifth season of our blog's State Offensive Player of the Year (SOPY) rankings? Our rankings are cumulative, so players whose team had a bye week take a temporary hit in the rankings that evens out over the course of a season. Our weekly rankings measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers for the state's seven FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. All teams have played 10 games except the Florida Gators, with nine. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. Here is the SOPY Top 10 entering Collball Week 12, followed by our updated 'Cote's State of the State' team rankings:
SOPY TOP 10 AFTER WEEK 11:
RK LW Player, Team-pos. (games) Wk11 Year
1 1 Quinton Flowers, SoFla-qb 371.5 2,422.5
2 2 Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb 126 1,726
3 3 Deondre Francois, FSU-qb 124.5 1,549.5
4 4 Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb 122 1,283
5 6 Jason Driskel, FAU-qb 201.5 1,254
6 5 Alex McGough, FIU-qb BYE 1,159.5
7 8 Marlon Mack, SoFla-rb 136 1,132
8 7 Mark Walton, Miami-rb 128 1,128
9 9 Alex Gardner, FIU-rb BYE 961
10 -- Rodney Adams, SoFla-rec 213 926
Bubble: McKenzie Milton, UCF-qb, 867. Other team leader: Luke Del Rio, Florida-qb, 684. Week 11 best: Flowers, 371.5; Season best: Flowers, 371.5, Week 11.
Cote's State of the State team rankings: 1. Florida State (7-3); 2. Florida (7-2); 3. South Florida (8-2); 4. Miami (6-4); 5. UCF (6-4); 6. FIU (3-7); 7. FAU (3-7). Did you notice? Our state was unbeaten in FBS last week. FIU had a bye, but all six other state teams won.
Poll result: Kaaya will stay, not turn pro: We asked if you thought Hurricanes QB would return for senior season or enter the NFL Draft, and was 77.6 percent stay to 22.4% go. Hmm. May be a little wishful thinking in that disparity?
Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9. Check our previous blogpost for the latest Dolfan Satisfaction Meter rating. It's downright buoyant! 2) Miami Herald's new book on Dolphins' first half century is now available, just in time for the holidays! Click on Fins At 50 for more info or to order through Amazon. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins beat Stinkin' Jets with DSM poll, Hot Button Top 10 & more. 4) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine,Periscope and Snapchat.
On Tannehill, Kaaya: Click on Miami QBs: No Worries for my new column. I tell you why I think Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill is good enough, and why I think Hurricanes QB Brad Kaaya will return to UM for his senior season.
ELECTION 2016: AMERICA AWAKENS TO A SURREAL NEW REALITY: THE CELEBRITY APPRENTICE IS PRESIDENT-ELECT: Our regular blog readers know we color outside the sports lines occasionally and dip a toe into other stuff including politics here. It's why the blog slogan (see above ) is 'Miami. Sports. And Beyond.' So naturally we could not let a presidential campaign season go by without delving in and inviting you to have your say, too, in the poll below, which lists the candidates alphabetically -- and which we'll keep up today. The poll purposefully and without apology includes only the two major-party candidates who had a chance tot actually win. My opinion on this is worth no more than yours; all of our votes weigh the same. I'm not preaching, just sharing a few of general thoughts on how it turned out last night. Hillary Clinton was an imperfect Democratic candidate but the Republicans did not offer a credible alternative; quite the opposite. Um, apparently many disagreed with that notion. Although Clinton slightly won the overall popular vote, Trump's win in electoral votes was pretty solid. I felt one candidate and only one was qualified to be president -- to a degree that today, The Morning After, America faces its "Brexit moment." Recall how the United Kingdom voted in June to leave the European Union and how so many Brits awoke the next morning to immediate remorse, like, "My God, what have we actually just done!?" I think electing Trump engenders that feeling in half of the country. I detested Trump's divisive, misogynist, hate-mongering campaign, his whining about a "rigged election" and his noncommitment to acknowledge the final outcome. (Wonder if he still thinks the election was rigged, by the way!?) I am honestly concerned that my country will take a step back in terms of race relations, LGBT rights and tolerance in general. I so hope I am wrong. Not saying I'm right in my views, but they are mine. We'll get back to sports nonsense soon enough. God Bless America.
NFL PIX 'N FANTASY WEEK 9 RESULTS: PIX BOUNCE BACK, LOBOS STAY HOT!: Every week in the blog I update you on how we did the previous weekend with our NFL predictions and fantasy team. NFL pix: Decent bounce-back from our worst week of the season. Went 8-5 straight-up and 7-5-1 against the spread (Panthers pushed). We're now a very solid 23 games above .500 ATS for the season. Fantasy: Greg's Lobos pounded "Commissioner " Sarah Spain 137-96 in the LeBatard Show league and we're now 6-3 and tied for first place overall. Got a big 36 points from Melvin Gordon and also put Drew Brees and Allen Robinson in the 20s. Let's keep it rollin', 'Bos!
SOPY RANKINGS / CANES' KAAYA CLIMBS TO FOURTH IN 'STATE HEISMAN' RACE: South Florida Bulls duel-threat QB Quinton Flowers (out of Miami Jackson High) remains way out front and a heavy favorite for the championship in the fifth season year of our blog's SOPY rankings -- State Offensive Player of the Year. But Miami's Brad Kaaya (pictured) has risen three spots to a credible fourth place in the standings. Our rankings are cumulative, so players whose team had a bye week take a temporary hit in the rankings that evens out over the course of a season. Our weekly rankings measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers for the state's seven FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. The number of games played for each school is listed parenthetically below. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. Here is the SOPY Top 10 entering Collball Week 11, followed by our updated 'Cote's State of the State' team rankings:
SOPY TOP 10 AFTER WEEK 10:
RK LW Player, Team-pos. (games) Wk10 Year
1 1 Quinton Flowers, SoFla-qb (9) BYE 2,051
2 2 Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb (9) 88 1,600
3 3 Deondre Francois, FSU-qb (9) 163 1,425
4 7 Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb (9) 225 1,161
5 4 Alex McGough, FIU-qb (10 DNP 1,159.5
6 8 Jason Driskel, FAU-qb (9) 168.5 1,052.5
7 9 Mark Walton, Miami-rb (9) 155 1,000
8 5 Marlon Mack, SoFla-rb (9) BYE 996
9 6 Alex Gardner, FIU-rb (10) 24 961
10 10 Gregory Howell, FAU-rb (9) 80 809
Bubble: McKenzie Milton, UCF-qb, 767 (9). Other team leader: Luke Del Rio, Florida-qb, 684 (8). Week 10 best: Devin Singletary, FAU-rb, 281. Season best: Cook, 341, Week 4.
Cote's State of the State team rankings: 1. Florida State (6-3); 2. Florida (6-2); 3. South Florida (7-2); 4. Miami (5-4); 5. UCF (5-4); 6. FIU (3-7); 7. FAU (2-7).
Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1. Happy new month, y'all! Hope you had a great and Happy Halloween. I have a personal animus against fake pumpkins. Pictured right are the three real ones I carved that were on display last night as trick-or-treaters come to our door. 2) See previous blogpost for latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter results. They ain't pretty. 3) Miami Herald's new book on Dolphins' first half century is now available -- just in time for the holidays! Click on Fins At 50 for more info or to order through Amazon. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Canes fall at Notre Dame with CSM poll, state Collball Week 9, Hot Button Top 10, Jose and cocaine, Heat poll results, The List & more. 5) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine,Periscope and Snapchat.
DOLFANS GET SCREWED OUT OF ANOTHER HOME GAME: In 2017, for the second time in three seasons, the Miami Dolphins will give up an actual regular-season home game to "host" a game in London. Last year Dolphins fans were robbed of seeing the hated rival Jets visit Miami. Next year you'll be missing out on a rare visit by Hall of Fame bound quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints. Miami and owner Stephen Ross are obliging an NFL codicil that states a team awarded host status for a Super Bowl (which Miami was, in 2020) must "host" an international game within five years. Dumb rule. At least Miami won't be charging fans for a home game beine played an eight-hour flight from home. In any case, I hate that the Dolphins giving up a home game -- let alone twice in three years. More than fans take a hit; the Dolphins yield home-field advantage for that game. This sport is different. There are only eight home games. They are precious. Giving up one of eight would be the equivalent of the Heat playing five of their 41 home games elsewhere, or the Marlins giving up 10 of their 81 home games. Here's a poll that invites your opinion on this matter:
ANDRE JOHNSON AND CANTON: Titans wide receiver Andre Johnson, 35, the born-and-raised Miamian and ex-Hurricane, announced today he planned to retire on Monday. Is Johnson a Hall of Famer? I think so. Perhaps not a first-ballot, no-argument guy. But one who should get to Canton eventually. Here are Johnson's pertinent NFL career numbers compared to the three most recent wide receivers to be inducted, with 'PB' indicating Pro Bowls:
Player PB Catches Yards Avg. TDs
Andre Johnson 7 1,062 14,185 13.4 70
Tim Brown (2015) 9 1,094 14,934 13.7 100
Andre Reed (2014) 7 951 13,198 13.9 87
Cris Carter (2013) 8 1,101 13,899 12.6 130
NFL PIX 'N FANTASY WEEK 8 RESULTS: PIX IN A SLUMP, BUT LOBOS KEEP ROCKIN'!: Every week in the blog I update you on how we did the previous weekend with our NFL predictions and fantasy team. NFL pix: Lousy week, period. Went 6-6-1 overall (with the tie game) and embarrassing 3-9-1 against the spread (with the Jets pushing). We're still a very solid 21 games above .500 ATS for the season, but need to shake this two-week lull pronto. Fantasy: Greg's Lobos rose to 5-3 in the LeBatard Show league with a 138-114 spanking of Dan. That ties us for first place. Enjoyed balanced scoring, with four guys over 19 points led by Mohammad Sanu's 23. With a roster ravaged by byes, we'd just signed Sanu as a free agent late in the week, so that made us look smart. Let's keep it rollin', 'Bos!
SOPY RANKINGS / 'STATE HEISMAN': CAN ANYONE SPOIL FLOWERS' GARDEN PARTY?: South Florida Bulls duel-threat QB Quinton Flowers (out of Miami Jackson High) has expanded his season lead in the fifth year of our blog's SOPY rankings --State Offensive Player of the Year. Second place Dalvin Cook, the Florida state running back, has played one fewer game, but even with that factored in, Flowers' lead is huge. Our rankings are cumulative, so players whose team had a bye week take a temporary hit in the rankings that evens out over the course of a season. Our weekly rankings measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers for the state's seven FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. The number of games played for each school is listed parenthetically below. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. Here is the SOPY Top 10 entering Collball Week 10, followed by a new No. 1 in our updated 'Cote's State of the State' team rankings:
SOPY TOP 10 AFTER WEEK 9:
RK LW Player, Team-pos. (games) Wk9 Year
1 1 Quinton Flowers, SoFla-qb (9) 309.5 2,051
2 2 Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb (8) 208 1,512
3 3 Deondre Francois, FSU-qb (8) 102 1,262
4 4 Alex McGough, FIU-qb (9) 223.5 1,159.5
5 5 Marlon Mack, SoFla-rb (9) 156 996
6 8 Alex Gardner, FIU-rb (9) 123 937
7 7 Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb (8) 115 936
8 6 Jason Driskel, FAU-qb (8) 46 884
9 9 Mark Walton, Miami-rb (8) 89 845
10 10 Gregory Howell, FAU-rb (8) 29 729
Bubble: Rodney Adams, SoFla-rec, 713. Other team leaders: McKenzie Milton, UCF-qb, 703.5 (8); and Luke Del Rio, Florida-qb, 594.5 (7). Week 9 best: Flowers, 309.5.Season best: Cook, 341, Week 4.
Cote's State of the State team rankings: 1. Florida (6-1); 2. Florida State (5-3); 3. South Florida (7-2); 4. Miami (4-4); 5. UCF (4-4); 6. FIU (3-6); 7. FAU (1-7).
THE LIST: TEAMS THAT HAVE DONE WHAT CUBS ARE TRYING TO DO: The Cubs trailed the Indians 3-1 before winning World Series game 5 last night. Should it win the next two in Cleveland, the Cubs would become only the fifth team ever to successfully overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven WS. Teams that have done it:
Year Team Series MVP
1985 Royals vs. Cardinals Royals P Bret Saberhagen
1968 Tigers vs. Cardinals Tigers P Mickey Lolich
1958 Yankees vs. Milw. Braves Yankees P Bob Turley
1925 Pirates vs. Senators None chosen
Note: Tigers and Yankees won last two on road, the challenge now facing Chicago.
Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25. Click on 30 Greatest Sports Movies for Rolling Stone's list. 2) A computer simulator I like, makenflplayoffs.com, has the Dolphins playoff chances at 20.8 percent at 3-4. At 1-4, it was 0.7%. (See previous blogpost for results of latest Dolfan Satisfaction Meter, showing a season-high approval rating. 3) Miami Herald's new book on Dolphins' first half century is now available -- just in time for the holidays! Click on Fins At 50 for more info or to order through Amazon. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins beat Buffalo with DSM poll, Hot Button Top 10 & more. 5) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine,Periscope and Snapchat.
"Somebody asked me today if Arian Foster was a Hall of Famer. Seriously. Answer: Zero chance. None. Not even a conversation." --Greg Cote
Our Miami Heat season preview column: Heat opens its new season on Wednesday, leaving the Big 3 era behind and starting anew. Click on Heat's System Reboot to read. For my two previous columns, click The 200-Yard Man (from Sunday's big Dolphins home win) and The Perfect World Series (on Cubs-Indians).
CUBS-INDIANS: WHO DO YOU HOPE WINS THE 'PERFECT WORLD SERIES'?: I call Cubs-Indians "The Perfect World Series," because it matches the two teams -- of the 122 in the Big Four sports -- whose fans have waited longest to cheer a championship. With Cubs fans it has famously been since 1908, which, someone just told me, was literally before the invention of sliced bread. For Indians fans it has been since 1948. Imagine: Cleveland's near 70-year-old championship means the Indians have won recently, relatively speaking. In a perfect world, they could both win. In the real one, one fandom's misery will end and the others' will continue. Chicago and Cleveland are only about 300 miles apart (closer than Miami to Jacksonville), so this Series has a regional feel as well as an historic one that should make it highly rated nationally as we await Game 1 Tuesday night. Cubs are the betting favorites -- at 10-19 to Cleveland's 17-10, per Bovada -- so the Indians are the literal underdogs even if the Cubs are the historical ones. (We have two Lists below here that both are World Series-related). ESPN's 32-person panel of baseball experts, which sounds like about two dozen experts too many, goes 26-6 for the Cubbies. I'm curious who our readers are rooting for and why. Only one way to find out. Take a dip in our poll and vote.
NFL PIX 'N FANTASY WEEK 7 RESULTS: SLIGHT PAUSE IN ASTOUNDING 'ATS' ROLL, BUT LOBOS WIN BIG!: Every week in the blog I update you on how we did the previous weekend with our NFL predictions and fantasy team. NFL picks: Tough week, as I thought it might be. Went 9-5-1 overall and 7-8 against the spread, our first losing week vs. the betting line. We bull's-eye yet another Upset of the Week with Dolphins beating Bills ("Aawwk!"), and also called Colts' upset win at Titans. We're still a terrific 27 games above .500 ATS for the season. Fantasy: Greg's Lobos rose to 4-3 in the LeBatard Show league with a rollicking 160-104 rout of Randy Scott. Four players topping 20 points all but assures a W and we had Melvin Gordon with 36, Randall Cobb 28, Drew Brees 24 and Delanie Walker 21. We're on playoff pace. Go 'Bos!
IT'S OFFICIAL: JOE PUBLIC HATES THE MIAMI HEAT: Former betting darlings in the Big 3 era, the Heat have become the team America is now betting against as the team prepares to open the new season Wednesday night. Our friends at Bovada tell us Miami is attracting the highest percentage of "under" bets in the NBA, meaning bets placed on the team to fall short of the over/under on victories, which for the Heat is around 36. The "under" percentage on Miami is running 88 percent, topping Detroit's 82% and Memphis' 81%. Teams most being bet "over" are Lakers at 92%, Trail Blazers at 90% and Rockets at 87%. In terms of money being bet on who'll win the championship, it's 38.4% on Golden State and 15.6% on Cleveland. Only others over five percent are San Antonio 8.7, Boston 5.3 and Oklahoma City 4.4.
SOPY RANKINGS / 'STATE HEISMAN': BYES WREAK HAVOC AS FLOWERS GROWS LEAD, KAAYA CLIMBS TO 7TH: South Florida QB Quinton Flowers (out of Miami Jackson High) has expanded his season lead in the fifth year of our blog's SOPY rankings --State Offensive Player of the Year. Second place Dalvin Cook, the Florida state running back, has played one fewer game, but even with that factored in, Flowers' lead is huge. Our rankings are cumulative, so players whose team had a bye week take a temporary hit in the rankings that evens out over the course of a season. Our weekly rankings measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers for the state's seven FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. The number of games played for each school is listed parenthetically. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. Here is the SOPY Top 10 entering Collball Week 9, followed by our updated 'Cote's State of the State' team rankings:
SOPY TOP 10 AFTER WEEK 8:
RK LW Player, Team-pos. (games) Wk8 Year
1 1 Quinton Flowers, SoFla-qb (8) 201.5 1,741.5
2 2 Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb (7) BYE 1,304
3 3 Deondre Francois, FSU-qb (7) BYE 1,160
4 5 Alex McGough, FIU-qb (8) 153.5 936
5 7 Marlon Mack, SoFla-rb (8) 106 840
6 4 Jason Driskel, FAU-qb (7) BYE 838
7 9 Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb (7) 118.5 821
8 6 Alex Gardner, FIU-rb (8) 66 814
9 8 Mark Walton, Miami-rb (7) 49 756
10 10 Gregory Howell, FAU-rb (7) BYE 700
Bubble: Rodney Adams, SoFla-rec, 659. Other team leaders: McKenzie Milton, UCF-qb, 605 (7); and Luke Del Rio, Florida-qb, 552 (6), Week 8 best: Flowers, 201.5.Season best: Cook, 341, Week 4.
Cote's State of the State team rankings: 1. Florida State (5-2); 2. Florida (5-1); 3. Miami (4-3); 4. South Florida (6-2); 5. UCF (4-3); 6. FIU (3-5); 7. FAU (1-6).
THE LIST I: CHAMPIONSHIP DROUGHTS: The five longest ongoing championship droughts in each of the Big Four sports. Teams whose fans have waited the most years to cheer another or a first championship:
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19. Happy 90th birthday yesterday to the music legend Chuck Berry (pictured,) who announced that in 2017 he'll release his first new album in 38 years. 2) Dolphins earn season-high Dolfan Satisfaction Meter approval rating. See previous blogpost for latest results. 3) The Miami Herald's new book on Dolphins' first half century is now available -- just in time for the holidays! Click on Fins At 50 to learn more or to order through Amazon. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins stun Pittsburgh with DSM poll, Hot Button Top 10 & more. 5) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine,Periscope and Snapchat.
My latest column: Tannehill nails it: Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill has challenged his team, in the wake of Sunday's exhilarating surprise over Pittsburgh, to "show up like this every week." Can they? Click on Tannehill's Challenge to read my latest column.
NFL PIX 'N FANTASY WEEK 6 RESULTS: PHENOMENAL 'ATS' STREAK CONTINUES, BUT LOBOS FALL HARD: Every week in the blog I update you on how we did the previous weekend with our NFL predictions and fantasy team. NFL picks: Went a nifty 12-3 overall and a sublime 10-4-1 against the spread -- a sixth straight winning week ATS! We bull's-eyed yet another Upset of the Week call with Redskins over Eagles ("Aawwk!"), hit two other outright upsets with Chargers over Broncos and Saints over Panthers, and also hit on a trio of other 'dogs-with-points in Browns, Falcons and Cowboys. Fantasy: Greg's Lobos dipped to 3-3 in the LeBatard Show league with a disappointing 156-96 loss to Allyson. Got a nice 33 points from Drew Brees and too little from everybody else. Injury-absence of Theo Riddick hurt, but doesn't excuse a spanking like this. Time to seriously re-gird.
SOPY RANKINGS / 'STATE HEISMAN': FLOWERS GROWING OUT OF CONTROL!: South Florida QB Quinton Flowers (out of Miami Jackson High) is threatening to run away with the leaderboard in the fifth year of our blog's SOPY rankings --State Offensive Player of the Year. After winning Week 7 Flowers has opened up more than a 200-point lead on second place Dalvin Cook, the Florida state running back. Our rankings are cumulative, so players whose team had a bye week take a temporary hit in the rankings that evens out over the course of a season. Our weekly rankings measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers for the state's seven FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. UM, Florida and UCF have played one fewer game than the other four. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. Here is the SOPY Top 10 entering Collball Week 8, followed by our updated 'Cote's State of the State' team rankings:
SOPY TOP 10 AFTER WEEK 7:
RK LW Player, Team-pos. Wk7 Year
1 1 Quinton Flowers, SoFla-qb 293.5 1,540
2 2 Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb 126 1,304
3 3 Deondre Francois, FSU-qb 165.5 1,160
4 5 Jason Driskel, FAU-qb 138.5 838
5 8 Alex McGough, FIU-qb 187.5 782.5
6 4 Alex Gardner, FIU-rb 39 748
7 -- Marlon Mack, SoFla-rb 188 734
8 7 Mark Walton, Miami-rb 105 707
9 6 Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb 95 702.5
10 9 Gregory Howell, FAU-rb 115 700
Bubble: Rodney Adams, SoFla-rec, 618. Other team leaders: Luke Del Rio, Florida-qb, 552; and McKenzie Milton, UCF-qb, 404.5. Week 7 best: Flowers, 293.5.Season best: Cook, 341, Week 4.
Cote's State of the State team rankings: 1. Florida State (5-2); 2. Florida (5-1); 3. Miami (4-2); 4. South Florida (6-1); 5. UCF (3-3); 6. FIU (3-4); 7. FAU (1-6).
THE FALSE NOBILITY OF THE THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATE: John Oliver skewered third-party presidential candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein (video below), detailing ways in which their candidacies and platforms do not stand up under scrutiny or vetting. I'm against minor third-party runners (defined as polling less than 10 percent) mainly because they are hopeless spoilers attracting wasted, pointless votes -- modern-day Ralph Naders. Johnson and Stein have zero ZERO ZERO chance of winning a single state including their own, let alone a general election. I love that idealists have convinced themselves that voting their "conscience" is the way to go in this election, and that voting for (as they might put it) "the lesser of two evils" is abhorrent to everything they stand for. To those folks I would say: Feel free to be an adult, get acquainted with the idea of pragmatism, and hop on board the real world anytime you'd like.
Revisit our blog often because we update and add to our latest posts throughout the day.
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14. So pleased for Bob Dylan, a music and cultural hero, to hear he won a Nobel prize for literature! 2) Holed up today at Friday Page World Headquarters figuring out this week's NFL predictions. Click on Thursday Gem for my pick on tonight's Chargers-Broncos game (Upset!) 3) The Miami Herald's new book on Dolphins' first half century is now available -- just in time for the holidays! Click on Fins At 50 to learn more or to order through Amazon. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins lose to Titans with DSM poll, Hot Button Top 10, Fins ground-game woes (List) & more. 5) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine,Periscope and Snapchat.
Why we keep waiting for Tiger: Tiger Woods' comeback is delayed. Again. But we keep waiting. We keep caring. Why? Click on Because He's Tiger Woods to read my column.
OPENING NIGHT! PANTHERS LAUNCH SEASON OF LARGE HOPES WITH WIN: Panthers beat New Jersey devils 2-1 in OT on Opening Night Thursday on goal by Aleksander Barkov, the Cats' No. 16 -- after the team had honored the late Marlins' No. 16, Jose Fernandez, in a pregame ceremony. Click on Now the Winning Big Must Follow for my column from the arena ..... Original post: Click Swagger On Skates for my full column previewing this Panthers season of high expectations as the Cats host New Jersey tonight in Sunrise to begin their 23rd NHL year. The Cats come in with swagger, with cockiness. It is strange, coming from a franchise always cast as the underdog climbing uphill. Strange, from a club that has made the NHL playoffs but five times and not won a single postseason series since reaching the Stanley Cup Finals — Cinderella on skates — in 1996. It is jarring. It is audacious. It is something else, too. Refreshing. Wonderful. And perfectly timed. All of our other major pro sports teams are down. The Dolphins seem to be as depressingly bad as ever. The Marlins have been decimated by tragedy. The Heat are trying to reboot after the once- unfathomable departure of Dwyane Wade. To the rescue come the Cats! The only one of our four major pro teams yet to throw a championship parade is now without question the closest of them all to doing that. "Underdogs no more," as president of hockey operations Dale Tallon told us Wednesday. Remember how Miami Hurricanes football players at the program's height of power in the 1980s buffed braggadocio to an art form? And how LeBron James upon arriving in 2010 talked dynasty for the Big 3-era Heat ("Not three, not four...") by counting championships? We're not elevating these Panthers to that standard of epic boastfulness, but, clearly, this is a team that thinks it can win the Stanley Cup and isn't shy to say it. This is a team publicly challenging itself to do it. "Everybody knows we're a good team now," says coach Gerard Gallant. "We're not going to sneak up on anybody." Two costly injuries during the preseason have stunned the team. Center Nick Bjugstad broke a hand and will be out four to six weeks. Far worse, forward Jonathan Huberdeau suffered a severe ankle injury that will sideline him about four months — at least two-thirds of the season. But Tallon is convinced that improved depth will allow the Cats to absorb those blows. No fissures in confidence are evident. Last season the Panthers set franchise records for most victories (47) and standings points (103), and, "This year we have a lot higher expectations for ourselves," said goaltender Roberto Luongo. This could be the best team the franchise has ever put on ice. Players expect that. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad was told the Panthers are being rated a top-10 team and among Eastern Conference powers in media polls, and said, "As players on this team, our expectations exceed those times 10." Now, beginning tonight, all that's left is the living up.
JUDGING ON RYAN TANNEHILL, NOT QUITE 4 1/2 SEASONS IN: Have opinions on the Dolphins quarterback hardened, or are they still evolving? Do we see a fully formed player, or one still improving? Bottom line, do Dolfans believe in Tannehill and have his back, or not? He was booed during Sunday's loss, and heard a "We want Moore!" chant for backup Matt Moore. The booing was more scattered than sustained. The chant quickly petered out. But they happened. Frustration is growing, and it has targeted Tannehill partly because the starting QB always is an easy target, and partly because he has invited some of the dissatisfaction with his play. Coach Adam Gase made it clear there is no QB controversy -- that Tannehill is his guy the rest of this season, at least. I address the issue in my column off Sunday's home loss to Tennessee; to read, click on Boo Tannehill? Entire Dolphins team, starting with defense, deserves derision for this performance. We've had several judging-Tannehill blog polls over the years, but another is justified. There remains debate. He continues to be polariziing. Four-plus seasons in, there still is no consensus on whether he is Miami's long-term solution or not. So I ask it again. Take a dip in our poll. Vote, and check back often to monitor evolving results:
SOPY RANKINGS / 'STATE HEISMAN': MIAMI REPRESENTS WITH FLOWERS BLOOMING, COOK ON HIGH: Miami is all over the leaderboard in the fifth year of our blog's SOPY rankings -- State Offensive Player of the Year. Hurricanes Brad Kaaya and Mark Walton rank No. 6 and 7 this week, and FIU Panthers check in fourth and eighth. But local guys also top the chart. Top-ranked South Florida QB Quinton Flowers is from Miami Jackson High and second place Dalvin Cook, the Florida State RB, is from Miami Central. Our rankings are cumulative, so players whose team had a bye week (or a hurricane-related postponement!) take a temporary hit in the rankings that evens out over the course of a season. Our weekly rankings measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers for the state's seven FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. UM, Florida and UCF have played one fewer game than the other four. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. Here is the SOPY Top 10 entering Collball Week 7, followed by our updated 'Cote's State of the State' team rankings:
SOPY TOP 10 AFTER WEEK 6:
RK LW Player, Team-pos. Wk6 Year
1 1 Quinton Flowers, SoFla-qb 258 1,246.5
2 2 Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb 215 1,178
3 3 Deondre Francois, FSU-qb 150 994.5
4 5 Alex Gardner, FIU-rb 161 709
5 4 Jason Driskel, FAU-qb 96 699.5
6 7 Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb 105 607.5
7 6 Mark Walton, Miami-rb 81 602
8 9 Alex McGough, FIU-qb 131.5 595
9 8 Gregory Howell, FAU-rb 118 585
10 10 Rodney Adams, SoFla-rb 119 573
Bubble: Marlon Mack, SoFla-rb, 546. Other team leaders: Luke Del Rio, Florida-qb, 433; and Adrian Killins, UCF-rb, 351. Week 6 best: Flowers, 258.Season best: Cook, 341, Week 4.
Cote's State of the State team rankings: 1. Florida State (4-2); 2. Miami (4-1); 3. Florida (4-1); 4. South Florida (5-1); 5. UCF (3-2); 6. FIU (2-4); 7. FAU (1-5).
GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is MONDAY, OCTOBER 3. See our previous blogpost for the latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter results. They don't make numbers much higher as FSU Week begins for Miami. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Canes win at Georgia tech with CSM poll, Hot Button Top 10, state Collball Week 5, quartet of Jose columns & more. 3) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine,Periscope and Snapchat.
Radio Tuesday!: We're on the LeBatard Show now on 790 The Ticket and ESPN Radio.
World Series odds: Via Bovada today, Cubs a clear favorite at 12-5 odds, followed by Red Sox at 5-1, Rangers 6-1, Nationals 13-2 and Dodgers 15-2. Longer shots are the Indians at 9-1, Blue Jays 10-1, Mets 18-1 and Orioles and Giants both 22-1.
FINS AT 50: New book on sale now!: The Miami Herald's new book on the Dolphins' first half century, Fins At 50, is now available, just in time for the holiday season. Click on Fins At 50 to learn more or to order through Amazon.
MARLINS' 2016 MVP: JOSE AND THEN...WHO?: The Marlins' 79-82 season was disappointing even before the tragic death of Jose Fernandez overshadowed everything. It was because, after being in the wild-card playoff hunt for so much of the season, Miami faded late. It was because it marked yet another injury-marred season for slugger Giancarlo Stanton. It was because, bottom line, the Fish still haven't had a winning season since 2009 in a playoff drought extending to '03. But there were positives, too, under first-year manager Don Mattingly, until Jose's death made them all seem meaningless. There were solid performances. In that spirit in this Marlins season MVP poll I present five finalists, alphabetically, with pertinent statistics listed. I ask that you vote for your top two (2) choices due to the extraordinary circumstances of Fernandez's death. In anticipation of an emotion-driven vote for Fernandez, who might very well have won anyway, I'm curious who comes out on top among the other finalists. So vote now and check back often to monitor evolving results:
SOPY RANKINGS / 'STATE HEISMAN': NOLES' COOK EN FEUGO AS FSU WEEK ARRIVES: The fifth year of our blog's SOPY rankings -- State Offensive Player of the Year -- finds FSU running back Dalvin Cook continuing red-hot as the Seminoles prepare to visit Miami in Collball Week 6. Our rankings are cumulative, so players whose team had a bye week take a temporary hit in the rankings that evens out over the course of a season. UM's Mark Walton and Brad Kaaya rank 6-7 this week despite the Canes playing one fewer game than all the others. Our weekly rankings measure the most productive quarterbacks, running backs and receivers for the state's seven FBS teams: Miami, Florida, Florida State, FIU, FAU, UCF and South Florida. Our simple formula awards a half-point for every passing yard and one point for every rushing or receiving yard, with six points for every TD scored or thrown. We close it off after the regular season to not penalize players whose teams don't make a bowl game. Here is the SOPY Top 10 entering Collball Week 6, followed by our updated 'Cote's State of the State' team rankings:
SOPY TOP 10 AFTER WEEK 5:
RK LW Player, Team-pos. Wk5 Year
1 1 Quinton Flowers, SoFla-qb 184 988.5
2 2 Dalvin Cook, FSU-rb 264 963
3 3 Deondre Francois, FSU-qb 224 844.5
4 4 Jason Driskel, FAU-qb 101 603.5
5 7 Alex Gardner, FIU-rb 123 548
6 5 Mark Walton, Miami-rb 79 521
7 10 Brad Kaaya, Miami-qb 126.5 502.5
8 -- Gregory Howell, FAU-rb 112 467
9 -- Alex McGough, FIU-qb 178.5 463.5
10 8 Rodney Adams, SoFla-rb 68 454
Bubble: Luke Del Rio, Florida-qb, 433. Other team leader: Adrian Killins, UCF-rb, 351. Week 5 best: Cook, 264. Season best: Cook, 341, Week 4.
Cote's State of the State team rankings: 1. Miami (4-0); 2. Florida State (3-2); 3. Florida (4-1); 4. South Florida (4-1); 5. UCF (3-2); 6. FIU (1-4); 7. FAU (1-4).
OUR QUARTET OF COLUMNS ON THE DEATH OF MARLINS ACE AND MIAMI HERO JOSE FERNANDEZ:
What Jose Meant Lives On -- The first, reacting to the tragic news that broke South Florida's heart last Sunday.
