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

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

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: FIRST NEW EPISODE OF 2023 OUT NOW: 'THE VERDICT': Our 1st episode of 2023 and 147th overall is out now! New episodes drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 147 we've done so far HERE. Our new episode settles -- once and for all -- the show's Tony Kornheiser/toenail bet with a verdict from an all-star three-person jury consisting for Sarah Spain, Ron Magill and Tim Kurkjian. Did Greg or Chris win? Hint: It was not unanimous. Also in the new ep, the guys discuss the Dolphins making the playoffs (!), whether Greg went cheap with Seinfeld tickets, Chris in the King Mango Strut parade and more. Hit up GCS2301 for the full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. Now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit store by clicking 'Shop'. New items including Greg's Lobos T-shirts and hats -- and there's a free-shipping promotion through this Thursday! Also check out our podcast's YouTube channel.

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

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

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

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

HB10 cut: Desperate Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher hired disgraced Bobby Petrino to be his offensive coordinator ..... The Dodgers severed ties to Trevor Bauer, the starting pitcher and former Cy Young winner who was given an unprecedented suspension following allegations of sexual assault ..... University of Texas fired men's basketball coach Chris Beard less than a month after his December 12 arrest for domestic violence ..... NCAA is after Michigan and coach Jim Harbaugh for several violations ..... Unlikeable, questionably talented self-promoter Jake Paul signed to compete in MMA with the Professional Fighters League ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast drops its first episode of the new year on 7 a.m. ET Monday, January 9 ..... Update: Countdown now 1,247 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: Dolphins See Playoff Hopes In Peril With 3rd Straight Loss in Buffalo / Loss In L.A. Puts Pressure on Dolphins -- And Tua -- To Rise Up In Final Month / Griner Freed, But Others Still Held, And WNBA Responsibility Remains / Reality-Check for Dolphins, Tua In San Fran -- But Don't Quit On Miami / Le Batard On New Mas Miami, First DocuSeries -- And Next Big Move / Miami Needs To Seal Deal On Messi Or It'll Be Fans Who Should Feel Jilted / Dolphins Rout Texans, but How Good Are Fins, Really? We're About To See / Miami Hurricanes End No-Bowl Season 5-7 With Home Rout-Loss To Pitt / Thanksgiving 2022: In Sports As In Life, Little Feeds Spirit Like Gratitude / Jimmy Johnson Had To Give Up Football To Get His Life Back / R.I.P. Chuck Carr: Remembering Marlins' Speedy First Star / Dare To Dream, Dolphins Fans. Why Miami Is a Legit Super Bowl Contender / Shula To Miami And 17-0 Should Not Have Happened. It Was Luck ... Or Fate / Kyrie Irving's Anti-Semitism Mess Bigger Than Him. It's Symptom Of What Ails America / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

1) It's MONDAY, AUGUST 1. Farewell, July. Welcome, Augie! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): SoFla's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars, Marlins and Juan Soto, Tua out to prove world wrong, Greg Cote Show podcast, updated Mount Gregmore of columns.

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

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

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

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

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

The Hilltop: The five columns before that: How Mattew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / Barkley, Djokovic, Lia Thomas: Being Sports Fan Never Harder -- Or More Interesting / How Super Mario And The Cheetah were Sent To Save Football in Miami / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Why LeBron (of All People) Chiming In On Griner's Russia Detention Is Ironic

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JULY 24-25): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. NFL: Slap on the wrist! Deshaun Watson suspended only 6 games!: The NFL wanted an indefinite suspension of at least one year but the league disciplinary officer, Sue L. Robinson, a retired federal judge, on Monday sentenced Browns QB Deshaun Watson to only a six-game supension for his implication by 25 women of sexual impropriety during massage sessions. Sad day for justice. Let's see if NFL appeals for more. 

2. DOLPHINS: Full training camp underway; exhibition opener less than two weeks out: Eyes swung to new receiving star Tyreek Hill, on-the-spot QB Tua Tagovailoa and new coach Mike McDaniel as the Fins opened full training camp for the club's 57th season. The first of three preseason games is less than two weeks away, on Saturday August 13 at Tampa Bay.

3. MARLINS: Fish, treading water, suffer home sweep by Mets: Marlins are 47-55 after Sunday's third straight home loss and a sweep by the rival Mets. Miami is fadin fast and now 9 1/2 back in the wild-card chase as a six-game homestand continues. Fish are 4-7 since the All-Star break and treading water on the far periphery of playoff contention, seemingly caught between buyer and seller mode and unlikely to make any major deals before Tuesday's MLB trade deadline.

4. HURRICANES: Three Canes preseason All-ACC, but not Van Dyke, as UM opens camp: Miami's first fall training camp undernew coach Mario Cristbal gets underway with Media Day on Tuesday. Tight end Will Mallory, tackle Zion Nelson and punter Lou Hedley made the preseason All-ACC first team. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke made third-team and also was third in preseason ACC player of the year voting.

5. SOCCER: England tops Germany for nation's first women's Euros crown: England, on its home turf at Wembley Stadium, topped Germany 2-1 Sunday in the title match of the women's UEFA European Championships. Germany had won a record eight Euro titles, while the Lionnesses were after their first in their third final. Germany was No. 5 to England's No. 8 in the FIFA women's World Ranking, but the Brits, home and on better current form, were slight betting favorites and showed why.

6. NBA: Bill Russell, 1934-2022, R.I.P.: The NBA legend, Boston Celtics icon, 11-time league champion and lifelong activist for rights and justice passed away at age 88 on Sunday. R.I.P. to an epic life led by an ultimate champion but so much more than a sports figure. 

7. SOCCER: It's opening week for English Premier League: Manchester City is a heavy favorite and Liverpool a stout second pick as the English Premier League opens its 2022-23 regular  season this coming Friday. The three new (promoted) gteams are Bournemouth, Fulham and Nottingham Forest, replacing the relegated Burnley, Norwich City and Watford.

8. INTER MIAMI: Higuain hat trick sparks draw for playoff-chasing Herons: With the regular season around the two-thirds mark, Inter Miami is 7-5-10 and three points off pace in the MLS playoff chase after Saturday's 4-4 home draw against Cincinnati fueled by Gonzalo Higuain's hat trick and an extra-time loss-avoiding goal by Chris McVey. Inter Miami is back on the league pitch Wednesday night in San Jose.

9. GOLF: The Golf War escalates as FedEx Cup playoffs near: The PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs are just over a week away, with defectors to Saudi-backed LIV Golf excluded, of course, as the sport's (un)civil war contines. LIV Golf, whose roster includes Dustin Johnson, Brooks Kopeka and Bryson DeChambeau, announced an expanded, even more lucrative 2023 schedule. However broadcast star Charles Barkley declined a LIV overture to remain with TNT. The PGA Tour countered with a record $428.6 million payout for next season's schedule. 

10. UFC: G.O.A.T Nunes regains title in rematch: Amanda Nunes, greatest female fighter in MMA history, beat Julianna Pena in a dominant unanimous decision Saturday night in UFC 277 in Dallas -- regaining the bantamweight title she had lost in an upset to Peña in December.

Missing the HB10 cut: MLB trade deadline is Tuesday and the big questions: Will Nats make a blockbuster deal and trade Juan Soto? And will Shoehei Ohtani be leaving the Angels? Biggest deal tus far might have been Reds sending starting pitcher Luis Castillo to Mariners for prospects ..... Veteran Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten won the women's Tour de France on Sunday, but the real victory was for women's cycling. A women's Tour de France had last been run in 1989 but was revived this month for the first time in 33 years ..... Sacramento Republic FC, a second division team in the USL, defeated Sporting Kansas City of top-tier MLS to reach the final of the U.S. Open Cup, the longest-running soccer tournament in the U.S. and combining both pro and amateur teams. MLS has dominated the competition since becoming America's top division in 1996. Sacramento will be the first lower-division team in the final since 2008 when it faces Orlando City of MLS for the championship on September 7 ..... The Miami Heat's quiet free agency whispers on. Team seems no closer to a play for Kevin Durant, while the rival Celtics are rumored all in with Jaylen Brown on the table ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,414 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: Heat Luring Donovan Mitchell Involves Friend D-Wade, Arch-Enemy Ainge, Too / Why Miami Heat Should Re-Think, Go All-In For King-Whale Kevin Durant / Cup Of AK-47 Coffee At Cowboys Games? Nuthin' Wrong With That, Huh Jerry? / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / Nobody Wins, Everybody Loses, As NFL Weighs Deshaun Watson Punishment / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Florida Panthers Swap Coach Of Year Finalist For Guy No. 1 In Career Losses / 20 Cases Settled, But Deshaun Watson Won't Begin To Clear Name Without Remorse / Tua Will Handle Scrutiny & Pressure. Question Is If Rest of Miami Dolphins Can / 'Black Cloud' Over U.S. Open Amid Golf Civil War In Time Of Revolution In Sports / Curry's 4th NBA Title, 1st Finals MVP Opens Path To Michael/LeBron Best-Ever Talk / Heat Season Ends One Win (One Shot?) Short Of NBA Finals In Game 7 Loss / No Consolation, No Excuse: Panthers Swept From Playoffs In 2-0 Loss A Brutal End / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Serena Playing Wimbledon Still Matters, Maybe More Than Ever. Because It Feels Like Goodbye / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / Mickelson, Johnson et al Are Saudi Pawns Pocketing Blood Money / Dolphins Denied It, But Deshaun Watson Lawyer Reveals How Close Miami Was To A Deal / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim Ng Hire As GM / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

1) It's MONDAY, JULY 12. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast now on Twitter. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): New Greg Cote Show podcast, our golf week in Lake Tahoe, Sha'Carri Richardson column & more. 3) Join me on Twitter and Instagram.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW 'TAHOE SPECIAL' EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our new 27th episode of 2021 and 69th overall is out now! A new pod drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. You can find all 69 we've done so far HERE, for free. In our newest episode Greg and Chris (and Chris Wittyngham, and Mardy Fish, and the lead singer of Earth, Wind & Fire, and a pinch of Stugotz) come to you from Lake Tahoe with a rollicking review of their golf and casino trip. Fun! Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, rate, review and follow! (Our pod simulcasts on Sirius XM, too, every Monday 5-6 p.m. ET on Channel 145).

Our most recent columns: May Sha'Carri Richardson Be Last Victim Of Olympics' Archaic Marijuana Rules / 'I'm D'Eriq King For College Hunks Hauling Junk!' It's Strange New World in College Sports / Injury-Wrecked Playoffs, Asterisk Champion: Why Greedy NBA Is Getting What It Deserves / Better 2 Years Late Than Never, Panthers Get 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend / Time For Sports To Quit Hiding, Stand Up And Lead The Pro-Vaccine Fight / andNassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History. Also: Fate Snatched Basketball From Chris Bosh. His new Book Is Part of His Journey Of Healing / Here's What Else Must Go Right (Besides Tua) For Dolphins To Continue Momentum / Rumors, Speculation and the Truth on Spoelstra, Lillard and Heat / and Wanted: A 'Next Big Thing' In Men's Tennis, Golf.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JULY 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. This week's HB10:

Still overshadowing everything, thoughts and sympathy to the victims and families affected by the Surfside condominium collapse that has now left at least 90 confirmed dead and 31 still unaccounted for. 

1. MLB: HR Derby, All-Star Game, Marlins top picks: Plenty of fans prefer Monday's Home Run Derby to Tuesday's 91st All-Star Game -- both in this case featuring the Angels' Shohei Ohtani as the first star to make the team as both a pitcher and hitter. Events kicked off Sunday with the Futures Game, Celebrity Softball Game and first round of the MLB Draft. Marlins reps: Righty pitcher Max Meyer in the Futures Game and LHP Trevor Rogers in the ASG. Miami's two first-round draft picks were North Carolina prep SS Kahlil Watson 16th overall New York prep catcher Joe Mack 31st.

2. NBA: Desperate Bucks keep Finals hope alive: Phoenix, after its first NBA title, was the favorite; 13 of 17 ESPN hoops experts picked the Suns going in. Could Milwaukee, down 2-0, make a series of it? Answer came Sunday night. It was yes as Bucks won a desperate, must-win-feeling Game 3 at home.

3. SOCCER: England falls in Euro '20 final on home soil: Sunday's championship match of UEFA's Euro '20 found Italy winning its first European crown in 53 years and England denied its first ever in a shootout decision. Italy had twice lost in the final since winning in 1968. England sought to make history today at Wembley Stadium. No team has won on its home turf since France in 1984.

4. SOCCER: Messi, Argentina win Copa America crown: Argentina won its biggest title in 28 years Saturday with its 1-0 win over Brazil on Angel DiMaria's goal in the Copa America championship. It marked Lionel Messi's first major medal in a blue-and-white shirt.

5. UFC: Poirier finishes McGregor early in rematch: Dustin Poirier won his rubber-match trilogy fight over Conor McGregor Saturday night in Las Vegas to headline UFC 264. McGregor was done after the first round on a TKO (doctor's stoppage) after injuring his left leg. Dana White is already talking about a fourth fight? But has the fading McGregor earned one?

6. TENNIS: Djokovic, Barty on top at Wimbledon: Ash Barty won the Wimbledon's women's crown Saturday for her second career Grand Slam, beating Karolina Pliskova. Novak Djokovic in Sunday's men's final rallied past Matteo Berrettino for his record-tying 20th career Grand Slam win.

7. HURRICANES: Megadeal keeps UM out front of new NIL rule: The NCAA’s new Name-Image-Likeness (NIL) rule found Canes QB D'Eriq King out front with a handful of business deals last week. Now Miami has landed a huge $540,000 commitment from American Top Team, a mixed martial arts company and training gym based in Coconut Creek in Broward. The business is offering a $500 monthly contract or $6,000 per year to all 90 scholarship football players -- or $540,000 if all 90 sign.

8. MARLINS: Lopez sends Fish into All-Star break by making history: Pablo Lopez struck out the first nine Braves batters he faced Sunday at home to set an MLB record end a three-game Marlins losing streak to end the first half of the season. Miami enters the break 39-50 and lodged in the NL East cellar.

9. OLYMPICS: Team USA stunned in a tuneup for Tokyo: Team USA, starting five NBA all-stars, suffered a stunning 90-87 loss to Nigeria Saturday night in Vegas. The Americans had been 54-2 in exhibitions since professionals started playing, and five years ago had  beaten Nigeria by 43. The Tokyo Olympics begin July 23 -- but with spectators now banned due to a COVID surge.

10. GOLF: Del Negro wins American Century Championship: Former NBA player and coach Vinny Del Negro beat ex-MLB star John Smoltz in a playoff to win the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. An emotional Del Negro won four days after his father passed away. (Myself, Stugotz and Chris Cote were thrilled to rep the Dan Le Batard Show in a Wednesday pro-am round).

Missing the HB10 cut: U.S. men beat Haiti 1-0 to open CONCACAF Gold Cup play in soccer Sunday night in Kansas City ..... Tampa Bay Lightning overwhelmed Montreal 4-1 in Stanley Cup Final for its second straight NHL crown. Canada's Cup drought is now 28 years. A somber note amid the Final: The July 4 fireworks-related death of Columbus goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks ..... Tom Brady and Naomi Osaka won best male and female athlete at ESPN's The ESPY Awards Saturday ..... Will Rachel Nichol's career survive or get canceled? Your move, ESPN ..... Let Sha'carri run! ..... Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers beat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady in 'The Match IV' in Montana ..... Inter Miami tries to end a five-game losing streak next Saturday at New York Red Bulls ..... Joey Chestnut won his 14th mustard belt for hot dog eating. Bor-ring! ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is out now with a new 'Tahoe Special' episode  dropping Monday at 7 a.m. ET ..... Update: Countdown now 1,814 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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

1) It's MONDAY, APRIL 26. I'll be back on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz this week after a week off, but on Thursday, not Tuesday. 2) The Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram. Join us on both! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Justice for George Floyd but still much work to do, Greg Cote Show podcast with Dave Parker and Roy Bellamy & more. 4) Join me on Twitter and Instagram.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our new episode, out now, features special Mina Kimes of ESPN (pictured) to talk NFL Draft and Miami Dolphins. Also, Mina and Greg face off in a geography quiz. This is our 16th of 2021 and 58th overall. A new pod drops Mondays at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. You can find all 58 we've done HERE for free. In our new Ep16, along with Mina, we introduce a third member of our podcast team joining Greg and Chris. Also, wait, is that Joe Biden on the phone. Bonus: The Mount Gregmore of Dolphins' all-time worst first round draft picks. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review! (Our pod now simulcasts on Sirius XM, too, every Monday 5-6 p.m. ET on Channel 145).

Our most recent columns: Justice For George Floyd Helps Heal Our Shaken Faith, But Fight For Equality Goes On  /  What Would Jackie Robinson Think About Race In America Today?  /  The Case For Dolphins Trading Up, Going All-In For Kyle Pitts  /  and It Won't Fix the World, But Matsuyama's Masters Win Lifts Japan In Time Of Anti-Asian Hate.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (APRIL 25-26): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. This week's HB10:

1. DOLPHINS: Three days 'til Fins select [your guess here] in NFL Draft: First round is Thursday night in Cleveland, with Miami holding sixth overall pick. Will they trade up to get prize TE Kyle Pitts? Will they stay put and get WR Ja'Marr Chase or Devonta Smith or (with luck) Pitts? A trade down, perhaps? Stay tuned. Meantime, Dolphins signed veteran OT/G D.J. Fluker, a 2013 first-round draft pick, lessening the chances they might also have Penei Sewell in mind Thursday night.

2. HEAT: Miami scrambling to avoid play-in as regular season winds down: Heat sit seventh in the East with 11 games left in the NBA's shortened 72-game season. Miami must finish in top six to make the playoffs proper, as teams that finish seven through 10 this year are relegated to a May 18-21 play-in tournament. Miami is 32-29 after Saturday's home win over Chicago. Teams play again here Monday.

3. PANTHERS: Cats top Carolina atop Central: Florida is 31-13-5 and one point back of Carolina in the NHL Central after Saturday's big 4-3 OT win over the Hurricanes. Now it's seven games left in the shortened 56-game season before playoffs begin, starting tonight at Nashville.

4. MARLINS: Fish in rocky start to 10-game roadie: Miami is 9-12 after Sunday's loss in San Francisco. Fish dropped three of four at Giants to start a season-long 10-game road trip that continues Monday in Milwaukee. Miami is ninth in team ERA in all of MLB, but 25th on the offensive end in team OPS.

5. INTER MIAMI: Higuain brothers lift Miami to first win: Inter Miami is 1-0-1 after Saturday night's 2-1 win at the Philadelphia Union, with goals from brothers Gonzalo and Frederico. Following a season-opening 3-2 home loss to the L.A. Galaxy, the win was the first for new coach Phil Neville, and the first time Miami, in its second MLS season, has been .500 or better.

6. SOCCER: R.I.P., European Super League, 2021-2021: The new league was born and died three days later, buried under universal opposition by fans, politicians, other clubs and FIFA. The planned breakaway competition to rival or replace the UEFA Champions League quickly disintegrated when many of the original 12 clubs began pulling out. Super League organizers insist the idea is suspended, not dead. Hmm. OK.

7. SOCCER: Champions League semifinals begin this week: UEFA Champions League's heavyweight final four begins its semifinal round this week, with Real Madrid vs. Chelsea on Tuesday and Paris-Saint Germain vs. Manchester City on Wednesday in first-leg matches. Second-leg games are the following week.

8. AUTO RACING: Formula One in Miami gets the green light: Despite opposition from some Miami Gardens residents, the Miami Grand Prix at Hard Rock Stadium will join the 2022 FIA Formula One calendar as part of a 10-year deal. The date of the race is to be announced. The circuit will be 3.4 miles with 19 corners and three straights, and estimated top speeds of just under 200 mph. Miami will be the 11th city to host a Formula One race.

9. GAMBLING: Is legalized gambling (finally) coming to Florida?: More than half of all states now allow some form of legal sports betting, and Florida could be next if a proposal agreed to in principle between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the state gets approved by the Legislature in the next week. Estimates project an annual revenue of at least $500 million.

10. UFC: Usman dominates Masvidal: Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman dominated Miami's Jorge Masvidal for a second-round knockout in their rematch Saturday night in the main event of UFC 261 in Jacksonville. Usman vs. Colby Covington is now in the offing.

Missing the HB10 cut: FCS small-college football playoffs got underway Saturday with 16 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament for a shot at the title game May 16 ..... Notice how all the Deshaun Watson trade talk disappeared as those 22 women accused him of sexual misconduct? Such a coincidence! ..... NFL Network and NFL RedZone will now be carried on Hulu's live TV subscription streaming service starting in August ..... Heat owner Micky Arison on Dwyane Wade buying an ownership interest in the Utah Jazz: "We had discussed having him join our ownership group after his retirement, but he was not prepared to commit at the time. I am disappointed that he didn’t reconsider" ..... A national effort by conservative state lawmakers to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports now looks to be dead in Florida ...... The now-unranked Canes baseball team is 21-13 and trying to avoid being swept today at North Carolina ..... With Hurricanes spring football practice over, individual single-game tickets to UM's seven home games are now on sale ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast, after a week off, is back with a new episode dropping Monday at 7 a.m. ET ..... Update: Countdown now 1,891 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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Select other recent columns: Talk Of U.S. Olympic Boycott A Reminder Sports, Politics Are Entwined -- And That's Good / How And Why the Miami Heat Landing Kawhi Leonard This Summer Could Happen / The Miami Dolphins' Six Can't-Lose Options For a Great No. 6 Pick in NFL Draft / Even After Playoffs In '20, Marlins Still 'Bottom Feeders' Fighting For Respect / Special Opening Day as Marlins Welcome Back Fans, Feeling Of Hope / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / No Lowry, But Stealing Oladipo, Keeping Herro a Win-Win For Heat, Riley / Beckham Keeps Name-Dropping Messi, Ronaldo For Inter Miami. Can He Deliver? / Women Keep Accusing Deshaun Watson of Sexual Misconduct. But Will It Matter to NFL Teams? / No-Splash Free Agency Indicates Dolphins Going All In On Upcoming Draft -- And Tua / Phil Reflects on 25-Year Rivalry/Friendship With Tiger As Honda Classic Tees Off / Why Men's NCAA Tournament Has A Needed Fresh Feel As We Welcome Back March Madness / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Heat Should Parts Ways With Meyers Leonard Over Anti-Semitic Slur / Beckham's Resolve Tested By Tumult As Inter Miami Nears 2nd MLS Season / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Quit Lecturing LeBron On Activism And His Own Conscience / Dolphins' Tua-or-Deshaun QB Choice Strewn with Complications and What-Ifs / Michael Jordan, Pitbull Signal Needed New Era as NASCAR Returns to Homestead / Doesn't Matter If Tiger Woods Never Wins Again. We Are Lucky He's Alive / Loss at Aussie Open Leaves Serena's Legacy Firm Yet Still Unfinished / Marlins Stick With Youth As Rest Of NL East Spends Big / Inter Miami's Beckham Risks Stepping Into Massive, Avoidable Mess / Put Brady In Sports' All-Time Pantheon. But He Has Company / Why Schilling Is To Blame For Falling Short Of Hall / Final Herald NFL 2020 QB Rankings / Le Batard Leaving ESPN, But Assures Fans They'll Hear From Him Again Soon / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim NG Hire As GM / In a Pandemic-Battered Season For FIU, Butch Davis' Love Of Coaching Survives / Stop the Silly Noise And Speculation. Give Dolphins' Tua Time And Fair Chance / Fans of ESPN's Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz Should Prepare For Another Change / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me / and Goodell's NFL Response to Floyd Killing Is Hypocrisy At Its Most Ironic.

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

1) It's MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2. I'm on ESPN's Le Batard Show today, 11 a.m. to noon, to talk Tua. 2) Hope y'all had a safe Halloween, and now happy November! (Sure hope so, anyway. Know soon enough). 3) The Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram. Join us on both! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hurricanes bye-week look ahead, NFL Week 8 picks, Greg Cote Show podcast Episode 34 & more. 5) Join me on Twitter and Instagram.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our Miami Herald podcast debuted in March and the new Episode 35 is out now! A new pod drops every Monday morning on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 35 we've done so far RIGHT HERE for free. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review. In new Ep35, myself and Chris dive deep into the first career NFL start of new Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa -- and Greg debuts his new tribute song! Also, a new Greg's Top 10 and Mount Gregmore -- the R's. Hear all that and more on the new Greg Cote Show podcast!

G7: DOLPHINS 28, L.A. RAMS 17: BIG DEFENSE MAKES TUA'S FIRST CAREER START EASY: My column off the game: Dolphins Defense Makes It Easy For Tua In First NFL Start. ..... Original post: It's time. Tua time. Time for the most-anticipated first start by any Miami Dolphins rookie since Dan Marino on October 9, 1983. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa takes the football from Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was openly disappointed to give it up after leading two wins in a row and three in the past four games. The Fins’ recent success and Fitzpatrick saying he was "heartbroken" by the decision only increases the pressure on Tagovailoa to be good right away and justify the timing of coach Brian Flores’ QB switch. Having a snorting bull named Aaron Donald across the line of scrimmage won’t make Tagovailoa’s baptism any easier. Typically I’m not huge on the weight of intangibles, but the limited-capacity home crowd witnessing history and the Dolphins themselves will be stoked, firing on adrenaline. South Floridians watching from home will be ravenously glued to Fox starting at 1. Miami is coming off a bye week and L.A. off a short week after playing Monday night — another strong edge. Although these teams rarely play each other, I would also note Fins have won 10 of past 11 over Rams including five in a row in the 3-0-5. More tangible to right now, the Rams and Dolphins rank No. 2 and 3 respectively in scoring defense. Miami averages slightly more points on offense. There is little in the evidence to state the Rams are appreciably better than the Dolphins, or at least that Miami isn’t right there. The wild card on this pick? Tua. A rookie’s maiden start. For this upset to come true Tagovailoa must make quick, sound decisions, the line must give him that extra second in the pocket, and the defense must rise up and insist itself upon a low-scoring game. I see it all happening. My pick: Upset! Dolphins (+3 1/2) over Rams, 23-20. Visit NFL Week 8 Gems for all of our latest previews and picks.

Most recent other columns: Tua Week, Justin Turner: Drama, Controversy, Torqued-Up Pressure: Welcome to Tua Week In Miami and Turner -- With COVID -- Joining Dodgers Celebration A Sadly Fitting End to Season. Also: Dolphins Turning to Tua Now Is Risky -- But Right Move and Heat, Marlins, Canes -- now Tua. Miserable 2020 Suddenly Great Time To Be Miami Fan.

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

1. DOLPHINS: It. Is. Time. Tua wins first start as Fins whup Rams: Thirty-seven years and three weeks after Dan Marino's first rookie start for Miami, Tua Tagovailoa took his turn on Sunday as the Dolphins hosted and beat the favored Los Angeles Rams at The Rock, 28-17. Was the timing right? Should Ryan Fitzpatrick have been benched now, after two straight wins and three in the past four games? Will Tua be the transformational star Dolfans have longed for since Marino? We have just begun to find out. 

2. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Clemson QB Lawrence tests positive for COVID: Quarterback Trevor Lawrence of No. 1-ranked Clemson tested positive for coronavirus and was held out of Saturday's anxious win over Boston College, as little-known backup D.J. Uiagalelei led a 34-28 comeback. Lawrence also has been declared out for Clemson's huge visit to No. 4 Notre Dame next Saturday in South Bend.

3. HURRICANES: No. 11 UM comes off bye week in 4 days: The now 11th-ranked and 5-1 Canes didn't play this weekend but are back in action Friday night at North Carolina State, with UM expected to be narrow road favorites. It's prime time on ESPN, the latest national showcase for The U. The 4-2 Wolfpack also will be coming off a bye.

4. MLB: Justin Turner's idiocy sullies Dodgers championship: The Dodgers beat Tampa Bay in six games for their first World Series title since 1988, but third baseman Justin Turner quickly kicked dirt on the accomplishment. Turner tested positive for COVID late in the game, was ordered to self-isolate and blatantly defied the protocol. He celebrated on the field with teammates, no mask, no social distancing, putting everyone else at risk of being infected. He shamed MLB and the Dodgers on their crowning night. What a fool.

5. INTER MIAMI: First-year team still chasing playoffs as season wanes: MLS expansion team Inter Miami is 6-13-3 -- a decent 6-8-3 after an 0-5 start -- after Sunday's 2-1 loss at Toronto. Regular season ends next Sunday in Fort Lauderdale vs. Cincinnati. Miami presently stands 12th in the Eastern Conference but is only one point from finishing 10th and earning a postseason play-in game.

6. NASCAR: Sunday completes the Championship 4: Only Joey Logano was safely in the Championship 4 as NASCAR ran its penultimate race Sunday at Martinsville, where the other three spots would be determined for next week's season finale at Phoenix. Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski made it -- and Chase Elliott bumped Kevin Harvick for the final spot. Thatm after Harvick won nine regular season races. Hmm. Playoff format need another tweak?

7. FIU: Panthers season derailed by coronavirus yet again: FIU's Friday night home game vs. unbeaten No. 19 Marshall was postponed for COVID-related reasons -- the fourth FIU game this season so far postponed by the virus. The good news? The 0-3 Panthers' fourth loss is delayed, at least. Poor Butch Davis. What a nightmare season, on and off the field.

8. MLB: White Sox unearth LaRussa to manage: The Chicago White have recycled Tony LaRussa, yes Tony LaRussa, to manage the team. The Tony LaRussa who is 76. And last managed nine years ago. Trump, Biden, LaRussa -- let's hear it for old white men!

9. UFC: Khabib says he's retired and nobody believes him: Undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, after winning last week to go 29-0 and entering the sport's G.O.A.T. pen, announced he is retiring. UFC president Dana White quickly (and wishfully) predicted Khabib would fight again. Nobody on Earth believes he won't.

10. POLITICS: Presidential election is Tuesday: More than 60 million Americans already have early-voted. If you still have not, please do your civic duty on Tuesday. Get out there and vote for the candidate of my choice.

Missing the HB10 cut: World's No. 2 woman tennis player Simona Halep tested positive for COVID ..... College hoops starts November 25 and Hurricanes men and women still don't know their schedules, because, well, pandemic ..... NASCAR announced its 2021 schedule and Homestead-Miami Speedway will host the second race weekend of the season February 20-21, with the secondary Xfinity Series race following by one day the main-race NASCAR Cup Series race. With the Daytona 500 opening the season's schedule, this will mark the first time since 1954 the first two weekends of racing have been held in state of Florida ..... Cream is rising in UEFA Champions League. First clubs to 2-0 in group-stage play are all giants: Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Liverpool, Barcelona and Man U ..... ESPN inexplicably ranked all 116 World Series for excitement. No. 83--'97 Marlins beat Indians. No. 59--'03 Marlins over Yankees. No. 30--'20 Dodgers-Rays in a pandemic. And No. 1--'75 Reds beat Red Sox ..... NFL trade deadline is Tuesday ..... NBA Draft is November 18 ..... Mike Tyson, 54, and Roy Jones Jr., 51, will stage an exhibition fight for charity November 28 in Los Angeles without fans. Oxygen tanks ready! ..... Old rich white guy Jack Nicklaus, 80, endorsed Donald Trump. Or, did that go without saying? ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast's new Episode 35 drops Monday! ..... Update: Countdown now 2,066 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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THE ARCHIVES:

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

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

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

Revisit this blog often because it updates regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors writing awards ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Greg is also a regular on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz on ESPN Radio. Finding Greg: Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Columns. Podcast. Podcast on Twitter. Podcast on Instagram. LeBatard Show. Book: Fins At 50. Songs: Letting Go (audio) and The Ballad Of 1440 (video).

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

1) It's MONDAY, JULY 13. Our Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram. Follow us on both! 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Racist Redskins nickname must go, Will football be smarter than other sports?, Rise of Miami sports is good news in tough times, the 2020 face of Miami sports, Greg Cote Show podcast new Episode 19 & more. 3) Join us on Twitter and Instagram.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our Miami Herald podcast, "The Greg Cote Show With Greg Cote," debuted in March and Episode 20 is out now! A new episode is out every Monday morning on Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart or wherever you do your podding, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 20 we've done so far RIGHT HERE. Free! No paywall! Please listen, subscribe, rate and review. In new Episode 20 we chat ESPN's IT wizard Tim Cronin, who shares behind the scenes stories about working with the network's on-air stars, and about his recently being diagnosed with COVID-19. We also throw a pod-y party for our 20th podiversary, including a montage of Greg's greatest throat clears, and bring you the controversial Mount Gregore Name Game (the C's). Oh, and we bury the Redskins name. Hear it all now! 

Our columns from the past week: 'Redskins Is Racist Nickname Based On a Lie. Time For It to Disappear  /  Money Or Health? NFL and Major College Football Face A Decision  /  Tough Times All Around, But Rise Of Miami Sports Offers Hope  /  and The Face Of Miami Sports in 2020: Our Top 20 And Who's No.1.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (JULY 12-13): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. This week's HB10:

Final South Florida Games-Lost Tracker: The SFGLT has been a weekly update on how many major local pro games have been lost to the coronavirus shutdown between the stoppage of play March 12 and Inter Miami the first to return on July 8. Lost in between: 145-plus games -- Marlins missed first 96 games of regular season. Inter Miami, after playing first two games of season, then missed 19. Heat missed last 17 games of season and at least two first-round playoff games based on standings when season stopped. Panthers missed last 13 games but would not have made playoffs based on NHL standings then.

1. INTER MIAMI: Soccer leads South Florida's return to live sports: It was a 2-1 loss to Orlando City, in the Orlando bubble, eerily before no fans. Still, it was live sports, the first for a Miami team in four months, since the coronavirus/COVID-19 shutdown on March 12. Two of 26 teams withdrew for too many test positives but the MLS Is Back tournament continues with expansion-team Inter Miami (0-3) seeking its inaugural franchise win again Tuesday night back in the bubble vs. the Philadelphia Union.

2. HURRICANES: UM loses game; is college football season in jeopardy?: First the Division 3 Centennial Conference canceled its 2020 season. Then the Ivy League did the same. Now the Big Ten conference announces it will play a reduced, conference-only schedule if it can play at all -- meaning the Miami Hurricanes' Sept. 26 game at Michigan State is canceled. Other major Power 5 leagues have not followed the Big Ten's lead. At least not yet. Meanwhile UM's preparation for the coming season (should there be one) gets underway Monday, when coaches may begin interacting with players. Formal training camp is to begin August 7.

3. NFL: Mahomes lands record contract with KC: The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes agreed on a record-shattering 10-year contract extension worth between $477 and $503 million, depending on reports and interpretations. It runs though 2031. Can you say "dynasty"?

4. MARLINS: MLB sets schedule for truncated season restart: Unless the whole thing collapses Miami will open its 60-game season July 24 with three three games at Philadelphia, and open at home July 27 vs. Baltimore. (Will some fans be allowed? Will Angels superstar Mike Trout be playing? Stay tuned). Notable: Fish host Red Sox for three in September and close season at Yankees. MLB also announced its full 2021 schedule. All teams open April 1 (no fooling), with Marlins hosting Tampa Bay.

5. HEAT: Riley notably absent as Miami hits the bubble: Pat Riley, 75-year-old club president, notably did not travel with the Heat as it entered the bubble in Orlando for a three-week training camp running through July 29. Twenty-two teams will play eight games to finish the regular season prior to the playoffs, with Miami restarting August 1 vs. Denver.

6. PANTHERS: Florida and rest of NHL open camps Monday: NHL teams including the Panthers opening training camps on Monday in their home cities, then travel to hub cities Edmonton or Toronto starting July 26 to prepare for the season's straight-to-playoffs restart on August 1. Florida will open with a best-of-5 series vs. the New York Islanders in the Toronto hub.

7. REDSKINS: Pressure mounts to erase racist nickname: The money is talking now. "Redskins" doesn't have a chance, Main sponsor FedEx has called for the end of the racist nickname, and retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Target and Dick's Sporting Goods have stopped carrying team merchandise. So Redskins is headed to the same graveyard containing Confederate statues and Aunt Jemima. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the Washington ... Redtails?

8. GOLF: Tiger returns, ends long hiatus this week: Tiger Woods returns to competitive golf at this week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield in Ohio. This will be Woods’ first start since the PGA Tour returned from a hiatus of more than three months due to the pandemic. The 44-year-old last played a tour event in February. 

9. UFC: Miami's Masvidal loses on Fight Island: Dana White's wacky 'Fight Island' series debuted Saturday night with UFC 251 in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and richest city in the world. And the legend of Miami-born Jorge Masvidal took a hit as he lost a unanimous decision to Kamaru Usman in the main bout.

10. DESEAN JACKSON: Anti-Semite sets out on apology tour: Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson has apologized for a series of anti-Semitic Instagram posts over the weekend, although insisting his posts were misinterpreted weakened the apology. The team has condemned the posts. Meantime, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who is Jewish, has a production company about to release the documentary, The Meaning of Hitler, which explores our culture’s fascination with Hitler and Nazism against the backdrop of the current rise of white supremacy and normalization of antisemitism. Could be a learning tool for a certain receiver who just volunteered his own ignorance on social media.  

Missing the HB10 cut: FREE WOJ! ..... Tom Brady, Floyd Mayweather and Scott Boras are among sports figures whose companies have received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) government loans intended to help small businesses survive the pandemic. Hmm. That would be "Money" Mayweather, who owns more than 100 exotic cars, right? Just checking ..... The WNBA's scheduled July 24 restart in a bubble in Bradenton is going really well, not counting players complaining that their rooms have bugs, rodent traps and showers that don't drain ..... Two semifinals Sunday will determine who reaches The Basketball Tournament championship game Tuesday, with ESPN cameras and a $1 million prize lending the illusion of an actual major event ..... Miami Dolphins still planning to open full training camp on July 28. Wonder what a socially distanced huddle will look like? ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is out with new Episode 20 on Monday ..... Update: Countdown now 2,178 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup, presuming the world hasn't exploded by then.

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Other most recent columns: Time to Abort Season Restarts and Call Off Sports For Rest Of 2020 / Uh-oh. Cam Newton means Belichick and Patriots Are Back / Saving the National Anthem From Sporting-Event Extinction / Baseball Joins In With Restart Plan. But Is Sports Walking Into a Giant Mess? / Noose Left For NASCAR's Bubba Wallace's Only Grows Resolve to End Racial Hatred / Team That Signs Kaepernick Will Be Champions Of the Street

Special Don Shula tribute columns: Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. and What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. They Boy Was Me

George Floyd-related columns: Sports' Gradual Return Offers America Relief We Desperately Need / It Took George Floyd To Finally Wake Up White America / Goodell's NFL Response to Floyd Killing Is Hypocrisy At Its Most Ironic / and George Floyd Is Why Kaepernick & Sports Must Continue Fight For Social Justice

Select earlier columns from 2020: Amid Pandemic And Protests, 'America's Pastime' Is Letting American Down / Return Of Sports Promises Historic TV Smorgasbord / Homestead Is Test Lab As NASCAR Gradually Welcomes Back Fans / R.I.P. Kurt Thomas, an American Gymnastics Pioneer  / MLB Players Demanding More Millions, Right Now, Is A Bad Look / Amid a Pandemic, An Outrage in Alamance County / Welcome to Sports Without Fans, the New Normal / As NBA, MLB Plot Return, We Miss Them -- Yet Sports Have Never Seemed More Trivial / Anticipation of Relevance, Excitement Is Tua's Gift to Miami / Hall of Famer Andre Dawson On Baseball and Owning a Funeral Home Amid COVID-19 / Dolphins Aim High, Win Big With Tua Tagovailoa Pick / Greg Cote's 2020 NFL Mock Draft / Coronavirus, Tua Make This Dolphins' Weirdest, Most Interesting Draft Ever / NFL Draft Will Offer Blunt Verdict on Canes' Talent / Ultimate All-Time South Florida Major Sports Trivia Challenge / Sports Should Stop Pretending It Will Resume Anytime Soon As Coronovirus Rages / How a Longtime Herald Sport Writer Came to Own a Top Contender in Florida Derby / Time for NBA, NHL to Shut it Down, End Seasons / Le Batard Show Deals with Coronavirus-Related Upheaval / Brady Leaving Patriots for Tampa. Will Belichick Be Proved Right In Letting Him Go? / Miami Sports Now Utterly Engulfed By Coronavirus Threat -- But Precaution Is Justified / Inter Miami Is Market's Sleeping Giant As Home Opener Nears / Jeter Arrives At Camp, Calls Marlins 'Layered With Talent' / Dwyane Wade, His Transgender Daughter And A Lesson In Love / Time For Anonymous Lone Voter Who Denied Jeter To Step Forward / Heat And Gloriously Impatient Riley Win In Trade For Iguodala / Return Of Ed Reed, Even If Mostly Symbolic, Leads Surge By Canes Football / Our two-part series: How One Man Long Forgotten Changed Everything For the Miami Dolphins and How Shula Made Dolphins Perfect and Made Miami Matter, And the Coach Today at 90 / Kobe's Death Sends Sports World Reeling, But Immortality Is His / Jimmy Johnson's Biggest Triumph? Knowing When To Quit -- And Why / and Announcing Miami Dolphins' 2010-19 All-Decade Team

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Revisit this blog often because it updates regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors writing awards ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Greg is also a regular on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz on ESPN Radio. Finding Greg Cote:  Twitter.  Instagram.  Facebook.  Columns.  Podcast.  Podcast on Twitter.  Podcast on Instagram.  LeBatard Show.  Book: Fins At 50.  Songs: Letting Go (audio) and The Ballad Of 1440 (video).

1) It's TUESDAY, MAY 12. Hope all of the wonderful moms had a  Happy Mother's Day! Not the rotten ones. Only the wonderful ones -- led by my children's mother and my own late great one. 2) Visit BIMD: Face Masks! for our latest Back In My Day from the Le Batard Show on ESPN Radio. 3) Our Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram! Follow both at The Greg Cote Show. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Don Shula dies with my two tribute columns, Greg Cote Show podcast & more. 5) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote and Instagram.

It's Radio Tuesday!: I'm back in the Zoom Room on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz today on ESPN Radio. Aits 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Join us for some virtual fun. 

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: SPECIAL ALL-SHULA EPISODE 11 OUT NOW!: Our new(ish) Miami Herald podcast, "The Greg Cote Show With Greg Cote," debuted in early March and a very special Episode 11 is out now -- a full hour-long tribute to Don Shula, who passed away last Monday at age 90. Find a new episode every Monday morning on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, iTunes, Megaphone, Stitcher or wherever you do your podding, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 11 episodes we've done so far right here. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review! Our podcast is a variety show: Sports and non-sports, 3-0-5 and national, fun and (when necessary) serious. Now, though, for the first time, we devote an entire podcast to Shula, with special guests including Larry Csonka, Larry Little, Dave Shula, Dan Marino, Bob Griese, Dan Le Batard and more. Dolphins fans of all ages won't want to miss this new podcast.

My Shula tribute columns: DON SHULA, 1930-2020, R.I.P. and WHAT SHULA MEANT TO A FATHER & SON. THE BOY WAS ME

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MAY 10-11): 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 (non)sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. This week's HB10:

1. DON SHULA: Dolphins icon passes away at 90: An era ended quietly as the NFL's winningest coach left us. R.I.P., architect of the Perfect Season and father of the Dolphins' glory days. You were the best, a man whose integrity equaled his accomplishments in the game. 

2. DOLPHINS: 2020 schedules out for Miami, NFL: The apparently not yet ready for prime time Miami Dolphins have but one game under the lights in 2020. That of course presumes there will be a 2020 season. Meantime the Fins proposed a coronavirus-era contingency plan to limit fans to 15,000 per game with social distancing.

3. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NCAA says fall sports tied to campuses reopening: NCAA President Mark Emmert said that unless college campuses are open to the entire student body in the fall, there are no plans to risk the health of student-athletes for the sake of sports -- including football.

4. MLB: Baseball pondering early July start: MLB is weighing a plan to begin in early July and play roughly an 80-game season, in home stadiums where possible but with no fans,  at least initially.

5. CORONAVIRUS: The updated South Florida Games-Lost Tracker: The SFGLT updates you each week on how many local pro sports games have been lost to the coronavirus shutdown. Through today/Sunday -- 82-plus games lost: Marlins 41, Heat 19-plus, Panthers 13, Inter Miami 9. Marlins have missed first 41 games of regular season. Heat missed last 17 games of season and at least two first-round playoff games based on NBA standings when season stopped. Panthers missed last 13 games but would not have made playoffs based on NHL standings at time of stoppage. Inter Miami, after playing first two games of season, has missed last nine.

6. TUA TAGOVAILOA: Fins' No. 1 pick chooses number 1: He couldn't have uniform number 13 because that was retired with Dan Marino. So Tua picked number 1.We can all rest easy now.

7. HEAT: Arena reopens for limited player workouts: Heat players may now practice on a limited individual basis ... for a season that may or may not resume.

8. UFC: Octagon reopens for business, sort of: Justin Gaethje beat Tony Ferguson in UFC 249 in Jacksonville Saturday, albeit with no fans there. urday night in Jacksonville, Florida. Meanwhile, a Jorge Masvidal-Connor McGregor fight reportedly is in the works.

9. NCAA: Hammer time for Kansas hoops: The NCAA is investigating the Kansas men's basketball program for five Level I violations that it calls "egregious" and says "undermine and threaten" college athletics. Uh oh.

10. TV: Shakeup in the MNF booth: Not sure yet who will be in the Monday Night Football booth in 2020, but ESPN says it won't be Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland.

Missing the HB10 cut: OK, I'm officially getting tired of that Michael Jordan documentary series ..... Giannis Antetokounmpo's Twitter account was hacked. I apologize. Won't do it again ..... NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke to players via conference call but said nothing definitive ..... Blake Snell faced Lucas Giolito in a virtual World Series to end the MLB The Show '20 players league video game season, and I've never heard of either guy and don't care who won ..... Two actual headlines this week on ESPN.com, in case you forgot we're starving for sports: 'Ranking the top 74 sneakers in NBA history' and 'American Cornhole League: Live on ESPN' ...... Almost forgot: ESPN is televising Korean baseball, too ..... Answer: A 1910 Shoeless Joe Jackson baseball card just sold at auction for $492,000. Question: What makes you say some people don't know what to do with their money? ..... Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are fronting the "Stay At Home Slam," a live virtual tennis tournament via Mario Tennis Aces video game. Maybe Maria will have better luck vs. Serena when it isn't real tennis? ..... The eventual French Open tennis major in Paris is likely to be staged without spectators. Sacré bleu! ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is out with Episode 11 Monday -- devoted entirely to Don Shula ..... Update: Countdown now 2,240 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup. Hopefully we'll be out of the house by then?

Featured most recent other columns:

Hall of Famer Andre Dawson On Baseball and Owning a Funeral Home Amid COVID-19

Miami Sports Right Now If Coronavirus Never Happened and Games Never Stopped

Dolphins Are Winning Rebuild With 3-Year Plan That Won't Rush Top-Prize Tua

Also: Dolphins Aim High, Win Big With Tua Tagovailoa Pick / Greg Cote's 2020 NFL Mock Draft / Hackers, Barking Dogs, Crazy Pressure: Why Virtual NFL Draft Is Biggest Ever For Dolphins / Coronavirus, Tua Make This Dolphins' Weirdest, Most Interesting Draft Ever / Amid a Pandemic, to Florida, Pro Wrestling is 'Essential' / A Pie Chart of QB Possibilities For Dolphins / Baseball's Bizarre Restart Plan Would Be Unfair to Players / and NFL Draft Will Offer Blunt Verdict on Canes' Talent

Other featured recent columns: Ultimate All-Time South Florida Major Sports Trivia Challenge / Sports Should Stop Pretending It Will Resume Anytime Soon As Coronovirus Rages / How a Longtime Herald Sport Writer Came to Own a Top Contender in Saturday's No-Fans Florida Derby / Time for NBA, NHL to Shut it Down, End Seasons / Le Batard Show Deals with Coronavirus-Related Upheaval / Brady Leaving Patriots for Tampa. Will Belichick Be Proved Right In Letting Him Go? / Desperate Fans Turn to NFL After Reality Of First Weekend With No Games / Miami Sports Now Utterly Engulfed By Coronavirus Threat -- But Precaution Is Justified / It's Dominate Or Bust For Dolphins GM Grier Over Next 6 Weeks.

Select other columns from earlier in 2020: Inter Miami Is Market's Sleeping Giant As Home Opener Nears / Jeter Arrives At Camp, Calls Marlins 'Layered With Talent' / Dwyane Wade, His Transgender Daughter And A Lesson In Love / Pressure On Marlins for Big Improvement Now -- and It's About Time / It's Time For Anonymous Lone Voter Who Denied Jeter To Step Forward / Heat And Gloriously Impatient Riley Win In Trade For Iguodala / Return Of Ed Reed, Even If Mostly Symbolic, Leads Surge By Canes Football / Our two-part series: How One Man Long Forgotten Changed Everything For the Miami Dolphins and How Shula Made Dolphins Perfect and Made Miami Matter, And the Coach Today at 90 / Kobe's Death Sends Sports World Reeling, But Immortality Is His / Jimmy Johnson's Biggest Triumph? Knowing When To Quit -- And Why / and Announcing Miami Dolphins' 2010-19 All-Decade Team

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Revisit this blog often because it is updated regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors writing awards ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category in 2018. Greg is also a regular co-host on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz on ESPN Radio. Finding Greg Cote:  Twitter.  Instagram.  Facebook.  Columns.  Podcast.  Podcast on Twitter.  Podcast on Instagram.  LeBatard Show.  Fins At 50.  Songs: Letting Go and The Ballad Of 1440.

1) It's MONDAY, APRIL 13. Hang in, stay apart and eventually we rise together! Hope y'all Christians had a happy Easter! 2) Our new Greg Cote Show podcast is now separately on Twitter and Instagram! Follow the show on both platforms at TheGregCoteShow. 3) Find our latest Back In My Day from the Le Batard Show on ESPN Radio HERE at about the 21-minute mark. 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Pie chart of QB possibilities for Fins, MLB's bizarre startup plan, NFL Draft and the Hurricanes, Greg Cote Show podcast & more. 5) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote and Instagram.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE 7 OUT NOW!: Our new(ish) Miami Herald podcast, "The Greg Cote Show With Greg Cote," debuted in early March and Episode 7 is out now! You can find a new Greg Cote Show out every Monday on Apple, Spotify or wherever you do your podding, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all seven episodes we've done so far right here. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review! Our podcast is a variety show, sports and non-sports, 3-0-5 and national, fun and (when necessary) serious. In Episode 7 we welcome special guests Stugotz from the Le Batard Show for a ton o' fun. We also talk coronavirus financial impact with the god of sports business, Rick Horrow. Check it out now HERE! Le Batard Show fans will especially want to hear it.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (APRIL 12-13): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the (non)sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. This week's HB10:

1. CORONAVIRUS: Introducing the South Florida Games-Lost Tracker: The SFGLT will update you each week on how many local pro sports games have been lost to the coronavirus shutdown. Through today/Sunday -- 49 games lost: Marlins 17, Heat 15, Panthers 13, Inter Miami 4. Heat would have two games left in NBA regular season. NHL would have finished regular season and been in first round of Stanley Cup playoffs. Marlins and Inter would be early in their seasons.

2. MLB: A startup with every team playing in Phoenix?: It was reported baseball is considering beginning its delayed season as soon as May with all 30 teams playing in and around Phoenix, with no fans of course. Sure, Rob Manfred, yes. Separating players from their families for 4 1/2 months in the middle of a deadly pandemic sounds like a greeeaaat idea! Other options being mulled including realignment for an abbreviated season, with all games at the teams' Florida or Arizona spring training sites, and playing the season in (!) Japan.

3. TOM BRADY: New Bucs' QB finds a famous home in Tampa: The G.O.A.T QB wrote a long piece for The Players Tribune that thanked everybody in New England except Bill Belichick, then said there's no beef there as the entire country said in unison, "Yeah, right!" Brady later appeared on Howard Stern, admitted his marriage to Giselle went through a rough patch two years ago, and discussed Gronk's penis. Oh, and (seriously) Tom has filed trademark patents to the phrases "Tompa Bay" and "Tampa Brady." Busy week!

4. TUA TAGOVAILOA: Tua would like you to know he's healthy: The former Alabama QB (and potential Dolphins pick at fifth overall later this month) sent a personal workout video to all 32 teams, in lieu of individual team workouts wiped out by the coronavirus. Everybody including his two surgeons swear he'll be good to go when (or if) training camps open. The only doubters seem to be media curmudgeons and attention-seeking analysts.

5. NBA: Hey it's a H-O-R-S-E tournament!: The NBA regular season should be ending and the playoffs about to begin. Instead, Houston's Devin Booker won the NBA 2k tourney, and now, starting Sunday, we get eight people playing the backyard game of H-O-R-S-E. And it's on ESPN! Oh my L-O-R-D. NBA stars Chris Paul and Trae Young are co-betting faves, verifying that yes you can bet on anything. Also playing: Mike Conley and Zach Levine, retirees Paul Pierce and Chauncey Billups, WNBA star Allie Quigley and retired Tamika Catchings. Meanwhile reports are a majority of NBA teams want the June 25 draft postponed.

6. MLB: Hey it's a video game season!: A "season" is underway in which one player from each team (Marlins' rep is reliever Ryne Stanek) play each other in the MLB The Show video games. It's a 29-game season, with top eight making the playoffs. You can watch the games on Twitch. (Note to self: Find out what in the hell Twitch is).

7. NFL: Brandin Cooks dealt in (semi) major trade: The Rams traded receiver Brandin Cooks to the Texans for a second-round draft pick, after Houston had earlier traded away star wideout DeAndre Hopkins. Cook's good. But he ain't no Hopkins. Meantime, Cowboys Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliott reportedly were partying during a pandemic. If so, they a--holes.

8. OLYMPICS: Might even delayed Games be in doubt for 2021?: The Tokyo Olympics CEO said the Summer Games, postponed a full year, might not even happen in 2021 unless there is a coronavirus vaccine by then.

9. UFC: Dana White relents, gives in to pandemic: Brick-headed UFC boss Dana White finally relented and agreed his upcoming April 18 show on a "private island" would not happen, and that other fight cards would be postponed indefinitely. Why the change of heart? UFC's sugar daddy, ESPN/Disney, insisted.

10. HORSE RACING: 50 cents becomes half-million for lucky bettor: An off-track bettor turned a 50-cent Pick 5 bet into a $524,966.50 payday off Saturday card at Gulfstream Park, raising the question: So I guess horse racing is an "essential business," huh state of Florida, Broward County and city of Hallandale? Shameful.

Missing the HB10 cut: The Greg Cote Show podcast, new Episode 7, is out Monday morning! Please listen, subscribe, rate, review and stay home ..... R.I.P. Colby Cave, 25. The Edmonton OIler died following brain surgery ..... Today would be the final round of The Masters at Augusta had it not been postponed by the coronavirus. Let us take poetic license and imagine Tiger Woods in a blood-red shirt with a three-shot lead ..... The Heat's Derrick Jones Jr.'s Cinderella run in the NBA 2K players tournament ended in the quarterfinals ..... The British Open canceled, as expected ..... Ronda Rousey says she left WWE because of the ungrateful fans ..... The XFL laid off almost all of its staff and has no plans to return in 2021, surprising absolutely no one. R.I.P., XFL (2020-2020 1/2) ..... A bat used by Lou Gehrig sold for $1 million. There is only one baseball bat in the world worth $1 million. It's the one with a check for $999,000 taped to the barrel ..... Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy, a coronavirus denier who wants his players back at work May 1, shows every sign of being what psychologists call "a flaming idiot" ..... Some are more concerned than Gundy. A Seton Hall University poll found 72 percent of Americans said they would not attend sporting events again until a vaccine is developed ..... The good thing about no baseball? The sign-stealing Astros can't cheat ..... Update: Countdown now 2,268 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup, by which time hopefully we're all out of the house.

FEATURED MOST RECENT COLUMNS:

A Pie Chart of QB Possibilities For Dolphins -- Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert with Miami's first pick (fifth overall) on April 23? A trade-up for Joe Burrow? Something else entirely? We have the percentage likelihood for every option.

Baseball's Bizarre Restart Plan Would Be Unfair to Players -- One option MLB is considering -- starting the season as soon as next month with every team playing in Phoenix, and no fans -- would separate players from their families for 4 1/2 months.

NFL Draft Will Offer Blunt Verdict on Canes' Talent -- The once-gushing pipeline to the pros out of Coral Gables has dried up. We quantify the change, and bring you the (meager) outlook for UM players in this month's draft.

Other featured recent columns:

NFL Draft, Tiger 'n Phil Not A Good Look Right Now / Ultimate All-Time South Florida Major Sports Trivia Challenge / Sports Should Stop Pretending It Will Resume Anytime Soon As Coronovirus Rages / How a Longtime Herald Sport Writer Came to Own a Top Contender in Saturday's No-Fans Florida Derby / In Midst Of Pandemic, A Horse Race / Time for NBA, NHL to Shut it Down, End Seasons / Backlash Over NBA Coronavirus Testing Mirrors Growing Anxiety, the New National Mood

Le Batard Show Deals with Coronavirus-Related Upheaval / Dolphins' Most Important Rebuilding Is Yet to Come / Brady Leaving Patriots for Tampa. Will Belichick Be Proved Right In Letting Him Go? / Desperate Fans Turn to NFL After Reality Of First Weekend With No Games / Miami Sports Now Utterly Engulfed By Coronavirus Threat -- But Precaution Is Justified / It's Dominate Or Bust For Dolphins GM Grier Over Next 6 Weeks

Select additional recent columns: Repentant Cheater A-Rod Slams Astros With Lesson On How to Handle Their Own Scandal / Inter Miami Is Market's Sleeping Giant As Home Opener Nears / As NFL Free Agency & Draft Near, All You Need To Know About Dolphins' QB Situation / Beckham, Inter Miami Survive To Finally Reach Opening Week / Jeter Arrives At Camp, Calls Marlins 'Layered With Talent' / Dwyane Wade, His Transgender Daughter And A Lesson In Love / Why Marlins Aren't Pursuing Puig All About Change In Ownership / and Pressure On Marlins for Big Improvement Now -- and It's About Time / It's Time For Anonymous Lone Voter Who Denied Jeter To Step Forward / Heat And Gloriously Impatient Riley Win In Trade For Iguodala / Return Of Ed Reed, Even If Mostly Symbolic, Leads Surge By Canes Football / Poor Dolphins Finally Getting Rid Of Brady Only to Have Mahomes Take His Place / Our two-part series: How One Man Long Forgotten Changed Everything For the Miami Dolphins and How Shula Made Dolphins Perfect and Made Miami Matter, And the Coach Today at 90 / Kobe's Death Sends Sports World Reeling, But Immortality Is His / Jimmy Johnson's Biggest Triumph? Knowing When To Quit -- And Why / and Announcing Miami Dolphins' 2010-19 All-Decade Team

* * * * *

Revisit this blog often because it updates regularly. The Associated Press Sports Editors 2018 writing awards ranked the blog's author a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Greg is also a regular co-host on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz on ESPN Radio. Finding Greg Cote:   Twitter.   Instagram.   Facebook.   Columns.   Podcast.   Podcast on Twitter.   Podcast on Instagram.   LeBatard Show.   Fins At 50.   Ssongs: Letting Go and The Ballad Of 1440.

1) It's MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11. It is Veterans Day. Thank you, all who have served! 2) Scroll to our previous blogpost for results of latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll. They're a season high! 2) Check out our 'Fins At 50' book at Amazon. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Canes wallop Louisville with CSM postgame poll, our UM football column, Shula Bowl, LSU-'Bama, NFL Week 10 picks, Le Batard Countdown Clock & more. 4) Join us on Twitter.com/gregcote. Also on Facebook and Instagram.

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

G9: DOLPHINS AT INDIANAPOLIS: WILL RED-HOT MIAMI TAKE COLTS LIGHTLY? (JUST KIDDING!): Original post: The Dolphins surf a one-game winning streak into Indianapolis for Sunday's 4:05 kickoff, and I am concerned the cocky 1-7 Fins risk overconfidence against the 5-3 Colts. Actually I hope to live to see the day when Miami might be so good again as to have any such concerns. Back to reality: Imagine going on a long car trip with a constipated dog that won’t stop barking. OK, the Dolphins travel about as successfully as that. Miami has lost 10 consecutive away games and 15 of the past 16, and it looks like more road-kill on Sunday. The Colts, 10 1/2-point favorites, have treated Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement like a mere bump in the road, with Jacoby Brissett seeming likely to play despite spraining a knee last week. Even if not, Brian Hoyer is an experienced, seen-everything veteran in the Ryan Fitzpatrick mold. No matter who’s pitching for the Nags, Marlon Mack could put up big numbers vs. Fins’ generous run defense. Nevertheless, I like Miami getting double-digit points. After an embarrassing string of blowout losses to start the season, the Dolphins have been increasingly competitive the past month-plus culminating with last week’s handling of the Jets. And Indy doesn’t blow anybody out. The Colts’ eight games have been decided by 35 total points, with no margin greater than seven, or one score. If Fitzpatrick plays as well as he did last week and Miami’s D forces a couple of turnovers, I could even see an outright upset here. But let’s not go crazy. Settle for close. Cote’s pick: IND 27-18. Visit Week 10 Gems for all of our latest picks. And watch for the new Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll online soon after Sundays game ends.

DOLFAN SATISFACTION METER: G9: 70.9%: Results are certified in the latest of the Miami Herald’s Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame polls, and they show 70.9 percent overall approval -- the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes -- in the wake of Sunday's 16-12 victory at Indianapolis putting  Miami’s season record at 2-7. In its 12th season, the DSM is a continuous weekly gauge of how Dolfans are feeling about the team and its direction. Right after each game I invite you to share your overall degree of satisfaction. Criteria for voting is your own, but I suggest fans consider the most recent game’s performance and caliber of opponent, season as a whole, direction the club is heading and your overall degree of optimism -- all in the context of reasonable expectations. Online voting determines the final result, which is final the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that was around 11 a.m. today/Tuesday.

2019 DSM game-by-game results

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

G9: 70.9% following 16-12 victory at Indianapolis.

Next poll: Nov. 17 following game vs. Buffalo.

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

1. HURRICANES: UM rides Williams' arm past Louisville: Miami clobbered Louisville 52-27 Saturday at The Rock to get bowl-eligible at 6-4 -- with Jarren Williams scorching the Cardinals for a UM-record six touchdown passes. Canes have FIU next week at Marlins Park then close with Duke, a must-win for any shot at the ACC Coastal crown. The Georgia Tech loss still haunts, but UM will have shed that 0-2 start pretty nicely of it wins out.

2. DOLPHINS: Hot Fins (!) win at Indianapolis for second straight: The Dolphins are surfing a two-game winning streak with Sunday's 16-12 triumph at Indianapolis today, self esteem climbing while draft standing slips. Three teams now have worse records. Don't give up though. Long season. Lots of losing left to do.

3. HEAT: Waiters gummies drama clouds early season: Miami is 6-3 after losing at LeBron's Lakers Friday and is back in action vs. Detroit here Tuesday. But  it isn't the games fans are talking about. It's Dion Waiters needing medical attention on the recent road trip after reportedly ingesting THC-infused edible gummies and having a panic attack. Waiters faces team and/or league discipline. There is Heat Culture ... and then there's Dion.

4. NASCAR: Homestead's Championship Four is set!: Sunday's race in Phoenix determine the Championship Four drivers who will race for the NASCAR season title next Sunday at Homestead. Martin Truex and Kevin Harvick were already in, and Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin join them -- Hamlin pushing out Joey Logano. Vrooom.

5. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: LSU, Minnesota top major weekend: No. 2 LSU's 46-41 thriller over No. 3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa and No. 17 Minnesota's 21-26 home upsets of No. 4 Penn State shook up the College Football Playoff picture on Saturday. As America enjoyed its favorite sight: Nick Saban, sad. And if that isn't enough upheaval, Ohio State defensive end Chase Young, a likely top-five draft pick, was suspended indefinitely over suspected 2018 NCAA rules violations.  

6. UM BASKETBALL: Canes men drop opener, women win: UM men fell at home to No. 5-ranked Louisville to open the season before handling FAU Friday night to get to 1-1. Meanwhile the higher-regarded, No. 18-ranked Canes women opened at home Sunday with an 83-68 cruise past Jackson State.

7. PANTHERS: Cats win at Rangers: Florida were at the New York Rangers Sunday trying to shed a two-game losing streak, and did, 6-5. Joel Quenneville's guys are now 8-9 around the season's one-fifth mark, once again lolling around the far edge of playoff contention and looking for a run.

8. SOCCER: Seattle wins MLS Cup!: It was Toronto at Seattle Sunday for the Major League Soccer (MLS Cup) championship, and a record crowd of 69,274 left happy with a 3-1 Sounders win for Seattle's second title in four years. We expect you in that game in one year, Inter Miami. No pressure.

9. MLB: Free agency on, GM meetings next: Nationals just won the Series, but baseball ain't done. Free agency is underway, and the GM meetings are Nov. 11-14. If your team is a spender, be excited. If you're a Marlins fan, chill out.

10. UFC: Loss sending Diaz into retirement?: Days after losing to Miami's Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz hinted in an Instagram post that he may be done fighting. Those who believe he actually is could meet in a Waffle House booth and have plenty of elbow room.  

Missing the HB10 cut: Forget the tree falling in the forest. If the Chargers moved to London, would anybody miss them? ..... Update: Countdown now 2,415 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

DOLPHINS-COLTS, GAME OF THE WEEK, BIG UPSETS: OUR NFL WEEK 10 PICKS: Off our record-setting 2018 season we've had a solid first half of our 29th year of NFL picks in the Miami Herald, including an 11-3 mark straight-up last week and 8-5-1 against the spread (led by Dolphins over Jets in our Upset of the Week; "Aawwk!"). Now here are our Week 10 picks, including Dolphins at Colts, Game of the Week (Seahawks-49ers), two sizable upsets and the rest. Please visit the motherlode of prognostication that I like to call NFL Week 10 Gems. Our week got off to a losing start Thursday. Already past it. Let's rally!

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

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

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

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

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

Twitter @gregcote

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

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

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

G8: STINKIN' JETS AT DOLPHINS: UPSET! FINS WIN, FINS WIN! OMG!! (AND I CALLED IT...): Go to After Mocking And Tank-Talk, Dolphins And Flores Deserved This Day for my column from game. Original post: We can all agree, I hope, that the Dolphins have risen from being historically embarrassing in the first few games to being merely regular-bad lately. We can also agree, I hope, that the Stinkin’ Jets are hardly any better, and that Adam Gase looks about as happy as an inmate whose final stay of execution has just been denied by the governor. There is negligible difference between the 0-7 Fins and 1-6 Jets -- not enough for NYJ to be a 3-point road favorite. Overshadowing this matchup, of course: The jockeying for the overall No. 1 draft pick, as the winless, bye-week Bengals watch keenly. Why the upset pick? 1) Sam Darnold (who sees ghosts, by the way) has seven interceptions in the past two games. Darnold bad is worse than Ryan Fitzpatrick bad. 2) Fins players and coaches are beyond-tired of the accusation they are intentionally trying to lose games. The franchise is tanking; the lockerroom is not. That is an important distinction. It gives Miami the greater incentive here, in addition to the home field. Am I nervous about the pick? Oh hell yeah. I just picked Miami to win! Let's see. Cote’s pick: MIA 24-21. Vote in the new Dolfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll directly below.

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

2019 DSM game-by-game results

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next poll: Nov. 10 following game at Indianapolis.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

G9: HURRICANES 27, @FLORIDA STATE 10: TWO OLD RIVALS MEET AGAIN -- BOTH TRYING TO GET BACK TO GREAT: Jarren  Williams and defense were great in Saturday's 27-10 Miami win in Tally, and I got the upset pick right! Original post: There were plenty of years when Canes-Noles was a national game of the week with championship implications. But that was plenty of years ago. Now, Saturday's Miami at Florida State meeting at 3:30 p.m. is just a pair of .500 teams trying to rediscover the mojo and get back to where they once were. "I think we’re both kind of waiting for that kick-start to get things going," as Miami coach Manny Diaz put it. Still, "It’s one of those games that you come to Miami to play in, to coach in," Diaz said. "It’s a legacy game." Both old rivals are 4-4, with FSU 3-3 in ACC play and UM 2-3. The Seminoles are stuck in their division behind Clemson. At least if UM wins it still has a shot at the division title in the weaker Coastal, if it wins out and gets some help/luck. FSU was favored by as many as 5 points but that whittled down to 3 as money poured in on Miami. Noles have won their past four home games but Miami has won past two in this rivalry including 28-27 last year at Hard Rock after the Canes trailed 20-7 at the half. These teams' past five meetings all have been decided by 5 points or fewer, so the safest bet is a close game. FSU is better on offense although that draws closer with Jarren Williams back starting at QB for Miami (as he should) and RB DeeJay Dallas expected back from injury. The difference for me is that Miami clearly is better on defense. I do not trust the Seminoles without the ball. Cote's pick: Upset! Hurricanes, 27-23. See latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll results below.

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

Canesfan Satisfaction Meter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other state FBS games (all Saturday):

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twitter @gregcote