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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE -- LIVE FROM 'MAS MIAMI' -- OUT NOW!: Our 52nd episode of 2022 and 143rd overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 143 we've done so far HERE. The new episode is a "Live from Mas Miami Special!" We speak with members of the cast, fans and special guests. And why did Greg and Chris have a physical altercation just offstage as Yeti performed "Pebble Drive" live? Also in the new ep: Greg rails against Amazon.com advertising “last-minute stocking stuffers” too soon; Greg, Chris and Yeti discuss Elton John quitting Twitter and whether Elon Musk has made a moral dilemma of that platform; the guys discuss the World Cup final four and the tragic death of Grant Wahl; Rodney Dangerfield vs. Henny Youngman; Greg makes a trade involving Christmas; Dad joke of the week; a new ‘Three Facts, Jack’ segment and more. Hit up GCS2252 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. Now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit store by clicking 'Shop'. New items including Greg's Lobos T-shirts and hats -- and there's a holiday sale going on! Also check out our podcast's YouTube channel.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (DECEMBER 11-12): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ARCHIVES

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

Select other recent columns: R.I.P. Chuck Carr: Remembering Marlins' Speedy First Star / Dolphins At 7-3: It's Beginning To Feel A Little Bit Magical Around Here / Canes' Easy Win At Georgia Tech A Late Lift On Down Year For Cristobal, UM / Dare To Dream, Dolphins Fans. Why Miami Is a Legit Super Bowl Contender / Shula To Miami And 17-0 Should Not Have Happened. It Was Luck ... Or Fate / Kyrie Irving's Anti-Semitism Mess Bigger Than Him. It's Symptom Of What Ails America / Shootout Win In Chicago Shows Dolphins Are What They Haven't Been in Years: Exciting / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal / Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? / Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improve to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

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

Hilltop: The five columns before that: Dare To Dream, Dolphins Fans. Why Miami Is a Legit Super Bowl Contender / Shula To Miami And 17-0 Should Not Have Happened. It Was Luck ... Or Fate / Kyrie Irving's Anti-Semitism Mess Bigger Than Him. It's Symptom Of What Ails America / Shootout Win In Chicago Shows Dolphins Are What They Haven't Been in Years: Exciting / Canes Are No-Shows in 45-3 Home Loss To FSU In Latest New Low For Cristobal. Note: Mount Gregmore includes opinion columns only. NFL picks, QB rankings and stories on newest podcast are not included.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ARCHIVES

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

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

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

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

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ARCHIVES

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

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

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

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

1) It's SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5. Sorry the blog was not updated for several days. Typepad, our host, had been down. But we're back! And Hot Button Top 10 will return with a new edition on Sunday. 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): NFL Week 8 picks, Blood-money LIV Golf ends season at Doral, NFL Week 7 results, Greg Cote Show podcast, Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE WITH MINA KIMES (AND LENNY) OUT NOW!: Our 46th episode of 2022 and 137th overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 137 we've done so far HERE. In our latest episode: ESPN star Mina Kimes (and, unexpectedly, her dog Lenny, pictured) join us for a chat on the NFL and on fun stuff, too. Also: Trick-or-treating with Trevor Lawrence, Greg speaks about his social-media firestorm over Jerry Lee Lewis' death and more. Hit up GCS2246 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. Now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit store by clicking 'Shop'. New items including Greg's Lobos T-shirts and hats! Also check out our podcast's YouTube channel.

NFL WEEK 9 PICKS: DOLPHINS-BEARS, GAME OF WEEK, 3 UPSETS ALL THE REST: Had a third straight winning week against the point spread last week. Can we keep it going? Visit NFL Week 9 Gems for to find all of our latest picks for Dolphins-Bears, our (controversial) Game of the Week, three more big upsets and all the rest. Got off to a mixed start. Had Eagles (-14) both winning and covering at Houston. Birds won but narrowly missed the cover, 29-17. Find that separate predix capsule at NFL Week 9 Thursday Gem.

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Has Dolphins' Trade For Chubb Sent Team's Super Bowl Shot 'To The Moon'? NEW! 

NEW! Miami-FSU Rivalry Week Leans On Nostalgia As 2 Programs Try To Get Back Up NEW!

Tua's Huge Day Leads Dolphins Over Lions in Detroit. But Warning Signs Are There

Not Pretty. OK, It Was Ugly. But Canes' OT Escape At Virginia Keep Bowl Hope Alive

Pawns Chasing Saudi Blood Money Come To Doral As LIV Golf Ends 1st Season

Hilltop: The five columns before that: Not Perfect, But Return Of Tua, Big Defense Lift Dolphins Past Steelers / Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke / Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss / Tua Can't Return Soon Enough As Dolphins Fall To Vikings For 3rd Straight Loss / Sorry, Canes, But 20-14 Win At Va-Tech Doesn't Impress Any More Than 3-3 Does.  Note: Mount Gregmore includes opinion columns only. NFL picks, QB rankings and stories on newest podcast are not included.

NFL WEEK 8 RESULTS: HERALD PICKS X GREG'S LOBOS X QB RANKINGS:

Herald Picks: Streak against the spread lives! -- Been a tough season so far with our picks in the Herald and I'm not alone, but scratched out a 9-6 mark overall and went 8-7 against the spread. That was our third straight winning week ATS, with a 25-18 mark (.581) vs. the Evil Betting Line in that span. Bull's-eyed an outright upset with Broncos over Jaguars in London, and had another pair of dogs-plus-points on covers by Packers in Buffalo and Browns over Cincy. Let's keep it going on our recent uptick against the point spread!

Greg's Lobos: A 175-point rout for another win! -- The defending PFPI Fantasy champion Lobos are rolling at 5-3 after a big 175-115 win. Got 29 points from Tua Tagovailoa, 26 from both Dalvin Cook and Nick Chubb, and 21 from both Lamar Jackson and Nick Folk. When you get a double-double from your kicker -- you know you're golden. We now stand tied for second in our 10-team family 'n friends fantasy league. Big game this week against another 5-3 team in Crown Me The Champ -- my son Chris.

NFL QB Rankings: Tua wins week, and there's another new No. 1 -- Miami's Tua Tagovailao wins his second weekly title of the season to take Week 8 honors and there's another change at No. 1 overall in the updated Miami Herald Quarterback Rankings. Full Top 25 and more at NFL Week 8 QB Rankings.

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ARCHIVES

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

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

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

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

1) It's MONDAY, OCTOBER 24. Join me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 2) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Heat lose season opener at home, NFL Week 7 picks, Greg Cote Show podcast, NFL Week 6 results, Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 45th episode of 2022 and 136th overall is out now! New episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever you pod. Find all 136 we've done so far HERE. In our new episode: A new Le Batard Show “Mas Miami’ fan night is coming up December 10, and the GCS podcast reveals big plans for a major presence at the event; Greg shares the two new TV commercials out now that he loves; Greg is fascinated by a new forensic study on a Neanderthal family that lived 54,000 years ago and Chris and Yeti are palpably bored and dumbfounded by that fascination; and Chris and Greg report live from Sunday night’s Dolphins-Steelers game, and Greg shares an inside look at Saturday’s invitation-only gala honoring Miami’s 1972 Perfect Season team. Also in the new ep: Greg’s reveals a shocking and perhaps repulsive truth about himself; Greg rails against LIV Golf coming to Miami and a World Cup in Qatar; Calendar jumpers; Friends of Greg (FOG) update; A horrifying revelation about ants; and a new Dad joke of the week. Hit up GCS2245 for full story on latest ep, and watch our weekly YouTube preview. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review, follow, subscribe and so forth. We simulcast on Sirius XM, too, Mondays from 5-6 p.m. ET. Now our podcast has a website and merch store! Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com and visit store by clicking 'Shop'. New items including Greg's Lobos T-shirts and hats -- with free shipping this week through Thursday! Also check out our podcast's YouTube channel.

NFL WEEK 7 PICKS: DOLPHINS -STEELERS AND ALL THE REST: Went a solid 8-6 against the spread last week, started the new week strong Thursday night, now let's keep it going! You want rampant parity in a league overrun by .500 teams? Only one of 14 games this week is matchup of two teams both with a winning record. Visit NFL Week 7 Gems to find all of our latest picks for Dolphins-Steelers, our Game of the Week, a big upset, the return of Dak Prescott and all the rest.

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Not Perfect, But Return Of Tua, Big Defense Lift Dolphins Past Steelers NEW!

NEW! Epic New Low For Cristobal: 8 Turnovers in 45-21 Home Loss To Duke NEW!

Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat Disappoint In Season-Opening Home Loss

Tua Can't Return Soon Enough As Dolphins Fall To Vikings For 3rd Straight Loss

Sorry, Canes, But 20-14 Win At Va-Tech Doesn't Impress Any More Than 3-3 Does

Hilltop: The five columns before that: Csonka, ‘Heart’ Of Dolphins Glory Days, On Life Of Adventure — And Perfection / QB Calamity! 3rd-String Thompson Has Rough Baptism As Dolphins Fall At Jets / Canes Lose ACC Opener, Fall To 2-3 As Misery Continues For Mario Cristobal / Five Years In, Miami Marlins Rebuild Isn't Working. Here Is The Solution / NFLPA Firing Doctor For Concussion Eval May Mean Fins, Tua Are Victims Here. Note: Mount Gregmore Of Columns includes opinion columns only. NFL picks, QB rankings and stories on newest podcast are not included.

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (OCTOBER 23-24): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. DOLPHINS: Tua, defense lead Miami past Steelers on special night!: What a night! Tua Tagovailoa made his long-awaited return from a concussion and led Fins to 16-10 win over Steelers Sunday night to end a 3-game losing streak an put Miami at 4-3. Big defense including two late interceptions sealed the win. Game also marked the club's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Perfect Season at the stadium Sunday on top of an invitation-only gala Saturday night at the Hard Rock Guitar Hotel.

2. HURRICANES: New low for Cristobal: 8 turnovers in 45-21 home loss to Duke: You thought the loss to Middle Tennessee State was bad? It was. This may have been worse. A 45-21 home conference loss to Duke Saturday thanks to eight (!) turnovers, most in a game by any Power 5 conference team since 2009. Canes now 3-4 and 1-2 in ACC as season goes off the rails. UM is at Virginia next week before hosting rival Florida State.

3. HEAT: Miami shakes off worst start since '07 with first win: Heat loss to Celtics Friday night gave Miami an 0-2 start for first time since 2007 -- and 0-2 at home for first time ever. That was after disappointing season-opening loss to Chicago plagued by poor defense. Heat finally won by beating Toronto Saturday to go 1-2 behind Jimmy Butler's 24 and more bench magic from Max Strus. Miami hosts Toronto again Monday/tonight before setting out on a three-game West road trip. 

4. MLB: It's an Astros-Phillies World Series!: The New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres are emphatically done! The AL and NL Championship Series ended Sunday with Philadelphia ousting the Padres 4 games to 1 and Houston sweeping the Yanks 4-0. Not sure Houston-Philadelphia is riveting TV, but we all hate the Astros, so that's something. Go Philly!

5. PANTHERS: Cats off to 4-2 start but lose Ekblad lost to injury: Panthers are 4-2 this young NHL season after Sunday's win over the Islanders. Cats are back at it Tuesday in Chicago but will be without star defenseman Aaron Ekblad until at least mid-November and likely longer with a groin injury. This would be the third straight season Ekblad had missed at least 20 regular season games due to injury. 

6. NASCAR: Larson back in headlines for right reason in Homestead win: NASCAR's eighth of 10 playoff races roared at Homestead-Miami Speedway today as Kyle Larson led 199 of 267 laps including the last one. The win came a week after the reigning Cup Series champion, eliminated earlier in this year's playoffs, was intentionally spun by Bubba Wallace, who got suspended for it. Joey Logano continues atop the playoff standings.

7. INTER MIAMI: Quick playoff exit ends successful season for Herons: A 3-0 playoff loss at New York City FC ended Inter Miami's Year 3 in MLS following an uplifting 14-6-14 regular season. The match marked the career finale for retiring star Gonzalo Higuain. Leaguwide, the conference finals will be set with results today. Out West, No. 1 seed Los Angeles awaits today's Austin-Dallas winner. In the East, No. 1 Philadelphia will face today's Montreal-NYC winner.

8. STATE COLLEGES (NON-UM): Huge upset win for FIU is an historic first!: This has never happened before. Of the seven state FBS football teams, FIU was the only one to win this week with Saturday's big 34-15 upset at Charlotte led by Grayson James' 306 passing yards. FU, now 3-4, stands alone because Miami, FAU and UCF all were upset losers, and Florida, Florida State and South Florida all had byes and did not play.

9. MARLINS: Fish narrow manager candidates, decision may be near: Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro have been the first candidates to be invited back by Miami for a second interview, for what that's worth. Plus for each: Espada might come as a World Series champ; Quatraro is used to small player payrolls. (I thought Bruce Bochy was worth a hard look; the Rangers hired him instead.) In other Fish news, shortstop Miguel Rojas is a Gold Glove finalist.   

10. CANES BASKETBALL: College hoops near as UM men, women unfurl: Jim Larranaga's Hurricanes men and Katie Meier's women's team, both coming off successful seasons, held their Media Day to tip-off the coming season. The men were 26-11 last year and reached the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time, but are unranked in the preseason poll (though just three spots outside of the Top 25). The UM women were 21-13 and reached the second round of the NCAAs but also are unranked. Both open the new season Nov. 7.

Missing the HB10 cut: U.S. Women’s National Team faces Germany at Inter Miami Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on November 10 in a battle of the top two women's teams in the world ..... No. 5 Clemson rallied to beat 14-Syracuse 27-21 on Saturday and No. 10 Oregon crushed 9-UCLA 45-30 in the biggest of five Top 25 matchups. One other top-10 team besides UCLA lost: No. 7 LSU falling 45-20 to Ole Miss ..... Warning: The money grubbers of LIV Golf are coming! The startup tour of players pocketing blood money from Saudi Arabia comes to Doral next week ..... USWNT drew Netherlands, Vietnam and a fourth team to be determined in its group for the 2023 Women's World Cup. England is opposite bracket, setting up a possible U.S.-Brits title match ..... Bulletin: Cristiano Ronaldo continues to sully his name with his petulance at Manchester United ..... Former world No. 1 Simona Halap faces a four-year ban from tennis after failing a drug test during the U.S. Open ..... One day before the World Cup kicks off November 20 in Qatar, two teams that did not qualify, Colombia and Paraguay, will play a friendly at Inter Miami Stadium ..... The 49ers acquired star RB Christian McCaffrey from Carolina for multiple draft picks in a major NFL trade ..... The College Football Playoff said it still is undecided on when it will expand to 12 teams, but hopeful it will happen as soon as 2024 ..... Dan Wieden, the ad man who coined Nike's famous 'Just Do It' slogan, died at 77 ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,330 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: Dolphins Fall In Cincy, But Tua Hospitalized Puts Result In Perspective / No. 1 Dolphins, Fans Bask in National Attention, Ditch 20 Years' Irrelevance / Gamble Of Inaction: 5 Answers Will Judge Heat's Quiet Offseason / What's Going On Here!? Dolphins Beat Rival Bills, Improved to 3-0 / Cristobal Honeymoon Ends With Thud As Canes Lose To Middle Tennessee / Zero To Perfect: How Glory Days Dolphins Put Miami on National Sports Map / Our 2022 NFL Team Ranking. Wait. Miami Dolphins Are WHERE!? / Why Hill & Waddle Are Dolphins' Best WR Duo Since Clayton/Duper / UM's Van Dyke Had Epic Year. Now His Encore Will Define Start Of Cristobal Era / Serena's Week At U.S. Open One For Ages As Tennis' Queen GOAT Defies Time / Tribute: Community Was One Place Dolphins Won Big -- Because of Jason Jenkins / Watson Punishment Will Go Way Beyond HIs Extended NFL Suspension / Butch Davis On Retiring, His 50-Year Career -- & Canes Twice Almost Bringing Him Back / Miami Raised Mario Cristobal. Payback? Come Home & Make Canes Football Matter Again / Ross NFL Cheating Scandal A New Low For Owner Who Embarrasses Dolphins / 11 NBA Titles Not Where Bill Russell's Legacy Starts. Tribute To An  Epic Life / Ranking South Florida's Top 20 Biggest Sports Stars (2022 Edition) / If Miami Marlins Trading For Juan Soto Sounds Laughable -- That's The Problem / Dolphins' Tua: The Disrespected Underdog QB About To Prove Everybody Wrong / How Matthew Tkachuk Brings Needed Swagger, Bravado To Panthers / How Messi-to-Miami Became the Biggest, Longest Tease In Sports / Cy Young Alert: Marlins' Ace-On-Fire Sandy Alcantara Does It Again / The End Isn't Here, But It's Coming. Miami Sports Has Had Nobody Like Heat's Pat Riley / Title IX Empowered Women. The Supreme Court Has Done The Opposite / Why'd World Cup pick Miami? Thank Dolphins Founder & Unlikely Soccer Visionary Joe Robbie / Whatever Happened To Don King? Famed Boxing Promoter Back At 90 For Last Bow in Miami / A Lesson In Sioux City: Sports And Real Life In Age Of Mass Shootings / ‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver? / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / Marlins Owner Sherman Said He'd Spend. Payroll Says It Hasn't Been Enough / Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone / Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / An Appreciation of Udonis Haslem As He Re-Ups For 19th Heat Season / College Football and FSU Lose a Treasure In Passing Of Bobby Bowden /  Biles' Withdrawal For Mental-Health Reasons Merits Empathy, Not Scorn / Where Dolphins Rank Among Teams With Longest Championship Droughts / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Reality, Loss, Comeback: How Sports Has Been Guiding Light In America's Awful Past Year / Time-Travelling To 1960s And Childhood, When The Baseball Card Was King / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

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

1) It's MONDAY, MAY 2. Thank you for your service, April. See ya next year. Welcome back, May! 2) Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's album, which includes song by me. 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Cote nails Dolphins' Tindall pick at 102nd, my Mock Draft results vs. Kiper, Inter Miami's sky-high aim for new stadium, new Greg Cote Show podcast, latest in Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW! DID GREG REALLY KICK A 50-YARD FIELD GOAL? MEET THE EYE-WITNESS: Our 20th episode of 2022 and 111th overall is out now. A new episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever else you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 111 we've done HERE, free. The most recent episode includes an eye-witness to Greg's long-held claim of having made a 50-yard field goal, and Phil Taylor on whether Greg actually beat him in a footrace. Also: Father-Son Cote Olympics continues with free-throw shooting, Greg explains his lifelong love of Elton John, and Greg's Mock Draft vs. Mel Kiper's. Hit up GCS2220 for full story on the 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. And now, brand new, our podcast has an all-encompassing wesbite and merch store: Check it out at TheGregCoteShow.com!

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

Nailed it! Cote bull's-eyes Dolphin's Tindall pick at 102nd overall!: Hard enough to guess right on first round. To nail Miami's top pick at 102nd overall late in third round is, well, unheard of. But I did it. Proof is here: 31st Annual Official Miami Herald NFL Mock Draft. My overall first round Mock Draft results vs. ESPN mocklord Mel Kiper Jr.: Zagactos (aka exactos), right player to right team: Tied 6-6. Tiebreaker: Right player to right team in exact order: Cote 6, Kiper 5. Winner: By a nose at the wire ... Me! See ya next year, Junior.

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Why Quiet Draft With No 1st-Round Pick Was Great News For Dolphins NEW!

‘Centerpiece of futbol in world’: Dream is green-lit. Now can Inter Miami deliver?

31st Annual Official Miami Herald NFL Mock Draft

Oladipo Crowns His Long Road Back, Lifts Heat Into Second Round 

Butler, Heat Culture Arise as Miami Seizes 3-1 Series Lead

Hilltop: The most recent five after that: History Says Heat Still In Charge, But Blown Game 3 Lead Gives Atlanta Life / Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium / Marlins Declare 'Impatience," Delight Near-Sellout In Exciting Home Opener / Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now / Heat 'Wildly Disrespected' No. 1 Seed, But that's Fine By Miami As Playoffs Begin

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MAY 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, but from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. The latest HB10:

1. HEAT: 76ers' Embiid out a huge break for Miami entering Game 1 Monday: Game 1 of Heat-76ers second round series is Monday night in Miami, with No. 1 East seed Heat the favorite even before the news Philly MVP-candidate center Joel Embiid will be out "indefinitely" with a right orbital fracture and mild concussion sustained in first round vs. Toronto. Embiid already was playing with a sprained thumb. Are we ready for 30 shots per game from James Harden? 

2. PANTHERS: Cats open Stanley Cup hunt at home vs. Capitals Tuesday: Florida hosts Game 1 of its first round NHL playoff series vs. Washington and goal monster Alex Ovechkin on Tuesday night. Panthers finished with best record (58-18-6), most goals scored and best goals differential yet are second betting favorite to win it all, just behind Colorado. Why? Track record. Since reaching Stanley Cup Finals in 1996, Cats have made the playoffs only six times and never gone beyond the first round. Different now? Seems so. But we'll see.

3. INTER MIAMI: Freedom Park 'yes' vote is Team Beckham's biggest win yet: Inter Miami scored the biggest win in its three-year MLS history this week. It was 4-1. That was the Miami city commission vote (finally) green-lighting Miami Freedom Park, set for a March 2025 opening. On the pitch, Herons are 3-1-5 after Saturday's 2-0 loss at New England ended a three-game win streak. Lads are back at it next Saturday in Charlotte.

4. DOLPHINS: Georgia LB Tindall is Miami's top pick in quiet draft: Miami had an NFL-low four picks and none until the 102nd overall, making Georgia linebacker Channing Tindall their first selection. Then again, Fins spent their top picks to get star WR Tyreek Hill from Chiefs, so if you wanted to call Hill Miami's No. 1 pick in this NFL Draft, I wouldn't argue much. No first round pick usually is a good sign for Miami. The nine previous times, eight winning seasons, six playoff berths and the '72 Perfect Season followed.

5. MARLINS: Shh. Overshadowed, but Fish win streak finally ends: Heat and Panthers in playoffs and NFL Draft have hogged the recent spotlight, but Marlins quietly won seven straight before losing Sunday and are 12-9 and second in NL East. This was Miami's longest win streak since 2016. As expected, pitching (seventh of 30 in team ERA) has made up for an offense 22nd in run production. Miami hosts Arizona for three games starting tonight. 

6. NBA: Title odds for final eight teams as 2nd round begins: NBA playoffs' second round begins with a pair of games Sunday, and Golden State (+300) and Phoenix (+325) are betting favorites to win it all among the final eight, followed by Boston (+375), Miami (+500) and reigning champion Milwaukee (+700). Longshots are Memphis (+1300), Dallas (+2000) and, because of the Embiid injury, Philadelphia (+2500).

7. MOTORSPORTS: Countdown 6 days 'til inaugural Miami Grand Prix: The first Miami Grand Prix of Formula One racing will run one week from today/Sunday in and around Hard Rock Stadium. Max Verstappen is a narrow betting favorire over Charles Leclerc to win. (Yes, Lewis Hamilton is in the event, too, for those who can only name one F1 driver).

8. RUNNING: Miami Corporate Run disrupts, angers thousands of concert goers: The Miami Corporate Run on Thursday evening halted and disrupted downtown traffic in rush hour Thursday evening. The gridlock in favor of a footrace caused thousands of music fans to be late for an Elton John concert they'd paid hundreds to see at the Heat arena. As if it didn't go without saying: Motorists and event-goers should not be diverted as second-class citizens so runners can clog roadways meant for motorists. Insane.

9. CANES BASKETBALL: Wong pivots over NIL threat to leave: Hurricanes guard and second-leading scorer on an Elite Eight team, Isaiah Wong, said he would not enter the transfer portal, less than 24 hours after his agent said he would transfer if his name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation was not. Wong now says he will keep his name in the NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility and leaving open the option to return to Miami. NIL figured to get ugly. It did.

10. MLB: Record domestic violence suspension for L.A.'s Bauer: Baseball announced a 324-game suspension for Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer, the equivalent of two full seasons -- and easily the most severe punishment handed out under the sport's domestic violence policy. Bauer quickly announced he would be appealing. Ironically, it seems very little about Bauer is appealing.

Missing the HB10 cut: Hurricanes football kept alive (barely) its now-48-year streak of players taken in the NFL Draft when defensive lineman Jonathan Ford was selected in the seventh round by Green Bay on Saturday. UM has had at least one player picked in every NFL Draft since 1975 -- fourth-longest streak in the nation ..... Mark Emmert has stepped down as NCAA president. What a thankless job that has become! ..... Liverpool (up two) and Manchester City (plus one) take advantages into this week's second-leg semifinal matches in the UEFA Champions League ..... Canes baseball is No. 3-ranked but not for long at 31-12 after four straight losses .....  Tennis great Boris Becker was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for illegally transferring large amounts of money and hiding assets after he was declared bankrupt ..... Shame on Miami Lakes for "moving on" from the Shula name ..... xxxxx ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,520 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

Select other recent columns: Inter Miami Has Been Major Failure For David Beckham. Here's The BIg Fix / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / The Lawsuit, 2 Months Later: Why Flores Has Already Won, And Dolphins Are Still Nervous / NCAA Final Four: Why America Was Rooting Against The Perfect Ending / 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 / Dolphins' Moves Help Tua, But Isn't About Surrounding Cast. It's On him / Why Do We Love March Madness This Much? First, Look In The Mirror / Brady's Comeback Not About Another Ring. It's About Holding Onto Who He Is / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Chris Cote To Save Sport Of Jai-Alai / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart / Players Are On Right Side In Labor Dispute, But MLB Has Far Bigger Problem To Fix / Mickelson's Support Of Saudi Tour Mirrors Sports' Blind Eye to Human Rights / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose /'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consequences as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / UM Legend Frank Gore Talks NFL Future, Cristobal, Boxing As He Prepes For Ring Debut / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Quenneville Rightly Sacked as Panthers Coach Over 2010 Chicago Scandal / 'Time to Hunt': Cats' Hyped Season Off to Wild, Winning Start / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / If Sports Had A Spine, Kyrie Irving & Other Anti-Vaxxers Wouldn't Be Playing / Kyle Lowry Must Channel 'Doctor Of Greatness' If Heat Is To Chase NBA Title / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / 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 / Hot Seat Scale: Ranking Miami's Biggest Coaches By Most to Least Job Security / 'I'm D'Eriq King For College Hunks Hauling Junk!' It's Strange New World in College Sports / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Fate Snatched Basketball From Chris Bosh. His new Book Is Part of His Journey Of Healing / Where's Tua? Ranking Our Top 15 South Florida Pro Athletes 25 And Younger / Pythons, Peppers, Pirate Flag Raised. Inside Le Batard's 24-Hour Triumph / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / Justice For George Floyd Helps Heal Our Shaken Faith, But Fight For Equality Goes On / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Women Keep Accusing Deshaun Watson of Sexual Misconduct. But Will It Matter to NFL? / 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 / Doesn't Matter If Tiger Woods Never Wins Again. We Are Lucky He's Alive / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim NG Hire As GM / In a Pandemic-Battered Season For FIU, Butch Davis' Love Of Coaching Survives / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

1) It's MONDAY, APRIL 25. Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's album -- which includes a song by me and reached No.1 on iTunes chart! 2) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Heat blow Game 3 lead in Atlanta, David Samson (!) joins fight against soccer stadium, Greg Cote Show podcast, latest in Mount Gregmore of columns.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW WITH START OF FATHER-SON OLYMPICS!: Our 19th episode of 2022 and 110th overall is out now. A new episode drops every Monday at 7 a.m. ET on Apple, Spotify and wherever else you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 110 we've done HERE, free. The new episode includes the start of our Father-Son Olympics as get verdicts at the pool table and on the golf course. (Go Greg go!) Also some Heat talk after last  night's Game 4 win gave Miami is big 3-1 series lead. Hit up GCS2219 for full story on the 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).

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 earned APSE distinction: 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

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Butler, Heat Culture Arise as Miami Seizes 3-1 Series Lead NEW!

History Says Heat Still In Charge, But Blown Game 3 Lead Gives Atlanta Life

Only In Miami: Ex-Marlins Prez Samson Joins Fight vs. 'Boondoggle' Soccer Stadium

Marlins Declare 'Impatience," Delight Near-Sellout In Exciting Home Opener

Blowing Up Dolphins' Brady-Payton Plan Parting Shot Of Flores Lawsuit. For Now

Hilltop: The most recent five after that: Heat 'Wildly Disrespected' No. 1 Seed, But that's Fine By Miami As Playoffs Begin / Inter Miami Has Been Major Failure For David Beckham. Here's The BIg Fix / Rotation Set, Lineup Improved, Excuses Gone. Time For Marlins To Win / Could Have Died. Nearly Lost a Leg. Tiger Playing Masters Means He's Already Won / The Lawsuit, 2 Months Later: Why Flores Has Already Won, And Dolphins Are Still Nervous

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

1. HEAT: Miami reasserts itself with Butler-led Game 4 win: Jimmy Butler poured in 36 points as Heat smashed Hawks in Atlanta 110-86 Sunday  night for a commanding 3-1 series lead entering Game 5 back in the 3-0-5 Tuesday night. Kyle Lowry sat out with a hamstring injury but Butler and intensified defense were plenty.

2. PANTHERS: Cats see 13-game win streak finally end: Florida already had clinched the Eastern conference's No. 1 playoff seed and won a surreal 13 games in a row before Sunday's 8-4 home loss to Tamp Bay, tied for the most goals Florida had allowed in a game all season. Cats have three games left in regular season, all away, starting Tuesday in Boston. With NHL Stanley Cup playoffs beginning May 2, Florida is presently on line to face Washington in the first round. 

3. NFL: It's Draft Week, but low-watt -- especially for Dolphins: The three-day NFL Draft starting on Thursday attracts lower interest nationally than usual, including in Miami, where, because of trades such as acquiring Tyreek Hill, the Fins have no selection until late in the third round. It's the first draft since 2002 in which MIA has no first- or second-round pick. Also, no former Hurricanes are coveted, with S Bubba Bolden and WR Charleston Rambo both pegged for around the sixth round. Absence of franchise QBs also hurts this draft, with none pegged a certain first rounder.

4. MARLINS: Fish win Braves series, climb to second in division: Miami is 7-8 and now second in NL East after Sunday's 5-4 win in Atlanta made it two out of three vs. the rival Braves. Miami has had 25 hits in the past two wins. Marlins' six-game road trip continues with three at Washington starting Tuesday.

5. INTER MIAMI: Herons stay hot on pitch. But will they win crucial stadium vote?: Miami is 3-1-4 in MLS play but has won its past thtree straight matches with Sunday's 2-1 home matinee win over Atlanta. (Inter Miami also fit in a 1-nil win over lower-tier Miami FC in U.S. Open Cup play). Overriding it all, though: This Thursday's city of Miami commission vote whether to green-light Miami Freedom Park and the new-stadium initiative.  

6. UM BASKETBALL: Canes men score major transfer in K-State's Pack: Elite Eight bump? Former Kansas State point guard Nije Pack, seen as the No. 1 available player in the transfer portal, committed to Miami and Jim Larranaga. Said Pack: "The way Coach L allows players to play with freedom and get up and down the floor with an NBA-style offense, I feel like I can thrive in his program."

7. MIGUEL CABRERA: Star of worst trade in Marlins history gets 3,000th hit: Detroit's Miguel Cabrera cashed his 3,000th hit Saturday, becoming that club's 33rd member and only the seventh with both 3K hits and 500-plus homers. I n his first five seassons in Miami Miggy got 842 of those hits, or 28 percent. Trading Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis after the 2007 season was epic-awful, with none of the six players gotten in return remotely justifying the deal.

8. AUTO RACING: Upcoming Miami Grand Prix gets legal green flag: Miami's May 8 Formula 1 race is on. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Fine this week ruled against a lawsuit to stop the race brought by Miami Gardens residents who feared hearing loss over the noise. Dear residents: The race lasts a few hours. Shut your windows. Try earplugs. Go to the beach.

9. BOXING: Fury dominates before throng in London: Tyson Fury retained his WBC heavyweight title with a sixth-round TKO of Dillian Whyte on Saturday before 94,000-plus boxinf fans at Wembley Stadium. Fury, 33, has lately been vowing to retire? Anybody believe him? Anybody at all?

10. SOCCER: UEFA Champions League semifinals on deck: It's two Spanish clubs and two English in the Champions League final four. Manchster City faces Real Madrid on Tuesday and Liverpool faces upstart Villarreal Wednesday in first-leg semifinals matches. Villarrea is the only stunner after ousting Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.

Missing the HB10 cut: No team has yet advanced in the NBA playoffs' first round, but five teams (including Heat) are one win away ..... NFL said it will play three games on Christmas Day this season ..... Wimbledon has banned players from Russian and Belarus from competing this year over the ongoing invasion of Ukraine ..... No. 5-ranked Canes baseball is 31-9 after Sunday's home loss to Pitt ..... Fan Controlled Football season is underway, and nobody cares ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,527 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

Select other recent columns: NCAA Final Four: Why America Was Rooting Against The Perfect Ending? / 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 / Dolphins' Moves Help Tua, But Isn't About Surrounding Cast. It's On him / Why Do We Love March Madness This Much? First, Look In The Mirror / Brady's Comeback Not About Another Ring. It's About Holding Onto Who He Is / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / Chris Cote To Save Sport Of Jai-Alai / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart / Players Are On Right Side In Labor Dispute, But MLB Has Far Bigger Problem To Fix / Mickelson's Support Of Saudi Tour Mirrors Sports' Blind Eye to Human Rights / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Hall of Fame Keeps Saying No, But Zach Thomas Keeps Feeling Gratitude / McDaniel Overcame Much In Own Life, Now Must Overcome Dolphins' Turmoil And Win / An Inside Preview Of Le Batard Show's Upcoming Musical. Yes, Musical / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose /'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consequences as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must / 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude / Revealing My 2022 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot / UM Legend Frank Gore Talks NFL Future, Cristobal, Boxing As He Prepes For Ring Debut / UM And Blake James Parted Ways With Class -- Which Butch Davis Didn't Get From FIU / Quenneville Rightly Sacked as Panthers Coach Over 2010 Chicago Scandal / 'Time to Hunt': Cats' Hyped Season Off to Wild, Winning Start / Dolphins Fans, Ex-Players Gather For Emotional Farewell to Don Shula, Father of the Glory Days / If Sports Had A Spine, Kyrie Irving & Other Anti-Vaxxers Wouldn't Be Playing / Kyle Lowry Must Channel 'Doctor Of Greatness' If Heat Is To Chase NBA Title / Fairy Tale With Wrong Ending: Remembering Jose Fernandez 5 Years Later / 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 / Hot Seat Scale: Ranking Miami's Biggest Coaches By Most to Least Job Security / 'I'm D'Eriq King For College Hunks Hauling Junk!' It's Strange New World in College Sports / Nassib Coming Out As Gay NFL Player A Milestone In Sports History / Fate Snatched Basketball From Chris Bosh. His new Book Is Part of His Journey Of Healing / Where's Tua? Ranking Our Top 15 South Florida Pro Athletes 25 And Younger / Pythons, Peppers, Pirate Flag Raised. Inside Le Batard's 24-Hour Triumph / Le Batard Bet On Himself And His Audience -- And Won Big / Justice For George Floyd Helps Heal Our Shaken Faith, But Fight For Equality Goes On / In History And In Hearts, Howard Schnellenberger Will Matter For All Time / Women Keep Accusing Deshaun Watson of Sexual Misconduct. But Will It Matter to NFL? / 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 / Doesn't Matter If Tiger Woods Never Wins Again. We Are Lucky He's Alive / Marlins Hit History-Making Home Run With Kim NG Hire As GM / In a Pandemic-Battered Season For FIU, Butch Davis' Love Of Coaching Survives / Don Shula, 1930-2020, R.I.P. / What Shula Meant to a Father & Son. The Boy Was Me

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

1) It's MONDAY, MARCH 28. Belated happy 75th birthday to one of my heroes, Elton John. Still standing! 2) Visit BIG GAME: THE MUSICAL for Le Batard Show's latest venture -- which includes a song by me and reached No.1 on iTunes chart! 3) Join me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Greg Cote Show podcast separately on Twitter, Instagram and now TikTok, too! 4) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins' mega-trade for Tyreek Hill tops latest Mount Gregmore of columns, new Greg Cote Show podcast including emergency bonus episode on Tyreek.

GREG COTE SHOW PODCAST: NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!: Our 15th episode of 2022 and 106th overall is out now! A new pod drops each Monday morning at 7 ET on Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Megaphone, iHeart -- wherever you pod, and of course at MiamiHerald.com. Find all 106 we've done so far HERE, free. In the new episode: Golf with Le Batard Show (left), Platonic lip kissing, Does Chris only call his mother when he needs something?, Bowling beef, Early planning stage of Cote Olympics, Another try at Gerdle word game, Mayor of a city in Georgia sings song he wrote about Greg, and Funeral songs. Hit up GCS2215 for full story on the new episode, and watch our weekly YouTube preview of latest episode. Thanks as always for the support, pod family. Please listen, review and follow. Our pod also simulcasts on Sirius XM every Mondays 5-6 p.m. ET).

Personal note and thanks: I'm 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 us APSE distinction: 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

MOUNT GREGMORE OF COLUMNS: OUR LATEST FIVE:

NEW! Crushing End Short Of Final Four, But Miami Hurricanes' NCAA Run Was Exhilarating Milestone NEW!

Peacocks? Coach K? Hurricanes, The 'Football School' In Elite Eight, Deserve Love Too

Tyreek Hill Trade, Terron Armstead Signing A Win-Now Power Play By Dolphins

Hurricanes Storming Sweet 16 Shades of George Mason '06 for Larranaga

Dolphins' Moves Help Tua, But Isn't About Surrounding Cast. It's On him

Hilltop: The most recent five after that: Why Do We Love March Madness This Much? First, Look In The Mirror / Brady's Comeback Not About Another Ring. It's About Holding Onto Who He Is / When Spoelstra Joined Heat's 'Inner Circle' And Became Riley's Next Coach / Why Brittney Griner Is Lost In Russia / The Resurgence Of Miami Hurricanes Basketball as March Madness Nears 

HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MARCH 27-28): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive Sunday-into-Monday feature --back after a one-week hiatus -- 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. UM BASKETBALL: Canes' exhilarating NCAA run ends in crushing Elite Eight loss: UM men's basketball crashed the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for first time and led No. 1 Kansas by six points at halftime on Sunday before eventually falling hard, 76-50 [column link above]. It was a second-half collapse. Still, 20 minutes from the Final Four after going 10-17 a year ago is a hell of a milestone for Coach Jim Larranaga's program.

2. DOLPHINS: Miami makes power-play leap into relevance with Hill, Armstead: The Dolphins quaked the NFL offseason with a blockbuster trade for Chiefs elite WR Tyreek Hill, just hours after signing the No. 1-rated free agent in Saints OT Terron Armstead. Hill has made Pro Bowl all six NFL seasons. Armstead is such an upgrade the Fins quickly released Jesse Davis, who had started 72 games over the past five seasons.

3. NCAA TOURNAMENT: It's Duke-UNC, Kansas-'Nova in Final Four: North Carolina ousted Cinderella St. Peters Sunday and will meet ACC rival Duke and retiring Coach K in the Final Four, while Kansas advanced past Miami and will meet Villanova in the other FF semifinal in New Orleans. And after all the madness ... four pedigreed basketball programs are the only left standing.

4. HEAT: Spo/Butler fireworks in midst of slump jar Heat season: Jimmy Butler gives lousy effort on D on a 3 by Golden State. Timeout. Erik Spoelstra yells at Butler; Butler yells back. It escalates. Udonis Haslem steps in. A clipboard flies. National news! All of this as Miami has now lost four straight and six of nine, along with its lead the East. Heat did clinch division title, but there are bigger problems at the moment. Miami is back at it Monday/tonight vs. Sac-Town as the playoffs draw ever nearer.

5. PANTHERS: Hot Cats land Giroux to fortify Stanley Cup hopes as playoffs near: Florida made a major deadline trade with Philly, obtaining veteran forward Claude Giroux essentially for Owen Tippett and a future No. 1 draft pick. Giroux, with 291 career goals, joins Sasha Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe on the top line. The Cats are 44-15-6 after Sunday's loss in Toronto ended a four-game win streak and still lead by six points in the NHL Atlantic.

6. SOCCER: U.S. all but in Qatar World Cup after Sunday win: Coming off a 0-0 qualifying draw at Mexico, the USMNT on Sunday routed Panama 5-1 behind Christian Pulisic's hat trick to all but clinch a spot in this year's World Cup in Qatar. The U.S., in Wednesday's CONCACAF qualifying finale vs. Costa Rica, will clinch a ticket to Qatar with a win, or a tie, or a loss by five goals or fewer.

7. NFL: Browns introduce Watson, who denies allegations: A second grand jury in Texas declined to pursue criminal charges against Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson. Browns acquired Watson from the Houston for three first-round picks and other draft picks, and a five-year contract worth $230 million guaranteed -- by far the most guaranteed money in one deal in NFL history. When introduced, Watson denied all charges by the 22 women alleging sexual misconduct during massages.

8. TENNIS: Withdrawals, upsets mar Miami Open at its midpoint: Call it a depleted Miami Open, with men's Big 3 Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer not playing, and the women's side missing suddenly retired Ashley Barty, Serena Williams and No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka and U.S  Open champ Emma Raducanu, both to early exits. Women's side seems wide open, entering round of 16 with Naomi Osaka still alive. Daniil Medvedev appears in control among the men.

9. MARLINS: Is Miami a sneaky-smart playoff darkhorse?: Marlins top an MLB.com list in a story headlined, 'Don't sleep on these 6 teams as playoff contenders,' projecting a 15-win Marlins improvement from last year's 67-95 record to 82-80. Fish are off to a solid spring start at 5-3 on the Grapefruit League diamond.

10. INTER MIAMI: A nightmare start to MLS Year 3 for Team Beckham: Miami has tied one and lost three of its first four MLS matches, been outscored 10-2 and sits dead-last in the East as coach Phil Neville struggles to right the listing ship. Herons are back on the pitch next Saturday April 2 vs Houston, five days before the city of Miami's delayed vote on whether to green-light the club's Miami Freedom Park stadium plans.

Missing the HB10 cut: Penn swimmer Lia Thomas won the NCAA title in the 500 freestyle at the women's national swimming championships, hailed as a trailblazer by some and as a fraudulent winner by others -- because she is transgender ..... Canes baseball is 17-6 and poll-bound after a three-game home sweep of No. 13 North Carolina ..... Quarterfinal matchups are set in the UEFA Champions League, and it will be Liverpool vs. Benfica and Manchester City vs. Atletico Madrid on April 5 and Bayern Munich-Villarreal and Real Madrid-Chelsea April 6. Premier League powers Liverpool and Man City are betting picks to win it all, followed by Bayern ..... Miami UFC star Jorge Masvidal was taken into custody in Miami Beach for aggravated battery for allegedly punching rival Colby Covington outside the Papi Steak restaurant in Miami Beach. Masvidal tagged Covington in a tweet and said, "You talk that s---, you got to back it up. That's how my city rolls, man" ..... Hurricanes spring football neared its midpoint Saturday with the sixth of 15 offseason workdays ..... R.I.P. Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters drummer ..... The Greg Cote Show podcast is back with a new episode out Monday at 7 a.m. ..... Update: Countdown now 1,555 days (give or take) until Miami hosts its first match in soccer's 2026 World Cup.

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ARCHIVES

Other recent columns: Chris Cote To Save Sport Of Jai-Alai / Brady A Dolphins Part Owner? Why It Could Happen / Why Derek Jeter-Marlins Marriage Fell Apart / Players Are On Right Side In Labor Dispute, But MLB Has Far Bigger Problem To Fix / Mickelson's Support Of Saudi Tour Mirrors Sports' Blind Eye to Human Rights / Top 15 Figures (Non-Athletes) In Miami Sports History / Who Dolphins, With Windfall To Spend, Should Target In Offseason To Fix Offense Fast / 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 / The Lesson For Dolphins in Rams-Bengals Super Bowl Result / Ranking Flores/Ross Bombshell Among Biggest Dolphins Scandals / Ross Should Be Done As Fins Owner if Flores Allegations Are True  / The G.O.A.T. We Never Saw Coming: From 199th Drafted To History, A Salute To Tom Brady / Like Him Or Don't, Antonio Brown Not Always To Blame -- And Wasn't In Bucs Divorce / Ortiz Makes Hall, But Final Denial Of Bonds, Clemens A Shame on Voters, Baseball / Mahomes-Allen Air Show A Reminder How Much Better Dolphins And Tua Need To Be / Time Is Right (But Running Out) For MLB to Reinstate Pete Rose /'There Was A Pall On Us': The Panthers Season That Would Not Be Derailed / No-Vaccine Is Your Right. But There Are Consequences as Djokovic Was Reminded / State Of Miami Sports: Every Major Team, Graded Top To Bottom / Dolphins Firing of Flores The Unjustified Travesty Of A Clown-Show Owner / Canes Land Grand Prize In Cristobal, So No Excuses Left. New Glory Days A Must and 50 Years At the Herald For Me -- And a Lifetime Of Gratitude.