Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Hurricanes’ big win, Dolphins vs. curse, Messi on the brink & more
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (NOVEMBER 3): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 notes column brings you what’s on our minds, locally and nationally, but from a Miami perspective and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or otherwise worth needling as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 80th edition of your Sunday sports-potpourri notes column, the HB10:
1. HURRICANES: Down 11, Comeback Canes crush Duke, stay unbeaten: No. 5 will soon be No. 4 and 9-0 is 9-0. It hasn’t always been smooth for the Miami Hurricanes, but what a ride! Saturday’s 53-31 comeback home win over Duke and former UM coach Manny Diaz saw QB Cam Ward feather his Heisman chances with five TD throws and an even 40 yards passing. And Xavier Restrepo, all aboard the Cam Train, set new UM career records for most catches and receiving yards. Now in realistic view: a 12-0 regular season record, a favorite’s role in the ACC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.
2. DOLPHINS: Curse you, Buffalo! Will Miami ever find a way to beat Bills?: When teams played early in season Buffalo won in Miami, 31-10, and Tua Tagovailoa was lost to a concussion. Now Tua’s back as AFC East rivals meet again Sunday in western New York, with Bills having won five straight and 12 of the last 13 over Fins — and eight in a row played in Billsville. Can 2-5 Miami begin to turn around its season in its hardest possible curse of a jinxed venue? Yes. But it will take a clean sheet of no turnovers by Miami and forcing a couple by Buffalo. Cue Al Michaels: Do you believe in miracles? Or at least the law of averages?
3. INTER MIAMI: Uh oh. Loss has Messi, best team in MLS on brink in playoffs: Inter Miami’s 2-1 loss in Atlanta Saturday night before 68,455 fans has Team Messi on the brink of embarrassing elimination in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs. With the best-of-3series 1-1, Miami must beat Atlanta United at home in Fort Lauderdale next Saturday to advance. Miami had best record in league and is favored to win championship, so a first-round ouster would be mortifyingly unfathomable. P.s., that Neymar-to-Miami speculation was silly, always impossible due to league salary constraints.
4. PANTHERS: Cats brush off Cup Hangover with sweep in Finland: Florida is 9-4 and atop the NHL East after five straight wins including Saturday’s to make it two in a row over Dallas in the Global Series in Finland. So much for the Stanley Cup Hangover -- the Cats are cookin’! Sam Reinhart already has 10 goals, Aleksander Barkov is back healthy and life is good. Cats are back on ice at home Thursday vs. Nashville.
5. HEAT: Miami with nice South of Border win despite scare from Wade statue: Miami is 3-2 after Saturday’s 20-point win over Washington in Mexico City behind Bam Adebayo’s 32 points. Heat is back home Monday vs. Sacramento. Team is off to a decent start to NBA season despite the social-media outcry and general embarrassment over the teams unveiling of a Dwyane Wade statue that most say bears only the vaguest resemblance to Wade.
6. NASCAR: Two have clinched Championship 4, other two decided Sunday: Tyler Reddick with his win in Homestead last week joined Joey Logano with spots secured in NASCAR’s Championship 4 to decide the season title. The other two spots will be decided today at Martinsville. Any of six drivers -- Christopher Bell, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney or Chase Elliott -- can clinch by winning today. If none wins, Bell and Byron have an edge based on points. The season finale is next Sunday in Phoenix .
7. COLLEGE BASKETBALL: It’s back! Hurricanes open Monday: Jim Larranaga’s Miami men, not in the preseason Top 25 but receiving votes, open Monday evening at home vs. Fairleigh Dickinson, after the unranked UM women under new coach Tricia Cullop open earlier Monday on campus vs. Stetson. Kansas (men) and South Carolina (women) are the preseason No. 1s. This constitutes college hoops’ soft opening. The sport really need not be paid attention to until conference games begin in December or, better yet, until football ends.
8. MLB: Dodgers celebrate with parade as Yankees contemplate choking: City of Los Angels waited 36 years to finally celebrate its eighth World Series title and did so Friday with a bus parade of players through downtown L.A. before some 250,000 fans and 42,000 more awaiting at Dodger Stadium. “This was the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of,” said pitcher and longest-tenured Dodger Clayton Kershaw. team. “It means the world to me.” Meanwhile the Yankees and fans fathom how they could fall in a 3-0 series hole and then blow a 5-0 lead in deciding Game 5. They’ll have forever to think about that.
9. MARLINS: Does anybody want to manage this ballclub: The mutual parting with Skip Schumaker is long past as the club also sacked his entire coaching staff. Now what? The Marlins reportedly narrowed their search to two finalists, Cleveland bench coach Craig Albernaz and Texas associate manager Will Venable -- but failed to land either. One imagines the stumbling block with every candidate is some variation of the following: “Wait, you said the player payroll will be WHAT!?!?” Dear 100-loss Marlins: Until owner Bruce Sherman starts spending to MLB standards, this won’t be an attractive job.
10. TENNIS: WTA latest to cave to Saudi blood money: Sports continues to follow money over conscience in partnering with Saudi Arabia despite its atrocious record on women’s and LGBTQ rights. Now women’s tennis is on board for first time as WTA Finals are underway through next Saturday in Riyadh. Criticism has come from legends Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and others. Current star Coco Gauff, former U.S. Open champ, perhaps justifying her participation, said, “I’m very aware of the situation here in Saudi. I do think sport can have a way to open doors to people.” Only if athletes speak out about the injustices surrounding therm before they fly home enriched.
THE LIST: MESSI’S CASE FOR MLS MVP?: Only five MLS players scored at least 15 goals and also had at least 10 assists this past regular season. Those five are ranked here by combined goals and assists per games played:
Player, Team G&A / GP
1.89 Lionel Messi, Inter Miami 36 G&A / 19 GP
1.22 Cucho Hernandez, Columbus 33 / 27
1.21 Evander, Portland 34 / 28
0.97 Cristian Arango, Real Salt Lake 29 / 30
0.91 Gabriel Pec, L.A. Galaxy 30 / 33
Other most recent stuff from me: Cristobal’s No. 5 Canes stay unbeaten, crush Duke and ex-coach Diaz, 53-31 // NFL Week 9 picks // Herald NFL Week 8 QB Rankings // ‘Who is that guy?’ Dwyane Wade deserves immortality of statue -- iffy likeness or not // Tua brings points, hope in return, but Miami Dolphins lose anyway, 28-27 // Previous HB10 // Poll Dance: Who’s biggest World Series star? // No. 6 Canes stay unbeaten, whip bad FSU 36-7 in welcome home rout after three straight scares // Onus on Messi to make Miami MLS champs. Historic first playoff win a good start // Pete Rose wasn’t perfect, but MLB’s endless lack of mercy followed him to grave // Messi at 37 has missed more than half of Inter Miami games. Cherish him while you can // Book it! Miami Hurricanes will vie for ACC title, make playoff in huge return to power // Jazz trade continues Miami Marlins’ losing cycle of talent-for-prospects cost cutting // And my latest podcast:
