Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Hurricanes sit star QB in bowl loss, Fins alive, Butler drama & more
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (DECEMBER 29): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: A slightly early Happy New Year to you all! 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 87th edition of your Sunday sports potpourri, the HB10:
1. HURRICANES: UM sits Ward late, loses bowl to end season a ‘disappointing success’: Miami lost the Pop-Tarts Bowl to Iowa State, 42-41 Saturday in Orlando -- with star QB Cam Ward sitting the entire second half after a great first half. Coach Mario Cristobal called the loss ‘painful” but declined afterward to explain why Ward was not put back in late to replace struggling Emory Williams with the result in the balance. UM ends season 10-3, but with all three L’s in final four games to ruin a chance to be in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
2. DOLPHINS: Miami still alive in playoffs! (But Tua doubtful today): The once 2-6 Dolphins have rallied to 7-8 and rather astoundingly are still alive in the playoff hunt entering today’s game in Cleveland -- though QB Tua Tagovailoa is doubtful with a hip injury. More bad news? Miami is least likely among the four AFC teams fighting for the final wild-card spot. Fins must win both remaining games, have Denver lose next week, and have Indianapolis win at least once. ESPN odds give DEN a 59.6% shot at the last playoff spot, IND 18.0%, CIN 11.8% and MIA 10.%.
3. CANES HOOPS: Larranaga resigns abruptly as Miami men’s coach: Two years ago Jim Larranaga was riding high as he led UM to its first Final Four, one year after reaching the school’s first Elite Eight. Thursday he unexpectedly resigned midseason at age 75 with his team 4-8 after a 15-17 finish last year. “The University,” he said, “needs a new leader who is both adept at and embracing of the new world of intercollegiate athletics.” Larranaga lost his heart for the game in the new era of transfer portals and NIL money. Longtime assistant Bill Courtney is the interim coach. Larranaga leaves with the Canes’ most all-time wins, with his integrity intact, and with our thanks.
4. HEAT: Butler sits again, reportedly wants out; Riley says no: Heat star Jimmy Butler “prefers a trade out of Miami” to a West conference team before NBA’s Feb. 6 deadline, ESPN reported. Heat prez Pat Riley: “We usually don’t comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team. Therefore, we will make it clear: We are not trading Jimmy Butler.” (Hmm, we’ll see.) Miami is 15-14 and back in play-in purgatory after Saturday’s loss in Atlanta in which Butler missed a fourth straight game for what team is calling “return to competition reconditioning.” Heat play today in Houston.
5. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Hey, CFP quarterfinals. A little drama, please?: Margin of victory in the College Football Playoff’s four first-round games was a combined 77 points. None was a close one-score game. The four quasrterfinals are Tuesday and Wednesday with two more double-digit favorites in Texas (13 over Arizona State) and Penn State (11 over Boise State). Best hope for drama? Georgia is a scant 2-point pick over Notre Dame and Ohio State 2 1/2 over top-seed Oregon. Miami’s Orange Bowl would get a Penn State-Georgia semifinal matchup if the betting lines pan out.
6. PANTHERS: Champs lose second straight 4-0 home shutout: Stanley Cup champ Florida is 22-15 after Saturday’s 4-0 loss to Montreal, its second straight such loss at home. This was Panthers’ first consecutive home shutout losses since 2003, but Cats have now been shut out four times in past 11 games. Team is back on the home hard-water Monday vs. N.Y. Rangers.
7. MARLINS: Ace Sandy Alcantara not off-limits as team continues umpeenth rebuild: The latest cost-cutting fire sale by the cheap Fish has seen slugger Jake Burger and starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo dealt this offseason for prospects. Might the ace Alcantara be next? Marlins president of baseball ops Peter Bendix would not rule it out, saying, “We listen to everything.” Alcantara, 29, won the 2022 Cy Young, missed all of last year after Tommy John surgery and is set to start Opening Day ... if he’s still around.
8. NFL: Dickerson’s refreshing take on Barkley chasing his rushing record: What do we call this? Refreshing honesty, I’d say. Eric Dickerson has been the NFL’s single-season rushing leader with 2,105 yards since 1984. Now the Eagles ‘ Saquon Barkley will break it if he gets 268 yards in his final two games -- doable. Says Dickerson: “I don’t think he’ll break it. But if he breaks it, he breaks it. Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I don’t pull no punches on that. But I’m not whining about it. He had 17 games to do it? Hey, football is football.”
9. HORSE RACING: Posthumous honor for Edwin Pope, mentor, Herald legend: Pope, the longtime Miami Herald sports columnist who died at age 88 in 2017, is among 2024 inductees to the National Museum of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor. Pope won three Eclipse Awards for coverage of thoroughbred racing. Two other writers, Tim Layden and Ed Schuyler Jr., also were inducted. Pope was a mentor whose writing passions led with football, horses and boxing. Congrats, Edwin!
10. CHESS: Silly rule, silly reaction costs champ Magnus Carlsen: Carlsen quit a chess championships in New York on Friday after the “sport’s” governing body FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs, or International Chess Federation) banished the Norwegian for wearing jeans. The FIDE said in a statement its dress code is meant “to ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.” Carlsen, 34, five-time world champion since arriving as a phenom in 2011, had been fined $200 and given a chance to change attire but refused. My headline: ‘Persnickety rule ensnares petulant boy-man.’
THE LIST: NFL SEASON RUSHING LEADERS: The Eagles’ Saquon Barkley needs 268 rushing yards in his last two regular-season games to break Eric Dickerson’s long-standing NFL season record. The eight men who have topped 2,000 yards, plus Barkley this season with two to play:
Yards Player, Team Year (YPG)
2,105 Eric Dickerson, Rams 1984 (131.6)
2,097 Adrian Peterson, Vikings 2012 (131.1)
2,066 Jamal Lewis, Ravens 2003 (129.1)
2,053 Barry Sanders, Lions 1997 (128.3)
2,027 Derrick Henry, Titans 2020 (126.7)
2,008 Terrell Davis, Broncos 1998 (125.5)
2,006 Chris Johnson, Titans 2009 (125.4)
2,003 O.J. Simpson, Bills 1973 (143.1)
1,838 Saquon Barkley Eagles 2024 (122.5)
Notes: YPG is average yards per game. First seven players on list played every game of 16-game season, Simpson played every game of 14-game season, and Barkley has played every game thus far of 17-game season. NFL played 14 games from 1961-77, 16 in 1978-2020 and 17 since 2021.
Other most recent stuff from me: Hurricanes sit Ward late in bowl loss, end season a ‘disappointing success’ // Canes’ Larranaga lost heart for game in ‘new world’ cannibalizing college sports // NFL Week 17 picks // Herald NFL Week 16 QB rankings // Dolphins top 49ers, and talk of firing GM Grier after season is silly // Previous HB10 // Poll Dance: Like of dislike games on Christmas Day? // Time for Heat to trade Jimmy Butler, say goodbye, move on if deal is right // Epic embarrassment! Canes blow 21-point lead, ACC title hopes in loss at Syracuse // It’s mountaintop to hinterlands for Miami Marlins’ new manager // Tyson-Paul is ridiculous, a freak show. But we’ll watch // Messi, Inter Miami out in MLS playoffs’ first round a stunning disappointment // ‘Who is that guy?’ Dwyane Wade deserves immortality of statue -- iffy likeness or not // Pete Rose wasn’t perfect, but MLB’s endless lack of mercy followed him to grave // And my latest podcast:
