Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Super Bowl Week! Plus Herro, Canes end skid, Beckham’s undies & more
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (FEBRUARY 2): 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 92nd edition of your HB10:
1. NFL: Super Bowl next, but first we must survive Pro Bowl Games: The Pro Bowl used to be an actual all-star game, until it became such a farce that selected players were skipping it in droves by claiming injuries such as hangnails. So they scrapped that and now this is the third year for the Pro Bowl Games -- a bunch of silly events followed by a flag football game today in Orlando. Skills events include dodgeball, tug-of-war, knitting, yodeling and cliff diving. OK I made up those last three. The Chiefs and Eagles cannot get here soon enough.
2. HEAT: Herro, Rozier, Butler star in newsy week for Miami: The good news: Heat leading scorer Tyler Herro is an Eastern All-Star reserve, his first such career honor. The bad news: It was reported Heat guard Terry Rozier is part of a federal sports gambling probe, though he has not been accused of a crime or wrongdoing. He had no comment. Meantime, Jimmy Butler’s third team suspension of the past month continues as team tries to trade him before Thursday’s deadline. Miami is 24-23 and has won three of four entering a Tuesday game in Chicago.
3. CANES HOOPS: Miami men win! Miami men win!: UM men beat Notre Dame at home Saturday 63-57 to end a 10-game losing streak and a 1-17 skid. Matthew Cleveland’s 21 points led the hugely needed win. Canes were 4-8 at time of coach Jim Larranaga’s sudden retirement; the win was the first under interim coach Bill Courtney. UM plays next Saturday at NO. 21 Louisville. Canes women are an up-and-down 13-8 after two straight wins entering a Sunday home date with No. 20 Georgia Tech -- the first of five straight games vs. ranked teams.
4. PANTHERS: Cats serve 900th win t Maurice:: The Stanley Cup champ Panthers are 3-1 after Saturday’s 5-1 home win over Chicago led by Sam Reinhart’s 30th goal of the season. Victory was the 900th in the regular season for Paul Maurice, only the fourth NHL coach to reach that plateau. Cats are back on ice at home today/Sunday vs. the New York Islanders.
5. INTER MIAMI: Beckham strips to undies as team continues preseason: Inter Miami and Lionel Messi are 2-0 in their preseason after a 5-4 win on penalties after a goalless draw vs. Club Universitario de Deportes before 60,000 fans in Peru. Miami’s The Americas Tour continues Sunday/today in Panama City vs. Sporting San Miguelito. Meantime Inter Miami’s hottie president, David Beckham, is making news for his new underwear ads for the Boss brand. “I once said my bodywear modeling days had come to an end,” said Beckham, 49, “but when Boss shared their ambition I simply couldn’t refuse.” Boss’ ambition reportedly included a (bleep)load of money.
6. HURRICANES: ‘25 football schedule makes 10-win repeat tough: Miami’s 12-game schedule includes by my count eight challenging games, with four of them on the road including the final two. UM faces two ‘24 playoff teams with national runnerup Notre Dame to open and later at SMU. Going to be tough for Mario Cristobal’s fourth season to see a 10-win repeat. Mirroring that, perhaps: New Canes QB Carson Beck is somewhat surprisingly only tied for eighth in opening Heisman odds.
7. TRACK & FIELD: Why are we still throwing hammers?: An errant hammer throw killed a spectator at a Colorado track and field meet. In the misnamed event, the hammer is a metal ball (16 pounds for men) attached to a wire and a handle. Why are we throwing weapons like hammers and shot puts? It’s Medieval. What century is this? And now there’s axe-throwing at many bars. Hey there’s a combo with no foreseeable problems: Alcohol ... and axes! Why don’t we have track event that involves athletes being shot from cannons or catapulted over castle walls?
8. NBA: Silver wants 10-minute quarters? Here’s a better idea: NBA commish Adam Silver is floating 10-minute quarters (instead of 12) to shorten games inside two hours as league TV ratings dip. You want a better idea? Steal it blatantly from the new women’s Unrivaled league -- because this shortens games and adds late excitement. Unrivaled adds 11 points to the leading team’s score through three quarters, and the first to that total wins. It assures every game ends with a winning shot. What say, Silver?
9. MARLINS: Fish farm system leaps from dregs to midpack as spring nears: ESPN’s new rankings of the 30 MLB team farm systems rates Miami’s a dead-middle 15th. That’s up from 29th one year earlier, but still below the NL East rival Mets (9th) and Nationals (12th). The Phillies and Braves rank lower but, unlike the Marlins, actually spend lots of money on quality players. ESPN’s analysis notes of Miami’s prospects: “None of the players close to the majors seem like true future stars.”
10. HALLS OF FAME: Quit obsessing over non-unanimous votes: Why are we surprised or shocked when a baseball Hall of Fame inductee like Ichiro (or Derek Jeter before that) falls short of a unanimous vote among hundreds cast by voters? Are you familiar with America? In this fractured country we could ave a poll that asked, “Do you believe in love and happiness?” and it wouldn’t do 100 percent.
THE LIST: MIAMI HEAT ALL-STAR SELECTIONS: Tyler Herro this week became the 11th different Heat player to make to an NBA All-Star team, and the 41st selection for Miami overall. The full list:
# Player Span of seasons
13 Dwyane Wade 2004-19
6 Chris Bosh 2010-16
5 Alonzo Mourning 1995-02
4 LeBron James 2010-14
3 Shaquille O’Neal 2004-07
3 Bam Adebayo 2019-24-*
2 Tim Hardaway 1996-98
2 Jimmy Butler 2019-21-*
1 Anthony Mason 2000-01
1 Goran Dragic 2017-18
1 Tyler Herro 2024-25-*
Note: Asterisks (*) indicate current players; in Butler’s case, at least for now.
Other most recent stuff from me: Amid Miami’s Butler drama, all-star Herro, Ware lead surge of Heat home-grown talent // Chiefs-Eagles a great Super Bowl matchup -- but not the one America wanted // Previous HB10 // Poll Dance: The Super Bowl Matchup You Want // Unprofessional Jimmy Butler quit on Heat, ruined his legacy in Miami // NFL Championship Round playoff picks // No Dolphins in AFC title game for 32nd straight year. Let us count the reasons why // Hurricanes bank on QB Carson Beck to lead ‘monster jump’ to 6th national title // Notre Dame wins Orange Bowl, CFP semi as Miami Hurricanes sink into ‘What if?’ // Herald NFL Final 2024 QB Rankings // Our Top 10 biggest Miami/South Florida sports stories of 2024 // Canes’ Larranaga lost heart for game in ‘new world’ cannibalizing college sports // It’s mountaintop to hinterlands for Miami Marlins’ new manager // Messi, Inter Miami out in MLS playoffs’ first round a stunning disappointment // Pete Rose wasn’t perfect, but MLB’s endless lack of mercy followed him to grave // And my latest podcast:
This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 9:01 AM.
