Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Super Bowl, Olympics, Tua, Giannis, Cats ‘n dog, more
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (FEBRUARY 8): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Super Bowl Sunday, Winter Olympics, no Giannis (yet) for Heat, Dolphins shopping Tua, NFL Honors, Panthers stumble, Team Messi and more. Welcome to 138th edition of HB10, bringing you what’s on our minds from a Miami lens and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or worth needling as sports week past pivots to the week ahead:
1. NFL: It’s Super Bowl Sunday -- America’s national holiday!: The highly anticipated commercials! Bad Bunny at halftime! The party you’re hosting! Almost forgot: a football game, too! Seattle Seahawks have held steady as 4 1/2-point favorites over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX/60 this evening in Santa Clara, Cal. Will the Seahawks win only their second Super Bowl ever? Can the Patriots kick-start Dynasty 2.0? It is America’s biggest sporting event, practically tantamount to a religious high holiday. Dear Lord ... let us play.
2. HEAT: No Giannis at deadline, then blow 22-point lead: Not a great few days for Miami. Failed to land grand prize Giannis Antetokounmpo at the NBA trade deadline Thursday, then Saturday night the Heat blew a 22-point lead in a 98-96 loss at Boston. Miami is now 27-26, still mired in play-in territory, entering today’s matinee at horrible Washington. The good news? The hunt to acquire Giannis could be a dream deferred, not dead. Milwaukee’s superstar may be available again this summer, when Heat and others after him will have an additional first-round draft pick to offer.
3. OLYMPICS: Epic Opening Ceremony lifts Italy Games; Vonn reinjured: Count on the pomp to match the circumstance in Olympics Opening Ceremony, and Italy didn’t disappoint as the Winter Games launched Friday. Andrea Bocelli’s masterwork singing made up for Mariah Carey’s apparent lip-syncing. Breezy Johnson scored the first U.S. gold medal in women’s downhill skiing, but star teammate Lindsey Vonn, making a comeback at 41 despite a recent knee injury, was reinjured in what could be a career-ending crash on the slopes. NHL players are back in Olympic hockey for first time since 2014 but politics overshadow this Olympiad as U.S. vice president JD Vance was booed at the Opening Ceremony and protesters waved ‘No ICE in Milano’ placards.
4. DOLPHINS: Fins shopping Tua, willing to pay to do it: Not a great surprise, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Miami is expected to be willing to pay down a portion of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s contract to help facilitate trading him. That still may prove difficult. Dolphins signed Tua to a four-year, $212.1 million extension in July 2024 and owe him $54 million guaranteed in 2026. Releasing Tagovailoa would cost Miami a $99 million dead-money salary cap charge, most in NFL history. Bottom line: Moving on from Tua won’t be cheap.
5. NBA: Big names move at trade deadline ... but not biggest: Major stars including James Harden, Anthony Davis, Chris Paul and Trae Young changed uniforms at the NBA trade deadline, but not the biggest of all. Milwaukee opted to not deal Giannis Antetokounmpo, leaving in the lurch several suitors including Miami. Also of note: Memphis hung onto available Ja Morant because interest in him was so weak. Antetokounmpo may yet be available this summer to the Heat and others. Meanwhile the NBA All-Star Game and related events are next weekend.
6. NFL: MVP Stafford, Hall of Famers top Honors show: The 15th annual NFL Honors awards show anointed Rams QB Matthew Stafford league MVP Thursday night in San Fran with not many surprises in the trophies given. Hall of Fame’s Class of ‘26 inductees were obvious first-ballot picks Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald along with Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri and, after a long wait, Roger Craig. Dubiously omitted of course to Hall voters’ lasting shame: Six-time SB champion coach Bill Belichick.
7. PANTHERS: Struggling champions stagger into Olympic break: Two Stanley Cups in a row and now just making the NHL playoffs is a steep climb for Florida. Cats are 29-28 after a 6-1 loss at bitter-rival Tampa made it a 1-5 skid entering the Winter Olympics break, with league play off until Feb. 28. Panthers are 11 points off playoff pace with 25 games left. Ten Cats are repping five nations in Winter Games in Italy including Matthew Tkachuk of Team USA, which opens group play this Thursday vs. Latvia..
8. INTER MIAMI: Messi scores but Miami settles for tie in Ecuador: MLS CUP champ Inter Miami is 1-1-1 on its preseason tour after Lionel Messi scored his first goal of 2026 but his team settled for a 2-2 draw with Ecuador’s Barcelona SC. Team Messi faces Independiente del Valle in Puerto Rico Friday in its final friendly before opening MLS play Feb. 21 at Los Angeles FC. Miami’s home opener is April 4 at new Miami Freedom Park, which held an open house for fan Saturday. Meantime Messi‘s first team, Newell’s Old Boys, made headlines this week when a club official said the team hopes to lure the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner back to his old outfit in 2027.
9. MARLINS: Fish season is (sort of) underway!: The annual FanFest event was held Saturday, first spring training game is Feb. 21, and the World Baseball Classic is back Mar. 4-17, with Marlins Park once again the hub. Eleven Marlins are repping seven different countries in the WBC, led by Sandy Alcantara and Augustin Ramirez for the Dominican Republic -- always a fan favorite locally. No Fish on the U.S. team, alas. Miami’s MLB season opens at home March 27.
10. DOGS: Scary-looking Doberman wins Westminster prize: A Doberman pinscher named Penny -- beautiful and yet scary-looking enough to be guarding the Devil’s gate in Hades -- won best-in-show at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the canine Super Bowl. It was the event’s most TV-watched show since pandemic 2021, when we were all scared to leave our homes. The event paid fitting tribute to the recent passing of actress Catherine O’Hara, who slayed in the 2000 film Best in Show.
THE LIST: TOP WINTER OLYMPICS COUNTRIES: Italy is hosting the 25th Winter Olympiad. Top five countries in most all-time Winter Olympics gold medals and total medals:
Gold medals: Norway 148, United States 114, Germany 105, Soviet Union 78 and Canada 77
Total medals: Norway 405, United States 330, Germany 267, Austria 250 and Canada 225
Countries that have led a Winter Olympics in most total medals: 10 times--Norway; 7--Soviet Union; 3--Germany; 1 each--Canada, Russia, East Germany, Sweden and United States (in 1932).
Other select most recent stuff from me: Super Bowl LX pick // Super Bowl With a Smirk five-part series: V, IV, III, II and I // No Giannis (yet), but Heat it’s a dream deferred, not dead // Previous HB 10 // Podcast: Jonathan Zaslow joins us // Previous Poll Dance: Belichick Hall snub // Heat needs jolt & Riley needs last great whale. Giannis is the answer // Belichick’s stunning Hall snub is a shame on sanctimonious voters // Dolphins, AFC East beware: Super Bowl signals rise of Patriots 2.0 dominance // Dolphins’ new coach, GM take on 25 years of franchise torpor and a QB mess // Canes title-game loss does not erase success of watershed season // Dolphins hire Jeff Hafley. Timing was bad. Is coach good? // In Hurricanes vs. Mendoza, Miami -- city and team -- will win it all // Canes’ tour de force now 1 home win over Indiana from new glory days // Flailing, failing Dolphins in latest reboot with McDaniel firing // Rams’ Stafford wins 1st season title in Herald’s 28th NFL QB rankings // Dolphins enter offseason with no answers at QB after loss at Patriots // Canes’ ‘violent, relentless’ defeat of Ohio State is Miami’s biggest win in 23 years // Step aside, other cities: Why 2026 in sports belongs to Miami // Stugotz signs major iHeart Media deal, but says not done with LeBatard Show // Canes stifle A&M with defense, advance in CFP to face Ohio State // Messi, Inter Miami win MLS Cup, crown 50 years of SoFla soccer // How Browns fan’s tragedy gave Bernie Kosar new life // How Miami project -- and forgiveness -- helped Marc Buoniconti turn tragedy to triumph // Barkov lost for season a mortal blow to Panthers’ 3-peat bid // 15 years later, Dolphins Cancer Challenge is life-saving legacy of Jim Mandich // And my latest podcast:
