Cote’s Hot Button Special: U.S., Messi in World Cup 16, Heat await LeBron, more
Note to readers: Happy 250th, America! Hope y’all are enjoying a nice, long, safe holiday weekend. I am trying to do the same, so here is another special-edition, streamlined Hot Button Top 5.
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 5 (JULY 5): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Welcome to 156th edition of HB10, bringing you what’s on our minds through a Miami lens and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or worth needling as the sports week past pivots to the week ahead:
1. SOCCER: Sweet! U.S., Messi/Argentina advance to final 16 in World Cup: My fever-dream of a U.S.-Argentina World Cup championship match lives on! Team USA knocked out Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-0 and now faces Belgium in the round of 16 on Monday, and Lionel Messi and Argentina (barely) erased Cape Verde in Miami and now plays Egypt on Tuesday -- with tickets to the quarterfinals at stake. (The U.S. win over Bosnia on Wednesday was the most-watched English-language soccer telecast ever in America with some 24.4 viewers.) France and Morocco were first to advance from the 16s with wins Saturday. It’s Brazil-Norway and England -Mexico in a blockbuster doubleheader today/Sunday. Quarterfinals begin July 9 with one in Miami on the 11th.
▪ The Greg Cote Show podcast has a live World Cup contest among myself, Chris and Yeti with results based upon teams each of us drafted. Go here to track continuous live updates: cotecup.thegregcoteshow.com
2. HEAT: Summer of Riley? First Giannis, now (maybe) LeBron for Miami?: Is Pat Riley smiling, sipping red wine and preparing to say “Told ya so” to all his doubters? First the Heat work a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, this NBA summer’s grand prize. Now Miami is angling for a LeBron James reunion, too. Last betting odds we saw are still predicting Golden State as LeBron’s next home, but we’re sensing winks of optimism in the Heat camp. And losing Norman Powell in free agency only frees up added money in the chase for King James -- still royalty even at 41. Stay tuned ... and hopeful.
3. PANTHERS: Farewell, Bob. Era ends as Cats split with Bobrovsky, sign Markstrom: Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, the popular backbone of Florida’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championships serenaded with “Bob-by!” chants, hit free agency this week when he and the team could not agree on a new contract. Panthers signed his replacement, Jacob Markstrom, in a trade with New Jersey that cost the Cats Evan Rodrigues. Markstrom’s name should be familiar. Florida drafted him in 2008 and he served as team’s backup his first three-plus NHL seasons.
4. MARLINS: Playoff-chasing Fish land two all-stars, should be buyers at trade deadline: The Marlins are 48-42 with two straight wins, after an MLB-best 19-6 record in June. Miami is third in NL East and only one game back in tight wild-card chase. That means Fish should be thinking buy, not sell, as the trade deadline approaches. Marlins finish at A’s today then are home for six straight before the all-star break. Shortstop Otto Lopez and pitcher Max Meyer were named Saturday as all-star reserves. The 96th MLB All-Star Game is July 14 in Philadelphia Phillies.
5. TENNIS: Serena shows her age in Wimbledon singles return: Can a 44-year-old G.O.A.T. who’s won 23 majors return after a four-year absence and beat a 20-year-old foe of little repute? Apparently not. Australian Maya Joint scored a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win over Serena Williams in the first round in London. Williams was up 3-1 with game point in the deciding set before letting it slip. The crowd was wildly pro-Serena at Center Court, the honor given despite Serena playing on a special invitation and Joint ranked 87th and unseeded. The TV audience set a Wimbledon record for a Day 2 match. (Serena and sis Venus withdrew from doubles because Serena tweaked a knee in her singles loss.) Serena has not said if Wimbledon was a one-off or if she’ll be returning to WTA fulltime.
Other select most recent stuff from me:
